Chapter 420: Retaliation

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As Lei Sitong killed the three assassins in Pingxi City, Yan Liqiang shot his first arrow…

Although the ten-picul Horned Python Bow was not as powerful as the twenty-picul one rewarded by the Emperor, a bow like this could easily pierce through two people at once within a distance of seventy to eighty meters.

Yan Liqiang’s target was the temporary barracks of the Shatu people located in a valley about twenty li west of the Imperial Capital City.

There were more than forty Shatu people in the barracks which seemed like a caravan. The barracks were surrounded by over twenty camels and rhinodrake steeds. The merchandise the camels were carrying had all been unloaded on the ground. The camels and merchandise surrounded five cowhide leather tents. Bonfires were set in the middle of the tents. Beside the bonfires were leftover grilled meat and kettles were placed over the burning flames. A few Shatu people were sitting beside a bonfire guarding the area in a relaxed manner…

Nobody would ever notice any anomalies with this Shatu caravan as they looked no different from the caravan that traveled to White Stone Pass and Pingxi City.

However, Yan Liqiang knew this was no ordinary Shatu caravan for they were, in fact, a group of assassins. The falcon that monitored him from above came from this group. The situation was precisely similar to the time when he was attacked by the Blackwind Bandits when he escorted Sun Bingchen back to the Imperial Capital. The Shatu people released the falcon to secure the target and the assassins would immediately take action to annihilate the target.

This was a well-tested strategy of the Shatu people which hardly failed on or off the battlefield. But it was a pity that the Shatu people were up against Yan Liqiang.

With Yan Liqiang superior sense of awareness, when the falcon soared across the sky and targeted him, he had simultaneously targeted the falcon too. He followed the falcon to track down its owner.

Sacred Flame Priests were the ones who could control those birds, and there was one priest from the Sacred Flame hidden within the caravan. Yan Liqiang felt a sense of familiarity from the silhouettes of those Shautu people in the middle of the barracks. They reminded him of the Blackwind Bandits.

Since he was their target, the strongest assassin should be in the center of Pingxi City right now. They would be hit on the head by Lei Sitong’s hungry machete blade. Although there seemed to be a large number of Shatu people in this small valley, there would not be any ferocious characters here. This was the time where this ‘special squad’ of Shatu people was at its weakest.

Yan Liqiang was disinclined to find out why the Shatu people targeted him. It could be the hatred between him and the Blackwind Bandits or it could be an order from an anonymous superior from the Imperial Capital city. All these could be valid reasons as to why the Shatu people wanted to take his life. To Yan Liqiang, the latter option seemed more likely.

If that was the case, there was nothing more to say but kill!

For some reason, Yan Liqiang did not feel any fear knowing that he would shortly be facing dozens of Shatu people. He felt excited instead. The adrenaline rush caused Yan Liqiang’s pupils to dilate. His breath uncontrollably grew slightly faster; his heartbeat and blood rushed at this instant. The dilated pupils enabled him to see more clearly in the darkness while his rapid breathing provided more oxygen and energy in his body. The accelerated heartbeat made Yan Liqiang felt like a car on S-gear on a race track. Yan Liqiang had not felt this kind of excitement ever since his encounter with the Blackwind Bandits. He could not deny that he was fond of this feeling.

Yan Liqiang made his first shot of four arrows in one go. When the four arrows left Yan Liqiang’s fingers, the whistling sound of the flying arrows pierced through the silence of the valley. It went through the skulls of all four of the Shatu people who were seated beside the bonfire.

The mixture of brain and blood spattered onto the bonfire, making sizzling noises. One of the Shatu people who was shot fell forward and overturned the water kettle beside the bonfire.

The peacefulness of this small barracks was instantly shattered. One of the Shatu people came out from his tent immediately after he heard the noises from outside the tent. Before he even had the chance to check his surroundings, a flying arrow pierced through his skull. At the same time, the other three arrows passed straight into the cowhide tent and pierced through a few Shatu people who were sleeping on the floor. The inside of the tent was instantly splattered by blood and filled with deadly screams…

Yan Liqiang was like an accurate and precise machine. He aimed his arrows to the five tents located below. He did not need to deliberately aim accurately; he just positioned his arrows with a certain gap and angle while shooting. Those tents were filled with Shatu people who were resting and sleeping. The thin layer of cowhide leather was not even comparable to normal armor. The arrows from Yan Liqiang’s ten-picul Horned Python Bow easily made a hole in the leather just like holes through a piece of paper. The arrows that pierced the tents were like the kiss of the Death God bringing a wave of cold air, mercilessly piercing the bodies inside the tent.

