Chapter 87 News from Mianshan

This group split into two teams. Two people occupied the high ground in the opposite building, armed with powerful slingshots ready for ambush at any moment. The remaining four men and two women had already begun ramming the door Bai Xiao had locked.

The door to this storage room wasn't sturdy. It didn't take long for the people outside to break it down.

The two men leading the charge, caught off guard by the sudden opening, were nearly thrown off balance and almost stumbled.

They quickly steadied themselves. Seeing only one person inside, and a woman at that, their lips couldn't help but curl into a smile of triumph. However, that smile froze on their faces almost immediately.

It was a woman in full gear. She wore a gray-green hard-shell jacket, with matching hiking pants neatly tucked into high-top wading boots. Her entire demeanor exuded a cold, sharp efficiency.

Most striking was the hooded cloak on her head. It wasn't made of soft fabric but from a hard-shell waterproof material, perfectly suited for travel in the rain.

She stood with her back to the window. The hooded cloak shrouded her entire head and upper body, its shadow obscuring most of her face. Only her tense jaw and a few strands of hair, damp and clumped from the humidity, were visible.

At that moment, she was holding a pitch-black pistol, aimed directly at the first man who had barged in, the one whose face still bore a triumphant grin.

With the truth (of firepower) in hand, the situation instantly reversed. The group hadn't expected Bai Xiao to have a gun and hesitated, unsure of their next move.

"Guns are controlled items. How could an ordinary person have one? Don't let her bluff you," the leader warned his companions.

The others behind him nervously rubbed the clubs gripped tightly in their hands, cautiously edging closer to her.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out. The tip of the baseball bat in the leader's hand was shattered by the bullet. Bai Xiao had hit the very end of the bat, far from where the man held it. At such close range, the force of the shot generated maximum torque on the bat. The man couldn't hold on, and the bat was wrenched from his grasp and sent flying by the impact's leverage.

The man stood frozen in place, his thumb and forefinger numb from the shock. Not a toy gun! But it didn't seem like a real firearm either—it lacked the sound from the movies. Still, its power was undeniable.

The disparity in strength between the two sides was clear. Even without the gun, based on combat prowess alone, these people were no match for her. But Bai Xiao didn't want to waste time and energy, nor was she in the mood to play the bully, beating them until they cried for mercy. She just wanted to end this quickly with a universally recognized, powerful weapon.

"Come over and stand by the window. Call the people from across the way over," Bai Xiao said, tilting the gun barrel slightly to the right, indicating they should stand in the middle of the window.

The group looked at the baseball bat on the floor, its head blown apart by a single shot. They dared not resist any further. If that shot had hit one of them, it would have meant death or serious injury. In the world outside now, getting injured without timely medical care was basically a death sentence. No one wanted to risk their life.

The sound of the air gun wasn't as loud as a real firearm. Through the curtain of rain and the distance, the people across the way couldn't hear it. Seeing their companions standing in the window waving, they assumed they had successfully subdued their target and hurriedly swam over.

"Why are you all suddenly standing by the window? I almost fired a shot with my slingshot..." nearly hitting you by mistake.

The man and woman climbing through the window saw their companions making exaggerated facial gestures behind them. Puzzled, they turned to look.

Bai Xiao leaned against the wall behind the window, one arm crossed, watching their silent, frantic communication from a few meters away without intervening.

As soon as the newcomers turned around, they were met with the dark muzzle of a gun, aimed directly at the man with the slingshot tucked in his waistband. Seeing this, the man's hand instantly went to his waist.

"You're not thinking of testing whether my gun is faster than you drawing, loading, and pulling your slingshot, are you?"

Bai Xiao scoffed lightly, slowly approaching the two with her gun raised. With one hand, she plucked the slingshot from the man's waistband. The genuine leather on it was worn, showing he used and handled it frequently.

No wonder his aim was so good, she thought, her fingers brushing over it. A pity she had too many weapons; this was useless to her. She casually tossed the slingshot out the window into the water.

This action thoroughly enraged the slingshot's owner. Seeing her discard his beloved weapon into the water like trash without a second thought, the man's eyes instantly turned red with fury.

The woman in front of him only came up to his shoulder and probably weighed around a hundred pounds. So what if she had a gun at this close range? One punch from him...

Thinking this, he moved. Seizing the moment she threw the slingshot, the man threw a punch at Bai Xiao's right hand, the one holding the pistol. But he hadn't expected her to seem like she had an extra eye. Her right hand instantly twisted away to evade, while her left hand swiftly captured his attacking right wrist. Her slender hand had the crushing strength of a vise. In the blink of an eye, she twisted his right wrist and entire arm into an unnatural angle.

Ah!

The man howled in continuous pain, but Bai Xiao showed no mercy. She braced her foot against his armpit and simultaneously shoved his upper arm forcefully. A muffled *thud* sounded as the humeral head was forcibly pushed out of the shoulder socket. His shoulder deformed instantly—his arm was dislocated.

This was the price for being the one who initially ambushed her with the slingshot and just tried to seize her pistol.

Her movements were fluid and seamless, clearly marking her as someone trained in combat. The other accomplices, who had been itching to act moments before, now completely settled down upon seeing this.

Seeing she had a gun, a good boat and equipment, strong physical capabilities, and the courage to travel alone, these people thought she might be a special operative from some department. So, they started confessing voluntarily.

"We're not truly evil people. It's just that all our family's supplies were on one boat. The boat broke down. We're stuck in the middle of nowhere here. We were just so overjoyed to see your boat, we acted rashly in the heat of the moment."

"Yes, we really do have elderly and children depending on us. You're alone. Please, help us out."

"We're still over twenty kilometers from Mian Mountain. We're truly out of options."

...

In the blink of an eye, they switched tactics, pleading and crying.

Unfortunately, Bai Xiao's heart wasn't as soft as it once was. She knew these people weren't lying. They were indeed burdened by their families, and wanting to seize the boat might genuinely stem from their own vessel being broken. But she didn't believe they harbored no ill intent.

The one with the slingshot at the beginning had clearly been aiming for a person's head. If she hadn't dodged quickly, she would have been seriously injured or killed. Their positions were different; she couldn't empathize with them. Showing mercy by not killing them was already an act of grace.

If she hadn't caught a key piece of information—Mian Mountain—she would have already wanted to leave.

"You're heading to Mian Mountain?"

The group nodded, not understanding her intent.

"Didn't the Disaster Relief Department broadcast that they're searching for and rescuing affected people, planning to move everyone to the mountains outside the city in a few days? Since your equipment isn't great, why are you setting out on your own?"

They exchanged glances. Seeing Bai Xiao's aggressive stance, they felt they had to answer. "I have a relative who runs a guesthouse on Mian Mountain. A few days ago, when we could still communicate, he told me there are few people and many houses on Mian Mountain now, and it's less affected by the rain disaster. He urged us to go up the mountain for shelter if we got the chance. We were afraid if we went with the main group, we'd end up crammed together with everyone again. So, we wanted to go ahead early."