Chapter 21: Arrow
“Cousin Sister Qinghe!”
“They’re coming!”
The sky gradually darkened, and night fell. The posthouse was filled with suffocating tension and gloom. The elderly man took the young child and hid in the cellar. Pei Feng and Pei Xuan were unwilling to go to the cellar and insisted on staying by Pei Qinghe’s side.
To grow, one must be tempered; indeed, one should see some blood.
Pei Qinghe agreed and instructed the two to follow her and not run around. Pei Feng and Pei Xuan nodded together, sticking firmly behind their cousin sister like pendants.
Pei Yan was young and audacious. Knowing there would be a bloody battle tonight, she felt no fear at all and was instead unusually excited and exhilarated. She climbed onto the wall, staring at the surroundings, and soon turned her head to give a warning.
Pei Qinghe nodded slightly and made a hand gesture.
Pei Yan immediately fell silent.
Pei Yun was also on the wall. She bent down, gripping the bow and arrow tightly, her heart racing, her palms sweating profusely.
She had indeed practiced martial arts since young, with exceptional skills and precise archery. However, she had previously only drawn the bow to shoot birds or prey, never people.
There were no shortage of Pei Clan women skilled in archery; selecting twenty or thirty posed no problem. However, not even every big soldier under Captain Sun had a bow and arrow. The several Eastern Palace Guards had brought quite a few weapons and shared out two bows and arrows and several long sabers.
The worn-out weapons that Pei Qinghe had exchanged from the big soldiers were put to use tonight. In total, three bows and arrows, six long sabers, plus two spears and one sword.
Pei Qinghe took a bow and arrow and a long saber, distributing the remaining weapons to those with the best skills and greatest courage.
The other Pei Clan women, without handy weapons, each gripped the wooden sticks in their hands tightly. When facing the enemy head-on, they would at least have some fighting strength.
Pei Qinghe’s pre-battle mobilization was very simple—just one sentence.
If you want to live, don’t fear death.
Mao Hongling gripped the spear, clenching her teeth, her beautiful face unusually tense.
She did not want to die.
Little Doggy had lost his father, leaving only her as his mother. She had to fight to the death; she had to survive. For her son, she must live on.
Wu Xiuniang gripped a long saber tightly in her hand. She had married into the Pei Clan for over twenty years, and her martial arts skills had long been set aside. The training over these days had slowly helped her regain the feel of practicing martial arts from before.
She did not want to die.
Her husband had been killed in action long ago, and her sons had been beheaded. She still had her daughter and granddaughter. Even if not for them, she wanted to live for herself. She would risk her life to survive.
Madam Feng’s face was pale, her body trembling nonstop.
She was no tiger daughter from a military family; she had not practiced martial arts, and her courage was not great. At this moment, fear made her tremble all over. She was afraid for her daughter Pei Qinghe.
The opponents were a group of fierce bandits of unknown origin. No matter how skilled, audacious, shrewd, or powerful Qinghe was, she was ultimately just a teenage girl who had never experienced warfare.
Moreover, to inspire the clan members, Pei Qinghe led by example in everything and leaped onto the wall in a flash.
Madam Feng did not dare nor could she open her mouth to shout; she could only watch helplessly as her daughter plunged into danger.
Immense fear swept over her. She was like frozen solid, feeling cold from inside out.
Mother and daughter had a spiritual connection.
Pei Qinghe suddenly turned her head and glanced at Madam Feng from afar.
Madam Feng forced back her tears and waved her fist at her daughter, silently cheering her on.
Separated by several meters in the dim light, nothing was clear. But Madam Feng just knew her daughter had smiled at her. Her heart, taut and nearly jumping out of her chest, suddenly relaxed.
Pei Qinghe turned her head, staring at several shadows moving nonstop in the darkness.
This group was either audacious or overly confident in themselves. They had only changed into ragged clothes to disguise themselves as refugees, showing no restraint in their actions.
They chased right up like this, starting to act without even scouting the guard situation in the posthouse.
Underestimating the enemy, advancing rashly, arrogant and conceited.
Very good!
Tonight, give them a bloody lesson.
Pei Qinghe coldly tugged at the corner of her mouth, steadily drew the bow and arrow, narrowed her eyes slightly, and suddenly released the arrow.
Whoosh!
The arrow flew from the string like lightning tearing through the night sky. The next moment, one of the charging black shadows fell.
Pei Yun and Pei Yan unhesitatingly followed suit and loosed their arrows.
Their archery was a big step below, lacking in strength and accuracy; they did not hit.
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Pei Qinghe drew the bow again and shot another arrow. Another black shadow fell.
Pei Qinghe remained expressionless, continuing to draw the bow and shoot arrows.
Whoosh!
The third man died under the arrow.
At this point, Captain Sun and Guard Gao had each just shot their first arrow. One hit a bandit’s arm, the other hit a leg; two cries of pain rose simultaneously, tearing through the silent night.
The big soldiers and Eastern Palace Guards also loosed arrows one after another. The group’s archery varied in skill, but under this volley of arrows, the eight or nine black shadows trying to charge into the posthouse were all shot dead, lying in pools of blood.
This bloody scene was truly too stimulating.
Pei Feng, who had quietly climbed onto the wall, felt his stomach churning and suddenly turned his head to vomit.
Pei Xuan curled her lip and mocked in a low voice: “Go hide in the cellar!”
Pei Feng had no time for bantering with Pei Xuan; after vomiting up tonight’s dry biscuits, he continued to retch.
“Take care of Pei Feng.” Pei Qinghe stared ahead, instructing without turning her head.
Pei Xuan immediately dropped her mocking expression and reached out very amicably to pat Pei Feng’s back. Pei Feng was patted heavily a few times and choked on a mouthful of saliva.
“How is it now?” Madam Feng asked the person beside her, trembling.
A young Pei Clan woman replied in a voice trembling with tension: “I don’t know! It should be that they’ve repelled a wave of enemies.”
Madam Feng breathed a sigh of relief, clasped her hands toward the sky, and bowed several times.
Captain Sun remained silent in the darkness.
He had shot a total of two arrows just now, with one missing.
Even so, that qualified as precise archery, making him an archery master in the barracks.
Pei Qinghe had shot four arrows in total, consecutively killing four people, every arrow true, every one to the throat.
He had been in the barracks for over a decade and had never seen such a powerful divine archer!
Guard Gao was also stunned.
The Eastern Palace had five hundred guards, and he was a small leader among them, with outstanding skills, especially in archery. He had always considered himself a divine archer…
Tonight, he learned what a true divine arrow was.
In the darkness on the other side, Wu San watched with his own eyes as Qiu Da and the others were all shot dead, becoming enraged to the extreme, spewing filthy language and cursing nonstop.
Careless! Underestimated the enemy!
Those several Eastern Palace Guards were actually all divine archers!
“Boss, what now?” The Dark Guards’ faces were all grim; one mustered his courage and asked: “How about we withdraw first! Wait until we’ve scouted their troop strength before acting… Ow!”
“Withdraw what!?” Wu San’s ferocity was aroused, his face savage, grinding his teeth: “Charge them for me, kill them all! Leave no one alive!”
“Drive the refugees to clear the way.”
“Everyone charge with me! Kill everyone!”
