Luo’er had already become accustomed to this feeling after breaking through the door. He raised his rifle, barged into the house, and began searching to his right. The first thing that came into view was a robust beastman standing in a state of confusion from the sudden silence. By the time Luo’er burst in, he hadn’t even processed what was happening. Luo’er didn’t want to give him that chance. He fired two shots at the beastman’s head. Although he couldn’t hear the gunfire, the recoil feedback allowed him to turn the muzzle towards the next target.
As Cheng Ziang rushed in with his pistol, he decisively fired two shots at the beastman’s head upon spotting him. To be frank, he didn’t particularly enjoy using firearms. Given the choice, he would rather use long knives and throwing knives. However, a hostage rescue mission didn’t afford him the luxury of preference, leading him to opt for the safest choice.
The room wasn’t large. There were five beastmen gathered around a fire, grilling succulent chunks of meat over the flames and filling the air with the aroma of roasted meat. On a wooden board beside the fire lay a battered Sub-beastman corpse. It wasn’t hard to guess what they were roasting on the fire. There were several Sub-beastmen villagers who hadn’t yet been slaughtered cowering in the corners, shivering in horror.
Using the door as an axis, Cheng Ziang turned left while Luo’er turned right. In his direction, there were three beastmen grouped together. After dealing with the standing beastman, Luo’er aimed at the remaining two and fired four shots at their heads, then continued to search towards the right.
With the absence of sound, their assault felt as though it was happening in slow motion. Five seconds later, checkmate outside ended the Silence Domain, and various sounds successfully returned to their ears. Including the sound of bodies falling, bullet shells hitting the ground and the sizzling of the roasting meat.
"Clear!" announced Luo’er.
"Clear!" Cheng Ziang echoed shortly after.
The three Sub-beastmen cowering in the corner widened their eyes as they watched Luo’er and his team enter and instantly kill several beastmen, their eyes betraying their renewed fear of them. One of the younger Sub-beastmen even screamed out loudly.
Luo’er stepped forward and crouched down, covering the mouth of the Sub-beastman, then put a finger to his lips, shaking his head at the remaining few. Whether they understood or not, they nodded and obediently remained silent.
He signalled to Cheng Ziang to check the bodies of the beastmen to make sure all were dead. Cheng Ziang chose a more straightforward method. In situations where it was uncertain whether the beastmen were dead, he directly slit their throats to ensure their demise.
"Don’t shout, don’t make any noise. We’re here to rescue you, understand?" While covering the mouth of the panicked Sub-beastman girl, Luo’er spoke softly to her.
The girl looked at him, fearfully nodding her head. Luo’er then slowly removed his hand from her mouth, and whispered, "Go to the ancient tree outside the village. There are people waiting for you there. Hurry!"
Having completed the hostage rescue operation, Luo’er escorted the remaining three Sub-beastman villagers out of the room, which was permeated with the scent of roasted meat, directing them to head to the location he and Taran had previously agreed upon.
Watching their retreating figures, Luo’er couldn’t help but glance back at the battered remains in the house, sighing. They may have been able to prevent the Sub-beastman’s slaughter if they had arrived a bit earlier. As this thought crossed his mind, Luo’er felt an even heavier burden on his shoulders.
As their assault progressed, they stormed through more than twenty houses in two hours, successfully rescuing almost a hundred villagers, and gradually neared the village center. Just as they caught their breath, preparing to continue the rescue, howls and curses suddenly erupted from the village center, followed by chaos breaking out among the beastmen.
On the sniper team’s side, while providing cover for Luo’er and his crew, they were also picking off isolated beastmen. Until now, they had killed eight beastmen in total.
"By the bonfire in the village center, wait, there’s a Sub-beastman there!"
Following Hu Daoke’s gaze, Baiyue saw a Sub-beastman tied up in the village center. His limbs had been secured, sprawling him out in a spread eagled position. His clothing had been torn off, and a beastman with a sharp knife was approaching him. It wasn’t necessary to guess what would happen next.
"There are too many of them, don’t shoot!" Hu Daoke grunted through gritted teeth.
Suddenly, an elderly Sub-beastman from the group lunged at the beastman with the knife, but was easily kicked aside. This unexpected intervention clearly infuriated the beastman who took it out on the elderly Sub-beastman, kicking him several times. The elder lay on the ground, appearing to be on his last breath, before another beastman grabbed him by the head and lifted him up.
To the towering beastmen, the Sub-beastmen were like chickens. The beastman stood holding the elder’s head while the other one with the knife continued to walk towards the bound Sub-beastman. The crowd erupted into screams.
"Damn..." Before Hu Daoke could finish his sentence, a muffled noise sounded beside him.
