chsdbacks Chapter 843 Desert Ghost: Vermouth
Chapter 843 Desert Ghost: Vermouth
Arabian Desert, near the Yemeni border.
The scorching sun mercilessly burned the endless yellow sand, and the heat waves distorted the distant skyline.
The strong wind blew up gusts of sand and dust, like a golden veil, covering this land of death.
A group of riders wearing yellow windproof cloaks and veils covering their faces were galloping on their horses.
With rifles slung over their backs, their figures rose and fell on the undulating sand dunes, like ghosts wandering in the desert, rushing towards some unknown target.
They didn't know that on the shady side of the sand dune they had just passed, a man and his mount were lying tightly in the hot sand.
Baijiu gently cupped the horse's muzzle with his palm and whispered soothing words to prevent it from neighing or moving out of fear.
In this lawless borderland, any outsider is an uninvited guest.
Here, there are no laws, no identities, and the only rule is that whoever holds the stronger gun has the right to speak.
Not until the dust raised by the team of riders completely disappeared in the distance did Baijiu slowly lean out and look around vigilantly.
A gust of hot wind carrying sand blew in his face, making it almost impossible for him to open his eyes.
"Come on, old man." He pulled on the reins and shook off the thick sand on his body as if he were taking off a heavy sand cloak. "You did well."
He patted the horse's neck with an appreciative tone.
The dazzling sunlight illuminated his dusty but sharp face.
He mounted his horse and followed the group silently, keeping a safe distance.
After an unknown amount of time, the team ahead suddenly slowed down, as if they had discovered something. They all turned in unison and rushed towards a low-lying area.
Baijiu immediately reined in his horse, swiftly jumped down, and placed his mount on the back of the dune. He quickly raised his telescope and looked in the direction where the riders were focusing.
About two kilometers away, in an empty desert, several low adobe houses stood abruptly.
Judging from the broken and collapsed walls, this small settlement has been abandoned for many years.
Abandoned hotel, second floor.
The tattered curtains, stained a khaki color by the dust, barely blocked out the sunlight. Behind the curtains, Vermouth sat upright on a pile of ammunition boxes piled up like a small hill.
She held the rifle in her arms, extreme fatigue coming over her like a tide, making her head nod uncontrollably like a student dozing off in class.
Although her face was covered with a layer of dust, it could not hide her delicate features and clear three-dimensional contours, which could be called the masterpiece of the Creator.
That is the face that countless people dream of.
She couldn't remember how many days she had been trapped in this desolate place.
The only certainty was that, judging by the rapidly consuming supplies under her feet, she could only hold on for one more day at best.
In this desolate desert with no signal and isolated from the world, only she and the wandering souls in the desert know how she survived these days.
She shook her head violently, forcing herself to wake up.
At this moment, her beautiful eyes, which had been slightly blurred due to fatigue, suddenly became sharp! She put down her rifle, quickly picked up the binoculars at her feet, and stood up silently.
She looked through the broken window at the top of a sand dune in the distance, which was reflecting tiny spots of light.
A long-lost, genuine smile bloomed on her face: "White wine..."
All the pain, numbness, and despair vanished at this moment! Her eyes were instantly filled with infinite brilliance and vitality!
In the distance, Baijiu was using the back of the compass to reflect sunlight, sending her the predetermined signal.
However, the light suddenly and rapidly faded.
He frowned and turned to look to the side——
I saw a sand wall connecting the sky and the earth, like a giant tsunami, swallowing up everything in its path at an alarming speed!
Sandstorm is coming!
He immediately put away the compass, raised the telescope and vigilantly scanned the sand dunes on the other side.
Two riders, both wearing windproof cloaks, were standing at the top of the slope. Judging from their movements, they seemed to be a man and a woman, like a young couple who had just fallen in love, and were also attracted by this great power of nature.
"Wait... the backs of these two people." Baijiu murmured softly, "They look so familiar... Is that impossible?"
But one of them accidentally noticed the white wine hidden in the shadows!
The rider was stunned for a moment, then reacted extremely quickly. Instead of calling out to his companions, he raised his gun and shot!
"boom!"
Bullets are whizzing!
Baijiu reacted quickly, rolling sideways and hiding behind the sand dune in an instant!
Almost at the same time, dense bullets poured down like raindrops on the place where he had just hidden, stirring up a cloud of sand!
On the second floor of the hotel, the sound of gunfire also reached Vermouth's ears.
But she was faster—
As early as the moment Baijiu sent out the signal, she foresaw the risk of exposure.
In such a vast desert, any abnormality would stand out like rotten meat to a vulture.
She suddenly tore off a piece of sandy canvas covering the area, and a large-caliber sniper rifle suddenly appeared!
She quickly positioned her gun, narrowed her right eye, and gently pressed her cheek against the cold butt of the gun. She instantly entered a state of absolute calm.
