Chapter 52
A flock of sparrows landed to peck at the grain. Six were shot down. How many remained?
Answer: None!
Su Wangchuan was as steady as ever. He shot down six sparrows, calmly pushing 《Archery》 to 218/300.
Outside the village.
A sparrow that had been hit by an arrow spun as it dropped into the snow, landing not far from a wild wolf.
The wolf looked puzzled. It trotted over, sniffed at the sparrow, then stared toward Tianshui Village and let out a long howl.
“Awoooo…”
An accident.
In the distant snowfield, one dark figure after another appeared, rising like shadows from the white.
After receiving their companion’s signal, more than thirty wild wolves began to sweep in toward Tianshui Village, encircling it as they searched for prey. Hong Kaibao ran out of the village in excitement, only to turn pale when that sudden howl hit his ears.
“Damn it!”
“Wolves!”
The moment he saw wolf silhouettes in the snow, he panicked and spun around to run back.
WHOOSH!
Su Wangchuan had already arrived first. He moved quickly onto the earthen wall, looking down from above. When he saw the dark shapes streaking across the snow, his expression tightened, his face turning grim.
This is bad!
He immediately blew the bamboo whistle.
Toot! Toot-toot!!
The sharp sound carried far.
He thrust the whistle into Hong Kaibao’s hand and shouted at the two of them, “Unstrap the arrows and go to the stream to find Brother Lin!”
Then he nocked an arrow, drew, and aimed at a wolf rapidly closing on the village.
WHOOSH!
An Armor-Piercing Arrow could fly farther, and once it struck, the target would lose the ability to fight.
The leading wolf did not even have time to react before the arrow punched straight through its body.
A splash of red bloomed on the snow.
The nearby wolves startled, hesitating for a heartbeat. When they confirmed that only one person stood on the earthen wall drawing a bow, they accelerated at once, fanning out to surround him.
Su Wangchuan drew again.
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH WHOOSH!
The closer the wolves came, the faster his release became.
There was no need for careful aim anymore. As long as he hit, it was enough.
Wolves could not outrun arrows on the snow. One after another, they were brought down.
In just two breaths, the nearest twelve wolves were either dead or wounded.
His experience value kept climbing.
Su Wangchuan had no time to pay attention. More than twenty wolves were already closing in, and the Armor-Piercing Arrows in his quiver were rapidly dwindling. Only a few remained. It would have been a lie to say he was not nervous.
But no matter how afraid he was, he could not panic.
“Awoooo!”
A wolf lunged up to the base of the earthen wall. An Armor-Piercing Arrow instantly punched through its eye, and its head tilted as it collapsed.
The earthen wall still had its use. Holding the high ground meant the wolves could not leap up in a single bound.
Su Wangchuan fired the last few Armor-Piercing Arrows in one continuous burst. By then, the wolves were already scrambling and clawing up the earthen wall, hind legs kicking hard as they hauled themselves higher.
Su Wangchuan retreated to the side without haste. From his other quiver, he drew ordinary arrows and silently unleashed a rapid volley.
At close range, even ordinary arrows had lethal penetrating power.
The nearest wolf took an arrow straight into the head. It howled in agony, rolling and tumbling back down.
More and more wolves sprang over the top of the earthen wall.
Su Wangchuan did not panic.
He kept drawing and releasing.
The earthen wall was narrow, barely wide enough for two adults to stand shoulder to shoulder.
In real combat, it only gave room for one person to maneuver.
The wolves were the same…
As Su Wangchuan retreated step by step, the wolves in front naturally formed into a single line.
WHOOSH!
A wolf bared its teeth as it surged forward, only for an arrow to seal its mouth. Blood erupted like a spring. With a shrill howl, it fell backward off the wall.
Su Wangchuan’s movements were seamless and swift.
Before the next wolf could fully charge up, he had already nocked and drawn again.
PFFT!
Another wolf collapsed.
Lin Xun arrived fast.
The moment he heard the bamboo whistle, his body jerked. He immediately activated 《Lightfoot on Grass》, leaving Li Zekai far behind as he sprinted across the snow toward Tianshui Village.
