Chapter 56
Lanterns were brightly lit in the Black Wind Camp’s meeting hall. The most important figures of the camp were gathered together, in the middle of discussing Li Qingshan.
“What should we do now big boss. This kid is hiding inside Suncheer City, there’s even Sick Yellow Tiger protecting him.”
“Hmph, Yang Anzhi spread around the news about the spirit ginseng. Who can protect him? He’ll die a violent death sooner or later.”
“We can’t take our prestige back anymore if he died in someone else’s hands. And that spirit ginseng will also fall into someone else’s hand.” Said the second boss with the appearance of a scholar.
Xiong Xiangwu’s eyelids twitched indeed. His longing for that spirit ginseng wasn’t inferior to anyone else’s.
“Didn’t he say he’d come to us on his own? At that time I’ll crush him into meat sauce.” The seventh boss was a bald fatty who wielded a big hammer, his face full of wild viciousness.
The various bosses looked at each others and mocked him one after another: “Old seventh, you’re the only one who’d believe he’s coming.” As long as one had a little brain, no one would believe someone would dare to break into the Black Wind Camp single-handedly.
“We’ll force him to come if he doesn’t want to. Although the mountains are sealed by the great snow and it’s not suitable for large-scale maneuvers, we only need to send out a smaller group of men, it’ll be largely enough to massacre the Crouching Bull Village and redeem the Black Wind Camp’s fame. When the time comes we’ll look for a close intimate friend of his and cut their body into small slices, then send them over piece by piece. I don’t think he’ll be able to sit still then.” The second boss told them his poisonous plan.
The group of bosses all shouted “good” and praised him greatly. The second boss also flaunted himself with a laugh.
A huge “Boom” echoed, seemingly shaking the whole of the Black Wind Camp. A mountain bandit rushed inside and said: “Bad, bosses, there’s, there’s someone smashing the camp gates!”
In front of the Black Wind Camp, a dozen bandits standing guard over the gates watched those very camp gates, scared witless. The great gates nailed from great thick logs couldn’t give them any sense of security right now.
“Boom!” Another huge noise echoed. The logs trembled and sawdust flew up. It seemed there was a giant beast trying to break inside that kept ramming the camp gates, caving them in and cracking them bit by bit.
“Bang!” The huge logs broke apart, bits and pieces dispersing everywhere. A piece of broken wood struck a mountain bandit on the chest. He threw up blood at once and fell on the ground, unable to stand up ever again.
The bandits were too occupied to attend to their comrades. They stared blankly at the mouth of the gates instead. A tall and burly figure stepped inside the black Wind Camp amidst the windy snow and the smoky dust.
“S…stop, here is the Black…” A bandit who seemed like a small gang leader said out some words as he resisted the terror in his heart. A feather arrow shot out from within the cloud of dust before he could finish, ending his words as well as his life.
Li Qingshan held the Stone Rending Bow, saying quietly: “I know!”
The dusty smoke dispersed. The mountain bandits found out that there was no army or giant beast standing in front of the camp, but merely a young man wearing armor and holding a great bow. The terror in their hearts suddenly quieted down a lot. Someone brandished his blade and yelled: “He’s only one man. Let’s go together and kill him, the camp master will reward us heavily!”
More than a dozen bandits grasped all kinds of weapons and threw themselves forward with a scream.
Li Qingshan calmly pulled out three arrows from a quiver and fitted them against the bowstring. He fully pulled the bowstring in a split second. The bowstring cried like the clang of metal, and the sharp arrows ran through the three bandits charging in front with a stone-rending cloud-piercing might. They fell dead on the ground like wooden puppets with their strings cut off.
Li Qingshan drew on the bow like a spring, sharply firing his arrows, killing twelve bandits in succession.
“I’ll kill you!” There were still four bandits left who charged forward, hacking toward Li Qingshan’s head with a roar. Li Qingshan put the bow back and continued to walk forward as if he hadn’t seen them.
A whirlwind spun around him, sweeping along a sharp knife point. The four bandits’ throats spurted out blood at the same time as they fell down. One of the bandits had uncommon agility. He’d seen a small knife and wanted to brandish his blade to parry it, but the small knife had cut his blade off as if cutting tofu.
Li Qingshan stepped over the dozen bandit corpses and continued forward, coming to a still when he reached the mountain camp’s central open area. He saw brigands rush out from each and every barracks as they received the news, each of them holding a torch in their hands. It was very eye-catching inside the darkness.
