The Will of Heaven Was Unfathomable!

The Will of Heaven was unfathomable!

Listening to the screams around him, and looking at Xiao Yu's corpse lying before him, Wu Ming clenched his teeth.

In a chaotic world, people were worth less than dogs.

Under the Main God Hall's survival mission, how could he afford to slack off?

If the other man's arrow had been just a little off earlier, he might have been the one who died.

"Kill all the Han people!"

The hoofbeats drew closer. The Hu people were unmatched in mounted archery. Though there were only ten of them, their arrows fell like rain, pinning down the men on the wall until no one dared show their head. Even so, the Hu people had managed to charge right up to the earthen rampart.

One of them, who looked like a squad leader, let out a loud shout, leaped down from his horse, and scrambled up the wall on all fours like an agile great ape. His aquiline nose and deep-set eyes were framed by a savage grin.

In the shifting firelight, the painted totems on his face seemed to writhe. His blue-black runes looked ready to devour anyone who crossed his path.

Whoosh!

A crescent of blue light appeared in his hand. As his saber swept past, several Village Militia heads flew through the air. The scene was gruesome enough to make the men around him go weak at the knees.

If we hadn't gotten word to them and put them on guard, a village like this would have fallen in a single charge...

Wu Ming sighed as he watched. Then, seeing even more Hu people climbing up, he shot a look at Qin Hu and the others, who were still standing there in a daze. "Let's move!"

At a moment of such danger, if they didn't show what they were worth now, when would they?

Besides, if Da Qing Village really fell, and the Hu people slaughtered everyone, any hope of surviving seven days would become a joke.

"The Hu people are trying to open the gate! Don't let them!"

Wu Ming thought it, and acted on it at once. Spotting a Hu man who had just climbed up, he shouted and charged into the fight.

Bang!

His opponent was a burly, bearded man. Without even looking, the man swung his saber at Wu Ming. The angle was bizarre, the force vicious, and the strike so clean and efficient it was almost ruthless.

Wu Ming drew a deep breath, dropped low, dodged the slash, and traded a punch with the Hu man.

Their energies collided. The bearded man's expression changed, and he slashed three times in rapid succession. Each strike was vicious to the extreme, with the crisp, brutal style of a soldier.

"His strength is immense—at least the equal of a third-stage Body Refinement Realm expert, someone whose bones and sinews ring as one!"

The martial path began with Heart Settling, followed by the tempering of Skin and Flesh and then bones and sinews. A higher level came next: the Inner Strength Realm, which trained the internal organs.

Wu Ming was currently at the fourth stage of the Body Refinement Realm, in the Inner Strength Realm. Not only had he honed his bones and sinews, but his internal organs were tempered as well. Even so, he didn't dare let the enemy's saber strike his flesh.

His face was grave. He moved like the wind, swiftly dodging two slashes. Then he exhaled deeply, drawing in his abdomen to evade the final slash that would have split his chest open.

His breath was so frighteningly deep that Wu Ming felt even his powerful lungs could barely take it. A burning sensation filled his chest, and he suddenly drove out a punch.

Thud!

His fist struck the cavalryman's head with all the force he could muster, smashing him off the wall.

[Killed one Hu cavalryman, earned fifty minor merit!]

Almost the instant the cavalryman toppled over the wall, Wu Ming heard the Main God Hall's mechanical voice in his mind.

"Ah!"

A cry of alarm rang out. Huang Ying and Kang Shou Li had run into trouble.

A Hu man had charged at them with a savage grin. Kang Shou Li, who was at the second stage of the Body Refinement Realm, saw the ferocious enemy and lost his nerve, rooted to the spot. The man beheaded him with one slash, making Huang Ying scream shrilly.

Among the Village Militia, Wang Yin wore a grim expression as he fought the squad leader from earlier, Tulu Warrior. They traded punches and kicks with loud thuds, while the rest of the men cowered, huddled around Wang Qiao and hiding off to one side. Wu Ming could barely resist the urge to curse.

He glanced at Qin Hu, too. The young man's expression was grim as he fought a Hu man with a steel saber he had gotten from somewhere. The battle was fierce. Wu Ming sighed, then rushed forward in a few strides, came up behind the Hu man Huang Ying was facing, and punched him.

But the Hu man had been ready. He abruptly turned and slashed, bringing a blade of light down over Wu Ming's head.

A hollow, powerless feeling followed. The slash had clearly missed its target, and surprise flickered across the Hu man's face. Wu Ming seized him by the collar, lifted him upside down, gathered and released his strength in an instant, then slammed him down hard.

Bang!

With a deafening crash, the man met the wall in a close embrace. His neck bent at a bizarre angle, and half his head caved in. There was no way he could have survived.

"Th-thank you, Young Master Wuming, for saving me!"

The brutal scene had left Huang Ying stunned for a long moment before she managed to speak.

"It's nothing... I only did what I could."

Wu Ming answered casually, then saw old Wang Qiao shout. Two lines of Village Militia parted to reveal several things. Wu Ming's eye twitched, and he nearly let out a curse.

"Daring to target Da Qing Village? Get them!"

At old Wang Qiao's shout, several Village Militia in Leather armor charged forward, each carrying a fine Hundred Refinements Steel Saber. They moved with fierce confidence and were at least martial artists of the second or third stage of the Body Refinement Realm.