His fingers rested firmly on the handguard, and he stared through the advanced scope at the chaotic battlefield at the edge of the sandstorm.
At the edge of the sandstorm, Baijiu was crouching down, whipping his horse, and rushing into the dark sand wall without hesitation!
"Da da da! Da da da!" Behind him, the sound of the pursuers' horses' hooves was like the beat of a death drum.
He pulled down his windproof goggles. Inside the sandstorm, the dense sand particles were like countless tiny steel balls, hitting his whole body madly, causing bursts of stinging pain.
"They're biting so hard." Baijiu turned his head and looked back. The yellow figures were looming in the rolling sand mist.
The outlines of the sand dunes on both sides quickly blurred and distorted due to the high-speed movement and the cover of sand and dust, and finally turned into a chaotic golden mist.
The gunshots became dull and distorted in the storm, as if coming from another world.
Although rushing into a sandstorm means obstructed vision, loss of direction, and even the possibility of being trapped forever in this moving grave, don't forget that this is the 21st century.
Baijiu took out a military compass, wiped off the dust on the surface, and the needle pointed to the south with difficulty while shaking violently.
The bullets behind him shot blindly into the sand curtain. The pursuers had obviously lost their exact position and could only carry out covering fire suppression.
"Faster! Faster, baby!" Baijiu patted the horse's neck and sprinted towards the abandoned building in his memory!
On the one hand, we need cover to counterattack, and on the other hand... we must reunite with Vermouth as soon as possible! Two people together are always better than fighting alone!
On the second floor of the hotel, Vermouth locked onto the blurry shadows moving at high speed in the sandstorm through the scope.
Visibility was extremely low, but for her, it was enough.
Baijiu took the lead and rushed forward, so she would not accidentally hurt her own people.
She stopped thinking and focused all her energy on her fingertips.
Every second counts!
These pursuers are most likely the elites of the organization, not mediocre ones.
She pulled the trigger without hesitation!
"boom!"
The sniper rifle let out a deep and powerful roar! The bullet whirled out of the muzzle, tearing through the thick sand curtain. Its whistling sound even temporarily drowned out the roar of the wind and sand!
A rider who was chasing in the front fell off his horse!
However, except for one rider who stopped, the other pursuers did not stop at all, and even ran faster!
The violent herd of horses trampled on their fallen companions without mercy!
In an instant, the rider was completely disfigured and disappeared under the rolling yellow sand and iron hooves.
The female rider stumbled to the sand, her trembling fingers stroking the remaining half of her companion's head. The sand and blood mixed into a dark red mud, a shocking sight.
"Hey! Say something! Please... can you please say something?!" Her voice was torn through the wind and sand, with a desperate cry, "Wake up! Horse Face! Horse Face!!!"
"Hurry up and answer me!" the woman shouted.
The only responses she received were the relentless clatter of her companions' hooves and the whistling of sand in the strong wind.
Her hands had already been completely soaked in warm blood, sticky and cold.
"You..." Her voice was so choked that she could barely speak. "Didn't we just... agree on this? You'll go to Disneyland with me after the mission is over... You promised..."
She really couldn't believe what she saw. They were just dreaming and planning their future, but the huge gap made her feel overwhelmed.
"Why don't you... say something to me... Horse Face..." She shook the rapidly cooling body in vain, as if this could wake up a sleeping person.
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking..." The woman tried to hide her surging grief with her usual anger, but her voice couldn't stop trembling. "You did it on purpose... You wanted to see me cry for you, didn't you?"
She suddenly hugged the male rider's broken body tightly in her arms, and a dislodged eyeball rolled off the back of her hand and mixed into the sand.
She felt no fear, only hot tears kept flowing out, washing away the bloodstains winding on the back of her hand.
"I've already begged you so much..." Her tears flowed like a flood, "Isn't it time you said something... Stop being so arrogant..."
"I've lived for so long... but this is the first time... that I've had to beg someone so humbly..."
"We clearly... still have so many things to do together..." She muttered to herself, finally breaking down in tears as if in compromise. "Okay, okay! You're handsome... You're the most handsome in the organization, okay? Can you wake up now?"
"........."
There is only the whimpering of wind and sand, like the cold mockery of death.
The cold reality, like the desert night, instantly swallowed up her last bit of fantasy.
"Have a good sleep..." She lowered her head and gently kissed his mutilated, cold lips in an almost pious yet extremely painful manner.
"Once the mission is completed..." Her voice suddenly became cold and hard, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth, "I will go to accompany you."
"But before that—" She raised her head suddenly, tears mixed with blood slid down her cheeks, just dripping onto the tattoo of a swallowtail butterfly with wings about to fly under her left eye.
"—I will definitely kill that person!!" Her roar pierced through the wind and sand, carrying with it deep hatred and a vow to destroy everything. "I will definitely kill you with my own hands!!"