Chapter 13 - Armistice
Translated by: Ciel
Edited by: Isalee
Gao Yang didn’t rush to open fire. Instead, he waited until the enemies were within two hundred meters before aiming at the man leading them all. With two short shots, Gao Yang dropped the man.
The men following Gao Yang were incredibly sensitive to the sound of gunshots. The moment their heard him fire, they immediately lunged towards the ground.
The b*stard that fell was shot but didn’t die. Instead, he screamed and began cursing loudly into the ground. After a moment, the men who didn’t dare to move from their positions finally began firing at Gao Yang’s position. One of the fearless b*stards actually stood up and ran a few steps. He was probably checking on the man’s injuries.
As for the live target, Gao Yang couldn’t let him go. He aimed right at his moving back and opened fire, putting him to the ground.
Gao Yang began to relax some more. He had run for a full day straight. A faint ache began to start in his stomach. Every now and then he could feel his muscles cramp up and tingle. When that happened, Gao Yang happily took a short break.
He wasn’t scared nor was he panicked; but his enemies were terrified. They had gone from a dozen or so people to just six. Furthermore, they were actually being suppressed by Gao Yang. Every move they made lead to a death. If someone hadn’t been forcing them, these mercenaries would’ve scattered a long time ago.
Gao Yang, on the other hand, was in no rush. He took the time to recover his body strength as he waited for his petrified enemies to collapse.
With a piece of dirty white cloth was tied to a gun, a man yelled, “Don’t fire. We surrender! Please, let us leave.”
Gao Yang was both stunned and amused. The enemy was actually surrendering before him. This kind of thing was completely outside of his predictions. But, it was always better to not have to continue fighting. After a moment of consideration, Gao Yang shouted, “Throw out all of your weapons. After that, you can leave.”
“No, if we don’t have any weapons, we’ll be killed when we go back. If you don’t shoot, we won’t shoot. It’s an armistice.”
Gao Yang knew that he couldn’t pressure them too much. After all, they did have the advantage in numbers. The best decision would be for both sides to leave after the armistice.
“Alright, let me see your hands. Don’t try any tricks. You can leave now; I promise I won’t fire.”
The remaining people quickly started discussing in hushed voices. One of them raised both of his hands and walked out. He bent over to drag the corpse of the commander and then slowly backed away. Very soon, another one of them stood up. After he picked up a gun from the ground, he followed behind in the footsteps of the first man.
Gao Yang didn’t open fire and let the two men slowly drag the corpse away. When the two were far into the distance, another two stood up and dragged another dead body away as they retreated.
Gao Yang didn’t make a single move. He waited until all six of them were far off before relaxing. He didn’t dare stay very long in the plains. It wasn’t until he was far from his original location that he sat down on the ground.
Gao Yang didn’t want to take another step. When he finally relaxed, all of the exhaustion, hunger, and thirst washed over him. It was hard for him to even lift a finger. Even he was shocked by the potential that he had shown in that battle. From morning to dusk, he hadn’t eaten a single bite of food or a sip of water. In addition, while being roasted in the forty degree heat, he didn’t get heat stroke or die of dehydration, but actually had run several dozen kilometers. If this was the old him, he wouldn’t even dare to think about a feat such as that.
Afraid that he would fall asleep right then and there, Gao Yang focused on the task at hand. In order to report his safety, he picked up the walkie-talkie.
“I am safe now, there are no more issues. How is it for you guys? Please respond. Over.”
After waiting for a few minutes, Katherine’s voice sounded through the radio.
“I knew you would get out of it alive. We have no problems over here either. The only issue is that Ewan was hit by a stray bullet. It cleanly went through his shoulder. Luckily his injuries aren’t severe. The professor is watching over him right now. Do you want to talk to him? Over.”
Hearing that no one had died or taken heavy injuries was good news. Gao Yang could finally let go of this worry in his heart. A sense of pride rose up in his chest. After letting out a couple of foolish laughs, he turned on the walkie-talkie again.
“No need to bother the professor. Let me speak with the tribesmen. Over.”
Very soon, Kathleen let him know that the chief was on the other end. Gao Yang spoke into the mic: “Chief, do you know where you are right now? If so, tell me now and I’ll go find you.”
“White kid, is that you? This thing is very odd. Is it the strange white people’s magic? We’re fairly far from the tribe. These peculiar white people walk too slow. We’re near the pool where we hunted that boar last time. I’m planning on resting there before we leave. These strange fair-skinned people don’t look like they’ll be able to walk any longer. I’m going to look for a place to sleep and let them rest. We have to find some food too. We’re hungry, and so are the foreign white people. One of them has been crying constantly. So embarrassing.”
The chief rambled on and on. It was probably because he was so excited over talking through the strange device. Gao Yang wasn’t worried that anybody would eavesdrop on their conversation. Even if they did, they would never be able to understand the A’Kuli language.
The place where the chief and the others were resting were fairly far from the tribe. Based on their current snail pace, it would take them until the middle of the night before they would reach the tribe. Gao Yang thought about it for a moment and finally decided to just have them wait for him.
“Chief, how about you and everyone else wait for me there. But you have to be alert. There’s probably some bad men out there. If you see any strange movements, run. That’s right, make sure you don’t raise a fire.”
After he finished speaking, Gao Yang thought about it for a moment, and then used English to give Kathleen the same instructions. The second time around, he spoke in much simpler terms.
“Wait for me, and be careful. I will double back around to find you guys. If there’s no need, don’t reach out to me. Ah, if you guys have earbuds that connect to the walkie-talkie, use those. If not, make sure you lower the volume. Over.”
“Understood. Be careful. Over.”
After he was finished giving his orders, Gao Yang set his walkie-talkie to the lowest volume setting. This way, even if they were to contact him, the sound wouldn’t be too loud. While there weren’t any immediate dangers at the moment, it was always better to be on the safe side.
Gao Yang didn’t rest for too long. He planned on heading in their direction before the darkness set in. There weren’t any “roads” so to speak on the plains, and he wasn’t completely familiar with the area. While he knew the general direction of where the tribe was, it was much harder to locate it in the dark.