Chapter 268: Not Worthy of Sympathy |
“Director Zhou!”
“A lot of Caobang members are coming!”
“They’re all experts!!”
One of the Red Moon players stood on top of the wall and saw, under the crimson glow of the signal flare, numerous figures in tight combat attire rushing toward Blackstone Village in a dark mass. His face turned pale with fright.
“Director Zhou, run!”
“If we don’t leave now, we won’t be able to leave at all!”
The Caobang was the largest gang force in this region around the county towns. To all factions, it was a colossus—especially to the studios in 《spirit realm》. It was an existence they would never dare provoke.
Zhou Maoming’s expression turned grim. He had already fought his way right up to Zhao Heiniu, yet now he had no choice but to withdraw.
“Retreat!”
Abandoning the injured and dead studio members, the rest of them broke out in the most miserable fashion possible, fleeing Blackstone Village at full speed.
In the darkness, the first wave of arrows had already been released.
From afar, Su Wangchuan saw blades flashing inside Blackstone Village. His heart burned with urgency. He had launched the Caobang distress signal flare both to restrain the enemy and to bolster Zhao Heiniu and the others’ morale so they could hold out until his reinforcements arrived.
Now, seeing a large group rushing out of the village, he did not hesitate. He took down his bow and fired immediately.
“Loose arrows!”
Chen Ergou and the others also made their move.
Five-Finger Rapid Shot!
Hundred Paces Piercing the Poplar!
A rain of arrows poured out from the darkness, crashing down upon the Red Moon Studio players like a mountain of blades and fire.
The Quasi-Martial Artists had no chance to evade.
They fell one after another, struck by arrows.
For the first time, panic appeared in Zhou Maoming’s eyes.
They had already lost dozens of people during the assault on Blackstone Village.
Now the Caobang reinforcements had arrived swiftly and powerfully. In a single exchange, dozens more were killed.
The studio’s forces were now caught in a deadly pincer attack.
After several rounds of arrow rain, more and more people collapsed with arrows lodged in their bodies.
“Save me!”
“Director Zhou, save me!”
“Boss!”
“I don’t want to die!”
The morale of Red Moon Studio finally shattered completely.
Cries and desperate wails rose everywhere.
Su Wangchuan’s gaze was ice-cold.
With the Five-Finger Rapid Shot, he drew and released the bow repeatedly, harvesting the lives of Red Moon Studio players with ruthless determination.
Red Moon Studio had gone mad.
They had already slaughtered two villages in succession.
Blackstone Village was the third village they had invaded.
They had not even spared the members of the Gold-Farming Team.
All of them deserved to die.
If he had not arranged reinforcements in advance and personally rushed here to support them today, what would have become of Blackstone Village?
Dozens of lives would have been lost.
His master, Blacksmith Sun… Zhao Heiniu… all of them might have died here.
Every player who participated in this operation was unworthy of sympathy.
Kill!
In just a few breaths, more than fifteen Red Moon Studio players had been shot down by him alone.
Every single one had been pierced by Armor-Piercing Arrows—either dead or crippled.
Those who fell behind were all Quasi-Martial Artists.
They had no chance of escaping the pursuit of the Caobang elites.
Their corpses littered the ground.
Zhao Heiniu, Monk Dalong, and the others also rushed out in pursuit.
“Go back!”
“Don’t get yourselves caught in friendly fire!”
Su Wangchuan shouted to Monk Dalong.
The monk thought about it and realized it made sense.
Outside was pitch dark. If the Caobang fighters accidentally killed them while clearing the battlefield, there would be no place to complain.
“Wangchuan!”
“Try to keep Zhou Maoming from Red Moon Studio here! And that brute with the face full of scars!”
“These two Second-Rank Martial Artists are the key—especially Zhou Maoming. He’s the chief supervisor of Red Moon Studio! The idea to slaughter the villages came from him!”
Su Wangchuan nodded.
In truth, he had already locked onto those two Second-Rank Martial Artists within the crowd.
However, the two were running at the very front, and their lightness skills were quite strong. For the moment, he could not catch up.
