Chapter 223: Encountering Enemies in the Deep Mountains
Mr. Han led his men and Gu Jiaojiao into a vast, undeveloped old-growth forest.
They walked for over two hours without seeing a single wild rabbit, let alone a wild boar.
Gu Jiaojiao couldn’t help but frown and ask, "Mr. Han, are we in the wrong place?"
"No. If we go deeper, there should be wild boars," Mr. Han said, leading his dozen or so personal bodyguards without breaking stride.
But Gu Jiaojiao shook her head, disagreeing with going deeper into the mountains. She glanced around. "Mr. Han, look. There are many precious medicinal herbs over there."
Mr. Han followed her gaze and, sure enough, saw a colorful patch of plants in the distance.
He hesitated for a long moment but had no choice but to walk in the direction Gu Jiaojiao had pointed. Inwardly, however, he was growing more and more anxious.
"Little Divine Doctor, our main purpose on this mountain is to hunt animals like wild boars, pheasants, and rabbits. We really aren’t focused on gathering herbs.
But since you’re interested, go ahead and pick some of the more valuable ones. Let’s just leave the common, easy-to-find herbs for another day."
"Yes, Mr. Han makes a good point. This saffron here, it invigorates the blood, dispels stasis, relieves anxiety, and aids the liver and gallbladder.
It’s also incredibly rare. Take a close look, everyone. This is saffron. Memorize what it looks like, and if you see any more, dig up as much as you can.
Oh my god, there’s even ginseng and gastrodia! We’re so lucky."
’Gu Jiaojiao truly hadn’t expected to find several types of rare medicinal herbs all at once, but she didn’t want to pass up the common ones, either.’
No matter how anxious he was, Mr. Han couldn’t bring himself to pass up such valuable herbs. They were exactly what his people needed.
So he immediately waved to his subordinates. "Old Zhou, take a few men and go check over there. The rest of you, stay with the Little Divine Doctor and carefully identify the herbs before you dig. Make sure you don’t bring back a pile of weeds."
"We’ll head over there now, Mr. Han." Old Zhou immediately charged ahead with a few of his men.
"Don’t worry, Mr. Han. We won’t dig up any weeds," the remaining deputy captain immediately assured him.
After he and his men had carefully identified the plants with Gu Jiaojiao, they all picked up their shovels and began to dig.
It was Gu Jiaojiao who had requested they all bring shovels. She had come prepared, intending to gather herbs to make her medicine pills.
Aside from Mr. Han and Old Zhou, everyone else thought the same as Gu Jiaojiao—that Mr. Han’s only goal was to hunt wild boar.
This was because Mr. Han was pacing anxiously, clearly eager to press deeper into the forest.
Gu Jiaojiao deliberately kept her distance from the group. ’She had a hoe in her storage space, one she’d put there during a previous trip to a farm.’
Out of everyone’s line of sight, she pulled the hoe from her storage space with practiced ease.
’She didn’t pass up a single herb. As soon as she dug one up, she tossed it into her storage space, planning to plant them there that night.’
Meanwhile, Mr. Han’s attention wasn’t on Gu Jiaojiao at all. He watched the retreating figures of Old Zhou and his men, pacing anxiously.
The dozen or so men with Mr. Han were no slouches; they moved with extreme speed, gathering large amounts of saffron, deer antler, seahorses...
After a while, one of the men noticed his bag—a large rice sack—was full.
It was Gu Jiaojiao who had insisted everyone bring a bag before they set out. At the time, they had been puzzled as to why.
He glanced up at his surroundings, then his eyes widened. He ran to Mr. Han’s side and whispered, "Mr. Han, look over there."
His tone was deceptively calm, but Mr. Han detected an unusual urgency in his voice.
He followed the man’s gaze, and his expression changed instantly!
In a patch of grass, a clump of something grass-like but off-colored was crawling slowly. It then quickly vanished into the undergrowth.
They were quite far away, but in the instant the thing emerged from the grass, Mr. Han had seen clearly what it was.
