Whistle Arrow Calls for Help, Lin Mo the Target?

Whistle Arrow Calls for Help, Lin Mo the Target?

Whistle Arrow Calls for Help, Lin Mo the Target?

The water ghosts closed in. Zhao Qian lunged from ahead like a rabid dog, snapping and biting. Even vomiting blood, he feared no death. There were wolves before him and tigers behind him.

"Why did they find me this time too?!"

Lin Mo was no fool. He had failed to stop that whistle arrow in time, and he had already sensed something was wrong. Someone wanted him dead!

More precisely, someone wanted to deal with the Li family—to wipe out the Li family's younger generation in this water ghost disaster and silently erase the Li family from existence.

"What have I ever done to deserve this? They actually needed to send someone after me?"

Lin Mo's mind raced. A Second Level Minor Accomplishment martial artist calling for help meant either a large group of Second Level martial artists—but judging from how the water ghosts were closing in—

Even Second Level martial artists, with their method of hypnotizing water ghosts, would have trouble moving freely.

That left only Third Stage Practitioners, who could respond at once and take action.

"Third Stage? What am I supposed to fight one with, my head?!" Lin Mo spotted a gap amid the water ghosts behind him, rolled through it like a donkey, and kept scanning ahead as he judged his route.

Behind him, Zhao Qian had already thrown all caution to the wind. Water ghosts in his way were smashed aside, obstacles in his way were smashed apart. With that rabid-dog momentum, he was not much slower than Lin Mo.

"No... If a Third Stage Practitioner came, even if Zhu Hao and I were tied together, we probably wouldn't be enough to take one punch..."

Thoughts surged through his mind. Lin Mo gritted his teeth, changed direction, and began sprinting again.

His goal was clear: East First Pier. Li Zhiming was leading a group of martial artists to clear the area there. Though there were even more water ghosts over there...

No matter how many water ghosts there were, how could they be more dangerous than a potential Third Stage Practitioner and a Second Level martial artist acting like a rabid dog?

Find the Head Patrolman, call for help, then lie low and survive.

As for getting rid of the water ghosts, he would leave that to the Li family...

At East First Pier, Head Patrolman Li led the way. Behind him followed the middle-ranking forces of the various families still remaining in Changhe County. Altogether, five Third Stage Practitioners were attempting to push forward.

East First Pier bore the title of "First Pier" because of the area it encompassed and the scale of the pier itself.

The streets supporting just this one pier were enormous, equivalent to two or three East Third Piers. Including the pier itself, it was likely more than ten times as large.

"Brother Zhou Shi, what do you make of this water ghost den?"

As Li Zhiming cleared away the water ghosts by the roadside, he conversed with the others behind him. Zhou Shi, a burly man wielding a long-handled hammer, gave an honest smile and offered his assessment.

He was an escort master from the Qianjin Escort Agency under the Zhou family, one who had traveled north and south. His experience was naturally broad, so the others often consulted him whenever they had doubts.

Zhou Shi grinned, his words carrying hidden meaning. "There are more than a thousand water ghosts this time. Quantity often brings about qualitative change. I'm afraid there's a big one behind this, perhaps right here at East First Pier..."

At those words, not only Li Zhiming, but also the two retainers from the Zhao Family Grain Store and even the taciturn retainer of the Sun family nodded in approval.

"To catch bandits, first catch their king. If we join forces, this likely won't be—"

Li Zhiming had barely begun speaking when a fierce wind suddenly rose behind him, nearly tearing apart the white mist filling the sky. A chained long-handled hammer weighing over a hundred jin came roaring down with tiger-like force.

The honest smile on Zhou Shi's face did not fade. As he twisted his body, blood and qi flooded through him. That long hammer was determined to smash Li Zhiming until flowers bloomed from him.

The abrupt change came with lightning speed. It was not only Zhou Shi who struck—the two Zhao family retainers also joined hands from either side, attacking the Sun family retainer at the same time.

Bang!

Forget a sneak attack—even in a frontal clash, hammer weapons were exceptionally good at breaking armor and shattering hardened-body techniques.

