Chapter 17: A Chaotic Battle
He quickly ran to the riverside, but facing a human wall formed by hundreds of thousands of people, Liu Xiao couldn't squeeze through no matter how hard he tried.
"Here, climb onto my shoulders!" Li Tianjia's voice came from behind.
Liu Xiao turned around and saw him squatting down, gesturing for him to step up. Without hesitation, Liu Xiao lightly jumped up.
Li Tianjia stood nearly 1.9 meters tall. Standing on this giant's shoulders, Liu Xiao's view instantly expanded. He looked into the distance.
They were on the north bank of the river. Countless people were trying to swim across, while even more on the south bank were wading through the water with difficulty. The river was at least a hundred meters wide, with one-third of it being extremely deep. These people cried for help, hoping those on the north bank could assist them, even if just by throwing them some wood.
Further south, Liu Xiao saw armed figures. Their sharp eyes and upright postures made it clear they were soldiers, likely the stationed troops of Qiantang. Normally, the military should be organizing to prevent chaos, but every one of them stood silently, uniformly facing south.
What was happening? At first, Liu Xiao thought it was another mass suicide attempt, but this was different—the people's eyes were filled with a desperate desire to live and fear of death.
Finally, with his vision three times sharper than normal, he saw something unusual.
About five kilometers from the south bank, where the distance made details blurry, Liu Xiao could still make out a group of people fleeing for their lives. A monster easily caught up to them, tearing one person in half without resistance. Limbs and blood flew everywhere, staining the ground red. In less than two breaths, the monster moved on to other humans, leaving no survivors.
Liu Xiao swallowed hard. There were tens of thousands of such monsters. The south bank had become a hellish slaughterhouse.
He suddenly remembered what "Four Meters" had said in the gaming group chat—about Guilin being completely massacred by monsters.
Suppressing his unease, he realized those around him likely couldn't see what was happening in the distance, but the panic from those who had swum across was already spreading.
"Run! The monsters are coming! Everyone on our side is dying! Run!" A man who had been carried ashore broke free from his helpers and shoved through the crowd, fleeing north.
"Run! Those monsters have four legs and four arms! They kill on sight! One swipe guts you! We're done for! Run!" A middle-aged man vomited as he warned those around him.
More escapees from the south bank echoed the same warnings. Their despairing cries shook the north bank crowd, sparking chaos. Spectators began running back to their camps.
[Regional Warning: The Shandan River Valley Plains area has been designated a War Zone.]
[Regional Warning: The Shandan River Valley Plains area has been designated a War Zone.]
[Regional Warning: The Shandan River Valley Plains area has been designated a War Zone.]
Three consecutive system warnings deepened the grim expressions of everyone, including Liu Xiao.
"Tianjia, take our people into the woods immediately. Go until the system marks it as a danger zone. Leave the heavy supplies behind. Go now," Liu Xiao said, jumping down and locking eyes with Li Tianjia.
"Got it. What about you?" Li Tianjia trusted Liu Xiao's judgment completely.
"I'll stay to gather intel. Don't worry, I'm fast. Take these—follow the direction the bugs hit the vial. I'll catch up later." Liu Xiao handed him two vials of guide insects.
"Be careful. We'll wait for you." With that, Li Tianjia ran toward their camp.
Liu Xiao continued toward the riverbank. The crowd had thinned, with most now fleeing past him. He was one of the few moving against the tide.
The slaughter on the south bank was relentless. Blood painted the grass, and dismembered limbs littered the ground. Some fought back, but their trembling hands couldn't even swing a weapon before being decapitated. Others begged for mercy, only to be slaughtered. Some played dead, but the monsters left no intact corpses.
The wind carried the stench of blood.
This was the true Origin Point—a lawless land where survival was earned through bloodshed.
Gunfire erupted on the south bank as the monsters reached the military line.
From this distance, Liu Xiao could see them clearly. The creatures matched the descriptions—four limbs, human height, brown-black skin, and bony arms ending in claws. Their torsos were bloated, their heads dominated by a single eye and a jagged, fanged maw.
