Chapter 8, Slaughterhouse

I was caught off guard, my soul nearly leaving my body from fright, as he tightly gripped my neck; I felt that his hand was colder than ice

Now is certainly not the time to open my heart to her. I pulled the girl and headed back the way we came. By the time we reached the arena, the four companions were already gone, leaving only a lying brown bear and the corpses of seven or eight snow wolves.

While beauty is certainly admirable, life holds a higher value

Bloodied corpses, severed limbs and arms scattered everywhere, and even some shocking human organs strewn about

The fresh blood within him has actually frozen

I was taken aback by her scolding, wondering how I had suddenly become a "greedy person." What exactly did I do? Shouldn't I reclaim my weapons and equipment? With this thought, I said: "You can say whatever you want about me, but those wolves and the demons that killed those soldiers are surely not far away, perhaps they are right beside us. You probably don't want to encounter them again, do you?"

I thought I was seeing things, and as I leaned in to observe closely, suddenly the person's closed eyes opened.

But in that moment when he suddenly came back to life, I could clearly see that certain organs within him had regained their functions: the rapid beating of the heart, the peristalsis of the stomach, and the convulsions of the lungs due to the inhalation of a large amount of cold air

In the past, I thought the same way, but it was only after entering the slaughterhouse that I realized the most distressing aspect was the pervasive stench of blood. The odor of blood, reminiscent of rust, penetrated my nostrils in waves. I seemed to see countless suffering souls passing through my body, and the intense smell of blood was the essence of their being.

It is not difficult to kill this group of people, whether it is a special forces unit specifically targeting criminal organizations or various large-scale criminal groups. However, no one can achieve this without these individuals firing a single shot. Moreover, the assailants are also unarmed; whether it is decapitation or disembowelment, it requires close proximity. Why is it that this group of battle-hardened mercenaries did not even have this little bit of reaction time?

Although he has lost his head, I know this must be that big-bearded man, the one who roasts whole wolves and eats raw wolf meat, even though he has lost his head

I was so frightened that I fell to my knees in front of him, my mind momentarily blank; at that moment, I did not know who I was or where I was... I knew nothing at all.

Yet some people have lost their heads, while others have been disemboweled, and the crimson blood has covered this clearing in the woods

Certainly, in the underground arms trade market, the AK47 remains the best-selling weapon

The girl ran in front of the brown bear, knelt down, and tightly hugged the bear's head, crying out: "Dalin, I was wrong. If I had known earlier, I shouldn't have come out. Please, don't die, don't abandon me." The brown bear let out a breath, tremblingly raised its head, and grunted at me twice.

At this thought, I could not help but tremble all over, completely forgetting that there was a beautiful woman beside me

The girl was so sad that she cried out loud, yet I seemed to see the dark area flickering with specks of green light. Fearing that the wolf pack might return, I said: "Miss, I can understand how you feel at this moment, but this place is too dangerous. Let us not waste time and find a safe area first, shall we?"

I do not know how to describe my feelings at this moment; in short, the word "fear" alone is certainly insufficient to capture the entirety of it.

My words seemed to have a shocking effect on the girl; her gaze, which was once filled with nothing but resentment, was now once again filled with sorrow, as she buried her head in Da Lin's neck and wept silently.

The girl turned her face and said to me fiercely: "You greedy human, get away from me, stay far away, do not let me see you."

The bonfire is still burning, and the wolf meat that is being grilled has completely turned into a lump of charred remains, emitting waves of unpleasant green smoke. The fierce and ruthless mercenaries are also sitting in place, even their postures and positions are nearly the same as when we left.

Their guns were all hanging on their bodies, yet during the ambush, surprisingly, no one fired a shot. Otherwise, given our distance, we would definitely have heard gunfire. This implies that more than a dozen soldiers were taken out in an extremely short period of time.

