Chapter 1102 - 1090

Chapter 1102: Chapter 1090

Skilled and practiced, Hua Biao slid the Crossbow Arrow into the magazine, flipped the Hand Crossbow upside down onto the ground, and pulled it back.

Once the bowstring was fully drawn, Hua Biao picked out a Zombie he had just confirmed through the binoculars, did a quick calculation, then pulled the trigger.

"Whizz!" The sound of something cutting through the air tore across the wind, followed by the sharp arrow leaving the string.

But the north wind was simply too strong, pushing the arrow off course so it missed, skimming past the side of the Zombie’s head.

To be honest, this Zombie really had no sense of self-preservation; even with a kill shot from that close, it showed absolutely no reaction.

Hua Biao didn’t find that strange at all. After a minor adjustment, he pulled out another arrow and repeated the exact same motion.

Everyone knows long?range kills have always been a tricky business.

It doesn’t just demand extremely high shooting accuracy from the shooter, you also have to factor in environmental conditions.

Even the best marksman wouldn’t dare guarantee a one hundred percent hit rate on every shot.

But good shooters learn from failure. In a situation like this, a regular person might just feel completely discouraged after a miss.

Hua Biao’s entire shooting sequence, though, was imprinted in his mind. In other words, that first arrow might have missed the target, but that failure gave him an excellent chance to calibrate.

After reloading, Hua Biao raised the Hand Crossbow again, his eyes showing a bit more self?assurance and calm.

Taking the previous miss into account, Hua Biao didn’t make any drastic changes—just shifted by a few millimeters, then decisively pulled the trigger.

"Whizz!" That familiar twang of the string leaving its nock rang in his ears again. Holding the binoculars as spotter, Duan Chengwu frowned and locked onto the lens.

The arrow vanished quickly into the curtain of snow, then at the entrance to the commercial street a Zombie suddenly toppled over, as if struck down by something invisible.

"Hit!!" In a low voice, Duan Chengwu raised his thumb in a brief gesture.

Hearing that, Hua Biao let out a slow breath, then pulled out another arrow and fed it into the crossbow.

Relying on one failure after another, one fine adjustment after another, Hua Biao kept his pace unhurried and steady as he slowly cleared out the remaining Zombies clustered near the mouth of the alley.

Once they’d dealt with a batch, they moved up a bit. Repeating this over and over, they finally managed to reach the front end of the commercial street.

But this was only the beginning—and even this beginning had already consumed most of the three?man team’s time.

Slow. Incredibly slow. Advancing by killing with a Hand Crossbow was pure mental torture.

But what choice did they have? The three?man team had no vehicle, no support. If they slipped up and drew Zombies down on them, Pacers and Runners they could still manage, but facing other types like Jumpers in this blizzard would be a whole different level of trouble.

So caution was absolutely necessary. Better to waste time and stay safe than charge ahead and get swarmed by Zombies.

Once they entered the street, the three of them immediately spotted a small truck.

The truck was parked by the roadside, doors wide open—it was obvious the driver had bolted in panic when the apocalypse first broke out.

Hua Biao talked it over with Shen Lian and Duan Chengwu.

Then the latter two each took up their weapons, bent low, and crept up.

They had no choice. The truck’s body blocked their view, so they had no way of knowing what was at the rear. If there was something hiding back there and the three of them just walked up blindly, they’d definitely startle it, and once it made noise, things would get messy fast.

So they had to be extra careful. Until every threat around the vehicle was completely eliminated, they absolutely could not move on to anything else.

Holding the Hand Crossbow, Hua Biao kept his eyes tight on the area around the small truck.

His job was overwatch—providing fire support to the two brothers moving up, if needed.

Even though a Hand Crossbow didn’t offer much in a snowstorm like this, it was better than nothing.

Shen Lian stepped through the snow, each footfall alternately deep and shallow, with Duan Chengwu following close behind.

Since they’d already killed off all the Zombies on their way in, the two of them didn’t have to worry too much about the sound of their boots crunching the snow drawing more Zombies.

Even so, they continued to advance slowly, eyes never daring to relax as they swept their surroundings.

It was habit, and it was instinct.

After operating behind enemy lines for years, they were used to facing foes who outnumbered them several times over.

Which meant every carefully laid step could be the difference between life and death; they knew that a lethal surprise attack might hit them in the very next second.

Better safe than sorry. With patience and caution, Shen Lian and Duan Chengwu finally eased their way up to the front of the truck without incident.

Once in position, Shen Lian leaned in and glanced into the cab. In the passenger seat, a desiccated skeleton slumped in place.

The seat cushion was a mess of bloodstains—long since dried, but still hard on the eyes.

Shen Lian had no interest in the dead man’s story. All he cared about now was that this truck wouldn’t let them down.

He pulled his gaze back and started to sidestep away, but as soon as he moved one step, Duan Chengwu beside him grabbed his collar.

In a situation like this, Duan Chengwu wouldn’t waste motion on anything meaningless.

So...

Shen Lian turned his head, brows drawing together as he looked at Duan Chengwu.

Duan Chengwu raised a hand to tap his ear, then pointed toward the rear of the truck, signaling that he’d heard something abnormal.

Not daring to take it lightly, Shen Lian immediately stepped back, then pricked up his ears to listen.

Sure enough, after a short moment, amidst the roar of the north wind, he picked up the faint crunch of something moving through the snow.

Snow doesn’t make noise on its own. Which meant the only possible cause here was...

Tightening his grip on the Cleaver, Shen Lian turned to meet Duan Chengwu’s eyes again. The two exchanged a brief series of hand signals, then both stepped out.

Keeping close to the truck’s body, Shen Lian and Duan Chengwu edged forward. As they drew nearer to the rear, the sound of snow being crushed grew clearer.

At this point, there was nothing left to verify. Shen Lian sped up for two steps, leaned out to look, and in the same motion swung the Cleaver down toward his target.

Everything unfolded as if pre?programmed—from anticipating the enemy to the killing stroke, every action flowed in a single continuous sequence, without the slightest pause.

At the same time, Duan Chengwu moved in on cue, but there was only one Zombie at the back of the truck, leaving him no chance to get in on the kill.

Shen Lian reached out to catch the limp, collapsing corpse, then gently lowered the Zombie to the ground.

Out here in the Earth Realm, every movement had to be handled with extra care. Even dealing with a corpse was something you did as quietly as possible.

The Zombies around the truck were cleared, but the ones in the nearby shops still had to be taken care of.

There was no way around it. Stripping parts off a vehicle was a major job; if they didn’t thoroughly clear the Zombies in the area, then once they started, they could expose themselves at any moment.

The entire clearing operation took a full half hour. By the time they finished, it was already 2 p.m.

Checking his watch, Hua Biao knew they had to hurry. If they kept dragging this out, once night fell, all operations would have to stop.

With that in mind, Hua Biao signaled to Shen Lian and Duan Chengwu. The three regrouped at the front of the truck, ready to start their designated mission for this run: taking the vehicle apart to get the horn.