Chapter 163: Who is Bruce Lee? Escort Draws Bow at Night.
“Move away a bit.”
In the dim forest, Little Dragon Girl, standing behind a bush, spoke to the Hu people’s escorts from the Changfeng Escort Agency.
The escort, not bothering to argue with the four or five-year-old girl, turned his body.
“Hurry up, I’ll count to ten and you’ll come over obediently.”
“One, two…”
Zhou Yan, emerging from behind a tree as if from ancient times, covered the distance to the escort’s back in a few strides. His movement caused not the slightest disturbance in the heavens and earth, as if all sound was submerged in the darkness beneath his feet.
He stood silently behind the escort, and with a chop and a push to the escort’s neck as he reached “eight,” the escort’s head immediately twisted into a grotesque arc, drooping towards his shoulder.
Zhou Yan caught the other man and laid him down in the grass.
From his appearance to his silent kill, Little Dragon Girl saw the entire process clearly. She also accurately identified his identity based on the Ox Horn Giant Bow on Zhou Yan’s back.
Afraid of exclaiming in surprise, she tightly clasped her fair, slightly chubby little hands over her mouth.
After Zhou Yan killed the escort, Little Dragon Girl emerged from the bush and ran to his side.
“You are Little Dragon Girl.” Zhou Yan said, looking at the exquisitely carved Little Dragon Girl within his sight.
“Mm. Older Sister said you were smart, and it’s true. You guessed me.” Little Dragon Girl got straight to the point in her next sentence, clarifying the situation, “Older Sister went to the market to buy things and hasn’t returned yet, and Master is injured in the Ancient Tomb.”
After all, she was a child, and Little Dragon Girl couldn’t help but ask, “Big Brother, why are you here? It’s not the date for the martial arts competition Older Sister mentioned.”
Zhou Yan thought to himself that Little Dragon Girl was indeed lively and cute, just as Wang Chuyi had said.
It made sense; she was only a few years old. Even if she had been exposed to the emotion-nullifying cultivation technique of the Ancient Tomb, she wouldn’t have achieved much. What she displayed now was simply the innocence, liveliness, and curiosity befitting her age.
“Knowing you are in trouble, I naturally had to come.”
“What if there is trouble in the future?”
Heh, Zhou Yan chuckled inwardly. Little Dragon Girl was truly sharp, already trying to extract information.
“I will naturally appear again.”
“Pinky promise.”
“Let’s deal with the bad guys first, alright?”
“Okay, I will hide. Big Brother, don’t worry, they won’t find me.”
“No matter what happens, do not make a sound or reveal yourself. If you fall into their hands again, I will be helpless.”
“Mm!”
Zhou Yan took off his pack, took out a thin blanket, and handed it to Little Dragon Girl. “Go.”
“Big Brother, be careful.”
Little Dragon Girl took the thin blanket, her small figure bending as she ran towards the depths of the forest. Zhou Yan smiled faintly, thinking that at this height, she was only a little over two feet tall, so why bend down to hide? Perhaps they played hide-and-seek games in the Ancient Tomb.
With a fleeting thought, Zhou Yan regained his focus. He took out a square cloth from his embrace and covered his face, then slung the Ox Horn Giant Bow over his back. He began to move parallel through the wilderness.
His Thousand Li Ride Alone. The initial plan was to reach the Ancient Tomb and join forces with Lin Chaoying’s maid and Li Mochou. As long as Ouyang Feng wasn’t there, they should be able to repel the enemy. Now, it seemed he had been too optimistic.
Zhou Yan had long since seen through Ouyang Ke’s group. Ni Mo Xing’s appearance was an accident. He had been severely injured by Zhang Wangyue in Zhongdu, but he had still made it to Zhongnan Mountain. This indicated that in the six months since leaving Lin’an, his cultivation had improved significantly, and his Internal Force had reached a rather impressive level, allowing him to quickly stabilize his injuries and recover.
Ouyang Ke’s team had gained a strong fighter, while Lin Chaoying’s maid’s martial arts realm was below his expectations.
