*sew* *sew* *sew*
*piak* *piak* *piak*
The arrows struck the carriage and pierced through it.
Ye Tian Yun and Jun Xie had suddenly disappeared from mid-air!
*bang*
The carriage overturned and was broken into pieces.
A middle-aged man stared at the three overturned carriages from the top of the hill and the corpses lying around them.
"I see only four bodies… There are twelve of them. Shoot again, don't let them escape." He said in a hoarse voice.
It was unclear whom he said it, but the whole forest behind him suddenly began to create disturbances, as if a beast had woken up from a deep slumber.
Suddenly, arrows were once again fired; this time, their tip is lit with fire.
As soon as they strike the caravans, the carriages begin to burn.
The middle-aged narrowed his eyes.
Waiting with a bated breath.
Waiting for a survivor to run out of the carriages.
As expected, someone runs out of the first carriage.
As soon as he gets into sight, hundreds of arrows pierce him, his body cut into pieces from their sheer pressure.
"You can't use Qi." The hoarse voice of the middle-aged man called out, "We have prepared enough for this. You can't use qi, and neither can you use your cultivation."
"All of you are trapped. Give up and come out. I will spare the first person who comes out, and the rest will die."
His words echoed throughout the small valley.
To the man's surprise, seven silhouettes slowly come out.
The middle-aged man couldn't help himself but raised his eyes in disdain, "Pathetic cowards."
He then moves his head to the side, and orders, "Kill them after they announce their name. Spare only Fu Kai."
And once again, staring at the seven injured cultivators in front of him, he says with his voice reaching the ends of the valley, "You people came out at once… it's hard for me to tell who among them should be left to live. I will offer you all a choice - name yourself, and choose the person who shall die first."
His words sent a chill down the spine of his fellow ambushers.
Due to the distance, the expression of the seven hostages couldn't be distinguished; however, from their sudden movement, it was easy to tell that they were panicking.
Just then, one of them stepped out and said, "I am Xiao Ming."
His words rang through the illusion, "And I chose Yuan Shuchun to be killed off first."
There was no hesitation in his words.
As if Yuan Shuchun didn't mean anything to him.
The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything.
He waited for their responses.
"I am Qin Shen. I chose... I chose myself to be killed off."
"I am Jun Xie. I chose Yuan Shuchun."
"I am…
.
.
.
"I am Yuan Shuchun. I… I chose myself."
Her words sounded remorseful. But it was hard to distinguish what affected her most - the fact that she was voted out first, or the fact that she couldn't make up her mind to sacrifice others.
"I am Shu Xian." The last hostage's words echoed, "I chose Yuan Shuchun."
The middle-aged man smiled, "Well, I had a change of mind, so the person you chose will live, and everyone else will die."
As he finished his words, he raised his sword in the air and then moved it towards them - as if directing the attack.
And in the next instant, hundreds of arrows once again shot out from the forest and pierced through all of the hostages - leaving only two survivors.
Yuan Shuchun and Fu Kai remained unharmed while all the remaining traders and disciples were dead!
The middle-aged man's lips finally curved into a smile as he said, "Well, everything went pretty easy."
And then, staring at Fu Kai, he said, "You were spared because… why not?"
Turning his head towards Yuan Shuchun, he said, "And you're spared because it's been a long time since I tasted a young lady, ha-ha."
As his face cracked in an evil smile, he moved and showed himself for the first time after the ambush.
Looking at a cliff-like mountaintop, Fu Kai and Yuan Shuchun easily pinpointed his location.
"Who are you?" Fu Kai's words echoed in the valley.
The middle-aged man smiled.
And in the next instant, an arrow shot right through his thighs and he fell on his knees.
"Ugh- you-!" If stares could kill, Fu Kai would have killed the middle-aged man a thousand times over.
The middle-aged man shook his head, "You don't seem to understand your own situation. Out of twelve, only you two remain."
"What do you want?"
Yuan Shuchun's words rang out.
This time her tone was different - there wasn't any remorse but confidence.
The man stared at her for a long minute and then shook his head, "Don't make me regret sparing you."
"As for the questions you have in your mind, you will know the answers. But first - tell me who's the target."
"What?" Both Fu Kai and Yuan Shuchun were a bit confused.
The middle-aged man shook his head; for him, this was all an act.
"Tell me, who's the target of your secret mission?"
Yuan Shuchun pursed her lips but didn't say anything.
"Kill her."
The man whispered.
But surprisingly, the arrows didn't come out of the forest!
He frowned and shouted, "Bring me that girl's head!"
There was no reaction from the forest.
He turned around, his nostrils flaring with anger.
"Did you not hear- what-!?"
His anger suddenly turned to surprise and horror.
In front of him were two balls on the ground.
The balls were actually heads!
Heads of his partners!
He tightened the grip over the sword and became fully alert.
'What is going on? Is there a hidden enemy? Why was I not informed about this?'
Just then, a bad feeling crept up his spine.
He immediately turned around,and the first thing he saw halted his breath from shock!
"Impossible!"
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