Chapter 214: Intimidated
Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu
‘Whoosh…’ A stray wolf which had been ripping the Blackwind Bandit’s corpse was instantly pierced to its death by a sharp arrow which came flying from a distance…
The sky had turned dark. However, one could still witness the miserable sight in the wilderness under the illumination of the moon and starlight.
More than a hundred stray wolves had already gathered here. Every single one of them was feasting on the corpses of those Blackwind Bandits which were left in the wilderness. Many of the corpses had already been ripped apart. Their intestines, internal organs, flesh, and blood were strewn all over the place. Groups of vultures flapped their wings as they loitered around the wolves like thieves waiting for the perfect opportunity to hop forward and quickly steal some flesh when those wolves weren’t paying attention before hopping away again.
The Blackwind Bandits, who once had an awe-inspiring presence, were reduced into a sumptuous banquet for the beasts in the wilderness.
This was the scene that greeted the Blackwind Bandits upon their arrival.
One of the Blackwind Bandits finally couldn’t restrain himself from raising the warbow in his hand to shoot one of the stray wolves which was shredding the corpse to its death.
That shot seemed to have turned into a signal for the other Blackwind Bandits to start drawing their bows. In just a flash, more than a dozen stray wolves and a few vultures were killed. The miserable howls of those stray wolves which were shot down roused their other companions from indulging in their feasts. Upon seeing a big troop rus.h.i.+ng over menacingly, the stray wolves which had been savoring their delicious meal on the ground instantly understood their place. Every single one of them then fled with the fastest speed possible. The vultures followed suit by flapping their wings and instantly soaring into the skies.
“How did it turn out this way?! How did it turn out this way…?!” Aligujin, whose face was also similarly covered by a black veil, almost couldn’t believe his own eyes as he watched the scene before him and shouted on his rhinodrake steed.
Just in case Sun Bingchen and his party chose to bypa.s.s Wolf Fang Valley, he intentionally arranged two hundred men here and even a.s.signed his capable subordinate to oversee them since he knew the size of Sun Bingchen’s party was only a little more than a hundred men. He initially thought that by arranging two hundred men here, which was nearly twice their military strength, they would encounter no problems in obstructing and delaying Sun Bingchen’s party, even if they couldn’t finish them off in the shortest amount of time. As long as they could delay Sun Bingchen’s party for even a moment, he would still be able to wind his larger troop back here to surround Sun Bingchen’s party from both sides and kill every single person off.
His arrangement should have been flawless. When Aligujin rushed here, he even started imagining Sun Bingchen’s severed head placed before him. However, the scene before his eyes was akin to a bucket of melted snow on top of a frozen mountain peak poured all over him, chilling him to his very core.
“AJIDANLI, WHERE IS AJIDANLI? WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?” Aligujin bellowed in rage to his surroundings as he waved the horsewhip in his hand. His angry voice and the sound of the horsewhip cutting through the air caused the other Blackwind Bandits to keep quiet out of fear. “Find Ajidanli! Bring him to me if he’s alive, I want to see his corpse even if he’s dead! I want to ask him what happened here! I gave him two hundred warriors to stop a party of a hundred men! Is this how he repays me!?”
….
Ajidanli’s corpse and even the corpse of his mount were very quickly recovered.
As an amazingly fearsome archer among the Blackwind Bandits on the battlefield and Aligujin’s reliable right-hand man, Aligujin almost couldn’t believe his own eyes when Ajidanli’s corpse was placed before him.
The corpse was a little too unsightly, like a pile of mud. Countless bones were broken and there was also a huge hole in his head. The brain matter inside the skull had almost been emptied out. Apart from that, it was nearly impossible to find any other fatal wounds on the corpse.
Since the corpse was too far away from the battlefield, it wasn’t even visited by any stray wolves. Thus, the corpse was completely intact.
Even if he was unwilling to accept the truth, the scene before them told everyone that this important figure among the Blackwind Bandits had died an extremely pathetic death. As a mounted Blackwind Bandit who pillaged everywhere to fall from his horse and die such a pathetic death, it was indeed an unimaginable scene to anyone.
Not even one of the thirty-six arrows in Ajidanli’s quiver was missing. It was evident that when Ajidanli died, he didn’t even have the chance to release any arrows.
Aligujin’s face ashened. He glanced at Ajidanli’s dead mount and the b.l.o.o.d.y hole left in its neck. “Cut open this rhinodrake steed along here…” he said through his clenched teeth.
As soon as those two Blackwind Bandits beside him heard the order, they unsheathed their scimitars and started cutting open the rhinodrake steed’s neck and body from the b.l.o.o.d.y hole.
They started cutting it open all the way down from the b.l.o.o.d.y hole on the rhinodrake steed’s neck. When its chest was fully open, everyone saw a complete arrow inside it, and it had pierced through its heart.
Just what kind of strength, precision, and judgment were needed to be able to shoot an arrow like this before Ajidanli could even lift his bow?
The corpses of other Blackwind Bandits were also recovered by the others. Apart from the minority which were already so mangled that they were beyond recognition, everyone observed that most of the identifiable corpses had dark b.l.o.o.d.y arrow holes and wounds on their heads, necks, chests, and backs.
A gust of wind blew and every Blackwind Bandit felt an indescribable chill roll down their spines. Many of them started to pale under their veils, and terror could be seen in their eyes.
At this point in time, everyone knew why they were greeted by the sight of nothing but corpses all over the place. That was because there were a few amazing archers, or even possibly powerful archers, hidden among Sun Bingchen’s party that terrorized everyone on the battlefield. Only under such circ.u.mstances would Ajidanli’s party suffer such an utter defeat…
In the eyes of a powerful archer, a life was nothing more than just a tug of his bowstring…
There were too many archers among the Blackwind Bandits. Therefore, no one could fathom a powerful archer on the battlefield better than them. These people were the true rulers of battlefields. Just the appearance of such a powerful archer on the battlefield would definitely be the nightmare of all his enemies…
The mournful howls of the wolves were vaguely heard from the wilderness in the distance. However, the Blackwind Bandits were silent. Everyone was staring at Aligujin as they waited for him to make a decision.
To pursue, or to not pursue?
Although they definitely outnumbered them by a few fold, no one knew if they’d just be throwing their lives away if they simply pursued them.
“How did it turn out this way? If Sun Bingchen has someone like this around him, why didn’t we receive such information at all from the Chinese from the Imperial Capital…?” Aligujin was no longer furious. His face paled instead as his confidence in completing this mission slightly wavered…