Chapter 169
Chapter 169
The snow halfway up the mountain rose past their ankles, and every step took an enormous amount of energy.
The four advanced along the narrow mountain trail in a diamond formation. Wu Wujie took the lead and cleared the way, with Ye Que close behind. An Xiaolin remained vigilant in the middle, while Qingshui brought up the rear, watching for pursuers and keeping her gun ready to fire at a moment’s notice.
Suddenly, an almost imperceptible hum pierced the silence.
“Take cover!”
Qingshui’s pupils contracted. She barked the warning and instinctively threw herself behind a dead tree to the right.
Ye Que and Wu Wujie reacted just as quickly, practically skimming the ground as they rolled into a hollow in the snow. An Xiaolin ducked straight into the shadow behind a massive boulder.
The instant they vanished from sight, a pitch-black drone swept past at low altitude like a ghost. The gale from its rotors sent snow swirling through the air.
Then came a second drone, followed by a third…
They’d been spotted. Qingshui’s heart sank. Nothing below the midpoint of the mountain offered enough cover to conceal them.
She had to open fire and shoot them down!
Without further hesitation, she leaned halfway out from cover, aimed at the dark shapes flying low overhead, and pulled the trigger in quick succession.
“Bang! Bang!”
Two sharp reports rang out. The drones exploded into balls of fire and plummeted into the deep ravine.
Just as the group was about to rise, a thunderous roar erupted, making their scalps prickle.
“Vroom-vroom!!!”
The sound hurtled toward them from the distance at an unbelievable speed, rattling their eardrums and sending chills down their spines.
That was… the sound of motorcycles!
“I found them! I found them! Hahahahaha!”
Manic laughter rode the wind alongside the roar of the engines.
“Hahaha! What luck! What incredible luck!”
Two motorcycles, modified beyond all recognition, smashed through the undergrowth and came flying down toward them, carrying a nauseating stench of blood. Their tires sprayed gravel as they charged straight at the four.
The riders wore warped motorcycle helmets with shattered visors, exposing two pairs of bulging eyes that looked ready to pop from their sockets.
Those eyes were bloodshot and crimson, locked hungrily on the living prey before them. They brimmed with an insatiable craving for flesh and blood.
In an instant, they blocked the narrow mountain trail completely!
“Fall back!”
Qingshui’s eyes widened with fury as she raised her gun and roared the warning.
There was no need. Ye Que and Wu Wujie were already scrambling on all fours up the steep slope.
Everyone knew that if they remained where they were for even three more seconds, they would absolutely be crushed into pulp!
The instant they cleared the motorcycles’ path, the two bikes swung into sharp skids. Their tires shrieked against the dirt as they whipped around, then came roaring toward them again.
The riders completely ignored the low, dead branches. They forced their bikes off the trail and barreled over rocks and through dry grass.
Qingshui pressed her back against a withered old pine, her breathing steady.
Bang!
The Madman in front went rigid as a cloud of blood burst from its chest. The tremendous impact hurled it off the motorcycle. The bike careened out of control, smashed into the rock face, and broke apart with a deafening crash.
At the same time, another sharp gunshot cracked from higher up the slope.
Ye Que had already seized a protruding rock ledge. Half prone in the snow, she narrowed the pupil of her right eye to a pinprick, her sights locked firmly on the other Madman.
The wind howled around her, but at that moment, her world fell perfectly still.
She squeezed the trigger.
The bullet slipped precisely through a gap in the shattered visor and blew away half the Madman’s head along with its helmet. Red and white matter burst through the air, splattering across the pristine snow in a horrifying display.
“Haha… That feels good…”
Amazingly, the headless corpse remained in riding position for several more yards. A bizarre, breathy laugh leaked from its throat before its body finally stiffened, toppled over, and rolled down the slope.
“Don’t stop! Run!”
Qingshui felt no joy at their victory. Her heart was pounding wildly.
Killing them would only draw more.
Without the slightest hesitation, the four of them turned and sprinted toward the summit.
The bone-chilling wind swept up flecks of snow and slashed across their faces like knives. Dead branches and withered grass tangled together, clawing viciously at their clothes.
All that remained was the sound of their ragged, bellows-like breathing–and the hum rising once more behind them.
They were coming again.
And there were even more this time.
“Get up there! Get up there!”
Faster!
Their lungs burned with every icy, stabbing breath, yet their legs stretched farther and moved faster than ever. Faces twisted with exertion, they charged uphill with reckless abandon.
Faster!!
Faster!!!
Qingshui brought up the rear. Her fingertips were numb with cold, but she kept her gun steady and pulled the trigger, blasting one of the pursuing drones out of the air. Its body shattered into pieces and plummeted to the ground.
At last, the view opened up as they burst onto the level ground at the summit. The slick gravel, deadwood, and steep slope beneath their feet gave way to relatively flat, hard-packed earth. Like wild animals breaking free of their restraints, all four surged forward even faster.
But before they could catch their breath, Wu Wujie, who was running at the front, stopped dead.
Not far ahead, a pitch-black figure stood silently in the shadows.
It was a Madman astride a heavy motorcycle. The engine wasn’t running. It simply waited there, motionless, its entire body shrouded in a black trench coat and a jet-black helmet.
Even though Wu Wujie couldn’t see its face, a bone-deep chill shot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. He could almost glimpse a face behind that dark visor, twisted into the widest grin imaginable.
Then, reflected in his suddenly constricted pupils, the pitch-black Madman slowly raised its right hand.
The dark muzzle erupted with a deafening bang.
Time seemed to stretch endlessly in that instant.
The wind abruptly changed direction, blowing up from the foot of the mountain. It carried flecks of snow–and a faint, broken voice.
It rustled indistinctly, like someone speaking from very far away. Like an auditory hallucination at the brink of death.
Am I going to die?
…………
“Don’t want them dead.”
Cat sat in the passenger seat with a walkie-talkie in hand. The bald driver remained silent behind the wheel.
The Madman’s excited yet frustrated voice crackled through the radio. “They broke them again. Two of them.”
Cat said nothing. He merely stared at the overcast sky beyond the window.
“Don’t worry,” he finally said, his voice calm, as if soothing an impatient dog. “We’re almost there. You can play with them for now.”
He paused, the corners of his mouth slowly curving upward.
“Let’s see just how strong they are.”
Giggling laughter came through the walkie-talkie.
The next second, Cat lowered his lashes slightly, his pupils abruptly contracting to pinpricks. His voice turned icy as he repeated, enunciating every word:
“Take-them-alive.”
The laughter stopped. The other end fell silent for an instant before an even more excited reply came through.
“Got it, got it–we’ll take them alive! Hee-hee-hee!”
Cat slowly leaned back against his seat, his gaze fixed rigidly on the walkie-talkie.
His face remained utterly still, like a slab of stiff, dead flesh, betraying no emotion whatsoever. But on closer inspection, the two blood-red eyeballs within those bottomless sockets were spinning around and around, whirling wildly beyond his control.
The bald driver shuddered all over. It knew this was the sign that Cat was angry.
Cat parted his lips and spoke with an icy chill.
“Disobedient dogs get punished.”