Chapter 14: Death Screech, Mad Dog's Charge, and Sister Ai Li's Arrow

"Wooom—WONG!!" The roar of the modified iron-rider engines, like the bellowing of wild beasts, tore through the dusk's silence, kicking up billowing clouds of dust as they charged madly toward Hope Outpost! At their head, "Mad Dog" stood massive as a mountain, his chainsaw blade held high, its teeth spinning wildly, emitting a piercing death-screech! The eyes beneath his helmet glinted with cruel, bloodthirsty light, locked dead onto the tiny shack in the hollow and the figure standing battle-ready before it!

"Crush them!!" Mad Dog's roar was still clearly audible above the engine noise, brimming with frenzied killing intent.

"They're coming! Get ready!" Lin Mo's voice cracked with tension. He lay prone behind cover, his heart hammering in his chest so violently it nearly shattered his ribs! He forced himself to stay calm, tightened his grip on the poison-tipped javelin, and fixed his gaze on the two iron riders charging at the very front.

Sister Ai Li was like an icy boulder, kneeling motionless behind another piece of cover, her hand-crossbow steadily mounted, the pale-blue bolt's tip making tiny adjustments as Mad Dog's iron riders moved. Her breathing seemed to have stopped entirely; every ounce of her spirit and focus was gathered on that lethal bolt—nothing existed in her eyes but Mad Dog's frenzied figure! A hatred carved into her very bones cast out all fear!

Closer! Closer still! The iron riders' speed was terrifying—in the blink of an eye they had reached the edge of the hollow!

"BOOM! CRACK!"

The iron rider charging at the very front rolled heedlessly onto the first camouflaged pit that Xiang Lingna and Lin Mo had laid! The thin wooden planks shattered instantly, the front wheel plunging violently into the hole! The sharpened, poison-smeared metal stakes at the bottom savagely punched through the tire, even biting into the vehicle's undercarriage!

"Aaargh—!" The marauder on the vehicle screamed as the tremendous momentum hurled him off; he crashed heavily onto the ground, landing right before the thorn-wall bristling with poison-tipped spikes! He struggled to rise, only to have his arm and cheek slashed open by the sharp poison thorns—dark-green venom seeping in rapidly!

"Urgh—ah!" The agonized wail instantly became a shrill shriek as his wounds swelled and blackened at a speed visible to the naked eye. White foam spilled from his mouth, his body convulsing violently!

The second pit was triggered in quick succession! Another iron rider plunged in! The same tragedy played out!

"Traps! Watch the ground!" The marauders behind cried out in shock and fury, hastily slowing down; the iron riders' charge momentum faltered for a beat!

"Useless trash!" Mad Dog cursed savagely, but did not slow down! Relying on his own ride being modified to be heavier with a higher chassis, he suddenly wrenched the throttle wide open, driving the roaring iron rider straight into the thorn-wall bristling with spikes! He would smash through by brute force!

"Now!" A cold glint flashed in Lin Mo's eyes. Summoning every ounce of strength, he hurled the poison-tipped javelin in his hand viciously toward a marauder who had just stopped his iron rider and was raising his gun to aim—behind and to Mad Dog's flank!

The heavy javelin, trailing a whistling wind, traced an arc that was anything but graceful!

"Thwack!" Though the javelin did not strike a vital spot, it buried itself deep in that marauder's thigh! The potent poison on the tip was injected instantly!

"Ah! My leg!" The marauder screamed as he tumbled from his ride, rolling on the ground clutching his rapidly blackening, swelling leg!

Lin Mo had no time to check the result; he immediately snatched up a second javelin! His attack had successfully drawn some of the fire—several bullets screamed past, striking the cover he was hiding behind, sending chips of stone flying!

And at the very instant Mad Dog's iron rider was about to slam into the thorn-wall!

Sister Ai Li, who had been like a statue all this while, finally moved!

Her index finger, at a speed beyond what the naked eye could catch, gently squeezed the hand-crossbow's trigger!

"FWEEOO—!!"

That bolt was swift as lightning! Silent as the netherworld!

It did not fly at Mad Dog himself, nor at the iron rider's vulnerable tires. The pale-blue streak of light, with impossible precision, shot into the thick, exposed carburetor intake pipe of Mad Dog's iron-rider mount!

"Thunk!" The bolt sank in deep!

"BOOM!!" A muffled, thunderous explosion! The iron rider's engine, which had been sprinting at full speed, was as if seized by the throat—it let out a string of harsh coughs and backfires! Thick black smoke instantly spewed from the exhaust pipe and carburetor! The high-speed spinning chainsaw blade also gave a feeble whine, its rotation speed plummeting!

"Damn it! What the hell?!" Mad Dog was caught completely off guard; his massive frame rocked violently with the out-of-control iron rider! He fought desperately to steer, but the engine failure made the iron rider lurch like a drunk, and finally—less than two meters from the thorn-wall—it slammed head-on into a half-buried chunk of concrete rubble!

