Chapter 33
Chapter 33 – First Encounter – Part 2
Tong checked the distance between him and Sima Xin . The distance was a little over 400 meters which was not the best range for the pistol Tong had in his hand .
The best effective range for Glock 17 was 30 to 50 meters for average shooters . Any longer range than those would affect the accuracy, but the 9mm bullet would still be lethal at the range of 100 meters .
Tong's best record during his military school was 200 meters . But at that time, Tong managed to luck out and hit the target one time out of the entire magazine of 15 bullets .
He still couldn't reliably shoot at a live target at a distance more than 100 meters yet . All instructors in his school taught him not to rely on the long distance shooting with a pistol, but to use it as a covering fire or for collateral damages on vehicles or bigger targets .
Tong need to get closer to Sima Xin to the range of 100 meters or shorter to get to the effective shooting range .
He reached to the fence which separated the area of Zhang household and the backyard wild gra.s.ses and trees . Tong climbed the fence and was about to drop onto the other side .
"What are do you doing?"
Zhang Jiao showed up with Hua s.h.i.+ and Zhang Bao . Each of them was holding a fire torch in their hand .
The sun had already set and it was the nighttime . The sky was brightened with stars of the Milky Way galaxy . But in contrary of the sky, the land below was in complete darkness . Only the area with torches and lambs were brightened .
Tong had a small candle in his cloth, but he hadn't lightened it yet . He wanted to sneak up to Sima Xin without him noticing Tong .
"An enemy is here . Get back in the house . "
Tong said to the three and gestured them to hurry . However, before they could react, a loud gunshot sounded from inside the woods .
*BANG*
*CLANK*
Tong could feel something small hit him at the back of the head when he turned around to talk to his family .
The sound of gunshot made Tong lost all blood in his face . His face became pale as if he had just seen a ghost . It was the signal that the other side had a gun .
"THERE'S A SNIPER!! GET DOWN!!" Tong shouted with all air in his lung .
Hua s.h.i.+ jolted and s.h.i.+fted her position to the front of Zhang Jiao while she told her in-laws to escape into the house . She had seen enough war movies to know what she should react to snipers .
*BANG*
*CLANK*
Another shot fired and hit Tong's left eye . Tong could see the trajectory of the bullet for an instant before the bullet hit his eye lit, deformed and dropped itself on the ground .
Though Tong didn't feel any pain, but the impact still made him feel uncomfortable and put a mental pressure on him .
"Zombie! Get the two into the house right now!!"
Tong shouted again while das.h.i.+ng toward Sima Xin in the distance . He was immune to all physical attack so he decided to rush toward the sniper to get rid of him .
"I know! Uncle, father-in-law . Please run into the house! There's an enemy!"
"What?"
"NO TIME FOR ASKING!! GET INTO THE HOUSE!!"
Hua s.h.i.+ also yelled at Zhang Jiao and Zhang Bao while pressing them back to the house . Then she drew her short sword and stared into the darkness where the bullet came from .
Then she noticed a light reflection on one of the trees . It was the reflected light from the torches s.h.i.+ning to a gla.s.s lens, or a scope .
Because of the reflected light, she could tell the direction the sniper was . At the same time, she could roughly guess where the sniper was going to shoot next .
'c.r.a.p, the next target is me!?'
The reflected light landed on her . Then …
*BANG*
A bullet flew at Hua s.h.i.+ who suddenly hacked her sword at empty air by instinct . Her sword master pa.s.sive skill activated .
The sword path and the bullet trajectory crossed each other, causing a spark on the impact .
*TINK*
*Poek*
The bullet that was deflected by Hua s.h.i.+'s sword hit the ground .
Hua s.h.i.+ was astonished by her action . She didn't order her body to move her arm and her shoulder in the last moment . She felt like her body moved by itself .
Hua s.h.i.+ eased up a lot when she realized that it was possible for her to parry bullets . She stopped urging Zhang Jiao and Zhang Bao to escape, but stood firm in front of them, ready to deflect any bullet that came in her way .
