Chapter 236: The Spider Shrine

“Retreat!”

The Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe strode out of the conical combat formation and advanced upon the zombie-like old man with a hawk nose like a moving black iron tower. As he took each stride, three shots were fired, and each shot discharged three arrows.

That time, his shots were not only aimed to kill. Instead, they became more rapid, sharp, and accurate, which were in line with the techniques of individual combats.

Each time the string sent the arrows out, there was a loud crack sounding like a thunderclap.

The man produced a shower of arrows with a single bow.

The zombie-like old man with a hawk nose, however, ambled forward as he continuously threw his palms to the front, generating waves of dark blue internal qi that raged, rolled, then froze all the arrows flying at him and mangled them…

“Kill!”

The Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe abruptly stamped hard on the ground and bounced up. In midair, he grasped the unusually-shaped bow with both hands and gave it a jerk and a wrench. Instantly, the string contracted and the bow was disassembled in two parts from the middle—it turned into two curved machetes. Holding each piece in one hand, he hacked down upon the opponent.

It seemed that the warrior from the pasture not only had amazing dexterity of archery but also formidable ability in close combat.

The zombie-like old man with a hawk nose did not dare underestimate his attack. He pressed his palms together and then pulled them slightly away from each other. Suddenly, a jet of dark blue light was drawn out from his right palm, which then transformed into a thin sword glowing dark blue. He clenched the sword with his left hand and flicked the left wrist. At once, a hail of swords descended on the place.

It was the materialization of Natural qi.

Only an expert who had at least turned thirty percent of his internal qi into Natural qi could materialize the refined Natural qi into a physical weapon.

Clank! Clink! Clank!

At that moment, it looked like a metal hurricane had come into being. Under the dark skyline, infinite blinding sparks splattered everywhere and rattles of clashing weapons sounded without a stop.

Soon, the sparks died away.

The Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe found dots of blood strewn on his skin.

His pair of machetes failed to completely fend off the thin sword of the opponent. In an instant, the sword had left him with ten wounds. But thanks to his fearless and desperate defense that might hurt both of him and the opponent, the sword had merely stabbed into his skin and muscles but failed to hurt his tendons and bones.

For a warrior from the pasture, such injuries were not a big deal.

“Lunge forward! Don’t stop! Hold him there!”

The Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe was, indeed, though. Taking no notice of his injuries, he wielded his machetes into a storm of blades again, and swept directly at the zombie-like old man with a hawk nose for a second time.

Regarding the young Army Advisor as the tip of the cone, the rest of the pasture warriors continued rushing to the outside.

According to their premade plan, once they forced their way out of the Musical House’s Liufang Street, they could join the relief troops that had been waiting there. Then, they would race out of the city of Chang’an. If they were stuck here for too long, they would give the securities in different regions of Chang’an enough time to assemble there. Adding the field army stationed out of the city, those warriors from the pasture would be outnumbered and perhaps all would get killed at that place in spite of their overwhelming strength.

Therefore, they could by no means waste time.

“Hah-hah, you’ll be put down!”

The zombie-like old man with a hawk nose suddenly gave a cold holler. He leaped out of the combat area and focused his qi, the power of which hiked all at once. The dark blue glow on the thin sword flashed, and out of the blue, the sky started sprinkling dark blue snowflakes. Following the direction of his thin sword, those snowflakes turned into a colossal skeletal dragon in dark blue that opened its huge mouth and charged at the Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe.

“Moon-exterminating Wolf Hack!”

The Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe knew it was the most critical moment, so he executed his best move with both hands. One of the pair of machetes was held high, and the other low. They looked like two crescents floating in front of him. The internal qi was surging inside him, circulating pursuant to a unique method. As airflow surged, dim wolf howls from the pasture were heard. Meanwhile, the shadow of a silver-furred wolf swallowing the moon appeared behind him.

“Hack!”

The warrior cried.

The sliver-furred wolf instantly leaped at that dark blue skeletal dragon.

He was using his best move against the opposite party’s best move.

His killing attack clashed with the other’s.

In the void, an air turbulence was incurred.

“Boom!”

A deafening explosion spread in the void.

The sliver-furred wolf swallowing the moon and the dark blue skeletal dragon burst open almost at the same time. They blasted into pieces and dissolved into wild energy fluctuations.

Like a black iron tower, the Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe stool absolutely still on the spot. He was confronting the impact of the explosion on his own, lest any of his companions was hurt. By contrast, the zombie-like old man with a hawk nose took three steps back to buffer the pressure and speedily made all the wild airflow disappear.

Comparatively, it was clear that the strength of the Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe was a little inferior to that of the zombie-like old man.

However, the killing intent had not scattered yet.

In the turbulence, a chilling stream sneaked upon the pasture warrior without making a noise.

It was the Freezing Chill.

Failing to detect the danger, the Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe got hit by the chill. Shortly, his whole body was wrapped in an icy airflow; even his hair and brows were stiffened due to the cold. He quickly spat a shot of arrow-shaped blood out. But before it hit the ground, it was already a chunk of scarlet ice.

“Go to hell!”

The zombie-like old man with a hawk nose darted forward. He moved so fast that it looked like a streak of shadow shot to the front and directed a sward at the heart of the Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe.

The nearly frozen warrior was completely rigid. He knew he had no chance to duck that attack. But just then, a jet of gold glistened. With a clink, a golden bow appeared and blocked the sword by a close call.

It turned out that the Virgin Goddess, Qing Yan, had come forward.

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The Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe was then rescued by the young Army Advisor.

“You take the others out of here. I’ll deal with him!” With the Gold Sun Magic Bow at hand, the Goddess of Martial Arts from the pasture lunged at the old man. She raised her hands casually and scores of gold arrows brushed past her cheeks and shot out.

