◎Happy 69th Day: Snow Painting Artist◎

Fortunately, they cleared the snow as they came here, so now they can return to the big cave as quickly as possible.

The initial gunshot was just a warning. Jiang Muyun and others rushed all the way to the big cave, listening to intermittent noises coming from the bottom of the mountain, but they never heard any human voices.

"The sound doesn't seem to be coming from the west." Wang Qingqing had stabbed others with knives many times, but this was the first time she had seen a scene of a firefight with hot weapons. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous when she spoke.

The big cave is located at a relatively high position, and there is a stone platform extending outward from the entrance. If one wants to observe the situation at the foot of the mountain, the view here is the best, so they placed several telescopes in the big cave as backup.

However, the entrance of the big cave faces west, so the view is naturally limited to the west side of the mountain.

Wang Qingqing's sensitivity to sound was verified by a group of snakes, and Jiang Muyun chose to trust her judgment.

Jiang Muyun patted the frightened Xiaobai and encouraged it to keep running: "Let's go to the big cave to get the telescope, and then go to the top of the mountain."

The entrance of the big cave faces the direction of Yi City. It is okay to check on your companions returning from Yi City at the entrance of the cave. If you want to see what is happening in other places, you have to go to the top of the mountain.

"Let's go back and get our stuff, then we'll find you on the top of the mountain." Li Anxuan and Zhao Jiahao turned halfway.

No matter what the situation is outside, you still need to have a weapon in your hand to feel safe.

Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen usually had the habit of carrying weapons with them, but they didn't show it at this moment, but their steps became a little faster.

The snow was not heavy now and was not enough to block the view. Jiang Muyun looked in the direction Wang Qingqing pointed and could easily see a group of people in the distance who seemed to have been ambushed.

The snow on the road, which had not been cleared, was already above their waists.

Trapped by the snow all around, it was extremely difficult for the ambushed team to fight back or leave.

The view from the top of the mountain was very good. With the help of a military telescope, Jiang Muyun could clearly see the situation of the ambushed team.

There were quite a few of them, perhaps fifty or sixty. The team was carrying a good deal of supplies, and although they were all covered with cloth, the neatly arranged boxes could be seen.

The car carrying the boxes was also familiar to Jiang Muyun. There was another one parked in their cave. It was driven back by Zhao Jiahao and Li Anxuan.

Combined with what Li Anxuan said about how the two of them found the kart, the identity of the ambushed team is easy to guess.

I didn’t expect that Li Anxuan was right.

Compared with so many supplies that are obviously good stuff at first glance, the deterrent power of more than 50 people is not enough to scare away all the coveters.

So more than fifty people were trapped in the snow with a large amount of supplies. If they moved a little, a volley of bullets would fly over.

The opponent's shooting skills were obviously not very good, but with more than fifty people, they were too big a target.

There's no need for accuracy at all. As long as you see someone moving around, just shoot into the crowd and randomly draw a prize.

With so many people gathered there, if it happens too often, a few of them will get hurt.

Just like now, Jiang Muyun could see that some people in the group had already fallen to the ground, with blood oozing from under their bodies.

Those who had the courage to ambush the army were not stupid. They never shouted to reveal their position from beginning to end. It was obvious that either you leave the supplies behind and run away, or you will be trapped here and die.

From the perspective of the ambushed company, they might not be able to see clearly, or even if they could see clearly, they would not be able to take action under the enemy's nose.

But by following the clues from Jiang Muyun and observing the surroundings, it is easy to find the location of the people hiding nearby.

The ambushed army is currently on their east side, about two thousand meters away from the foot of the mountain.

There were also quite a few people on another hill to the southeast of them. They were the main force responsible for shooting. Their distance from them should be less than two kilometers, and even closer to the ambushed army.

There was also a group of people far behind the army, but they were too far away and kept crouching to hide their bodies, so the military binoculars could not see their specific situation clearly.

