This situation could not continue, so the bearded man assigned a smarter terrorist to the task.
"Drive east," he ordered. "Keep your head down, hold the direction, and floor it. Don't look at the road!"
The unlucky man got into the vehicle. After making his preparations, the bearded man called over another subordinate, climbed into a second vehicle, and prepared to move as well.
At the bearded man's command, the first driver slammed on the accelerator, and the jeep sped eastward.
As for Qin Xiao—after everything that had just happened, everyone else had already withdrawn.
He was now the only one left behind to break through the enemy's rear line.
He spotted an off-road vehicle racing toward his right flank from the opposite direction.
They were testing him again—and sooner than expected.
Qin Xiao cursed under his breath.
Accepting his fate, he picked up the sniper rifle and aimed at the approaching vehicle.
"I refuse to believe that if I can't hit a person, I can't even hit a tire."
Muttering to himself, Qin Xiao lined up the front wheel in his scope.
Bang!
The rifle cracked.
Even though the driver was keeping his head down, Qin Xiao saw a burst of blood explode from the man's neck through the scope.
The vehicle lost control and crashed into the sand.
That worked?
Qin Xiao stared in disbelief. He had aimed for the tire—but somehow killed the driver instead. Even he had to admire his absurd luck.
He barely had time to enjoy it before muttering something unlucky.
Because just as he finished that shot, another vehicle came charging in from the opposite direction.
Qin Xiao didn't expect his luck to hold twice in a row.
He discarded the sniper rifle, grabbed the two Gatling guns, and planted them firmly on the ground—one in each hand.
Ratatatatatat!
Twin streams of fire erupted, the bullets almost forming solid lines.
The two blazing torrents twisted together in midair and caught up with the speeding jeep.
Under such overwhelming firepower, the vehicle didn't last even two seconds.
It was torn apart and detonated into a massive fireball.
Qin Xiao immediately swung the guns toward the enemy's temporary encampment.
This was a warning.
Don't move.
If you move, you die.
Of course, the real reason was simpler: he was almost out of ammunition. The only thing he could do now was buy as much time as possible.
The bearded man understood the message clearly. This time, they stayed silent for nearly ten minutes.
In truth, the bearded man had felt uneasy from the very beginning when he sent vehicles to pursue and intercept Qin Xiao's group.
If handled poorly, the situation could spiral out of control. Even if they won in the end, casualties would be unavoidable.
Moreover, the Ten Rings were riddled with internal factions. This mission had originally been a private job taken by the bald man; the bearded man only intervened after receiving his desperate call for help.
From the start, he had never intended to sacrifice more of his men over this affair.
His original plan had been simple—intercept them if possible, chase them down if necessary, and block them if they escaped.
But even after being beaten to the brink, he never imagined that Qin Xiao would dare stop firing—while still maintaining such terrifying firepower.
Many of his men were already dead.
The bearded man was getting angry.
Just as regret began creeping into his thoughts, his satellite phone rang.
"Damn it! You never told me how vicious these people were! Who exactly am I supposed to be hunting? I've lost many of my men—you owe me compensation!"
The bearded man complained the moment he opened his mouth, emphasizing his losses.
He knew the bald man had private dealings with major American arms dealers. By exaggerating his losses, he hoped to extract more supplies—or other compensation—afterward.
But what the bald man said next instantly enraged him.
"What?! Tony Stark?! I should've known it—damn it! Damn it! You should've told me from the beginning!"
"Attack! Everyone, get in your vehicles! Spread out and surround the dunes ahead! Move! Move! Move!"
The bearded man hung up and finally committed to an all-out assault.
If he truly went all in, Qin Xiao alone wouldn't be able to handle it.
More than a dozen vehicles scattered in all directions, and Qin Xiao froze for a split second.
He could only focus the remaining Gatling gun firepower on the two vehicles directly in front of him.
In the end, both vehicles were completely destroyed—but one of the Gatling guns jammed, and its ammunition was exhausted.
The remaining ammo was critically low as well.
From what Qin Xiao could see, most of the Ten Rings' vehicles had already climbed the surrounding dunes—some had vanished entirely.
He pointed the remaining Gatling gun at the nearest jeep within reach, firing off what little ammunition remained.
Before he could even clearly register what happened, he threw the weapon to the ground.
He shifted a few steps sideways, wary that someone might be hiding below, where his vision was blocked.
Using his immense strength, he dug a shallow pit in the sand.
Then he buried his entire body inside it.
He pulled the scarf from around his neck and wrapped it over his face—both to keep sand out of his mouth and nose, and to block any reflection from his sunglasses.
He sprinkled a thin layer of sand over his face, then shoved his arms deeper into the ground.
Shaking sand off his head, he buried himself as completely as possible.
The surface wasn't perfectly smooth—but it was the best he could do. He could only hope they hadn't noticed this spot earlier.
No sooner had he finished than he heard engine noise.
Judging by the sound, two vehicles had arrived at the same time.
They were only two or three meters away.
Just as Qin Xiao had predicted, the first thing they noticed was the area where the weapons had been abandoned.
Sure enough, after the vehicles stopped, he heard chatter—likely radio reports confirming that no one was there.
Qin Xiao waited patiently. About ten seconds after the talking stopped, he burst out of the sand pit.
A cloud of yellow sand exploded into the air.
With a flick of his right hand, a black blade flashed.
The head of the closest terrorist flew skyward.
Never give them a chance to shoot.
With that thought, Qin Xiao raised his silenced pistol in midair and fired.
From the sudden leap to the landing, the enemies had no time to react.
One blade. Three bullets.
Four enemies eliminated in an instant.
Two remained.
To save time, Qin Xiao dropped straight down.
Another shot rang out, while his other hand hurled the Tang saber.
The bullet went slightly off target, striking the enemy's neck—but it killed him instantly.
The saber, propelled by Qin Xiao's strength, buried itself straight into the final man's forehead, the hilt sinking deep.
"Ah—!"
Qin Xiao let out a long, heavy breath.
Six men—taken out with precision, speed, and decisiveness.
It was also because they had arrived believing the area was clear. Their weapons were lowered, their surroundings fully exposed.
Timing. Terrain. Circumstances.
All of it had aligned.
Otherwise, killing wouldn't have been a problem—pulling the trigger would have been enough.
And as it turned out, the others hadn't gone very far.
Just as Qin Xiao had predicted, these two vehicles had arrived first.
After reporting the situation over the radio, the bearded man immediately led the rest of his men in pursuit—heading northwest.
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