Fortunately, Li Zhiming reacted quickly. The hammerhead grazed past his face as it fell, and Zhou Shi exerted his strength, using the momentum to slam it into his back.

Clang!

"Brother Zhou... you..."

Li Zhiming pulled away. The blood and qi within him churned violently, and caught off guard, he spat out a mouthful of blood. A sunken hammer dent had appeared clearly in his back.

Had he not reacted quickly and worn light armor, that strike might have taken his life outright!

Zhou Shi still wore the same honest expression. If not for the sticky liquid smeared over his chained long-handled hammer—a mingling of purple and red—no one would have imagined that he would suddenly strike to kill.

"Hurry up and finish things over there. This Li Zhiming is a tough nut."

As Zhou Shi gave the reminder, the Sun family retainer was being attacked by the two Zhao family retainers skilled in combined attacks. The incident had come too suddenly, and the Sun family retainer did not possess blood and qi at Third Stage Perfected like Li Zhiming.

Two Third Stage Practitioners at minor accomplishment, skilled in combined attacks, were launching a sneak attack on a Third Stage Practitioner at major accomplishment.

The Sun family retainer's defeat was practically set in stone.

Seeing that the situation over there would not change much and was merely a matter of time, Zhou Shi settled down. Both hands danced the long-handled hammer, smashing even the mist apart.

"Wave Breaker Blade Li Zhiming, do you think my abilities at Third Stage major accomplishment can trade two moves with you, Li Family Chief Patrolman?"

Zhou Shi wore a simple, honest grin, but his movements were nothing like his peaceful-looking face.

His body suddenly burst forward. The chained hammer shot out like a black dragon leaving its cave, ripping through the thick mist and sweeping at Li Zhiming's shinbone.

The move Break Oars, Destroy Sails looked fierce and direct, yet midway through, it suddenly changed course. Taking advantage of the chain's length, the hammerhead arced upward and struck straight for his throat!

Long-handled hammers normally followed straightforward paths, thrusting straight in and striking straight out. Yet with the advantage of the chain, Zhou Shi had turned it into a sinister technique.

"Good heavens!"

Li Zhiming held the long blade Wave Breaker. The instant he felt the hilt tremble faintly in his hand, he reacted ahead of time.

He tapped the ground with his toes and retreated swiftly, his long blade sweeping upward. Rather than forcefully blocking the heavy hammer, the blade wind clung to the hammer chain, sticking and brushing against it.

The instant blade and hammer met, sparks flew. The hammerhead was drawn three inches off course and smashed directly into the wall behind him.

"Why are you doing this, Brother Zhou?" Li Zhiming held his long blade across his body, his expression grave.

His back had just been injured, and his blood and qi were already in disorder. This would likely be difficult to handle.

"Of course, I want to use the stepping stone of your Wave Breaker Blade to rise another level. Brother Li, why not come and teach me another two moves?"

Zhou Shi made as if to strike. As his ears twitched, he and Li Zhiming simultaneously pulled apart and looked toward the depths of the mist.

Someone was coming?

Enemy or friend?

The same thought inexplicably sprang into both their minds. As for the Sun family retainer, he was already retreating step by step, and the two Zhao family retainers naturally would not let this chance slip away.

"Head Patrolman, save me!"

Lin Mo had no pride to speak of. Seeing blood and qi surging in the distance, he concluded that it was Li Zhiming and the others, and called for help from over one or two hundred meters away.

As the figure burst into their confrontation, Zhou Shi was the first to let out a breath of relief. "Who did I think it was? This kid seems to be called Lin Mo?"

A fierce wind suddenly swept in as Li Zhiming seized the chance to strike first.

His blade force was like a river tide suddenly surging. One slash after another drove Zhou Shi back again and again, while Li Zhiming's face grew increasingly flushed, clearly because he was holding back a mouthful of stagnant blood.

"Run!" Already forcing himself to attack, Li Zhiming could only shout toward the distance.

"This situation doesn't look right..." Lin Mo's eyelid twitched, unease faintly rising in his heart.