Chapter 286

Blood splattered on the surrounding thugs’ faces . The body of the bald thug with slanted eyes fell backward . The thugs who were surrounding the lady froze for one to two seconds, unable to even react to the turn of events in time…

Yan Liqiang had struck too swiftly . The moment he made his move, he seemed like he had zero intentions of stopping . During the span of one or two seconds, Yan Liqiang’s hand moved at the speed of lightning . His bowstring vibrated slightly, sending out three arrows . The three thugs surrounding the lady immediately fell dead to the ground with arrows lodged in their throats .

The remaining thugs finally came back to their senses . They unsheathed their weapons with an angry yell and charged toward Yan Liqiang .

By that time, Gu Zexuan, Zhao Huipeng, Wang Hui, and the rest had also arrived behind Yan Liqiang . At the sight of those thugs charging in their direction with their weapons, all of them clashed head-on with them without any hesitation .

Yan Liqiang joined in too . He drew his bow while running, rapidly firing arrows with a whoosh .

The distance between the two parties consisted of several meters . The few thugs charging closest to the front barely even touched their shadows before the four of them were shot down by Yan Liqiang’s arrows in quick succession .

That finally sent a chill down the other thugs at the back . With their courage stolen, their pace was slightly slowed down . Even so, the two parties inevitably clashed against each other…

A figure flashed past Yan Liqiang’s side like a leopard — it was Zhao Huipeng! With a thrust, his long sword pierced one of the thugs’ chests in front of him . At the same time, the force from his body also sent the thug flying . Then, with a beautiful turn of his body, he slashed another thug on the neck . His victim’s head dropped to the ground and blood gushed out like a fountain .

Gu Zexuan charged forward too . Compared to Zhao Huipeng, the longsword in his hand moved more ‘elegantly’ . When he crossed swords with one of the thugs, he twirled his longsword to knock his opponent’s blade away . Then he seized the opportunity to thrust his blade and puncture a hole through the thug’s belly…

In the Divine Sword Sect, Zhao Huipeng and Gu Zexuan were nobodies; they were merely external disciples of the sect . Even so, their strength still far exceeded that of the thugs from Jinling City . Both parties were on completely different levels . As soon as they clashed, the disparity between their strengths was made apparent . The weaker side immediately paid the price with their lives .

“CHARGE…!” Wang Hui bellowed in rage and stormed forward, bringing his Yanling Saber down on one of the thugs’ heads with a force so great that it could split Mount Hua . The thug raised the blade in his hand in an attempt to block the attack . However, Wang Hui’s Yanling Saber directly knocked his weapon out of his grasp, then sliced him all the way down his shoulder and cleanly amputated his arm with one fell swoop .

“ARGHH…!” The thug let out a blood-curdling scream and fell to the ground . The blade of the Yanling Saber gleamed coldly before it slit the thug’s throat, abruptly silencing his screams .

At the mercy of experienced escorts like Wang Hui, these thugs couldn’t stand a chance against them either .

Another thug with a plaster on his face raised his blade and struck out at Yan Liqiang . Yan Liqiang leaped lightly in midrun, causing the thug’s blade to sweep right beneath his soles, meeting only air . While he was in midair, Yan Liqiang delivered a flying knee which landed squarely on the thug’s face and bashed his face in . The thug’s cervical vertebrae immediately snapped with a loud noise from the heavy blow and he instantly lost his life as a result .

While he was in the air, Yan Liqiang drew his bow and released an arrow . Another thug who was seven or eight meters away took an arrow to his throat and was shot down .

While falling to the ground, Yan Liqiang reached behind him to retrieve another arrow . He swiftly evaded an attack with the Wind Shadow Steps, then stabbed a thug in his throat ruthlessly with the arrow in his grasp, opening a deep, bloody wound . He then pulled the arrow out, quickly spun around, nocked the arrow on his bowstring, and sent it flying . One of the thugs charging at him was shot down again…

During the close combat, Yan Liqiang’s movements — starting from his flying knee attack to landing on the ground and releasing his second arrow — were as smooth as moving clouds and flowing water . In just the blink of an eye, he had killed four people…

The thugs that charged at Yan Liqiang’s party definitely didn’t expect for them to be this brutal and powerful . Half of their allies were weeded out in a matter of seconds . The remaining ones were so scared out of their wits that they completely lost the will to fight . Someone in the group then let out a terrified scream before all the thugs turned around and fled with their tails between their legs…

Sadly, at a time like this, there was no way they could successfully escape .

Many among the group of escorts behind Gu Zexuan and Wang Hui who had just arrived didn’t even get the chance to be involved in the action when they noticed the thugs starting to flee for their lives . With their backs exposed to them while fleeing, there was no way the escorts would let them go so easily . They promptly rushed forward, raised their blades, and brought them down as though they were hare hunting .

In the midst of the miserable screams, almost all the fleeing thugs fell dead on the ground, save for one that was still alive .

“DON’T COME HERE! DON’T COME ANY CLOSER! ANY STEP CLOSER AND I WILL KILL THIS WOMAN! YOU BETTER MARK MY WORDS!”

The last remaining thug yelled at the top of his lungs as though he had lost his mind . He grabbed the lady they were bullying earlier and held her hostage in front of him . He took out a dagger and pressed it directly against the lady’s fair neck . The tip of the dagger pierced into her skin, drawing drops of blood which leaked down her neck . The thug peeked out with only half his face from behind the lady while threatening Yan Liqiang and the rest who had surrounded him . “ALL OF YOU, OUT OF MY WAY! OR ELSE I’LL KILL HER… I’LL KILL HER…!”

An arrow suddenly protruded out of that thug’s eye . The shrieking thug’s body went stiff before his upright body collapsed to the ground .

Yan Liqiang set his bow down and went over .

The woman was slim and fragile-looking . Her hair was disheveled, her face was tear-stained, and shivers wracked her body . She was hugging her shoulders, pulling her torn clothes together to cover her exposed fair and creamy skin . Crouching on the floor, she watched Yan Liqiang approach with her wide, dark eyes which were clouded with fear and helplessness .

Yan Liqiang took off the clothes he was wearing . He kneeled down and draped it over her . “Are you alright, lady?”

“Thank you…” The lady’s voice was soft, melodious, and very pleasant to the ears . She lifted her gaze to meet Yan Liqiang’s, “Can… Can you all take me away from here?”

“What is your name?”

“I am Yu Qing…”

“Where’s your family?”

The lady gave him a miserable smile and swept her gaze across the ruins around them . “Gone… They’re all gone…”