The monsters moved twice as fast as humans, their arms just as dexterous. Gunfire mowed down the front line, but the rest abandoned their prey and charged the soldiers.
"Tighten formation!" officers shouted, but chaos reigned.
A monster burst from the crowd, slamming into two soldiers before they could fire. An officer drew his pistol, shooting it point-blank in the head and chest. As he checked the fallen, another monster impaled him through the heart.
More monsters breached the line. Gunfire rang out sporadically—humans and monsters clashed on uneven terms.
"Fight! Running won't save us!"
"Fight or die!"
"You cowards!"
Some armed themselves with whatever they could find, rallying others. Many strong men joined the fray, while most kept fleeing. Raised in comfort and order, they'd never faced life-or-death combat. Their only thought was to outrun the monsters, letting others die to buy time. They were grateful to the brave—but only grateful.
Still, humans outnumbered the monsters.
One monster, wounded by gunfire, was beaten to pulp by enraged civilians. This small victory emboldened others. Many had lost loved ones and were ready to fight—either to avenge them or to return to Earth in death.
The fractured military line began to stabilize in spots. Groups of dozens surrounded single monsters, beating them down. Perhaps this was why the army had positioned itself by the river—despair could forge courage.
On the north bank, many remained. Some helped swimmers ashore; others, armed with spears and bows, watched the south like Liu Xiao.
Few could swim the river—most became corpses floating downstream. Rafts ferried women and weapons across.
"Look! The west flank's broken!"
Liu Xiao turned. A dozen monsters had breached the line, slaughtering those at the river's edge. Panicked crowds fled into deep water, vanishing beneath the current. More monsters poured through the gap, carving a path eastward. The embattled soldiers couldn't spare forces to stop them.
Soon, a thousand men rallied. The leading monsters didn't engage—they turned and charged into the river, heading north.
Liu Xiao's fury found its outlet. These beasts couldn't be allowed to cross.
"Don't let them cross! Kill them!"
"They've murdered enough! They die here!"
The bravest on the north bank, Liu Xiao among them, raced west.
In deep water, the monsters revealed another advantage—their bloated torsos acted as flotation devices, their legs propelling them swiftly. Mid-river, they dove beneath a hail of poorly aimed stones and arrows.
"Back from the bank! They can swim underwater!"
Spearmen took defensive positions.
Thirty monsters surfaced simultaneously, leaping ashore. Their limbs scythed through the crowd, impaling torsos in seconds.
A dying man clung to a monster's arm, begging others to kill it—but no one came.
A dozen men with clubs surrounded one monster, but their weapons were useless. All fell without landing a fatal blow.
Three to four hundred defenders died in minutes, killing fewer than ten monsters. Without firearms, humans were outmatched in strength, skill, and ferocity.
The remaining monsters secured a beachhead as more prepared to cross.
Liu Xiao arrived with reinforcements.
"Wait for more numbers!" a man warned, but Liu Xiao ignored him.
Drawing his bow, he loosed an arrow. A monster dropped dead.
"Amazing!"
Three more shots—three more kills. The crowd gaped.
The monsters noticed. Half charged Liu Xiao.
Eighty meters: one shot, one kill.
Fifty meters: another monster fell.
Thirty meters: Liu Xiao didn't flinch. A gut-shot monster writhed in agony.
"Protect him!"
Men shielded Liu Xiao as he counted each kill.
"Nine."
"Ten."
"Eleven."
"Twelve."
Monsters tore through defenders, but Liu Xiao's arrows never missed.
"Thirteen."
More reinforcements arrived, hurling themselves at the monsters.
"Fourteen."
Liu Xiao's rage fueled each shot.
"Fifteen."
A system message chimed.
"Sixteen."
"Seventeen."
"Eighteen."
His quiver was empty.
"Here, use mine."
A girl offered her arrows, awed by Liu Xiao.
"Thanks."
Her breath caught at his icy gaze—fury, contempt, indifferent to life. Yet she blushed, captivated by his aura.
The last monster fell to the mob.
"Victory!"
Cheers erupted. More monsters awaited, but this battle was won.