Chapter 210 - 192: The Inviolable Backbone

Chapter 210: Chapter 192: The Inviolable Backbone

When they reached the spot where they’d seen the two spies, the surrounding trees were still riddled with bullet holes from the earlier firefight. But Zhao Wendong frowned. He was beginning to understand just how difficult these two agents were.

Normally, the snow-covered forest ahead would betray anyone passing through. An ordinary person would leave deep, distinct footprints—a clear depression with every step. Yet these two agents hadn’t left so much as a single complete print.

Chen Shanggen crouched down, his fingers gently brushing the snow. The surface held only shallow, indistinct impressions, as if an animal had passed through or the wind had scoured the ground. Without close inspection, it was impossible to discern that a person had left them.

"Something’s not right."

Chen Baoguo scratched his head, perplexed.

"Where did they go? How could they have traveled this far without leaving any prints?"

"We’ve studied anti-tracking techniques, but I’ve never seen anyone cover their tracks this cleanly."

Zhao Wendong remained silent, simply motioning for Dahuang and the other dogs to advance. The three canines pressed their noses to the snow, sniffing back and forth. Confused, low whines rumbled in their throats. The scent, which had been clear until now, abruptly ended right there, as if it had vanished into thin air.

Fortunately, there was still Xiaojin. The Golden Roc circled ahead and to their left, indicating the spies’ escape route.

"They know how to mask their scent and disguise their tracks. Ignore the ground—follow my eagle!"

Seeing Chen Baoguo and the others were still puzzled as they pushed forward, Zhao Wendong recalled some tales from the older generation.

"I heard from the old-timers that the Kantou Army were experts at these kinds of tricks. They’d rub themselves down with pine needles and oak leaves, use wood ash to cover the scent of their boots, and tie animal hides to their soles to fake animal tracks. These two are a big catch!"

"Yeah. From what the search turned up, these two Jap agents are very high-ranking."

"Make sure everyone keeps up. All the more reason we can’t let them get away. Don’t worry, they can’t hide their trail forever!"

When it came to fighting Japs, Zhao Wendong didn’t need to give any orders. Every man from Dongda considered it his unshirkable duty. They all fell in with their comrades and sprinted ahead and to the left.

After another ten minutes of pursuit, two lines of footprints reappeared. Zhao Wendong had been right; the pair couldn’t keep hiding their trail forever without drastically slowing their pace. The sight of the tracks was a huge morale boost, and the group’s speed increased by a good ten percent.

"Holy shit, your cousin is fucking incredible. Good thing I didn’t just stew that eagle back then. Heh heh, this is all thanks to me!"

Chen the Seventh boasted to the nearby Zhou Mancang, trying to take credit. Zhou Mancang scoffed.

"That eagle was useless with you. It only became a treasure in my cousin’s hands."

"I don’t care. Your cousin got it from me in a trade, so that means I helped earn this merit too."

"Right, right. You’re a hero too."

"Heh heh."

Chen the Seventh grinned smugly. He wasn’t actually looking for a reward; he was just happy to share in the glory. He never could have imagined that the Golden Roc he’d traded for some grain would be turned from worthless to priceless in Zhao Wendong’s hands. He’d never even heard of a human taming a full-grown golden eagle. Zhao Wendong was just too damn impressive.

It was just a shame some damned eagle had made off with the rabbit he had at home, and had even been smart enough to avoid his traps. Otherwise, he could’ve snared another one... Chen the Seventh’s eyes suddenly shot wide open as a possibility struck him.

"Holy shit, Zhou Mancang! You said your cousin used this eagle last time to help find that man-eating tiger, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"What about it? Let me ask you this, then. When he came to stay at your place, did he bring that eagle with him? Because my rabbit..."

"Hey, hurry and keep up or you’ll fall behind! We’re chasing spies, why are you talking so much!"

Zhou Mancang abruptly sped up, plunging into the group of men without a backward glance at Chen the Seventh. In that instant, Chen the Seventh understood everything. ’So that’s it,’ he thought. ’I was wondering how an eagle could be so damn smart. It was the same one all along!’ But now wasn’t the time to bring it up. Chen the Seventh tightened his grip on his old rifle and picked up his pace as well.

"Dammit! How did those bastards catch up again?!"

Takaichi Koinu cursed, hearing the sounds of pursuit behind them. Robe Sanae simply pulled out a hand grenade, a vicious smile spreading across her face.

"If they have a death wish, then let’s teach them a little lesson!"

As she spoke, she crouched down to set a booby trap. A thin wire was stretched taut across their path. Glistening against the white snow, it was nearly impossible to spot without looking very carefully.

"Let’s go. It’s a shame this is our last one. If it kills one or two of them, they won’t dare to pursue us so relentlessly. We’ll head deeper into the mountains. Once it gets dark, they’ll have to pull back. They can’t afford a war of attrition with us."

"Yoshi! Ms. Robe, you are very good!"

The two quickly got to their feet and continued onward, deliberately leaving a straight, obvious trail of footprints to ensure Zhao Wendong’s pursuing group would trigger the grenade.

"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"

’There’s something here!’

Dahuang, who had been charging ahead along the tracks, suddenly started barking. An ordinary person wouldn’t have known why, but Zhao Wendong could hear the dog’s thoughts. He immediately bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"Everyone, freeze!"

Startled, everyone froze in their tracks. Chen Baoguo looked on anxiously, his gaze shifting between the distant footprints and Xiaojin in the sky.

"What is it, Comrade Wendong? We were just about to catch them! Why are we stopping?"

Zhao Wendong didn’t answer. He followed Dahuang’s gaze, carefully scanning the path ahead. Finally, he caught the glint of silver light reflecting off a thin wire. ’Holy shit,’ he thought, ’is that a grenade?’

Goosebumps erupted all over Zhao Wendong’s skin. If he hadn’t reacted so quickly and stopped, he would’ve become a martyr right then and there. Lin Zhiyin would have been made a widow before they even had their wedding night.