The snow blocked the view, and it was impossible to find anything unusual in the snow when looking straight ahead, but when looking from above, the movements of the group of people behind were very obvious.

Chu Buwen put down his binoculars and said, "I was careless. At this temperature, ordinary people can easily survive by wearing some warm clothes and hiding in the snow."

Jiang Muyun frowned: "Did you see how many people are around?"

Chu Buwen made a quick mental estimate: "Probably over eighty. There are several groups hiding on the mountain, with the largest group halfway up the mountain. There are also a few guarding the foot of the mountain, so there are more than twenty people in total. The ones left behind are the big ones, and they look like they are preparing to buy at the bottom. They are too far away to see clearly, so I estimate there are about fifty or sixty of them. It seems that it was not just one group that took action."

Pretty much the same answer as hers.

Jiang Muyun pursed his lips slightly.

The hill where they live now is very remote.

It is called a hill because it is located in a plain. With an altitude of more than 200 meters, it is almost like a small mound.

There are wastelands for miles around, with a few small hills that are neither strange nor beautiful. There are no tourist resources worth developing.

The location is said to be between Nanshi and Yishi, but it is not close to the highway and transportation is extremely inconvenient. Only some leisure resorts are attracted by the remoteness, quietness and cheap land here, which has added a little popularity to this place.

Obviously, this little bit of popularity quickly disappeared as soon as the end of the world came.

Even if you go out to collect supplies, you have to walk for at least an hour to find the building complex. Who has the time to come here?

Only because Jiang Muyun and his group have enough people and energy to take turns going out to collect supplies, and they like the quietness here, can they stay here with peace of mind.

There are ten strong and healthy people in the normal team, who have already settled in the city to keep each other warm.

Isn't it better to go out and pick up things in a place like this wilderness?

Even if you want to go into the mountains to avoid the cold or heat, the first choice is the mountains in the western suburbs of Nanshi and the small hills around Yishi, rather than places like this where there is no village in front and no shop behind, and a heavy fog makes it impossible to find the way home.

So this area has always been deserted.

They'd lived there for several months and were used to the sparsely populated area. They'd once visited the summit from time to time to check for signs of human activity, but with the recent heavy snowfall, the mountain had been closed off, and everyone had their hands full, so they'd put that aside for now.

I didn't expect that such a small negligence would allow these people to sneak around quietly.

Fortunately, they started clearing snow on a large scale today. Their usual activities were mostly on the west side of the mountain. The smoke from burning the kang was also covered by the mountain and heavy snow. The other party probably didn't know that there were people on this mountain.

If they had remained silent and hidden, it would be highly unlikely that they would have been interested in searching the mountains after the harvest to see if there were any people living nearby.

Should I hide or get rid of these people?

If they were to take action, they would inevitably expose themselves.

Among the guns Li Anxuan and Zhao Jiahao brought back were several Type 56 submachine guns.

Most people who are not interested in military-related content may not be familiar with this name, but everyone should know its prototype.

The famous AK-47 is known as the king of cost-effectiveness. The Type 56 submachine gun is the result of China's imitation and improvement of the AK-47. Its full name is the Type 56 submachine gun.

The AK has an effective range of 400 meters, after which the accuracy decreases, and the maximum range exceeds 2000 meters.

The 56 submachine gun is similar to it in basic data. Since it is called a submachine gun, everyone knows its accuracy after exceeding the effective range. It is a random draw. Anyway, the final landing point of the bullet is absolutely far away from the psychological estimation direction of the gun holder. All the middle school boys in the blue planet are not as rebellious as them.

Not to mention the submachine gun and □□, their effective range is not as good as the 56mm submachine gun.

If they were dealing with the group of unlucky guys trapped in the snow below, they would still rely on the fact that the opponent was a large target and the terrain advantage to use 56 to rush in blindly.

But if we want to specifically target those who are ambushing others, how can we have an effective range of 400 meters?

"They seem to be protecting someone." Jiang Muyun narrowed his eyes slightly.

