Life-and-Death Sniping

The atmosphere abruptly grew grave, and even the air seemed to turn oppressive.

Rain kept streaming into Chen Shouyi's eyes, as though sand had gotten in them, leaving them unbearably raw and sore, yet he did not dare blink even once.

He held the powerful bow drawn and aimed for a long while, but never released the arrow.

The dugout canoe was still roughly a hundred and fifty meters away. At such a distance, gravity and every environmental factor in the air had to be calculated with precision.

Especially with the heavy rain falling now, the interference was severe. He did not have the slightest confidence.

Even during his usual training, he had never shot from such a distance.

After weighing it for a moment, he decided to give up.

The instant Chen Shouyi loosened the bowstring, the tall Barbarian moved at once.

He swiftly drew a short spear from his back, about a meter long and as thick as a child's arm, then hurled it at him with all his might.

A tiny dot rapidly swelled as it came from afar, shrieking through the air like a rocket-propelled grenade. Fortunately, unlike last time, it did not catch him off guard. Chen Shouyi merely instinctively stepped to the left and easily dodged it.

The short spear slammed into the beach, blasting out a small crater. Fine sand sprayed in every direction, stinging his face.

Chen Shouyi's expression turned solemn.

This Barbarian's strength was terrifying—at least twice his own, perhaps even three times.

His heart hammered wildly as he rapidly backed away, searching for somewhere to take cover from the corner of his eye.

He could not run. If he ran now, he would only die faster.

With that powerful Barbarian's short spears threatening him every so often, there was no way he could run back to the passage without distraction.

He quickly spotted a boulder nearby.

He hurried forward a few steps, then swiftly crouched behind it.

The boulder was only about a meter high and a meter and a half long. Smoothed and hardened by the ceaseless pounding of the tides, it was not large, but it was more than enough for cover.

The moment he crouched down, a thunderous blast rang out. The boulder trembled faintly, and wood splinters rained down over his head.

He quickly peeked out, then turned and sat with his back pressed against the boulder.

He panted like an ox!

Tension, anxiety, fear, and the thrill of walking a tightrope over a bottomless abyss all tangled together within him.

Chen Shouyi suddenly felt the urge to urinate.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

"How did it end up like this?!"

Just a minute ago, his life had still been so peaceful—so peaceful that he had thought such days would go on forever.

But everything had changed. Life and death now hung in the balance.

If it were not all so real, he would have suspected that he was trapped in a nightmare—a horrifying nightmare!

One hand gripped the powerful bow, the other clutched an arrow. He leaned his head against the boulder, closed his eyes, and let the rain pour over him.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Every second felt like a year to Chen Shouyi.

Yet at the same time, he faintly hoped that time could continue like this forever.

The attacks suddenly stopped. He had no idea how long it had been since he last heard that sharp whistle tearing through the air.

With his eyes closed, he quietly listened to the sounds outside, refusing to miss even the slightest noise.

But the clamor of the torrential rain drowned out everything, and he could not hear any useful information.

Then, more than ten seconds later, a faint splash reached his ears.

Immediately afterward came a second, then a third... six in all.

The six Barbarians had jumped from the dugout canoe.

His breathing quickened, and he immediately shifted from sitting to a half-crouch.

He did not rashly poke his head out to look, nor did he attack at once.

The distance was simply too great. He did not have even a shred of confidence.

Chen Shouyi silently counted in his heart, but halfway through, his mind blanked for a moment and he forgot the previous number.

"Fuck, calm the hell down!"

Chen Shouyi viciously slapped himself across the face, and a red mark swiftly appeared on his cheek.

The sharp pain jolted him awake. He immediately began counting again.

Until he reached twenty.

He took several deep breaths, swiftly nocked an arrow and drew the powerful bow. Rising from behind the boulder, he immediately saw the tall Barbarian still striding through waist-deep seawater.

