Mercenary's War

It was common for prey to be snatched away; after all the hard work of tracking down the game, they would find it incapacitated, already being feasted upon by lions or hyenas. Whenever this happened, they could only return empty-handed.

Just as the Chieftain was getting close to the antelope, a figure suddenly leaped out of the nearby bushes, knocking the large antelope to the ground.

Gao Yang lagged behind; he saw it clearly, the one who toppled the antelope was a leopard. But at that moment, the Chieftain and the leopard were practically face to face, and, whether the Chieftain intended it or not, they were locked in a struggle for the prey.

Gao Yang quickly understood why the leopard, which usually avoids humans, dared to confront the five of them—it was old, its hunting ability had significantly decreased, and it was now extremely thin from hunger. The incapacitated large antelope had an irresistible attraction to this old leopard. The starving old leopard would not give up on such an easy meal.

They were too close, and the situation was extremely dangerous. The leopard opened its mouth, emitting a low growl, while the Chieftain, standing less than two meters from the leopard, opened his arms wide and started to slowly back away. The others, including Gao Yang, also retreated slowly.

Competing with a hungry leopard for food was risky, even if this one was old and weak. Especially at such a close face-to-face distance, the explosive power of a four-legged animal was unimaginable, and even with five men, they couldn't afford to provoke the leopard at that moment. They could only retreat to a safe distance, and then collectively try to scare the leopard away.

As the Chieftain was slowly backing off, the leopard suddenly released the antelope beneath its paws, and like a flash of lightning, pounced toward the Chieftain.

The Chieftain managed just in time to retract his open arms to protect his neck before being knocked down by the leopard.

The large leopard tilted its head and bit toward the Chieftain's throat, gripping it firmly and refusing to let go. Luckily the Chieftain had managed to protect his neck in time, otherwise, the leopard would have bitten through his throat in one go.

Seeing the Chieftain tackled to the ground, Gao Yang shouted loudly, gripping his hunting knife as he lunged forward. The three men in front of him also thrust their spears, and after being impaled, the leopard released the Chieftain from its mouth. It lunged forward again, leaving five deep claw marks on one man's thigh before finally turning and fleeing.

Gao Yang was shocked and furious, feeling a chill in his heart. The leopard was one of Africa's top predators—a creature bitten in the neck by a leopard rarely had a chance to survive.

The Chieftain held his neck, blood seeping through his fingers. Everyone was frightened into stupefaction, shouting and standing still, except for Gao Yang who remained somewhat composed. He ran to the Chieftain's side and pried his hands away from his neck to examine the injury.

The Chieftain had timely protected his throat; the leopard hadn't bitten through. However, its long canines left two deep puncture wounds on the right side of his neck, from which blood spurted. In addition, the leopard had left a row of deep tooth marks on the Chieftain's right arm.

Gao Yang gasped, placing his hand over the wounds on the Chieftain's neck. His mind was in turmoil, as he strained to think of a way to save the Chieftain's life. But the more he thought, the more panicked he became, for from any angle, it seemed certain the Chieftain was doomed.

By a stroke of luck, the leopard hadn't bitten through the Chieftain's throat or severed his carotid artery. With the most basic surgery, the Chieftain could stop the bleeding. But now, he could only slowly die from excessive blood loss. Even with good fortune and the bleeding stopping on its own, the subsequent infection of the wound would still lead to a prolonged and painful death.

Being carnivores, leopards carry too many bacteria and viruses in their mouths and on their claws. Regardless of the size of the wound, without antibiotics, a bite or scratch from a leopard was almost certainly fatal.

After three years of daily companionship, Gao Yang had a deep affection for the Chieftain. Just moments ago, everything was fine, but now Gao Yang could only watch helplessly as the Chieftain died. Although he clenched his teeth tightly, tears involuntarily fell.

The Chieftain knew his life wouldn't last much longer. He pushed Gao Yang's hands away and slowly stood up, shook his head at him, and said with a hoarse voice, "Don't cry, all of you. I am already old. This day comes for us all. Bali, if you are not dead, you are the Chieftain. If you too have died, then let young Bali be the Chieftain. Enough, no more tears. Let's process the large antelope, eat something here, then take the meat back home."

"Dad, you won't die. You can't die, wah."

It was the youngest, Kusto, who spoke. At just about fourteen or fifteen years of age, and unlike his brothers, he was not prepared to face death. After speaking, he finally began to cry loudly.

