After entering the forest, Xia Lei quickly selected their camp location. The Chinese Zodiac Battle Team members soon began assembling their military tents. The Grey and Russo twins chose to build their tents beside Xia Lei’s to become his ‘neighbours’. They were Arthur’s eyes while Xia Lei took them as his transmitter.
The sharp cold wind blew on the crown of the trees, travelling in between the tall trunks. The whole place was filled with its loud howling like a thousand spirits were crying in despair. Only when in the mercy of nature that mankind would be humbled. Other than Anjum Khan who was on watch-out duty, everyone else was nestled away in their tents. No one was willing to stand in the snow in fear of contacting severe frostbite.
Anjum Khan was stationed right outside Xia Lei’s tent to intimidate the twins.
Inside it, Xia Lei was wrapped inside his sleeping bag as he toyed with a box-shaped device. It was only about six-inch small, around the size of a mobile phone. Its screen showed live feedback from inside the wooden house.
Arthur was seen to be talking to another person via video call.
“My lord.” Arthur’s respect was evident in his tone. “Xia Lei has already made it to Siberia. Our plan is progressing smoothly.”
“How many did he bring with him?”
“Six.”
Xia Lei’s fingers enlarged the display to pry on the laptop’s screen but to no avail. It was too pixelated for him to make out anything legible. Its initial size had also rendered his microscopic vision to no use.
But this wasn’t something to worry about. The gum-wrapped device would’ve recorded everything. All he needed to do was to retrieve it and process the footage. By then, he would find out what their leader looked like.
The leader’s voice rang through the laptop speakers. “Six? He’s very brave. Six is easy to handle so this will be our best chance. Tell me about your plan.”
Arthur explained, “We managed to trap Dark Mona, but she isn’t alone. We think there are about twenty FA members in that area. I’ll have Xia Lei lead his team against the FA before we wipe them all out. When he’s the last remaining person, I’ll capture him and threaten his father to exchange him for the sacred relic.”
“But what if his father doesn’t know where it’s at?”
“That’s no problem, I’ll visit Jingdu personally. The Grey and Russo sisters have stayed at his place for a while and had stepped foot into Thunder Horse Military Factory. As long as we get our hands on Xia Lei, there is a way to get our sacred relic back.”
The receiving end went silent for a brief moment. He then spoke, “But you must remember, there is no room for failure in this operation. If you let Xia Lei loose, it’d be very difficult for us to get it back.”
“We’re in Siberia, a snowy barren land with no transport. He won’t be able to escape this terrain. There will be a battle tomorrow. The FA must die along with Xia Lei’s men and he’ll be taken hostage later. I assure you good news tomorrow, my lord.”
“Very well. If you do catch Xia Lei, you’ll receive a very deserving reward.”
“Tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum.” Arthur kneeled in front of the desk, drawing a cross across his body with a devoted expression.
The call ended there.
“I wasn’t expecting around twenty FA members left. So the Knight Hospitallers had surrounded them on purpose to wait for our action and capture me, huh?” A cold smile appeared on his face. He took out the transmitter that was used internally among the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team. He whispered slowly, “Tsukino Kyoko, please come to my tent.”
“Got it.” Her voice rang through the transmitter.
Two minutes later, Tsukino Kyoko entered his tent. She looked at him oddly, “What do you need me for?”
Xia Lei then took out the device Arthur placed on him.
Without hesitation, Tsukino Kyoko immediately opened her mouth to scream. “Oh, oh, oh! Yamete! Don’t do that, I’m about to come…”
Xia Lei’s eyes were wide open.
But she had only pointed to the device in his hand.
Xia Lei wanted to stop her from making weird noises but she had understood it from a very different perspective. It was as if she had recited a script and was acting in accordance. Undeniably, her lewd noises sounded very authentic as she was indeed Japanese.
Tsukino Kyoko only threw her hands open to give Xia Lei an odd look.
Only then, he came closer to her to whisper, “Tomorrow…”
Tsukino Kyoko nodded, then continued to scream lewdly in Japanese. “Ah! Let me go! Let me go! No, not there, please! Ah, ittai! Ittai! Please, I’m begging you, stop! Yamete, Yamete, this feels too good! Ah, please! I’m really about to come!”
Xia Lei could only feel question marks forming above his head. Where did she learn this from?
On the other side, in the Russo sisters’ tent.
“Ew, disgusting! He’s actually fornicating with his female subordinate in such an environment?” yelped Rosa.
