Chapter 51: Gu Family Village, Are You Giving Up Your Prey?
"What...?"
The Li Family Village members hadn't even processed what was happening, still bewildered.
Huh? Old Li was perfectly fine just now—why's he flying through the air?
Another arrow whistled through the air.
This time it struck Old Ji. He never sensed the approaching danger, only experiencing sudden excruciating pain as if every bone in his body had shattered.
Li Xiong suddenly snapped to alertness and looked ahead. His face immediately twisted into an expression of utter terror. His mouth opened to scream "No!" but—
Thunk!
The arrow punched through his chest with a wet crunch. An ear-splitting shriek tore through the sky.
"Watch out!!!"
Finally someone reacted with a roar.
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
Two more screams followed in rapid succession.
Two more men fell, arrows protruding from their bodies, dead before they hit the ground.
In mere moments, nearly half of the thirteen-member team had been eliminated. Even the surviving Li Family Village members still couldn't comprehend what was happening.
Meanwhile, Gu Jianghai and his companions stood dumbfounded.
It was the young man at the rear of the group. He appeared to be walking towards Li Family Village while simultaneously loosing arrows.
The distance was too great to discern his precise movements.
Yet the Li Family Village members kept being hurled backwards one after another—before the previous victim even hit the ground, the next was already airborne, followed by a third, then a fourth.
The entire scene unfolded like a film played in slow motion.
Cold sweat drenched Gu Ze's forehead.
Impossible. How could this be happening?
He'd specifically noted Chen Fan earlier, recognizing the hundred-pound draw weight bow. This carnage confirmed it was indeed such a powerful weapon—otherwise Li Family Village's two archers would have retaliated.
No. Even if they'd reacted, they couldn't have countered in time.
This man's insane! Firing five arrows that rapidly with such a bow—is he trying to destroy his shoulder? Wait, he's paused now. Probably...
"How is this possible?!"
The next instant, Gu Ze gasped in disbelief.
The young man resumed advancing while shooting. Each twang of the bowstring launched another distant figure backwards, accompanied by agonized screams.
Even the man hiding behind a round shield met his end—the arrow pierced through both shield and heart, its bloody tip glistening crimson.
One... two... three... four...
As bodies kept falling, the young archer's shooting pace gradually slowed. He began taking several steps forward after each shot before nocking another arrow.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"
Someone threw down his weapon and fled screaming.
"Please! I'm begging you! My eighty-year-old mother... my three-year-old child needs me!"
Another collapsed to his knees, hands clasped in prayer, face streaked with tears and snot.
"I'll fight you to the death!"
A third roared with bloodshot eyes, charging forward with his spear.
They all forgot their earlier boasts—human legs can't outpace arrows. All ultimately fell to the blood-soaked earth.
The battle could be described in one phrase: complete slaughter.
As the final scream faded, the wilderness returned to silence.
"Forgive me," Chen Fan murmured as he lowered his bow.
Having made his choice, he couldn't afford mercy. Letting even one escape would invite endless consequences.
Ahead, Chen Guodong and the others watched with conflicted expressions.
Human life could be so fragile—more delicate than paper.
Yet who could the Li Family Village members blame? Only themselves.
Behind them, Gu Jianghai's group stood petrified like lightning-struck trees.
Was this... real? The entire Li Family Village contingent—annihilated! Wiped out by a single archer!
"I-It's... him," someone stammered, pointing at the bow-wielding youth.
Hearing this, the others robotically turned to stare at the distant Chen Fan, their minds reeling.
Him! It's actually him!
The same youth they'd dismissed as all bluster—the one who'd been desperately fleeing earlier. Who could have imagined such terrifying strength?
The Li Family Village they'd hated yet feared stood no more significant than ants before him.
But if he possessed such power... why had he fled earlier? And why had the Chen Family Village members followed suit?
A chill wind swept across the plain, heavy with the iron scent of blood.
Gu Jianghu shuddered.
He understood!
He finally understood everything.
Chen Guodong and his people had been acting all along! They’d pretended to be timid and fearful to lull the Li Family Village into carelessness, drawing them right into their archers’ killing range!
By the time the Li Family Village realized the trap, it would be too late. They’d never escape that fatal hundred-meter zone.
And those earlier kills by the Chen Family Village? Not mere luck—that young man had shot them down with his arrows. In fact, the way those hunts unfolded was likely identical to this very scene.
How absurd!
Gu Jianghai wore a self-mocking smile.
He’d thought their group might actually help, but did the Chen Family Village even need them? If anything, they probably saw his people as burdens.
The real fools were the Li Family Village.
The Chen Family Village could’ve slaughtered them as easily as swatting flies but chose restraint to avoid conflict. Yet the Li Family Village mistook mercy for weakness and pursued relentlessly.
Even now, the Chen Family Village kept retreating.
And what did the Li Family Village do? They grew bolder, more arrogant—until they reaped the consequences of their greed.
This was heaven’s justice. Karma, unerring and precise.
He turned with a bitter chuckle. “Let’s go back.”
With the Li Family Village gone, there was no point staying.
No—their entire presence here had been pointless.
“Huh?”
The man opposite him widened his eyes. “But our hun—”
“That prey belongs to the Chen Family Village now. Not us.”
Gu Jianghai cut him off.
The group bowed their heads.
True—those were the Chen Family Village’s spoils. Though originally their own prey, once the Li Family Village seized it, everything changed.
Dare they reclaim it? They’d end up like the Li Family Village—wiped out.
Even if the Chen Family Village offered to return the kills, would they have the courage to accept?
They trudged back in dejection.
“It’s not all bad,” Gu Jianghai said, forcing optimism. “With the Li Family Village gone, we’ll never lose prey to raiders again.”
“True. We owe this to Chen Guodong and that young archer.”
“I wonder what his name is. If we ever meet him, we should thank him properly—he avenged our grievances.”
“Yes, yes.”
The men nodded, faint smiles breaking through.
But the youth Gu Ze felt a sting in his chest.
Someone his own age… that strong? The archer’s speed was inhuman, his stamina monstrous.
Was he a Body Tempering Stage One warrior? No—Stage Two?
Gu Ze clenched his fists. If he’d had enough food to train properly, maybe he could’ve matched that skill.
“Old Gu! Gu Jianghai!”
A voice rang out behind them.
Gu Jianghai froze. Was that… his name?
A hallucination? He shook his head and kept walking.
But the shouts grew louder.
“Gu Family Village! Don’t leave!”
“Come back! Hurry!”
“You’re abandoning your prey?!”
Wave after wave, the calls pursued them.
(Chapter end)
