Even in his twilight years, he swept through the chaotic army of ten thousand warriors!

The little finger of the severed hand is missing a section; it was bitten off by a dog when Xiao Gou was a child stealing peaches.

Ji Yan let out a deep breath and gave a helpless smile.

"That's really true..."

According to Lao Si, the new recruits' training only lasted three days.

Ji Yan thought that once he became a soldier in three days, no one would bring up this grudge anymore.

He just didn't expect that this corrupt official wouldn't wait even a day longer.

Before changing out of his cloth armor, Ji Yan wrapped his heavy bow in his old clothes and tied his quiver to his waist after returning to the barracks.

A light drizzle began to fall from the sky, and Ji Yan went out under the cover of night.

The road back to Jijia Village wasn't actually that far, but that day it was pouring rain, and Ji Yan, dragging his swaying body, took half a day to get there.

It only took me half an hour to get back today.

The night wasn't actually that dark yet. In the past, Xiao Gou would have been doing some woodworking by his chicken coop at this time; he was quite skilled.

His son and daughter-in-law always had endless arguments. Yinyin would come to play with Jiyan, and Jiyan would always bring out the riddles and stories that had been told to generations and tell them again.

But not today.

There were no stars, no lights, and no arguments.

Apart from the sound of the accumulated drizzle dripping from the eaves, the entire Dashi Lane was completely silent.

Ji Yan sighed and began to untie the tattered clothes from the bow, layer by layer.

The moment the bow was in hand, the world seemed to pause for a second.

Then, the silence vanished.

The muffled sounds Yin Yin made as her mother tightly covered her mouth, the slumped breathing of Xiao Gou leaning against the door, the soft rustling of clothes from the official's clothes at the foot of the fence...

In this dilapidated house, a full seven constables were lying in ambush.

The moment Ji Yan takes one step inside, they will swarm him and chop him to pieces.

Ji Yan's face was expressionless. Rainwater streamed down his graying temples, gathering into drops on his chin.

Silently, he drew an arrow from his quiver...

-

Outside the courtyard, the fence was covered with ivy, making it the perfect place to hide.

"Brother Xu, is it really as sinister as you say?"

"An old coffin lid, barely breathing, cleaved Brother Chai in two with a single blow..."

The younger official, his hat askew, still found it hard to believe what Xu Zhan had said yesterday.

Xu Zhanben was still focused on staring outside when he was startled by the sudden question, and his shoulders shrugged.

Her tongue rolled over her dry lips, and she looked up to glare fiercely at the clueless young man.

I didn't want to talk to him anymore, but after staring at him for an hour, my head was spinning. It wouldn't hurt to say something and change the subject.

"I might lie to you, but would I lie to someone higher up?"

"Thinking about that scene still makes my legs cramp!"

He swallowed hard, as if watching that bloody scene all over again.

"A living person, their skin torn open, bone fragments crushed and spilling out..."

"It's just that I've always been quick on my feet since I was a kid..."

He spoke so intently that his eyes unconsciously drifted off into space.

Just then, the young officer suddenly stood up abruptly.

Xu Zhan was so startled by the sudden movement that his heart almost jumped out of his throat.

The young man scratched his head sheepishly and said awkwardly.

"Zhan, Brother Zhan... I need to pee..."

Xu Zhan was furious and kicked out with a light kick, but full of frustration.

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

"A lazy donkey on a millstone produces a lot of excrement and piss!"

Seeing the farce the two put on, several people around couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The commotion eased the tense atmosphere somewhat.

The kid wasn't angry at being kicked; he just chuckled and turned to leave.

The sky was already heavily overcast, and the wind whipped up dust as it swept across the alleyway, carrying a damp chill that seemed to foreshadow an impending mountain rain.

Just then, a deep, muffled roar suddenly exploded—

"Thump—"

The sound was deep and short, with a strange penetrating power, much like the first rumble of thunder rolling across the distant horizon, making one's eardrums tingle slightly.

Xu Zhan frowned subconsciously and muttered, "Is a heavy rain coming?"

In the brief moment they looked up, they saw that the kid seemed to be nailed to the spot, standing stiffly with his back to them.

Seeing that the boy was standing there dumbfounded as if he was scared out of his wits, Xu Zhan glanced at him sideways.

"What's wrong?"

"A clap of thunder scared you into a coward, do you need me to help you pee?"

"Hurry up and go..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw the boy seem to have lost all his strength and fall straight backward.

Xu Zhan instinctively reached out to help, but his outstretched hand simply...

They passed through it.

An entire arm pierced through his chest.

Only then did he realize that it was a gaping wound the size of a bowl, a bloody mess.

Broken bones, fascia, and internal organs shattered into a pulp, mixed with scalding hot blood, gushed out jubilantly...

Xu Zhan's hand froze in mid-air as the strong smell of blood suddenly filled his nostrils.

A chill ran from head to toe, and he finally realized what was happening—

That wasn't a rumble of thunder at all.

That was the roar of a heavy arrow piercing through a human body, smashing bones with tremendous force!

He turned and looked towards the alley entrance, catching a glimpse of it in the belated flash of lightning…

A withered body, a hunched posture.

His memory returned to three days ago, and fear poured into his throat like drowning water.

He didn't make a sound at all...

boom!

Another explosion landed beside them.

The two who were just laughing and joking were pierced through the air by a white-feathered heavy arrow that was as thick as two fingers.

The arrow first ripped off half of the head of the man on the left, splattering red and white matter all over the ground.

With undiminished force, it pierced the chest of the man behind, pinning the two together like a string of grasshoppers, and slammed them hard against the earthen wall behind them.

escape!

At this moment, no orders or rewards mattered as much as the will to survive!

His gaze fell on the thick earthen foundation wall, as if he were grasping at a straw...

But his weak legs had only taken one step when the thick earthen foundation wall seemed to be smashed open by a heavy hammer.

The normally thick soil base was torn apart, and clods of soil were scattered everywhere.

The man lying in ambush thought he was safe, but his chest was still easily pierced open.

Five men were lying in ambush, but in an instant, only he remained!

"You... youkai..."

Xu Zhan didn't have time to think. Taking advantage of the brief moment, he ran along the base of the fence into the house...

Running forward meant running straight into arrows, running back meant empty mountains and fields, and only running towards that dilapidated house offered a sliver of hope for survival!

In the distance, the bowstring still trembled slightly, like joyful chirping.

"Your legs are quite nimble..."

Ji Yan had originally planned to kill the one behind the earthen wall first, to prevent him from sneaking into Xiao Gou's house later, but he didn't expect this one to run so fast...

"Then..."

Ji Yan gave a dry smile and took out another arrow.

The cloudy eyes pierced through the rain, locking onto the figure fleeing frantically in the darkness.

"Let's see if you're faster, or my arrow is faster!"