Escape from Danger and the Death of the Golden Eagle Envoy

He didn't even glance behind him, directly leaping off the city wall and into the pass. This was a time for "may fellow disciples die, but not this poor monk." He had no time to care about others; his priority was escaping. It was just a shame about the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, which he'd likely never get.

This Zushan Pass was far inferior to Shanhaiguan Pass, but its internal area was quite large. However, it was a pure fortress. The inner city was basically military structures, inhabited only by the army and their families. There were no ordinary people, so he couldn't hide if he jumped in.

Still, it was better than being in the barbican. That place was too dangerous.

Just as he landed inside the city and kicked an archer off the roof of a two-story stone building, preparing to flee, an angry roar came from behind him. He instinctively turned and saw the Golden Eagle Envoy, Wang Zhen, blast a Black Armored Guard away with a palm strike. However, Wang Zhen had a long gash across his chest, blood flowing freely and staining half his body.

But what made him roar in anger wasn't the sword wound, but an arrow piercing through his chest from behind – an arrow shot by the new defending general from afar.

Wounded by a sword and an arrow, especially with the arrow hitting a vital spot and being surrounded, Lin Xiao knew this renowned martial arts master was doomed.

Compared to him, a nameless minor general who wouldn't be taken seriously, the Golden Eagle Envoy Wang Zhen had been famous for decades and was likely one of the defending general's primary targets. They definitely wouldn't let him escape.

Wang Zhen realized this too, letting out a wry smile.

"I never thought I, Wang Zhen, who has roamed the martial world for decades, would die here. How ridiculous."

He suddenly looked up, his hair disheveled, scanning his surroundings. The situation for everyone else was similar. Except for the Purple Elephant Dharma King, who was temporarily unharmed thanks to his profound cultivation, all the other experts were injured and likely doomed.

In fact, once he died, the second primary target would be the Purple Elephant Dharma King, and it was uncertain if he could escape.

Looking at Lin Xiao, who had already leaped over the inner barbican wall, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"The kid has really good luck. I didn't expect him to benefit so much."

He reached into his robes and pulled out a brocade box, shouting at Lin Xiao.

"Kid, catch!"

He hurled the brocade box.

Everyone saw the brocade box being thrown. The defending general naturally knew it contained the most precious Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng among the tribute items. He was about to order an interception, but then he saw the Golden Eagle Envoy Wang Zhen roar and attempt to break through forcefully. If he sent his subordinates to intercept the brocade box, Wang Zhen, the primary target, might seize the opportunity to break out.

Weighing the two, he chose to focus on killing Wang Zhen first. He waved his hand, and a volley of crossbow bolts mixed with arrows rained down in an indiscriminate barrage.

This was the difference between the army and the martial world, and the main reason why the martial world, despite its abundance of experts, was powerless against the imperial army. How many experts could they have? They couldn't compare to the sheer numbers of the army. Even if hundreds or thousands of soldiers died fighting one expert, they could still kill off all the first-rate and above experts in the martial world.

Under the indiscriminate arrow rain, several experts were caught off guard and struck. The worst were directly impaled by the powerful crossbows and died.

Of course, the Black Armored Guards and soldiers besieging them also suffered heavy losses. But those who weren't killed quickly retreated, and the second wave of Black Armored Guards and soldiers advanced.

On the other side, Lin Xiao caught the brocade box without any obstruction. He quickly opened it, and a rich fragrance wafted out. It was indeed the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.

He snapped the brocade box shut with a "snap," stuffed it into his robes, glanced at Wang Zhen one last time, and turned to leave without hesitation.

With a leap, he landed five or six meters away on another rooftop, kicking seven or eight archers standing there off the roof. Using that momentum, he leaped again. The rooftop he landed on was immediately riddled with dozens of arrows shot from surrounding roofs.

Although no experts were chasing him, there were still soldiers surrounding the barbican wall tightly. He didn't dare to go down yet, only daring to leap around on the rooftops.

After a few leaps, he reached the edge of the encirclement. The nearby commanding officer grew anxious, pointing at him and shouting.

"Prepare javelins!"

"Fire!"

Instantly, countless soldiers below threw their spears with all their might. Hundreds of spears flew towards him. And Lin Xiao...

He completely ignored them, leaping away in a few bounds. The hundreds of spears lost momentum mid-air and fell, ironically hitting many soldiers below.

What could ordinary soldiers' thrown spears achieve? How high could they be thrown? Even if they hit him, the force would have been depleted.

This Zushan Pass wasn't very large. With a few leaps, Lin Xiao reached the high city wall at the edge of the pass. Pressing his fingers into the wall's cracks, he used them to pull himself up. After a few more leaps, he was on the city wall. Seeing soldiers attacking from the left and right, he smiled, waved at them, and leaped over the wall, landing outside the pass once more.

Yes, he hadn't entered the pass towards the Central Plains, but had jumped back out.

Inside the pass was imperial territory, filled with imperial spies. Given their formation, he had no doubt there were more people guarding behind Zushan Pass.

Once outside the pass, that problem disappeared. Moreover, the imperial forces were significantly weaker outside. He could easily find a deserted mountain forest to hide in, and even the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion wouldn't find him.

Although the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had powerful intelligence, they weren't omniscient. Their information was obtained through various channels. If he hid alone in the deep mountains, they would at most know the direction he fled, but not his exact destination.

Then, he would refine this Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, obtaining a large amount of Potential Points and... potentially other good things.

He had a feeling this Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng was extraordinary, unlike ordinary thousand-year ginseng.

However, speaking of which, in such a low-martial world where the power level was only Tier 2, a thousand-year ginseng itself was already extraordinary.

Just as Lin Xiao leaped off the city wall and entered the mountain forest, he heard a loud explosion from behind the city wall, followed by a huge commotion. Looking into the distance, he soon saw five figures break through the heavy blockade and escape.

But as soon as they jumped out, ten thousand arrows rained down from the city wall. Two of the escapees were instantly impaled and died on the spot. The remaining three were all hit by arrows but didn't die immediately. They fled, bleeding. Lin Xiao vaguely recognized one of them as the Purple Elephant Dharma King.

As soon as the three left, over a dozen Black Armored Guards leaped down from the city wall one after another. Then, the city gate opened, and a troop of cavalry streamed out in pursuit.

Lin Xiao hid behind a tree in the mountain forest, watching the scene of pursuit and escape. He shook his head, feeling a bit regretful.

Dozens of experts, including top martial artists like the Golden Eagle Envoy Wang Zhen, were almost completely wiped out by the army's encirclement. He was just lucky. Not being famous, he wasn't a priority target. By the time they realized his strength, he had already seized the opportunity to escape. If he had been a moment slower and entangled by a few Black Armored Guards, escaping would have been much harder.

This was the limitation of a low-martial world. And this world, even among low-martial worlds, could only be considered mid-tier. Not even Tier 3 martial artists could appear. Facing a prepared army encirclement, they had no power to resist.