206: Chapter 206: The Battle of the City

The snow continued to fall. Shen Xiaochuan stood on the watchtower, his hands gripping the railing, his eyes fixed on the shadows in the distance.

After a brief moment of quiet, the snow monsters began to move again. Their footsteps were heavy as they slowly approached across the snow.

"They're here," he whispered.

Shen Yan ran over from the other side, his footsteps thudding loudly. "The pressure on the west gap is high. A corner of the frozen soil bags collapsed due to the wind, and the engineering team is rushing to repair it."

Shen Xiaochuan nodded. "Tell everyone not to panic. No matter how tall or strong these monsters are, they still walk on two legs. How fast can they be? We have walls, we have fire, and we have people."

He pressed the broadcast button: "Logistics Group, deliver compressed biscuits to the south section of the city wall immediately. Two pieces per person to fill their stomachs for now. Medical team, stand by on-site; receive any wounded immediately. Control Room, maintain contact and report any issues immediately."

After his voice went out, everyone clearly steadied themselves. The archers checked their arrows, and the people operating the catapults crouched beside the incendiary bombs, watching the fuses.

"Get ready," Shen Xiaochuan said to Shen Yan.

Shen Yan blew the copper whistle. Three long blasts and two short ones—the signal for battle.

Three groups of archers drew their bows in unison, ignited their fire arrows, and fired a volley. The arrows streaked through the air with red light, landing in front of the snow monsters.

A few snow monsters stopped, looked down at the arrows in their bodies, and reached out to pull them out. Instead of blood, a wisp of grayish-white mucus flowed out. They threw the arrows on the ground and continued walking forward.

"Useless?" Shen Yan frowned.

"Not entirely," Shen Xiaochuan narrowed his eyes. "Look, they're moving slower."

Just as he finished speaking, two catapults fired. The incendiary bombs flew out and smashed into the group of snow monsters. With a boom, two were hit; their chests caved in, and their fur was scorched. But seconds later, the charred flesh began to move, gray mist emerged from the splits, and the wounds slowly closed up.

"This..." Shen Yan gasped.

"Cease fire," Shen Xiaochuan ordered immediately. "Use them sparingly. Burning doesn't kill them, and they aren't afraid of being pierced. We can't fight them head-on."

He turned to look at the city wall. "Notify everyone to prepare for close-quarters combat. Focus on defending the west side; it's the weakest point. Group up in threes, target their joints and necks, and don't try to match their strength."

Shen Yan nodded and ran off to pass on the message.

Shen Xiaochuan loosened his wrists and drew a short halberd from behind his waist. This was a weapon he had exchanged for using faith points; it wasn't very sharp, but it was sturdy. He didn't expect to kill with it, but he knew that once the defensive line broke, someone had to step up.

The wind grew stronger.

The group of snow monsters was less than five hundred meters from the city wall. They no longer wandered aimlessly; they formed three columns, like a troop, marching in unison and advancing silently.

"They know the way." Shen Xiaochuan's heart tightened.

Suddenly, the snow monster in the very front looked up and roared. It wasn't a howl, but a low, vibrating sound. The snow monsters behind it immediately picked up speed and began to jog.

"Get on the wall!" Shen Xiaochuan shouted.

The soldiers quickly took their positions. The spearmen stepped forward, the archers retreated to load arrows, and the catapults reloaded.

Three hundred meters... two hundred meters...

"Fire!" Shen Yan shouted from the other side.

Another round of arrows and stones hit them, but the result was the same. The arrows landed, the stones exploded, and while the snow monsters were injured, they began to recover quickly.

Fifty meters!

"They're going to ram the wall!" someone shouted.

Several large snow monsters suddenly accelerated, charging toward the west gap. They ran on all fours, fast, their claws gouging deep furrows into the frozen earth, arriving at the foot of the wall in the blink of an eye.

"Up!" One jumped up, its claws hooking onto the wire mesh, and with a flip, it landed on the low wall.

"Hack it!" Shen Yan led his men to charge over.

A spear pierced its waist; the snow monster let out a muffled grunt, swung backhanded, and sent two people flying. Another held up a shield to block, but the shield shattered, and the person was knocked down.

"Use the heavy hammers!" Shen Yan roared.

A warrior swung a heavy iron hammer, slamming it hard onto the creature's knee. With a crack, the joint deformed, and the snow monster knelt on the ground.

"Hold it down!" Shen Yan pounced on it, grabbing its head to keep it from turning around to bite.

Others crowded around, stabbing with spears from different directions, finally pinning it to death.

Before they could catch their breath, two more climbed the wall from the other side. They smashed through the wire mesh, jumped up, and lunged directly at the archers.

"Scatter!" Shen Xiaochuan rushed over, kicked one over, and swept his short halberd horizontally, slicing its throat. Grayish-white blood sprayed out, splashing onto his face.

This blood was cold.

He wiped his face and shouted, "Don't let it get near anyone! Drive it to the middle!"

