Wen Jifei's bullets were vital to them right now. If not for the deterrent of that shot of his and all those bullets stalling the pursuit along the way, Qu Zongyan and his men would have chased them down without any reservations, and they might not have even made it this far.
Back when the few of them were in Squad 1777, they had lived in an outpost seven or eight hundred meters from the station. There was spare ammunition kept in the outpost. What Wen Jifei meant by sneaking back to scavenge was doing it without showing their faces.
"I just don't know if anyone's living there now," He Tangtang said worriedly.
"Knowing Captain Lao's personality, he wouldn't let anyone else move in," Wen Jifei said with absolute certainty. When it came to observing and understanding Lao Jian, he was the sharpest.
"Then let's go while it's dark." Han Qingyu braced a hand against the stone wall to stand up. "Call Wu Xu."
If they were going, they would go together. Under these circumstances, they could never split their forces again, or else whoever got cornered would end up dead.
In the night-shrouded mountain ridges, rainwater accumulated on the foliage kept slapping against their bodies, soaking them through in just a few steps. It had poured heavily earlier—a good thing, because it meant no moon tonight, and the mountain runoff would wash away most of their footprints.
Crouching low, the six moved swiftly and lightly across the mountains.
"Everything really is hard once you leave home," He Tangtang muttered, wiping rain from his face.
Speaking of miserable, their situation really was bleak enough right now. Who could have imagined the Qu clan actually had two super combat powers?! Two! And to make matters worse, they had captured Azure soldiers to sacrifice to their banner. In the silence, no one answered He Tangtang.
About three hours later, they were lying prone on the reverse slope across from the outpost.
"No lights," Wen Jifei said after observing for a while.
"Yeah. Where exactly are the bullets? I'll go get them." As Han Qingyu spoke, he took off the wooden box, handed it to Rusty Sister, and took a piece of cloth to cover his face. In a situation like this, it was better not to show one's face if possible, to avoid causing more trouble.
"They're in..." Wen Jifei began, then blurted out, "Holy shit."
In the dark, a vigorous figure was sprinting madly toward them, tongue lolling out, panting heavily with excitement.
It was a black dog. Its name was Bu Mang.
"Bu Mang, no barking," Wu Xu whispered quickly.
Now a big dog, Bu Mang sensibly kept quiet but kept running, diving straight into Wu Xu's arms. Panting excitedly, it licked his hands frantically and sniffed his scent.
Then it rubbed against everyone except Zhu Jiaming before returning to Wu Xu's side once more.
Wu Xu stroked Bu Mang's head, wanting to pull out something to feed it, but had nothing.
"Bu Mang's been taken care of really well. He's gotten sturdier. I wonder how Mangmang Mangmang is doing." Being a young girl after all, Rusty Sister's voice choked up slightly; she missed her lazy cat.
"Tsk, tsk, look at all that sentimentality. Let me tell you, Mangmang Mangmang probably doesn't even remember you. Believe it? Haha," Wen Jifei laughed. "Cats are heartless, dogs are loyal..."
Rusty Sister slammed his face into the dirt with one iron palm.
Lifting his head back up, Wen Jifei was just as cheerful. He waved. "Bu Mang, come here. Come."
Calling Bu Mang over, Wen Jifei took out an ammo pouch, held it under the dog's nose to let him sniff it, and then pointed just like old times. "Go on, Divine Dog Bu Mang. Go fetch me two pouches of bullets."
Hearing the familiar command, Bu Mang quickly turned and took two strides, then suddenly stopped. He looked back at them, and finally gazed at Wu Xu.
It was as if saying, *Don't leave again, okay? Don't disappear on me again.*
Wu Xu smiled and gave a gentle wave.
The black silhouette disappeared into the darkness.
Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes...
"Bu Mang didn't get lost, did he?" Rusty Sister asked, craning her neck to look.
"Possible. He is Wu Xu's dog, after all."
Wen Jifei turned to glance at Wu Xu.
"I'm just afraid he went to the kitchen and brought back another slab of cured pork."
Just as He Tangtang's voice fell, there was a sound.
The rustling came from the dark, and gradually a figure emerged. Bu Mang had his head lowered against the ground, his body angled sideways as all four limbs strained to move forward...
Ammo pouches were heavy to begin with, and he was dragging two pouches at once.
"Aww, I just said two pouches offhand. Can this fellow Bu Mang actually understand numbers?" Wen Jifei muttered with a touch of bittersweet warmth.
Then He Tangtang also said, "He's a dog who fought in battle alongside Wu Xu, after all."
Then silence fell again.
In the dark, the six of them lay there, watching Bu Mang bite down on the ammo pouches, straining to drag them inch by inch toward them.
