Chapter 221:
Mentioning his own Beggar’s Chicken, Ostrich instantly perked up, as this skill was something he had figured out little by little himself.
“I’m not bragging to you, but back in the day, for this bite to eat, I sure didn’t skimp on…”
The Medic, who was listening with great interest, saw Ostrich stop halfway and couldn’t help but have his curiosity piqued. “Go on, keep talking. Teasing someone’s appetite isn’t a good habit.”
Going on would mean revealing his own dark history. If he told the Medic, what difference would it make if the whole Wolf Fang knew?
Ostrich didn’t want to give himself another laughingstock. Though he already had plenty of funny stories that would make people laugh if told, better one less thing than one more.
He had already done enough for the mental health of everyone in Wolf Fang.
“Nothing, just some old rotten grains. No need to bring it up again.
Anyway, just know that I went through a lot to learn this Beggar’s Chicken skill.”
Hearing Ostrich speak evasively, the perceptive Medic immediately guessed that the origin of this Beggar’s Chicken was not simple.
Since Ostrich didn’t want to say, he wouldn’t keep pressing.
Everyone has past events they don’t want to mention.
Though the Medic tore down Ostrich every day, that was just playful banter between comrades.
Don’t be fooled by the Medic’s cheerful, seemingly guileless appearance all day; he was the slickest in the whole team.
Prying into others’ privacy was too hateful; how could he possibly do that, especially after Ostrich showed he didn’t want to mention it.
“When will it be ready?”
The Medic stared fixedly at the two clods of earth in the fire, swallowing saliva from time to time.
Who understood? Besides two proper meals in Eagle Division, they had no other chances.
It was rare to eat a bite of hot meat, so the Medic’s reaction wasn’t strange.
“Wait, it’ll take a bit more.”
Glancing at the Medic’s impatient, longing look, Ostrich felt secretly pleased inside.
Usually teased a lot by the damn Medic, this time old Deng could finally turn the tables and sing triumphantly.
The movement from the Sniper Team wasn’t just noticed by Chang Ning and the other two; Geng Jihui and Qiang Zi also smelled the faint smoky smell permeating the air.
“This is strange. There’s no village in this dense forest; it’s practically uninhabited. How could there be smoky smell? Could it be Blue Team people?” Qiang Zi half-squatted in a vigilant posture and asked doubtfully.
“Even Blue Team wouldn’t light a fire in the dense forest.”
Geng Jihui’s face was grave; if it really was Blue Team ahead, the situation would become very bad.
The communication equipment they carried had limited range coverage. Encountering Blue Team at the rendezvous point, with no way to contact each other, it would be very easy to get separated.
They hadn’t agreed on a backup meeting place beforehand; no one had expected to run into Blue Team.
Getting separated on Blue Team’s territory, if unlucky and running into Blue Team’s reconnaissance unit, their chance of being eliminated would be very high.
And don’t forget, Group B had recently caused significant losses to Blue Team; even Commander Wen had slammed the table in anger.
Next, they would surely face Blue Team’s counterattack, and Blue Team reconnaissance unit’s search density would increase again.
Therefore, if Group B’s teammates got separated, the consequences were predictable.
Facing this situation, the pressure in Geng Jihui’s heart crashed against his nerves like waves of a tsunami, one after another.
“But in the forest, it’s just Red and Blue Teams’ forces, and this is still Blue Team’s territory. Besides Blue Team, who else would dare light a fire so openly?”
Qiang Zi had now reacted too; the upcoming situation wasn’t friendly to them. He now looked worriedly at Geng Jihui.
What Qiang Zi could think of, Geng Jihui naturally could too.
In this situation, Geng Jihui couldn’t let himself be swayed by emotions.
So, he took several deep breaths in a row, trying to calm himself down.
Things had come to this; he couldn’t just leave like that.
If he didn’t confirm the other party’s identity and just withdrew, separation between teammates would be inevitable.
Even if it really was Blue Team staying at their agreed rendezvous point, Geng Jihui couldn’t just leave easily.
He planned to leave marks unique to Group B around with Qiang Zi, to make it convenient for Chang Ning and the others to rendezvous with him.
“Let’s go check it out, just us two.” Geng Jihui said.
Seeing Geng Jihui make a decision, Qiang Zi said nothing more, silently nodded, and followed Geng Jihui’s steps.
Coincidentally, Chang Ning and Xiao Zhuang’s side was moving in sync with Geng Jihui’s action; their tacit understanding was quite high.
Both sides silently approached Ostrich and the Medic who were stewing the Beggar’s Chicken. The two were staring eagerly at the clods of earth in the fire, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings.
Chang Ning crept closer bit by bit to the earthen slope that had been turned into a simple cover by human hands. He could already see two figures with their backs to him roasting by the fire.
Both Red and Blue Sides belonged to Huaxia’s army sequence; from the military uniforms on those two, Chang Ning couldn’t tell which side they were.
Due to the angle, Chang Ning also couldn’t see the armband.
“I’ve reached the predetermined position, but I can’t see the color of their armbands here.
Squad Leader, can you and Xiao Zhuang see from your side?”
Since he couldn’t confirm those two’s identities, Chang Ning could only pin his hopes on his two teammates.
The result was destined to disappoint; Xiao Zhuang and Lao Pao’s positions were not far from Chang Ning’s.
If Chang Ning couldn’t see, naturally Xiao Zhuang and Lao Pao couldn’t either.
“There are only two of them; just one surprise attack from me and I can take them out.” Chang Ning said.
His meaning was very clear: if worst came to worst, just charge up regardless and subdue those two first.
“That’s because you only saw two; what if there are others in places we can’t see?”
Lao Pao feared an ambush and disagreed with Chang Ning taking the risk.
“But we can’t just keep waiting like this; we have to decide whether to go or stay, and get a result.”
Xiao Zhuang pointed out their current awkward situation on the side: can’t go, can’t stay.
“How about this: I’ll rush up first to check the situation. If there’s an ambush, Squad Leader, you and Xiao Zhuang cover my retreat.”
Chang Ning didn’t say what would happen if there was no ambush. This was Group B’s pre-agreed rendezvous point; no ambush, and exactly two on the other side—the result went without saying.
Because Blue Team definitely wouldn’t operate in the forest with just two; at least platoon-sized units.
With Lei Keming, the expert familiar with special operations, Blue Team wouldn’t let a squad’s combat personnel act alone.
In the jungle, a squad encountering a fully structured special forces team couldn’t hold out long.
In the original plot, Group B’s battle at Langde Village was proof enough.
Though their opponents were just local armed forces, several hundred charging with guns definitely couldn’t be held off by just one squad’s combat personnel.
Yet Group B and the villagers had stubbornly held out until Group A arrived, without anyone sacrificing. This combat power spoke for itself.
“Good, be careful.”
Lao Pao had no choice but to agree to Chang Ning’s request.
They couldn’t keep stalling here forever; they had to make a choice.
