But as soon as the sound reached their ears, the two felt their entire bodies stiffen, their minds going completely blank.
Then blood trickled from their noses and mouths, showing just how bizarre and powerful this wave of attack was.
But the Mechanical Sect never backs down.
Especially at this moment; one of them was the senior brother of the Thunder and Fire Department, and the other was the leading expert of the Mechanical Technology Department.
So despite the severity of their injuries, they mustered all their strength and responded as swiftly as possible.
Jing Rou was the first to raise her hand, firing a shot outside.
Boom!
The shot was so powerful that it shattered the tent in front of them.
The wind and snow rushed in, and the sight that lay before Liang Xin’an would be unforgettable for a lifetime.
Amidst the swirling snow, a monster appeared, looking like a snowman, pure white all over.
The creature wasn’t very tall, and its body was blurry, making its outline difficult to discern, except for its eyes which left a deep impression.
They were bulging frog eyes, filled with hatred and disgust.
However, at this moment, it was warily watching the gun in Jing Rou’s hand, seemingly startled by the thunderous shot just now.
Faced with such a monster, Jing Rou and Liang Xin’an, without a second thought, frantically pulled the trigger.
In an instant, flames spewed, arrows flew, all aiming directly at the creature.
But against this assault like a fierce storm, the creature did not retreat; instead, it dodged quickly at a speed that was hard to catch.
Moreover, while dodging, it continuously charged forward.
Seeing this, Jing Rou suddenly shouted, "You hold it off first!"
As she spoke, Jing Rou tossed her gun over.
Liang Xin’an caught it and raised it up, pulling the trigger with both hands simultaneously.
Crossbow arrows and bullets intertwined, blocking every possible path forward for the monster.
Yet even so, it still couldn’t stop it from charging forward.
What would be deadly to ordinary people, for this creature seemed to have little impact.
At least, Liang Xin’an noticed more than once that whenever a bullet or crossbow arrow hit the monster, it would only draw out a puff of white mist, a small injury that meant nothing to it.
"Is it ready?" Liang Xin’an didn’t dare to turn his head, focusing solely on the creature.
But the problem was the limits of the arrow and bullet magazines.
Shooting like this, it wouldn’t be long before they ran out, leaving Liang Xin’an anxious and urging.
Jing Rou, however, remained calm.
He had just taken out a black cannon barrel as thick as a fist from his bag, quickly assembling it.
Soon, the main structure was assembled, and then Jing Rou reached for a cannonball, loading it directly.
At the moment when he lifted the loaded cannon onto his shoulder, Liang Xin’an’s crossbow arrows and bullets all ran out.
The monster seemed to notice this, letting out a bizarre cry like laughter or weeping, then lunged forward.
But just as it leapt into mid-air, Jing Rou had finished aiming and snarled, "Screw you!"
With that, he pulled the trigger.
Boom!
With a deafening bang, the powerful recoil sent Jing Rou flying.
Being closer, Liang Xin’an felt like he had been hit hard on the back and fell to the ground with a thump.
Given such a loud noise, the power was naturally astonishing.
There was a blast in mid-air, followed by snow flying and thick smoke.
Liang Xin’an spat several times to rid his mouth of dust, then looked back to see Jing Rou grinning through gritted teeth, struggling up from the ground.
"Damn it, packed too much gunpowder, nearly broke my shoulder," Jing Rou muttered.
Only then did Liang Xin’an breathe a sigh of relief, looking up again, but there was no trace of the monster after the smoke cleared.
"No need to look anymore; with a blast like that, not even a boulder the size of a house could withstand it, let alone flesh and blood. Even if that monster was made of pure steel, it would be blasted to bits." Jing Rou said.
"What on earth was that thing?" Liang Xin’an questioned, ensuring that the monster had indeed been blown to pieces.
"Who knows. Although the Wuyang Sea used to be very dangerous, at least the creatures that appeared were traceable. But since the appearance of that Black Ship, even these creatures no longer act predictably." Jing Rou said with resentment.
At this moment, Liang Xin’an noticed something and looked up to see that the snow had stopped, exclaiming joyfully.
"The snow has stopped!"
Jing Rou also realized this, noticing not only that the snow had stopped, but even the howling wind had died down.
"Now that it’s calm, let’s hurry and go!"
Clearly, they couldn’t stay here any longer, so the two quickly packed their bags and left, pushing the lighting cart.
About the time it takes a stick of incense to burn after they left, something began to stir within the snow on the ground.
At first, the movement was slow, but gradually it quickened, beginning to gather together.
Subsequently, these things layered and stacked, quickly forming a blurry outline.
It was the very monster that had been blown to smithereens.
Once its eyes formed, the monster looked towards the direction where Jing Rou and Liang Xin’an had left, leaping away into the snow.
Jing Rou and Liang Xin’an trudged through the snow, pushing the lighting cart.
Although it hadn’t snowed for long, it had fallen heavily.
The ground was covered with snow about twenty to thirty centimeters thick.
Lack of landmarks made their progress awkward and clumsy.
At this moment, Liang Xin’an suddenly turned to look back.
"What is it?" Jing Rou asked.
"Nothing, maybe just my imagination!" Liang Xin’an replied.
He didn’t mention the sudden feeling of disorientation he had just experienced.
The sensation was similar to when he heard that eerie sound like a woman crying inside the tent earlier.
But the monster had clearly been blasted to smithereens right before his eyes!
Could there be an accomplice?
Liang Xin’an felt a bit worried.
But since it was an unfounded suspicion, he chose to remain silent to avoid Jing Rou feeling worried as well, only secretly becoming more vigilant.
As the two continued their cautious journey forward, elsewhere, a merchant caravan found itself stuck, unable to progress or retreat.
"Still no sign of anything?" The shopkeeper of the caravan asked in a low voice.
"No, the heavy snow has covered all traces, we can’t find the road at all now," replied the leader of the caravan guards.
"How much longer can we hold out?" asked the elderly shopkeeper, who was nearing fifty, his beard starting to whiten.
This time, the caravan’s accountant provided the answer. After some quick calculations, he said, "Given our supplies, we can last about another month or so."
"But the biggest issue now is that many people are mentally on the brink of a breakdown, and last night someone went mad in their sleep again."
The old shopkeeper fell silent.
Recently, such occurrences of going mad while asleep had increased significantly.
No matter how hard they investigated, no other clues were found.
Even the experienced guard commander admitted he had never faced such a situation before.
"Increase the patrols, have everyone sleep in shifts, and if anyone shows signs of agitation in their sleep, wake them immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
The accountant took the order and left.
The guard commander then said, "Shopkeeper, you should get some rest. I’ll take over keeping watch."
The shopkeeper shook his head, "No need, if I fall asleep and end up like the others, the entire caravan would be doomed."
As the soul of the entire caravan, if the shopkeeper was to fall, the rest of the group would likely soon follow suit.
"But you can’t keep this up forever!" the guard commander expressed his concern.