The other group was even more terrifying: they had brought out more than a dozen longbows and taken aim. There was even a crossbow among them!

"Bows, crossbows, armor? No matter the dynasty, wouldn't privately keeping these count as rebellion?"

The appearance of such deadly weapons brought a sheen of cold sweat to Wu Ming's brow.

He knew all too well that this world's high-end combat power was astonishing. Even its ordinary military strength far surpassed that of ancient times in his previous life.

Sure enough, when Tulu Warrior, the leader of the Hu people, saw this display, his expression changed. He shouted a few words, stopped fighting Wang Yin, and quickly leaped down from the wall.

The surviving Hu people retreated, then more arrows came flying out of the darkness.

"Trying to run? Ask me first!"

Wang Yin was now drunk on bloodlust. He snatched up the crossbow and, by the firelight, squeezed the trigger toward the base of the wall.

Whirr! Whirr!

The bowstring cracked like thunder! The powerful mechanism released with a jolt, sounding like a sudden peal of thunder on level ground. Wu Ming's ears rang.

Thwack!

Tulu Warrior had just landed on his horse when the arrow caught up with him. Its tremendous force pierced straight through his chest and buried itself in the horse's back!

One arrow, two targets!

Seeing their leader fall, the Hu people, already trembling, lost all courage. Qin Hu seized the opportunity and cut his opponent's neck with a single slash, a faint look of joy appearing on his face.

The Hu people below shouted curses, and several more arrows flew up.

The Village Militia on the earthen rampart also found their courage. They shouted insults and loosed a wild volley into the darkness. The clamor went on for a long while before it finally subsided.

At dawn, Da Qing Village was shrouded in grief and solemnity.

Inside the ancestral hall, the villagers gathered around the coffins, eyes red. Women and children wailed without end.

Wu Ming, Qin Hu, and Huang Ying had prepared Kang Shou Li and Xiao Yu's bodies for burial. A great weight seemed to press on their hearts as well.

"Thank you all for your help last night!"

Wang Qiao had his arm wrapped up. He came over to greet Wu Ming and the others. "Rest assured, Young Master. We'll see to it that your companions' coffins are properly taken care of..."

There was no denying that Wu Ming and Qin Hu's performance last night had left a deep impression on old Wang Qiao.

After all, two martial artists at the third or fourth stage of the Body Refinement Realm were absolute experts in Da Qing Village. Apart from Wang Yin, probably no one there could stand against them.

"Thank you for your kindness, Village Chief!"

Wu Ming's eyes were red. "But the Hu people are brutal. They won't let this go... We need to prepare in advance!"

He knew his limits. He might not fear an ordinary Hu cavalryman in close combat, but if he tried to trade mounted arrows with them on the open plain, he would be slaughtered.

Even in hand-to-hand combat, a single Tulu Warrior was enough to give him a headache.

By comparison, he had to stand with the people of Da Qing Village to have any chance of keeping himself alive.

"How could this old man not know? Last night's attack was only an advance party. Whenever the Hu people set out, they come in bands of at least a hundred..."

Old Wang smiled bitterly, looking as though he wanted to say more but couldn't.

Wu Ming knew what he wanted to say and answered directly, "I could write a letter, but the area around Da Qing Village must be crawling with Hu scouts by now. I'm afraid..."

His words weighed heavily on Wang Qiao. At a loss, he cried, "What are we to do? What are we to do...?"

The man might have been shrewd, but he had enjoyed a long peace. Faced suddenly with bloody warfare, this was already a decent showing.

Whatever he thought, Wu Ming certainly wouldn't agree to anything.

After all, it would be a miracle if he could actually summon reinforcements!

But times had changed. Even if old Wang Qiao noticed something was amiss, would he really drive the few able-bodied fighters away?

Besides, the man probably didn't dare speak the truth outright and snuff out the villagers' last sliver of hope.

A drowning man would clutch at even the last straw with all his might.

Perhaps old Wang Qiao was still desperately deceiving himself.

A faint smile touched Wu Ming's lips. "I know how brutal and inhuman the Hu people are. There are some measures we simply must take to guard against them!"

Not far from Da Qing Village.

Inside a makeshift camp.

Dozens of Hu people stood solemnly before a Shaman Witch wearing an Antler Mask and black-and-white ceremonial robes, with a blood-red Dharma Drum hanging at his waist.

Kneeling bound before them were several crestfallen Hu people. They looked like the cavalrymen who had attacked Da Qing Village the night before.

"Wolf God Heaven watches over us!"

The Shaman Witch suddenly spoke. "According to the rules of the grasslands... your squad leader was killed, so your entire squad should be buried with him!"

Beneath his Antler Mask, his eyes showed not the slightest ripple. Yet the prisoners trembled all over.

"Go on! We'll inherit your lives and wash that place of shame in blood!"

The Shaman Witch stepped forward and grabbed a kneeling prisoner by the hair. A golden dagger appeared in his right hand, and he slashed the prisoner's throat.

The artery was cut, and great gouts of blood gushed out. In what might have been an illusion, the blood-red Dharma Drum at the Shaman Witch's waist seemed to grow even brighter...

"Aligu! Go and wipe that village off the face of the earth!"

The Shaman Witch's voice carried a strange menace. His eyes turned toward the camp's surroundings, where piles of grain sacks stood alongside large groups of innocent Han prisoners...