Two Arrows

Wei Jiangyang and Chen Huadong's calves trembled slightly at the sight of the folding knife. If the other side had only been after money, it would have been manageable—they could just take the loss and avoid disaster. But judging from the young man's behavior, he seemed to have designs on the girls too.

Aside from Wang Huan, the other three girls in Xiaoxiao's dorm weren't unattractive. There was no need to mention Shen Xixi, the acknowledged belle of the Public Administration department. Xiaoxiao played on the university volleyball team and had always kept herself in great shape, while Xu Jing, a legal loli, was practically wolf bait.

Normally, they never had to worry about their safety at school. But this place was a genuine wilderness. There were other campers around, but they were too far away. Even if they called for help, no one might reach them in time.

Xiaoxiao and the other girls were already starting to regret coming camping here. They had done their research beforehand, though. The surrounding area was all villages, and public security had always been good. They had no idea why they had gotten so unlucky this time.

Sweat beaded on Wei Jiangyang's forehead. His girlfriend was behind him, so naturally he couldn't retreat. But fear was only human in a situation like this. As he watched the young man approach step by step, his body stiffened and his throat went dry.

Then, in the next instant, something tore through the darkness.

The young man stopped. An arrow was embedded in the ground before him, its arrowhead completely buried in the soil while its fletching still quivered nonstop. It was clear just how fast that arrow had flown.

Zhang Heng stood before the tent with the SF Recurve Bow in hand. After firing the first arrow, he didn't stop, quickly drawing a second. Before Wei Jiangyang and the others could cheer, they saw the second arrow miss by a mile and lodge directly into a small tree in the distance.

Wei Jiangyang and the others' hearts sank. It's over. We were counting on that arrow to scare the guy off, but Zhang Heng gave himself away so quickly.

The young man had also been startled by the first arrow. Firearms were tightly regulated, so bows and crossbows were generally the most powerful ranged weapons civilians could get their hands on. He hadn't expected anyone in this group to know how to use a bow, but the next arrow had landed several meters away from him.

So the first arrow had just been luck?

He instinctively turned back toward where the arrow had landed, and the moment he looked, his heart lurched. That tree was exactly where his companion had been hiding.

"The first two arrows were warnings. If you don't leave, the third will draw blood," Zhang Heng said coolly.

The young man's expression changed several times, and everyone's hearts rose into their throats.

The young man was only three or four meters from Wei Jiangyang and Chen Huadong. He calculated whether he could suddenly rush forward and seize a hostage, but after hesitating again and again, he couldn't guarantee that he could do it before the other man's arrow struck him. In the end, he put away his folding knife and raised his hands. "Sorry for disturbing you. Looks like my brothers and I will have to find somewhere else to make friends."

As he spoke, he kept his eyes fixed on Zhang Heng's drawn arrow and backed into the woods step by step.

After that happened, no one had any mood left for dinner or camping. They hurriedly packed up, wishing they could leave immediately. But they couldn't get a taxi out in the middle of nowhere, and Xiaoxiao was worried that the group might harass other tourists. So they called the police while going around to warn the other campers.

Shen Xixi seemed about to say something, but ultimately held it back.

The other girls, however, crowded around Zhang Heng once the danger had passed. Xu Jing stuck out her tongue. "Amazing, Zhang. I thought you'd run off scared, but it turns out Iron Man had gone to summon his armor."

Chen Huadong couldn't help saying, "Bro, in my whole life, I've never bowed to a wall, but I bow to you. You missed the second arrow that badly and still stood there launching a verbal assault. Respect, respect."

Xiaoxiao added, "So those punks were such cowards. They saw you holding a bow and ran away. But seriously, we really have you to thank this time. I was scared half to death just now."

"To repay you for saving our lives, I've decided to give our dorm's prettiest girl to you," Xu Jing declared. As soon as those bold words left her mouth, she received another knock on the head. Afterward, Shen Xixi also solemnly thanked Zhang Heng.

After informing the scattered campers nearby, everyone gathered together and finally felt a little safer.

Zhang Heng set down the recurve bow, opened his backpack, and handed out the snacks he had brought that could be eaten without preparation.

Xu Jing chewed on an egg yolk pie and muttered, "Today was way too exciting. This was my first time camping, and it might also be my last."

After eating something sweet, everyone's moods improved considerably, and they began talking about the danger they had just faced.

Then Shen Xixi suddenly spoke up. "Zhang Heng, can I talk to you?"

"Sure."

Under everyone's knowing gazes, the two walked off to one side. Shen Xixi first thanked him again for what had happened that night, then said, "You noticed it too, didn't you?"

"Noticed what?"

"That guy didn't look like he was from a nearby village. He should have come from the city, just like us."

"You mean that group specifically comes here at night to target women?"

"No. If it had been premeditated, he wouldn't have dressed like that. The shoes he was wearing were Adidas Coconut 500s. Genuine ones cost at least two thousand on the market. He probably wouldn't be willing to wear them here and let branches scratch them up. Also, he kept scratching his neck while talking. He'd clearly been bitten badly by mosquitoes. If they had planned the crime, overlooking even that would have been too careless. So it's more likely that he came here on short notice too."

"You're very observant," Zhang Heng said in surprise. "Given what was happening at the time, very few people could still notice so many details."

"Aren't you the same?" Shen Xixi said softly.

"I didn't notice." Zhang Heng shook his head. "I don't know much about shoes. I was mainly focused on his companions in the woods, and I didn't notice those little movements either. If you hadn't pointed them out, I really wouldn't have caught them."

Shen Xixi was somewhat surprised. "Then why were you paying attention to Wang Huan the whole way here?"

"Because when that tattooed guy appeared, her emotional reaction was too intense. Everyone was terrified at the time, but she was noticeably more surprised than afraid. After they left, everyone else let out a sigh of relief, but she became even more frightened."

Shen Xixi gave a bitter smile. "That's why I didn't want to call the police."

"Even though she put all of you in danger tonight?"

"Wang Huan had her own difficulties too. Cheng Cheng threatened that if she didn't help, he would make her pay for that lipstick. Her parents were laid off long ago, and she still has a younger brother at home. Besides, like you said, she didn't expect what happened tonight either. She only secretly sent our location to Cheng Cheng. She thought Cheng Cheng merely wanted to come over, never expecting bad people to show up. Now she's terrified that the police will find out."

"You decide."

Zhang Heng neither agreed nor disagreed. They were all adults and needed to take responsibility for their actions. Their circumstances and family situations might be factors that led them to make mistakes, but they were not excuses for those mistakes. It was a simple truth: society might treat you unfairly, but that didn't mean you could go slash people outside a kindergarten or set a bus on fire.

But those people had come for Shen Xixi. How she wanted to handle it was her business, and Zhang Heng had no objection.

As for Cheng Cheng, Zhang Heng could more or less guess what trick he had been trying to pull. Given that his favorability with Shen Xixi had already dropped below zero, only a staged damsel-in-distress rescue could probably bring it back up. But the guy had clearly underestimated Shen Xixi's intelligence.

At the moment, the two sides weren't even in the same league.

Shen Xixi seemed to relax at his words. "I'm not going to forgive someone without limits either. Wang Huan promised that once we get back, she'll switch dorms with someone. We won't have anything to do with each other again, so let's leave it at that. But you need to be careful from now on. Cheng Cheng probably wouldn't dare commit an actual crime, but he won't hold back when it comes to skirting the line like this. Um, you'd better not leave campus for a while. I'll help you think of something."

Hmm, the cover the Qidian art guy made for me was too tempting. I can barely restrain myself... Hopefully I can change it back tomorrow.