Chapter Twenty-Five Departure

"Who is it?"

The atmosphere froze.

As the leader of the Mad Dog Gang, Lai Qing suppressed the fear in his heart and braced himself to shout the question.

His response was a barrage of arrows.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The sound of arrows piercing the air was as dense as a sudden downpour.

The underlings of the Mad Dog Gang didn't even have time to scream before they clutched their chests or throats and collapsed, their blood instantly soaking the dust beneath their feet.

The person firing the arrows was, naturally, Li Yun.

Li Yun had witnessed everything when Wang Xiaofei clashed with that burly man earlier.

That burly man looked intimidating, but his moves were all for show; he possessed no true martial prowess.

Otherwise, Wang Xiaofei wouldn't have just retreated a few steps.

With his safety guaranteed, Li Yun had taken action.

Grip the bow, nock the arrow, raise the bow, draw the string, aim, release.

Once the first arrow was fired, thanks to the existence of his storage space, he simply continued the cycle: nock, draw, aim, release.

Li Yun had turned a single-shot bow into a repeating crossbow.

Watching his underlings fall one after another, Lai Qing felt his scalp tingle and the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

None of the fallen men struggled; every arrow had either pierced a heart or slit a throat, and not a single person had been hit twice.

With such accuracy and ruthlessness, the person hiding in the shadows was undoubtedly a top-tier master archer!

Under the threat of death, a flash of inspiration struck Lai Qing, and he screamed at the top of his lungs:

"Quick! Extinguish the torches! Put out all the torches!"

Before his voice had even faded, he ducked low and lunged toward the Wang siblings, grabbing them tightly with both hands.

He used them as human shields.

Hearing Lai Qing's command, the last two remaining underlings hurriedly obeyed.

Sure enough, once the torches were extinguished, the surroundings fell into sudden silence.

With the enemy in the dark and them in the light, every second felt like walking on the edge of a blade, terrified that an arrow would kill them at any moment. How could Lai Qing dare to stay?

"You two, hurry over here, take Wang Xiaohua, and follow me!"

Rustling sounds of struggle came from the darkness.

It turned out Wang Xiaofei was still trying to resist, but Lai Qing raised his hand and struck two heavy blows against his shoulders.

The little strength he had managed to muster instantly dissipated.

With a muffled groan, he lost the power to resist and was driven away.

The group left Fish Bay in the dark, heading toward the interior.

But they hadn't gone far when, by the faint starlight, they spotted a figure vaguely walking toward them on the main road.

Lai Qing was startled: Is that the master archer from before?

"My friend, my sworn brother is the brother-in-law of the Internal Affairs Hall master's favorite general, and the son of the steward of the Wild Wolf Gang. Please, show some respect."

This dark shadow was none other than Li Yun, who had put away his bow and arrows and walked over.

He had originally intended to fire arrows to resolve the situation and then leave quietly.

He hadn't expected this leading man to have such quick wits, extinguishing the light source.

Although there was a bit of moonlight, the group was huddled together; if an arrow pierced through, it might accidentally injure Wang Xiaofei or his sister.

Therefore, Li Yun covered his face with a cloth and walked over.

Li Yun had been slightly worried that the man before him might have some serious backing, leading to the old coming out after he beat the young.

But upon hearing that long string of connections, his heart settled down for the most part.

Seeing that Li Yun offered no response, his footsteps never faltered as he walked straight toward him.

Lai Qing's heart sank, and he cursed inwardly.

Gritting his teeth, he turned to bark a low command at his two lackeys:

"You two, get in there!"

Those two lackeys were already shaken to their core; they had no courage left to fight.

If not for the bit of prestige Lai Qing usually held, the two of them would have likely bolted and vanished long ago.

But as Li Yun drew closer with every step, their breathing grew increasingly ragged.

Perhaps fear overwhelmed their reason, for they suddenly attacked from the left and right.

One man's right leg tensed like an iron whip, whistling through the air as it swept toward Li Yun's waist.

