Invisibility Spell

Old Huang Zhong, eighty-three, fought a great battle at Mount Dingjun!

What Zhou Sheng was singing at this moment was Huang Zhong, Huang Hansheng, one of the Five Tiger Generals.

After teaching him this opera, Master had also given him a Treasure Carving Bow. The bow was made from ironwood that had grown for more than thirty years in the deep mountains, bent three times and nine times without straightening. Its string was made from the sinew of a Snake Demon, exceptionally tough and resilient.

Pale golden dragon patterns were painted upon its body. It measured roughly seven feet three inches long, a greatbow design—cold, hard, and heavy.

None but those with divine strength could draw it.

Before taking the medicine, even Zhou Sheng, who had cultivated Dao cultivation, could at most draw it three to five times.

But now, Master said he was finally qualified to use this bow.

At this moment, he wore Face Paint and battle flags, stepping onto the stage. Beneath his white hair flying in the wind were pupils that faintly gleamed pale gold beneath the sunlight.

Huang Zhong was a renowned Divine Archer in history, even bearing the title of "Arrow God."

During the Battle of Changsha, he had drawn his bow from roughly a hundred paces away from Guan Yu and accurately struck the red tassel on his helmet, deliberately avoiding a vital spot to repay Guan Yu for sparing his life earlier.

At Mount Dingjun, he displayed the grandeur of an old general even more magnificently. Leading from the front, he used his peerless archery to outshine the three armies and slew the great general Xiahou Yuan.

Later generations even had a saying: When Huang Zhong shot arrows—every shot hit the mark!

Zhou Sheng had practiced archery as well. Compared to ordinary people, he was absolutely an expert; even if he enlisted, he could join the Divine Archery Camp.

But now, as he sang Mount Dingjun and portrayed Old Huang Zhong, he finally understood just how worthless his own archery was.

At this moment, every blade of grass and tree, every leaf and speck of dust within a hundred zhang seemed visible down to the finest detail. His eyes were like an eagle gazing at the sun; even staring directly at that dazzling orb, he did not find it blinding in the slightest.

It was not only his eyesight that had greatly improved. He and the Treasure Carving Bow in his hand had also formed an indescribable understanding.

It was as though it were an extension of his flesh and blood.

He could even vaguely sense the Treasure Carving Bow cheering with joy, thrilled to taste blood again after being hidden away for so many years.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two more arrows tore through the air, piercing the throats of the Zhu Mansion Household Guards hiding around the sedan chair.

Even from a hundred paces away, Zhou Sheng's arrows were as accurate as if their targets were within arm's reach.

The sedan chair jolted violently, revealing Magistrate Zhu's deathly pale face.

"You... you've gone mad?!!"

Magistrate Zhu could not understand it. He had already hinted at the backing behind him, yet this young man who sang Yin Opera still acted so recklessly?

He even dared to publicly shoot and kill an imperial official?

Could he have gone insane from singing Yin Opera?

What unsettled Magistrate Zhu even more was that, because he had come out at noon, the fierce soldier his elder brother had sent to protect him had not followed him.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The Grievance Drum continued to sound, as though it had never ceased throughout the ages.

And Zhou Sheng's opera lyrics rose with it.

"This letter has come at just the right time; Heaven aids Huang Zhong in earning merit."

"Standing before the camp gate, I call to the three armies; all officers and men, listen well—"

The next moment, another arrow split forth like lightning, raising a shriek through the air like silk being torn apart. Howling, it pierced the sedan curtain and shot toward Magistrate Zhu's brow.

"Save—"

Before he could utter the final word, "me," the savage, razor-sharp arrowhead had already reached his brow, about to pierce straight through his skull.

With the power of Zhou Sheng's arrow, let alone a mere head, even a layer of iron armor would be no sturdier than paper.

Yet this certain hit missed, passing through the sedan chair and embedding itself in a wall more than ten zhang away.

It was not that Zhou Sheng had missed. Magistrate Zhu had simply vanished into thin air.

His pale golden pupils narrowed, and a cold smile brimming with killing intent curved his lips.

