Longevity from Liao Zhai

Chapter 14: Psychic Sleeve Arrow

The archer shot a charged arrow. He knew that he would soon be in close combat with Zhou Ping and Erhu, so he planned to injure one first and then distract the two tigers to increase his chances of winning.

The archer knew that Zhou Ping was weaker than Erhu.

The long arrow is too fast, after all, it consumes half of the archer's spiritual energy.

Erhu wanted to stop it, but it was too late.

"careful!"

After Erhu said this, he still rushed towards the archer.

At this time, they turned back to rescue Zhou Ping, but one was too late, and the other was trapped by the archers.

Erhu could only let Zhou Ping fend for himself.

"Snapped!"

The long arrow was about to hit Zhou Ping's forehead. Zhou Ping stretched out two fingers and gently pinched the tip of the sword.

In the distance, the archer who was about to shoot the second arrow widened his eyes in disbelief.

Zhou Ping gave the archer a provocative look. Isn't that cool? I exchanged it for a year of my life!
Zhou Ping threw down his arrow and chased after him.

The stunned archer was about to shoot a second arrow, but Erhu had already taken advantage of his distraction and arrived in front of him.

The archer was slow to draw the bow because he was distracted for a moment. He could only draw the bow halfway and then shoot an arrow at Erhu's face.

The arrow was thrown too hastily and Erhu dodged it easily.

Erhu placed his long sword on the archer's neck, and with just a little force he could cut the archer's neck.

"Don't kill me, I have a hundred taels of silver hidden somewhere else!"

The archer spoke hastily.

The two tigers hesitated for a moment.

The archer suddenly raised his left arm.

A faint light shot out from the left arm at an extremely fast speed.

When Zhou Ping saw that Erhu did not kill the archer immediately, he knew something was wrong and quickened his pace to the two men.

"Bang" sound.

Erhu's entire head exploded into a bloody mist, and then he fell to the ground.

"Thief, how dare you!"

Zhou Ping was furious. An acquaintance died in front of him.

Just early in the morning, a few people were still talking and laughing.

The archer sneered silently, looked at the angry Zhou Ping, and slowly raised his right arm.

Come on, come on.

I don't know how you caught my arrow just now, but you definitely can't catch my remaining arrow.

In addition to shooting arrows, the archer also has two hidden arrows on his arms.

These two hidden arrows are called "Sleeve Arrows of the Heart".

What is shot out with the Mind Sleeve Arrow is not a real arrow, but a small arrow condensed from spiritual energy.

The power of this arrow can kill a tenth-grade cultivator!

The archer has been roaming the world for many years relying on this method. He has killed countless people by his hidden arrows, including some of the tenth-grade masters!

Why rob the medicinal materials convoy together with the refugees?
The archers' target from the beginning was not the dozen or so carts of medicinal herbs.

How much can the medicinal herbs be worth? Three or five taels of silver?
The archer is a person with perfect spiritual energy, practicing martial arts, and is almost at the tenth level.

What archers want is to kill people, and to hone their martial arts through killing.

The archers wanted to kill people and steal treasures. The money on the escorts must be more valuable than the dozen carts of medicinal herbs.

The refugees made a feint attack to snatch the medicinal materials, while the archers killed people and took the treasures. Both sides took what they needed.

"Which is faster, your knife or my hidden arrow?"

The archer was not afraid of Zhou Ping's long sword at all. He believed that Zhou Ping would not be able to block the arrow. Zhou Ping's sword would stop before stabbing him.

The dim light of the dark arrow shot out!
"boom"

A soft sound.

The archer was still feeling proud, but the next moment he felt dizzy. When he landed, he saw that his body was continuously gushing out blood.

"impossible"

The archer looked at his own body in the distance in disbelief.

Yan Family Escort Agency.

There were two corpses lying in the escort agency, one was the headless Erhu, and the other was that of an archer.

Zhou Ping looked a little depressed.

Erhu died right before my eyes.

"This thing is called the Soul Sleeve Arrow. It recognizes its master by dripping blood. It feeds on the master's spiritual energy and can fire small spiritual energy arrows that can kill tenth-grade people."

"You have encountered this hidden weapon that can kill a tenth-grade person. It's not easy for one of you to survive."

"This robber is a warrant officer and has several lives on his hands."

Uncle Lame looked over the archer's body and took two black iron pipes from his arms.

In addition to the iron pipe, the archer also had more than ten taels of silver, some food, and a book called "Encounters with Ghosts".

"For this book, The Record of Encountering Ghosts, the escort agency will make a copy. For thirty taels of silver, you can take the original."

"You can choose to keep these two mind sleeve arrows for yourself, but I want to buy one for one hundred taels."

"This robber has been arrested and the court will issue a reward of 100 taels, which will be given to you when the time comes."

Uncle Lame looked at Zhou Ping and sighed, knowing that he had been hit hard.

