Chapter 213: True Identity

Translator: Myuu  Editor: Myuu

Regardless of the number of people, once their courage and spirit were gone, the group was reduced to nothing but a mob that was destined to be crushed!

At this moment, Yan Liqiang felt as though he was pursuing a group of hares rather than men.

The ruthless Blackwind Bandits, who killed people like scything flax among the northwestern provinces, were completely reduced into nothing but a group of feeble chickens before Yan Liqiang.

Yan Liqiang rode on his rhinodrake steed as though he was hunting. Every time he drew his bow and his arrow left the bowstring, a Blackwind Bandit running in front of him would be shot off his steed and would land heavily on the ground. Every time a Blackwind Bandit flew off his steed, the rest would grow more terrified. They were no different than stray dogs before Yan Liqiang. They didn’t even have the courage to turn their heads back and look behind them.

Every blood-curdling scream that rang out from behind them, every sharp noise that broke through the air, and every vibration of the bowstring made them quiver uncontrollably. They were stuck in a nightmare they couldn’t rid themselves of.

It wasn’t like these Blackwind Bandits had never met anyone who had attained the Third Heavenly Layer in archery. In fact, their leader, whose life had been taken by Yan Liqiang’s first arrow, had attained the Third Heavenly Layer in archery. Due to this reason, he was given the heavy responsibility of leading two hundred men here to make up for their failure in Wolf Fang Valley.

Although their leader had attained the Third Heavenly Layer in archery, he couldn’t use such a powerful bow. The bow he used was only two piculs and his accuracy could still be compared to Yan Liqiang’s over a shorter distance. However, over a longer distance, that person became the first offering to Yan Liqiang before he could even touch a hair on Yan Liqiang’s head.

In addition to a powerful bow, a person with perfect accuracy could become the nightmare of every warrior on the battlefield.

What terrified those Blackwind Bandits was the fact that they knew they could still wake up from normal nightmares. However, this nightmare they encountered today never had the plan to let them wake up from it in the first place and it was already their worst nightmare. Since the start of the battle, Yan Liqiang had been restlessly drawing that deadly powerful bow which could reap people’s lives from a thousand meters away. He continued shooting quiver after quiver full of arrows, as though using powerful bow like that didn’t consume any stamina. A person like this was already beyond the knowledge and understanding of those Blackwind Bandits. They hadn’t even heard of someone like Yan Liqiang. Under normal circumstances, archers could only draw powerful bows of five piculs at most within a short span of time. That in itself was already a considerable achievement. Anyone who could draw and release more than a quiver full of arrows would be a superhuman. Up until this point in time, Yan Liqiang had already depleted over three quivers of arrows. Out of the two hundred people in the opposing party, about half of them were killed by the same person. Yan Liqiang was no longer human. He was a devil who was devouring their lives, flesh, and blood on the battlefield .

“Sagedan…”

Someone among the terrified Blackwind Bandits finally screeched involuntarily when they were running hither and thither like wolves and rats.

“UGH…!” As soon as the first Blackwind Bandit screamed, his throat was instantly pierced through by a sharp arrow and he fell backward. Although his body had already fallen onto the ground, one foot was still hooked onto the stirrup. In just the blink of an eye, half of his body turned into mangled flesh from being dragged across the ground by the sprinting rhinodrake steed, leaving behind a dark red trail on the ground.

This further alarmed the remaining Blackwind Bandits. In the end, their escape plan as a group completely fell apart as every Blackwind Bandit started urging on their steeds in every possible escape route. They didn’t even have any courage left to turn their heads back.

Unbeknownst to the Blackwind Bandits, their final defeat had allowed them a chance of survival instead.

Yan Liqiang was initially planning to massacre every last of these Blackwind Bandits from behind. However, he didn’t expect their dispersal at this moment to instead prevent Yan Liqiang’s interception. Despite the impressiveness of the warbow in his hands, he didn’t have any cloning techniques. Hence, he could only chase after the biggest crowd of Blackwind Bandits.

……

Ten minutes later, the moment his bowstring vibrated again, a bloody flower finally bloomed on the back of that final black figure on a hill two hundred meters ahead of him. The figure instantly collapsed onto the ground. The sight before Yan Liqiang’s eyes was finally clean.

Snowstorm Cloud neighed. It immediately raised its moving body before it heavily stomped its front hooves against the ground and came to a halt.

