Kill As You Please

Jiang Ding glanced at the swarming arrows flying towards him.

They hadn't reached supersonic speed, so they could be dodged. Furthermore, the movements of the villagers were too obvious beforehand, giving him ample time to anticipate them.

He tapped his foot, his Internal Force circulating according to a specific, complex structure. His body moved like a shadow, evading most of the crossbow bolts.

Step Sword Style!

The remaining few were unavoidable. Jiang Ding drew his sword, and a flash of sword light, accompanied by sword shadows, appeared. The crossbow bolts snapped into several pieces.

"Shoot! Keep shooting!"

Zhou Kun felt a chill run down his spine and roared repeatedly.

This speed...

It far surpassed any opponent he had encountered over the years. It was unheard of. If they were fighting one-on-one, he wouldn't even have a chance to react!

The villagers fumbled to nock their arrows, but it was too late.

Jiang Ding proactively charged into the dense formation. Instantly, seven or eight long spears thrust out. Several skilled villagers who practiced Treading Earth Saber rolled on the ground, their gleaming blades slashing towards his legs.

"Those who block me, die!"

Jiang Ding uttered a soft shout, yet his voice clearly reached everyone's ears.

With one sword strike, seven or eight spear shafts snapped and flew away. He took a step back, then swung his sword again.

Pfft!

Four rolling heads flew up, blood spraying several inches high, staining the earth red.

Before the villagers behind him could react, Jiang Ding advanced again. His sword, glinting with specks of white light, danced. The throats of seven or eight spear-wielding villagers felt a chill as their bodies slumped to the ground.

Too fast!

In just two breaths, with one retreat and one advance, eleven or twelve strong villagers were already dead, a loss of one-sixth of their fighting force.

The remaining villagers stopped in their tracks, fearfully gazing at the young man in the green shirt before them, and the sword shadows dissipating behind him.

Jiang Ding paid them no mind. He simply cut into their ranks with his sword, advancing or retreating, his movements utterly spectral as sword light danced within. Blood flowers bloomed in quick succession.

Vibrant lives withered.

No matter how the leaders tried to flank and maneuver, they couldn't surround him from all sides, only watch as his sword light reaped lives.

"He's not human!"

"A ghost, a vengeful ghost of those children..."

Many villagers were terrified and retreated, their morale, built on grief and indignation, rapidly collapsing. The dense formation began to scatter.

"Follow me!"

Zhou Kun, knowing this situation couldn't continue, let out a low cry. Gripping a pair of heavy octagonal copper hammers, he charged out under the cover of the villagers' spear wall, smashing down with consecutive dual hammers.

"Eight Cloak Hammers!"

Jiang Ding had just severed seven or eight spear shafts with his sword and was about to slash their throats with the tip when he saw two pairs of octagonal copper hammers, the size of watermelons, descend, skillfully blocking his sword's edge.

Clang!

As sword met hammer, Jiang Ding used the force to retreat. He saw the pair of copper hammers relentlessly pursue him, forcing him to block with his sword and step back repeatedly.

"Second Boss is mighty!"

The surrounding villagers' morale surged upon seeing this. They desperately thrust out waves of spears to block and cover the flanks. Two leaders in the Inner Qi Realm occasionally launched surprise attacks.

Jiang Ding was forced to retreat continuously, soon finding himself at the edge of a cliff.

"Kill! Avenge the Chieftain!"

Zhou Kun roared excitedly, smashing down with his Eight Cloak Hammers in rapid succession. Each hammer blow followed the last, becoming more and more fluid. Under the pressure of the strong enemy, his hammer technique, which had been stuck in a bottleneck for years, seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough.

Jiang Ding frowned.

If it were just Zhou Kun's pair of copper hammers, he could have taken his life with a single sword strike after a slight pause; his stance was full of openings.

But with the dozens of spears continuously thrust by the nearby villagers and the occasional timely interventions of the two leaders, all openings disappeared. He had become a far more terrifying opponent than Lu Jingtian and Yang Dongsheng combined.

