Dark Arrows and First Aid

"...Watch your back, child..."

That faint voice came again, ethereal and mysterious.

But this time, Li Ang heard it clearly. More than that, the voice felt strangely familiar—familiar in a way that reached deep into his soul!

"Who are you? Who is it? Show yourself!"

Li Ang flipped down from the carriage, took the sword from Alice, and warily called out toward the nearby woods.

No one answered.

There was only birdsong in the woods, along with the lively chirping of insects.

Li Ang strapped the sword belt around his waist and kept looking around.

There really was no one there. Everything looked perfectly normal.

But then, a sudden change struck!

A phantom shot out from the woods!

The shadow was unbelievably fast, flashing past Li Ang's side.

Even with Li Ang's eyesight, he could only see a faint glimmer slicing through the air soundlessly at an inconceivable speed, like a streak of silver lightning.

Unless one had been prepared beforehand, there was absolutely no time to intercept it—and no possibility of dodging it!

Li Ang turned and shouted, "Watch out!"

Then he drew his sword as fast as he could.

But the warning came too late. The silver light had already slammed viciously into Eric's back as Li Ang cried out, piercing straight through his chest!

Eric only had time to let out an "Urgh" before he slumped from his horse and fell to the ground.

After piercing Eric, the silver streak still carried enough force to lodge itself in the carriage before him!

The arrow shaft trembled slightly.

It was a silver arrow, fletched with strange azure feathers. It had been so fast that even after passing through Eric's chest, it carried almost no bloodstains.

Lesley cried out from the carriage, then immediately realized the danger. She ducked into the inner side of the cabin and shouted, "Enemy attack!"

"Ansen! Save him!"

As Li Ang shouted, he immediately rolled forward and plunged into the woods, searching for the hidden enemy.

Someone in the woods seemed to let out a surprised "Eh?"

Then a vague figure sprang up like a wild deer and raced through the forest.

The person seemed to blend into the woods, likely wearing armor with excellent camouflage that made his figure flicker in and out of sight among the trees.

"Stop! Don't run!"

Li Ang lunged after him at high speed, shouting as he gave chase.

The shout was certainly useless against the enemy, but Li Ang had to shout—not to stop him, but to tell his men where he was.

That assassin's bow was terrifying. Li Ang did not think he could necessarily dodge another shot either!

He had no intention of fighting such a formidable assassin on terrain chosen by the enemy.

Fortunately, that arrow had not been aimed at him!

But the assassin moved through the woods with incredible speed. Li Ang gave it everything he had, sprinting, lunging, and rolling in pursuit, yet he still could not keep up.

Gradually, the man disappeared into the depths of the forest.

Li Ang lost sight of his opponent, stopped, and slowly retreated.

At that moment, Kloze charged into the woods with his greatsword, smashing through countless tangled branches and vines like a wild boar. He finally reached Li Ang's back, panting heavily as he warily scanned the surroundings.

"My lord, you shouldn't have chased in alone!"

"I know... Back up. Be careful..."

But the assassin never appeared again.

All Li Ang had seen during the chase was the assassin's blurry back. He seemed to be wearing a green hood and brown-and-green armor, with a silver bow in his hand.

When he returned to the caravan, Ansen was administering first aid with all his strength.

The arrow that had passed through Eric's body had left a small hole from the center of his back to the middle of his chest. The wound was not large, but the bleeding would not stop.

Eric remained conscious, but his breathing was already faint.

All the men still able to move had taken up guard positions around the caravan.

But no more enemies were likely to come.

Li Ang pulled the arrow from the carriage, then frowned deeply—it was heavy. The arrowhead and shaft were actually one piece, forged entirely from some alloy-like metal. Its head was shaped like the small conical tips used on modern arrows, only sharper.

Unrecognizable, profound inscriptions were carved into the shaft, making it look like an exquisite work of craftsmanship.

Linked together, the inscriptions seemed to form spiraling lines along the arrow shaft.

No wonder it had flown so fast, and almost completely silently!

"That's a Noldo arrow! A Noldo Elf!"

A crossbowman beside him spoke in a low voice, sounding somewhat panicked.

Noldo Elves...

But no matter how much the Noldo Elves hated humans, surely one of them would not attack a caravan alone out on the road?

The caravan had not even entered the forest yet!

Li Ang looked at Eric on the ground and considered why he had been attacked.

Two reasons.

First, he was dressed far too much like a Gatu person! The Gatu Grasslands lay north of the Noldo Forest. Rumor had it that the Gatu people often launched large-scale expeditions to capture Noldo Elves. The two sides had fought for centuries and bore a blood feud.

Second, the arrow might originally have been meant for him...

And the second possibility was far more likely!

Eric had been riding at the front, dressed like him, and had bustled about like him while they prepared to camp... The assassin might have mistaken him for the real target!

Meanwhile, he himself was a wounded man lying idle in the wagon with bandages wrapped around him. He truly did not look like a noble lord...

"Lesley, arrange camp right here. I think he'll come again tonight!"

"My lord, this..."

"Don't worry. Just do it. Kloze, have the brothers put in some overtime..."

After giving his men their orders, Li Ang looked at Ansen, who was still working.

"Hold on... Keep holding on! You'll be all right... Don't close your eyes!"

Ansen was rapidly applying pressure to stop the bleeding, constantly encouraging Eric as he worked. But with an injury that had gone straight through the chest, there was probably little hope in this era...

A few minutes later, Ansen stopped moving. His blood-covered hand reached beneath Eric's nose, and then he shook his head sorrowfully.

"My lord, I can't save him..."

Li Ang let out a deep breath and glanced at the party list.

Mercenary Crossbowman, 5/18.

The number had not decreased.

"He's not dead yet! Ansen, keep going!"

As he spoke, Li Ang felt for Eric's carotid artery and detected a faint pulse.

Then he sat down on the ground, lifted Eric's upper body onto his lap, and began performing artificial respiration.

Li Ang still knew the basics of treating external injuries. Eric's chest had been pierced through; his breathing had likely stopped because blood had accumulated in his chest cavity, causing difficulty breathing from traumatic asphyxia.

With his chest punctured, chest compressions were out of the question. He could only try artificial respiration.

If Eric had not died immediately, then with Ansen's medical treatment and recovery skills, there might still be a chance to save him!

The mercenaries around them gradually gathered, standing some distance away without disturbing him. All of them silently prayed to the gods they worshipped.

Perhaps Eric's lowly name really did have some effect. Or perhaps it was Ansen's skills that reduced the death rate and accelerated recovery. After more than a minute of artificial respiration, Eric choked twice, then began gasping violently.

He had regained the ability to breathe on his own!

He had come back to life!

It was practically a miracle!

The mercenaries no longer muttered prayers to their gods. Instead, they looked reverently at Li Ang, who was also breathing heavily. One after another, they dropped to their knees, their eyes shining with excitement.

"My lord... He can live! He definitely can! The bleeding has stopped!"

Ansen's joyful voice startled a flock of birds from the woods.

'Your companion's skill has improved. You may review your companion's skills.'

This time, Li Ang did not need to check to guess what Ansen had improved.

At a distance, Sarah stared fixedly at Li Ang, seemingly murmuring some unknown verse under her breath...

"...Goddess's Kiss... drives away the God of Death... hope of life..."