"Uncle Lame, can you please say that Erhu killed the robber? I don't want the hundred taels, nor do I want the money for the Soul Sleeve Arrow, nor do I want the money for the rubbings. Give them all to Erhu's family in the name of the escort agency."

Zhou Ping told Uncle Lame what had happened in general, except that he omitted the fact that he had dodged two fatal attacks.

Zhou Ping only said that it was Erhu who attracted the archer's attention, so he was able to stab the robber after Erhu died.

"Okay."

Uncle Lame nodded.

"Don't mention the Psychic Sleeve Arrow to anyone else. Hidden weapons can only work best if others don't know about it, even if that means your closest people!"

Uncle Lame reminded.

Zhou Ping nodded silently, then walked out the door in a daze. He still couldn't believe that the person who was talking and laughing with him in the morning had died like this.

"Zhou Ping, I thought you were a coward, but you would rather follow Erhu to fight against a strong enemy than to hurt those refugees."

"Not drawing the sword against the weak is also the heart of a warrior."

Uncle Lame spoke slowly.

Zhou Ping's heart moved slightly, as if something was breaking out of his body.

"Don't draw your sword against the weak. Don't draw your sword against the weak."

Zhou Ping walked on the street in a daze.

Erhu's death and Uncle Bo's words made him a little confused, but also a little clear-headed.

On the way home, Zhou Ping met Chen Li.

"Zhou Ping. Zhou Ping"

Zhou Ping did not hear what Chen Li said. He was still immersed in Erhu's death and the words "don't draw your sword against the weak".

"Hey, what happened to Zhou Ping this time?"

The uncles and the gatekeepers were all very curious. Zhou Ping was usually a polite child who greeted everyone he met, so why did he look so lost?

"Hey, today, Erdan and Zhou Ping went on a escort mission together, and they encountered bandits in the mountains."

"Really? Are you okay?"

"They are fine. They killed a lot of bandits. My son also killed several!"

"Hey, what's wrong with Zhou Ping? He's killed too many people. Is he numb to it?"

"Hey, one of the escorts leading the team died, Zhou Ping was a little upset."

"Hey, Zhou Ping is a kid with a conscience."

Back in the house, Zhou Ping thought about what happened during the day.

"Don't draw your sword against the weak."

"Don't draw your sword against the weak."

Zhou Ping seemed to understand something.

He has always believed that his path to immortality and martial arts are contradictory, so he thought about changing track and trying to enter the realm of martial arts through Confucianism or other means.

But as Uncle Lame said, he really didn't want to take action against the refugees.

Not daring to draw the sword against the strong and not drawing the sword against the weak are two different things. Some people oppress the weak and lick the strong.

Some people may not be able to defeat the strong, but they will not draw their swords against the weak.

The confusion in Zhou Ping's eyes disappeared and became clear.

At the same time, Zhou Ping's body suddenly made a "pop" sound.

The spiritual energy between heaven and earth continued to flow into Zhou Ping's body, and Zhou Ping could feel that his strength was getting stronger.

Martial arts, tenth level!
Zhou Ping, Scar and Chen Erdan all went to Erhu's funeral.

The escort agency gave one hundred taels of silver, and the government also gave one hundred taels of silver.

With these two hundred taels, if nothing unexpected happens, the three children will grow up slowly.

Uncle Bo accepted Erhu's oldest son. He was already ten years old, and although he could not escort the convoy, he could stay in the escort agency to raise horses.

"The world is becoming increasingly chaotic."

"Zhou Ping was already alert enough to spot the enemy ahead of time, otherwise the escort agency would have suffered even greater losses."

Scar spat.

The robbers' original intention was to attack the escort agency from both sides, but Zhou Ping guessed that there was an ambush, so the escort agency evacuated in time.

"Yes, if we are attacked from both sides, some of the goods will definitely be stolen, and the escorts may suffer more casualties."

Chen Erdan rubbed his hands. He also had a deep sense of crisis. This time when he encountered robbers, he killed several of them.

But Chen Erdan knew his own limitations. He knew that these so-called bandits were just refugees, and only archers could be considered bandits.

Short trips don’t make money, and long trips are very dangerous.

But now, even short distances have become dangerous.

The world is becoming more and more chaotic, and the danger has spread to remote small places like Qinghe County.

All three of them felt a sense of crisis, but Zhou Ping felt less so since he was only travelling short distances.

What’s more important is that Zhou Ping is now at the tenth level!

Uncle Bo’s words became the opportunity for Zhou Ping to break through.

Uncle Lame is a 10th rank! In the entire escort agency, there is only one 9th rank boss and five or six 10th rank people.

The tenth rank can already walk around Qinghe County with ease.

Zhou Ping touched his right arm.

The archer had two sleeve arrows that could be used as mind arrows. Uncle Bo took one and left one for Zhou Ping.

Zhou Ping has also tried its power these days. The mind sleeve arrows are indeed very powerful. The arrows are shot out very quickly, and it is difficult for cultivators who are not at the tenth level to see them clearly and dodge them.

