Chapter 4

The small squad was confident that their comrades were ahead and boldly followed the footprints, not even considering the possibility of an ambush.

As they ran, the lead Japanese soldier had already passed the hazel sticks Dong Ku had planted. At the moment the hazel sticks moved, the running Japanese soldiers felt the air suddenly compress, and their breathing paused, causing them to stumble. Immediately, a violent force penetrated their bodies...

Boom!

A loud explosion rose from the middle of the running Japanese soldiers, and a violent shockwave instantly tore apart over a dozen of them. Snow waves rolled across the sky, revealing the withered dry grass on the mountain, creating a snow-free area about twenty meters in diameter. Frozen soil and rocks flew everywhere, and the Japanese soldiers who weren't blown apart were flung backward, none of them able to stand.

The snow on the nearby trees all fell, spreading in the wind, reducing visibility to almost zero.

Huzi was terrified by the massive explosion and the violent shaking, staring blankly at the scene where the running figures had just disappeared.

Shunzi and the others, who were about ten minutes ahead, were startled by the loud noise. After a moment of shock, they continued to run frantically toward the predetermined target, Heikou.

Liu Zhong and his four companions were running through the snow, not more than half an hour's distance from the pursuing Japanese soldiers, just the distance between the mountain top and the bottom. When they heard the explosion, Liu Zhong accurately judged that it was in the direction Dong Ku and the others were heading to Heikou. Not knowing what had happened, they assumed the Japanese were using artillery and, worried, quickened their pace.

At the mountain pass, Hori Jiro also heard the explosion echoing through the forest. As the snow on the trees fell, he hesitated for a moment before urging his men to speed up.

At the moment the explosion sounded, Dong Ku leaped up and ran toward the explosion, the snow on the trees falling around him. Using the cover of the trees, he quickly approached the explosion site and lay down next to a large tree about two hundred meters away, aiming his gun at the explosion location.

The sudden explosion had killed at least ten men and knocked over all the Japanese soldiers behind. As Dong Ku ran, the dazed Japanese soldiers had not yet recovered from the ambush.

When the snow stopped falling, these Japanese soldiers, with ringing ears and chest discomfort, lay on the ground, fearfully checking their surroundings with their guns in the snow fog.

Artillery?

This was the reaction of all the surviving Japanese soldiers.

"My eyes!!"

A soldier whose head was hit by shrapnel, losing his eyeball, woke from his numbness and screamed in pain.

"I'm hit!! Save me!!!"

Not far away, a soldier whose thigh bone was shattered by shrapnel rolled in pain, struggling to call for help.

The miserable cries brought Watanabe, who was dazed and disoriented, back to his senses. He first checked himself, finding no injuries, then grabbed his dropped pistol and nervously lay on the ground, looking around. When he saw no large craters from artillery shells, he realized it was a landmine, not artillery.

The sudden explosion left the Japanese soldiers lying on the ground for several seconds. It was only after Dong Ku had been lying there for a while that these surviving Japanese soldiers cautiously crawled to their injured comrades to bandage and treat them.

Watanabe looked at the scattered limbs and debris on the snow, and the gruesome scene near the explosion, a chill running through him. If he had been closer, he would not have survived.

For over a minute, these shaken Japanese soldiers confirmed there was no further attack, only that they had stepped on a powerful landmine. They then slowly stood up, crouching low.

Looking at the mess around him and hearing the injured groan in pain, Watanabe knew that, in this situation, not only could they not pursue, but even taking care of the injured in this icy and snowy environment would be extremely difficult, let alone taking them back.

How did they have such a powerful landmine? Why didn't Kurobe Ichiro and the others step on it? Could they have been chasing the wrong people?

Several questions arose in Watanabe's mind, leaving him unable to understand. They should have had comrades ahead, so why did they step on the landmine?

Just as the Japanese soldiers who could stand up did so, Dong Ku had a clear view of the explosion site. At that moment, only ten people could still stand, and only four were visibly injured. The rest, whether dead or not, he couldn't see from his angle. However, the ten who could stand were confirmed.

At the moment he confirmed the number, he pulled the trigger, aiming at the man with the pistol.

Watanabe swayed as he stood, dizzy and disoriented, looking around to guard against any further ambush. Just as he stood up, he felt a pain in his head and immediately fell into endless darkness.