Yan Liqiang turned around to take a look. He had left Sun Bingchen’s party behind him. There were still a few black dots fleeing for their lives in the wilderness around him. However, there was a considerable amount of distance between him and those black dots.

“Liqiang…” Liang Yijie, who was similarly blood-stained, trotted over on his steed. He threw Yan Liqiang a conflicted glance which Yan Liqiang had never seen before. His gaze lingered on the Horned Python Bow in Yan Liqiang’s hands for a brief moment. “Lord Sun is still back there. Let us regroup first…”

“Alright!” Yan Liqiang turned his steed around, then followed Liang Yijie to Sun Bingchen’s location.

When Liang Yijie saw Yan Liqiang chase after those Blackwind Bandits alone earlier, he followed after them. During the pursuit, the Horned Python Bow in Yan Liqiang’s hands was still the thing that truly struck terror into the hearts of those Blackwind Bandits. Although Liang Yijie was highly skilled in martial arts, his skills still meant nothing if there was a distance between him and his opponents.

Liang Yijie didn’t question Yan Liqiang about his cultivation in archery, so Yan Liqiang didn’t offer any explanation either. Both of them quickly rode back on their rhinodrake steeds in a single file.

When Yan Liqiang saw the corpse of a Blackwind Bandit, he suddenly called out to Liang Yijie. “Brother Liang, wait a moment…!”

Liang Yijie stopped his steed too. Yan Liqiang lifted the veil which had been covering the Blackwind Bandit’s face with his Horned Python Bow from the back of his steed. The pale face of a Shatu man with a contorted expression beneath the veil immediately came into Yan Liqiang’s view.

“Shatu people…” Liang Yijie cried out in shock.

Since the beginning of the battle between both parties, these Blackwind Bandits had their faces veiled and they kept quiet. Although Yan Liqiang had killed more than one Blackwind Bandit, he didn’t expect for them to actually be Shatu people.

“As I expected…” Yan Liqiang exhaled. He had his suspicion when he heard those Blackwind Bandits utter the word ‘sagedan’ earlier. In Shatu language, the word ‘sagedan’ referred to ‘the devil’. He didn’t expect these Blackwind Bandits to really turn out to be Shatu people.

The Blackwind Bandits had earned their fearsome reputation among the northwestern provinces mainly because none of the caravans or travelers that encountered them could ever get away alive. The Blackwind Bandits always moved in a group. They never let anyone get away alive, and they never left the corpses of their comrades behind. They were always seen to be wearing black veils and black clothes which completely covered their bodies. Almost no one had ever seen their faces. Those who were fortunate enough to find out were mostly reduced to nothing but a pile of bones.

On their way back, Liang Yijie checked every Blackwind Bandit corpse they came across. His findings were exactly the same as Yan Liqiang’s first discovery — these Blackwind Bandits were all Shatu people without an exception.

When Yan Liqiang returned to Sun Bingchen, he could feel the obvious difference in the way everyone gazed at him, especially those guards around Sun Bingchen and Sun Bingchen himself. It could be said that the way those guards looked at Yan Liqiang right now was the same as how they looked at Liang Yijie before, but with a bit more reverence and admiration.

The corpses of the Blackwind Bandits were strewn all over the place, and the riderless rhinodrake steeds roamed about in the wilderness. The area where the deadly battle had taken place earlier reeked of blood. The bloody scent wafted everywhere along the night wind that blew across the land, attracting stray wolves from nearby. The stray wolves started gathering around the edges of the battlefield, slowly creeping closer…

During the battle earlier, there were about thirty wounded and twenty deaths among Sun Bingchen’s guards. The once lively faces paled, and their living warmth was lost in just the blink of an eye.

There was heavy sadness in the atmosphere here.

All the veils of the Blackwind Bandits were pulled down, revealing that they were all Shatu people without exception.

Yan Liqiang clenched his teeth and dismounted. Along with the other guards, he picked up the fresh corpses of the guards who had just died in the battle earlier and tied them onto the rhinodrake steeds. Everyone worked without stopping for a moment and led every rhinodrake steed they could bring toward their next destination: the market town.

……

Tens of minutes after Yan Liqiang and his party left, a huge Blackwind Bandits cavalry arrived with the sounds of thundering iron hooves.

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