Immortality Begins by Taking Care of Master’s Wife – Chapter 34

Chapter 34: A Close Call

Bang!

The signal arrow exploded in the air, startling both sides confronting each other at the main gate of Crouching Dragon Mountain.

Zhang Long had already received the news. He was stalling Tie Xiong and the other bandits from the front while the County Magistrate had sent people to infiltrate from the back mountain to rescue Chen Feng.

Now, seeing the bandit signal arrow coming from the back mountain, Zhang Long knew that the rescuer had been exposed.

“You dared to trick us! Today, I’ll use that little bitch as a sacrifice to the flag!”

Tie Xiong abruptly stood up, enraged. He ordered, “Release the arrows! I’m going to personally chop off that little bitch’s head!”

After speaking, Tie Xiong leaped off the stockade wall and vanished.

“Kill!”

Furious, Zhang Long had no way to retreat now. With a wave of his hand, he charged forward, leading the way while enduring the rain of arrows.

He didn’t even bother with a shield.

Ordinary arrows couldn’t hurt him at all.

Zhou Chen followed closely beside Zhang Long. Each arrow he released claimed the life of an enemy. In the blink of an eye, he had already shot over a dozen arrows.

One after another, the bandit leaders on the stockade wall were killed.

Zhou Chen naturally selected the stronger ones as targets. Although these leaders couldn’t be considered true experts, each of them possessed at least five to six hundred “jin” of strength.

They were roughly at the mid-stage of the First Level of Body Refinement.

But under Zhou Chen’s arrows, none could escape.

After Tie Xiong left the stockade wall, the second-in-command, Lü Xiao, had also disappeared at some point.

Seeing this, the smarter leaders knew Tie Xiong and Lü Xiao had fled, sensing the situation was unfavorable.

Therefore…

They hurriedly escaped.

With someone taking the lead, the bandits instantly scattered, scrambling to flee.

They were already afraid of the government. Now that their leader had run away, how could they possibly hold their ground? They only wished their parents had given them two more legs.

With the bandits collapsing, Zhang Long’s speed increased even further. He leaped onto the stockade wall in a single bound.

Zhou Chen followed closely behind.

“Where is the County Magistrate’s daughter?”

Zhang Long grabbed a bandit, his blood-stained saber pressed against the bandit’s neck. He shouted fiercely.

“Spare me, Your Excellency! The County Magistrate’s daughter is in the side chamber behind the main hall… ah…”

Casually slitting the bandit’s throat, Zhang Long and Zhou Chen headed straight for the main hall.

When they rushed into the side chamber, their expressions changed.

She was still alive.

But…

It was a gruesome sight! A pungent odor filled the entire hall. Chen Feng, the County Magistrate’s daughter, lay collapsed on a solid wood table, completely naked. Her once snow-white skin was covered in bruises.

Her legs were spread wide, and she was barely clinging to life.

It was obvious what she had endured.

There was even an object still inside her.

Zhang Long rushed forward and covered her with his coat, his face grim.

Zhou Chen sighed inwardly. He wasn’t surprised by this.

Reality wasn’t like the movies.

It wasn’t always possible to rescue someone just in time, and it was even less likely for a captured woman to remain unharmed in enemy territory.

Everyone had a demon inside them.

When there were no restraints, this demon would emerge, becoming incredibly terrifying.

It was easy to imagine what a woman would suffer when captured by the enemy.

No dignity, no human rights, subjected to all sorts of punishments and playthings one couldn’t even dream of.

“It’s not unreasonable that Zhang Long doesn’t marry.”

Zhou Chen couldn’t help but recall Zhang Long’s words. No wife and children meant no weaknesses, no one to be easily manipulated.

As for those maidservants used to vent desires, Zhang Long didn’t care about them at all.

No feelings meant no emotional ties.

Physical pleasure, not emotional attachment.

There were many people like Zhang Long, even most martial artists were like this.

Many cultivators even advocated cutting off the seven emotions and six desires, living a life of detachment.

“Your Excellency!”

Zhao Hu rushed in and quickly lowered his head when he saw Chen Feng.

“You and your men guard the door. No one is allowed to enter!”

Zhang Long ordered.

“Yes, sir!”

Zhao Hu immediately took ten constables to guard the door.

“Your Excellency, Tie Xiong and Lü Xiao escaped by using ropes to descend from a small path!”

Yang Dali hurried over to report.

“We can’t let them escape!”

Zhang Long looked at Yang Da Gen and the others, “You stay here and protect the County Magistrate’s daughter. Zhou Chen and I will go after them!”

“Yes, sir!”

Zhou Chen and Zhang Long wasted no time and immediately set off in pursuit of Tie Xiong.

With Chen Feng ravaged in such a way, these two leaders couldn’t be allowed to escape.

The two soon arrived at a cliff edge. There was a rope here. Tie Xiong and Lü Xiao had obviously escaped from this point.

Zhang Long took the lead, grasping the rope with one hand and holding his saber in the other as he rapidly descended.

Zhou Chen followed closely behind.

Moments later…

They landed. This place was usually deserted, so the traces left by Tie Xiong and Lü Xiao were very clear.

“After them!”

After pursuing for several dozen meters, they discovered the tracks forked.

Tie Xiong and Lü Xiao had split up to escape.

Zhang Long hesitated. He wanted to pursue them separately, but he was worried Zhou Chen wouldn’t be a match for them.

“Let’s split up. That Tie Xiong is only at the Second Level of Body Refinement. Even if I encounter him, I can handle it!” Zhou Chen spoke directly.

Zhang Long’s Third Level of Body Refinement strength was of no use to him. It was better for him to act alone than to chase with Zhang Long.

If he encountered danger, he could easily escape by himself.

