The sound of water splashing was the only thing the three-person team could hear, along with the distant wind.
Soon, they successfully set foot on the damp beach.
Here, they found many traces of human activity, including ashes burned to exhaustion, tree branches scattered on the sand, animal bones, and footprints left by bare feet walking...
In the imagery from the infrared night vision goggles, the entire world appeared gray and tinged with green light.
With the lower halves of their bodies soaked by seawater, the three individuals landing on the island all appeared very tense.
Especially Chen Zhou.
When he was initially bound hand and foot and thrown into a canoe, he never dread he would survive the cannibalistic sacrifice.
Even more unimaginable was that one day he would return to this island, filled with loathing and fear.
According to the "Celestial God," this was his holand.
People should have a sense of nostalgia for their holand.
But for Chen Zhou, nothing on this island was worth reminiscing about. If there was a reason to return, it could only be for revenge—
To kill those who slaughtered their tribe and ate his parents; it was the only thing he wanted to do.
...
Observing the woodland near the shore, unable to spot any native sentries among the sparse trees, Chen Zhou leaned close to Kulu, whispering to ask for the direction to his ho.
Kulu had lived on this island for over twenty years, and even after being away for more than a year, he could still clearly discern the direction of his ho upon returning to his familiar place.
After a quick glance around to confirm the direction, he held a recurve bow in one hand and an arrow in the other, leading Chen Zhou and Kosu up towards higher ground on the beach.
On the night of July 28, a crescent moon hung in the sky.
The stars and moonlight were far from illuminating the island.
In the gray-green world, around the beaten paths made by footsteps on the island, broken trees could be seen everywhere.
At a slightly raised slope in the distance, Kulu glimpsed a crude hut.
The ordinary huts of the native tribe were all the sa, built with several not-too-thick tree branches forming a triangular fra, covered with a layer of leaves to make a house.
Inside, there were no tables or chairs, no beds; if it was built small, one couldn’t stand up straight inside.
Such simple houses offered so protection from the sun in the dry season, but during the rainy season, when it rained outside, it also rained inside.
However, in the rainy season, outdoor work was almost impossible to conduct, and the natives could only stay indoors to stave off hunger and add more leaves to the fras.
Even though no amount of leaves could stop the rain from seeping into the house, it was better than nothing.
...
The small hut on the slope was built by Kulu himself, and not far from it was his father’s dwelling.
But his father had passed away many years ago, and he rely inherited the spot his father left behind—
On this island, it was the least valuable asset, not even as aningful as a freshly caught fish.
Gazing from afar at the hut and thinking of his spouse and children, Kulu gripped the recurve bow tightly, feeling his heartbeat quicken.
Trying to maintain minimal movent without making too much noise, Kulu instinctively quickened his pace.
He was yearning to reach the hut and see his family, sothing he missed day and night on the island.
...
Noticing Kulu’s abnormal state, Chen Zhou held his shoulder, signaling him to slow down.
Then Chen Zhou took Kulu’s place, leading the two directly to the hut.
During their advance, Chen Zhou frequently turned his head to observe the left and right sides, fearing the natives might discover their tracks.
Even though he wanted to go on a killing spree, the action plan continually reminded him of the mission upon landing on the island.
If the first action was completed silently, subsequent actions would proceed smoothly.
If they fired a gun during this operation, causing noise, regardless of achieving their goal, covertly capturing natives on the island in the future would beco significantly more difficult.
Although Chen Zhou sotis appeared reckless, it didn’t an he lacked a strategic perspective.
He clearly understood the importance of the "Celestial God’s" mission over personal slaughtering pleasure.
...
The natives had no awareness of guarding against night raids.
On this tranquil night, apart from soone waking up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, there was no other way to discover the three-person team.
It didn’t take long for Chen Zhou, holding a gun, to stealthily arrive beside the hut.
Kulu, agitated and eager to rush inside, was tugged by Chen Zhou by his clothes.