When he reached the village, he saw a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
The broken earthen wall was covered in wolves, above and below.
Su Wangchuan stood alone, focused and composed. As he took quick, small steps backward, he kept drawing and releasing at high speed.
One wolf after another was struck and rolled off the wall.
Beneath the wall, wolves lay dead or wounded!
The wolves in front of him could not cross that line even by half a step.
Lin Xun leapt onto a rooftop for a higher vantage.
Outside the village wall, he saw even more wolf corpses…
The sharp edge of the Armor-Piercing Arrows, the wolves’ blood, the stark white snow. The contrast was brutal.
Without meaning to, Lin Xun sucked in a cold breath.
More than thirty wolves…
Even with his status as a martial artist, he could not have taken them down without cost. He would have ended up in a sorry state, at the very least.
Yet Su Wangchuan was only a Quasi-Martial Artist. Isolated and without support, he had used Tianshui Village’s terrain, handled the situation calmly, killed so many wolves, and remained completely unscathed.
Unbelievable.
Su Wangchuan exhaled slowly, forcing the tension out of his body.
Only three arrows remained in the quiver on his back!
Inside the village, there were no wolves left that could still stand.
“Brother Lin.”
Su Wangchuan had naturally noticed Lin Xun on the neighboring roof. He bared his teeth in a grin.
At that moment, a cold wind blew, making his clothes snap and flutter. Against the piled, scattered wolf corpses, the clean and unblemished cloth-clad archer formed a scene of overwhelming impact.
Lin Xun did not even know what to say.
Then Su Wangchuan moved again.
He jumped down from the earthen wall, ran to pick up arrows from the ground, refilled both quivers, then nocked another arrow…
For an instant, Lin Xun felt an inexplicable sense of danger, until he realized Su Wangchuan was aiming at the wolves that were still alive despite being hit.
“Awoooo!”
The miserable wolf took another arrow, this time in the thigh.
Then Lin Xun heard Su Wangchuan muttering,
“Hm…”
“Thirty-seven arrows, thirty-seven points of experience.”
“Why is it that hitting them now does not increase experience value anymore?”
“Nonsense,” Lin Xun said as he walked over.
He understood immediately.
Su Wangchuan was trying to exploit a bug by farming 《Archery》 experience off wounded wolves that were not yet dead.
Lin Xun looked at him speechlessly and explained,
“It is normal for the first hit on a wolf to give experience value. But once a wolf is injured, its overall evaluation has already dropped. Unless you kill it with one arrow at that moment, you will not gain any additional experience value.”
“I see,” Su Wangchuan said, and drew again.
The wolf that was still wailing had its mouth sealed at once.
Sure enough, the experience value rose to 255/300.
Su Wangchuan kept drawing and releasing, finishing off the wolves he had not killed earlier one by one, bringing his experience value to 270/300.
Li Zekai returned with Hong Kaibao and Bai Yuhui.
When they saw wolf corpses everywhere, inside and outside the village, all three were stunned.
“It’s over?”
“I thought I might be able to get a few points of experience,” Li Zekai said, disappointment on his face as if he had missed the best part.
“Not just you. I missed it too,” Lin Xun said, and his words left the three of them staring in shock.
“This…”
“All of this was done by Wangchuan alone?”
“Senior Brother Wangchuan! Is that true?”
They looked at him as if he were a monster.
Su Wangchuan still wore an expression of lingering fear as he explained, “Yes. I relied on the advantage of the earthen wall… Luckily I had prepared Armor-Piercing Arrows. Otherwise, I might have ended up as wolf feed today.”
Lin Xun nodded.
“Indeed. Without Armor-Piercing Arrows, today would have been a completely different situation… With so many wolves swarming at once, you would have had no way out. You must be more cautious in the future.”
“What should we do with these wolf corpses?”
“It’s already too late today. There is no way to take them away. I’ll slit them open, throw the organs outside, and drag the bodies into the cellar to make sure other beasts do not find and eat them tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll bring people over to handle the rest,” Lin Xun decided at once, clearly experienced with this kind of work.
CLICK HERE to Rate/Review