’It really was the enemy.’
’And there was more than one.’ Mr. Han’s heart skipped a beat!
With a single look, he commanded his men. Instantly, they dropped their shovels, drew their guns, and formed a protective circle around Mr. Han.
On Mr. Han’s signal, they moved toward the figures without alerting Gu Jiaojiao.
But Gu Jiaojiao was far too perceptive not to notice. The moment they moved forward, she immediately tossed the hoe back into her storage space.
She also swept the herbs the men had gathered into her space, leaving their shovels and bags behind.
’It would be hard to explain if they came back.’ She then picked up one of the abandoned shovels and calmly resumed digging for herbs.
These were truly rare and precious herbs. Besides, Gu Jiaojiao had also prepared some silver needles that had been steeped in a powerful sedative.
’She had tested them before on the mountain behind the farm—a single needle was enough to knock out a wild boar.’
So she continued digging with utter composure. She dragged a bag behind her, one filled with common herbs.
’If danger arose, she could abandon it in an instant without a second thought.’
Old Zhou and his men split off from Mr. Han’s group and pushed deeper into the woods. The farther they went, the stronger the smell of gunpowder grew, and the louder the gunshots became.
Clearly, they were closing in on the team they were sent to rescue. They passed numerous corpses along the way, most of them belonging to the enemy.
If any were found wounded but still alive, a few of the soldiers would go and finish them off with a blade, ensuring they were dead.
Meanwhile, Old Zhou reported to Mr. Han via satellite phone. Mr. Han and his ten or so men had already eliminated the lurking enemies on their end.
He ordered Old Zhou and his men to find Jiang Ruihao’s squad as soon as possible. They, in turn, were looking for Sheng Shijing and Chen Feng’s team, who had been lying in ambush deep in the mountains.
They had suddenly lost contact two days ago. Jiang Ruihao immediately led a team into the mountains to find them, but this morning, he had lost contact as well.
This was why Mr. Han had come into the mountains himself. He had deliberately tricked Gu Jiaojiao into coming by telling her they were hunting wild boar, all so he could have her on hand for emergency first aid.
Although Jiang Ruihao had brought several army medics with him, Mr. Han had far more faith in Gu Jiaojiao’s medical expertise.
Because all contact was lost, Mr. Han didn’t know their precise location and could only search near their last known position.
Meanwhile, Sheng Shijing and his team were facing a considerable number of enemies. Chen Feng had managed to lure one group of them away.
But the enemy wasn’t stupid. They quickly realized something was amiss and sent in reinforcements to surround them.
The stalemate dragged on intermittently for hours, and Zhang Weishan and the others sustained heavy injuries.
Sheng Shijing had been shot multiple times and was gravely wounded. To make matters worse, the poison in his system had flared up, putting him in extreme danger, yet he dared not lose consciousness.
Zhang Weishan had only managed to give him a simple field dressing to stop the bleeding. Fortunately, the hemostatic powder they used had been a gift from Sheng Shijing’s adopted younger sister, and it was exceptionally effective.
In their eyes, Sheng Shijing was unlikely to survive; their only goal now was to break through the enemy’s encirclement.
As long as they could get the intelligence out, it wouldn’t matter if they all died in the process.
"Shit!"
The enemy was attacking again. Zhang Weishan cursed, gritting his teeth.
He roared to his brothers, "Hold on for two more hours! Reinforcements will be here!"
Just when their lives were hanging by a thread, their captain, Jiang Ruihao, found them, bringing medics with him.
The army medics immediately began treating the wounded in an orderly fashion. Since Sheng Shijing’s wounds weren’t bleeding, they left him for the time being.
By the time they were done with the others, they found Sheng Shijing unconscious with a high fever. A medic unwrapped his wounds and saw that they were already festering.
Even the most skilled medic didn’t dare attempt to remove the bullet fragments on the spot. "Get a stretcher! This man is in critical condition. We need to get him back to HQ immediately!"