At this moment, it was evident that Yan Liqiang had surpassed the level of an ordinary archer.

He could shoot two batches of arrows within one second, with four arrows in every batch. In one second, that would be eight arrows. The frightful firing power created a deadly storm in the small valley. After Yan Liqiang shot the second batch of arrows, terrifying loud screams echoed from within those tents.

The Shatu people inside the tents realized that they were under attack. They heard terrifying screams from outside and saw how those beside them had been shot by arrows coming from the outside. They believed that it was not just one person attacking them but a group of archers with powerful bows.

Some of the Shatu people tried dashing out from their tents but none survived. Those who fled the tents were immediately taken down by the flying arrows buried inside their heads.

Yan Liqiang brought along two quivers each containing thirty-six bows, seventy-two in total. These seventy-two arrows were all fired across the five cowhide leather tents within nine seconds only. Each tent was penetrated by at least ten arrows. The largest tent was penetrated by at least twenty arrows, thus making countless holes in it.

Once he emptied the two quivers of arrows, Yan Liqiang put down his bow and drew his long sword. He ran past the hill, bushes, and thickets on the hill like a ferocious tiger and made a beeline for the Shatu Barracks.

The tents of the Shatu Barracks were filled with casualties in just under ten seconds. Blood-curdling screams reverberated throughout the barracks. However, there were still survivors amidst the rain of arrows.

When Yan Liqiang reached the barracks, a Shatu man with bloody face was cutting up a tent near Yan Liqiang. He rushed out but immediately bumped into Yan Liqiang.

Yan Liqiang reacted very quickly and didn’t even give that Shatu man a chance. The moment he came rushing out from the tent, Yan Liqiang thrust his sword into the Shatu man’s chest. The man let out a cry and Yan Liqiang followed up with a hard kick. With the sound of broken bones, the Shatu man’s body flew backward into the tent like a cannonball, knocking into the second Shatu man that was just about to come out of the tent from the same exit. Both men were bleeding profusely as they both fell back inside the tent.

Yan Liqiang barged into the tent through the same exit.

There were eight to nine Shatu people inside. More than half of the people were either dead on the ground or badly injured by the arrows that Yan Liqiang had shot earlier and had lost their combat ability. They were screaming in pain on the floor and blood was all over the tent. By the time Yan Liqiang rushed into the tent, only one Shatu man remained unscathed. Before he could even react, Yan Liqiang had swung his sword and decapitated him…

Another two Shatu men with injuries on their shoulders and abdomen tried to pick up their weapons. Yan Liqiang’s sword gleamed and both men were also decapitated.

In just the blink of an eye, Yan Liqiang had wiped out every lifeform inside the tent. He dashed out of the tent with lightning speed. His figure that was akin to a ferocious tiger with the might of an elephant bumped into a fleeing Shatu man. Sounds of bones fracturing were heard and that Shatu man was sent flying over thirty meters away before crashing into a tent. At the same time, Yan Liqiang brandished his sword and sliced the two Shatu men who were charging in his direction into halves.

The Shatu people were no match against Yan Liqiang who had condensed the strength of two elephants in his body. Both his speed and strength far exceeded theirs. Yan Liqiang didn’t even need to use any special moves as the Shatu men couldn’t even withstand a simple attack from him. He could either send them flying or kill them with just touch.

Those that were lucky enough to survive Yan Liqiang’s torrent of arrows had just come out from their tents. Yan Liqiang engaged them in close quarter combat, but it took him only a short while to cut through them like vegetables.

Yan Liqiang’s current strength was simply too terrifying. He did not exercise any restraint at all. None of the Shatu people that he killed had their bodies intact. With just a wave of his sword, the Shatu people before him were split into two…

Yan Liqiang heard horses neighing not far away as he finished off the last of the Shatu people. He ran past a tent and spotted two Shatu people helping an elderly Shatu man onto a rhinodrake steed.

When the elderly man saw Yan Liqiang dashing toward them, he pointed at Yan Liqiang and said something. One of the Shatu people then picked up a knife and charged toward Yan Liqiang while shouting. The other Shatu man quickly got onto a rhinodrake steed and fled with the elderly Shatu man as fast as they could.

Although Yan Liqiang was alone, he had thoroughly crushed the Shatu people’s will to fight with his performance just now…

Yan Liqiang immediately chased after the fish that had escaped from the net…

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