It was no wonder they were ruthless. If not for Gu Qingcheng's decisiveness and their possession of the 'Great Strength Pill' as a cheat, the three of them would have been in grave danger tonight.
Given the ferocity of these three, once inside, burning, killing, and looting would have been minor matters. What would have happened to the mother and daughter? One could imagine with a little thought.
They shoveled the bloodstains by the entrance to the side and covered them with another layer of snow. Regardless, as the snow thickened, it would freeze over the original bloodstains.
After dealing with the aftermath, the three of them returned indoors.
"I originally thought this place was quite safe. Now it seems that as the temperature rises, the disaster victims from the mountains will recover and start eyeing the surrounding areas," Hu Lanfang analyzed.
"Then we need to increase our vigilance." Gu Qingcheng switched on the electric fence.
Previously, due to the cold weather, no one could ascend the mountain, so to save electricity, the electric fence switch had not been turned on. Turning it on would at least serve as an alarm.
Entering the side room, Gu Qingcheng took off her coat and stepped into the Mountain Cat Supermarket, instinctively searching for suitable equipment. She had a feeling in her mind but couldn't quite articulate what she needed.
Finally, in the sports equipment section, she spotted a suitable item. Her eyes lit up, and she purchased it.
"Mom, we're still missing this," Gu Qingcheng said. Afterward, she walked out of the house and released the purchased item. It was an umpire's stand, the kind officials sit on at the finish line during cold weather, generally used to measure the speed of runners.
The umpire's stand was over three meters tall, divided into five tiers that could be climbed step by step, with a small platform at the very top.
"Oh, this is a ready-made watchtower!" Hu Lanfang exclaimed approvingly.
Seeing that the platform at the top was exposed to the wind on all sides and not very safe, Gu Qingcheng nailed thick wooden boards along the frame, making it suitable for observation, a shooting platform, and ensuring her own safety.
A single watchtower wouldn't suffice. Gu Qingcheng bought another umpire's stand. The two umpire's stands, now watchtowers, were placed on either side of the main gate, two meters away from the courtyard wall to prevent them from being exploited by the enemy. The ladders were much taller than the courtyard wall, allowing a clear view of the outdoors from the top of the ladders.
Mi Guo watched with excitement, climbing onto the watchtower, looking around, and familiarizing herself with the environment.
After completing these tasks, Gu Qingcheng felt slightly relieved.
"Sister, what if more bad guys come?" Mi Guo asked, a little nervous as this was her first time experiencing such a situation.
Gu Qingcheng replied, "If the enemy does not invade us, we will not invade the enemy. If the enemy invades us, we will definitely invade the enemy. This is a battle strategy passed down by our ancestors."
The ancestors were truly remarkable; a few words pointed the way for her. Indeed, if enemies intended to invade, one couldn't just surrender. Tonight, if they hadn't fought back successfully and had been invaded by those bad guys, what a terrible fate would have befallen their family of three? Mi Guo knew this with a little thought.
"Whose ancestors are these?" Mi Guo asked curiously.
"This ancestor was the most formidable in warfare," Gu Qingcheng chuckled and told Mi Guo a series of short war stories about the Great Ancestor, which left Mi Guo astounded and full of admiration.
She never expected that the conflict would come so suddenly. The next morning, while they were still sleeping, they suddenly heard a piercing scream from outside. Gu Qingcheng leaped up, put on her cotton jacket, and slipped on her snow boots before running out, grabbing a bow and arrows from the storage cabinet as she ran. All these actions were performed in one fluid motion, like flowing water. Her constant and unremitting training had honed her skills to such a degree.
It wasn't just Gu Qingcheng; Mi Guo and Hu Lanfang also woke up. Although their movements were a little slower than Qingcheng's, they quickly donned their clothes and ran outside. In the extreme cold weather, without wearing a coat, they couldn't last more than a minute outdoors.
As Gu Qingcheng appeared in the courtyard, she saw a person hanging on the courtyard wall, touching the electric fence. He was still trembling and wailing as he was being electrocuted. It turned out to be a bandit who had tried to sneak in early that morning. In reality, the voltage of the electric fence on the wall was insufficient to kill, but it would cause severe pain, incapacitating the person.
Gu Qingcheng ignored him and nimbly climbed onto the watchtower prepared yesterday. The scene outside the courtyard wall was immediately clear. To her dismay, there were seven bandits this time, making a total of eight including the one on the electric fence. The seven outside were armed with axes, knives, and other weapons.
Hu Lanfang and Mi Guo also climbed onto another watchtower. Upon seeing the situation outside, they couldn't help but feel a little tense.
"You bitches inside, let our brother down quickly! What witchcraft did you use?" a bearded bandit snarled, standing outside the courtyard.
"Tsk, it's just two women and a child. What's there to fear? Let's kick down the door and take over this house! Don't waste time talking to them!"
"Yeah, boss. Such a well-kept house is much better than our Black Wind Stronghold! And there are two beautiful women, hehe!" a bandit said crudely.
Family was Gu Qingcheng's bottom line. Hearing their lewd remarks and imagining their depraved thoughts, her eyes turned cold. Without a word, she drew her bow, nocked an arrow, and with lightning speed, fired at the bandit who had spoken profanely. Her movements were incredibly swift. She drew and fired three arrows in quick succession, hitting three people. One was directly in the throat, another in the chest, and the third had their temple pierced. The three fell to the ground within two seconds of each other, still not understanding how they had been killed.
Mi Guo was also unwilling to be outdone. She drew her bow and fired arrows at anyone within her line of sight. One arrow struck the belly of a bandit outside the courtyard, and another hit the arm of a bandit swinging a saber. With one person already incapacitated on the electric fence, their group had instantly lost five men. This family was too formidable.
The remaining bandits were terrified. They had never expected that the weak group they underestimated possessed such accurate archery skills. The remaining three quickly retreated to the blind spot of fire under the courtyard wall to take cover.
A stalemate ensued for a while. Seeing the man on the electric fence still groaning in pain, Gu Qingcheng signaled to Mi Guo. Mi Guo understood, steadied her breath, drew her bow, and fired. The arrow struck the man's open mouth, piercing through his brain. He had just regained consciousness and cried out a few times, but now he was completely silent. He fell backward with a thud, landing right in front of his companions.
The remaining three were stunned. Looking at the gruesome state of their comrade, one of them couldn't help but tremble.
"Second brother, why is your pant leg wet? And there's a smell?"
"So girly! You even peed your pants!" the leader exclaimed, covering his nose. The second brother then felt a chill in his nether regions. The temperature was so low that even hot water would instantly freeze. Carrying a lump of ice in his crotch was an extremely uncomfortable sensation.