Nighttime is dominated by the Terror Demons. Relying on their agile bodies and keen vision, they often launch a surprise attack when the humans in the settlement are caught unsuspecting.
Although such surprise attacks rarely achieve effective results and most of the time, the attacks are merely a means for them to vent their violent desires, they do indeed cause considerable trouble for the people here.
Especially with the aimless bombardments that occur every ten days or so, waking countless people from their dreams.
Even when their greatest achievement is blowing up a buffalo kept in the sunlit cocoon house, it is enough for them to leave cheering, offering its head to their Blood God.
After all, they can't really harm the people living in the settlement, and those people can't do much to them either.
The confrontations between both sides are like child's play, coming and going quickly. The Terror Demons are unwilling to let their warriors spill blood needlessly, and humans are reluctant to waste bullets on these low-intelligence creatures.
"Assault" seems to have become a routine ritual, forming a dynamic balance of ecology.
Both sides know it will happen at some point and understand it won't cause severe consequences, so they tacitly ignore it.
This is the rule.
----But today, the leader of the squad of over a dozen Horror Demon soldiers seems to have a unique scent.
His brain, long shrunken through generations, can't comprehend what's specifically happening. Still, an instinct forged through long-term slaughter tells him there's a lurking danger around him.
So what exactly is it?
The leader stands atop a high hill, overlooking the warriors charging below.
He sees those shadowy figures gathering into a mass, shrieking as they charge toward the makeshift stone wall outside Han Shui City.
The guards on the stone wall fired a few shots, missing his warriors.
The enraged warriors continued their charge forward, soon arriving beneath the stone wall.
A warrior leaped, trying to use the rusty iron spear in his hand to knock down the guard on the stone wall, but the guard had already retreated two steps and was prepared, using a long wooden stick to poke the halfway-climbed warrior off.
Laughter erupted instantly from the stone wall, and the leader roared in fury, his voice piercing through the night.
But he was powerless.
Perhaps today, he's not under the Blood God's blessing, causing the "carefully" planned raid to yield not a single drop of blood.
The halted Horror Demon warriors attempted to bypass the stone wall, but they quickly realized that if they really ran such a long distance, they likely wouldn't have the energy to fight.
Might as well turn back.
The blood of these humans living together isn't any thicker than that of solitary humans, not even comparable to the water ghosts soaking in the water.
Let's go!
Retreat!
The Blood God will not punish me for this small mishap; as long as I offer a few more heads in the next sacrifice, it'll be fine.
The leader's hands trembled slightly, not knowing it was the sequelae of long-term cannibalism, mistaking it for a gospel from the Blood God for sinners like him.
Just like he also didn't know that less than 100 meters away from him, a sharp knife had already sliced through the darkness toward him.....
...
Drones hovered in the sky, and Chen Jian watched the terror demon resembling a leader in the distance, holding a QSW06 with only four bullets.
Beside him, Lei Jie held a QCQ171, on full alert, while Shen Yue and He Shuo each occupied the high ground, providing cover for the two about to launch the assault.
Through the images circulated by the drone, Chen Jian clearly saw those heat signals retreating.
He was surprised by the hasty so-called "assault" launched by the Terror Demons but found it faintly reasonable.
Indeed, according to Xu Lie's explanation, the conflict between the Blood Skull and the surviving humans had been ongoing for hundreds of years.
In this period, both sides had long figured out each other's strength.
The Blood Skull couldn't kill all humans, and humans had no energy to eradicate them entirely.
Under such a balance, "limited" conflict became mainstream; wasn't it a matter of course?
The only thing that puzzled him was that these Terror Demons had something like a mortar, yet the survivors ignored it.
Did they not want the mortar?
Or do they not know how to use it?
It should be the latter.
After all, all the "local firearms" he saw now were direct-fire weapons; projectile trajectory and indirect aiming are a bit too complicated for people with a technological disconnection.
Just as well, let me catch this leak.
Chen Jian gestured a few hand signs in front of him; the intelligent goggles quickly calculated, and within an instant, orders were issued to each team member.
"Lei Jie flanks from the left, opening fire first to draw enemy attention."
"I attack head-on, targeting high-value targets."
"Shen Yue, He Shuo, alert mode; do not open fire unless in extreme cases."
"Quiet intervention, quiet withdrawal."
"Understood."
"Understood."
The response came immediately, and Chen Jian immediately moved.
He held the QSW06 low, crawling forward, using the rough terrain to shield his body, gradually getting closer to a rock less than 30 meters from the leader.
Now, there were only six enemies in front of him.
Two were packing up floor-based mortars of unknown models, two remained on alert, and another strong Terror Demon was already escorting the leader in retreat.
This was the best timing.
Without any hesitation, Chen Jian rose from behind the rock.
The bright red dot locked onto the leader's head, and simultaneously, a faint sound came from nearby.
"Click----"
This faint sound, like a snapping twig, didn't catch the attention of the Terror Demon leader, who continued moving forward until he suddenly noticed the warrior beside him had vanished.
He turned to look and saw the warrior who had followed him for years lying on the ground, as if asleep.
"Get up! Get up! Fool!"
His mouth let out a hoarse shout, but the next second.
"Click!"
Another faint sound, a 5.8mm subsonic bullet lowly avoided the welding helmet on his head, entered from his chin, and exited from his spine.
Blood spurted as the leader fell backward.
Chen Jian holstered his pistol, unwilling to waste even a single bullet.
He merely drew a dagger and headed directly toward the target, while in front of him, the remaining four Terror Demons fell one by one.
When he reached the "bombardment position" opposite, the last Terror Demon who tried to charge at him was tripped by a faint sound, falling precisely at his feet.
Holding the dagger in his right hand, Chen Jian stabbed under the opponent's spine, lightly prying with leverage, causing the struggling, not fully dead body to instantly go limp.
Following that was the second, third, and fourth.
The arriving Lei Jie used a similar method to execute the leader and his escort, then quickly moved forward with Chen Jian to each carry off two mortars.
"There are still two shells, great!"
Lei Jie said cheerfully.
"A bit few, but better than nothing."
"201 cannon, this thing is wasted in their hands."
"No wonder it can still fire, this cannon is pure titanium alloy."
"Let's go, back home!"