However, upon reflection, it was understandable. Martial arts cultivation depended on talent and aptitude.
It wasn’t that having profound cultivation techniques and diligent practice would automatically make one a top master like the Eastern Heretic or Western Venom.
Not to mention far away, the Quanzhen Sect had plenty of living examples. There were also the Wu brothers and Guo Fu in the Divine Condor world. Especially the latter few, with Guo Jing and Huang Rong as their backing, along with Peach Blossom Island and the Dali Wu family, they had access to countless first-rate cultivation techniques, yet their cultivation was truly not commendable.
Therefore, this battle would have to be fought by himself.
Teaming up with Li Mochou would be good, but time was of the essence.
If Ouyang Ke saw Little Dragon Girl acting erratically, he would know something was wrong and would come searching. The night could amplify the power of arrows and was also conducive to silent kills.
…
“Why are they still coming? Did something happen?”
Helian Chuncheng, also an escort, had an astonishing judgment for danger and anything slightly unusual. Without asking, he quickly signaled to the escorts gathered around the campfire.
Four escorts rose to their feet, drawing their swords, and moved closer to the forest.
“Bang”
A long arrow, as thick as a thumb, left the bowstring, transforming into a black, ethereal glow that merged with the night. It tore through leaves and wind, silently and chillingly piercing towards an escort who had exposed himself under the half-moon more than ten zhang away.
Almost the instant the first arrow left the bow, Zhou Yan had the second long arrow between his fingers.
The forest was dark, the grass rustled in the wind; the escort drew his bow at night.
With a heart-stopping “bang” of the bowstring, the second arrow was shot.
In a flash of lightning, the bowstring sounded twice more, forming a killing momentum with four consecutive arrows.
The long arrows, which a moment before had been falling snow from branches in the whistling wind, now appeared before the searching escort in the center with the force of wind and thunder.
The sharp whistle of the arrows made the escort’s hair stand on end. Before he could even raise his long saber, blood erupted violently from his neck. As the escort fell backward, his peripheral vision caught his companions on either side falling in the same manner.
“Swish!” An escort blocked in front of his chest, his long saber descending like streaks of light, deflecting the long arrow. The force contained within the arrow traveled into the gleaming steel saber, causing it to emit a continuous humming sound.
After all, these were escorts carefully chosen by Helian Chuncheng; their skills far surpassed those of Cui Qingshan. He saved his life by deflecting the arrow with one blow, but even so, the escort broke out in a cold sweat.
Two arrows, one above and one below, came like shuttles and lightning in an instant.
The escort was terrified. He swung his long saber at the empty space in front of him. With a “clang,” one arrow landed, and another hit his body. The escort fell back with a scream.
By the campfire, Ouyang Ke, Helian Chuncheng, and Ni Mo Xing scattered like shadows, then reappeared with swift movements in front of the four escorts who had been shot.
Helian Chuncheng, looking at the thumb-thick long arrow stuck in the fallen escort, inwardly marveled. A strong bow and long arrows were not to be underestimated.
Ni Mo Xing’s pupils contracted. Seeing the dark forest, he said to Ouyang Ke, “It must be that woman’s lover, Li Xiaolong, who has arrived.”
Ouyang Ke tapped his left palm with his folding fan, nodding with a grim expression.
An escort from the Changfeng Escort Agency, using his Internal Force in the night, shouted, “If you have the guts, come out for a duel, Li Xiaolong!”
…
Li Xiaolong? Zhou Yan was stunned for several breaths before vaguely guessing the origin of this thunderous name.
Li, Li Mochou.
Xiaolong, Little Dragon Girl.
As for why the Changfeng escorts were calling him Li Xiaolong, he would ask Little Dragon Girl slowly after everything was over. It was definitely related to her.
The forest was deep and the night dark, but Zhou Yan’s long arrows posed no great threat to Ouyang Ke, Ni Mo Xing, and Helian Chuncheng. In the darkness, after a brief and low-voiced discussion and division of tasks, they each led their escorts to surround the area where Zhou Yan had previously shot his arrows.
