Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World-Chapter 52: Sneak Attack; The Might of a Single Arrow
In a disturbingly calm tone, Cheng Zongyang spoke words that laid bare the hearts of men, casually presenting a life-or-death choice that made everyone present tremble with fear.
’Is this really a fifteen-year-old boy?!’
Jin Detai and his men also felt a sudden, inexplicable chill.
Just then, Cheng Zongyang turned to Li Ming and Chen Dashan.
"Uncles, please go and tend to your wounded. If their injuries worsen, they might not be saved."
Hearing this, Jin Deshui’s eyes lit up.
"This..."
"Elder Ming!" Cheng Zongyang interrupted, his tone sharpening.
"Alright!" Li Ming knew Zongyang didn’t want to drag them into this and was giving them an honorable way out.
In truth, he had already done all he could to show support. But from the way Cheng Zongyang spoke, it was clear another fight was about to break out!
He couldn’t go to war with the Jin Family again just for the Cheng Family. There was no other reason; another battle would mean total annihilation, and his relationship with the Chengs wasn’t strong enough to warrant that sacrifice.
Since Cheng Zongyang had offered them an out, he had no choice but to take it.
And so, Li Ming and Chen Dashan each led their people away to treat the wounded.
But as he left, Li Ming looked back at Cheng Zongyang, and a chill went through him.
’With this kid’s methods and style, he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with one day!’
’Best not to cross him!’
As the other families withdrew, Cheng Zongyang turned to his uncle beside him.
"Uncle, get inside and protect the family!"
"No!" Zhou Hansong refused outright. "Things have come to this. I can’t leave you to face them alone. I can at least block one of them for you!"
"Then promise me you won’t fight. Trust me..."
"You little bastard!"
The Li and Chen Family members hadn’t gotten far. Seething with rage, Jin Deshui gave Cheng Zongyang no chance to speak. He charged forward, bringing his Firewood Knife down on Zongyang without a shred of hesitation!
"Old dog!"
Cursing angrily, Cheng Zongyang reacted in a flash, his right hand bringing the Long Saber up to block.
CLANG!
The sharp ring of metal on metal echoed as the Long Saber steadily blocked Jin Deshui’s Firewood Knife.
The sound drew the attention of Li Ming and the others, who stopped in the distance to watch.
"That guy really couldn’t wait, could he? Launching a sneak attack on a kid?" Chen Dashan sneered.
"He’s no child. The brothers Jin Detai and Jin Deshui know perfectly well what would happen in a one-on-one fight," Li Ming said, shaking his head slightly.
"Kill them!" Jin Detai roared, no longer caring about the shame of an adult fighting a child.
Cheng Zongyang didn’t hesitate. With a flick of his right wrist, he knocked Jin Deshui’s Firewood Knife aside, sending his opponent staggering back several steps. He then pulled his uncle back, once again creating distance between them and their attackers.
He looked at the eleven men charging toward them, having no intention of wasting any more words.
’They attacked me. Even if we had no feud before, we certainly do now!’
"Uncle, guard the doorway!"
After a quick word to his uncle, Cheng Zongyang charged toward the youth who was screaming the loudest.
But when the youth saw Cheng Zongyang charging right for him, his face changed.
A man’s reputation precedes him, and Cheng Zongyang was well-known in the village. He had a good reputation, a bad one, and a fearsome one.
But among the younger generation, his fearsome reputation overshadowed everything else! Even among his peers in other villages, there wasn’t one who wasn’t afraid of him.
This was simply because too many people had been beaten up by him.
Although they had always been the ones to provoke him, it never mattered whether it was a one-on-one duel or a group brawl; none of them had ever gotten the better of him.
This was also why none of his peers were willing to associate with him. Even if some wanted to, they didn’t dare get too close, for fear of being ostracized or beaten up by the others.
This was true isolation.
So, when the youth saw Cheng Zongyang target him, he clamped his mouth shut in fear, turned, and ran!
"Trash!" Cheng Zongyang sneered. Instead of continuing his charge, he pulled back again, luring his pursuers away from his doorstep.
