Chapter 315: Chapter 272: Puppet
The bloodstains that had soaked through the clothes made it clear that the person’s fate looked grim. What was most outrageous was that after killing someone, they stripped the body of its clothing and dressed a mannequin in the window, deliberately placing it there as if to provoke, showing complete disregard for them.
The few of them did not find a body nearby. In military operations, speed is of the essence. After confirming there were no other clues, the four of them continued to move deeper into the mall.
The safety passages and elevators were completely out of consideration, as they were too narrow for combat to be feasible in case a battle broke out.
As soon as they entered the first floor of the mall, the four quickly dispersed, each searching for cover while maintaining a distance from one another. No discussion was necessary: the close-combat experts Wu Zhengwu and Beibei had their backs against the wall in forward positions, while Yang Xiao drew his pistol, and Sun Qiya, holding guns in both hands, provided cover from the rear.
The depressing mall was filled with an urgent sense of an impending battle. The visibility was poor, with emergency lights emitting a faint green glow every dozen meters or so.
Visibility was around 7 or 8 meters; beyond that, everything was shrouded in a hazy darkness. Yang Xiao scanned his surroundings. Desolation was everywhere—one glance revealed that most stores on the first floor were already emptied out. Through the grimy glass doors, one could see only unwanted old tables and chairs left inside, along with some haphazardly stacked, rather large cardboard boxes. Even the storefronts that hadn’t moved out mostly had signs for sales promotions or notices of closing down and transferring ownership.
Yang Xiao had not yet seen any Evil Cultivators, but his instincts told him there must be an ambush nearby. At this moment, god knows how many eyes were watching them from the dark recesses.
Suddenly, Yang Xiao felt an uncomfortable sensation, as if... as if he was being watched. He followed this feeling, only to see Sun Qiya hiding 5 meters to his right and behind a corner, her eyes closed. Through the slits of her eyelids, a faint dark red light was barely visible.
"Left, fourteen meters, two targets; right, twelve meters, two targets; straight ahead, three targets—two behind the glass door, one behind the billboard, and another one in the back, hiding behind that Christmas tree."
Sun Qiya’s icy voice came through the earpiece. She seemed like a completely different person. When she opened her eyes again, her pupils had constricted into a dark red slit, cold and devoid of any emotion.
Yang Xiao immediately understood. This must be Sun Qiya’s Resentful Eye ability—at this moment, she had become a living radar. The positions she reported were precisely where the Evil Cultivators were hiding.
"Captain, you take the two inside the shop on the left; Beibei, handle the two behind the toy train on the right. I’ll deal with the three straight ahead. Captain Yang, cover my back. Beware, the guy behind the Christmas tree might have a gun."
Sun Qiya naturally took on the role of team coordinator. Only then did Yang Xiao understand why the chief had arranged for them to sneak in—they had someone like Sun Qiya, a human radar, in their midst. Oh, what a valuable ability it was, practically a godsend for preventing ambushes.
"Move."
At Sun Qiya’s command, she was the first to dart out from behind the corner, guns in both hands, firing simultaneously. The glass door was shattered instantly, screams erupted from behind it, and a man hiding behind an advertising stand a dozen meters in front of Yang Xiao was shot without even a whimper, turned into a bloody gourd by the gunfire.
Yang Xiao, keeping an eye on the Christmas tree behind him, saw a burly shadow dart out. Before the shadow could steady itself, Yang Xiao, already prepared, opened fire. Apart from the first shot that missed, he landed the remaining seven bullets on the figure. The man was tough, possibly wearing a bulletproof vest or similar protective gear. He took seven rounds before falling.
Yang Xiao immediately rushed over and fired more shots at the head of the writhing Evil Cultivator until it was obliterated. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
The man was even sturdier than Da Xiong, carrying a sawed-off shotgun that had been modified. The rugged barrel was specially treated with a matte finish that didn’t reflect light at all, perfect for hiding in dark places and ambushing.
Now, Yang Xiao felt a chill of fear thinking back. If that man had managed to rush over and shoot first at such close range, he could have been turned into a sieve.
The battle on Wu Zhengwu and Beibei’s end had also come to a conclusion. Unlike Beibei’s exquisite maneuvers, the more brutish Wu Zhengwu used broad, sweeping moves. He barged through the glass door, swung his Broad-back Hunting Knife to cleave a thick wooden table along with the Evil Cultivator hiding behind it in half. The other Evil Cultivator was petrified, and before he could scream, his head was sent flying. Only a headless torso remained, squatting on the ground and spurting blood. The scene was unspeakably gory.
In terms of cruelty, they had surpassed the Evil Cultivators Yang Xiao had encountered previously, like Qilong’s group. But Yang Xiao thought this was a good thing. Such teammates were reassuring because evil must be eradicated.
Wu Zhengwu wiped the blood-stained hunting knife on his sleeve and carried it dripping with blood from its tip.
"Swoosh!"
"Swoosh! Swoosh!"
Cold arrows shot from nowhere. Luckily, Yang Xiao’s reflexes were quick, and he immediately took cover in a nearby shop. An arrow pierced straight through a thick wardrobe, leaving half the shaft quivering outside, a buzzing sound resonating from it.
If he had been hit by that arrow, he would have been pinned to the ground. Yang Xiao had seen such arrows before—those used by Qilong’s group.
"Find their positions!" Yang Xiao, trapped by the arrows inside the shop and unable to leave, could only call out to Sun Qiya through the earpiece.