"CLANG!!" Amid the tremendous crash, the iron rider flipped onto its side! Mad Dog's burly body was sent tumbling like a gourd across the ground, crashing down hard and kicking up a cloud of dust! The heavy chainsaw blade slipped from his grip and flew off to one side.

An opening!

Killing intent surged explosively in Sister Ai Li's eyes! She burst from behind cover like a cheetah, pushing her speed to the absolute limit, the dagger in her hand flashing with lethal cold light, lunging straight at Mad Dog, who had been flung into a daze and was struggling to get up! Her target was clear—the throat! One strike, instant kill!

"Protect the boss!" The remaining few marauders finally came to their senses, shocked and enraged! They abandoned shooting at Lin Mo, leaping down from their iron riders one after another, drawing cleavers and iron clubs, howling as they charged at Sister Ai Li, trying to stop her from assassinating Mad Dog!

A life-and-death melee revolving around Mad Dog instantly erupted outside the thorn-wall!

Lin Mo saw Sister Ai Li fall into a surrounded fight, his heart burning with anxiety! Disregarding the danger, he raised his hunting rifle, aiming at the back of a marauder who had his back to him and was swinging a cleaver at Sister Ai Li!

"BOOM!!" The hunting rifle roared once more!

A spray of iron shot burst forth! That marauder's back blossomed instantly; he screamed and crashed to the ground!

The enormous gunshot drew fire again! Another marauder, eyes bloodshot, swung his gun barrel toward Lin Mo!

"Watch out!" Xiang Lingna's terrified shriek rang out from inside the shack!

Lin Mo had no time to reload; he threw himself violently behind cover!

"BANG BANG BANG!" Bullets whipped past his scalp, striking the cover and sending sparks flying!

Meanwhile, on the other side, Sister Ai Li, surrounded by several marauders, moved like a butterfly flitting through flowers—her figure impossibly agile! Every sweep of her dagger drew a trail of blood! One marauder's wrist was slashed open, his weapon flying from his grip; another's calf was cut open in a wound deep enough to expose bone, and he screamed and collapsed!

But Mad Dog had already struggled to his feet! Though he had taken a nasty fall, his thick hide and tough flesh meant he wasn't seriously hurt! He shook his dazed head, and in one glance spotted Sister Ai Li fighting amid the crowd! The face hidden beneath his helmet revealed a savage and... excited grin?

"It's you! The silver-haired little wildcat!" Mad Dog's voice was like sandpaper scraping, carrying cruel mockery, "Didn't expect you to still be alive! And you've even picked up some skills! Perfect—today I'll collect the principal and interest all at once!" He bent down, picked up the dropped chainsaw blade, and yanked the starter cord hard!

"Wooom—WONG!!" The heart-chilling death-screech rang out once more! The blade's teeth spun wildly! Mad Dog, like a maddened rhinoceros, brandished the chainsaw blade and charged furiously at Sister Ai Li, who was being held up by his subordinates! The chainsaw blade tore through the air, emitting a terrifying shriek!

Sister Ai Li had just deflected a cleaver when the gale of the strike was already at the back of her head! The devastating force of the chainsaw blade was absolutely not something a dagger could block!

No way to dodge!

Lin Mo's eyes nearly split from fury! Xiang Lingna let out a desperate scream!

At this hair-raising, critical moment!

"Pop! Pop! Pop!"

Several extremely faint sounds, like seeds bursting, suddenly came from the broken bowl Xiang Lingna was guarding!

Immediately after, the two black seedlings with purple veins that had been growing quietly—the tender leaves at their tips snapped open! A wisp of extremely thin, pale-purple mist carrying a strange, clear fragrance, as if alive, instantly spread out, shrouding nearly half the entrance to the shack!

This mist spread extremely fast, its range not large, but it happened to envelop Sister Ai Li—who was about to be cleaved by the chainsaw blade—along with the few marauders entangled around her!

Something uncanny happened!

The instant they were shrouded by the pale-purple mist, those marauders attacking Sister Ai Li froze mid-motion! Their eyes instantly turned blank and vacant, as if a pause button had been pressed! Even Mad Dog, charging forward like a tank while swinging his lethal chainsaw blade, his charging footsteps abruptly faltered, and the chainsaw blade's buzzing roar seemed to weaken by a fraction! A fleeting moment of blank confusion flashed through his eyes beneath the helmet!

This sudden turn of events gave Sister Ai Li a sliver of hope for survival!

Her reaction was lightning-fast! At the very instant the chainsaw blade was about to touch her back, her body twisted sideways in an uncanny, boneless motion! The spinning blade, trailing a scorching gust of air, whistled past the edge of her cloak, tearing open a long gash!

At the same time, her dagger, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, in the instant her body twisted, precisely sliced across the throat of a marauder who had fallen into a vacant stupor!

"Hiss—splash!" A spray of blood!

"Urgh…" That marauder, clutching his spurting throat, the blankness in his eyes instantly replaced by the terror of death, crumpled softly down.

The lethal crisis was temporarily averted, but a greater bewilderment and shock crashed into everyone present! That pale-purple mist... what was it?!