He pulled the great bow, successively firing his arrows like linked pearls, each arrow faster than the last.
The spiritual wine’s effect was gradually becoming more volatile. He also became a little tipsy, but it unexpectedly seemed that there was a god helping his arrows, and not one of them fell into empty air.
The meeting hall was set on the highest point of the Black Wind Camp. The Black Wind Camp bosses hurried out of the meeting hall and looked down from the terrace. Several bosses mouthed in shock at the same time: “He actually really dares to come?” Moreover he’d come so fast.
Li Qingshan suddenly saw the bandits stop their charge and retreat in an orderly manner. He lifted his head and saw Xiong Xiangwu at the first glance. He laughed out loud: “Camp master Xiong, a host like you is really slow to receive his guests! I couldn’t wait any longer, I went ahead and killed a few dozen bandits to relieve my boredom, you won’t blame me right!”
A gust of true qi bubbled out and carried this laughter over ten miles. It echoed among the mountains, covering the sound of the windy snow, seeming to echo into the ears of the bandits like the roll of thunder. Some who stood close and had insufficient martial arts immediately dropped to the ground, fresh blood flowing out of their ears.
“I wasn’t careful, I butchered a few again.” Li Qingshan covered his mouth and let out a drunken hiccup.
The group of brigands trembled in terror. Xiong Xiangwu’s eye sockets were going to crack open. The power of Li Qingshan’s internal strength far surpassed his imagination, and it seemed even more exquisite compared to ordinary internal strength. It wasn’t at all like the rumors that said he was merely a master training in an enduring external martial art. This was surely the spirit ginseng’s effect.
“This day next year will be the anniversary of your death. No, I have to capture you alive and torture you for seven days and seven nights!”
Li Qingshan laughed: “Haha, I don’t have such idle elegant passion to deal with you, just quickly come down to die!” He lifted his hands and pulled the bow open. The smile on his face vanished suddenly. His right hand became like a blur, operating like a machine the motion of pulling an arrow and firing an arrow.
Seven arrows fired successively and formed a line as they shot toward the terrace. It was precisely the Pearl Link Arrows technique he’d learned in the Horse Rein Village.
“Hurry to dodge!” Xiong Xiangwu’s warning came too late. A man was hit by the arrows and fell head first from the terrace, three arrows stuck into his body. He’d only dodged the first four.
“Sixth boss!” The bandits cried out in alarm.
Li Qingshan groped once more, but the three quivers were already all exhausted. He flung off the great bow to the side together with the quivers.
“He’s out of arrows! Everybody, no need to be afraid, kill him!” The bandits yelled as the heartening news boosted their morale. They crowded forward like a black mass, surrounding him so tight not even a drop of water could trickle through. There were only layers after layers of silhouettes and weapons flocking forward and drowning Li Qingshan.
Li Qingshan hooked up the Tyrant Spear beside his foot. He threw it on his shoulder with a “Clang,” and spun around like a whirlwind. The Tyrant Spear a hundred forty two pounds heavy and twelve feet long danced like a black dragon with the gloomy humming buzz of air being split open.
Five bandits tumbled and flew out at the same time. If they didn’t have their head cracked open then it was their chest that’d been crushed to pieces, dead enough that they couldn’t die again. With this lethal weapon in Li Qingshan’s hands, one would truly die at a touch and perish at a bump. There would certainly be no witness left alive.
The bandits behind were likewise smashed, and a patch of blood-curling screams mixed together with groans and moans. Li Qingshan looked at the terrace: “Don’t let those thieves throw away their lives in vain, hurry and come fight with me.”
Xiong Xiangwu didn’t have the slightest intent of acting despite seeing the casualty among his men. He sneered instead: “Fight with you?” He could see clear, looking down from above.
A dozen bandits specially dressed as servants had mixed inside the crowd and were nearing toward Li Qingshan. They didn’t brandish their weapons like their comrades, but stooped low instead.
Li Qingshan’s heart shivered. There was a fearful murderous aura like a poisonous snake exposing its venomous fangs. But the masters worth his notice were clearly all on the terrace.
Not leaving him any time to think carefully, more than a dozen bandits lifted their hands together and shouted: “Everyone get out of the way!”
Li Qingshan immediately saw that they held a dozen black crossbows in their hands. They pulled the triggers at the same time.