Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World-Chapter 48: Village Riot, Kill

The journey was smooth. Nearly an hour later, as the relentless sun began to dip below the horizon, its afterglow washing over the forest, Cheng Zongyang arrived at the entrance to the village.

He took a turn and entered the woods.

He took out his back-basket and placed some oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar inside, along with a portion of malt sugar candy.

Then, carrying his Firewood Knife, he hurried through the woods toward home.

He wouldn’t bring the grain for now, but he could carry some of the oil, salt, and seasonings. It wasn’t a large amount, only about twenty-some pounds in total, but it would be enough to last his family for a good while.

As for the malt sugar candy, the two little ones had almost finished the last batch he bought. He was bringing some more back to restock. Otherwise, that little glutton of his would be upset.

The thought of his little sister softened Cheng Zongyang’s expression. ’Who wouldn’t adore such a sweet and precious little girl?’

"Hm?" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and looked around. He thought he heard shouting.

’Is that just the wind?’

Cheng Zongyang frowned slightly and kept walking. Sometimes, the wind whistling through the trees could make strange noises. It was a common occurrence.

But as he continued to weave through the mountain forest, the shouting grew clearer.

This time, he stood still and listened carefully. A moment later, his gaze snapped toward the village, his expression changing drastically.

Something had happened in the village!

His body instantly entered the Wilderness World, only to reappear a few seconds later. Now, he carried only his Bow and Arrow and his Long Saber!

He pushed off the ground, his body rocketing forward.

The weapon in his hand was no longer the Firewood Knife, but the Long Saber he had purchased from the market hut!

"Bastards! Who dares touch my family?!"

Killing intent erupted in Cheng Zongyang’s eyes. His heart pounded with anxiety as his legs pumped, carrying him with the same desperate speed he’d used when fleeing the Black-Horned Python!

He dodged tree after tree, praying frantically in his heart.

A path that would normally take a quarter of an hour to walk was covered in less than two minutes. Cheng Zongyang burst from the woods like a leopard and sprinted to his front door.

He immediately saw three men with Firewood Knives being besieged at his doorway by more than a dozen tattered, disheveled people who looked like beggars, armed with clubs and sticks!

Cheng Zongyang instantly recognized the three men as his father and his two uncles!

"You’re courting death!"

In a blind rage, Cheng Zongyang charged!

Moving at extreme speed, he closed the distance and slammed a heavy kick into the back of a skeletal vagrant who was laughing maniacally!

THUD!

The vagrant was instantly kicked away like a ball, flying seven or eight meters before crashing heavily to the ground.

Blood gushed from his mouth as his body convulsed. He gasped a few times, and in seconds, his head lolled to the side. He was dead.

The sudden turn of events briefly stunned the other frenzied vagrants nearby.

But Cheng Zongyang didn’t stop. He swung his Long Saber at the neck of a vagrant to his right. In the blink of an eye, he had carved a gash deep into the man’s chest cavity.

Internal Organs and blood sprayed out... The man collapsed, killed instantly.

Ignoring the horror of the vagrants and the shock of everyone else, Cheng Zongyang tossed the Bow and Arrow to his father, who had a moment’s reprieve, and shouted, "Dad! Catch!"

Cheng Guanghai, who had been under siege, heard his son’s voice, and a look of joy flashed in his eyes.

Seeing the Bow and Arrow tossed his way, he scrambled to catch it, then quickly created some distance and shouted to his two brothers-in-law:

"Fall back!"

With that, he swiftly drew the bow and nocked an arrow. Although his body ached from the many blows he had taken, he could still hold on.

The two brothers, including Zhou Hansong, were in a much sorrier state. They were bruised and swollen, having taken quite a beating. Thank goodness their nephew had arrived in time! Otherwise, the three of them would have been beaten to death by the seventeen or eighteen vagrants.

But when they saw their nephew charge into the crowd like a god of slaughter, felling a man with every swing of his saber and instantly turning the tide, they were utterly shocked.

