Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 21 Sharp Arrow
"Cousin Qinghe!"

"They're coming!"

As darkness fell, night descended. A suffocating tension and oppressive silence filled the inn. An elderly man led a young child into the cellar. Pei Feng and Pei Xuan refused to go to the cellar, insisting on staying with Pei Qinghe.

To grow and mature, one must endure hardship; indeed, it is necessary to see blood.

Pei Qinghe agreed and told the two to stay with her and not wander off. Pei Feng and Pei Xuan nodded in unison, clinging to their cousin's back like ornaments.

Pei Yan was young and bold. Knowing that there would be a bloody battle tonight, she was not afraid at all, but rather unusually excited. She climbed onto the wall, looked around, and quickly turned to warn others.

Pei Qinghe nodded slightly and made a gesture.

Pei Yan immediately fell silent.

Pei Yun was also on the wall. She bent down, gripped the bow and arrow tightly, her heart pounding and her palms sweating.

She had indeed practiced martial arts since childhood, possessing exceptional skills and precise archery. However, she had previously used her bow to kill birds or prey, never a human.

There were quite a few Pei women skilled in archery; picking out twenty or thirty wouldn't be a problem. However, even among the common soldiers under Commandant Sun, not everyone had a bow and arrow. Several palace guards, on the other hand, carried a considerable amount of weaponry, including two bows and arrows and several longswords.

The worn-out weapons Pei Qinghe had traded with the soldiers came in handy tonight. There were three bows and arrows, six longswords, two spears, and one sword.

Pei Qinghe took the bow and arrows and the long sword, and distributed the rest of the weapons to the few people who were the most skilled and the bravest.

The other women of the Pei clan, lacking suitable weapons, gripped their wooden sticks tightly. This way, they would at least have a fighting chance in a direct confrontation.

Pei Qinghe's pre-battle mobilization was very simple, just one sentence.

If you want to live, don't be afraid to die.

Mao Hongling gripped the spear, clenched her teeth, and her beautiful face was unusually tense.

She doesn't want to die.

The puppy had lost its father, leaving only her as its mother. She had to fight for it; she had to survive. For her son's sake, she had to live.

Wu Xiuniang gripped a long sword tightly in her hand. She had been married into the Pei family for over twenty years, and had long since abandoned her martial arts skills. However, the training she had been undergoing these past few days had allowed her to slowly rediscover the feeling of practicing martial arts in her youth.

She doesn't want to die.

Her husband had long since died in battle, her sons had been beheaded, but she still had a daughter and a granddaughter. Even if not for them, she wanted to live for herself. She was willing to risk her life to live for herself.

Feng's face was pale, and her body was trembling incessantly.

She wasn't from a military family, had never practiced martial arts, and wasn't particularly brave. At this moment, she was trembling with fear. She was terrified for her daughter, Pei Qinghe.

The other side was a group of ruthless bandits of unknown origin. No matter how skilled, courageous, or shrewd Qinghe was, she was still just a teenage girl who had never experienced war.

Moreover, in order to inspire her people, Pei Qinghe always took the lead and leaped onto the wall in a flash.

Madam Feng dared not and could not cry out, and could only watch helplessly as her daughter was in grave danger.

A wave of immense fear washed over her. She felt frozen, cold inside and out.

Mother and daughter are of one mind.

Pei Qinghe suddenly turned her head and glanced at Madam Feng from afar.

Ms. Feng forced back her tears, then waved her fist at her daughter, silently encouraging her.

Several meters away, in the dim light, nothing was clearly visible. Yet, Mrs. Feng knew that her daughter had smiled at her. Her heart, which had been pounding in her chest, suddenly relaxed.

Pei Qinghe turned her head and stared at several figures moving continuously in the darkness.

This group of people were either incredibly audacious or overly confident in themselves. They simply changed into tattered clothes to disguise themselves as refugees, and acted without any restraint.

They caught up with us just like that, and before they even figured out the guard situation at the inn, they started to make their move.

Underestimating the enemy, acting rashly, and being arrogant. Very good!

Tonight, we'll teach them a bloody lesson.

Pei Qinghe gave a cold smirk, steadily drew back the bow and arrow, narrowed her eyes, and suddenly released the arrow.

Whoosh!
The arrow left the bowstring, slicing through the night sky like lightning. The next moment, a fleeing black figure fell to the ground.

Without hesitation, Pei Yun and Pei Yan also fired their arrows.

Their archery skills were far inferior; they lacked both strength and accuracy, and missed their shots.

Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Pei Qinghe drew his bow again and fired another arrow. Another shadowy figure fell.

Pei Qinghe remained expressionless and continued to draw his bow and shoot arrows.

Whoosh!
The third person died from an arrow.

At that moment, Captain Sun and Guard Gao each fired their first arrow. One struck the bandit in the arm, and the other in the leg. Two screams rang out simultaneously, tearing apart the silent night.

The soldiers and palace guards also opened fire. Their archery skills varied, but under this volley of arrows, all eight or nine dark figures trying to rush into the inn were shot down and lay in pools of blood.

This bloody scene was incredibly stimulating.

Pei Feng, who had quietly climbed onto the wall, felt his stomach churning and suddenly turned to vomit.

Pei Xuan curled her lip and sneered in a low voice, "Go hide in the cellar!"

Pei Feng ignored Pei Xuan's bickering, finished vomiting the dry biscuits he had eaten that night, and continued to dry heave.

"Take good care of Pei Feng," Pei Qinghe instructed without turning her head, her eyes fixed ahead.

Pei Xuan immediately dropped her mocking expression and reached out to pat Pei Feng's back affectionately. Pei Feng choked on his saliva after being patted several times.

"How is it now?" Madam Feng asked the person beside her, her voice trembling.

Pei, a young woman, said nervously, her voice trembling: "I don't know! They must have driven back a wave of enemies."

Mrs. Feng breathed a sigh of relief, clasped her hands together towards the sky, and bowed several times.

Lieutenant Sun remained silent in the darkness.

He just shot two arrows, and the other one missed.

Even so, he could be considered to have excellent archery skills and was a top archer in the military camp.

Pei Qinghe shot four arrows in total, killing four people in succession. Every arrow hit its mark, each one a fatal blow to the throat.

He had been in the military for over a decade and had never seen such a skilled archer!
Even the guard was stunned.

The Eastern Palace had five hundred guards, and he was a minor leader among them, exceptionally skilled, especially in archery. He always considered himself a master archer…

Tonight, he finally understood what a true divine arrow was!
In the darkness on the other side, Wu San watched as Qiu Da and the others were all shot dead. He was furious and cursed incessantly.

We were careless! We underestimated our opponent!
Those palace guards were all expert archers!

"Boss, what do we do now?" The guards all looked grim. One of them mustered his courage and asked, "How about we retreat first? We can make our move after we've figured out their strength... Ouch!"

"Retreat? What retreat!" Wu San's ferocity was aroused, his face contorted with rage, and he gritted his teeth: "Charge forward and kill them all! Leave no one alive!"

“Drive away the refugees and make them clear the way.”

"Everyone, charge! Kill them all!"

(End of this chapter)