Chapter 116: Charge

When they reached the center of the camp, Chen Chuan learned from their guide that this was the station for the logisticians and reserve fighters. The true fighters were already in the mountains.

Chen Chuan looked around and saw that the yellow-green mountain ahead of him was around five hundred meters tall. Even though it was only the beginning of February, a lot of weeds had shot up, and even the trees had sprouted new shoots. There were some people moving around in the mountains.

While Chen Chuan was watching them, an employee from another agent company walked over. “Are you Mr. Chen? I’m Pan Zhong, assistant of Bedrock’s owner. The leaders are all waiting for you up ahead. Would you mind coming with me?”

“Please lead the way, Mr. Pan,” Chen Chuan replied.

“This way.”

Chen Chuan asked Xiao Wei to wait for him in the camp while he followed Pan Zhong up the mountain via a small, recently-made path. After walking for a bit, they went around the mountainside and found a spacious, natural platform on the back of the mountain. There were quite a number of tents on it.

“There you are, Mr. Chen!” someone greeted him from afar.

Chen Chuan looked over and recognized him as one of the agents who participated in the Flying Head extermination mission in Wu Neighborhood. He greeted him back.

Truth be told, agents formed a social circle of their own. Once they did loads of missions, they inevitably started running into familiar faces. The Department of Administrative Affairs was also inclined to hand over similar missions to the agents that had left an impression on them.

Quite a lot of people came forward to greet Chen Chuan. One agent said, “We’ve been waiting for you. Without you, we have no way to deal with this.”

“You’re giving me too much credit. You guys will be the ones doing the bulk of the work. I’m just in charge of finishing the job,” Chen Chuan said.

“So humble, Mr. Chen.”

The other agents laughed. The powerful and talented teenagers at Chen Chuan’s age were usually arrogant and tough to deal with, so if they needed them during crucial moments of a mission, it made things really difficult. They all thanked their lucky stars that Chen Chuan was not like that.

A number of them had witnessed how quickly Chen Chuan took down the Flying Heads last time, so they knew he was strong, but he was also humble, knew how to be considerate of their pride, and did not claim sole credit for the mission. Even if he was not a supernatural-extermination expert, they would call him one and shower him with flattery!

A middle-aged man with a five o’clock shadow came forward and extended a hand to Chen Chuan. In a mature and measured voice, he said, “I’m Bedrock’s Gu Mingde and the leader of this mission thanks to everyone electing me. Welcome to the team, Mr. Chen.”

Most of the combat-based agent companies in Yangzhi City had been around for a long time and knew that if they did not have a leader during a mission, they would end up getting in each other’s way and dragging each other down. Hence, when multiple agent companies worked together for a mission, they always agreed on how to split the benefits first. Everyone adhered to this because they might have to work together again in the future, and if they ruined their reputation, they would be left with nothing. The other agents could boycott them and refuse to work together with them. They were not afraid of doing that because all agent companies had strong connections to Yangzhi City’s Department of Administrative Affairs and even some politicians.

Chen Chuan nodded. “I’ll be under your care. What’s the situation now?”

“Please come this way, Mr. Chen.” Gu Mingde brought him to a military tent that could house ten people inside, where a long table was set with a zoomed-in map. There were folded stools and all sorts of compact tools around it.

Once they came in, Gu Mingde moved some of the folded stools away and pointed at the bottom of the map.

“Take a look. This is where we are now.”

He then moved his finger up and pointed at a peak further ahead. “This is Barbarian Mountain. It’s only around four kilometers in a straight-line. It’s close, and the gathering spot we found is right here.

“We’ve sent people to investigate. The hamlet only has a little over one hundred people, and the ancient temple is within the deepest part of the hamlet. A few years ago, someone went there to grab some mountain produce, and things became strange. No one knows whether all the residents have already become followers of the Flying Head Cult.

“The hamlet is nestled deep in the mountain and is pretty isolated from the outside world. The followers have all lost their minds, though, and are no longer wary of outsiders, which is great for our operation.

“We plan to launch an ambush tomorrow morning and try to take down the Flying Heads in one fell swoop. But while we know how to fight people, this is the first time we’re fighting against Flying Heads. The consultant has given us some tools to defend ourselves, but we’d still like to ask you for your input.”

Chen Chuan thought about it and said, “Flying Heads can affect the mind and stir up your innermost desire. Any layman exposed to it will go mad. That’s why you have to control your emotions to the best of your abilities. Also, the ones leading the charge should be those who have mastered refined force. Their resistance is stronger.”

Gu Mingde nodded. This was in line with what the consultant from the Department of Administrative Affairs had told them, so they had already made preparations for it.

“If any Flying Heads show up, I’ll take care of them. The others should try their best not to get too close to them so that they won’t get affected. Also, you mentioned an old temple just now?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Yes. We don’t know when it was built. We just know that it’s made of stone and is really old.” Gu Mingde gave a signal to the assistant, who rummaged through his bag to produce an old photo.

“It’s this one.” Gu Mingde pointed at it.

Chen Chuan took a look. While the photo was old, it was clear. It showed a stone building that was markedly different from usual Great Shun buildings. Someone must have remodeled it at some point, because there was a bit of a local flair to it.

“Flying Heads like staying in old places that allow them to receive sacrifices for a long period of time. The altar should be in this temple. If that’s true, this is good news. Flying Heads rarely stray far from their altars. If they have enough sacrifices, they won’t even come out.