Listening to the Chieftain's words, Gao Yang then remembered that Bali, the Chieftain's eldest son, had also been injured by the leopard, which meant it was very likely he too could suffer a fatal infection from his wounds.

Gao Yang muttered in despair, "This isn't right, it shouldn't be like this. There must be a way, there must be a way to save you. Let me think, don't talk, let me think."

The Chieftain, having lost a fair amount of blood, looked sad and staggered back to a seated position.

"White Child, there's no way out. Death brought by the leopard spares no one."

With no options left, Gao Yang could only watch the Chieftain die, which made him incredibly agitated. After pacing in circles and gasping for breath, Gao Yang could no longer bear it, letting out a loud yell, he dashed toward the direction the leopard had disappeared.

Gao Yang knew that catching up to the leopard would be of no use, but he still wanted to find that damned leopard, kill it, and avenge the Chieftain. Only by doing so could he feel slightly better.

Gao Yang, head down, sprinted after the leopard's tracks. The leopard had been stabbed a few times, and the droplets of blood from its wounds provided a very clear trail for him to follow.

It wasn't long, maybe three to five minutes later, that Gao Yang, who had been sprinting with his head down, suddenly stopped in his tracks. He stared blankly at the marks on the grass that shouldn't have been there but had suddenly appeared, his mind going blank.

The marks that appeared on the grass were tire tracks, and it was evident they weren't made by one vehicle but by a convoy of at least four or five. This long-lost trace made Gao Yang momentarily disbelieve his eyes.

"White Child, stop, we can't go now, we have to take care of father and Big Bali."

The shouts and footsteps behind him snapped Gao Yang out of his brief daze. A shiver ran through him involuntarily after which he turned around abruptly and yelled at Curry and Kusto who were following him, "Go back, go back quickly."

After shouting, Gao Yang didn't have time to explain anything to the bewildered Curry and Kusto; he turned around and ran back to the Chieftain's side at an even faster pace.

"Chieftain, don't leave here, you just wait for me here, You and Big Bali can be saved, I've found..."

When Gao Yang excitedly wanted to tell the Chieftain that there was hope for them, he didn't know how to say what he had discovered because there was no word for "tire tracks" in the Akuri tribe's language.

"I found a track that leads to white men, men like me, and they have, um, strange herbs. They can save you and Big Bali. Don't leave this place, wait for me, I'll go find those white men."

It was only then that Curry and Kusto understood what had happened. Knowing that there was hope for the Chieftain and Big Bali, everyone was of course excited.

"Kusto, you stay to help father and Big Bali, and I'll go find those white men with White Child."

"No, you're not as fast as I am. My name is Cheetah; I'll go with White Child, and you stay to protect the injured father and Big Bali. You're stronger than me."

"Both of you shut up. I'm going alone. Listen, if you hear gunshots, run fast. Do you know what gunshots are? Chieftain, you've heard gunshots, right? If you hear them, leave this place—don't wait for me to return. If you don't hear gunshots, wait here for me, but you must be careful. Got it?"

The Chieftain shook his head and grabbed the agitated Gao Yang's hand, "Don't go, you don't know who those people are. They are very evil; you could lose your life."

Gao Yang pulled away from the Chieftain's grip and said with a smile, "If I don't return by this time tomorrow, you'll go back on your own. Don't worry, Chieftain, you know I'm the same kind of person as they are; I won't be in any danger."

The Chieftain seemed persuaded and hesitated for a moment before finally nodding his head.

"I forgot that you're also a strange white man. Alright, go then. Have Kusto go with you; you must be careful."

At this point, Kusto exclaimed excitedly: "White Child, I'll go with you. If there's any trouble, I can help you."

Gao Yang thought it over and decided it would be best to take Kusto with him so that in case of any trouble, there would be someone to bring news back. Without any more hesitation, Gao Yang took Kusto and ran quickly following the tire tracks.

Determining the direction of the vehicles from the tire marks on the grass was easy and Gao Yang could tell that the tracks hadn't been left long ago. If they were lucky, they might find the convoy in not much time.

Although worried, Gao Yang jogged along the tire tracks, not daring to exert too much effort. He had to maintain a good pace to ensure he could keep going since he had already run several dozen kilometers that day without eating anything.

Kusto was much faster than Gao Yang, to the point where Gao Yang often had to call him back so the distance between them wouldn't grow too far. In the language of the Akuri tribe, Bali means lion, and Kusto means cheetah. True to his name, even though Kusto was the youngest, he was indeed the fastest runner.

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