The other raised his left leg high above his shoulder, aiming a direct strike at his face.

Li Yun did not move his body, instead raising his arms to block the high kick and parrying the whip kick with a palm strike.

In an instant, he dismantled the enemy's offensive.

In the blink of an eye, a vicious left hook came flying from the left side.

Li Yun sank his waist like a bow, dodging the wind of the punch, and followed through with a right leg sweep like a steel whip—a clean Fierce Tiger Tail Whip.

It struck the lackey on the right in the chest, causing him to instantly lose his balance.

Li Yun backhanded the wrist of the other man's incoming straight punch, using a bit of force to neutralize his strength.

His left hand shot out like lightning, landing a tricky hook punch hard against the man's ribs.

Both lackeys had blood leaking from their noses and mouths; their limbs twitched twice before they went completely still.

With just two simple moves, he had dealt with both lackeys in a heartbeat.

Seeing that Li Yun was this formidable, Lai Qing was terrified to the point of collapse. How could he have provoked a martial artist?

Without thinking, he pulled a small piece of scrap metal from somewhere.

With his left hand, he grabbed Wang Xiaofei, and with his right, he pressed the metal against his throat.

His voice trembled:

"Y-you, don't come any closer, or I'll kill him."

"Fine, then kill him."

In the darkness, Li Yun's voice was as calm as a deep pool, without a single ripple.

"?"

Lai Qing froze entirely, his pupils constricting as his mind filled with question marks.

Was this guy not here to save Wang Xiaofei?

Then what was the point of him shooting arrows and blocking the road earlier?

In the split second that Lai Qing was distracted, Li Yun had already stepped forward like a ghost.

Before the other could react.

His right hand shot out like an iron-cast tiger claw, precisely locking onto Lai Qing's right wrist, the one holding the blade.

His five fingers tightened abruptly, and a faint "crack" of bone fracturing echoed in the darkness.

"Ah~"

Lai Qing screamed in agony, cold sweat instantly soaking his clothes as the sharp pain in his wrist nearly made him faint.

He tried to break free, but Li Yun's hand felt welded to his bones; the slightest struggle made him feel as if his wrist bones were about to shatter inch by inch.

Li Yun applied force in a counter-clockwise motion, and Lai Qing was forced to spin around by the momentum.

The situation reversed.

It became Li Yun holding Lai Qing hostage.

He turned the piece of metal around and drew it across the other man's throat.

Gurgle~

Lai Qing's expression of pain gradually transformed into one of terror.

His lips trembled, but he couldn't form a complete sound.

From his throat, only broken, wheezing noises could be squeezed out.

"Hah... hah..."

His uninjured left hand couldn't help but move to protect his neck.

No matter how hard he pressed down, the warm liquid flowed through his fingers like a bursting dam.

In the end.

He collapsed to the ground, unwilling to the last.

Li Yun checked as usual to ensure there was no possibility of them rising from the dead.

Then, he began to loot the bodies.

All in all, there was about two taels of silver.

Not bad at all.

After a moment's thought, he tossed all of these people into the river.

He did so from an angle where Wang Xiaofei and his sister could not see.

He took the opportunity to toss the Qian Brothers in as well.

Keeping them in his storage space indefinitely was not a viable solution.

As he was cleaning up the scene, Wang Xiaofei spoke:

"Many thanks, Senior Brother."

Hearing Wang Xiaofei say this, Li Yun ignored him.

As long as he did not pull down his face mask, he would deny everything to the death.

Before long.

After a final check, even the number of arrows was accounted for, leaving no flaws behind.

Li Yun followed the cover of night and headed toward the Outer City.

Watching the figure that had not said a single word from start to finish.

Wang Xiaofei felt deeply grateful in his heart.

Although his Senior Brother would not admit it, he would never forget.

That back, which had been training without a moment's rest since the day he entered the martial arts hall.

"Sister, go pack your things. We will leave this place in a while and head north."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to check the Mad Dog Gang's base to see if I can find anything valuable."