Shi Lang was hiding inside the swamp. He was not aware of the Shamanti leader had sent out the forces to comb through the area for him. He was waiting to heal his wounds and get out of this place. Then he will lure the target outside by hook or by crook.
On the other hand, the Shamantis were given only one day to find him. Have no confusion, one day meant from sunrise to sunset. The night was when predatory beasts fed, so moving through the woods was not a good idea. They will not be sacrificing themselves for a single Terran.
…
After an hour, Shi Lang peeked outside the swamp and found no movement around him. He was sure that while escaping, he might have left some sort of trace. He raised his head and looked at the sky. Then he thought for a bit and went back into hiding. The swamp was not too deep so, he was able to stand on the mud bed and breath through the make-shift snorkel.
He made sure to keep his breathing low and slow. Inu-la, have stronger senses than a Shamanti. If one of these mutts noticed his breathing, or if his movement alarmed their beast instincts, then he will be dead meat. Thus, he was very cautious. To make sure that he survived the few hours left before sunset he entered a meditative state.
It was still the third day, he still had four more days to complete his task and exfiltrate the area. That mentioned, Shi Lang spent four hours inside the swamp, before he finally noticed movement on the shore. Despite meditating the boy was able to sense things around him. His slow breathing came to a pause.
…
Outside the shore, three warriors stood accompanied by two Inu-la. The leader said, “There seems to be no movement in the swamp. Why did the trace lead us here?” they spoke in an obscure language.
The Inu-la sniffed around the shore and repeatedly looked at the swamp, but the stink from the swamp eliminated any other scent. The Shamanti talked among themselves, and after they found nothing they turned around to leave. Shi Lang waited for a few minutes and peeked out. He found that the patrol has retreated.
This was also the time for him to execute his plan. He has been thinking about it all the time he was inside the swamp. The boy walked out of the swamp and climbed a tree nearby. He checked his sniper rifle and other supplies. He took apart the gun cleaned it carefully and then put it back together.
The Shamantis were very confident in their abilities to track other people, since they could not find him near the swamp, they started searching around. They did not think that Shi Lang will be able to survive in that stenchy swamp, since they cannot tolerate that, how can a mere Terran do that?
Well, their understanding of the Terran body was too shallow. The reason Shi Lang could get through that stench was that when a Terran steps into the fourth-star realm, they have the ability to bar the neural connection between a few neurons. Dalia had trained him to improve this Terran ability in the simulations by feeding him poison and having him recognize herbs by smelling them.
Thus, he was able to get through this. After putting the gun back together, he got down the tree, the first target was the Inu-la. These beasts would only make things difficult for him. The sunset was a few minutes ago, and now the Shamantis were going back to the tribe. They would have their backs exposed to Shi Lang and that was what he needed.
He mumbled while shuttling through the trees, “You like to leave gaps right? I will give you as many gaps as you could ever ask for.”
He did not catch up to the retreating warriors but decided to gamble. Only when the shamantis were one kilometer away from their tribe entrance, did he strike.
Shi Lang opened the scope of his sniper rifle and shot at the Inu-la inside the group of people. The bullet was a small dab of light and it flashed through the Inu-la. The boy did not stop, he aimed at the other beast and took a shot. His marksmanship was good and took out nine beasts in ten rapid shots. The last shot was delayed and the people were already alert by this time.
Shi Lang could see through his scope that the warriors were hiding behind the trees. When firing shots to hunt the Inu-la, Shi Lang moved through the darker areas, to not let them figure out his position. His slow movements helped the camouflage of the suit was activated and along with the mud covering him, helped him a lot.
He was making his way to a flanking position. Since these shamantis were all going to hide in the cover, he will flank them. After careful movement, the boy arrived at his desired position. Using the thermal scope of the rifle he could see a lot of Shamantis. Some sat with their backs stuck to the trees while some were peeking through the trees, in the direction he came from.
Shi Lang did not hastily shoot, he observed. He observed these warriors, his motive was to spot the leader. Take out the leader and this group will be a bunch of headless flies. He patiently observed and found a Shamanti, who stood without making an excessive movement. This person even communicated with sign language.
The significant difference was spotted when Shi Lang spotted this guy to be wearing a pauldron. The others did not have it. thermal image. Shi Lang aimed his gun and squeezed the trigger, with no hesitation. He did not have any thoughts passing through his mind that would alert the target as his gaze scanned him.
After this shot, he did not wait to confirm whether he hit the target or not but quickly changed his position. The dab of light, flashing through the void, pierced through the head of the leading warrior with a subtle ‘Puff’ sound.
The silence in the forest became audible. The Shamantis were able to see in the dark, one of them let out some weird animal voice to alert the others about the death of their leader. The shamantis were strong warriors and would rather die than retreat. However, they were scared that the enemy was in the shadows, and they could not do anything to him.
The time was passing, anyone making any movements was being shot. They did not move, but the sun has gone down and it was time for them to return otherwise they will become a morsel to the predators. They were tribals and the laws of the forest were to be followed. One of them let out some sounds again, and the remaining forty people made a run for it.
They were fifty in total, and Shi Lang took thirty minutes to snipe ten of them along with the dogs. The Inu-la earlier were killed but all of that happened in just a few moments. As they ran, Shi Lang did not shoot, but slowly followed them and climbed a tree. The warriors were a hundred meters away from the tribe gate when Shi Lang started to shoot them from nine hundred meters away.
The same spot where he was earlier. The boy squeezed the trigger and the dab of light landed on the targets furthest from him and closest to the tribe gate. The guards on the door, saw, how the warrior was shot through the back of his head. Yet he kept running forward a few steps, then his body fell down in front of the tribe door.
Shi Lang had no intention of stopping though. His sniper rifle was slow, but it was still capable of shooting a hundred and twenty rounds in one minute. These two seconds were enough.
After the fleeing person, Shi Lang aimed at the guards on the gate, then he went back to camp for the Shamantis hiding and trying to get through the doors. Some tried to get over the fence but the result was the same.
Shi Lang lying on the tallest tree, and the Shamantis had cleared an area of five hundred meters around the clan fence. Thus, he was able to see everything. His tree was twice the length, and so were those trees around him. The clan must have shortened these other trees for some reason, but someone’s loss is someone’s gain.
The killings at the gate were witnessed by some people and they immediately informed their leader. Shi Lang spared one last person from the fleeing group and got down the tree. He was very well aware that after losing so many members to a ‘mere’ Terran, the leader will be pissed and he will come out at that time.
However, he had no trace of hesitation, but excitement. He mumbled, “Come out, little rabit. I will show you something nice.”