At noon, the fierce soldiers could not move. Then the other expert hiding within the Zhu Household should be coming out now.

This arrow was called throwing a stone to ask the way.

Yet the surroundings had become empty and desolate. Other than Zhou Sheng and Shi Tou beating the drum, there seemed to be nothing left but corpses strewn across the ground.

Magistrate Zhu seemed to have disappeared.

Thump, thump, thump!

The drumbeat still did not stop. Though Shi Tou was already exhausted, he gritted his teeth and persevered, remembering only that one sentence in his heart.

If the magistrate did not die, the drum would not cease.

Listening to the drums, Zhou Sheng nocked an arrow and slowly drew the greatbow. As the string tightened inch by inch, his eyes grew increasingly sharp, like a golden eagle circling the sky in search of prey.

Yet his voice remained unhurried as he continued singing.

"At the first drum, the battle meal is prepared; at the second drum, tighten the battle robes~"

As he sang, the feathered arrow brimming with killing intent in his hand slowly swept through the surrounding air, as though searching for a certain direction.

The drums sounded again, filling the area with a chilling, murderous air.

"At the third drum, the blade leaves its sheath—"

When he sang the word "sheath," killing intent suddenly burst from Zhou Sheng's eyes. His pale golden pupils seemed ablaze, and the arrow he had been charging for so long shot forth explosively.

That arrow was aimed at the empty air to the southeast, where not a single figure could be seen.

But the instant the arrow struck, two blurry figures abruptly flung themselves aside, rolling away to evade it.

Boom!!

The arrow punched straight through the stone wall behind them, cracks spreading across it like shattered porcelain.

A bead of blood slid down the arrow's feathers.

Zhou Sheng saw two people—two people whose Invisibility Spell he had broken with a single arrow.

One was naturally Magistrate Zhu. His face was filled with terror, and a bloody gash where the arrow had grazed him ran across his face, blood constantly streaming from it.

The other was a thin middle-aged Daoist in a gray Daoist robe, holding a fly-whisk. His gaze was bright and piercing.

He was actually a Daoist who had cultivated Dao cultivation and knew spells!

"I never expected the Yin Opera lineage to produce such an outstanding youth. First, you broke the Coffin Sealing Talisman, then you dispelled this poor Daoist's Invisibility Spell. The younger generation truly inspires awe."

"However, Your Excellency, there is no need for such fury. This poor Daoist is named Xie Daqian, from the Longhua Sect. Could you perhaps stay your divine arrows for a moment and hear me out?"

Xie Daqian stepped forward and stood in front of Magistrate Zhu. Though he wore a genial smile, warm as a spring breeze, that smile concealed deep vigilance.

Among the Hundred Schools of the Underworld, the strength of the Yin Opera lineage had never been something to underestimate. They excelled particularly in magical combat, their divine abilities ever-changing. If not for the fact that inheritors of this lineage were extremely prone to dying young and rarely lived long, they might have stood at the head of all the schools.

And this young man singing Huang Zhong—just now, his divine arrow had pointed vaguely through the air as he probed for their location. The slightest tremor in Xie Daqian's Magic Power beneath that killing intent had immediately allowed the other party to find the flaw.

He wielded a treasure bow, nocked divine arrows, sang Huang Zhong, and stood a hundred paces away.

Even though his Dao cultivation was higher than the other's, he still felt as if thorns were pressed against his back, his scalp tingling numb.

That was why he had deliberately mentioned the words "Longhua Sect," hoping to make this youth singing Yin Opera come to his senses.

But the drums still did not stop, nor did Zhou Sheng's singing.

"At the fourth drum, the troops engage—"

"Each man who advances shall be rewarded; those who retreat cannot escape a blade!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

This time, Zhou Sheng drew his bow and nocked his arrows, firing three at once straight toward the two men's vital points. Before the arrows even arrived, their thunderous killing intent had already pierced into their bones and marrow, making every hair on their bodies stand on end.

There would be no negotiation, no compromise, no room to yield.

If the magistrate did not die, the drum would not cease.

Thanks to Guiluanmiao for the five hundred reward, heart!