Chapter 159: Chapter 123: Harvest on New Year’s Eve
The howling cold wind swept through the mountains and forests. Yet, it could not suppress the roar of the arrows streaking through the night sky.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Chen Ku repeatedly drew his bow. With the enhancement from Golden Eyes Hundred Li and the Flower Fox Mink, a Second Realm Demon, his power surged. Even without considering his Root Bone Divine Power, the Flower Fox Mink’s Demonic Qi alone was at the Second Realm Level.
After shooting and killing that Mystic Barrier Realm Demon Person, he fired five arrows in quick succession: three took heads, two pierced chests.
In only a few breaths, five Inner Qi Demon People had lost their lives!
"There’s a Divine Archer on the mountain!"
Constable Zhang Ge of Peace Path, eyes wide with anger, roared, "Find cover quickly!"
However, even as they sought cover, people were still being shot down.
Constable Zhang Ge racked his brains, unable to understand why someone would ambush them on the mountain. He clearly remembered scouting the surroundings before hunting the Year Beast, finding no trace of anyone. Yet, he had never expected they would be targeted by a master of unknown origin. And a Divine Archer at that! He racked his brains again but couldn’t fathom who this expert could be. He could only shout instinctively, hoping to save the lives of his fellow sect members.
Zhang Ge could see clearly. The Divine Archer was positioned more than five hundred yards away. To shoot arrows of such power from that distance, he estimated, their Qi Power had to be at least at the Mystic Barrier Realm.
If they were to face a Mystic Barrier Realm expert head-on, their superior numbers would allow them to swarm and kill the enemy quickly. But a Mystic Barrier Realm Divine Archer, five hundred yards away, maintaining such distance and shooting from afar, posed a threat... a presence no less terrifying than a Third Realm Jade Skin Expert. The danger was even greater than the Year Beast they were currently struggling to besiege! If they couldn’t devise a countermeasure, in less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, the opponent’s arrows would claim all their lives, one by one. Considering the enemy had already killed one of their Constables without warning, even he... at a distance of five hundred yards, would undoubtedly meet his end under those divine arrows.
"Ah! The Year Beast has gone mad!"
But just as Zhang Ge shouted for his fellow sect members to dodge the divine arrows from the mountain, he overlooked that his group was still entangled with the mother Year Beast—whose cub they had killed.
Now, after Chen Ku had shot down seven or eight of their experts, their ranks were halved, and they could no longer effectively suppress the Year Beast.
Though the Year Beast was a Demon, Demons also possessed life and the instinct to nurture their young.
Facing the group of Demon People who had killed her cub, the Year Beast, previously suppressed by their numbers, now had Chen Ku as an ’invisible helper’ breaking the deadlock.
Suddenly, it broke free. Stamping furiously with its four hooves, the hut-sized beast leaped and pounced on an Inner Qi Demon Person.
ROAR!!
The Demon’s roar, filled with the pain of losing its cub, echoed through the mountains and forests.
Its front paw crushed a Demon Person’s chest. Still not appeased, it opened its blood-filled maw, bit off the man’s head, and flung it away.
The severed head rolled to a stop right in front of Zhang Ge.
"Not good!"
Zhang Ge had just averted his gaze from the bloodied, ghastly head of his sect brother when he saw the mother Year Beast, its massive body shaking the earth, charging towards him.
It opened its maw, and a stream of icy Qi shot straight towards his chest.
FWOOSH!
The chill of the icy stream seemed to freeze the air itself, causing ice crystals to form on airborne dust particles.
Before it even reached him, the hairs on Zhang Ge’s body stood on end. With a savage expression, he instinctively kicked off the large rock he was using for cover and leaped to his left. He leaped ten yards, dodging the Year Beast’s icy stream. The attack struck the rock behind him—a boulder several yards wide—instantly encasing it in ice crystals.
WHOOSH!
Yet, before Zhang Ge could feel any relief from dodging the Year Beast’s strike, he heard an arrow whistling through the air, straight for him.
He had just expended his strength avoiding the beast’s attack and had yet to recover. Desperately, he used all his remaining might to roll and dodge this new threat.
THWACK!
But he was a moment too slow.
THUD!
An arrow pierced his chest! The terrifying force of impact sent his body rolling twice on the spot before the momentum dissipated.
His chest, near the right ribs, now bore a hole the size of a child’s arm. The torn wound gushed blood; his ribs were clearly shattered.
The unbearable, inhuman agony forced a pained, yet still rational, roar from him:
"Retreat! Flee! Abandon the Year Beast! Everyone, run for your lives!"
Their group initially had enough strength to handle three to five Second Realm Year Beasts on this expedition. Even facing an unexpected Third Realm Year Beast, with proper coordination, they had been confident of victory.
Who could have predicted a Divine Archer ambushing them from the shadows?
Caught unprepared, they had lost half their members. Now, the Year Beast was no longer suppressed and pinned them down, while the Divine Archer in the darkness aided the beast...
They were caught in a pincer attack. With only two Mystic Barrier experts and four Inner Qi practitioners remaining, even if their numbers were doubled, they would all perish here.
Therefore, at his loud command, the faces of the remaining five men hiding behind large rocks and trees turned pale.
One of them, seeing the arrow in his chest, shouted urgently, "Constable Zhang, let’s retreat together—"
But before the man could finish, Zhang Ge saw an arrow descending from the mountain, growing larger and larger in his vision.
In an instant.