…
“I see you, little girl.” Among the team of four or five people, an escort cautiously looked to his left flank, saying this.
In the distant wilderness, Little Dragon Girl, hidden in a rock crevice, pouted, thinking, “Am I that foolish?”
Thinking this, she looked again in Zhou Yan’s direction.
Little Dragon Girl was on slightly higher ground, and the winter trees were bare of leaves, allowing her to roughly judge Zhou Yan’s position.
That Ox Horn Giant Bow was truly effective, and Big Brother’s archery was superb, never missing. She wondered how he would fight next. Little Dragon Girl thought this.
In an instant, Little Dragon Girl saw the tall grass in the distance suddenly surge, like fallen leaves swept up by an autumn wind. Zhou Yan’s figure, bathed in the silver moonlight, surged upwards. Amidst the flying grass, he transformed into a sharp and heroic image. The shining Sword Light was like a clear stream, flowing past the villains’ waists.
…
Zhou Yan lurked, drew his sword, and swung.
The sharp Qingfeng Sword almost directly severed the waist of the escort who had been taunting Little Dragon Girl.
Another Changfeng escort, not far from the one whose waist was cut, saw Zhou Yan, who had suddenly emerged from the bushes, his face covered with a black square cloth, killing people. Instinctively, he retreated, wielding his saber, seeking self-preservation and then to join forces to kill the enemy.
However, the opponent’s seasoned retreat and saber swing could not evade Zhou Yan’s leisurely advance. The escort’s long saber erupted like thunder, fierce and overbearing. Zhou Yan unleashed the Quanzhen Swordplay’s “One Sword, Three Purities.” His long sword thrust forward, three streaks of Sword Light shone brightly like lightning, condensing into a crystalline fan shape, with Sword Qi swirling, emitting a piercing tearing sound.
With two “clang” sounds, the Hu people’s escort blocked two of Zhou Yan’s sword strikes. Then, his body met Zhou Yan’s “One Qi Transforms into Three Purities” third sword strike, and flesh and blood scattered terrifyingly.
Zhou Yan succeeded in one blow, assassinating two people. Before Helian Chuncheng and Yin Kexi could attack him from the flanks, he swiftly retreated into the shadow cast by the ancient tree behind him, turning and disappearing behind it.
Helian Chuncheng pursued with his spear, shouting, “Young Master Ouyang, the thief is this way.”
In a direction Ouyang Ke hadn’t even noticed, a shadow hidden behind a tree muttered to itself, “Is that Quanzhen Swordplay? When I was Mo Chou, why were people from the Quanzhen Sect meddling?”
Anyone with such prejudice against the Quanzhen Sect could only be Lin Chaoying’s maid.
During the daytime battle, she had taken a punch from Ouyang Feng and a strike from Helian Chuncheng, and her injuries were indeed severe. Upon hearing the sounds of fighting and the death cries of the dying at night, she struggled out of the Ancient Tomb and followed the sound.
Ouyang Ke and the others were focused on Zhou Yan, making it difficult for them to notice Lin Chaoying’s maid. As a result, she saw Zhou Yan use “One Sword, Three Purities” and mistook him for someone from the Quanzhen Sect.
Little Dragon Girl did not recognize Quanzhen Swordplay. She used her perception of the Sword Light’s speed to make a judgment, simply concluding that Zhou Yan’s cultivation was superior to Older Sister’s. This was because Older Sister’s sword was not as fast as Big Brother’s.
She completely forgot about the danger, thinking this was a good thing. If Older Sister lost, there would be a third and fourth martial arts competition, and she would get to see Big Brother again.
In the wilderness, the Quanzhen Sect’s “Golden Goose Skill” movement technique could be best utilized. By the time Helian Chuncheng and Yin Kexi had outflanked them to the ancient tree, Zhou Yan had already used the tree trunk for cover, darting through the forest like a goose, rapidly covering more than ten zhang and hiding in the tree crown of a year-round evergreen.
“Li Xiaolong, if you have the guts, come out for a duel!”
After searching for Zhou Yan in vain, several Hu people escorts from the Changfeng Escort Agency roared in anger.