Not to mention the two life-saving skills on the panel, Zhou Ping has no problem with his tenth-grade cultivation and the mind-sleeved arrows in short-distance missions.

"Just move slowly and improve your skills slowly."

As long as the short-distance missions continue, his lifespan can continue to increase.

"Look, what happened to Yaowang Mountain?"

Chen Erdan had sharp eyes and he saw white smoke rising from the direction of Yaowang Mountain.

In late autumn, the weather is dry.

The fire on Yaowang Mountain burned for seven days and seven nights.

During these seven days, almost all the grass and trees on Yaowang Mountain were burned to ashes.

Seven days later, Uncle Lame took Zhou Ping up the mountain.

Along the way, all Zhou Ping saw was the ashes of wood that had been burned to ashes by the fire. There was no sign of life at all.

In Yaowang Village, hundreds of corpses were lying on the open ground.

The fire not only burned the mountain, but also the entire village.

"Qinghe County will probably have to endure hard times for the next three years."

Uncle Lame looked at the bare hilltops and the depressed mountain villagers and sighed.

If Yaowang Mountain catches fire, the entire industrial chain of Qinghe County will be affected.

"Uncle Lame, is it that serious?"

Zhou Ping said with a frown.

Looking at the situation at Yaowang Mountain, Zhou Ping thought that it would only take a year for the medicinal herbs to grow and the short-distance mission would begin.

Zhou Ping could still afford a year, after all, he still had more than 20 years to live.

"Ordinary medicinal herbs can grow in just one year, but most medicinal herbs take three to five years or even seven to eight years to grow."

Uncle Lame was also a little worried.

The short-distance missions that Zhou usually undertakes do not actually make money, but the escort agency has some long-distance missions, which are to deliver medicinal materials from Qinghe County and Rendang to other places, so this part of the mission is affected.

Fortunately, the Yan Family Escort Agency has been expanding over the years, from Qinghe County to several other counties and developing some other businesses.

In general, the fire that burned Yaowang Mountain completely will reduce the escort agency's business by 30%.

After hearing Uncle Lame's words, Zhou Ping's heart sank. Does he have to wait for three years?

"Someone from He Ren Tang has also arrived."

Uncle Lame gestured to Zhou Ping to look at the other group of people.

Not far away, an old man was being supported by He Yunqing. He kept coughing, his face full of worry.

He Yunqing's eyebrows and eyes are somewhat similar to the old man.

"The escort agency is having a hard time, and the He family is having an even harder time!"

Uncle Lame sighed and asked everyone to leave.

The escort agency has other businesses, but the He family only has the medicinal materials business.

Zhou Ping was just about to leave when he suddenly felt a weight on his leg.

A black and white kitten was hanging on Zhou Ping's legs.

"It's you?"

The kitten had burns all over its body and some of its white fur had turned black.

In fact, this cat is all white.

When Zhou Ping saw the kitten, he felt a familiar feeling in his heart. He thought of the night when he felt the spiritual energy, and it was also this kitten.

"Meow"

The kitten was burned and very weak. It looked at Zhou Ping pitifully.

"Forget it, I'll help you one more time. Whether you live or not is up to you."

Zhou Ping's heart softened and he took the little white cat with him.

Another ten days.

There was a big fire at Yaowang Mountain, and no medicinal materials could be sent down the mountain.

Zhou Ping also lost his short-distance mission.

During these ten days, Zhou Ping stayed at home to experience his tenth-grade cultivation and practice the Xuanwu Sword Technique.

When he killed the bandit archer, Zhou Ping also got a travel book about ghosts, and he read the book.

The book introduces various ghosts and the things that ghosts are afraid of.

However, the book says very little about how to kill ghosts, and there is only one rune for killing ghosts.

Runes require cinnabar and yellow paper, and they also need to be drawn.

Zhou Ping planned to try drawing talismans when he got the chance.

As for the little white cat brought back by Zhou Ping, it also survived under Zhou Ping's care.

"Meow."

The little white cat has white fur without any impurities. Its body proportions are very good, but it is a little thin. I don’t know if it is hungry in the mountains, or if it is just the nature of its breed that makes it unable to grow big.

Zhou Ping touched the little white cat's head, and the little white cat comfortably let Zhou Ping touch it.

The little white cat's eyes are very beautiful, and as lively as those of a human.

Zhou Ping looked into the little white cat's eyes, and suddenly an idea popped into his mind: After being single for so long, even a cat looks pretty to me.

"Zhou Ping, Zhou Ping."

Chen Erdan and Scar came to find Zhou Ping.

"what happened?"

Zhou Ping pushed open the door and the little white cat jumped onto his shoulder.

Because of Erhu's death, none of them had gone to any brothel to listen to music these days. Zhou Ping thought they were going to invite him to go listen to music.

"Uncle Bo asked you to escort the third wife of the He family to Jinhua Temple in the next county."

(End of this chapter)