However, just as Jin Deshui was about to lead his men to charge Zhou Hansong and storm the Cheng Family home, a middle-aged Jin clansman pulled him back and said:
"Deshui, hold on! There’s no point in killing his family if we don’t deal with that kid first! He’s the only real threat in the Cheng Family! If he weren’t, he wouldn’t be able to kill our family in return!"
Jin Deshui heard this and, realizing it made sense, resumed his pursuit of Cheng Zongyang.
The Jin clansman who had just spoken glanced at the grim-faced Zhou Hansong, but didn’t linger. Armed with a Bow and Arrow, he too went after Cheng Zongyang.
Phew...! Seeing that they weren’t coming for him, Zhou Hansong breathed a sigh of relief.
Back with Cheng Zongyang, once he had created a distance of forty to fifty meters, he plunged his Long Saber into the ground and swiftly took the Bow and Arrow from his back.
In the blink of an eye, he had nocked an arrow and drawn his bow, the string taut like a full moon. His murderous gaze was like a hawk’s. The movements were so practiced they were practically instinctual. With a WHOOSH, the arrow flew, emitting a soul-reaping sound as it cut through the air...
The entire sequence was a single, fluid motion, completed in less than two seconds!
"AH—!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream tore through the air. The arrow, a fleeting blur, instantly pierced one youth’s chest and burst out his back, then continued on to tear through the neck of a shorter man standing behind him!
Such was its momentum that the arrow still flew on, finally embedding itself deep into the rammed-earth wall of a nearby house.
The shaft quivered from the impact!
The onlookers’ faces paled at the sight!
’What terrifying power!’ a seasoned Hunter thought, his heart pounding in shock as he watched.
’They all say the kid was born with monstrous strength. I never imagined that combined with a Bow and Arrow, his lethality would be this terrifying!’
’Two men killed with a single arrow—and it pierced clean through! If there had been a third or even a fourth person in line, they would have died from that one shot too!’
The Jin clansmen were just as stunned.
In the blink of an eye, a single arrow had taken out two of their own. For them, terror quickly eclipsed shock.
"How... how could we forget? He’s a master archer who practically never misses!"
One young man sank to the ground, muttering in utter terror.
Beside him lay the second victim, the one whose neck had been pierced.
Blood gushed from the clansman’s neck. His eyes were wide, his mouth moved wordlessly as blood bubbled up like a spring. A moment later, his head slumped to the side, his eyes open wide in an unresigned death.
"Keep moving! Don’t stop! Those of you with Bows and Arrows, use them!" Jin Detai roared, resuming his charge.
He knew there was no stopping now; this had to end today, one way or another.
But Cheng Zongyang’s last shot seemed to have shattered their nerve, and they all began to hesitate.
As Cheng Zongyang nocked a second arrow and drew the bowstring, whoever he aimed at would immediately panic—running, diving to the ground, retreating, or dropping to their knees in terror.
Only Jin Detai continued to close in, taking a weaving, indirect path.
Cheng Zongyang ignored Jin Detai, his arrow now trained on a kneeling youth.
"No, no, no! I don’t want to die!" The youth shuddered violently, tears and snot streaming down his face as he scrambled backward, trying to flee.
Expressionless, Cheng Zongyang released the string. The arrow shot out. In the blink of an eye, it passed through the youth’s chest and slammed into the wall next to a nearby home’s doorway, half its length sticking out the other side.
"Die!"
Now within range and burning with boundless rage, Jin Detai slashed down fiercely with his knife.
But instead of retreating, Cheng Zongyang advanced, agilely sidestepping to the left to evade the direct chop.
Then he kicked off his right foot, sending sand flying. He surged forward, lowered his head, and tackled Jin Detai around the waist, carrying him off his feet.
Jin Detai had barely registered his missed slash when he felt a massive impact to his gut. A wave of weightlessness washed over him as he was sent flying.
But as he crashed to the ground, he realized Cheng Zongyang had come down with him!