If they dispersed, with the marksmanship of the group of people on the mountain, they would probably end up with nothing.

But now the soldiers trapped in the snow gathered together unconsciously, tacitly covering the few people in the middle tightly.

"It should be the target of the mission they were responsible for transferring before." Li Anxuan put down the box of bullets, walked to Jiang Muyun, raised the telescope and observed.

Qin Shiwen was a little surprised: "It's been so long..."

Li Anxuan joked, "That's nothing we can do. We can't just abandon everyone in the team when something goes wrong up there."

That being said, it’s been so long since the tsunami, and the company below still insisted on bringing people from Hai City to Nan City in the chaos. It’s still quite amazing.

Jiang Muyun put down the telescope, picked up the Type 56 submachine gun that Li Anxuan had just brought, looked at everyone and said, "We have to choose one of three now."

Jiang Muyun had picked up an AK in her previous life, but it only had one magazine of bullets, and after using it up, the gun became a toy. She never threw it away, hoping that she would pick up bullets again, and would occasionally play with it herself.

The Type 56 submachine gun and the AK are very similar. Jiang Muyun was very skilled at loading and releasing the safety. "The first option is safer. We can hide in the mountains and not make any noise. The enemy will most likely not notice us. Once they're done, everything will be fine."

But it would be difficult for the half of the company trapped in the snow.

If they left those supplies behind and fought hard, they might still be able to escape - some of them.

After all, everyone understands the principle of cutting the grass at its roots. If they make the slightest move, the people on the mountain will definitely start shooting. The group of people following behind them don't look like they are Buddhists.

Moreover, in the current environment, if you abandon all your supplies, you may not survive even if you run away.

"The second option is a bit tricky. The 56 submachine gun has a range of over 200 meters. We have a higher range from our vantage point. With a full-scale sweep, we'll likely eliminate some of the trapped people. We also have a geographical advantage against those ambushing us. We can try to hide in a box, or use our logistical advantage to wear them down until we can seize the supplies."

But it was obvious that they could not kill all the people who were ambushing outside and those who were ambushed. Even if they took over the supplies, their own base would definitely be exposed, and then they might be the ones to be surrounded.

Qin Shiwen said sincerely, "It sounds like he's seriously ill."

Jiang Muyun cocked the rifle and said to Li Anxuan, "So there's a third option. Let's interview these two students and ask them what they think of the friendly forces' combat prowess."

Li Anxuan said succinctly: "If the snow hadn't been so deep and we hadn't been ambushed, the battlefield would have been cleaned up by now."

Everyone can feel this.

The snow more than one meter deep at the foot of the mountain blocked the sight of many people and provided cover for many people.

But for those who have the advantage of terrain, such as Jiang Muyun and his group and the ambushers on the opposite mountain, the snow makes it impossible for anyone below the mountain to hide.

Jiang Muyun gestured for them to look at the location of the group of ambushers on the eastern hill. "Although the straight-line distance from them is definitely beyond our effective range, we don't need to deal with them."

Chu Buwen glanced at the snow on the top of the opposite mountain and said, "Block the sight of those people and buy time for the people below?"

Qin Shiwu frowned: "The snow is too deep. By the time they climb up the mountain and find the people, the group behind them will be able to find them."

Qin Shiwen pretended to think, "Actually, there's no need to find them. Their marksmanship isn't like ours, where we can just point our guns at the sky and hit the ground. As long as they show their faces, they'll definitely win if we exchange guns, right?"

Qin Shiwu felt as if he was offended, but he had no evidence at the moment.

The only problem is that if they do this, the news that there are people living on this mountain will definitely be exposed.

Jiang Muyun smiled mysteriously: "Guess, with the snow so deep outside, how long does it take to walk from South City to here?"

The last time they walked back to Nanshi, the weather was still hot. Not only did they have to find a place to escape the heat during the noon period, but they also had to stop and rest from time to time while walking to prevent heatstroke.

Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen returned to Nanshi. They set out at four in the morning and reached the western suburbs at noon.

The situation outside is worse now than before. They are carrying so much luggage. Even if their physical fitness is good, it will take them at least twice as long or even longer to walk here.

It's just past noon now, so based on this calculation, they probably set off in the middle of the night.

Who has nothing better to do than drag their belongings out in the middle of the night in this kind of weather?

Unless they can no longer stay in their original place of residence, they can only move secretly under the cover of night.

The reason why they had to travel in the middle of the night couldn't be a natural disaster, it could only be a man-made disaster.

This makes it easy to understand why the other party appears here.

It is very reasonable for people who have been troubled by man-made disasters and have been running all the way from Hai City to Nan City to settle down in a remote place.

I just don't know where they leaked the news, so that people could ambush them in advance.

Zhao Jiahao is a staunch supporter of Route 3. "We don't have any sort of mountain protection array or other metaphysical artifacts that can hide us forever. We'll be discovered sooner or later anyway. It's better to have friendly forces stationed nearby, where we can be safer."

Zhao Jiahao's words expressed everyone's thoughts.

Although their place is desolate, it is not a forbidden zone for life. Sooner or later, it will be discovered by someone, otherwise they would not have set up early warning devices all over the mountains.

Now they have guns and plenty of bullets, and everyone has a certain ability to protect themselves. Although they don't want to take the initiative to cause trouble, it doesn't mean they are afraid of head-on confrontation with others.

Jiang Muyun fired a burst of shots at the opposite hill. The bullets flew everywhere and hit the thick snow. The sound of the gunfire caused the snow to fall from the mountain.

Jiang Muyun watched as several groups of people were clearly thrown into chaos by the sudden burst of gunfire. He narrowed his eyes and said, "I know it's impossible to kill everyone who ambushed here today, but the fact that they were able to gather dozens of people and have so many guns proves that they must have some influence in Nanshi."

Nanshi wasn't some mirage where the sound of gunfire continued day after day. The weapons these people had were enough to intimidate most people.

Chu Buwen cooperated by shooting at the place where people appeared at the bottom of the mountain. After sweeping a large area, he found only scattered bloodstains on the ground but did not care: "Use these people to establish authority. Let them take away the news that there are people here and that the people living here have guns."

Jiang Muyun pointed down the mountain and drew a circle to include them: "More than fifty professional soldiers, plus a few unidentified people with guns in their hands, but who have friendly relations with these soldiers."

Chu Buwen brushed off the bullet shells that had fallen on Jiang Muyun's body and said, "With such a powerful force nearby, no one dares to openly provoke us."

Zhao Jiahao and his team had said before that there were probably only about fifty people left in this company.

The number of people trapped underneath now seems to be about the same.

The fact that they had been in Nanshi for such a long time without many casualties was enough to prove the difference in combat effectiveness between the two sides.

Zhao Jiahao and Li Anxuan were both good marksmen who were trained by quilts. Having two prodigal sons at home was enough to open fire, and they were responsible for shooting all the targets that showed up as much as possible.

Although they might not hit the target once out of ten attempts, the fact that the bullets could land near them was enough of a deterrent for those who had never experienced a real battlefield with hot weapons.

Li Anxuan said that the friendly forces' combat skills were excellent, and it was definitely not an exaggeration.

You can tell by the fact that they were able to carry supplies and protect people alive and reach Nanshi.

The others couldn't even hold their guns, so they simply stayed away from the fun. They stood guard with binoculars in hand to prevent anyone from sneaking up on them in the chaos.

The moment Jiang Muyun's gunshot rang out, the fifty or so people who were originally besieged quickly crouched down and scattered under the cover of the snow, giving no chance to anyone to shoot.

The dozens of people behind them followed too far for fear of being discovered. Now that they heard the noise here, they couldn't get here for a while, and they had no idea what was happening in front.