Three warriors obeyed, using their spears and shields to form a triangular formation, forcing one into the middle. Another group lunged from the side, a spear thrusting into its eye socket, piercing straight into its brain.

The snow monster twitched a few times and fell to the ground, motionless.

At this moment, a crashing sound came from outside the city.

"The city gate!" someone shouted.

Shen Xiaochuan ran to the east side to take a look; three snow monsters were taking turns ramming the bottom of the city gate. The gate was made of alloy steel and wouldn't break immediately, but the door frame was already beginning to loosen.

"Catapults! Target five meters outside the city gate!" he shouted.

The two catapults adjusted their angles, and the incendiary bombs smashed over, hitting one squarely in the back. It screamed and fell to the ground, while the other two wobbled for a moment but continued to ram.

"We can't kill them," Shen Yan ran over, panting. "They don't feel pain."

"Then break them," Shen Xiaochuan's eyes turned cold. "You take people and throw fire bottles from the wall to force them to look up. I'll go out through the side door and flank them."

"You can't go!" Shen Yan stopped him. "It's too dangerous!"

"If I don't go, who will?" Shen Xiaochuan shook him off. "I'm the most clear-headed right now. You hold the wall, I'll go break their legs."

After speaking, he left, walking down the stairs from the wall, passing through the inner gate, and exiting the city via a side path.

The cold wind cut at his face like a knife. He hugged the wall, slowly approaching the three snow monsters ramming the gate.

Thirty meters... twenty meters...

He pulled out two concussion grenades, pulled the pins, and threw them.

Boom! Boom!

The explosions shook the ground, and snow flew into the air. The three snow monsters instinctively retreated and looked up.

Now!

Shen Xiaochuan rushed out, driving his short halberd into the back of the last one's knee, twisting it hard, and tearing the ligament. The snow monster screamed and fell to its knees, unable to stand up.

The other two reacted and turned to lunge at him.

Shen Xiaochuan rolled to dodge the first strike; the second one's claws grazed his shoulder, tearing a hole in his clothes.

He retreated quickly, took out a corrosive agent from his chest, opened the cap, and splashed it over. The green liquid splashed onto its face, and the snow monster screamed, smoke rising from its eyes, clawing and jumping around wildly.

Just as the last one caught sight of him, Shen Xiaochuan had already picked up a sharp stone, charged forward, leaped, and thrust, driving his short halberd into the nerve bundle in its neck.

Pfft!

Gray blood sprayed out.

The snow monster twitched a few times and collapsed.

Only the blinded one was still moving; Shen Xiaochuan delivered one heavy blow, leaving it completely paralyzed on the ground.

He stood up, panting, wiped the blood and snow off his face, and shouted up at the city gate: "Did the gate hold?"

"It held!" Shen Yan poked his head out. "Did you take care of them?"

"All three are disabled," Shen Xiaochuan said. "Send people out to handle the corpses quickly; don't let them get back up."

The city gate opened, and a team of people ran out, using iron chains to lock up the injured snow monsters and dragging them back into the city.

Shen Xiaochuan went back as well. As soon as he got on the city wall, he heard someone talking.

"Can this meat be eaten?"

"It won't even cook through when burned; the bottom of the pot cracked."

"It has a foul, fishy smell; it's probably poisonous."

Shen Xiaochuan stopped in his tracks.

He suddenly remembered a document he had once seen in the Faith Mall; he had forgotten the title, but he remembered one sentence very clearly: "The corpses of evil creatures can connect to the netherworld and be offered to evil gods as sacrifices."

He stood beside the corpse, looking down at those red eyes. Although they were lifeless, they still made one feel uneasy.

These corpses... they can't be eaten, but they can be used.

He thought quickly. Food was scarce, but these things might be able to be traded for something. Traded for resources, information, or even a chance at a summon.

"Shen Yan," he said. "Count all the corpses and preserve them intact; don't damage them. Especially the heads and hearts."

"What are we keeping them for?" Shen Yan asked. "We can't eat them."

"They'll be useful later," Shen Xiaochuan said. "Stack them in the open space outside the city for now and cover them with snow tarps so the snow doesn't ruin them."

Shen Yan nodded and didn't ask further.

Twenty minutes after the battle ended, everyone began to clear the battlefield. The wounded were carried away, weapons were retrieved, and damaged areas were repaired. The snow was still falling, but the atmosphere was not as tense.

Shen Xiaochuan stood outside the south gate, watching the pile of snow monster corpses, motionless. His hand unconsciously touched the copper gear on his cuff; the wind blew into his clothes, but he didn't feel cold.

In that battle just now, seven people died and over twenty were injured. The city wall almost broke, and the whole city almost perished. But now, looking at these corpses, he actually felt a glimmer of hope in his heart.

Not because they won.

It was because he knew that these things could be turned into bargaining chips.

"First, find a place." Shen Xiaochuan looked into the depths of the snowstorm, his tone firm. "Someone will always take them."

After speaking, he took one last look at those grayish-white corpses and turned to walk toward the Control Room. His figure gradually blurred in the snowstorm, leaving only a shadow.