Arms and legs were severed, bellies were sliced open—almost none of the vagrants were left in one piece.

The ones who weren’t killed outright screamed on the ground, but in the next moment, a grim-faced Cheng Zongyang would deliver a final blow, and their screams would abruptly cease.

At the same time, Cheng Guanghai began to fire arrows.

However, after loosing only a few arrows, Cheng Guanghai realized his son had already cut down most of them.

The few remaining vagrants fled, scared out of their wits.

Due to his injuries, the few arrows he had managed to shoot had been inaccurate anyway.

"Trying to run?!"

Cheng Zongyang came to his father’s side, took the Bow and Arrow, and fixed his eyes on the vagrants who were stumbling and occasionally falling as they fled.

At this distance and against such targets, Cheng Zongyang barely seemed to aim before loosing an arrow at a vagrant who had run twenty or thirty meters away.

The arrow flew like a beam of light, instantly sinking into the lead vagrant’s back and bursting out his front.

The powerful force sent the man stumbling forward a few more steps before he crashed to the ground, his face a mask of terror as he screamed endlessly...

This shot terrified the remaining vagrants so much that they collapsed to the ground, wetting themselves as they scrambled to crawl away...

"Dad, take our uncles inside. I’ll handle things out here," Cheng Zongyang said to the three elders behind him.

The main door to his house was closed. It was clear the three men had been holding the line at the entrance to block the vagrants’ assault, protecting the old, the weak, the women, and the children inside. If he hadn’t made it back in time, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

"Alright. You be careful."

Cheng Guanghai didn’t dither. Clutching his aching back, he led his two brothers-in-law inside, making sure to close the door so the children wouldn’t be frightened by the gruesome scene outside.

Cheng Zongyang had no intention of letting the other vagrants escape. He charged forward, drew his bow again, and shot down the rest of them on the spot before dragging their bodies to the side.

Finally, he returned, ignoring the one vagrant who was still clinging to life.

With a dark expression, Cheng Zongyang continued to gather the bodies at the entrance, piling them up nearby while keeping a wary eye on other vagrants who looked like they wanted to approach.

Seeing a large number of vagrants gradually gathering, Cheng Zongyang took his Long Saber, pointed it at the crazed mob, and spoke in a chilling tone:

"Anyone who isn’t afraid to die, come on over! I guarantee I’ll help you die comfortably!"

As he spoke, he plunged his Long Saber into the ground before him, took up his Bow and Arrow, nocked an arrow, and aimed it at them.

At this, the surrounding vagrants took a few frightened steps back.

Just like that, the two sides were locked in a standoff. No one dared to charge.

Meanwhile, many villagers who had been fleeing for their lives came to hide behind Cheng Zongyang.

They never would have imagined that Cheng Zongyang was so powerful, able to hold back the tide of vagrants all by himself.

The dozen or so corpses piled beside him, all mangled horribly, were an incredibly effective deterrent.

Slowly, more and more surviving villagers from the eastern part of the village flocked to Cheng Zongyang’s doorstep as if they had been saved.

Most were from the Chen clan, with a few from the Li clan as well.

At the same time, more and more vagrants were gathering to surround them.

For a moment, it became a confrontation between two opposing forces.

The members of the Chen clan were no longer scattered, fleeing and fighting chaotically. It was as if they had found a Chief, and many of them now rallied together.

Soon, a group of men from the Chen clan, led by Chen Dashan, came to flank Cheng Zongyang. They were armed with kitchen knives, Firewood Knives, hoes, iron shovels, clubs, and other makeshift weapons.

Some had faces contorted with fury, some had bloodshot eyes, and some were blurry with tears...

Because of this inhuman mob of vagrants, their homes had been destroyed!

Just then, after applying some medicinal liniment, the three elders of the household—Cheng Guanghai, Zhou Hansong, and Zhou Han—endured their pain and came back outside to stand by Cheng Zongyang’s side.

Following behind them, having ignored all attempts to stop them, were Zhou Zhendong and his younger brother, the thirteen-year-old Zhou Zhennan!