Jiang Muyun and others were far away, and they were still holding Type 56 submachine guns. Whether they could hit the enemy depended entirely on metaphysical power, but that was not the case for the company that was ambushed.

A black gun barrel emerged silently from the snow pile. A man who had just been frightened and slipped all the way from halfway up the mountain to the foot of the mountain fell to the ground with a gunshot before he could get up.

The blood gushing from his chest dyed his whole body red. The warm blood melted the snow beneath him. His body fell to the ground without support and slowly sank into the snow.

After Li Anxuan fired a few shots and got the hang of it, his shooting range was no longer limited to the foot of the mountain.

Li Anxuan fired a burst of shots at a spot on the opposite hillside where a figure was swaying. The bullet missed the person, landing at least two meters away, but it frightened the man so much that he tripped and tumbled down the hill, becoming another sitting duck.

Zhao Jiahao put down the telescope and exclaimed, "That's right, brother!"

Li Anxuan couldn't tell whether Zhao Jiahao was being sarcastic or not.

Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen stopped after firing a round.

It's all white outside now, and it's easy to tell where the blood is.

When everything quieted down again, Jiang Muyun looked at the bloodstains on the ground and roughly knew how many people were left on the opposite mountain.

Zheng Xiang said, "I've been keeping an eye on the other side, and no one's running down the mountain. They don't have enough time to get around to the other side and then down the mountain."

The wave of shooting by Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen just now shook off the snow, which not only blocked the opponent's vision, but also blocked their vision.

This means that if someone on the opposite mountain takes advantage of the chaos and hides himself in a messy snow pile, it will be difficult for them to find the other party if the other party does not move.

However, it is difficult for them to notice it from this angle, perhaps someone else can notice it.

Bang.

A sudden gunshot rang out.

Jiang Muyun saw the snow splashing on the hillside opposite, and bright red slowly seeping out of a bulging snow pile.

Perhaps startled by the sudden death of a companion nearby, the snow layer not far away shook for a moment.

There was a pile of collapsed snow blocking the view right below that location, but from Jiang Muyun's position, the movement under the snow was very obvious.

She was not going to challenge her own shooting skills, so she simply pointed out the location to Li Anxuan.

Li Anxuan also knew how low the probability of hitting someone with a 56 submachine gun from a thousand meters away was, so he simply swept the area around the person, breaking up the snow under him so that the shivering snow layer could no longer hide him.

Not only that layer of snow, Li Anxuan also found several places that seemed amiss.

A few more gunshots were heard, and the movement under the snow stopped, and red ice crystals condensed from the inside out.

Chu Buwen had said before that there seemed to be several groups of people ambushing on the mountain and falling from behind, and this was absolutely true.

When the people behind saw what happened in front, they immediately started to back out.

Some people still continued to move forward without giving up, but before they got halfway, they were killed by gun barrels sticking out of the snow.

After dispersing, most of the people in that army began to sneak back in the direction they came from. They were obviously aware that there was someone behind them.

If I hadn't expected that there was a group of people squatting halfway up the mountain ahead, I guess they were the ones who ambushed others today.

"Doesn't he know that he's being targeted?" Jiang Muyun counted the blood clots on the ground, and when he felt that the number of people was almost enough, he waved at the reflective spots in the snow.

The other side was also very considerate and stretched out a black gun barrel, shaking it back and forth twice, drawing an arc on the snow.

After a while, two small round holes were poked out above the arc by the extended gun barrel.

It's a smiling face with a crooked head and a crooked mouth.

Jiang Muyun's mind was filled with the four words "evil smile".

When the gunfire from the other side to intercept the pursuers stopped, the gun barrel that had just painted Jiang Muyun's face as a domineering boss with a knife-cut face was extended again.

This time it didn't do any artistic creation, but instead drew a vertical bar on the snow with a circle underneath.

"What does this mean?" Jiang Muyun was confused.

Before Jiang Muyun could call for help, the ball of snow encircled by the circle collapsed directly.