But following Zhang Long, without revealing his true strength, would only hinder him.

“Alright, be careful. If you encounter Tie Xiong, don’t engage in close combat with him!”

Zhang Long gave a word of caution and chased after one set of tracks.

Zhou Chen followed the other set of tracks.

Zhou Chen’s speed was neither fast nor slow. He only displayed the speed of a Second Level Body Refinement cultivator.

It would be best if he could catch up.

If he couldn’t, he wouldn’t force it.

His own safety was the most important.

“Master, there’s an ambush ahead. It’s that second-in-command, Lü Xiao!”

Ji Feng Xia warned.

Lü Xiao had appeared at the stockade gate earlier, so Ji Feng Xia had memorized his aura.

“Trying to ambush me?”

Zhou Chen sneered inwardly, remaining calm. Ji Feng Xia acted like radar, providing Zhou Chen with the precise location.

As he got closer…

Zhou Chen also faintly sensed Lü Xiao’s presence. Although Lü Xiao was well hidden, Zhou Chen’s cultivation was extraordinary, and his tracking skills were also impressive.

“This guy should have also cultivated a technique similar to the Breath Concealment Technique, but it’s no match for mine!”

The thought flashed through Zhou Chen’s mind. Seeing the opportunity, he instantly erupted.

He nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring in one fluid motion.

Thwang! Thwang! Thwang! Thwang!

The bowstring hummed like thunder, nine arrows shot in rapid succession, heading straight for Lü Xiao’s hidden location.

“Not good!”

Lü Xiao was shocked. A layer of light appeared around his body.

The light barrier blocked three arrows before shattering with a boom.

Immediately after…

Six arrows pierced Lü Xiao’s left and right chest, both eyes, his forehead, and his neck.

“You…”

Lü Xiao’s eyes widened, blood gurgling from his mouth. He couldn’t believe it. He had been instantly killed.

“How… did you… find me?”

He wasn’t actually a martial artist but a cultivator.

He had cultivated his Breath Concealment Technique to the first level and was confident he was well hidden. How could Zhou Chen, a mere martial artist, discover his hiding place?

Although his spiritual root was trash, he had cultivated to the Third Level of Qi Refinement through time and effort.

Because of his cautious nature, even Tie Xiong only thought he was a First Level Qi Refinement lone cultivator, and the others didn’t even know if he knew martial arts.

They wouldn’t have imagined he was a Third Level Qi Refinement cultivator.

“You talk too much!”

Zhou Chen raised his hand and smashed Lü Xiao’s head with a palm strike. Then he searched his body.

He found a storage pouch.

The items inside the storage pouch were varied, but most of them were gold, silver, and jewels. There wasn’t a single spirit stone.

But there were quite a few secret manuals. Although they looked like common goods, Zhou Chen was delighted.

Even common goods, when cultivated to a high level, could possess boundless power.

“This is considered an unexpected gain!”

Zhou Chen was very satisfied. He said happily, “Feng Xia, come out and clean up!”

“Yes, Master!”

A voluptuous and graceful figure emerged, accompanied by an alluring voice. Ji Feng Xia glanced at Lü Xiao’s corpse and incinerated it with Yin Fire.

“Job done!”

Ji Feng Xia returned to the Wind and Moon Mirror. Zhou Chen, full of gains and in high spirits, felt his footsteps become lighter.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The clear sound of a wooden fish grew louder and louder in his ears. Zhou Chen’s steps halted, his entire body as if immobilized.

His pupils contracted sharply, his hair stood on end, and a bone-chilling fear surged within him, a terror he had never experienced before!

The forest had vanished, replaced by a nunnery. The sound of a wooden fish came from within.

He could faintly hear the chanting of nuns.

Boom!

Zhou Chen’s mind felt like it was exploding. It was filled with the sounds of the wooden fish and the nuns’ chanting. Even his thoughts became sluggish and slow.

He wanted to escape, but he couldn’t control his body, unable to take a single step!

Roar!

His Fourth Level Body Refinement cultivation erupted without restraint. His Qi and blood surged, his face flushed red, and his body swelled up like a bellows.

The bones and tendons throughout his body crackled, and the sound of a tiger’s roar and a leopard’s growl boomed like thunder.

This allowed him to regain a sliver of his rationality. His thoughts, frozen by the chilling terror, began to stir slightly. He roared in his mind, “Add points!”

Without time to think, he instinctively added his over two thousand Romance Points to Yi’s Archery.

In this instant…

It was as if Zhou Chen had cultivated for several years. His Qi and blood surged, his bones and tendons crackled, and the sounds of the wooden fish and the nuns’ chanting in his mind were suppressed.

It was like a person frozen in ice had been thawed.

His body and soul felt lighter.

In this life-or-death moment, coupled with the added points, inspiration struck Zhou Chen, and he suddenly comprehended a new archery technique.

He instinctively raised his bow and drew the bowstring until it was full like a full moon. The bow trembled as a formless Arrow Intent condensed, and a terrifying sharpness seemed to pierce through heaven and earth.

The sun was setting in the west, the last rays of sunlight as red as blood.

Thwang!

The thousand-jin draw weight bow shattered with a boom. A pitch-black arrow shot upward like a meteor, piercing the sky and striking the gate of the nunnery.

“This is…”

The woman in white, who had left the peak of Crouching Dragon Mountain, abruptly looked up. Her pupils contracted as she saw the arrow light soaring against the backdrop of the blood-red sunset.

“Chang Feng, full of romantic charm, Yi’s arrow shoots into the sky!”

The image of an unrestrained and carefree figure flashed through her mind. The woman in white exclaimed in shock, “Yi’s Archery of Divine Arrow Peak!?”