More than eighty Caobang members had already eliminated every Quasi-Martial Artist from Red Moon Studio and were now chasing down their full-fledged Martial Artists and First-Rank Martial Artists.
Among the remaining forty or so people, some were already injured and unable to run quickly. One after another they were struck by arrows, fell to their knees, and begged for mercy—only to be cut down by the pursuing Caobang disciples.
“You fight when you can win, and beg when you cannot?”
“Die!”
Zhao Heiniu was the most ferocious of them all.
He chased relentlessly while shooting arrow after arrow.
Each time he drew his bow, at least one Red Moon Studio player fell.
More than a dozen militiamen had been killed in Blackstone Village this time.
If Su Wangchuan had not arrived with reinforcements in time, the village might truly have been slaughtered.
For once, Zhao Heiniu’s eyes were filled with murderous fury.
Like a god of death pursuing souls, he knew only two actions—draw the bow, kill.
The fleeing Red Moon Studio players gradually dwindled across the open wilderness.
By the time only Zhao Heiniu, Chen Ergou, Bai Yuhui, and Hong Kaibao remained beside Su Wangchuan, most of the studio’s Martial Artists had already been shot down.
The remaining dozen scattered in different directions, fleeing into the forest.
Zhou Maoming himself had disappeared long ago.
“Enough.”
“Captain Zhao! Ergou! We’re going back!”
Although they had not managed to kill the two Second-Rank Martial Artists from Red Moon Studio, the rage in Su Wangchuan’s heart had largely subsided.
This time, Red Moon Studio had suffered enormous losses.
At least two hundred of their members had been wiped out.
Altogether, they had lost nearly three hundred players in this conflict.
Even the strongest studio would suffer a severe blow to its foundations after such losses.
For quite some time, they would not dare enter Huishui County again.
The group turned back, gathered their men, collected the bodies, and returned to Blackstone Village.
What surprised Su Wangchuan was that his subordinates found many silver notes on the corpses of the Red Moon Studio players.
Altogether, they amounted to more than seven thousand taels of silver.
Their weapons and Blood-Activating Pills could also be sold for some money.
However, when all the corpses were laid out neatly outside the village, everyone in the village was stunned.
By now, dawn was breaking.
Monk Dalong walked over with several people.
“Wangchuan.”
“This time, it’s thanks to you. Otherwise, our Team Two would have been finished.”
The five of them cupped their fists and thanked him.
“Our team owes you a favor.”
“We’re all on the same side. Don’t be so formal.”
Although Su Wangchuan said that, he felt quite pleased inside.
However, Zhao Heiniu suddenly spoke.
“More than a dozen brothers from the village died.”
“And among the men I brought from the gang… three of them were killed as well.”
“Where did these people even come from?”
His eyes were filled with worry.
Su Wangchuan did not know how to answer. He simply patted Zhao Heiniu on the arm and said quietly:
“I will take responsibility for the compensation for the village militiamen.”
“The destruction of Tianshui Village was caused by the wolf pack.”
“But the two villages recently slaughtered in the county were entirely man-made disasters! These people are even more ruthless than the Five Poison Sect and the Blackwind Stronghold. They stop at nothing!” Zhao Heiniu gritted his teeth. “I cannot feel at ease. I’m worried Blackstone Village might suffer the same fate as those villages. We must report this to the authorities and bring these people to justice. Otherwise, I cannot rest easy.”
The officials arrived quickly.
Constable Captain Yu Leng Wuya from Huishui County brought a team of yamen runners. When he saw the rows of corpses laid out outside Blackstone Village, his expression darkened.
He removed several wooden identification tags from the bodies.
“These people are from Rong County. Most of them are villagers… What are they doing running into Huishui County? Are they rebelling?”
“These damned people! Last night they also attacked another village in Huishui County! The entire village was slaughtered—no one survived!”
“It seems the earlier massacre was also carried out by this same group of bandits!”
“These criminals!”
“Helm Leader Wangchuan, rest assured. I will immediately report this to the Prefectural Government and the Six Gates. They will thoroughly investigate this matter!”
“Those who escaped will not be spared either!”
Leng Wuya thumped his chest as he promised Su Wangchuan.