It was already noon, and the sun was scorching the desert. The heat waves over the sand seed like rising molten lava, suffocating. The yellow sands stretched endlessly, dune after dune with no end in sight, no sign of life. Even the racing teams that had appeared just a mont ago had vanished into the rolling thermal waves, leaving no trace. Luo Zheng looked back at the sun and said softly, "You go check on them, survey the rooms here to see if any fish slipped through the net. Collect so food and bedding too, we'll probably have to spend the night on the city wall. I'll keep watch here."
"Okay, be careful." Lan Xue replied, crouching down before swiftly descending the city wall.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. The most despicable are those orioles who reap without sowing. Luo Zheng scanned the sand dunes ahead in anger, unable to see his opponents. He didn't dare to move carelessly, as soone might have already locked onto him by now. After thinking for a mont, Luo Zheng edged backward, and large sweat droplets rolled off him, hitting the ground and quickly soaking it.
The battle that had just passed had been a narrow escape from death, and he had thought it was all over and that he could go ho, but his enemies had caught up. No wonder there had been hummingbird surveillance over his head these past days, it turned out to be from Sam Country. These guys had managed to reach this place—could it be that all of Wolf King's n had been wiped out? That would be good, as it ant no worries for his rear.
With this thought, Luo Zheng's anger subsided sowhat, and he continued to watch carefully in front of him to prevent a stealth attack. It was deadly quiet all around, with only the wind gently blowing. About an hour later, Luo Zheng carefully moved his sowhat stiff body. Suddenly, he saw soone going to the opposite side of the lake to fetch water and couldn't help but laugh without interfering.
The sniper scope surveyed all around and spotted a black dot behind an inconspicuous dune, slightly higher than the castle, not very clear. Luo Zheng guessed it was a person and, without hesitation, aid and fired swiftly. The bullet's whistling broke the silence, startling everyone around, and the black dot disappeared.
"Are those bastards attacking?" Lan Xue asked anxiously through the headset.
"No, carry on preparing," Luo Zheng replied quietly, quickly crawling to another spot to hide and continue scanning for targets. Hearing a gunshot, he was startled and turned to look, only to find the ground where he had just been lying had been hit by a bullet, leaving a crater. He smiled, relieved.
This sort of reciprocal sniping was more about probing attacks, the intimidation being more important than killing. Of course, hitting the target was virtually impossible, and Luo Zheng knew this well, and believed the opposition also understood. After scanning with the sniper scope and not seeing any likely targets, he saw the person fetching water lying motionless on the bank of the lake.
"Go on, I won't shoot you," Luo Zheng murmured coldly, his trigger finger slowly relaxing. He backed off a bit and suppressed his urgent and anxious feelings, becoming vigilant and patiently waiting. Since the enemy had co, there definitely needed to be an outco, who would win the deer, one had to kill to find out.
Another half hour went by, and Lan Xue hurried over with a roasted desert chicken. Desert chicken was a type of bird in the desert, typically gregarious, gathering in large flocks near water sources to drink. It had gray feathers all over, thick plumage and tough skin. With a lake here, it was likely food Wolf King's people had hunted, and now everyone could benefit from it. The roasted at wasn't bad, and Luo Zheng politely took it and started eating.
After days of subsisting on compressed biscuits, Luo Zheng felt the roasted desert chicken was as delicious as the finest delicacies, quickly devouring it. After drinking so water, he felt much better and sighed, "Cooked food really is better, isn't it? Is there more? What else did you find?"
"There's more food, stead buns, roasted cakes, enough for us to eat. Found a well with clear, sweet water—no wonder Wolf King's people weren't poisoned. There are also plenty of daily necessities, and so ammunition. Even if we lived here for a month, it would be enough," Lan Xue whispered back.
"Mm, that's good." Luo Zheng felt relieved and continued through the earpiece, "I didn't have a chance to ask before, but what's with the body that took the bullet for ?"
"It was one of Wolf King's n." Snow Leopard explained through the earpiece, "I rushed over from the rooftop and saw this guy suddenly climb up and aim at you. I fired first, he got hit, and fell down. Never expected it would be such a coincidence; brother, you're really a lucky guy." His voice conveyed a deep sense of emotion.
"So that's what happened. Wolf King is indeed cunning, deliberately exposing himself to attract everyone's attention while shooting at . I didn't expect the real attack was from the rooftop. Lucky to have the Snow Leopard Brothers there, or else my life would have been over. Thanks." Luo Zheng said with a sigh of gratitude.
"You know, in this competition, you've lost your composure several tis, each ti on the brink of life and death. Be more cautious next ti. On the battlefield, you must maintain your cool at all tis. By the way, the others have already taken up positions at the four corners of the wall. Why don't you go down and rest for a bit? Is your chest wound serious?" Lan Xue asked with concern.
"It's nothing serious. Since there's water here, I'll go wash up; haven't taken a shower in days. We'll take turns later." Luo Zheng looked at the scorching sun, feeling sticky and uncomfortable, and added, "The teams from Sam Country seem to have gone into hiding, appearing as if they've just reached here and need to rest. Probably won't start a fight anyti soon," he said, making his way down.
After asking about the well location, Luo Zheng went to the well, drew a bucket of water that was cool and clear. He couldn't help but drink a few mouthfuls; it was indeed sweet. He laughed, drank his fill, then quickly stripped down to nothing and began to shower under the scorching sun. After a bucket of water, he felt unparalleled comfort and his spirits instantly lifted.
After the refreshing shower, Luo Zheng got dressed, donned his gear, and ca to the wall, lying next to Lan Xue, he whispered, "You should go and wash up too. I'll keep a lookout here. Guys, it's ladies first."
"Not cool, bro. You're also a man, just washed up and now you're playing the 'ladies first' card with us. You should have said 'leaders first,' right?" Snow Leopard chuckled.
"Exactly, little brother. For that, you're on dinner duties later." Ghost Hand said with a laugh.
Luo Zheng could tell that everyone's mood was steady, not perturbed by the appearance of other teams, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. He glanced at Lan Xue, who nodded understandingly and gave a soft smile before slowly moving back. After taking cover, Luo Zheng set up his rifle and started to scan the area. Seeing others going to draw water, he whispered with a smile, "Guys, we didn't get to poison Wolf King with the contaminated water, but those bastards got lucky instead."
"It's actually perfect, we can't make fire here to boil water, and even with disinfection pills, we can't be sure to kill all the bacteria and viruses. Best if the poison kills them; saves us a lot of trouble." Ghost Hand said with a hearty laugh.
At that, everyone laughed, the previous anger and pressure of being outmaneuvered dissipated.
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