After the volley, Meng Qingshan took advantage of the lull to glance back. He saw more than a dozen gleaming black crossbows among the bandits.
Crossbows! Black Wind Stronghold had a huge stockpile of military weapons!
In the Great Sheng Dynasty, privately stockpiling or selling weapons was a serious crime, punishable by beheading.
That was why even Meng Qingshan had never dared to use the Hate Heaven Small Crossbow he'd obtained beneath Dragon Gate Waterfall.
Yet Black Wind Stronghold possessed such powerful weapons. No wonder they acted so brazenly in Jade Mountain City.
The men carrying the crossbows were already reloading in an orderly fashion. Their movements were so practiced that they were clearly well-trained veterans.
Crossbows were more powerful and easier to use than traditional bows, and didn't require archers to undergo long, arduous training or years of practice.
Old Master Zhuang, whom Meng Qingshan had used as a human shield, had been turned into a pincushion by the crossbow bolts.
Even Meng Qingshan himself hadn't escaped unscathed.
Two bolts had pierced Old Master Zhuang's body and still had enough force to bury themselves in Meng Qingshan's flesh.
The instant the bolts pierced him, Meng Qingshan broke out in a cold sweat.
If Old Master Zhuang hadn't served as a human shield and absorbed most of the impact, then even with the Flowing Wind of the Long Wind Heart Method and the Jun Yu Body of the Jun Yu Body Refining Diagram, Meng Qingshan would never have been able to withstand that volley.
But everything in the world had two sides. Crossbows had these advantages, but they were significantly slower to reload than bows.
The crossbowmen had just fired a volley and were now reloading.
This was undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime chance to strike back.
The opportunity would vanish in