The people hiding in the snow were hit head-on by a ball of snow and retreated in a panic along the passage they had dug out before.

Zhao Jiahao paused for a moment, then asked, "Are you asking us to meet? Did you just draw a gathering sign?"

The soldier who crawled out of the snow wiped his face, revealing his dark skin, and bared his big white teeth in the direction of Jiang Muyun and others. He clenched his right fist and stretched out his index finger to make a "1", then raised his hand and drew a circle, and then aimed the sight in their direction.

Zhao Jiahao recognized the artist who had just painted on the snow: "It's Captain Yu. He was the one who bandaged Li Anxuan's arm wound."

As he spoke, he raised the telescope with excitement and gave the person a gesture similar to "OK" to indicate that he had received it.

In order to prevent any fish from lurking on the opposite side, Zhao Jiahao said that he would just take a few people with him.

Jiang Muyun, Chu Buwen and Wu Xingyue were fortunate enough to be selected.

The reason was that only half of the snow had been cleared on the road they were taking to go down the mountain. Zhao Jiahao squatted on the side of the path, holding a few metal plates with their ends raised, and looked eager to try, expressing his desire to slide down the mountain directly.

No wonder he left Qin Shiwu, Zhou Ying and the others behind. It seemed like this was his plan.

Jiang Muyun had never tried proper skiing before, but he had tried wild skiing when he was escaping. He was still sane: "You're skiing down now, but you still have to climb up the mountain later, right?"

When the time comes to clear the snow on the road, we will clear it from the bottom up.

Throwing the cleared snow onto the spot they had just cleared didn't sound like something a normal person would do.

Zhao Jiahao had been thinking about skiing since the day the snow piled up above his thighs. He got so excited when he heard he was going down the mountain that he completely forgot about this. Now he had no choice but to follow Qingxue dejectedly.

They were pushing snow down the mountain to clear the road, while on the other side, Captain Yu and a few others were trekking through mountains and rivers to meet them. It was more difficult for the two sides to meet each other than that of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

After finally meeting, Captain Yu, standing opposite, happily hugged everyone and said, "This is a timely relief in this critical moment! Thank you, brothers and sisters, for saving my life!"

Jiang Muyun originally thought that Zhao Jiahao was very outgoing, but she didn't expect that it was her who was short-sighted.

Zhao Jiahao had forgotten about his hidden snowboard and looked as if he wanted to bow down to the heavens and earth with him. "Brother! Nice to see you again! You saved our lives back then! If this isn't fate, what is it?"

Jiang Muyun was afraid that the next step would be to swear a blood oath, so he quickly brought the topic back to the topic: "What's wrong with you guys today?"

When this was mentioned, Captain Yu blushed with anger: "There's a..."

He swallowed the words back, then stood there with his hands on his hips, thinking for a long time but couldn't come up with the right words. It was the soldier behind him who explained for him: "The leader of the group that ambushed us today is a relative of a brother in our team."

Captain Yu cursed in frustration, "You bastard, if you want to leave the team, just say so. When have I ever stopped them from leaving? Why would you betray your own brothers like this?"

After all, they are relatives, so Captain Yu can't even scold them for being disloyal.

Another soldier raised his voice: "If you ask me, the shot we just gave him was a waste! If he's still breathing, I'll beat his brains into a frozen tofu or I'll kill him!"

Captain Yu waved his hand. "It's bad luck, let's not talk about him. Where were we just now? Oh, right, that's why we went out today, right?"

Jiang Muyun: "I don't remember asking that, but if you insist, I'd be happy to listen."

Captain Yu spread his hands and said, "There's no such thing as a confidentiality level these days. I can't hide it from you whether I tell you or not. By the way, how long have you lived here? Do you know where there's any other villa nearby?"

Jiang Muyun knew that there was only one well-known villa nearby, a few kilometers to the north. It was a resort area that focused on parent-child leisure. It was so deserted that Jiang Muyun and his friends were too lazy to go there when they were searching for supplies.