Chapter 38
“Ha!”
“Ha!”
More than forty players formed small circles, each group practicing spear thrusts against wooden stakes.
The tragic fate of Tianshui Village had made them fully realize the importance of mastering combat skills. They trained with far greater seriousness and focus than before. One after another, they passed the first stage of training and had already moved on to the second round of thrust practice.
Groups of several people worked together, attacking the wooden stakes in turn, the training ground buzzing with intensity.
Su Wangchuan walked over to the small group where Lin Dahai, Old Li, and Zhang Kai were training.
“Brother Lin.”
He called Lin Dahai aside.
Seeing Su Wangchuan’s grave expression, everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around, including Hong Kaibao and Bai Yuhui.
“What’s wrong?” “What happened?”
Su Wangchuan did not hide much from his company teammates. Lowering his voice, he said, “Captain Zhao has left the village on a mission. The village defenses are weak right now. I need to log out and rest to recover my energy, then come back at sunset. During the day, help keep an eye on the outside of the village. If anything happens, immediately send someone to notify me.”
Since Captain Zhao had entrusted the village’s safety to him, Su Wangchuan had to take it seriously and ensure nothing went wrong.
Lin Dahai and the others immediately grew solemn.
“Alright!”
“Got it.”
“We understand.”
“Wangchuan, get some proper rest. If anything happens, we’ll notify you right away.”
Having received reminders from Su Wangchuan before and gained some reputation during the night, Lin Dahai had become even more motivated to raise his reputation level. Hearing this, he immediately took on the role of a team leader and began organizing:
“Alright, then. Tonight we’ll arrange a few people to assist Wangchuan. Who’s free at night?”
“Me!”
“Me!”
Several young players volunteered eagerly.
“Good!”
“Old Li, you and I will watch during the day.”
“Hong Kaibao, Zhang Kai, Bai Yuhui—you log out and rest. Log back in at six in the evening.”
With the arrangements settled, Su Wangchuan did not delay further. After informing his master, he logged out.
Back in reality, he took a thorough shower, ate his fill, and quickly fell asleep.
He slept straight through until six in the evening.
Opening his eyes, Su Wangchuan ate the dinner delivered by the robot. Seeing that Brother Lin still had not sent him any message, it was highly likely that Captain Zhao had not yet returned.
He made all necessary preparations and logged into the game.
The atmosphere in the village had changed.
The time for reopening the gates had already passed, yet Zhao Heiniu and the other two hunters who had gone out during the day had not returned.
People in the village were already whispering among themselves, anxiety spreading.
“Old Li, Brother Lin, you’ve worked hard. Leave it to me now.”
Su Wangchuan took over the watch from Brother Lin.
Old Li needed to return to spend time with his wife and children. After reminding Su Wangchuan to be careful, he went to log out at a nearby wooden house.
Before leaving, Lin Dahai said, “I’ll log out to rest for a bit and come back after midnight.”
Su Wangchuan nodded.
He knew Brother Lin wanted to complete the task for advancing his reputation.
At this moment, the village chief walked over.
“Wangchuan.”
“Captain Zhao isn’t here. Right now, you’re the best archer in the village. You need to step up and protect the village…”
“Don’t worry. All of the village’s armor-piercing arrows have been brought over. If anything happens, you’re authorized to use them freely.”
The village chief made his stance clear.
“Understood, Village Chief. Wangchuan will go all out.”
Su Wangchuan climbed onto the earthen wall.
The remaining militiamen and hunters spread out around the village, maintaining a high level of alertness.
Bai Yuhui, Hong Kaibao, and Zhang Kai stood beside Su Wangchuan with spears in hand, ready to assist at any time.
Inside the village, braziers burned fiercely, and the area was brightly lit.
The villagers were on edge.
The players did not dare log out either.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Time passed quickly.
Night soon fell.
Several hours later…
Someone with sharp eyes spotted a shadow appearing in the wind and snow.
“Something’s happening!”
“Look!”
“What is that?”
The militiamen on the earthen wall instantly tensed.
Everyone looked into the distance.
About ten zhang away, in the snowfield, a shadow appeared, staggering slowly toward the village…
“It looks like a person.”
“It is a person!”
Su Wangchuan observed carefully and confirmed that the shadow was indeed human, and seemingly injured. After taking a few steps, the figure suddenly collapsed into the snow and stopped moving.
Several players blurted out:
“Could it be someone from Captain Zhao’s team?”
“Should we send someone out to check?”
“They’ll freeze to death out there!”
“Open the gate!”
“Hurry and open the gate to save them!”
Even Hong Kaibao and the others were eager to rush over and take a look.
Su Wangchuan also suspected it might be Captain Zhao returning.
A few militiamen had already jumped down from the earthen wall and ran toward the figure.
Others hurried to the village gate, reaching for the crossbar to open it.
At that moment, a veteran militiaman shouted loudly:
“Village rules! After nightfall, the gate must not be opened!”
Several militiamen were frantic.
“At a time like this, you’re still clinging to those old rules?”
“If Captain Zhao freezes to death, can you take responsibility?”
“Exactly!”
“Open the gate!”
The veteran militiaman was pushed aside.
Just then, Blacksmith Sun shouted angrily:
“No one opens the gate!”
Blacksmith Sun carried considerable authority in the village, second only to the village chief and Captain Zhao Heiniu.
“If it really were Captain Zhao, he would have called out already!”
Hearing this, Su Wangchuan was jolted awake.
If it wasn’t Captain Zhao… then who was it?
In an instant, a chill ran down his spine.
Blacksmith Sun was decisive. After stopping everyone, he quickly stepped forward, wrapped a strip of cloth around the tip of an arrow, soaked it in tung oil, lit it, and shot it toward the shadow in the wind and snow.
The fire arrow traced a perfect arc and landed near the shadow.
The firelight illuminated the figure.
At the same time, it revealed a trench hidden behind the snow.
Within the trench, pairs of eyes reflected dangerous, vicious light in the flames.
Sharp metal glinted with blinding cold brilliance!
In the snowfield, a group of armed bandits lay in ambush!
The people inside the earthen wall saw everything clearly.
The two militiamen who had run out were stunned by the sight. Their bodies stiffened, faces turning deathly pale, as they cried out instinctively:
“Bandits!”
Only then did they realize they had been tricked.
The bandits had staged a ruse, luring them out to deceive Blackstone Village into opening its gate.
“Run!”
“Run!!”
The two were terrified out of their wits and turned to flee.
But they heard two sharp WHOOSH sounds.
One man was shot in the thigh, collapsing into the snow with a scream.
The other was shot through the neck. Clutching the pierced wound, blood rapidly soaked his clothes. With despair, resentment, and fear in his eyes, he reached toward the direction of the earthen wall before his body convulsed and fell.
BOOM!
“Damn it!”
“Didn’t expect there to be capable people in this village!”
The ‘injured’ man lying in the snow suddenly sprang up. In the firelight, his face was revealed—thick with coarse flesh, eyes vicious, teeth yellowed. From beneath his clothes, he pulled out a shield and a hand axe, cursing loudly:
“The gate didn’t open—come on! Charge head-on!!”
“Archers, suppress them with fire!”
“Everyone, move!”
Raising his hand axe, he shouted orders. More than twenty bandits surged out from behind the trench.
A group of men wielding blades, swords, and axes charged toward Blackstone Village with long strides.
In an instant, the entire village was thrown into extreme tension.
CLICK HERE to Rate/Review