After confirming several times that Li Ang was not experiencing any significant physical or mental issues, the task force returned to the temple courtyard. They took turns keeping watch, making do with the cleaned-up bluestone floor for the night, and only began exploring the temple the next morning.
"Is this the place?" Li Ang looked up at the pagoda and muttered to himself.
A beautiful woman's head emerged from his neck and said, "Yes, the cellar beneath the pagoda is a spiritual energy node for the nearby mountains and rivers. Originally, the Mountain Demon took a fancy to this spot. He impersonated Dao Zhi to become the head monk, carved a number of Gathering Aura Formations onto the cellar walls, and placed a pile of aged wines and fine liquors in the center of the main formation.
"These drinks contain spiritual energy; even a legendary drinker who can normally hold their liquor would get drunk upon a single touch. Demons who drink them feel as if they are floating into immortality. Every year around this time, the Mountain Demon comes here to host a banquet for other demons and personally descends to the cellar to fetch the wine. If you want to ambush him, this is the best spot."
Li Ang nodded and walked straight into the temple. Following Chai Cuiqiao's instructions, he used a multifunctional infantry shovel bought on Taobao to pry open a section of floor tiles. After sweeping away the dust, he revealed a hinged wooden trapdoor buried beneath.
Li Ang lifted the trapdoor and, after waiting twenty minutes for ventilation, descended into the cellar with a candle, his teammates following close behind.
The interior of the cellar was quite spacious and not as dirty or messy as one might expect; there were no cobwebs or tiny insects to be seen.
Li Ang used the candle to light the oil lamps on the red brick walls, illuminating the cellar. Some sundries were piled in the corners, and in the very center lay a collection of green ceramic wine jars, all sealed with red paper.
The teammates entered one by one, examining the cellar. Chai Cuiqiao reminded them softly, "Be careful not to wander around and leave footprints. That Mountain Demon is extremely vigilant. If he finds fresh footprints in the dust, he will certainly become alert."
"No problem," Li Ang said. "I have a portable motor. I'll modify it into a reverse vacuum cleaner later and pump dust into the cellar to cover any footprints."
Xing Hechou's eyes twitched. Player inventory slots are limited; who would specifically bring a motor on a mission? And aren't your DIY skills a bit too strong? Making a vacuum cleaner at the drop of a hat...
Li Ang strode confidently towards the center of the cellar, moved the wine jars aside, and revealed strange ink marks beneath them, looking like a heap of runes and talismans.
The others crowded around to get a good look. Xing Hechou quietly took out a professional-looking, bulky Sony digital camera, turned on the flash, and photographed the runes and talismans on the ground.
The ink was ordinary pine-soot ink, and the brush used to draw the Formation was probably just an average wolf-hair brush. The brushwork was loose and lacked vigor, making the runes and talismans resemble a child's scribbles, not at all like the geometrically beautiful Arrays found in Western Alchemy.
However, this crudely made Gathering Aura Formation stirred a tempest in the hearts of the task force members. Through these scribbles, they seemed to glimpse a systematic, complete cultivation system, one that could potentially be analyzed by modern science.
Li Ang carefully avoided the ink marks and stood in the center of the Formation. He held his breath and focused, trying to sense the energy.
Apart from his body temperature imperceptibly increasing by about a quarter of a degree, he felt nothing.
No wonder the Mountain Demon needs to come back once a year to fetch the wine, Li Ang thought. The spiritual energy accumulated by this Formation is like a faucet opened just a crack. It emphasizes a slow and steady flow, offering little real help to cultivation.
Rather disappointed, Li Ang walked out of the Formation and let the others experience it. After they finished taking photos, they moved the wine jars back to their original positions.
"By the way."
He turned to his teammates and said, "Who brought mines? Anti-infantry, anti-tank, fragmentation, steel ball, bounding, directional, pressure-activated, or even mother-son type—all are fine."
As Li Ang asked, Chai Cuiqiao's head had not yet retracted from his neck. In the gloomy, dim cellar, the human and ghost appeared almost conjoined, a rather horrifying sight.
Though Li Ang posed the question to all his teammates, he was counting on a reply from only Xing Hechou. The broad-faced, middle-aged, sturdy man, whose sharp and decisive actions betrayed a military bearing, was highly likely a player with official backing, which meant easy access to modern weaponry.
Xing Hechou fell silent for a moment, then answered, "M18A1s. Ten of them."
Wow, he actually has landmines? The others revealed looks of shock, but Li Ang simply chuckled.
The M18A1, also known as the Claymore mine, is an anti-infantry mine developed by the United States during the Vietnam War era in the 1960s. Its design features a rectangular casing with a convex face and support legs. It can be triggered by a tripwire or controlled by cable. Upon detonation, it propels shrapnel and steel balls in a 60-degree fan-shaped arc, with an optimal kill zone of 50 meters to the front and a maximum lethal range of up to 250 meters.
The lethality of modern weapons has long surpassed the endurance limits of flesh and blood. Anti-infantry mines from the Vietnam era and the latest models show no qualitative difference in killing power.
Moreover, a certain white-furred, red-eyed rabbit always took pleasure in imitating American military hardware. In a scenario like the Killing Fields game, where one had to keep their identity hidden, utilizing American military gear really came with zero psychological pressure.
Li Ang asked, "Can you deploy them?"
"I can."
"Then let's start," Li Ang said, taking out an infantry shovel. He and Xing Hechou began digging up the cellar's floor tiles to lay the mines.
As they laid the mines, Xing Hechou observed carefully and noticed that Li Ang's movements were remarkably skilled and practiced. He knew exactly where to lay bricks for cover and where to place tripwires for maximum lethal efficiency—every detail was spot on.
He looks like someone who buries mines frequently.
Seeming to sense Xing Hechou's gaze, Li Ang turned and said with a smile, "Please don't look at me like I'm some dangerous element. Actually, I'm a law-abiding citizen."
Believe you? My ass! Xing Hechou's expression stiffened. Once we're out of here, I'm definitely going to check the citizen data System. I'll use 'history of professional militia training' as a query to find dangerous elements like Li Ang.
Li Ang sighed as he continued to lay mines, rambling, "Back when I was a mercenary in West Africa, I was on a mission with a teammate nicknamed 'Master.' He buried some mines on a dirt road and then, for some insane reason, stomped on the ground to compact the surface. BOOM! The mine exploded.
"Dust and debris filled the air. I was holding Master, and he told me his butt hurt. I told him, 'Master, your butt's over there on that tree; it shouldn't hurt anymore.'
"I hope these mines will ensure that when the Mountain Demon enters this cellar, its butt ends up hanging on a tree too."
'Master's butt hanging on a tree'? What the hell! Does he think we haven't seen 'Let the Bullets Fly'?!