Chapter 10: Night Raid! The Thorn and Blood Outpost

"Crack!" Another thorn snapped with a light sound, sounding like thunder in the dead of night!

Ai Li's eyes instantly sharpened like blades! Without the slightest hesitation, her index finger on the trigger猛地 squeezed down!

"Whoosh—"!

A dim blue streak tore through the darkness, carrying a piercing shriek, and shot precisely deep into the thorn bush where the sound came from!

"Pfft!" The dull sound of an arrow piercing flesh accompanied a suppressed groan of pain!

"Ah! Damn it! There's an ambush!" A rough male voice, furious and out of breath, rang out, filled with shock and rage!

Immediately, the thorn bush was violently torn open, and two figures wearing tattered leather armor and painted with blood-claw totems suddenly burst out! One of them had Sister Ai Li's crossbow bolt clearly stuck in his shoulder, blood streaming down; it was the bald, burly man whose wrist Sister Ai Li had pierced earlier! His face was now twisted in rage, his left hand gripping a machete, while his right wrist was still wrapped in dirty bandages.

The other was that skinny yellow-haired man, who was now clearly holding a double-barreled shotgun! These were two of the three men Sister Ai Li had knocked out and discarded earlier! They hadn't died; instead, they had returned with weapons!

"Stupid bitch! I'm going to skin you alive!" The bald man roared, ignoring the arrow wound in his shoulder, and charged fiercely toward Sister Ai Li, waving his machete! The yellow-haired man immediately raised his shotgun, the black muzzle searching for a target in the darkness!

The battle erupted instantly!

After firing an arrow, Sister Ai Li rolled backward like a nimble cat, taking cover behind a concrete barrier she had prepared in advance! Almost simultaneously, "Boom!" A loud explosion! The yellow-haired man's shotgun fired! Countless iron pellets splashed down like a rainstorm on the spot where Sister Ai Li had just stood and on the barrier, sending碎石 flying!

Lin Mo's eardrums buzzed from the sudden gunshot, and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest! He saw the bald, burly man charging toward Sister Ai Li's cover like a mad bull, while the yellow-haired man was frantically reloading!

"Xiang Lingna! Get down and don't move!" Lin Mo shouted into the hut, and fear was instantly swept away by a surge of bloodlust! They couldn't be allowed to approach the hut! They couldn't be allowed to harm Xiang Lingna and the potato field!

He roared, leaped out from behind his own cover, and instead of charging the yellow-haired man with the gun, he swung that heavy metal pipe, smashing fiercely into the bald man charging from the side!

"Looking for death!" Although injured, the bald man's ferocity remained undiminished; hearing the wind, he reversed his grip and slashed his machete at Lin Mo's metal pipe!

"Clang!" A piercing sound of metal striking metal! Sparks flew in all directions!

Lin Mo felt a huge recoil force, his thumb joint throbbing with pain, and the metal pipe nearly slipped from his grasp! The bald man's strength far exceeded his imagination! The bald man was also knocked off balance, his machete swinging aside, exposing an opening!

Good chance! Ignoring the numbness in his arm, Lin Mo swung the metal pipe with all his might, sweeping horizontally toward the bald man's head! The target: the temple!

A flash of horror crossed the bald man's eyes; in his haste, he could only tilt his head to dodge!

"Bang!" The heavy metal pipe smashed hard into the bald man's left shoulder blade! A clear sound of bone cracking rang out!

"Ugh-ah—!" The bald man let out a more agonizing scream than when he was shot, his whole body knocked stumbling backward, his left arm hanging limply!

"Boss!" The yellow-haired man, who was reloading, was shocked at the sight; forgetting to finish reloading, he raised his shotgun, which still had one round left, and aimed to shoot Lin Mo!

At this critical moment!

"Whoosh!" Another dim blue streak!

Sister Ai Li flashed out from behind the cover like a ghost, firing her short crossbow again! This arrow precisely pierced the yellow-haired man's right forearm, the hand holding the gun!

"Ah!" The yellow-haired man cried out in pain, and the shotgun slipped from his grasp again!

Having struck successfully, Sister Ai Li did not pause; her body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow toward the injured bald man! Her speed was astonishing; before the bald man could react from the intense pain, her cold dagger slashed toward his throat like a venomous snake! The move was ruthless, showing no mercy!

The bald man's soul nearly fled; the instinct for survival unleashed his last strength, and ignoring the intense pain in his left shoulder and right wrist, he threw himself violently backward! The cold gleam of the dagger grazed the skin of his neck, drawing a line of blood!

"Thud!" The bald man fell to the ground in a狼狈 manner.

Sister Ai Li's strike missed; just as she was about to deliver a finishing blow, the yellow-haired man, whose arm had been shot, with eyes red, pulled out the dagger at his waist, screamed strangely, and lunged at Sister Ai Li from the side! A completely reckless fighting style!

Sister Ai Li was forced to abandon the bald man and turned to face the yellow-haired man. Her dagger moved like a butterfly weaving through flowers, engaging in a frenzied exchange of blows with the yellow-haired man within a tiny space; the sound of metal clashing never ceased! Although injured, the yellow-haired man had fallen into madness and, for the moment, actually managed to tie up Sister Ai Li!

