Chapter 92 - 89: Seriously Injured
Chapter 92: Chapter 89: Seriously Injured
WHOOSH~
Yuan Ying had already closed his eyes, resigned to his fate.
He had just experienced the power of this Mo Mountain Tribe member firsthand.
It was no less than that of the Bone Marrow Martial Artists he had seen before.
Now that his defense was broken, a single blow would leave him dead or crippled. And at a time like this, any injury was a death sentence.
The outcome wouldn’t change; it was just a matter of dying sooner or later.
But just then, he heard a bloodcurdling scream.
An arrow was embedded in the man’s arm—an arm thicker than Yuan Ying’s thigh—its feathered tail still quivering relentlessly.
"ROAR~"
Then, Yuan Ying saw the mountain man violently fling him away.
The man immediately charged toward the side of the execution grounds, where a young man was already drawing his bow once more.
’It didn’t go clean through. The Five-Stone Bow is still a bit too weak, as I thought.’
Fang Yue watched the charging Mo Mountain Tribe member, his hands never ceasing their motion. Within a single breath, another arrow shot forth.
SWISH!
The arrow sliced through the air with a sharp whistle.
THWACK!
The arrowhead instantly buried itself in the Mo Mountain tribesman’s chest.
The powerful impact brought his charge to a momentary halt.
But that was all.
With bloodshot eyes, the mountain man continued to charge like a mad demon.
’This guy... he’s already...’
At that moment, Fang Yue felt more and more certain that this mountain man had completely lost his mind.
It was as if only the instinct to fight remained, an instinct seemingly inherited from some wild beast.
There was no technique, only savage attacks relying on pure speed and strength, completely devoid of skill.
It was primal, pure, and simple—whatever worked was what he did.
Like a beast, like a mad demon.
Fang Yue’s gaze sharpened, and he loosed another arrow.
Without even waiting to see the result, he immediately darted to the side.
He was determined not to engage in close-quarters combat with a beast-like opponent like this. Getting injured just wasn’t worth the risk.
Fang Yue weaved and dodged, constantly moving around the execution grounds.
The mountain man behind him now had three arrows sticking out of his body. Blood streamed from the wounds, dyeing him completely red.
If a normal person had lost that much blood, they would have already passed out from the loss.
But this man seemed to feel nothing at all.
However, he was still a creature of flesh and blood.
After about a quarter of an hour, the Mo Mountain Tribe member finally couldn’t hold on any longer.
His body began to sway, and he staggered as he walked.
’A good opportunity!’
Yuan Ying, who had been hiding to the side, saw his chance and immediately made his move.
Killing this "little giant" came with a handsome reward.
Ten doses of Secret Medicine and a thousand taels of patterned silver.
So, Yuan Ying was here to snatch the credit.
The Government Office recorded merits based on both the process and the result.
Fang Yue had worn the mountain man down to this state, so he would naturally receive his due credit. But if Yuan Ying succeeded in killing the bandit, that would be a meritorious deed as well.
Yuan Ying was not the only one with this idea. At least two of the other Martial Scholars who had been called out to help were now charging in from the east and west.
They were clearly also aiming to claim the mountain man’s head.
Faced with this situation, Fang Yue did not rush forward.
He had already heavily wounded the mountain man with three arrows. The merit was already his, and with everyone watching, he wasn’t afraid of anyone stealing his credit.
Rather than fight for the final prize, he might as well use this opportunity to shoot a few more.
Immediately, Fang Yue found his next target.
He drew his bow, aiming at a Mo Mountain Tribe member currently tied up by two Martial Artists.
He first loosed one arrow.
Then, as the bowstring still vibrated, Fang Yue drew and fired once more.
There was no pause in between. His movements were as smooth as flowing water. In a single breath, he drew the string with his left hand, and the arrow was already gone.
Two arrows, one from the left and one from the right.
Fired in an instant, they struck almost simultaneously.
One arrow hit the mountain man’s kicking thigh, while the other struck his lower abdomen.
"What incredible archery!!!"
County Magistrate Liu, who was busy fighting the Mo Mountain Tribe’s Third Elder, had naturally noticed the situation over here.
He couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
Fang Yue’s archery excelled in its precision.
Archery wasn’t just about having the strength to draw a bow. Furthermore, shooting a stationary target was completely different from shooting a Martial Artist.
The difficulty was extremely high.
Some Martial Scholars might score the highest marks in archery during their examinations, but once on a real battlefield, they found it difficult to hit an enemy.
This was the challenge of applying skills in actual combat.
What’s more, this man could shoot with both his left and right hands, achieving a near-simultaneous volley. His skill was simply god-like.
’If I get the chance, I must recruit this young man into the army to encircle and annihilate the Mo Mountain Tribe.’
A divine archer was easily worth two or three Martial Artists of the same level.
Their value was even greater on the battlefield.
"Damn it, damn it all!"
Just then, the Third Elder of the Mo Mountain Tribe also noticed Fang Yue.
Because of this person, two of his tribe’s Beast Blood warriors had died without killing a single one of the enemy’s Martial Artists.
’He wasted the sacred Beast Blood! This man deserves to die!’
Killing intent stirred in the Third Elder’s heart. He threw a powerful punch, forcing Liu Zheng to retreat.
