Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 603 - 592: Prologue to the Battle (Part 4)

Standing on the roof of the third floor, Xu Renjie occasionally lifted the binoculars in his hand to peer in the direction where the bandits had fled.

"Nothing!" In the lens of the binoculars, both ends of the road were empty, with no sign of people or activity.

With that, Old Xu let out a small sigh of relief.

At this point, it had been 30 minutes since the bandits left the villa. In his heart, he calculated that unless this group of people had taken a hit to the head, it was unlikely they'd come back, at least not today.

Thinking of this, Xu Renjie picked up the handheld radio in his hand, pressed the communication button, and said:

"Attention all squads, leave one team member on duty, everyone else is dismissed. By the way, I must say that everyone's cooperation and performance today were excellent, we successfully repelled the invading enemies. Everyone, you've worked hard, take some time to rest. Over!"

Releasing the button, Old Xu suddenly felt a wave of tiredness. Nightly patrols, guard checks, and planning training had left this iron-willed man utterly exhausted.

Even so, seeing the fruitful results of today's battle, a long-lost smile appeared on his lips.

"Oh yeah! We won!" Yang Xue jumped excitedly from the bed, then unabashedly vented her emotional excitement.

Infected by her emotions, even the usually calm and composed Wei Yang couldn't help but celebrate by high-fiving her.

"Come on, Little Wei, let's go out and take a look!"

Already feeling restless, Yang Xue reached out to grab Wei Yang's wrist after saying this.

In response, Wei Yang pulled back, a little troubled, and said, "Yang Xue, you go on ahead, I have to stay here and watch over Fangfang and He Jing."

Though her heart had long flown to the one she loved, Wei Yang hadn't forgotten Xu Renjie's pre-battle instructions; she was responsible for the safety of Fangfang and He Jing and couldn't let anything happen to them.

But Yang Xue was different. She hadn't been at the villa long and usually kept "American time." She barely knew Fangfang and He Jing, let alone had any feelings for them.

So, after hearing Wei Yang's response, she didn't try too hard to persuade her; instead, she shot a somewhat sympathetic glance at Wei Yang and left on her own.

On the other side!

"Come on! Uncle Zhao, what kind of joke are you playing, asking you to stand guard here while Brother Hu and I go rest? You're making us look bad."

"Exactly! Old Zhao, let us young people handle the stakeout!"

Upon hearing Wang and Hu's comments, Zhao Yunhai frowned a bit unhappily, feigning anger: "What's this, Little Hu? Do I really look that old to you? Let me tell you both, I am your direct supervisor now, so whatever I say, you just follow obediently. Now, I order you to hand over your weapons and go rest."

Looking at Zhao Yunhai stretch out his hands to take their weapons, Wang Qiang and Hu Xiaodong exchanged glances and then shook their heads helplessly. Hu Xiaodong then patted Wang Qiang on the shoulder with a wry smile: "Ah well, let's just do as he says, Qiang. No choice, a higher rank can make life difficult, huh! Haha!"

Putting away the weapons handed in by the two, Old Zhao took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. The reason he insisted on Wang and Hu going to rest was mainly that during the previous half-hour battle, the two had risked being hit by enemy bullets while continuously shooting arrows, which was quite tiring.

Especially Wang Qiang, who not only had to snipe at the enemies but also yelled at them for a long time, trying to mess with their minds—such a distraction act is extremely exhausting.

In contrast, Old Zhao didn't do much during the battle; he just hid to the side, monitoring the development and changes in the entire battlefield.

As the tense nerves suddenly relaxed, Wang Qiang and Hu Xiaodong, who had been in a "full tension" state, really felt a bit of fatigue.

They headed jokingly toward the staircase, intending to go downstairs to see their brothers, maybe share some stories and laughter about today's battlefield.

But unexpectedly, as soon as they reached the staircase entrance, they ran into Yang Xue, who was coming out for some fresh air.

"Hi, you two big heroes, thank you for your hard work!" Recognizing acquaintances, Yang Xue greeted them warmly.

"Haha, Little Yang, you're too kind, how could we be considered heroes!" Hu Xiaodong chuckled twice, seeing the unresponsive Wang Qiang beside him, he discreetly nudged him with his elbow twice, "Isn't that right, Qiang?"

"Ah?" Caught off guard, when Wang Qiang saw Yang Xue looking at him with that adorable crescent-shaped smile, he felt a bit embarrassed: "Uh, yes...yes, how could we be considered heroes, haha, haha!"

Wang Qiang's laugh was quite forced, and anyone could hear his unease and nervousness.

To this, Hu Xiaodong couldn't help but chuckle secretly. This Qiang wasn't afraid of anything, yet seeing Yang Xue was like a mouse seeing a cat, really living up to the saying: there's always someone who can call you out.

But given his age, Hu Xiaodong could see through Wang Qiang's thoughts, so he decided to create a good communication environment for his buddy. He didn't plan to continue being a third wheel:

"Well, Yang, it's great you came, I'll leave Qiang with you, this guy has been unusually talkative today. You wouldn't believe how much he's been bugging me. Look, I'm too tired now, really can't chat about life and dreams with him. So, I'm formally leaving him in your care, bye, I need to rest."

With that, Hu Xiaodong zipped away, leaving the dumbfounded Wang Qiang behind.

"Oh no, Brother Hu... you!" Wang Qiang snatched at the air with his right hand, as if trying to grab Hu Xiaodong back.

But the latter had already reached the bottom of the stairs, of course, before "escaping" to the ground, Hu Xiaodong didn't forget to kindly remind, "Qiang, you two have a good chat! Haha!"

"Damn it!" Wang Qiang cursed, blaming his misjudgment in choosing friends!

Well! With Hu Xiaodong leaving, Wang Qiang, already nervous, became even more at a loss, not even knowing where to place his hands.

Yang Xue naturally noticed the man's unease, immediately fixed her eyes on Wang Qiang, her false eyelashes fluttering high, and teasingly said, "Hey, what's up? You seem really nervous?"

"Ah? Haha, how... how could I be nervous!" Bumbling speech, awkward actions, even Wang Qiang couldn't believe the plausibility of his words.

"Oh, not nervous!? Then it must be because you find talking to me boring, huh. Fine, since that's the case, I'll be off then!"

"No, no, no! I didn't mean that, haha!" Seeing Yang Xue about to move, Wang Qiang hurriedly raised his right hand to block her path.

But after doing so, he felt inappropriate and quickly withdrew his right hand.

Wang Qiang's shy and awkward behavior made Yang Xue burst into giggles:

"I'm just teasing you, I find you're really not cut out for mingling with girls, look at you, your face is red, and we barely said anything."

"I..." Being hit right in his weak spot, Wang Qiang was at a loss for words; who could understand a homebody's struggles?

"Alright!" Yang Xue decided not to tease Wang Qiang any further, she lifted her hand to tidy her hair in a bun: "Let's go! To your room!" (to be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)