Xia Hou caught the iron arrow in his hands which was heading towards him. The arrow was about to pierce him.
Xia Hou"s eyes were, all of a sudden, as bright as the glittering stars in the sky.
There was a loud roar, and the sparks caused by the friction between the iron arrow and Xia Hou"s palms extinguished. Turbulent winds rolled above the lake bank, crus.h.i.+ng the willow trees and dancing amongst the snow.
With a frightful force, Xia Hou"s body was tossed backwards.
His feet were firmly entrenched in the bank like two iron pillars, and two ravines appeared. Had the Yanming Lake not been frozen, the water in it would have flowed into them.
The arrow bunch of the iron arrow pierced through the surface layer of his Qi of Heaven and Earth and through his clothes. It pierced through his skin, leaving a shallow wound which began to bleed slowly.
Xia Hou raised his head and looked towards the southern bank of Yanming Lake. There was a slight pale on his tanned face, and he began to cough, with blood flowing from the corner of his lips.
There was an empty tunnel devoid of snow above the frozen lake on that snowy night. Snow would fall but would be crushed to smithereens by the lingering aura of the arrow as it whizzed by.
This was the path that the arrow traveled.
The other end of the path was seated at the cliff at the southern banks of Yanming Lake.
Xia Hou had finally confirmed Ning Que"s position.
He looked over expressionlessly. A strong aura emanated from within him. Snow and dust whirled up, dancing madly and forming a circle in the center of the waving willows.
After that, the ground on which he was standing began to sink, forming a perfectly round circle measuring over ten feet in diameter. His body disappeared in the terrifying aftershock, leaving the fluttering winds behind.
A few flakes of snow fell.
Xia Hou left the banks of the lake and started running towards the southern banks of the lake.
His feet landed heavily on the surface of the lake.
The Yanming Lake was so frozen that it did not shatter despite bearing his weight and the heavy impact that came with him. However, several minuscule cracks would appear every time he stepped down.
The water beneath the ice began to churn as if feeling the heavy weight on the surface of the ice. A low and odd sound started.
It sounded like drumsticks landing heavily on war drums, with a low sound of drumbeating.
This winter lake was his war drum.
He did not make drumbeats often, but every strike was filled with power.
Xia Hou did not run fast, but it felt as if every step took him across mountains.
In just a moment, his shadow appeared on the frozen surface of the Yanming Lake.
If one could see through the shade that darkness provided, he might be able to see that shadow on the lake.
A powerhouse at the Peak state of Martial Arts had absolute power, so when he turned his power into speed, it would be terrible enough that it could not be described with words.
Even the winds above the lake and the falling snow could not move as fast as him. Even if Ning Que"s Talisman Arrows were faster, he wouldn"t be able to hit such a fast-moving target.
This was a simple truth on the battlefield.
Both Xia Hou and Ning Xia had experienced many battles, so they all knew this very well.
Ever since Xia Hou discovered Ning Que"s enmity against him, he had been waiting for the legendary Primordial Thirteen Arrows on the alert. He had deliberated over it for a long time before coming to a conclusion: The Primordial Thirteen Arrows would not pose any threat to him as long as he ran fast.
His tough military boots broke the ice on the lake as he stepped on it.
There were withered lotus flowers frozen in the water. It had died for a long time and was covered with snow. It looked extremely pathetic.
Just as Xia Hou stepped down one of the withered lotuses, the others beside it trembled a little, as if they had gained new life. Then, there was a resounding boom.
The frozen lake surface split open. The withered lotus sprang up in a fiery explosion, causing the air to whirl.
Xia Hou"s mountainous build was tossed high up in the air by the shock.
The fiery blaze screeched and whistled, buzzing in the air.
The withered lotuses which were not enveloped in the fiery explosion shattered into numerous pieces as if they had been cut by a sharp blade.
Xia Hou landed on the lake heavily, splas.h.i.+ng a splatter of snow.
His knees were slightly bent, and his military boots were torn. However, his body kept balance in a strong way and did not fall.
Along with his landing, countless pieces of extremely sharp and hard iron shards rained down as well.
These iron shards fell at a high speed, whistling as they dropped down. They cut the lotus into pieces and then landed on the surface of the ice lake as if it was raining.
The sharp iron pieces also fell on Xia Hou.
The surface layer of his Qi of Heaven and Earth managed to s.h.i.+eld him from most of the explosion and the slicing of the sharp iron shards. However, he was still cut by dozens of the shards.
Several lacerations appeared on Xia Hou"s hardened skin and it began to bleed.
It was then.
When the second iron arrow appeared.
Without warning.
Xia Hou watched the snow raining down on the lake, and s.h.i.+ed away from it. He installed his aura into his right hand and waved his hand, expressionlessly.
The seemingly simple wave of his hand caused the winds to blow wildly. Pebbles of ice were tossed about madly.
There was a sharp sound.
A wound appeared on his right arm.
The iron arrow was shaken. It sc.r.a.ped by his body, and submerged in the lake of snow.
There was a loud boom as a deep dark hole appeared on the ice lake which was frozen solid.
Xia Hou raised his head suddenly and looked towards the southern banks. Then, he started running again.
He had to admit that he had underestimated Ning Que.
But he could not retreat any further. He had to make the distance between Ning Que and himself closer.
That was why he had to rush over there no matter how many tricks were buried in the lake, and how many other explosions like the previous one were hidden in the lotus land.
He continued running towards the lotus land.
And a second explosion occurred.
The Primordial Thirteen Arrows could hit any target regardless of the distance. However, it could not ignore the speed of the target. Ning Que understood this. Furthermore, both Xia Hou"s Devil"s Doctrine power and his physical condition were extremely strong, which prince Long Qing could never compared with. So he had never pinned his hope on killing Xia Hou with the Primordial Thirteen Arrows only.
It was fortunate that there was a lotus field in the middle of the Yanming Lake.
Nearing the end of spring, Ning Que had bought all the houses by Yanming Lake. He claimed the lake for own and planted many lotus flowers in it.
In the midsummer, he and Sangsang rowed a boat on the lake and traversed through the lotus land. They admired the lake, the scenery and the stars. They picked up the flowers and seeds of lotuses, and tossed several iron kettles in the lotus land.
In winter, the Yanming Lake was frozen and the surface of ice was thick. The lotus land had long been withered, but the little iron kettles which were buried deep in the mud of the lotus land began to awake.
With their awakening, came blasts after blasts of explosions that rang across the lake.
The fiery flames and hot waves tore through the surface of the lake, causing the snow on it to scatter. Several shards of sharp iron were tossed around in the wind and snow.
Several black holes appeared on the frozen surface of the lake.
And in the whistling wind, snow and iron shards, Xia Hou had already bleeding.
What was more frightening was that every time he stopped because of the explosion, Sangsang, held the big black umbrella and stood on the cliff of the southern banks, would speak out his position. Then, Ning Que would shoot his arrow.
And a terrifying and cold iron arrow would reach Xia Hou at the next moment.
The little iron kettles were flowers. Ning Que and Sangsang had planted as many kettles as the lotus seeds they had. There were as many iron kettles as the lotus flowers.
The iron arrows were thorns. Ning Que had thirteen Primordial Thirteen Arrows in his arrow box. So he would shoot all of them as the fiery flowers on the lake were blooming.