Jiang Ding's foot missed its step as he retreated.

"Kill!"

Zhou Kun's eyes flashed, and he roared. All his Internal Force and blood energy concentrated into his dual hammers. The hammer light almost became tangible, descending like Mount Tai towards the handsome head!

The other leaders and villagers roared simultaneously, unleashing their strongest attacks with their sabers, spears, swords, and halberds.

However, the expected misstep, followed by a change in stance and a pause, did not occur.

Jiang Ding shifted his steps lightly, as nimble as a bird, and gracefully descended the cliff. The copper hammers and the other weapons struck empty air.

"Shoot!"

Zhou Kun and the two leaders' expressions changed drastically.

Whoosh!

More than ten villagers, led by their leaders, simultaneously nocked their bows and shot. The arrows flew like locusts.

The young man in green robes suddenly tapped his toes, treating the sheer cliff face as if it were level ground. He stepped on the branches of cypress trees and protruding rocks, his figure flashing several times to evade most of the arrows. The remaining ones were easily blocked.

In a few more breaths, he rounded a bend in the cliff and disappeared.

The village guards nocked their arrows and fired again, but could only shoot into a patch of undergrowth.

"Useless!"

Zhou Kun was furious. He smashed his twin hammers against the rocks, sending sparks flying. A giant boulder about ten feet across shattered and rolled down the cliff. His eyes were red. "If I let this thief escape, how can I face Uncle Lu in the afterlife?"

"The thief is too cunning, Second Boss, you needn't blame yourself too much..."

Lang Yi, the Descending Tiger, and Xu Erniang, the Scorpion Tail Tiger, quickly tried to comfort him.

"Ah!"

A scream interrupted their conversation.

The three of them suddenly turned around and saw a village guard holding a spear who had been pierced through the chest by an arrow. His face was filled with terror as he fell powerlessly, his blood soaking the ground.

"Ah!"

"Save me!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Arrows continued to fly. These village guards, who were below the Inner Qi realm, were completely unable to resist, and screams rose one after another.

At a bend in the cliff, Jiang Ding calmly drew his bow and fired.

It wasn't accurate. He clearly aimed at one person, but the arrow deviated by more than several meters. This was only a short distance of sixty to seventy meters. If this were a school classroom, he would be laughed to death.

It couldn't be helped. Cold weapons were already niche, and archery was completely uninteresting to anyone.

Fortunately, this did not affect his accuracy.

These village guards were arranged in a dense formation, a massive blob. It would be difficult to miss them.

Whoosh whoosh!

With every arrow that flew, a village guard died. A leader skilled in archery led his men to counterattack, only to despairingly discover that the opponent could dodge all their shots by simply ducking behind the cliff face.

Even if they occasionally hit, a casual sword strike could deflect the arrow.

This feeling of being unable to fight back while being attacked made them despair, and their morale quickly collapsed.

"Don't panic, raise your shields! Get behind me!"

Zhou Kun smashed an arrow flying towards him with his hammer, a hint of fear on his face as he roared.

His words had some effect. The village guards gathered behind the shield-bearers, raising their round shields to form a shield wall in front of them.

Jiang Ding's expression remained calm. He moved to a different position, drawing his bow taut.

Whoosh!

An arrow, much faster than before, struck the shield wall, pierced through a round shield, and nailed the village guard wielding a sword and shield behind it.

The formation fell silent for a moment.

"Run!"

"If we stay here, we'll all die!"

The dense formation collapsed violently, and the village guards fled madly in all directions. Zhou Kun and the other two leaders killed several people, but it was useless. In a short while, only a few solitary figures remained.

Zhou Kun and the other two's expressions suddenly changed. They quickly ran towards the direction where the crowd was dense, blending in.

Their footsteps quickly halted, and despair appeared on their faces.

"No..."

A young man in green robes, who had appeared in the fleeing crowd at some unknown time, walked towards them against the flow of people, holding a long sword.