"Silly dog," Wu Xu scolded softly, his eyes smiling.
Finally dragging them over, Bu Mang lifted his head panting, wagging his tail proudly as he trotted circles around them, as if saying: *Look, aren't I even more awesome than before?*
The others took turns petting the dog's head.
Puffing while stroking him, Wen Jifei said, "Silly dog, if you couldn't carry it, didn't you know to make two trips?!"
*Whoosh.*
Bu Mang spun around and bolted away.
"Holy crap." Holding up two fingers, Wen Jifei said blankly, "Did he understand again?!"
...
This time, Bu Mang returned very quickly. His head wasn't pressed to the ground; it was held high, his steps rhythmic like equestrian dressage. Clamped in his mouth was a slab of cured pork.
That bastard of a dog really didn't disappoint—he had gone to the kitchen to steal cured pork again.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Only Rusty Sister stared intently behind Bu Mang, at that tiptoeing figure, at the cat that had already grown as fat as a dog.
"Mangmang Mangmang."
"Meow."
A low meow. Mangmang Mangmang padded over, seemingly thrilled yet unwilling to appear overly eager, rubbing its body against the iron armor as it drew near.
Rusty Sister swept the cat into her arms.
At the same time, "You guys... mmph!"
At the foot of the hill, Hu Biaomao clamped a hand over Zhao Erzhu's mouth. "You idiot! Who shouts right out loud like that? Looking to get killed? We should go back and get people!"
The two of them had gone to the kitchen in the middle of the night to steal something to eat and bumped into the dog. Zhao Erzhu had chased after him the whole way, and Hu Biaomao, thinking he might earn merit and climb the ranks, had followed along as well.
There was clearly someone on the hillside. Zhao Erzhu drew his blade immediately.
"What do we do?" Having been spotted, He Tangtang asked anxiously from the hillside.
Seeing this, Han Qingyu thought it over. What else could they do? It wasn't like they could silence them by killing them... He said, "It's fine. If it's someone we know, we might as well just say hello."
"Probably not someone we know." Looking at the two figures wrestling down below, Wu Xu couldn't recall anyone familiar and chimed in.
"Then they must be new recruits," Wen Jifei said.
As they spoke, he looked up and exchanged a glance with Han Qingyu. Wen Jifei lowered his gun, while Han Qingyu unbuckled one of his blades. The two stood up and walked down.
They were coming? Just walking over like that?! Hu Biaomao froze, drawing his blade. "You—"
Zhao Erzhu: "Good timing! I'll let you see just how much Squad 1777's future top combat power is going to—"
*Whoosh!* A soft rush of air.
Han Qingyu swung his arm, knocking both of them cold onto the ground.
...
"Captain Lao, let me tell you, it's not that I'm weak, it's that guy who ambushed us," Zhao Erzhu said earnestly, sitting in Lao Jian's office. "If I hadn't been knocked out by that one slap of his, I definitely would've taken him down."
"Mm." Lao Jian was a bit emotional, but he concealed it. From their description and what had gone missing, he had already deduced who it was.
"The truth is we just couldn't beat him. There was no contest at all," Hu Biaomao bluntly undercut him from the side, sighing. "Sigh, if only Major Qing and the others were still here..."
As he spoke, he stole glances at Lao Jian's expression. Lately, he had been probing Lao Jian repeatedly, trying to confirm whether Han Qingyu and the others were still alive. If it was confirmed that they were truly dead, he would have to find a way to transfer squads. He had gold bars, after all.
Neither of them knew that just last night, they had already met Major Qing for the first time. The very earliest among all the new recruits.
Holding back a laugh, Lao Jian looked at them and said sternly, "All right. The fact that they didn't kill you shows they might not be enemies. Maybe they're people sent down from above on a secret mission? So don't speak a word of this."
"Ah!" Zhao Erzhu thought for a moment. "Not even within the squad?"
"No. Think about it: someone walked in and out of our 1777 like it was their own backyard. Isn't that humiliating? The two of you were knocked out cold with a single slap the moment you met face-to-face. Isn't that humiliating? Besides, there are outsiders at our station right now..." Lao Jian argued.
Zhao Erzhu considered this seriously. "Right, we definitely can't say a word."
Beside him, Hu Biaomao sighed again. "This is only because Major Qing and the others aren't here. If they were still around..."
"It's fine." Lao Jian glanced at the faxed document on his desk. "The Rejecters said they're preparing to assign a super to us."
"A super?"
"Mm."
Inside Hu Biaomao's sleeve, the two gold bars seemed to twitch with restless temptation.
He was a man of the jianghu. And making one's way in the jianghu was really just about latching onto big thighs... So Major Qing or whatever didn't matter at all anymore.
Chapter 397