Chapter 10: Here They Come!

“What? Are you out of your mind?” Gu Bo jumped in shock, staring at Su Jingxing with a mix of amazement and alarm.

“They’re going to exterminate the corpse puppet—why would we join in?” he demanded.

“Those staff members say they’re going, but in reality, they’re just standing at the perimeter to bolster the numbers. The real action falls to the Security Squad.”

“No, the real action falls to Wu Anxun!” Gu Bo retorted. “Don’t be fooled by the number of people going; in truth, only Wu Anxun can deal with the corpse puppet. Even if everyone else tied themselves together, they wouldn’t last a single blow.”

“I’m telling you, kid—” Gu Bo’s tirade trailed into a string of scolding, almost escalating to physical reprimand.

Su Jingxing, his face flecked with Gu Bo’s spittle, didn’t dare interrupt. Only when Gu Bo finally paused did Su Jingxing force a sheepish smile and interject, “Captain Gu, please don’t worry.”

“How can I not worry? You’re running to your death, I—”

“Stop, stop!” Su Jingxing quickly cut in. “I never said I’d join the operation. I just want to watch and broaden my horizons. As you said yourself, with Captain Wu Anxun’s abilities, he can handle the corpse puppet alone. If safety is assured, then waiting on the outskirts shouldn’t be dangerous. Those staff members aren’t fools; if it were truly a death mission, would they care about being sidelined?”

“That may be so…” Gu Bo frowned, unconvinced.

“How about this: we take a pair of binoculars and watch from afar. We won’t even get close—just stay at the foot of the mountain, or simply find a tall building and observe from the rooftop. There’s no way we’ll be in danger that way, right?” Su Jingxing reasoned.

Gu Bo’s eyes lit up. “That could work,” he agreed, nodding. Observing from the roof of a high building, even the fiercest corpse puppet couldn’t reach them.

“Let’s go quickly, then,” Su Jingxing urged, “and find a shop to buy binoculars.”

“Alright. But can we even buy them at this hour?” Gu Bo hesitated but jogged after Su Jingxing.

“We’ll find out when we get there,” Su Jingxing replied without looking back.

To broaden his horizons by watching Wu Anxun slay the corpse puppet? That was just an excuse he’d made up on the spot! Did they really take him for some naive, hot-blooded youth who rushed in headlong?

Su Jingxing’s true purpose was far simpler: as soon as Wu Anxun killed the corpse puppet, he wanted to get close to the body and see if he could retrieve a special card from it.

After all, the corpse puppet was still a corpse—a special one, transformed by the corpse-raising parasite. If such a unique body could yield a card, the reward would surely be extraordinary—beyond what the Strength Pill or Essence Pill could offer. What exactly that would be, Su Jingxing was eager to discover.

If the rules held, even if he didn’t gain the puppet’s invulnerability or cheetah-like speed, anything he obtained would be a windfall.

…

After a short run, they managed to buy binoculars. In haste, they found Factory Manager Wang and the others, determined Wu Anxun’s ambush spot, and stopped at the foot of the mountain—never entering the woods.

Open terrain made it easier to deploy heavy firepower. Thus, although Wu Anxun had Red Pine Zhou wounded and left bleeding, he never drove him deep into the forest—just broke his leg at the edge and tied a rope around him, the other end anchored outside the woods.

Even so, Red Pine Zhou wailed and begged for mercy, crawling desperately to escape. As for the rope, he wished they’d tied on even more.

Su Jingxing and Gu Bo watched from a distance, then turned away to seek the best vantage point among a row of buildings not far from the mountain’s base. Once they found one, they climbed to the rooftop, each with a pair of binoculars, and observed from afar.

…

At the mountain’s foot, Wu Anxun commanded the Security Squad, swiftly setting up the heavy weaponry. Factory Manager Wang and his party lingered anxiously at the outermost edge.

The town, once lively, was now silent as a grave.

Between the mountains, only Red Pine Zhou’s pitiful pleas echoed and lingered. Blood from his wounds—mixed with that of cattle, sheep, pigs, and dogs—created a stench that the wind carried into the forest.

One minute. Two. Five.

Ten minutes passed; the forest remained still.

Fifteen minutes—and still, no sign of movement.

This eerie calm before the storm was agonizing for everyone at the mountain’s base, both the Security Squad and Factory Manager Wang’s group. Tension and fear gripped them all—except Wu Anxun, who remained composed from start to finish.

Twenty minutes. Twenty-five. Half an hour…

When Red Pine Zhou’s voice was hoarse, his blood nearly spent and consciousness slipping, suddenly—

A shadow flickered in the forest.

“It’s here!” Wu Anxun, who had maintained silence, sensed it at once. Through his earpiece, he gave a quiet command, “Everyone, prepare yourselves!”

The Security Squad tensed, eyes locked on the forest’s edge. The two men in charge of the rope swallowed hard, unable to help themselves.

Shadows shifted rapidly among the trees, racing straight toward the now barely conscious Red Pine Zhou.

The sound of something slicing through the air quickened, drawing closer and closer.

At last—

“Pull!” Wu Anxun barked.

The rope tied to Red Pine Zhou yanked taut, dragging him out of the forest.

“Ah!” Jolted by the sudden force and the pain of being scraped over the ground, Red Pine Zhou snapped awake, shrieking, “Don’t kill me, don’t kill me, I was wrong, I was wrong, sob… I didn’t mean to, I never wanted to kill her, she resisted and I lost control, sob… I was wrong, I was wrong, I’ll accept the law’s punishment—ah!!”

Forced to confess, Red Pine Zhou finally admitted to murder—only to shriek again in terror.

For “Mei Jinju” had appeared!

She nearly caught him, poised to tear him in two.

Revealed once more, “Mei Jinju” was wild-haired, eyes whited out, limbs twisted, fingernails sharp as knives. She charged with predatory speed, resembling a cheetah in her ferocity.

Red Pine Zhou was dragged from the forest.

“Mei Jinju” pursued relentlessly, bursting from the woods into the open.

Only when she reached the foot of the mountain—right into the trap—did Wu Anxun, hidden in a tree, give the order.

“Fire!”

In an instant—

Gunfire rattled. Mortars thumped. Rockets shrieked.

Every heavy weapon unleashed, all targeting “Mei Jinju” in a barrage of destruction.

Though she dodged left and right, avoiding most attacks, the area was blanketed with such overwhelming firepower that she was finally hit and fell, unleashing a beastly roar.

“Cease fire!” Wu Anxun called when the time was right.

Then, leaping from the tree, he slowly approached “Mei Jinju.”

Her abdomen blown open, half her skull gone, left arm missing, half a right leg remaining—yet when Wu Anxun was still ten meters away, “Mei Jinju” suddenly sprang up, jaws gaping with razor teeth, lunging for his throat…