The Middle East: From War Correspondent to Middle Eastern Influencer

The cellar was so small that it was impossible to even stand up straight.

The surrounding area was filled with old wooden crates and empty iron barrels that reeked of decay. Wu Hen pressed his back tightly against the cold, damp mud wall, his right hand gripping the handle of his M9 multi-functional military bayonet, while his left hand rested on Muhammad's shoulder beside him.

The footsteps overhead were heavy and chaotic.

"The first floor is safe!" a rough Arabic male voice rang out.

"Sir, there's a situation here! There are three corpses, and the blood is still warm!"

Wu Hen's heart sank. The time spent cleaning up the scene was too rushed; there simply wasn't enough time to remove all the bloodstains and odors.

"Be alert! Search! The assassin can't have gone far!" The sergeant's voice instantly became tense.

The sound of military boots pounding on the floor began to echo in the lobby on the first floor, each step striking a nerve with Wu Hen and Muhammad.

The footsteps grew closer and closer, finally stopping at the bottom of the stairs, directly above the hidden door.

"Splash!"

The soldier stomped hard on the tattered carpet that Wu Hen had used for disguise, and the dust that rose up fell through the gaps in the wooden planks of the hidden door, landing directly on Muhammad's face.

Immediately afterwards, a blinding beam of tactical flashlight pierced the dark cellar through the narrow gap between the wooden planks.

The beam of light swept slowly through the darkness, coming within less than twenty centimeters of Wu Hen's eyes.

At this moment, Muhammad's psychological defenses completely collapsed. The continuous escape, the threat of death, and the oppressive feeling of being dragged out and shot at any time caused his body to lose control.

Dust was inhaled into his trachea, his Adam's apple bobbed uncontrollably, and his chest began to heave violently.

He wants to cough!

"Hmm!"

Just as Muhammad was about to speak, Wu Hen made a move!

Without the slightest hesitation, Wu Hen's left hand tightly covered Muhammad's mouth and nose! At the same time, his right leg pressed down on Muhammad, pinning him firmly against the wall and locking him in his escape route.

Muhammad's eyes widened instantly, his eyeballs becoming bloodshot and filled with terrifying red veins due to fear and lack of oxygen.

He frantically scratched at Wu Hen's arms with both hands, his nails digging deep into Wu Hen's forearms, even drawing blood.

But Wu Hen remained completely still.

In this cramped darkness, Wu Hen's eyes were fixed on Muhammad.

The message conveyed in those eyes was clear: If you dare to make even the slightest sound, I wouldn't hesitate to slit your throat right now!

Muhammad's struggles grew weaker and weaker, his face turned from white to purplish-red, and his brain began to hallucinate due to lack of oxygen, his consciousness was rapidly slipping away.

"Drip!" A drop of cold sweat slid down Wu Hen's forehead and landed on the soil in the cellar. The beam of the flashlight above his head was still scanning back and forth through the gaps.

Approximately 3 seconds passed.

The soldier who was carefully searching with a flashlight seemed to have found nothing.

"Bang!"

He kicked the empty metal bucket next to him hard.

"Sir! This place is full of broken furniture and trash; there's no sign of a secret door or basement. They probably climbed out through the back window and escaped to the next block!"

The sergeant snorted, "Damn it, they got there fast! Retreat! There are snipers on the street ahead of the unit; we need to get back immediately to provide armored support! Hurry!"

"yes!"

The footsteps began to fade quickly into the distance.

Immediately following was the sound of the courtyard gate being violently slammed open, and then the armored vehicle at the street corner began to slowly reverse and drive away from the block.

Only after confirming that there were no more footsteps or engine sounds around did Wu Hen slowly release his left hand from Muhammad's face.

"Hiss! Whoosh! Hah! Cough cough cough cough!"

The moment he was released, Muhammad was like a dying fish thrown onto the shore, his mouth agape, followed by a series of heart-wrenching, violent coughs.

He collapsed onto the muddy ground, clutching his clothes tightly to his chest, gasping for breath, greedily inhaling the murky air from the cellar.

Every breath was accompanied by a burning pain in his trachea, but he felt it was the most delicious thing in the world.

He looked up, using the faint light filtering through the gaps in the wooden planks above him, to see the young man opposite him.

Just now, he truly believed that Wu Hen would smother him to death in order to protect himself.

"Wu..." Muhammad began weakly.

"Shhh."

Wu Hen interrupted Muhammad.

Having just escaped a search by government troops, Wu Hen's sense of crisis did not dissipate but instead intensified.

