The excruciating pain radiating from her thigh temporarily robbed Zhong Lichun of her ability to move, while the screams of those hit by shrapnel inside the truck made her even more agitated. Just then, another terrified scream came from the side. Zhong Lichun, her head covered in cold sweat, gritted her teeth and looked up. She then saw that one of the pursuers had climbed up the side of the truck and had already entered the cargo compartment.
The cargo compartment was packed with people. If that man managed to get his footing and use them to threaten her, Zhong Lichun would truly be helpless. She had to take him down before he could steady himself.
Enduring the excruciating pain in her thigh, Zhong Lichun gritted her teeth and struggled to her feet, then lunged straight at the enemy who had climbed aboard. The man had only just climbed up, and because the truck was swaying violently, he could not stand steady at all. Just as he grabbed the edge of the compartment to stabilize himself, Zhong Lichun pounced on him.
Because of the injury to her leg, Zhong Lichun could not stand steadily at all. Thus, when she crashed into him, they both fell over and began wrestling on the floor of the compartment. Under normal circumstances, Zhong Lichun could easily have dealt with two or three people at once, but the grenade had exploded far too close to her. The shockwave had rattled her badly, leaving her somewhat dizzy. Combined with her leg injury, she could not even bring out half of her usual fighting strength.
The two of them rolled around the compartment as they wrestled. The hostages were so frightened that they all scrambled backward, and not one of them dared to come over and help. Subduing her opponent was no easy task for Zhong Lichun either.
After much difficulty, Zhong Lichun finally seized his arm and twisted it, pinning him down. But before she could make her next move, her opponent suddenly grabbed the wound on her thigh with one hand and squeezed hard. Zhong Lichun could not hold back this time and let out a scream of agony. The hand gripping his arm also lost its strength. Taking advantage of the opening, he suddenly jerked his head backward, smashing the back of his head into Zhong Lichun's nose. Her face took a heavy blow, and everything went black before her eyes as she fell backward.
After breaking free of Zhong Lichun's hold, the pursuer rolled to his feet. His gun had fallen to the floor during the earlier struggle, so he drew the military knife he carried and gripped it with both hands, stabbing straight down at Zhong Lichun.
In her desperation, Zhong Lichun could only stretch out both hands and seize his wrists to stop the attack. But in terms of raw strength, there was no way a woman like her could match an adult man. The knife tip gradually drew closer to Zhong Lichun, and it was about to pierce her throat.
At the critical moment, a male hostage suddenly let out a roar. He then snatched up the gun on the floor, gripped it by the barrel, and swung the stock at the enemy.
The blow landed with tremendous force. The wooden stock actually split apart, and the man who had been trying to kill Zhong Lichun let out a muffled groan before collapsing sideways. Blood covered the back of his head.
Just then, several more enemies climbed aboard. The man who had saved Zhong Lichun seemed to have summoned up his courage. He actually charged at one of them, shouting as he ran, "Damn it! We're dead either way, so I'm taking you bastards down with me! With this many of us, you think we can't handle you?"
He shouted those words in English, and most of the people inside the compartment understood him. Upon hearing the cry, everyone froze for a moment. Then, after exchanging glances, they seemed to come to their senses. All the men stood up and rushed at the enemies climbing into the truck.
In such a cramped compartment, with the truck swaying so violently, the men climbing aboard had no time to react before they were surrounded by several times their number. The next moment, they were knocked to the floor and beaten with fists and kicks, leaving them no chance to fight back.
Seeing the people who had been terrified moments ago now rising up in resistance, Zhong Lichun gave a relieved smile. Relying on others was less effective than relying on oneself. If they wanted to save themselves, they had to do it themselves. It was truly rare that these people had managed to understand that.
Under the resistance of all the men in the compartment, the enemies who had climbed aboard were taken down one by one and thrown from the truck. The people below who had not managed to climb up no longer dared to board it. Since they could not get up there, they had only one choice left: kill them all.
The shooting began again. Bullets whistled across the truck, and many of the people who had been celebrating their victory over the enemies were hit. Faced with the enemy's gunfire, the courage that had just surged within them vanished once more. Everyone covered their heads and lay flat on the floor, terrified of being struck by a bullet.
By then, Zhong Lichun had recovered somewhat. At the very least, her head was no longer spinning. She knew perfectly well that if this continued, they would never escape. They had to find a way to make the enemy stop attacking. She glanced at the corpse of the enemy who had been killed by the gunstock, and a cold glint flashed through her eyes. She crawled over, then used all her strength to throw the corpse from the truck. Of course, she was not merely tossing out the body. As she threw it down, she pulled the safety pin from the grenade hanging at the corpse's waist.
By an incredible coincidence, the falling corpse smashed into the windshield of a jeep following close behind. The immense impact shattered the glass, and in the next second, the grenade exploded. The entire front end of the vehicle was blasted into the air, and everyone inside was killed on the spot.
The vehicle, now out of control, veered sideways and crashed into another jeep. Both jeeps overturned, while the impact sent the other jeep flying sideways. It rolled across the ground several times before finally coming to a stop.
There had been five jeeps pursuing them, and three of them were now unable to continue the chase. Zhong Lichun grabbed the rifle and gritted her teeth as she stood up. She then fired a burst at the two vehicles below. This time, however, she was not shooting at the people inside them, but at the ground in front of the vehicles. She could not stand steadily, making precise shooting impossible, so she could only take a gamble.
Zhong Lichun had to admit that her luck was fairly good this time. The bullets she fired wildly actually struck the front tires of both vehicles. Once the tires were blown out, both jeeps immediately went out of control. One overturned, while the other crashed into a large boulder beside the road.
At this point, all five pursuing jeeps were immobilized. Zhong Lichun sank weakly to the floor, then unexpectedly passed out. Even as she lost consciousness, however, a smile hung at the corners of her mouth. No matter what, she had finally managed to save these people.
What Zhong Lichun did not know was that Kabu's face in the driver's cab had turned deathly pale. There was a bullet hole in the right side of his abdomen, and blood was pouring from it. The poor man had been hit earlier in the gunfight by a bullet that had pierced the door. To make matters worse, after several violent collisions, the underside of the vehicle had scraped against a protruding stone, severing the brake line. Kabu could not even stop the vehicle if he wanted to.
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