Wilderness: I Tame Beasts to Survive-Chapter 42 - 41: Anguish

The automatic rifles roared, unleashing a dense hail of bullets. They hammered against the Tree Spirits, producing harsh, scraping sounds and sending showers of yellow sparks flying.

Han Ning quickly composed himself and commanded, "Yin Yi, see if you can take down that biggest Tree Spirit. We’ll hold back the others for you."

"Bobo!"

Facing the Tree Spirit Boss, which was twice its size, Yin Yi showed no fear. Its body swayed as it flung out two relatively slender Vine Whips that violently collided with the boss’s own.

A bright green light flared up on the surfaces of both Yin Yi’s and the Tree Spirit Boss’s bodies simultaneously.

Thorns shimmering with a green halo and poisoned stingers glinting with a dark purple luster shot out from both of them, hurtling toward their opponent.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Yin Yi’s Silver Thorns accurately struck the Tree Spirit Boss’s massive body, sending it stumbling backward.

As for the poisoned stingers flying toward it, a faint ring of wind suddenly materialized beneath Yin Yi’s body, and a white mist spread out around it.

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

The breeze carried Yin Yi’s body through a graceful arc in the air, allowing it to easily dodge the attack of the poisoned stingers.

Seeing that Yin Yi and the Tree Spirit Boss were locked in a stalemate, Han Ning turned to the others and said,

"Zhiran, Yang Xing, open fire on the other Tree Spirits! Command your Silver Lotus Woods to block them and keep them from getting any closer."

"Roger!"

Hearing Han Ning, the nine people on his team raised their guns, aimed at the charging Tree Spirits, and pulled their triggers.

RAT-A-TAT, RAT-A-TAT-TAT!

Instantly, bullets and Silver Thorns wove together into a terrifying web of firepower, indiscriminately blanketing the dozen or so Tree Spirits before them.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The bullets produced dull thuds as they struck the Tree Spirits’ withered bodies.

The Tree Spirits’ movements were clearly hindered.

Finding themselves temporarily unable to approach the group of humans, they simply stopped in their tracks. A bright light flared from their bodies, and, mimicking Han Ning’s group, they too shot out a dense barrage of purple thorns.

The purple thorns sliced through the air. Even though the students tried to dodge preemptively, two of them were still hit, letting out grunts of pain.

Han Ning glanced over and saw that the bodies of the two students hit by the thorns were already starting to rot. "Quick!" he yelled. "Whose Silver Lotus Wood has Purification? Purify them, now!"

"Use your Silver Lotus Woods to hold back the Tree Spirits as much as possible! We’ll concentrate our fire and take them out one by one!"

Realizing that spreading their fire wasn’t effective, Han Ning roared, aimed his rifle at a relatively large Tree Spirit, and resumed pulling the trigger.

Hearing this, the students who could still fight all turned their guns in sync with Han Ning, concentrating their fire on the targeted Tree Spirit.

The effect of concentrated fire was not to be underestimated. The Tree Spirit was peppered by the dense barrage of bullets, and deep bullet holes instantly appeared on its dark body. A strange, light-purple liquid oozed out as it toppled backward.

But during those few seconds of focused fire, the other Tree Spirits let out furious roars. Their bodies bristled like porcupines as they shot out one poisoned thorn after another.

Another student failed to dodge in time and was struck by a poisoned thorn, collapsing in agony.

There were only a few sparse trees on their side, with each one offering cover for one or two people at most. With every volley of poisoned thorns, it was nearly impossible to dodge with human speed.

Han Ning scanned his surroundings again. On the other side, Teacher Xiuning and his group were also locked in a bitter struggle. The massive Iron-toothed Snake’s body was incredibly hard, capable of withstanding the vast majority of gunfire. It seemed even more difficult to handle than the Tree Spirit Boss.

Coupled with the interference from the swarm of smaller snakes, their situation was even more critical than his own group’s.

Meanwhile, Yin Yi was still locked in a stalemate with the Tree Spirit Boss.

Yin Yi was clearly a bit stronger than the Tree Spirit Boss, but the latter had a bizarre body. It would automatically repair itself whenever it took damage, which made it difficult for Yin Yi’s attacks to inflict any heavy blows.

’There’s no other way... I’ll just have to bite the bullet and take out those annoying Tree Spirits first.’

The woods were too sparse, offering no real cover. Unable to think of a better strategy at the moment, Han Ning could only shout again,

"Keep it up! Everyone, focus your fire with me! Our only chance is to kill these Tree Spirits!"

With that, he held his breath, focused his aim on another Tree Spirit, and pulled the trigger.

RAT-A-TAT... RAT-A-TAT-TAT...

In the quiet forest, the sound of automatic rifle fire rose and fell, one after another.

The roaring muzzle flashes lit up the dark night, and the faint smell of gunpowder permeated the air.

「A few minutes passed in a flash.」

The number of Tree Spirits held back by the Silver Lotus Woods and the hail of bullets dwindled rapidly. Only five remained, still standing their ground and continuously firing poisoned thorns.

On Han Ning’s side, however, the situation was equally grim. Six of the ten people had been hit by poisoned thorns. Thankfully, a Silver Lotus Wood with the awakened Purification Soul Technique had removed the poison, saving their lives. Otherwise, things would have been far worse.

Further in the distance, the gunfire from Teacher Xiuning’s group grew increasingly sparse.

Han Ning was frantic with worry. ’We can’t go on like this,’ he thought.

’I have to see if the Tree Spirits have a crystal inside them, like that white rat did. Maybe Yin Yi can devour it...’

His mind raced. He stood up, surveyed the battlefield, then turned to the few people still struggling to fight back beside him. "You still have your grenades, right? Listen to me. I’m about to charge forward. I need you to throw your grenades with everything you’ve got and give me some covering fire."

"What are you thinking? Have you lost your mind?!" The student next to him paled upon hearing his plan.

"Never mind that. Just do as I say, or we’re all dead."

Without another word, Han Ning loaded his few remaining rifle rounds, tightened his grip on his gun, and charged forward, keeping his body low.

Seeing this, the others behind him didn’t dare hesitate. They immediately unhooked the grenades at their waists and hurled them with all their might toward the Tree Spirits!

BOOM!

Four grenade explosions detonated in quick succession.

Under the cover of the grenade blasts, Han Ning sprinted to the Tree Spirit closest to him.

The Tree Spirit wasn’t quite dead yet. Noticing Han Ning’s approach, it tried to swing its Vine Whip at him.

RAT-A-TAT-TAT!

But Han Ning gave it no chance to attack, aiming directly at its faintly glowing eyes and unloading a burst of rounds.

At such close range, several bullets slammed into its body, and the Tree Spirit went still.

Han Ning glanced at the dense cluster of bullet holes on its body, then hoisted the dead Tree Spirit up. He rolled behind the Silver Lotus Wood Defense Line, pulled out a combat knife he’d scavenged from one of the Shan State militants, aimed for the Tree Spirit’s eye, and slashed with all his might.

He struggled, but managed to slice through the hard bark, revealing a complex, web-like network of interwoven wood fibers within.

Nestled within the crisscrossing wood grain was a bright, emerald-green crystal.

"This is it."

Han Ning’s gaze hardened. He reached in, yanked the crystal free, and roared in Yin Yi’s direction, "Yin Yi!"

"Bo?"

Yin Yi, who had been dodging the Tree Spirit Boss’s attacks, retreated a few steps and turned toward Han Ning.

"Get ready! Catch this and eat it!"

"Bobo!"