Chapter 228 - Pursuit

Chapter 228: Pursuit
Translator: 
Myuu 
 Editor: 
Myuu

While fleeing for his life, Yan Liqiang ran further and further away from the mountain cave. His intention was to lead those Blackwind Bandits away from there. Whenever any Blackwind Bandits came too close to him, he would stop and turn around to shoot them with his arrows. As this went on, Yan Liqiang only had about twenty arrows left in his quiver, which would only last for just a little less than half an hour.
His arrows never missed their targets. By the time he finished all twenty arrows, he had taken down twenty of his pursuers. However, the remaining Blackwind Bandits were still chasing him relentlessly like a pack of starved wolves. While pursuing him, the Blackwind Bandits were still yelling angrily in their weird language. From what Yan Liqiang heard, their angry yells were things like ‘kill him’ or something along those lines…
That old priest seemed like someone very important to these Shatu people. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be pursuing him so relentlessly.
Without any supplies as all his arrows were gone, Yan Liqiang could only continue fleeing for his life.
Yan Liqiang initially thought he would be able to shake off his pursuers very quickly. With his physical qualities developed from Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing, and his cultivation in the Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps technique and superior vision, it would be difficult for those Shatu people to catch up to him in a forest like this without their steeds.


However, Yan Liqiang only half of that right.
After Yan Liqiang pulled away from the Blackwind Bandits who were pursuing him, he managed to gradually lose most of them because they couldn’t keep up with his pace. They lagged behind until they eventually vanished. However, there were still two Blackwind Bandits who instantly stood out from the others and noticed that Yan Liqiang had run out of arrows. During their pursuit, the distance between them and Yan Liqiang slowly got smaller.
Both of them were hidden among the big crowd before and didn’t rush to the front. It was evident that both of them were very cunning by keeping a low profile. Even Yan Liqiang didn’t notice people of such caliber hidden among the Blackwind Bandits that were pursuing him. They waited until Yan Liqiang stopped shooting because he ran out of arrows. They then slowly rushed to the front, overtook all the other Blackwind Bandits, and started chasing Yan Liqiang relentlessly.
Although they were inside the forest, those Blackwind Bandits weren’t any slower than Yan Liqiang. They were even slightly faster than him.
What made Yan Liqiang even more nervous was the raging murderous intent emitting from the two Blackwind Bandits. It was unwavering and as firm as steel. It made Yan Liqiang feel like they would pursue him to the end of the world and that they wouldn’t give up until they killed him.
Could it be that the old Shatu man was actually their father?

The thought flashed across Yan Liqiang’s mind.
Running at full speed, he could only hear the soft rustling noises of his clothes brushing past the plants around him.
Yan Liqiang’s ability to see in the dark was the only superior trait he had over the other two Blackwind Bandits. This allowed Yan Liqiang to respond faster and make quicker decisions than his two pursuers. It was the only reason why both of them still couldn’t catch up to him yet.
Yan Liqiang ran past countless trees and bushes, leaving them far behind. At the same time, birds were flying away from the trees because they were startled by his movements.


When Yan Liqiang passed by a gully that was several meters deep, he had no choice but to abandon the Horned Python Bow he was carrying in the bushes that were there. It was extremely inconvenient to run in a forest like this with his bow. So in a life or death situation like this, of course a Horned Python Bow wasn’t more important than his own life. He could still get his Horned Python Bow back, but no matter how good he was with his bow, it would be useless if he were dead and it would benefit those Blackwind Bandits who managed to kill him instead.
Knowing that Goldie was also running along with him somewhere not far from him was Yan Liqiang’s only comfort at a time like this. Goldie’s movements were very light in the forest. Yan Liqiang couldn’t see it, but he could just faintly sense it in his heart.
When Yan Liqiang went to the valley, his two pursuers also went to the valley!
When Yan Liqiang waded across the river, his two pursuers also followed suit!
When Yan Liqiang jumped several meters off a cliff and tumbled down along a hill full of weeds, his two pursuers also jumped off the cliff, tumbled down the hill, and continued pursuing Yan Liqiang relentlessly like maggots feeding on a corpse.
In such hot pursuit, Yan Liqiang had long deviated from the original route he had come from and ventured into unfamiliar territory in the wilderness. Since his body was already worn out from the long distance run from earlier, he was once again exhausted and he grew weary.
Yan Liqiang felt his legs growing weaker and his lungs getting stuffier. His breathing grew heavier too.
He made it through a craggy hill in front of him, then passed through a beech forest and another hill. His heart pounded against his chest at the scenery before him…
This was a U-shaped slope. Beside him was a precipitous cliff, and there was a ravine that was about a hundred meters deep. It stretched on for more than a thousand meters — he had reached a dead end. The ravine wall was steep and straight. It was impossible to climb down even if he wanted to. If he jumped from this height, the only outcome that awaited him when he landed was being turned into an environmentally-unfriendly bloody pulp. The precipitous cliff at the side was several meters above the ground and was as smooth as a mirror. Without the proper tools, it was impossible to scale it.
FCK!


I really have to put my life on the line!

He heard footsteps less than a hundred meters away from him. It was already too late for him to turn back and find another route even if he wanted to…
Yan Liqiang clenched his teeth. He scanned his surroundings, then dived into a dense bush at the top of the ravine, into the crevice of the cliff.
The deserted plain above this ravine was bigger than a soccer field, filled with grass that was about as tall as a person.
When his pursuers rushed to this location from the hill, Yan Liqiang immediately concealed himself among the dense bushes and remained motionless…
The two Blackwind Bandits following Yan Liqiang studied the terrain. After only a brief discussion, one of them turned around and went up the hill at the side so that he could overlook the entire plain. The other one unsheathed the scimitar he had with him and cautiously inched toward the bushes…
When Yan Liqiang, who was hidden in the bush, saw their actions, he nervously started calculating his chances in his heart.
The two Blackwind Bandits knew he couldn’t escape so he was probably hiding somewhere in the plains. To prevent the possibility of Yan Liqiang finding an opportunity to escape unnoticed again when they both entered the plains, one of them stood on the hill where he could overlook the entire scene and block Yan Liqiang’s escape route at the same time. The other person went into the plains to search for him. The only thing that awaited Yan Liqiang the moment the person in the plains found him or when the person on the hill spotted him would be an attack from both sides.
To be honest, Yan Liqiang didn’t have any confidence in taking on any one of them in close combat because he had determined that their strengths were probably at least that of a peak Supreme Martial Warrior, or somewhere close to a Grade One Martial Master. His archery in the Third Heavenly Layer could completely suppress opponents who were Supreme Martial Warriors and Grade One Martial Masters. Both of them had been extremely cautious around him earlier. They hid themselves among the other Blackwind Bandits, not daring to come close to him. This made it evident that they didn’t have the confidence to block off or take his arrows head-on. If both of them were already Grade One Martial Master experts, his arrows wouldn’t scare them that much, regardless of how much of a threat they posed.
Although the sky was still dark after all this, it wouldn’t be long until daybreak. The darkness was favorable to Yan Liqiang and could be considered as an advantage to him. As soon as the sky turned bright, he would lose this advantage.


Since the two Blackwind Bandits had split up, leaving this place alive hinged on whether or not he could take both of them down separately. If he made a move, he had to strike one of them down as quick as possible. Only with this, he could stand a chance against the other person when he faced him…