Under the orders of the second-in-command, some of the bandits and archers were forcibly driven away and tremblingly picked up their weapons again.

Torches were hastily lit, and more torches lit up, like twisting snakes of light, quickly converging around the stone house.

Dozens of bandits, armed with knives, spears, and clubs, and with bows drawn and arrows nocked, surrounded the small stone house with trepidation.

The flickering firelight illuminated faces contorted with fear and ferocity.

The cold weapon was aimed at the tightly closed wooden door, which looked like the entrance to hell.

But no one dared to be the first to step forward.

The deathly silence inside the door was far more unsettling than the loud noise from before.

Faintly, one could hear weak but continuous, hoarse groans, like those of a wounded wild animal, coming from inside.

The voice was like a cold claw, scratching at everyone's heart.

Inside the stone house.

The overwhelming stench of blood filled almost every corner.

Jiang Chan leaned against the corner of the stone wall, listening intently to the crackling of the moving torches, the chaotic footsteps, the second-in-command's fierce yet cowardly roar, and the bandits' suppressed terrified chatter.

"Black Wind Lord is still screaming... his screams are so pitiful..."

"What happened... Why can I only hear people calling out but no one comes out..."

"...Or...or should we retreat..."

The chaos outside reached Jiang Chan's ears clearly.

Fear can fester and, under strong suppression, can transform into another form of ferocity.

She slowly raised her right hand.

The cold barrel became slightly warm from continuous firing.

Her gaze swept over the struggling, writhing Black Wind Demon on the ground, barely breathing, and then over the two gruesome corpses.

At this moment, the second-in-command, Poison Scorpion, roared again, filled with desperate madness, "Damn it! You demons and monsters inside, listen up! Get out here! Archers! Prepare! Heed my command—!"

We can't wait any longer!

Jiang Chan's eyes sharpened.

His body sank slightly, shifting his center of gravity forward. His gaze, sharp as a hawk's, peered through the narrow crack in the door, capturing the shadowy figures flickering in the torchlight outside.

The place where the torches were most concentrated was also the place where the crowds were most dense and chaotic.

A minor leader, brandishing a waist knife and kicking and urging the archers around him, flashed past in the firelight through the crack in the door.

Target locked.

Jiang Chan's posture instantly froze into a perfect shooting stance, her shoulder pressed firmly against the cold gunstock.

With his right eye slightly narrowed, his gaze, through the simple aiming baseline, firmly locked onto the swaying figure of the minor leader.