She felt proud and started to act c.o.c.ky . Hua s.h.i.+ then mocked the sniper .
"Hahaha! Fool! As long as I'm here, it's all useless!"
*BANG*
Another bullet fired .
"Useless!"
*TINK*
Another bullet parried .
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Three gunshots were burst-fired this time . They didn't go for Hua s.h.i.+, but to the two people behind her .
"MUDA!! MUDA!! MUDA!!"
Hua s.h.i.+'s sword moves left after images, striking toward the incoming bullets with precision .
*TINK* *TINK* *TINK*
After all bullets was swiped away, Hua s.h.i.+ felt elated . The skill she bought was worth every penny . However…
*CRACK*
The continuous intense movement put a strain on her arm, hand, wrist and her shoulder . As a result, she dislocated her shoulder and her wrist .
"FFFFUUUUU!!"
Instead of screaming in pain, Hua s.h.i.+ cursed out loud . The pain on her shoulder was like a cold bucket of water pouring on her . She regained her cool and not allowing her judgement to go along with the adrenaline .
Zhang Jiao who was crouching and hurried back to the house noticed Hua s.h.i.+'s scream . He rushed back to her, lift her up on his shoulder, and ran back to the house without looking back . He was scared of the thunder magic that roared out in the woods .
Fortunately after Hua s.h.i.+'s stunt, the sniper stopped firing and seemed to disappeared, relieving Zhang Jiao and co .
…
Meanwhile, Tong was running and making a beeline toward Sima Xin . He heard another four gunshot sounds which worried him . But Tong kept his focus and continued chasing Sima Xin . The distance was now 200 meters .
Although everything was dark and Tong could barely see anything, he still managed to pick a path by observing the HUD map terrain indication .
Tong still didn't light his candle . He continued moving in the darkness as he didn't want to spook Sima Xin yet .
Then, he noticed that Sima Xin was moving in his radar . Sima Xin retreated toward the road outside of the village .
Tong clicked his tongue and continued the chase, only to find out that Sima Xin was faster than him . The distance between Tong and Sima Xin continued to increase .
215 meters … 230 meters … 250 meters .
Tong was astonished . This was in the middle of a forest where trees and bushes were in the way and the terrain was uneven . Even Tong found it difficult to get through this forest with the HUD map .
Sima Xin could run away as if he could see in the dark!
Tong felt helpless . The rat was getting away each minute of chasing .
Then he was surprised by another white dot that started moving in the map . It had been in a hut nearby the roadside which Tong a.s.sumed it was just a villager sleeping inside the hut .
However, this white dot seemed to move to the direction of Sima Xin as if it was also chasing him .
'Huh? Why is this person chasing after the sniper?'
Tong was confused . Since he couldn't catch up with Sima Xin anyway, he checked the name of the white dot . Then he was shocked when the map revealed his name .
'Zhou Cang? That guy is Zhou Cang!? What is he doing over there?'
Zhou Cang was one of the famous characters in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms . He was once a Yellow Turban Rebellion member . After Zhang Jiao's main force was annihilated, he became a mountain bandit .
Then he met Guan Yu and became his follower after . It was said that he died later in the battle of Fancheng Castle in Jing Province in the year 220 A . D . when Cao Cao and Sun Quan conspired and sent forces to attack Guan Yu in secret .
Tong didn't know whether to laugh or cry . He could not confirm if Sima Xin and Zhou Cang were in league together or had a feud against each other . But from the first look, they appeared to be the latter .
Zhou Cang intercepted Sima Xin midway before Sima Xin could run past Zhou Cang .
Sima Xin's movement stopped for a few seconds before Tong heard sounds of fighting and a gunshot .
*CLANG*
*CLANG*
*WHOOSH*
*CLANG*
*BANG*
"AARRRGHHH!!!"
A painful scream of a teenage was heard . Tong managed to shorten the distance down to 200 meters . He could finally see a faint shadow figure and an area of torchlight in the middle of darkness .