At that moment, I even felt as if I had become an ice corpse, my whole body cold and rigid, while my soul was dragged by the person in front of me into that unfathomable space, where only darkness and suffering existed

When I removed the gun from his neck, I inadvertently discovered that there was actually a nail embedded in this person's face

If hell truly exists, it would be nothing more than this

Upon regaining consciousness, the surroundings were eerily silent, devoid of any sound, even the noise of the struggle between man and beast had vanished. I thought to myself: This is not good. Hastily, I removed the nail, along with the gun and equipment, and walked out of the forest. Fortunately, the girl was still there, still glaring at me with her hostile eyes.

The brown bear's large black eyes surprisingly shed two tears; it used all its strength to nuzzle the girl's cheek with its head, exhaling its last breath, and closed its eyes in death

The sound of wolves barking behind me grew increasingly clear, interspersed with the shouts and curses of people. I knew that my teammates could hardly hold out much longer, so I had to bring back some equipment to support them. The problem was whether I would meet the same fate as those people if I stepped into this area cursed by the Snowfield God.

Although I am filled with curiosity about the girl's background, this is certainly not the time to ask such questions. However, I understand that a bear may appear to others as a wild beast, and a dangerous one at that. Yet for the girl, it is her friend, her family. Now, to watch it lose its life in order to protect her is a pain and guilt that outsiders cannot comprehend.

After hesitating for a moment, I realized there was no better choice, so I turned to the girl and said: "If something happens to me, you will have to rely on yourself." I don't know why, but she showed no sign of gratitude towards me; instead, her eyes revealed a look of resentment when we made eye contact

After hesitating for a moment, I finally stepped forward to take the gun, because although the AK47 used by mercenaries is the king of guns, I had never shot it before. This powerful and stable firearm has been eliminated by various national armies due to its tendency for projectile deviation at long distances and its significant recoil, and it is only equipped by the armies of some small countries in South America and Africa.

For me, the most terrifying thing is not being choked to death by him, nor is it being taken to hell by him

Every gun is intact, the chambers are filled with bullets, not a single one has been fired. I found my own Type 95, hung on the body of a mercenary, whose torn abdomen exposed several bloody intestines hanging from the gun.

The pristine white snowfield is equally covered by a layer of bright red blood

As I carefully observed my surroundings, the girl recklessly ran towards the brown bear, which at that moment was already on the brink of death, covered in wounds from an attack by wild wolves, staring at the girl with lifeless eyes

Has the Snowfield God really appeared? At this thought, I suddenly felt a chill run through my body, for the more I looked at that charred "wolf corpse," the more it resembled a human corpse, both in its limbs and its overall shape

I seem to sense its thoughts, so I walked up to it and nodded, saying: "Rest assured, as long as I am alive, I will ensure that she does not come to harm"

Therefore, even if it is dangerous, I must squeeze out time to bid her farewell, for she is a light beauty. Thus, I took up my gun and stood guard beside her. While the girl whispered her goodbyes to the brown bear, I fished out that nail from my pocket and examined it closely in the firelight. It was indeed human, but thicker and sharper than an ordinary person's nail. The tip was covered in blood and even had some human tissue. It was certain that the one who attacked and killed the mercenaries was not the Snowfield God, but rather a group of people like me. The question is, what kind of people could kill a group of armed soldiers in an instant? How could they do it without even giving them time to pull the trigger?

It seems that there is indeed a group of mysterious, fearsome, and highly capable indigenous people in this area of Baihezi, and perhaps this girl is one of them. Upon realizing this, I couldn't help but secretly grip the trigger of my rifle and gradually retreat, maintaining a certain safe distance from the girl

I had no time to wonder too much and cautiously walked into that slaughterhouse

The battlefield is the place with the highest concentration of casualties, and few have contemplated what it would feel like to be in the midst of it.

But in the end, I realized that this was merely the dying struggle of a man on the brink of death. He stared with a pair of terrified eyes, breathing heavily as he managed to utter a phrase: "A group of demons, there are a group of demons here, you, you... hurry and leave." After expending all his strength to say this, he ultimately succumbed to death