In the distance, the arm of the beastman holding the elder’s head was instantly broken by a shot, causing it to hang limp. He lay on the ground, wailing in agony. Following another muted sound, the head of the knife-wielding beastman exploded, splattering blood and brain matter everywhere.
"Yue’er, you..." Hu Daoke looked wide-eyed at Baiyue, who wore a ferocious expression as she gritted her teeth and continued loading and firing her rifle.
This was the first time Hu Daoke had seen her with such an expression. The Baiyue he saw now was savage to the point where he was momentarily silenced.
"Cover me here, I will assist Luo’er!" Knowing that something was off with Baiyue but with no time to delve into the matter, Hu Daoke picked up his light machine gun and ran quickly down from the sniping high ground, crossing a river to rush toward the village. They wouldn’t be able to handle the now alerted beastmen with just the three of them.
"Something’s not right, get ready to storm in!" Luo’er said calmly, replacing the magazine in his rifle.
Upon hearing his words, Cheng Ziang breathed a slight sigh of relief, like a bird set free. He slipped his pistol back into its holster and with a clink, drew his long sword from behind.
"Moumou, cover us!" Luo’er told her.
"Understood!" Tangmo responded, pulling her magic crystal pistol from her leg.
As they rounded the next corner, the trio came face to face with several excited beastmen. Before they could react, Luo’er fired the first shot.
"Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!!!!!!"
Using burst fire, Luo’er emptied half a magazine, and the beastmen fell, crying out in odd positions as they were hit. The three swiftly moved past their fallen bodies, pushing toward the center of the village.
At this point, Luo’er was not careful. He fired at every beastman he encountered, knocking them to the ground. Cheng Ziang had somehow split from the group, wielding his long sword against several beastmen. With a flash of the blade, the crude armor of the beastmen was no match for his sharp sword, and he effortlessly cut them down.
"Moumou, cover the left flank!" Luo’er called out loudly, swapping his emptied mag for a new one.
Tangmo nodded, firing several shots at the approaching beastmen. Her magic crystal pistol was in scatter mode, showering the beastmen with a cone of icicles. Although the distance wasn’t fatal, the beastmen were left in agonizing pain, howling as their bodies were filled with icicles.
It became clear to the beastmen that they were being invaded, and they rushed out of their homes towards them. The beastmen in the center of the village also started their counter-attack, putting immense pressure on the trio.
Though some fell silently with grunts of pain, it had little impact on their charge. Luo’er was a bit flustered. He set his rifle to full-auto mode and with a spray of waist-height fire, used up all his ammunition, only taking down a few beastmen at the forefront.
On the other side, things weren’t looking good for Cheng Ziang. Although he was a good hand-to-hand combatant, being surrounded by dozens of muscular men was no joke. After repelling several beastmen, he appeared to be slightly straining.
Just as the trio started feeling desperate, they suddenly heard the familiar yet cacophonous sound of a machine gun.
"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!!!!"
Hu Daoke, holding a light machine gun, charged in from their left side. He forewent the burst mode, hosing down the crowd of beastmen with a flurry of bullets. The beastmen, big and burly as they were, fell like weeds sliced down at the roots.
The ferocity of the machine gun finally instilled fear in the beastmen, and they began to withdraw from the fight, turning to flee towards the mountains.
Hu Daoke fought his way to the trio, continuously spraying with his machine gun. Meanwhile, Luo’er switched to his last magazine, jointly firing at the fleeing beastmen, leaving behind even more bodies.
Only after emptying the entire ammo box of his machine gun did Hu Daoke release the trigger. His gun was smoking, the barrel faintly glowing red, becoming unbearably hot. Luo’er wasn’t any better off. His silencer was almost ruined from the gunfire. They exchanged a glance, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
By now, the beastmen were terrified, had darted into the primeval forest, and vanished from sight. Only Luo’er and company were left in the village square, along with several sub-beastmen who sat limply on the ground, their faces as pale as sheets from terror.
Luo’er could feel something sticky on his face. By the light of the fire, he saw that he was covered in blood.
Cheng Ziang walked towards the tightly bound sub-beastman. With a swift movement, he cut the ropes binding it. Having gained its freedom, the sub-beastman fell in front of him, then quickly scrambled up and hid behind the elder sub-beastman.
Luo’er casually slung his empty rifle over his shoulder and took out his pistol from his leg as a final offensive measure. The elder sub-beastman anxiously watched their every move. Eventually, he softly asked: "Who... who are you?"
As Luo’er was about to respond, he heard a rustle behind him. Nervously, he swiftly turned around only to find Baiyue, panting, rushing over to the sub-beastman elder with her sniper rifle on her back. She had a look of sadness and shock, gazing at the elder then slowly removed her hood to everyone’s surprise, revealing a pair of fluffy rabbit ears on her head, just like his.