The Little Demonic Cultivator in the Courtyard: Borrowing 100,000 Japanese Pirates to Heal

As his consciousness left his body, Xu Jiande could sense waves of energy surging from the city, like boiling water in a pot.

He heard people cursing in the headquarters, the ticking of a radio, and the sound of boots running in and out. That place was at least two and a half kilometers away from him. The wind was blowing against his face as he half-squatted behind the cannon and shoved the first shell in.

boom.

The shell left the barrel like an enraged beast. The ground trembled, and the broken bricks beneath his feet bounced up and struck the gun carriage.

He stood up, using his senses to follow the trajectory of the shell.

After a pause, a loud explosion occurred to the south.

The fire was small; it had missed its mark and landed in a row of gray buildings to the east of the headquarters. Half of the building collapsed, and bricks flew several dozen feet away.

The second shot, the third shot.

Shells flew out one after another, and the flames in the south grew denser.

The sounds of whistles, gunfire, and shouts from the command post were all mixed together and could be heard from a great distance.

Xu Jiande fired the remaining rounds. When the last shot came out, a cloud of white smoke billowed from the muzzle, and the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder. He saw a huge cloud of black smoke rise from the southwest of Jingzhou, shrouding half the street.

After the cannon fire subsided, the river breeze dispersed the smoke. Xu Jiande packed up the cannon carriage, propped the cannon upright behind the broken wall, covered it with the tattered canvas, and used a few broken bricks to weigh down the corners.

He clapped his hands, as if he had just finished an ordinary task.

"Not bad," he said in a low voice, then turned and descended the hill, heading south of the city.

It wasn't dark yet. The wind blowing from the north already carried the smell of burning from the headquarters.

Xu Jiande held the knife tightly; what had just been an appetizer was now a stir-fry.

A while later, Xu Jiande walked westward along a dirt road riddled with craters from the bombing.

The cannon fire stopped, but the smoke behind them hadn't yet dissipated. The firelight from the direction of the southern command post was reflected on the clouds, like a piece of red-hot iron stuck to a gray cloth.

He walked quickly, but with light steps, the pebbles on the road crunching under his shoes with a very soft rustling sound.

The headquarters was hit by artillery fire; the Japanese soldiers are bound to be thrown into chaos.

If chaos ensues, the outer outposts will be reclaimed.

This was exactly what Xu Jiande was waiting for. Instead of chasing the stragglers who were running towards the headquarters, he circled around to their rear and cut off their escape route.

He first arrived at the intersection in the north of the city that was closest to the headquarters.

He had passed by this place twice during the day. In the northeast corner was a burnt-down cloth shop, in the southwest corner was a half-arched brick wall, and beyond that was a row of two-story old-style wooden buildings.

At this point, the floorboards had all collapsed, leaving only a few charred beams leaning precariously by the roadside.

Xu Jiande took a Type 96 light machine gun wrapped in tarpaulin, which he had taken along with the cannon earlier.

After all, cannons for long-range attacks and machine guns are both invincible weapons of mass destruction.

He carried the machine gun out, rested the butt against his shoulder, and stood there without finding a place to prop it up, half of his body hidden in the shadow of the cloth shop's doorway.

This gun has a large recoil, so ordinary people have to lie prone to fire it, or use a tripod.

Xu Jiande didn't need it. After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, his back and arms were as strong as iron. With the butt of the gun against his shoulder, even the biggest recoil felt like someone was gently pushing him.

Before long, footsteps came from the north.

A squadron of over a hundred men retreated south along the main road from the north of the city.

In front were two scouts, followed by several rows of infantry, and then several men riding motorcycles.

They marched quickly, their formation still fairly orderly, but they lacked their usual arrogance. Each one hunched their shoulders, rifles clutched in their hands, eyes darting around nervously. Clearly, the artillery barrage from the direction of headquarters had terrified them.

Xu Jiande did not fire immediately.

Once all those people had entered the intersection, and the lead soldier had walked about twenty paces diagonally opposite him, he then extended the muzzle of his gun from the shadows.

A shot rang out.

The Type 96 light machine gun spewed out a string of red flames from its muzzle, and the bullets swept diagonally across the street like whips being flung out.

Xu Jiande didn't aim; he just relied on his senses to direct the gun towards the crowd.

The first row of soldiers fell first, like felled wheat, lying haphazardly in the middle of the road.

Before the people behind could react, the bullets had already caught up with them. Several Japanese soldiers' helmets were blown off, bounced on the road, and rolled into the drainage ditch.

The entire team seemed to have been kicked in the lower back, and they exploded with a bang.

Some people ran towards the wall, some lunged towards the roadside, and some didn't run at all, but fell straight down without even crying out.

Xu Jiande walked out of the doorway carrying a machine gun, firing as he went.

The gun bounced lightly in his hand, and spent cartridges clattered out of the ejection port, landing on the ground and rolling into the blood.

He didn't blink, and his steps were slow, as if he were sowing seeds in the field, sweeping across row by row.

After finishing one ammunition belt, he crouched down to reload. Taking advantage of this opening, a Japanese soldier emerged from behind the wall, raised his gun, and fired a shot at him.

The bullet hit Xu Jiande half an inch from his feet, sending a piece of broken brick bouncing up and grazing his trouser leg.

Xu Jiande didn't move. He changed the magazine, stood up, and fired a burst of bullets in the direction the man was standing.

The Japanese soldier was hit and slammed against the wall. His body bounced backward and slid down, leaving a wide and long bloodstain on the wall.

The gunshots and screams even heated up the north wind.

Xu Jiande emptied his second ammunition belt, put the machine gun on the ground, and took a rifle off his shoulder.

The remaining Japanese soldiers dared not run on the streets anymore and all disappeared into the alleys and dilapidated houses on both sides.

Xu Jiande didn't search every house. He walked to the roadside, picked up the Japanese grenade launcher from the ground, and took out a few grenades from an ammunition box that had been blown open. He aimed at the places where people were still breathing and fired them one by one.

Boom! A wall collapsed, revealing two Japanese soldiers hiding behind it.

Boom! The roof of a tiled house was blown off, and a few muffled shouts came from inside before silence fell. Xu Jiande threw away the grenade launcher, picked up his knife, and walked deeper into the alley.

The senses after foundation building are like an extremely fine net.

He stood at the alley entrance, and he knew in his heart where everyone was within a hundred paces, how many people were there, how far away they were from him, and how fast or slow they were breathing.

They could clearly distinguish who was trembling, who was pulling the bolt, and who was playing dead.

Xu Jiande killed the one who was pretending to be dead by the wall first.

The man lay face down in the rubble, his wrist still twitching slightly. Xu Jiande walked over, nudged his shoulder with the tip of his shoe, and plunged the knife into the back of his neck. When he pulled it out, the man's body was still twitching, like a frog pinned to the ground.

The Japanese soldiers in the alley started shooting at him.

Bullets flew from several directions, some hitting the wall, others whizzing past him.

Xu Jiande quickly dodged. He only knew where the bullets would hit when they flew in, and dodged in advance.

This feeling is unbeatable.

This is the perception of a Foundation Establishment expert.

Furthermore, even if a bullet occasionally hits him, it's as if something gently deflects it on the surface of his skin, like being poked by a chopstick, and then bounces away.

He hit the target but couldn't make the shot.

After he established his foundation, demonic energy would automatically gather around him, as if he were wrapped in a very thin layer of leather armor.

This layer of leather armor can't stop cannons or withstand too many bullets, but it can't hurt him with sporadic, long-range rifle bullets like these.