Chapter 352: Everything Gone, Everything Vanished
Wang An never imagined that for the mere task of wiping out a few bandits, they would actually bring in artillery.
Wasn't this situation a bit too exaggerated?
Just then, Wu Dong said to Wang An boastfully
"How about it, Xiao An? Does that sound satisfying?"
Wang An nodded and asked, "Was the idea to use cannons yours?"
Wu Dong scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Not exactly. Your eldest sister came up with it."
It had to be said that this method of fighting was pure crushing dominance. After a barrage of shells, Wang An didn't know if anything could possibly be left in the forbidden area.
But it wasn't just Wang An's group of three; even all the public security officers and soldiers present didn't even need to raise their rifles.
As for Wang An, he had been so preoccupied thinking about the Oroqen horses that he hadn't even taken the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle off his back.
Moreover, for the vast majority of people, the bullets hadn't even been chambered yet.
After observing the surroundings, Wang An found that Wu Dong and the others, including Zhang Shuya and Sun Nian, were the most shrewd; aside from the pistols in their holsters, they hadn't even picked up their rifles.
As for Mu Xueli and Wang Li, the excitement on their faces upon hearing the cannon fire instantly turned into blank stares.
Then, the two of them subconsciously looked at the Type 56s in their hands, silently ejected the chambered rounds, and simultaneously slung the rifles back onto their shoulders.
When everyone arrived inside the forbidden area, Wang An discovered that the dugouts, shacks, and brushwood huts had all vanished.
Or rather, every building previously in the forbidden area was now nothing but fragments.
And everyone who had been staying inside was also completely gone.
Or more accurately, not only were the people gone, but even "complete" people were gone.
Hands, arms, feet, thighs, heads—they were truly everywhere.
To be fair, there were quite a few half-bodies left that weren't completely shredded.
Furthermore, a significant number of white bones had been blasted out of the ground.
It had to be said that the power of artillery shells was simply staggering; they had blasted several large craters right into the frozen soil of this freezing winter.
To be honest, in all his years, including both his past and present lives, Wang An had never seen such a sight, nor had he ever felt as nauseated as he did now.
Thus, while many people were already vomiting their guts out, Wang An couldn't hold it back either.
Most importantly, this was just too fragmented!
Anyone standing there would have reached their limit.
In China, regardless of whether a person was good or bad in life, once they died, the custom was to be buried for peace.
Whether they were actually "at peace" was anyone's guess, but the primary purpose of burial was actually to prevent plagues.
From ancient times to the present, the number of people who died from war was never the highest.
Plagues and diseases were.
Although it was so cold in winter that a plague was unlikely, they still had to be buried regardless.
This was a manifestation of the concepts "debts are cleared upon death" and "respect for the deceased."
Consequently, once everyone who needed to vomit had finished, they began to collect the shredded meat.
Then, as they cleaned up, everyone started vomiting again.
Mainly because "vomiting" is contagious; people who had just adapted would inevitably start gagging again upon seeing someone else vomit.
Wang An noticed that, excluding himself, Mu Xueli, and Wang Li, Wu Dong and Zhang Shuya had brought about 80 people.
And almost every single person, including the three of them, had fucking vomited!
Everywhere he looked, almost everyone was taking turns gagging.
The scene was truly shocking, a sight practically unprecedented in history.
Once everything was cleaned up, the large craters blasted by the shells were mostly filled in.
As they walked out of the forbidden area, Wang An looked back at the entire site and suddenly felt that the layout of the forbidden area seemed to form some kind of pattern.
However, because he had vomited so many times, Wang An's head was somewhat muddled.
As a result, he couldn't remember what the pattern was or where he had seen it.
After this ordeal, almost everyone's face was a sickly shade of green—the kind of green found in a bear's gall bladder.
Until they walked out of the forbidden area, no one felt like speaking. Aside from the "crunch crunch" of shoes on the snow, the entire column was silent.
Returning to the large ditch by Wild Boar Ridge, everyone still lacked the desire to talk. Wang An waved goodbye to Wu Dong, Zhang Shuya, and the others, and they all drove their sleds away in their respective directions.
On the way, Mu Xueli could no longer hold back and asked
"Brother-in-law, why do you think they didn't choose to surrender?"
Wang An looked ahead of the sled and said expressionlessly
"Because surrendering would have been death anyway. Our China has zero tolerance for such people."
Hearing this, Mu Xueli fell into deep thought, while Wang Li remained silent.
Wang An also lost the mood for chatting or bragging.
Thus, the entire trip on the sled was silent; this was the first time the three of them had sat on the sled without a single word spoken.
Many people might not know how such a scene ravages the eyes and stimulates the psyche.
If one were to describe that scene as a "living hell," it would not be an exaggeration.
Fortunately, all three of Wang An's group had killed people before, and as mountain hunters, their mental fortitude was quite resilient.
If someone with poor psychological stability had seen that scene, it would have been entirely possible for them to be scared out of their minds.
Racing back, by the time the three returned home, it was nearly 3 PM.
Their complexions were naturally noticed by their family.
Liu Guilan asked urgently
"Xiao An, what happened to you three? Why do your faces look so wrong? Did something happen?"
Wang An glanced at his mother, thought for a moment, and answered
"The bandits have been wiped out. Almost all of them are dead."
Hearing this, Wang Dazhu asked in confusion, "Isn't that a good thing? Why do you all look like this?"
Before Wang An could answer, Wang Li, who had recovered slightly, said
"Uncle, they used cannons to wipe them out. The scene was miserable... just hands and feet and things like that..."
Seeing that Mu Xueqing's expression was becoming uneasy, Wang An nudged Wang Li and gave him a glare.
Seeing Wang An's unfriendly expression, Wang Li finally suppressed the urge to continue.
After Mu Xueli and Wang Li left, Wang An concernedly asked Mu Xueqing if she felt unwell. After receiving a negative answer, Wang An ran to the west room and fell asleep.
Anyone who has experienced a massive shock will feel drowsy.
Therefore, Wang An not only skipped lunch, but he didn't even eat dinner.
Instead, he slept straight through until the next morning.