Like a willow branch flapping in howling wind, the zombie-like old man speedily darted here and there to avert the violent gold arrows.

Nevertheless, the arrows shot by the Goddess of Martial Arts were faster than him. The woman flexed her body with the elegance of a dancer and plucked the string on her bow as if she were playing the zither. Moonlight poured on her string, which seemed to be a tickling stream. In a trice, a cluster of gold arrows was forged and it stormed at the zombie-like old man with a hawk nose, covering him up.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

The power of the magic bow had been exerted to the utmost.

“Ahhh…” The zombie-like old man with a hawk nose let loose a yelp and retreated at top speed. A gold arrow had pierced into his shoulder, but no bleeding was seen. With a ferocious look, he bellowed, “This is the Heart Heavenly Shot of the late Great Jebe form the pasture. Are you a descendant of the Great Jebe?”

The Virgin Goddess, Qing Yan, kept her mouth shut and continued to produce outbursts of arrows.

“You’re very much mistaken if you believe I can’t do you any harm. In comparison your archery is not a tenth of the splendid late Great Jebe’s technique.” The zombie-like old man with a hawk nose flew into a rage. As the Netherworld qi swirled around him, he stuck both hands into the treasure pocket and fished out a pair of bone cudgels. He brandished them like two whirlwinds and knocked off all the gold arrows shooting at him into fragments.

“This pair of bone cudgels was made of the leg bones of a Deva from the pastures by me…” The zombie-like old man with a hawk nose broke out laughing.” If your attainment in the Heart Heavenly Shot is as good as one-tenth of that that Great Jebe, I truly can’t do anything to you. But…”

As he was speaking, all of a sudden, color drained from his face and he craned his neck to the east.

“My junior fellow…” Tears abruptly slipped down his cheeks as he cried, “No! Brother, who killed you?”

Because he has sensed that his junior fellow apprentice, who was almost a brother to him, was killed in battle.

‘How can it be? Aside from the limited few, who else in Chang’an can defeat our Iron Wood Demonic Method?’

“Aaaah…” He turned into a gust of wind, whirled in the sky and swept towards the east straight away, discarding the Virgin Goddess and the others there.

Qing Yan, the Virgin Goddess, finally showed a shade of relief on her features. She swayed slightly and vomited a mouthful of blood.

“Your Highness…” Two female Wolf Warriors were scared at the sight and they scuttled over to support her.

“It’s nothing. I just exerted myself too much to push the magic bow and lost a load of spiritual force.” She gestured them to go away despite her pale face. After being hauled to the Western Qin empire, her internal qi was sealed and her body was poorly nurtured with an insufficient supply of food and water. Her qi and stamina had declined sharply. But on seeing the enemy’s deadly blow a moment ago, she forced herself to activate the magic bow and suffered a backlash, but the injury wasn’t grave.

“Go!”

The pasture Army Advisor shouted.

Since the zombie-like old man with a hawk nose suddenly lost his mind and had departed, that was a golden opportunity to break out. If they hesitated any longer, perhaps the situation would quickly be reverted.

Qing Yan, the Virgin Goddess, nodded affirmatively and marched to the front at once.

But she also cast a glance of bewilderment to the east.

‘The Two Netherworld Freaks are, indeed, extraordinarily gifted and frighteningly powerful. Owing to the Iron Wood Demonic Method they practiced, they can hardly be killed. These years, they have made their name. Rumors have it that they have been recruited by some royal member of the Western Qin Empire. Even for an expert at the peak of the Natural Realm, to kill them is a highly challenging task. But judging by the previous scenario, it seems that one of the Two Netherworld Freaks was killed, wasn’t he?’

‘What kind of man in the world is capable of that?’

The throngs of pasture warriors galloped to the exit of Liufang Street like a storm.

The security army stationed at the gate of the eastern region were routed almost the instant they came into contact with the pasture warriors.

Upon seeing the exit just a few steps ahead, many female Wolf Warriors and the soldiers of the Moon-shooting Tribe revealed a smile of gratification.

However, right at that moment, the expression of Qing Yan, the Virgin Goddess, changed abruptly.

“Halt!” she yelled.

Several soldiers of the Moon-shooting Tribe who did not pick up the alarm shot out through the exit. Instantly, like twigs being cut into pieces by a sharp knife, they were noiselessly dissected into splinters and fell onto the ground. All of them were completely dead before they could let loose a wail.

“What?”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s spider’s threads… the spider’s thread from the pasture!”

The young Army Advisor, the Junior Chief of the Moon-shooting Tribe, and the other leaders turned pallid. They swiftly ordered the rest to stand back.

The breaking-through formation immediately disbanded.

The six most outstanding soldiers of the Moon-shooting Tribe had been reduced to scraps of meat in front of everyone. Also, the weapons in their hands and the clothes they wore were all cut into pieces by the invisible spider’s threads. Their bodies were now lumps of meat of all shapes. How tragic it was!

Fury surfaced on the Virgin Goddess’s features.

“It’s the Spider Shrine force.”

She muttered.

The moment her words were out, the other pasture warriors all changed their expressions as though they had encountered something incredibly terrible.

“Fine. On the other day, it was also the force of the Spider Shrine waylaying us…” The hatred in Qing Yan’s eyes could hardly be concealed. She was sure, that day’s insult she and the forty-six female Wolf Warriors received was caused by the Spider Shrine.

“How come men of the Spider Shrine are here?”

The young Army Advisor creased his brows.

“Humph, I have stayed here waiting for you for quite a while.” A bony figure wearing a green robe paced out of the darkness. He was small and emaciated, almost like a dwarf. But his body and his shadow blocked the way of all the pasture warriors.

“Surely, it’s you!” roared Qing Yan, the Virgin Goddess.