Death… and me

The first enemy Chu Yang saw had been hiding under a layer of leaves. Only his cold and alert eyes were visible and they were completely emotionless, devoid of all feeling.

From his eyes alone, Chu Yang could tell that his enemy was a highly skilled veteran! He probably only had one motto in life: to assassinate his opponent and complete his assignment!

Hidden on the ground before him was a row of crossbows, each already loaded with ten gleaming, black arrows, waiting to be fired at their target.

Chu Yang held his breath and carefully moved forward. He was hidden in the thick foliage of a tree. Without making a single sound, he starting moving, a ghost in the night.

From his bird's eye view, Chu Yang thoroughly scanned his surroundings. He saw a startlingly large number of arrows and estimated that there were at least fifty or sixty people lying in ambush!

This ambush had clearly been plotted well in advanced! How else would they have known that their group would be resting here? Furthermore, it seemed like the loaded crossbows had been hidden well before they had arrived.

Chu Yang frowned as he saw the enemies' positions, unable to hide his frustration. Whoever had directed them was extremely strategic!

From their positions, each of them could look out for at least three of their compatriots. They could come to one another's aid easily and if one of them gave away their hiding spots, the rest could come to his rescue!

This was a plan which must have been drawn up by extremely experience military personnel! It was so well-planned that if Chu Yang attacked any of his enemies, at least three others would realise immediately!

Not only were the enemies' hiding positions concealed extremely well, they were also carefully chosen to form a tactical formation without a single blind spot! It would be nearly impossible to stealthily take down this group of enemies. There would be no way out of this situation apart from using forcefully fighting from the inside out!

In the center of the formation, behind some short bushes, the hazy silhouette of a person was sitting, unmoving. Initially, this person did not appear to stand out from the other enemies, but Chu Yang eventually realised that he was the most crucial person in the formation.

This was at least ten others were watching his hiding spot! This was in comparison to a maximum of five people watching any other hiding spots in the formation. Moreover, as he was seated at the center, the entire formation served as a barrier of sorts, protecting him from any harm. And nestled in the thick foliage next to him was a huge piece of equipment – the siege crossbow!

Right then, Chu Yang could clearly hear the manager Gao and eight other people speaking, just outside the thick foliage. "…if you return Du Shi Qing, we won't give chase…" Hearing these words, Chu Yang felt slightly shaken and had a rough idea of who his enemies were.

Not only did they have the siege crossbow, they were also strategic and clearly well-trained. No doubt, they had to be from the military!

Chu Yang continued to approached the centre of the formation stealthily. And then, without hesitation, he gave a powerful push with his legs, sending his entire body shooting down from the leaves above like a bolt of lightning out of the blue. His fingers were curled menacingly like a hawk seizing its prey as he violently leapt forward!

With a hissing sound, an arrow flew towards Chu Yang as he shortened the distance between him and his target to less than a meter. The hissing sound alerted the other enemy fighters and immediately, at least thirty to forty arrows came flying at him from all directions and the air was filled with a cacophony of forceful hissing sounds.

Only the first arrow had posed a real threat. The rest were definitely too late.

Chu Yang turned to the side and the first arrow flew past his nose, narrowly missing it. His fingers maintained their powerful curve as he continued to approach his target.

After the first wave of arrows, Chu Yang took a quick glance at his enemies' positions and immediately changed his approach, adopting an even more aggressive rhythm. As long as the group discovered him, Chu Yang could use his immense speed to disrupt their tempo and destroy their grand formation!

Chu Yang was not aiming to kill his enemies, but to first disrupt their formation!

Moreover, the man who sat in the centre of the formation was obviously someone with authority over the group and to thwart the ambush, all Chu Yang had to do was capture him!

If Chu Yang managed to seize that man, he could end this at once!

The man immediately noticed Chu Yang. His eyes widened in panic. He screamed and jumped up. As he left the ground he turned and, with outstretched arms, shot ten arrows at Chu Yang. Then, he thrust his sabre violently at Chu Yang's neck.

Chu Yang nimbly dodged the arrows and in the blink of an eye, he jabbed his right arm forward, past the saber, and at the neck of his target. In one swift movement, his fingers straightened and his palm rammed into his target's nape.

The man glared at him, a look of shock and disbelief in his eyes, as he fell like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Although the man's reaction had been very swift, Chu Yang had had the added advantage from his momentum. Furthermore, the man had been caught off-guard and would never have reacted in time!

Immediately, Chu Yang grabbed the man's collar and lifted him. Chu Yang had just grazed the ground when he again leapt into the air with a violent thrust.

Chu Yang jumped towards a large tree, turned his body and used the tree as a springboard, forcefully thrusting his legs against the tree. The tree trembled wildly and leaves rained down. With the speed of an arrow in flight, Chu Yang shot towards the exit of the forest. The man weighed nearly two hundred pounds but Chu Yang carried him with just his right hand as if he were made of feathers. Chu Yang did not slow down, not even in the slightest!

Hundreds of arrows flew towards them but Chu Yang remained unbothered. He simply turned side-to-side and avoided them. Chu Yang's black clothes were ripped apart by the flying arrows but he did not suffer even a single scratch.

Although a few arrows seemed like they would stab into Chu Yang's body, the next moment they would fly through his clothes at an almost unnatural angle. Chu Yang did not change his position and began to fly faster!

The other enemy soldiers were obviously concerned about Chu Yang's hostage. Every arrow they fired was aimed away from the man. This gave Chu Yang more leeway to move and helped him verify his hostage's identity as well!

The man he was holding was definitely not just an ordinary soldier!

Chu Yang's legs fiercely kicked off tree trunks in quick succession and he was like a pulse of electricity, zapping through the rich forest. Most of the arrows that flew at him missed and ended up lodged firmly in tree trunks!

In no time at all, Chu Yang was already approaching the exit of the forest, leaving the soldiers behind him in a mess, trying to remobilise themselves.

Suddenly, before him, a few people jumped out at the same time, roaring and shouting. They thrust their sabres at Chu Yang, desperately trying to prevent his escape.

Chu Yang's eyes widened and he changed direction. Instead of moving forward, he pushed himself up into the air. After he leapt over his enemies, Chu Yang continued his advance towards the exit and darted out like a shooting star, leaving only trees shaking in his wake.

He had finally escaped the forest, bursting into vast fields.

His enemies were no longer able to hide themselves in the lowlands, revealing themselves as they ran towards Chu Yang from all directions. Behind their black masks, their eyes were clearly displayed their panic, losing all their composure from before.

They had come up with an extremely detailed plan. The eight experts were supposed to reduce the group's power and in the ensuing chaos, the others would kill Du Shi Qing. They would all then immediately disappear.

They did not anticipate that this damned, unknown boy would launch himself straight into the centre of their formation and capture their commander, thus ruining their plans!

They were steaming with anger but extremely puzzled at the same time. How could a mere youth have pierced through their perfectly set-up formation with such precision? Did he have some sort of divining ability?

And, now that their plans were in shambles, how would they be able to return?