Martial artists varied in how they applied battle qi; this archer was somewhat lacking when it came to defense.
In his daily training, he directed his battle qi primarily toward offensive output—as most archers chose to do.
Even so, his defenses likely would not have been breached entirely.
However, stumbling a step or two was inevitable.
Immediately after, the crack of gunfire intensified abruptly. Violent tremors struck his thighs, calves, and buttocks in rapid succession.
*Damn it...* The archer staggered several paces before gritting his teeth in desperate resolve.
Even with his balance lost, he still drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and whipped his head around.
To think he could still return fire while losing his center of gravity!
It had to be said that his confidence in his archery was truly immense.
Yet the moment he turned his head, shock seized him—a black dot was hurtling toward him, less than five meters away.
"Fuck... another grenade!" Before he could react, the grenade detonated with a thunderous roar.
The blast went off a mere two-plus meters from him—less than three meters away!
The power of a grenade was generally enough to injure a knight; at such close range, severe injury was not out of the question either.
What Wu Youren saw was that after the explosion, the man managed two forced strides forward before being thrown through the air.
Even the longbow slipped from his grip, while the arrow loosed upon turning flew who knew where.
Wu Youren bolted forward, pressing the button on yet another grenade with his right hand to start the countdown.
His left hand kept firing the pistol without pause.
Knights were indeed immune to minor wounds, but no one could endure sustained trauma like this.
Yet after lobbing the grenade and catching up, Wu Youren was slightly dumbfounded. "Still alive?"
The man was tattered from head to toe, bleeding profusely from every tear in his flesh, yet he was still feebly writhing.
Hearing the approaching footsteps, the man finally managed to speak again: "Spare... spare my life! I'm willing to pledge lifelong fealty!"
In Great Liang, lifelong fealty was no empty promise; one could register a formal contract with the authorities, which placed their status on par with a semi-slave.
"Begging for mercy at last?" Wu Youren severed the man's neck with a single blade strike. "Then I can rest easy!"
He was no moral paragon and had no aversion to keeping slaves. The problem was, he possessed no means to keep one in line!
As for an official contract? What fucking good was that? Without sufficient strength, everything was an illusion.
Not to mention, given his identity, how could he possibly dare set foot in a Liang government office?
Watching the blood splatter, Wu Youren composed himself and began digging a pit off to the side.
He could not help feeling a bit of sentiment: *This archer's agility wasn't great, but his defense wasn't half-bad!*
It seemed lessons like this had to be drawn from actual combat. This was no online game.
The pit did not need to be deep, just enough to roughly cover a body.
He would not bother considering measures to prevent aberration. Out in this wasteland, even if the corpse turned aberrant, Wu Youren would not be the one suffering for it!
Ensuring the man was dead was enough.
He searched the corpse and acquired five gold coins, as well as three biguijue, all carved from wood.
"Pauper!" Wu Youren buried the man hastily and retrieved the bow.
The bow was just over a meter long. It was not a typical longbow, but the craftsmanship was exquisite, clearly worth a pretty penny.
It had sustained some damage, however, and more importantly, its distinguishing features made it readily recognizable.
That meant he could neither carry it with him nor sell it to the military or the Intelligence Bureau.
His choice was to bury it somewhere and leave a discreet mark.
Deep down, he held little hope of ever unearthing it.
Wu Youren's archery was poor, and he had no interest in practicing it.
Leaving aside the waste of time, strutting around with a bow slung across his back was far too conspicuous.
He felt the small dagger at his waist suited him well—practicality was what mattered.
The material was somewhat lacking, but once he grew stronger he could forge a better one. For now it served its purpose, meeting his need to maintain a low profile.
Even in terms of combat roles, an archer was a fighter who required coordination and support.
As a Jin hostage, where could he ever find a partner?
When Wu Youren returned to the ambush site, the bladesman had surprisingly not yet expired.
The man had actually bandaged his own neck and was struggling to bind his chest and abdomen—a knight's vitality was extraordinarily tough.
Wrapping his belly proved far too difficult, however; his entrails alone had spilled out in a massive puddle.
Seeing Wu Youren return, the bladesman panicked, letting go of the bandages and clawing repeatedly at the dirt with both hands.
This was a gesture of servitude—*I'll be your dog!*
Wu Youren gave him a cold glance, paid him no further heed, and went straight to inspect his baggage.
One look was all it took to send him into a fury. "Fuck... you ruined several of my waterskins?"
The attacker's slash and the arrow had both struck the bundles squarely.
In particular, the slash the bladesman used to propel his escape had sliced open three waterskins with long, jagged gashes.
A great deal of food lay scattered across the ground.
Wu Youren could tolerate the loss of food to some degree; certain plants and animals in the mountains had not aberrated and were edible.
Fresh water, however, was something he truly could not spare. How long could he hold out without water?
He had claimed at least five gold coins this time, enough to buy ten times the food and water, but... was that the same thing?
In the face of an aberrant calamity, food, water, first-aid supplies, and weapons were the hardest currency.
