Cave Refuge

Compared to Ye Liuyun, who watched the show on the deck with ease, the raiders, although not injured, hid behind cover, where they faced relentless attacks.

Despite the fact that they could easily handle the black snakes one-on-one, continuous waves of assault could eventually lead to carelessness. Should that happen, any inadvertent slip could prove fatal.

From his vantage point atop a building, Dong Tianyu, invisible, had a clear view of the raiders' predicament.

Since the raiders had taken the initiative to shoot at Dong Tianyu, he was naturally not the type to turn the other cheek. He watched as they hid behind the buildings, making the smallest movements to slay the black snakes that attacked them incessantly.

Dong Tianyu didn't take action directly; from his Storage space, he took out several embroidery needles, casually controlled them with his Art of Controlling Objects, and although the attacks were not fatal to the raiders, the needles still caused their movements to distort in pain as they hit their acupoints.

In such a battle, any mistake could lead to unbearable consequences.

As the raiders' movements faltered, the black snakes quickly exploited the newly emerged vulnerabilities. Once the snakes detected a flaw, the outcome was clear.

The snakes swiftly approached and bit the raiders decisively, their fangs seemingly filled with paralyzing venom. Even though the Snake Fangs penetrated the raiders' skin, the victims initially did not realize they had been attacked.

They continued to fight bravely as before. But as more of the black snakes clung onto their bodies, even without pain at the wound sites, the increasing number soon alerted the survivors to their plight.

By then, each of them had at least a dozen black snakes clinging to their bodies, and the accumulating venom, capable of paralyzing their nerves, grew more prevalent in their systems.

Ultimately, the venom spread through their blood, and their movements in fighting off the black snakes slowed before they stiffened like wooden puppets and collapsed to the ground.

Those raiders who had sought refuge alone behind buildings did not last long. With Dong Tianyu's 'assistance,' they were quickly assimilated by the black snakes.

The smarter raiders, upon seeking cover, instinctively moved closer to the raiding group's Awakeners, diving into the domains of those Awakeners upon realizing they were under attack by Dong Tianyu's Flying Needles.

After all, unlike the raiders who had to fight off the black snakes themselves, no snakes could approach the realm released by the Awakeners.

In just a few minutes, all the lone Awakeners scattered in cover had died under Dong Tianyu's care. The once-mighty raiding force that had invaded the camp was now reduced to about ten, the rest had fallen victim to the snakes.

Facing the raiders who had regrouped, their numbers cut to about ten percent of what they had been upon entry, those who were injured received aid from an Awakener with healing abilities, who removed all the Flying Needles Dong Tianyu had embedded in them.

After the healer pulled so many tiny needles from their bodies, the others began to suspect Dong Tianyu's presence.

Ordinarily, they would have taken positions to guard against the direction from which Ye Liuyun had come, leaving their own positions undefended. It was because of this that the sneak attacks they suffered had indeed come from behind them. Although Dong Tianyu's exact location was still unknown, they were certain they were now caught in an ambush.

Dong Tianyu was about to act again when, through his Divine Sense, he noticed one of the Awakeners' ears rhythmically moving.

It is well known that compared to other external organs of the body, it is difficult to control the movement of the ears alone. However, both ears might move unconsciously during certain behaviors.

In other words, when one enters a state of attentive listening, one's ears might move unconsciously as an instinct to better collect sounds.

Moreover, there are many acupoints around and inside the ears, so when one's mindset changes, or when another part of the body is hurt, the ears might also move unconsciously.