“I hope the Siberian wind freezes his dick.” Theresa even imitated a freezing motion. “And then snap! It falls to the ground to break into pieces.”
In the Grey sisters’ tent…
“What is she screaming about?” Stella pressed her ear against the thin walls of the tent.
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“Japanese, I guess. She’s really exaggerating it,” complained Giovana. She drew a cross and prayed for forgiveness.
“Hmph! I’ll let this slide. This will probably be his last anyway, he’ll be dead tomorrow.”
“Shh…”
The dawn rays chased away the night, putting a halt to the strong wind and snow. Despite that, the skies were covered with gloomy clouds that only allowed a portion of the sunlight to reach the ground.
Xia Lei and his team ate before they dismantled their tents to begin their plan. The Russo and Grey sisters followed their trail closely. To Xia Lei, these four ladies were sticking him like flies to a glue trap.
The Knight Hospitallers had also begun to move. They were travelling towards the designated position.
Arthur led a team of thirty to the six o’clock entrance. His position was close to the direction Xia Lei and the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team were headed to. Only a small path separated them. They were bound to meet sooner or later.
The snow in the forest was thick, perfect for skiing. After Xia Lei’s first sky-diving experience, this was yet another first experience. He had never skied before. The combination of about thirty kilograms worth of gear on his back and being a complete stranger to the sport proved to be challenging for him, causing Xia Lei to fall a few times along the path. He even fell against Giovanna once and knocked her over.
Weirdly, Giovanna wasn’t mad, she even found herself gleeful over the situation. How could Xia Lei escape them if he couldn’t ski? Xia Lei’s weak skiing abilities were also informed to Arthur.
After one hour of torment, Sa’im suddenly pointed to a direction. “There’s blood over there!”
The team quickly spread themselves out as they cautiously approached the area.
The blood remnants on the snow had already dried up. There was also some bear fur and some discarded animal intestines scattered around the mess. All in all, it was an extremely gory sight.
Xia Lei extended his hand to touch the blood and a piece of its intestine. There was no warmth to it but his left eye had already peered into its structure. Getting a hold of its internal structure helped him reach a conclusion. “They just left this place half an hour ago! They’re lugging bear meat with them so they’re probably travelling slow. Quick, after them!”
Without waiting for anyone to point out a probable direction, Xia Lei was already on his ski zooming towards the side.
“How did he come to that conclusion?” Giovanna was shocked. “Aside from blood and intestines, I see nothing else.”
“Right? The FA members also hid their footsteps well. How did he even know what direction they left in?” Theresa was equally confused.
But the four ladies didn’t have time to ponder his actions. Giovanna, who was the last, spoke into the collar of her cold protective clothing as she skied. “Xia Lei found the trails the FA members left, we’re now heading towards the two o’clock direction. Over.”
Soon, footprints could be seen on the snow-covered ground. It was messy, but it was obvious that the person wasn’t alone.
“There’s six of them.” Xia Lei continued, “We shouldn’t be too far from them, be careful.”
While the others scanned the footprints, Xia Lei had already figured out their party size.
The Chinese Zodiac Team members responded quickly, bracing themselves behind an appropriate barricade and went into battle mode.
Xia Lei took off his skis and approached Giovanna angrily. “Didn’t you say that it was only Dark Mona? Why are there six sets of footprints?!”
“How… How would I know?” Giovanna got nervous.
Bang! A gun fired.
A bullet flew out of the forest to hit a pine tree trunk. Pieces of the bark were sent flying and the accumulated snow started to fall from its crown.
“They’re in front of us, about fifty metres away!” exclaimed Anjum Khan.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The Chinese Zodiac Battle Team returned fire.
The bullets flew everywhere in the forest, chipping off pieces of tree trunks accompanied it. It didn’t take long for the battle to become heated.
Xia Lei stopped questioning Giovanna, quickly returning his focus onto the ongoing battle.
“What should we do now?” whispered Theresa urgently.
“Just let them do their job.” Stella continued, “We’ll just fire two customary shots around the end.”
Giovanna laid herself flat on the ground. She spoke into her collar again, “The battle between Xia Lei and the FA organisation has begun.”
Out of nowhere, Tsukino Kyoko shrieked and fell to the ground. Blood began to pour out of her petite frame, dyeing the pale snow red.
Giovanna got increasingly emotional. “The FA had killed one of his men!”
“No!” roared Xia Lei, he scrambled over to Tsukino Kyoko’s side to shake her lifeless body. “You can't die! Stand up!”
Her eyes twitched a little, but there was no response coming from her.