"Thump!"

Suddenly, a muffled, strange noise came from the distant street.

This was no ordinary artillery fire.

Whoosh! Boom!!!

Just seconds later, a deafening explosion rang out on the main road less than 100 meters away from their house! The ground trembled violently, and dust cascaded down from the top of the cellar like a waterfall.

Immediately afterwards, it was like setting off a giant powder keg; the previously quiet opposition position on the other side of the street instantly erupted into chaos!

"Damn it!" Wu Hen couldn't help but curse under his breath.

"We can't stay here!" Wu Hen pushed open the hidden door above their heads, which was on the verge of collapsing. "This dilapidated house can't withstand heavy firepower at all. If it collapses, we'll be buried alive underneath!"

He was the first to climb out of the cellar and pulled Muhammad, whose legs were still weak, up with him.

The two had just stood still in the lobby on the first floor when, "whoosh!" a shell pierced through the thin brick wall and slammed into the wall on the other side.

"Get down!"

Bullets began to rain down on the exterior walls of the houses, and large chunks of plaster peeled off the old buildings under the crossfire.

"Sandbags! Push those sandbags to the window!" Wu Hen crawled forward, shouting back at Muhammad.

Muhammad knew he was at a critical juncture of life and death. His will to survive overcame his fear, and he used both his hands and feet to push the sandbags that had been pushed aside earlier toward the large hole in the road directly in front of the street, together with Wu Hen.

"Bang bang bang!" Several AKM bullets landed heavily on the sandbag, and fine sand flowed out from the bullet holes.

The two were panting heavily.

Wu Hen peeked out slightly, trying to observe the situation outside, when a sharp whistling sound suddenly approached.

It's an RPG-7 rocket! And the target is most likely the wall next to them!

"Get down!"

Wu Hen only had time to utter a short warning before he lunged to the side and backward.

"boom!!!"

The earth is shaking and the mountains are shaking.

An orange-red fireball exploded outside the house, and the huge shockwave tore half of the wall apart.

Wu Hen felt a sharp pain in his eardrums, followed by a brief period of tinnitus. He shook his dusty head, forcing himself to wake up.

Turning around, I saw that Muhammad's leg was pinned down by a half-timbered beam, and he was howling in pain. To make matters worse, the rocket that had just hit the roof had collapsed half of it, and the rubble blocked the way to the backyard!

Their escape route was cut off.

[Host detected to be currently in: a high-risk firefight zone.]

[You meet the check-in requirements. Do you wish to check in immediately?]

"Check-in!"

[Check-in successful!]

[Attribute Bonus: Agility +2.]

"Wu...cough cough...we're going to die here..." Muhammad gripped his AK-47 in despair.

"Shut up! You jinx, you want to die but I don't!" Wu Hen angrily cursed in Chinese.

Looking at the scene before him, Wu Hen reached to his waist and pulled out a captured fragmentation grenade.

"Cover your ears and close your eyes!"

He pulled out the pin and loosened the safety grip.

One, two...

After silently counting to two, Wu Hen threw the grenade hard at a pile of abandoned oil drums thirty meters away!

"boom!"

A grenade detonated above an oil drum! Shrapnel instantly ignited the diesel fuel scattered on the ground, triggering a chain of explosions.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A massive fireball shot into the sky, billowing black smoke instantly rising, and the shockwave from the explosion knocked several unsuspecting opposition fighters to the ground.

The entire intersection instantly descended into chaos, the thick black smoke becoming the perfect natural smoke bomb.

"Now! Let's go!"

Wu Hen pushed aside the wooden beam that was pressing down on Muhammad's legs and pulled him up with one hand.

Taking advantage of the thick smoke outside, Wu Hen, carrying the AK-47, led the limping Muhammad into the ruins of another half-collapsed building next door.

The two had just squatted down behind the corner of the wall and hadn't even had a chance to catch their breath.

Wu Hen's ears twitched slightly.

The sound of tactical boots crunching through rubble was soft and rhythmic.

Wu Hen cautiously peeked out with half his head out, peering through the crack in the wall.

Amidst the smoke and fire, three armed men dressed in desert camouflage and in standard combat formation advanced, taking turns providing cover as they carried automatic rifles, heading straight for the ruins where they were currently hiding.

The leader made a gesture, and the three people immediately spread out in a fan shape, sealing off all blind spots.

"Damn it!" Wu Hen slowly pulled out the M9 multi-functional military bayonet from the outside of his thigh.