Chapter 358 Don't Be Afraid
The team had been marching through the hot and humid rainforest for nearly six hours, and sweat had soaked everyone's combat uniform.
When we came to an area with soft soil and aerial roots of elephant trunk fig hanging down like curtains.
Following previous practice, Xia Lili put the bag of the golden krait on the ground.
Suddenly, there was a violent and unusual twisting sound in the bag!
The golden ring snake inside seemed to be stimulated by something and became extremely restless.
"Something's happening!" Xia Lili's voice was very low, but it was like an icicle piercing the silence in the forest.
She suddenly raised her hand and clenched her fist, making the highest alert gesture for everyone to stop and maintain absolute silence.
There is no need to say much, long-term training has made the team members act like conditioned reflexes.
"Camel" and "Blade" quickly hid behind a bunch of huge banana leaves; Doctor Su Ye and the bat used the hanging aerial roots and shadows to instantly erase their figures.
Li Qihan reacted faster.
Almost on instinct, he turned sideways and grabbed her wrist the same second Xia Lili issued a warning.
The two of them rushed towards a natural sunken pit nearby that was formed by the uplift of a huge tree root.
The pit was filled with damp fallen leaves. The two men quickly crawled down, lowering their bodies as low as possible and hiding themselves under the shadow of the tangled tree roots.
Xia Lili didn't hesitate at all and cooperated the moment Li Qihan pulled her.
At this moment, Li Qiuhan's back was pressed against the wall of the pit, one hand was on the weapon on the side of his leg, and the other arm was subconsciously protecting Xia Lili in front of him, forming a protective posture.
The two were so close that they could clearly feel each other's rapid heartbeat and suppressed breathing due to the sudden outburst.
Almost the next second after everyone was hidden, a low but very penetrating vibration began to come from the ground.
From far away, it seemed as if a huge drum was beating underground.
Then there was the sound of a branch being broken by brute force, followed by the sound of extremely heavy footsteps, each step causing the fallen leaves to tremble slightly.
A huge shadow slowly enveloped the area.
The vibrations from the ground became clearer and clearer, from faint muffled sounds to heavy impact sounds close at hand, as if the entire rainforest was shaking!
Xia Lili and Li Qihan huddled in a small pit at the roots of a tree. The space was so cramped that they could hardly move.
After the initial alertness, Xia Lili was gradually gripped by the instinctive fear of the unknown giant beast.
When a deafening elephant roar ripped through the air, accompanied by the terrifying sound of nearby trees being snapped in half, her body trembled uncontrollably, and she subconsciously shrank deeper into Li Qihan's arms, the only source of warmth around her.
At this moment, Li Qihan was completely frozen.
Xia Lili's cheek accidentally touched the exposed skin on the side of his neck, and her warm breath brushed against his Adam's apple.
In order to maintain balance, Xia Lili's hands instinctively grabbed the clothes on his waist. Even through the layer of combat uniform, she could clearly feel the tight, hard abdominal muscles and the burning body temperature underneath.
It was a physique full of strength and well-trained, but at this moment it became the only piece of debris in Xia Lili's panic.
Li Qihan almost held his breath.
He could clearly smell the faint scent of grass in the hair of the person in his arms, and feel her slightly trembling body and rapid heartbeat.
He who remained calm in the face of hail of bullets now looked like a puppet that had been pricked with blood. His face was red from the ears to the neck. He dared not move at all. All his tactical skills seemed to be ineffective at this moment.
He wanted to move back a little, but was afraid that too much movement would expose his position, and he was even more afraid of disturbing Xia Lili who was relying on him at the moment.
At this moment, another even more devastating explosion occurred very close by, and dirt and wood chips fell to the ground.
Xia Lili shrugged in fear and tried her best to restrain herself from screaming.
At this moment, a warm and rough hand gently covered her ears with unquestionable strength.
The world suddenly became half quiet.
The loud roar was isolated by a layer and became muffled.
Instead, she could hear the steady yet slightly faster heartbeat of Li Qihan in her palm, and his very low, soothing voice against the top of her head:
"Don't be afraid, I'm just passing by...it will be over soon."
His voice was low and hoarse, with a kind of infectious power that was unique to a person in control and could soothe panic.
The broad palm only carefully covered Xia Lili's ears, and the fingertips even carefully avoided her cheeks, but an indescribable sense of security instantly enveloped Xia Lili.
Xia Lili's stiff body slowly relaxed, no longer touching around unconsciously, but becoming quietly dependent.
Li Qihan felt her breathing gradually become steady, and the embarrassment and tension in his heart were gradually replaced by a more complicated emotion.
He maintained this posture until the earth-shaking footsteps and sounds of destruction gradually faded away and finally disappeared at the other end of the rainforest.
The wild elephant finally went away and disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.
All that was left was a mess of broken branches and the air filled with dust and the smell of grass.
Li Qihan held his breath and waited for nearly a minute, confirming that the danger was truly over, before he sent a tactical sign language of "safe, assemble" to the team members hiding in various places.
It was only then that he suddenly realized the current situation.
Xia Lili was almost completely curled up in his arms, her cheek pressed against his neck, and one hand even unconsciously grasped the strap of his combat uniform on his chest.
The situation was critical just now, and all his attention was on the external threats. Now the alarm was lifted, and all his senses returned instantly. The soft body in his arms, the warm breath brushing against his neck, and the heartbeats closely pressed against each other all became extremely clear.
His body stiffened slightly, and he was about to distance himself a little without leaving any trace, but Xia Lili moved first.
Her consciousness relaxed from the high tension, and she immediately realized the overly intimate posture between herself and Li Qihan.
The instinctive action just now taken to avoid danger seems extremely abrupt and ambiguous at this safe moment.
With a "boom", Xia Lili's cheeks and the tips of her ears turned red in an instant, like cooked shrimps.
She bounced away from Li Qihan almost as if she had been electrocuted. As a result, because her movements were too violent and her legs were still a little weak, her center of gravity was unstable and she sat down firmly on the muddy ground covered with fallen leaves.
She was a little dazed by the fall, but what made her even more embarrassed was that the scene just now kept replaying uncontrollably in her mind.
How he clung to Captain Li tightly, how his hands were grabbing...
Oh my god, I felt like in my panic just now, I had taken advantage of Captain Li from head to toe!
Li Qihan looked at her, who looked like she wanted to crawl into the ground, and sighed helplessly. He stretched out his hand to her and said in his usual calm tone: "Are you okay?"
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