His head exploded, blood and brain matter splattering the face of the nearby Japanese soldier. Before the soldier could react, he felt a pain in his chest, instinctively looking down to see a bleeding hole. Blood soaked his military coat almost instantly.

"Hit..."

His consciousness stopped at the moment the thought arose, and his body slowly fell backward.

"Kurobe..."

The nearby Japanese soldier instinctively reached out to support him. As the sound came out and his hand extended, he felt a pain in his body, his chest went numb, and his strength was instantly drained. His legs gave out, and he slowly knelt down, still reaching out.

"You..."

Just as the three men had not yet fallen, a Japanese soldier looking around suddenly sensed something amiss. In the moment he turned his head, he saw a terrifying scene. As he spoke, he felt a pain in his head, and his vision went dark...

Thud!

Watanabe's body fell to the ground, followed by the other three, making various sounds as they hit the ground.

"Enemy attack!!"

"Ambush!!"

As their comrades suddenly fell, all the Japanese soldiers panicked, shouting and reflexively lying on the ground. In that moment, ten people were left with only six still alive, including Watanabe, whose head had been blown apart. The red blood splattered on the gray-black snow was still strikingly visible.

Rapid fire continued as Dong Ku rolled away from the tree, diving into the frozen riverbed and running quickly toward the explosion site.

The Japanese soldiers lying on the ground and the injured who could still hold their guns searched for targets in fear. Unfortunately, the sound of the silenced shots did not reach them. If it weren't for the dead bodies nearby and the blood on their faces, the whole scene would have seemed like an illusion.

After about seven seconds, Dong Ku leaped onto the snow ridge, quickly finding the targets lying on the ground and firing two shots. As the targets fell, he retreated and rolled back into the riverbed, running forward again.

Huzi, lying behind, was stunned. At a distance of over four hundred meters, a hunter could still see human figures. When the snow fog cleared in the wind, he saw several figures who had just stood up suddenly fall. Although he couldn't see the details, his hunting experience told him that they had been hit, not just lying down.

"What's happening..."

He turned to look at Dong's position but saw nothing. He wanted to get up but remembered Dong's instructions to stay put and guard the area.

Did Dong go up there? Was that explosion caused by Dong?

Huzi turned back, his stiff fingers still steady on the trigger, his eyes fixed on the explosion site, trying to see what was happening.

The silent deaths pushed the surviving Japanese soldiers to the brink of collapse. Even the injured struggled to find cover. Fear dominated these once arrogant Japanese soldiers, making them shiver in the wind.

After a few seconds of rapid running, Dong Ku again aimed his gun. The terrified faces in the scope did not delay his trigger pull. Two shots took out two struggling figures, and he retreated back into the snow ridge, sprinting the last few dozen meters.

"Come out!!"

A Japanese soldier, in a state of hysteria, shouted, looking for targets behind the snow ridge.

"Damn!!"

Not far away, another Japanese soldier held a grenade in one hand and a gun in the other, his lips trembling, unsure where to throw the grenade.

At that moment, Dong Ku, about forty to fifty meters away, aimed at a half-exposed head and gently pulled the trigger.

Puff! A soft sound, and the head that was turning around exploded, instantly disappearing from the edge of the snow ridge.

"Ah!!"

At the moment the head exploded, a Japanese soldier screamed in terror, getting up and running back. But after just two steps, he staggered, dropped his gun, and fell forward, his eyes filled with fear and relief.

"Come out!!"

A Japanese soldier stood up in a frenzy, firing his gun as he shouted.

Bang...

At the moment the gun fired, his head exploded, and his gun fell as his body slowly collapsed backward.

"Ah!!"

The silent deaths completely shattered the remaining Japanese soldiers. They raised their guns and fired wildly at the snow ridge.

The crisp gunshots echoed, bullets flying aimlessly in all directions. The gunshots made the few remaining Japanese soldiers feel they were still alive, but they didn't know if the next one to be hit would be them.

"Five left..."

Dong Ku looked at the surrounding terrain, put away his gun, and moved toward a nearby hill.

The dense gunfire startled Huzi, who couldn't see anyone despite his wide eyes. He couldn't find Dong but believed Dong wouldn't leave him behind and would be fine.

"Seven still breathing..."

After about ten seconds, Dong Ku appeared on a small hill not far from the explosion site. The scope under the dead tree clearly showed the terrified Japanese soldiers behind the snow ridge.

"Use your own dirty blood to wash away the sins you have committed!"

Dong Ku confirmed his target, and his gun fired...