The sound was not that of gunfire, but of metal colliding.
The stone had triggered a mechanism, and a bear trap half the length of Lin Yuan sprang out, snapping at the air.
Looking at the ridiculously oversized bear trap, Lin Yuan was speechless. If he had been caught, he would have been cut in half.
Was such a large bear trap meant for elephants? Damn it, they were insane!
After grumbling, he was about to look for another way around when he saw a moving light behind the bushes not far away.
Someone was coming!
Without a second word, Lin Yuan climbed a tree and aimed his pistol downwards.
The visibility in the dark forest was poor, and Lin Yuan's helmet did not yet have night vision capabilities. He could only rely on sound and the distant lights of the manor to shoot.
In less than two minutes, there was movement below the tree, and two dark figures rushed over with flashlights to check the situation.
"Sears, did those damn animals trigger the trap again?"
"How should I know? As long as it's not a monster from the mine, it's fine."
These words made them sound like normal people.
"Alright, let's go back quickly. The Holy Mother is still dining. We'll go back and guard our own posts."
Lin Yuan: "..."
As expected, there wasn't a single normal person here.
Confirming they were members of the Eternal Life Cult, Lin Yuan's gaze grew colder.
However, he didn't make a move immediately.
As long as they didn't discover his footprints, there was no need to act rashly. Two minutes had passed, and snow had fallen heavily. In an open area, footprints would have been gone by now, but this was a forest, and the snow didn't fall that quickly.
Wait, there was a way!
Just as the two figures below got closer to the trail he left.
Lin Yuan grabbed the tree trunk and shook it gently.
A large patch of snow fell from the trunk, hitting the trunk below and causing a chain reaction.
The two below were covered in snow before they even got close.
"Oh, shit! What bad luck!"
The two didn't suspect anyone was above them at all. Heavy snow naturally falling was a normal occurrence.
Only after the flashlight beams disappeared from sight did Lin Yuan climb down from the tree.
He had been wondering which direction to go to avoid traps, but now he didn't need to consider it. These two had already pointed him in the right direction.
Following their footprints, Lin Yuan arrived near a large building. The building somewhat resembled old dormitory buildings from the past. It had four floors, with thirteen rooms on each floor. Candles were lit in every room, and the area was enclosed by iron fences. In the yard, there were some withered flowers and plants.
From the outside, the flickering candlelight was clearly visible.
He was temporarily unclear about the purpose of this place and didn't act rashly. Lin Yuan took out his binoculars and observed carefully.
"I can't see anything clearly."
The large temperature difference between the inside and outside of the building caused water droplets on all the windows, completely obstructing the view.
However, this was the only way to enter the manor from all directions. The forest was full of bear traps and various other traps, and taking the forest route would waste a lot of time.
He had to make a dash for it.
Lin Yuan first used his old method, creating some noise in another direction, and then circled around this area from another direction.
But to his surprise, the commotion didn't attract the attention of anyone inside the house.
It remained eerily quiet.
Helpless, Lin Yuan had to brace himself and charge. As he approached the house, an inexplicable pressure emanated from within. It was aimless, like a domain that existed there.
There must be something terrifying inside!
Without daring to stop, Lin Yuan broke into a run. However, even by sticking to the courtyard wall, no one or anything rushed out.
Did I... infiltrate successfully?
After much thought, Lin Yuan couldn't come up with any other reason and could only attribute it to his successful infiltration without attracting anyone's attention.
The gate of this courtyard faced a small path with very little snow. From here, he had officially entered the manor's territory.
"It's warmer inside the manor than outside, and there's not much snow either. Strange," Lin Yuan felt this the moment he stepped onto the path.
It was as if an invisible, intangible barrier enveloped everything within the manor.
The church on the mountainside still shone with bright, warm light. Under the somewhat blood-red sky, it appeared holy and out of place.
"Almost there, almost there."
The further he walked, the more twisted the shapes of the trees became, and the more alluring the color of their leaves. Each tree looked as if it had been coated with poison brewed by the main villain in a dark fairy tale.
The snow gradually lessened, and it should stop in less than half an hour.
After walking a short distance, he reached a fork in the road.
"Is this... a signpost?"
At the fork of the three roads, there was a signpost.
The sign on the path Lin Yuan was on read: Prayer Court.
The sign pointing to the left road read: Garden.
The sign pointing to the right road read: Manor Entrance.
So, what he had just passed was the Prayer Court? No wonder they couldn't detect Lin Yuan. It seemed they were all immersed in sincere prayer~
But the Lord God certainly didn't see their sincerity, because they didn't know what kind of monster they were praying to.
He definitely couldn't go towards the Manor Entrance. The buildings there were all lit up and densely packed, making it easy to be spotted. The Garden looked more normal.
The road to the Garden was long, with dark buildings along the sides that looked like power substations and fire stations, perhaps even public restrooms.
However, Lin Yuan had no desire to explore. He just wanted to reach the church quickly.
The path leading to the Garden became increasingly sinister. It wasn't the atmosphere, but the plants overhead that became denser, blocking out all the faint light of the manor.
Helpless, Lin Yuan had to turn on his flashlight. After all, the light from outside couldn't get in, and the light from inside couldn't get out.
Upon reaching the entrance to the Garden, the gate was tightly shut, and hushed voices could be heard from inside.
"You keep watching these flowers inside, I'll go check other places."
Lin Yuan, hiding at the entrance, knew immediately that this was bad. He quickly hid behind the door. As soon as the person inside opened the door to come out, he would be blocked by the door.
"Creak."
The iron gate was pushed open from the inside.
A woman in a maid's uniform walked out. Lin Yuan watched her prepare to leave, and suddenly the sound of her high heels stopped.
"The smell of a human?"
She looked around but found nothing.
"Creak."
The sound of the gate suddenly came from behind him.
"Who?!"
She spun around sharply, intending to see what it was, but was met with a bullet.
Instantly, a large hole opened in the back of her head, and she fell straight down.
The black threads on her body were preparing to repair the wound, but Lin Yuan didn't give them a chance. He drew the stone knife from behind him and chopped off her head.
He then made a vertical cut and inserted two arrows.
As expected, these black threads dared not touch the arrows. Without the ability to re-stitch themselves, the bodily functions quickly ceased. After struggling for a while, the black threads, along with the flesh and blood, dissolved into a pool of black water.
Effective.
"Lady Lena? Aren't you leaving yet? I heard your voice, you..."
The remaining person in the garden stood at the doorway, covering her mouth and looking at the large pool of filth on the ground, her scream about to erupt from her throat!
"Bang!"
Lin Yuan silenced the scream with a gunshot, then cleanly chopped off the head again. Looking at the two pools of black water on the ground.
He let out a heavy sigh.
What happened to the successful infiltration?!
Damn it!