Then, instead of pursuing, he abandoned his opponent and charged straight for Fang Yue.
He even took a punch from Liu Zheng to do so.
’Why are these mountain people so single-minded? Why are they all coming after me!’
Fang Yue had also spotted the approaching Third Elder of the Mo Mountain Tribe, and he cursed inwardly.
’Can’t you stop this guy, Liu Zheng?’
’You’re a respected County Magistrate, at least at Marrow Transformation Perfection, maybe even having achieved Qi Sensing. How can you not even stop one savage?’
’This bastard... he isn’t trying to kill me with a borrowed knife, is he?’
Fang Yue recalled how he had embarrassed the County Magistrate when he passed the Martial Examination.
’The man might be the type to hold a grudge. He’s probably trying to set me up right now.’
Fang Yue definitely wasn’t going to fight the Third Elder head-on.
He wouldn’t even fight those ’crazed’ mountain people directly, let alone this Third Elder, who still had his wits about him and was clearly much stronger.
"Don’t run! If you have any guts, come and fight me! Is everyone from the Great Wei a coward?"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The Third Elder of the Mo Mountain Tribe charged recklessly, like an armored tank, his terrifying strength tearing the wooden execution platform to splinters.
The scattered tables, chairs, and benches around him were obliterated.
And regardless of whether it was a proper weapon or not, anything he could get his hands on became a weapon for the Third Elder.
"Die for me!"
At that moment, the Third Elder let out a sudden, mighty roar.
He had grabbed a stone lion weighing at least three hundred jin from somewhere.
With a furious shout, he heaved the stone lion and hurled it in Fang Yue’s direction.
The Third Elder’s shout was abrupt and piercing. It seemed to contain a strange power that made the ears of everyone present ring.
Their minds were seized, leaving them stunned for a moment.
If it affected the others like that, it was even worse for Fang Yue, who was the primary target.
Struck by that bizarre shout, his mind went blank, his body continuing forward on inertia alone.
It took him three full breaths to come to his senses.
Just then, Fang Yue heard the sound of air being torn apart right next to his ear.
An intense sense of crisis immediately welled up in his heart.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow hurtling toward him like a lightning bolt.
Fang Yue was horrified. With no time to think of a counter, he instinctively used Thousand-Pound Fall. His rapidly moving body came to a sudden halt, and he threw himself sideways to dodge.
In the span of a breath.
With a deafening BOOM,
the stone lion slammed into the ground right where he had been standing, blasting out a crater about ten feet wide and a foot deep.
At the same time, before Fang Yue could even feel relieved that he had dodged the attack,
he felt a dull, throbbing pain spread across half of his body. He looked down.
His entire left side was a mass of bruises, and a portion of his flesh had even been torn away.
He was injured.
He hadn’t completely dodged the attack. The stone lion had grazed his body.
THUD~
The next moment,
Fang Yue collapsed to the ground. Half of his body was numb, and he couldn’t muster any strength at all.
His injuries were far more severe than he had imagined.
~~~~~~
「Meanwhile, at the Zhang Mansion.」
Zhang Shu, who was usually unreliable, never listened to her father, and loved to defy him, was being remarkably well-behaved today.
"Dad, do you think Junior Brother Fang Yue really has a chance to advance to the Qi Sensing realm in the future? And does his family really have several thousand acres of land and a manor in the countryside now?"
"Junior Brother Fang Yue hasn’t married all these years... could it be because he likes me?"
Zhang Shu asked, blinking her pretty eyes at her father.
Zhang Shu had been getting older over the past two years and had started thinking about finding a suitable man to spend the rest of her life with.
But after searching and searching, she hadn’t found anyone suitable.
Moreover, for the past two years, people in her social circle were always talking about how great Fang Yue was.
This made her feel both uncomfortable and a little regretful. Perhaps she shouldn’t have rejected Fang Yue.
Finally, she heard that Fang Yue was back in the city.
So she went to her old man, hoping he would help make the match happen.
"Hmph. What’s the point of saying all this now? It’s too late, far too late." Zhang Boyang shook his head. His foolish daughter was only feeling regret now.
’Is there any point?’
Fang Yue was a junior with a very strong mind of his own, and his current strength was likely no weaker than his own.
He couldn’t make decisions for him before, and he certainly couldn’t now.
Even if he desperately wanted to set up Zhang Shu and Fang Yue, he couldn’t bring it up anymore.
If he did, he was afraid that even the little bit of goodwill between them would be gone.
"Dad, just try again. That Fang Yue is your nephew; he listens to you the most," Zhang Shu whined coquettishly.
Zhang Boyang just shook his head, refusing to agree.
Just as Zhang Shu was about to continue her pestering, a servant from the Zhang Mansion burst in without knocking, in a great hurry.
"Master, it’s terrible! Something’s happened! Something terrible has happened!" the servant exclaimed in a panic.
"Don’t panic. Speak slowly."
Zhang Boyang’s expression grew grim. In the Zhang Mansion, the servants all knew the rules.
They would never dare to enter his study without knocking.
Since this rule had been broken, it must mean something extremely important had occurred.
"Young Master Fang... Young Master Fang is gravely injured! I heard from the people at the Government Office that he’s been crippled for life..."
"What did you say? Nephew Yue has been crippled?!"