Just as he was about to shake off Chen Zhou’s hand, he recalled the fierce gaze of this brutal enforcer obscured by the night vision goggles and instinctively shrank back, obediently retreating behind.
Gesturing for silence, Chen Zhou slung the rifle on his back and silently drew out a knife.
Kulu thought he was going to kill his wife and children, his face filled with fear, yet he dared not stop him.
When urgent yet unable to move, one’s ability to capture information greatly increases, and only then did the emotionally overwheld Kulu notice the snores coming from inside the hut.
And the snores were not sothing a woman or child could emit.
...
Among the native tribe, orphans whose parents died were usually raised by the entire tribe.
Of course, saying they were raised, those children without parents or guardians, if not cared for by a priest or valued by the leader, nor had a reliable uncle to depend on, their best outco was becoming lower-class, with a greater possibility of dying young.
Orphans with a deceased father and only a mother had more options.
If the mother was willing to beco one of the leader’s won, or take up heavy labor usually done by n, the child could grow up in a slightly more stable environnt.
These children were extrely lucky because almost no mother was willing to make such a sacrifice.
In this savage and backward place, the glory of motherhood had long since dimd, procreation only serving the purpose of survival and labor force, and nothing more.
In most cases, the children’s mothers would find another man.
Adult male labor was a precious resource within the tribe. With it, the family had a pillar, reducing much of their burdens of life.
However, for the child’s mother, it was a thod to alleviate burdens, but for the child, life was not so good.
Kulu grew up in the tribe, having seen too many such children starved to death, even taken and secretly eaten by the natives who were themselves starving with glowing green eyes.
Now that a new man lived in his small hut, the circumstances for his children were likely not very optimistic.
...
Anger surged within Kulu, and he clenched the arrow shaft, wanting nothing more than to rush imdiately into the hut and inquire about his child’s whereabouts.
Before he could draw the bow and notch an arrow, Chen Zhou acted ahead of him, starting his move with the drawn knife.
Stepping forward decisively, bending slightly, Chen Zhou’s body entered the hut.
With the help of the night vision goggles, he saw a pair of naked natives lying on a flattened bed of leaves.
The two were sleeping in each other’s arms, and the cramped interior of the hut showed no sign of a third person.
Perhaps exhausted from working all day, even with soone breaking into the hut, their sleep was not disturbed.
The hut could only accommodate himself, yet there were two natives to subdue, and with the urgency of the situation, Chen Zhou quickly devised a suitable thod in less than a second.
Taking another step forward, his sturdy military boot pressed directly onto the man’s chest, while the blade of the long saber, gleaming with a cold light, hovered at the woman’s throat.
...
Since being rescued by Chen Zhou, he had spent nearly two years recuperating his physique.
Once a teenager with ribs countable with his shirt off, he had now transford into a physically robust warrior.
The native man inside the hut, although older than Chen Zhou and theoretically at the peak of human physical condition, spent his days working, rarely filled his stomach at night, and his naked body revealed bones everywhere he looked, barely completing the food-gathering tasks ordered by the leader during the day, with no ti for exercise.
Add to that the consumption of undercooked food leading to parasites, sapping already scant nutrition.
As such, there existed a significant disparity in strength between him and Chen Zhou.
Awoken suddenly in his sleep by soone stepping on him, he found it hard to breathe, his chest feeling as if pressed by a giant stone, leaving him incapacitated.
In the pitch-dark hut, he could only vaguely see a towering figure staring down at him.
The silhouette, with contours not akin to a human, bore a pair of peculiar protruding eyes on its head, watching him fervently, akin to the minions of a demon from the priest’s mythic tales.
On the other side, the groggy woman just tried to rise, only to brush against the blade of the long saber.
Chen Zhou slightly nudged the blade forward, piercing the woman’s skin, and the sting made her instinctively lie back down.
In the darkness, the two heard familiar native speech.
"Keep quiet, make a sound and die."
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