Chapter 515 - 245: The Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell?
Chapter 515: Chapter 245: The Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell?
Yang Qi and Yue Fangping exchanged a glance when they saw the three well-camouflaged vehicles and four guards in the forest clearing.
Yue Fangping calmly made a hand signal for "retreat and take cover."
The group, including Xiaojiu who was scouting ahead, silently retreated without disturbing a single leaf.
Once they had retreated to a safe distance, Yue Fangping looked at Yang Qi and Xiaojiu, giving them an undisguised thumbs-up filled with sincere admiration.
If Xiaojiu hadn’t spotted them in advance, they would have likely blundered right into the enemy’s security perimeter.
"Old Li, Da Liu..."
Yue Fangping quickly called them out, his voice low. "You four stay behind. Spread out, find advantageous positions, and keep your eyes glued to those four men and three vehicles. As long as they don’t leave, you don’t move!"
"If they make any sudden moves, especially trying to start the cars, subdue them immediately. You are authorized to use your weapons if necessary. If you hear gunfire from the villa, you also move in at once. Secure the vehicles and stop anyone from driving away."
"Understood!"
The four named team members responded in low voices, then dispersed to find the best surveillance and firing positions. Their muzzles were pointed toward the clearing, fingers resting on their trigger guards, as they held their breath in concentration.
With the surveillance team in place, Yue Fangping, Yang Qi, and the two remaining team members, led by Xiaojiu, once again crept toward the villa.
With Xiaojiu acting as a "living radar" and perfect scout, they were able to avoid the most obvious routes—the ones that were easiest to traverse but also the most likely to be monitored.
Just as the group was nearing the villa’s perimeter and could faintly hear muffled voices from inside, Xiaojiu, at the very front, suddenly stopped. It crouched low, its black fur bristling slightly, and its jade-green eyes stared intently at a thicket ahead. A thought was sent to Yang Qi.
’Master, someone is coming.’
Yang Qi froze instantly. At almost the same moment, he shot out a hand to press sharply on Yue Fangping’s shoulder while making a "take cover and be silent" gesture to the two team members behind him.
The four men reacted swiftly. The instant Yang Qi’s hand signal was given, they dropped in unison into the dense ferns and bushes beside them. They held their breath, bodies pressed flat against the ground, completely motionless. Even their camouflage seemed to melt into the surroundings.
A few seconds later, the CRUNCH CRUNCH of footsteps on dry branches echoed from ahead, accompanied by the gruff conversation of two men.
"...Damn it, how are there still mosquitoes in these mountains in the middle of winter?"
"Alright, knock it off with the complaints. Let’s hurry back and relieve the watch. I want to go have a few drinks."
"I don’t know how much longer we have to hide out in these mountains. Watching movies every day... I’m bored out of my skull."
"Hey, at least we have videos to watch."
"..."
The footsteps drew nearer, passed by on a faint path less than ten meters from the front of their hiding spot, and then gradually faded away, disappearing into the woods.
Yang Qi waited a few more seconds after the footsteps were completely gone before slowly raising his head and giving Yue Fangping and the others an "all clear" signal.
Only then did the four men get up from the undergrowth, exchanging glances, their hearts still pounding from the close call.
If those two had deviated even slightly from the path or glanced in their direction, they would have been discovered.
Thank goodness for Xiaojiu’s early warning!
Yue Fangping and the two team members all gave a thumbs-up to Xiaojiu, who was squatting quietly by Yang Qi’s feet. Their eyes were filled with a mixture of amazement and residual fear.
If it weren’t for this Divine Cat, they would have been exposed just now, and the entire mission might have been for nothing.
Yang Qi gently stroked Xiaojiu’s head as a reward, then motioned for the cat to continue leading the way.
Meanwhile, Yue Fangping immediately used his throat mic to contact the four team members left behind at the vehicle hiding spot.
"Be advised, two hostiles are heading your way from the direction of the villa. ETA five minutes. Maintain concealment. Do not engage unless you are spotted or they attempt to move the vehicles. I repeat, do not engage."
"Copy that!"
A brief response came through the communicator.
After dealing with the unexpected situation, Yue Fangping’s group followed Xiaojiu, continuing their approach toward the villa.
At last, they reached the outskirts of the villa. Through a final, sparse patch of woods, they could clearly see the compound’s high, gray-blue walls, topped with barbed wire that glinted coldly in the evening light.
What was even more startling was the wooden watchtower, about seven or eight meters tall, standing in one corner of the compound!
There was a platform at the top of the tower where the silhouette of a man could be seen. He was holding binoculars, slowly turning to scan the woodlands surrounding the villa.
Inside the villa, in a gravel-paved courtyard, armed figures could be seen moving about from time to time on a routine patrol.
The entire villa exuded a heavily guarded, oppressive atmosphere that warned all strangers to keep away.
Yue Fangping lay behind a rock, observing carefully through high-powered binoculars for several minutes, his expression growing more and more grave.
After a moment, he lowered the binoculars and nodded at Yang Qi, who was lying beside him.
"..."
Yang Qi didn’t say anything. He made a few simple hand signals to Xiaojiu, then pointed toward the villa.
A glimmer of understanding flashed in Xiaojiu’s jade-green eyes. It let out a soft "meow" in response.
With a flicker of movement, Xiaojiu became a black shadow. It hugged the ground, using bushes, weeds, and rocks for cover as it moved quickly and silently toward the side of the villa.
It didn’t approach from the front. Instead, it circled around to the side of the compound, to a spot with relatively dense vegetation near a large, leafy tree that had several thick branches reaching over the wall.
Then, it waited patiently, its cat eyes locked on the turning figure atop the watchtower.