“Have you seen the residents offering sacrifices? Or doing anything else that’s strange?”

“We have little information about the hamlet, but we’ve been hearing strange chants and the leather drums every day. They sound like the chants of old used for shamanic dances. They do it once in the morning, and once at night. The length is fixed too. They always go for around forty-five minutes,” someone answered.

Chen Chuan nodded at that. “They should be offering the sacrifices at those times.” He then turned to Gu Mingde. “I would suggest launching the attack during the offering or right before it ends, because the Flying Heads don’t care about anything else while they’re eating the sacrifices. It’s a gap in their defense.”

“If that’s the case, we will need to push forward the time of the attack,” someone said.

“Then, we’ll push it forward. We’ll do as Mr. Chen said!” Gu Mingde declared firmly.

Everyone nodded. Even if there were twice the number of residents, it would not be enough to give them a warmup. What made them wary were the surreal Flying Heads. But if they had a strategy to take them down, they would not need to be so careful and indecisive anymore.

“Do you have any other suggestions?”

“Flying Heads can easily make you lose control over your emotions and mind, so while I’m fighting against the Flying Head inside, I hope that all of you will stay away. If we can keep it contained in the temple, that’d be for the best,” Chen Chuan said gravely. “If it flies out, it’ll be much harder to deal with. That’s why we have to act fast. We must finish the fight outside while it’s enjoying the sacrifice.”

He looked around. “Also, while I’m fighting it, the Flying Head is bound to fight back, so a lot of people might lose control over themselves. We have to be mentally prepared for that.”

An air of solemnity fell over the agents.

“You managed to kill the Flying Heads in one slash in the last mission. This time, we prepared large nets, darts, and ropes. It’ll be even easier now, right?” an agent asked.

“Those were mutated human heads. You can chase them away or even destroy them with regular attacks. They can’t compare to a real Flying Head. The real deal can’t be hurt by normal attacks. You can only take that thing out through a special method,” Chen Chuan said.

He turned to the map. “If we’re certain that the source of the Flying Heads is in the temple, then I’d like to be the only one to go there. Please seal off the entrance and leave only a handful of people outside. As for the rest, you have to leave the mountain as soon as possible. Only remove the seal after I’ve killed the Flying Head.”

Gu Mingde asked a few more details about the Flying Head, then said, “I thought that it’ll be hard to predict how things will go, but after your pointers, I have a rough idea now.”

He then gave Chen Chuan a somber fist-and-palm salute. “We’ll be relying on you for the final blow, Mr. Chen.”

Chen Chuan returned the salute and said, “Of course.”

After the meeting, everyone left the tent. Chen Chuan moved into a single-person tent Gu Mingde had prepared for him. While inside, he wiped down the Frost King Saber and checked his bullets before doing his daily breathing training. When it was about his usual time for bed, he hit the sack.

The next morning, all the agents gathered together. Even though they had cancelled their original plan, they still set out before the sun rose.

The agent companies had sent out quite a lot of agents. Without counting the support at the rear, there were about fifty of them. Since this mission was in a mountain far from the city, they received temporary permission from the Department of Administrative Affairs to carry weapons. All of them carried crossbows and guns, and even some smoke bombs.

Gu Mingde split them up into small groups, which spread out through the area. Even though there were many of them, their movements were like flowing sand. Anyone would have a hard time noticing them unless they paid close attention.

Chen Chuan was in the same group as Gu Mingde and wore a yellow-green camouflage cloak. It was made specifically for usage in a forest. It was waterproof and scratch-proof, but made of breathable material, so it was not stuffy. It also provided great camouflage.

Fortunately, it was only February, so the weather was still cold. There were few pests and wild beasts in the forest, so they did not need to put on any repellent.

After going forward for around two hours, they arrived at the foot of Barbarian Mountain. They located a hiding spot they had found earlier and verified to be safe. No one looking up from above would be able to see them while they hid there.

Aside from the people on watch duty, the others started drinking water and taking nutritional paste.

Chen Chuan leaned against the mountainside and checked his watch. It was a little over 6:30 a.m.. If the residents of the hamlet were going to make their offering, it should be around this time.

Just as expected, after a while, they started hearing faint sounds from above, along with strange drum rolls and thumping. Even the singing and chanting was weird.

Chen Chuan noticed his second self blurring out a little, and he immediately hissed, “Hide.”

Gu Mingde reacted quickly. He made a sign, and everyone around them ducked down. Soon, they saw a swarm of black dots fly out, circle the hamlet once, then fly back.

Chen Chuan focused his attention on them. Every single dot was a Flying Head, and there were almost twenty of them.

There’s so many... I wasn’t expecting that. It’s no wonder why my second self is being affected even though they’re so far away. The source of the Flying Heads is definitely inside!

he thought.

Gu Mingde gave him an inquiring look, and Chen Chuan nodded.

He immediately turned to Pan Zhong and said, “Send word to the rear that we’ve discovered numerous Flying Heads. The supernatural beings are here. We need reinforcements.”

Pan Zhong retrieved the telegraph transmitter from his briefcase, put on his earphones, and started sending a telegram.

Gu Mingde could tell that this was the best time to launch their attack, and he started giving instructions. “In a short while, we’ll be moving out in the groups we formed earlier. Don’t break off from your group and move fast, understand?”

Once all the leaders responded, he gave his order, “All groups, attack!”