The bald man, with his shoulder bone smashed, struggled to get up, looked at Sister Ai Li who was being held by the yellow-haired man, and his eyes were filled with malice and fear. He knew they had lost tonight! This outpost was far tougher to crack than they had imagined! Especially that woman with the crossbow; she was simply a monster!

Run! Must run! Go back and report to Chief Lame Wolf! The bald man's mind held only this one thought. He endured the intense pain, supported himself on the ground with his only functional right hand, and rolled and crawled, trying to escape the depression!

Lin Mo had just driven back the bald man and was breathing heavily when he saw the bald man trying to run! He knew he absolutely could not let this guy escape to report; otherwise, the main force of the Blood Claws would soon arrive to kill!

"Stop!" Lin Mo roared, dragging the metal pipe and chasing after him! But his speed was not fast enough, and although the bald man was severely injured, his speed in fleeing was not slow!

Just as the bald man was about to rush out of the depression and dive into the shadows of a ruin!

Suddenly!

"Yah—!"

A sharp, piercing scream, tinged with crying, rang out! At the entrance of the hut, Xiang Lingna had rushed out at some point! She was tightly gripping the simple alarm Lin Mo had made earlier, composed of springs and metal sheets, and with all her might, she smashed it hard onto the bald man's back!

The alarm hit the bald man's back with a "clang"; the damage was minor, but the insult was extreme.

But this sudden attack and scream made the already panicked bald man shudder all over; his foot stumbled, and he tripped over a protruding piece of concrete!

"Thud!" The bald man fell heavily to the ground again! This time he fell solidly, face-first, eating a mouthful of mud!

Opportunity! Lin Mo finally caught up! Looking at the bald man struggling on the ground, recalling the fear of nearly being strangled and Xiang Lingna's scream, a ruthless resolve surged in his heart! He raised the heavy metal pipe high and, with all his might, smashed it down onto the back of the bald man's head!

"No—!" The bald man seemed to sense the approach of death and let out a desperate roar!

"Bang!!"

A dull, teeth-grating impact sound rang out!

The bald man's roar stopped abruptly. His body twitched a few times and then lay completely still.

Lin Mo held the blood-dripping metal pipe, breathing heavily in large gasps, looking at the bald man's corpse on the ground, his stomach churning. This was his first time... truly killing someone.

On the other side, the battle between Sister Ai Li and the yellow-haired man was nearing its end. The yellow-haired man was already injured and had fallen into madness, full of openings. Sister Ai Li seized an opportunity; her dagger pierced his ribs like a venomous snake, and she twisted her wrist! The yellow-haired man's movements instantly froze, the light in his eyes rapidly dimmed, and he fell down limply.

The depression returned to dead silence, leaving only the three heavy breaths and the strong smell of blood.

The night raid was over. Two Blood Claw raiders remained forever on this land they had coveted.

Sister Ai Li pulled out her dagger, wiped the blood on the yellow-haired man's clothes, walked to the bald man's corpse, squatted down, and without hesitation began to loot the spoils. A few strips of dried meat, some bullets, and an iron tube that looked like a flare.

Lin Mo watched Sister Ai Li's skilled movements, then looked at his own hand, which was still trembling slightly; his heart was filled with mixed feelings. He walked over to Xiang Lingna, who was sitting on the ground in terror, her small face pale, and patted her shoulder. "It's okay, Xiang Lingna. You did very well; you were very brave."

Xiang Lingna let out a "wah" and burst into tears, throwing herself into Lin Mo's arms, her small body shaking like a fallen leaf in the wind.

Sister Ai Li finished looting, stood up, looked at the two corpses on the ground and the chaotic battlefield, and her expression showed no fluctuation. Her gaze turned toward the west of the depression, the direction of Vulture Cliff, which, under the night, resembled a crouching giant beast.

"They were scouts," Sister Ai Li said coldly. "If they are dead, it won't be hidden for long."

Lin Mo's heart sank again. The Blood Claws' retaliation would certainly not stop here! Tonight's victory was merely a temporary repulse of the probing claws, but it had thoroughly enraged the beast behind them! That "Lame Wolf" would probably have even more violent means very soon!

He looked at the potato field, where faint green lights flickered in the darkness, then at Xiang Lingna, who was shivering in his arms; a strong sense of crisis and the responsibility to protect surged in his heart. Hope Outpost had just undergone its first baptism of blood, but the real storm might have only just begun!

Sister Ai Li walked to the thorn wall, which had a corner damaged, and silently reinserted the broken thorns, reinforcing them with metal wire she found. Her silhouette under the moonlight appeared lonely yet determined.

Lin Mo clenched his fists. Must be faster! Stronger! He looked at the bullets and flares Sister Ai Li had looted; a thought flashed through his mind—perhaps it was time to try making more powerful weapons?

Just then, on a steep rock in the direction of Vulture Cliff, far from the hollow, a figure was watching the direction of Hope Outpost coldly through a battered pair of binoculars. Moonlight traced out his gaunt, wiry silhouette, one leg bent at a clearly unnatural angle. He lowered the binoculars, the corner of his mouth curling into a cruel, icy arc.

"Interesting… two pieces of trash dead… Clean Water… and that little wench…" he muttered under his breath, his voice hoarse and ugly like a night-owl's, "Looks like I'll have to go meet these little rats myself… hope your 'hope' can keep me entertained a little longer…"

He turned, his silhouette melting soundlessly into the shadow behind the rock.