Gold coins were nice, but could you eat them, drink them, save a life with them, or kill aberrations with them?
Sister Hua had left plenty of provisions during her two previous transactions with him, and if he were desperate, he could buy from the military.
Yet did he dare consume them? He had buried them all in secret, terrified someone might find out.
When he returned to Red Pine to replenish provisions, he had not even entered the Martial Academy himself, instead asking someone to bring them out for him.
He dared not let anyone divine his intentions, so he valued such daily necessities far more than ordinary materials!
What was worse, the bundle was ruined; he would have to pack it all over again!
If five gold coins could buy back his previous food, water, and consumed combat supplies, he would without any hesita...
Well, at most he would hesitate for a moment, but he would probably still make the trade.
The more he thought about it, the angrier and more pained he felt. Originally he had intended to finish off the bladesman with a single stroke, but now, he refused to let himself stew in frustration!
He strode over to the bladesman, blade raised, and stomped his foot directly down onto the right hand that was frantically clawing the ground.
The bladesman was at the knight realm; even gravely injured and leaking battle qi severely, his physical strength remained immense.
Especially during his desperate death throes.
He struggled relentlessly, so violently that Wu Youren's footing slipped slightly.
"Go fuck yourself!" Wu Youren stomped down with vicious force.
With a crisp crack, he crushed the man's right arm, asking coldly, "Still dare to struggle?"
"Gurgle..." The bladesman could not even speak; from the bandage around his neck, blood bubbled and seeped out in torrents.
Wu Youren, however, was already numb to such gruesome sights. Right now, his heart was consumed entirely by unbridled ferocity.
Hauling a load of food and water in secret cost time, effort, and favors, all while having to dodge prying eyes—it was so damn hard!
The hardships of scraping by in the cracks were truly beyond what words could convey to outsiders!
Crucially, he could not do this often. If discovered, his true motives... no amount of explanation would likely help.
Wu Youren had no penchant for torturing captives. A dead enemy was a good enemy; failing to be decisive only invited lingering trouble.
Yet in this moment, he simply could not hold back. Stepping on the man's broken right arm, he brought his blade down fiercely, severing the pinky finger of the right hand.
"Fuck, you're still not resigned, are you?"
Immediately after, the ring finger of the man's right hand was severed from the palm as well.
"Do you have any fucking idea how much trouble you've caused me?"
In the next instant, a third flash of the blade swept past.
"Did I provoke you? Not a word of greeting, just an outright ambush with a blade, plus an archer..."
A fourth slash.
"I found three bigui plaques on him. You've done this sort of banditry plenty of times, haven't you?"
"Brave enough to use bows and arrows, but too cowardly to use guns. So you knew all along you were committing a crime?"
"Fuck, no wonder you used a saber instead of a sword. A sword isn't suited for ambushes!"
A sword really was ill-suited for ambushes unless in an open space or during a sudden frontal eruption.
"The saber is the master of all weapons"—this saying was not without merit. Whether for ambushes, direct clashes, or chaotic melees, it was suited for all.
As Wu Youren muttered incessantly, he hacked off all ten of the man's fingers.
Then he severed the man's hands and feet, carving countless gashes across his body!
Torturing someone to death was a cruel deed, yet in this moment, his mind was exceptionally clear and unburdened!
*Why must I always be the one suffering grievances?*
A few days later, thinking back to this moment, he would feel a twinge of lingering fear. In truth, his situation right now was rather precarious.
The attackers had not dared use firearms, relying solely on bows and blades, because as bandits, they feared drawing attention.
Otherwise, had they planted a few tripwire mines, would he have stood any chance of fighting back?
Yet not only had he fired shots, he had thrown grenades; anyone within two or three kilometers might have heard.
Although he had encountered bandits and had legitimate right to defend himself, his identity could not withstand scrutiny.
A Liang citizen's counterattack was justified, but a Jin hostage... where did your gun come from, and what was the deal with the grenades?
Any Liang person could do such a thing, but he could not!
Not to mention he had brutally tortured the man to death!
Fortunately, no one actually showed up nearby.
The bladesman carried even less on him. This was only natural; as the primary striker in an ambush, he could not possibly carry a fortune with him into battle.
Wu Youren strongly suspected these two had a secret cache storing survival necessities.
Otherwise, how could they survive in the wilderness with just the scraps on their persons?
Regrettably, he had no way of acquiring those supplies—he did not even have the time to look.
However, on the man's body, he found a bottle of "water purification powder" and a stack of filter papers!
Together, they could turn murky wilderness water directly drinkable!
After using the water purification powder and boiling the water, it was basically safe to drink; with the filter paper, one did not even need to boil it!
Counted this way, aside from losing some ammunition, he had roughly broken even.
Furthermore, the saber the man used... was also rather fine!
It was a mid-length curved saber, standard in style without any distinctive features.
Yet it was truly high-quality, practically on par with Aslan's weapon.
Best of all, it was nearly ninety percent new—at least eighty-five percent!
Chapter 106