In other terrains, he could judge a sniper's likely hiding spot by identifying the best vantage points. But that tactic was useless here. The forest had too many sniper positions.
The second method was to locate the enemy by their gunfire—but that didn't work either. The enemy sniper was cautious and hadn't fired a shot.
Li Juxu had no choice but to use the most tedious method: searching inch by inch.
And he didn't bother checking the trees. He was sure the enemy wasn't wearing a dead snake around their neck like he was.
The enemy outnumbered his team. His side had been suppressed at first. But after Li Juxu took out two men in quick succession, the enemy grew wary and their attack slowed, giving his allies a chance to breathe.
The battle was evenly matched for now. But once Li Juxu stopped shooting, the enemy's fire intensified again, bullets pouring into the woods like rain.
Bullets weren't the real fear—grenades were. Thousands of steel balls sprayed in every direction, impossible to guard against. Li Juxu was grateful the tree he'd chosen was thick, but his heart still raced. Steel balls didn't discriminate; they came from any angle.
Luckily, they were too close for flashbangs. Otherwise, his vision advantage would have been gone.
Both sides threw grenades and explosives. The effect was limited, but not nonexistent—men on both sides were wounded or killed.
The enemy sniper was extremely careful and still hadn't fired. He must have realized Li Juxu had spotted him. But the one thing he didn't anticipate was Li Juxu's night eyes.
"There you are!"
A faint smile finally touched Li Juxu's lips. On his second sweep, he noticed a slight shift in a hump on the ground.
Snipers had extraordinary endurance. The better the sniper, the longer they could hold still—even through insect bites, without blinking.
But it was nighttime, and even the most cautious sniper would relax a little. Relieving leg numbness in the dark seemed safe.
Unfortunately for him, he was up against someone who saw differently.
Li Juxu aimed at the enemy sniper but didn't fire immediately. He waited until a grenade hit the ground and exploded.
Then he squeezed the trigger.
The hump on the ground jolted… and went still.
The explosion masked the gunshot. The enemy didn't even realize their sniper was dead.
"Wait—"
Li Juxu suddenly pulled his rifle back, pressing his body tightly against the tree. Cold sweat broke out all over his back.
There wasn't just one enemy sniper.
There was another.
The blast wave from the grenade blew away a layer of leaves, revealing a gun barrel. Li Juxu recognized it at once: a Burster-002B—the same model as his own sniper rifle.
"Careless… I got careless."
Li Juxu took deep breaths to calm himself, warning himself never to let his guard down like this again. He'd been lucky to fire under cover of the explosion. Otherwise, the second sniper would have spotted him for sure.
With that kind of camouflage skill, two seconds was all they needed to lock onto him.
Once his heartbeat steadied, Li Juxu peered out carefully. The barrel was gone—either re-covered with leaves or the sniper had moved.
Snipers had a sharp sense for danger. Li Juxu suspected the enemy had noticed something and relocated.
He didn't risk it, quietly moving to another thick tree.
If a sniper truly wanted to hide and didn't fire, the chance of anyone finding them was tiny—even allies couldn't locate them.
Despite his unobstructed vision, Li Juxu completely lost the sniper's trail.
He refused to give up. He checked every possible hiding spot but found nothing. He frowned, thinking… then his eyes lit up.
He had an idea.
He threw several grenades, which detonated amid the tree canopy.
Boom—
Boom—
Boom—
The mid-air blasts did little damage to the hidden enemies. But that wasn't Li Juxu's target.
He was after the gray-spotted crown spiders.
At night, the spiders came out to hunt, covering branches and leaves. The explosions sent hundreds of them plummeting to the ground like a creepy rain.
The enemies hiding below were doomed.
Screams broke out. They frantically brushed the spiders off their bodies. Several men even stood up from cover, completely exposed.
His allies didn't waste the chance. A burst of gunfire turned them into sieves.
The rest of the enemy was trapped. Stay down, and spiders crawled all over them. Stand up, and they became targets.
The enemy team leader signaled for his sniper to open fire and suppress them—otherwise, the spiders would kill them before the enemy did.
That was exactly what Li Juxu was waiting for.
The moment a muzzle flash cut through the dark, he adjusted his aim, locked onto the sniper as he prepared to move, and pulled the trigger.
Bang—
The bullet struck the sniper square in the chest. The man was thrown back over a meter, twitched twice, and lay still.
With the enemy sniper neutralized, Li Juxu cut loose. From his high vantage point, he picked off enemies one by one as they scrambled to avoid the spiders.
Others fired blindly, relying on luck.
He didn't. He aimed with precision.
Having perfect night vision was a game-changer.
In less than two minutes, eight enemy soldiers fell.
The enemy team leader realized the situation was hopeless and ordered a retreat.
Bang—
Another enemy took a headshot.
Li Juxu dropped down from the tree and gave chase.
Among the fleeing enemies, he saw a woman.
Female hunters weren't unusual—Wang Xiaoxin was one. But he could tell at a glance that this woman was different. Not only was her gear unusually high-end, but her aura stood out.
He had a feeling she was someone important, like Pu Shaoyun.
She moved with cat-like agility, weaving through the woods. Without his enhanced vision, Li Juxu would have lost her in a blink.
She seemed to sense she was being hunted. She actually stopped to set a trap—a landmine.
From halt to reset, the whole thing took only six seconds.
Li Juxu was impressed. He'd set mines before; it took him two and a half minutes.
No comparison.
A giant tree nearly four meters in diameter blocked her path. Thorns blocked the left. She had to turn right.
At that moment, a bullet grazed the tip of her nose and embedded itself in the trunk.
"I surrender!"
She acted decisively, immediately raising her hands. Her voice was pleasant.
Li Juxu halted, his finger still on the trigger.