"What? Are you out of your mind?" said Gu Bo, starting and staring at Su Jingxing in shock.
"They're going there to exterminate the Corpse Puppet. Why should we be there?"
"By encircling and exterminating, the personnel simply mean forming an outer circle to boost morale. The security team is the one that's going to do the dirty work."
"Or rather, Wu Anxun alone!"
"Don't be deceived by their numbers. In reality, only Wu Anxun can deal with the Corpse Puppet."
"The other people will just get torn apart, even if they were to band together."
"I'm telling you…"
Gu Bo rambled on and on, so agitated he almost employed his fists.
Su Jingxing, whose face was covered in Gu Bo's saliva, dared not interrupt. He only gave a smile when Gu Bo took a break from his rambling, and said, "Take it easy, Team Leader Gu."
"How am I going to take it easy! You are courting death, and I…"
"Stop, stop!" Su Jingxing broke in., "I never said we should participate in the operation. I just want to take a look and broaden my horizons. Earlier, you said that with Team Leader Wu Anxun's abilities, he can finish off the Corpse Puppets all by himself. If that's the case, our safety should be guaranteed if we stay at the outer circle. The personnel aren't fools either; if it was a suicidal mission, who would care about future promotions?"
"That's true but…"
"Okay, how about this? We'll just take a pair of binoculars and watch from afar. That should be okay, right?" interjected Su Jingxing again.
"We won't even be at the outer circle. We can just stay at the foot of the mountain. Or some rooftop. Sounds safe enough, doesn't it?"
"That works," relented Gu Bo, his eyes lighting up as he nodded his approval.
If they watched from the rooftop of a tall building, the Corpse Puppet wouldn't be able to lay a finger on them no matter how powerful it was.
"Let's get going then," said Su Jingxing. "We need to find a store that sells binoculars."
"Sure, but are the shops still open?" asked Gu Bo, slightly hesitant as he scuttled after Su Jingxing.
"We'll know when we get there," said Su Jingxing without looking back.
Watching Wu Anxun kill Corpse Puppets to broaden his horizons?
That was just an excuse he made up on the spot!
Did Gu Bo really think he was an ignorant youngster who would disregard everything in a moment of excitement?
Su Jingxing's real intentions were simple.
He wanted to approach the corpse right after Wu Anxun slays the Corpse Puppet, to see if he could extract special cards from it.
After all, Corpse Puppets were also corpses, and they were special in the sense that they had been reconstructed by Corpse-raising Insects.
If such a special corpse could be extracted, the rewards must be extraordinary.
At the very least, it should be better than Essence Energy Pills or Strength Pills.
Su Jingxing looked forward to what kind of rewards awaited him.
According to previous experiences, it might be the Corpse Puppet's physical invulnerability or cheetah-like speed. Even if it wasn't, he was certain that whatever he got would benefit him greatly.
…
After a short run, he arrived at a store and managed to buy two pairs of binoculars.
After that, he hurriedly located Head Wang and the others to learn more about Wu Anxun's ambush plan; the location was set at the foot of the mountain, and they weren't going to enter the woods.
The operation required heavy weapons, and these were easier to deploy in open areas.
Wu Anxun ordered someone to inflict a bleeding wound on Zhou Hongsong, break his legs, and tie a rope to him. Instead of driving him deep into the woods, they left him at the outer edge of it. The other end of the rope was connected to the outside of the mountain.
At this moment, Zhou Hongsong was yelping and begging for mercy. He crawled on the ground on all fours, trying to escape.
He almost wished he had more ropes tied to him so that they could pull him in faster!
Su Jingxing and Gu Bo took a few glances from afar before turning around and leaving. They searched for the best vantage point among the row of buildings near the foot of the mountain.
Once they found it, they went up to the top of the building and looked through their own pairs of binoculars.
…
At the foot of the mountain, Wu Anxun commanded the security team to quickly deploy the heavy weapons.
Head Wang led a group of personnel to guard the outermost circle. The group was filled with trepidation.
The town, void of its usual hustle and bustle, was dead silent.
In the mountains, the only sound that could be heard was the echoes of Zhou Hongsong's cries.
The blood trickling down him, combined with the blood of other animals, produced a strong metallic smell that got carried into the woods by the wind.
A minute passed, then two, then five…
Ten minutes passed. There weren't any movements in the forest.
Fifteen minutes passed. The forest remained as calm as ever.
The eerie silence was reminiscent of a calm before the storm; everyone at the foot of the mountain, be it the security team personnel or Head Wang, was extremely tense and fearful.
Only Wu Anxun kept his cool the entire time.
Twenty minutes passed, then twenty-five, then thirty…
Just as Zhou Hongsong was hoarse from shouting and about to faint from excessive blood loss, it happened.
Swish!
A dark shadow emerged from the woods.
"It's coming!" said Wu Anxun, who detected the movement immediately. He whispered an order through the earpiece. "Everyone, get ready!"
In their positions, the security team personnel tensed up and stared at the woods.
The two men in charge of pulling the rope couldn't help but swallow some spit.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
The dark shadows moved quickly through the woods towards Zhou Hongsong, who was only capable of moaning at this point.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The swishing grew faster and faster, and the shadow was quickly approaching Zhou Hongsong.
Finally—
"Pull!" bellowed Wu Anxun.
Whoosh!
The rope that bound Zhou Hongsong was immediately pulled in, dragging Zhou Hongsong out of the woods.
"Ah!"
The force from the sudden pull and the pain from friction against the ground caused the drowsy Zhou Hongsong to instantly regain consciousness. He screamed and begged for mercy. "Don't kill me, don't kill me! It was my fault, it was my fault! Sob, sob, sob… It wasn't on purpose. I didn't want to kill her! She was the one who resisted! I wasn't aware of how much strength I was using and accidentally killed her! Sob, sob, sob… It was my fault, all mine! I'm willing to accept the law's punishment… Ah!!"
Zhou Hongsong, who finally confessed to the murder, suddenly let out a shriek.
Because 'Mei Jinju' had appeared!
She came very close to pouncing onto Zhou Hongsong and tearing him in half.
The current "Mei Jinju" had disheveled hair, eyes that were entirely white, twisted limbs, and nails that were sharp like blades. She sprinted with the swiftness and ferocity of a cheetah.
Swish! Swish!
Tugged by the rope, Zhou Hongsong was moving away from the woods.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
In hot pursuit of him, "Mei Jinju" charged out of the woods.
She kept chasing, and soon she was at the foot of the mountain—the ambush location.
"Fire!"
Wu Anxun, who was hiding on a tree, issued a timely order.
In an instant…
Ta ta ta!
Pew pew pew!
Boom boom boom!
Mortars, rocket launchers, rapid-firing machine guns…
All the heavy weapons fired at once, bombarding 'Mei Jinju' with a barrage of gunfire and shells.
Under heavy firepower, even though 'Mei Jinju' managed to dodge most of the attacks, she eventually got hit and fell to the ground, growling in pain.
"Stop!"
Seeing that she was down, Wu Anxun ordered his men to stop firing.
Then, he leaped down from the tree and slowly approached "Mei Jinju".
At this point, "Mei Jinju'' had a large hole in her abdomen, half of her head missing, her left arm torn off, and only half of her right leg remaining. When Wu Anxun was about ten meters away from her, she suddenly sprang up, opened her mouth that was filled with sharp teeth, and pounced at Wu Anxun with a roar…