In fact, that tall, powerfully built Barbarian had been staring intently in this direction all along, ready to attack the instant Chen Shouyi exposed himself.

Their eyes met in an instant.

In the flash of a spark, Chen Shouyi released the bowstring, while the Barbarian simultaneously threw the spear in his hand.

Their reactions seemed evenly matched, but in truth, one had long been prepared, needing only to release the bowstring, while the other had only hurriedly responded after spotting the target.

One required merely a brief trigger, while the other involved at least three long-range movements. Chen Shouyi's reaction had been a full beat slower.

They were only some sixty meters apart now, a distance crossed in the blink of an eye.

Without looking at the result, Chen Shouyi only had time to instinctively lower his head slightly before the short spear slammed heavily into the rock.

Without looking at the result, he swiftly nocked another arrow and drew the bowstring. After counting one second, he rose again and rapidly fired an arrow.

Then he ducked back beneath the rock.

This time, six short spears came hurtling back. The other five barbarians had launched their attacks at the same time. For a moment, the short spears converged like raindrops, one of them nearly piercing straight through the instep of his outstretched foot.

He hurriedly curled himself up.

What made Chen Shouyi's heart sink was that after firing two arrows in succession, the tall barbarian remained utterly unharmed. Perhaps he had dodged them, perhaps he had knocked them aside, but either outcome was bad news for Chen Shouyi.

There was not much time left.

His anxiety grew fiercer.

Once they waded across the sea, he would have no choice but to fight with his sword at close quarters.

Yet against six barbarians—especially that powerful one—even with all his confidence, he did not dare claim he could win. That terrifying physical strength alone was enough to crush him.

And the last two canoes were already close to running aground.

"I have to change tactics!"

His thoughts raced. Having made up his mind, he abruptly leaned out again and fired an arrow.

A short, muffled grunt rang out.

Immediately afterward, another roar of fury came from nearby.

"Finally, one's dead!"

But there was no joy in his heart, because the one he had shot was not the tall, brawny barbarian. After failing twice in a row, he had decided to first clip the wings before dealing with the strongest barbarian last.

As soon as the barbarians' counterattack passed, he leaned out again and swiftly fired an arrow.

Another muffled groan came.

Other than that tall, powerful barbarian, the remaining barbarians were clearly much weaker.

Aside from one barbarian dodging an arrow and wasting another shaft, nothing unexpected happened. After six arrows in a row, the sole powerful barbarian left in the second canoe was already blazing with rage, his face twisted.

The veins in his neck writhed like earthworms, the muscles all over his body swelling as he desperately pumped his legs.

Such terrifying strength made the seawater crash and roar, raising wave after wave.

In the end, he even began to run slowly through the water, growing faster and faster.

Chen Shouyi did not move again for a long while. He merely crouched beneath the rock, listening quietly.

When he truly faced the moment between life and death, his previous agitation and fear strangely vanished. His heart became utterly calm.

His breathing gradually steadied, and his eyes grew sharper and sharper.

Listening to the crashing water draw nearer, its rhythm changing from slow to brisk until it rivaled the cadence of an ordinary person running at full speed, he could even faintly hear the barbarian's bull-like panting!

He closed his eyes slightly. A second later, he suddenly opened them. In the next instant, his body moved like the wind as he sprang to his feet.

Before he could even take a proper look, the bowstring had already been released. Relying solely on instinct, he fired an arrow in an instant.

At a distance of just over twenty meters, the speed of a five-hundred-pound bow made the gap so short it was practically negligible.

The running barbarian only had time to twist his body slightly before an arrow pierced through his chest. He stared wide-eyed in disbelief, tremblingly reaching out as though to pull the arrow free.

Yet the next instant, another arrow flashed through his skull.

His body swayed, then that unimaginably strong body crashed heavily down.

At that moment, the other two canoes had only just run aground. One of the barbarians was preparing to jump into the sea when, upon seeing this sight, he seemed to have been struck by lightning.

"Chief! The chief is dead!"

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