They were all archers—who didn't know who?
Chen Si simply wanted to lure the snake from its hole.
Zhou Man understood this clearly. Without even looking, she sensed the murderous intent gathering behind her, yet remained perfectly calm. She sat quietly behind the stone, arrow nocked upon the string, listening intently to the movements below.
The five figures drew closer with each passing moment.
Zhou Man's patience held firm. She refused to move prematurely.
Until the three who walked fastest appeared within her line of sight—
At this precise moment, she could see them clearly, and they could see her position, but Chen Si remained blind to her location!
Zhou Man raised her bow and released.
The three men startled, raising their weapons defensively.
However, their movements proved no match for Zhou Man's arrows. In a single breath, three arrows flew in rapid succession, and all three men fell.
The two men walking behind recoiled in horror, instinctively retreating.
But Chen Si watched coldly from below and issued his command: "Don't retreat, just do it!"
He had to force Zhou Man into the open.
Though terrified, the two men found themselves without choice. Steeling themselves, they stepped forward, raised their weapons, and—preparing to unleash their sword energy—struck at the boulder.
At this angle, neither man stood within Zhou Man's sight.
Attacking from such distance greatly diminished the power of their strikes, but it also prevented them from becoming easy targets.
Now Zhou Man truly faced a dilemma.
The enemy still numbered four, while she possessed only three arrows remaining—three carefully crafted fragments—
No room for error existed.
Hiding behind the rock and waiting offered no solution. She would have to risk exposing herself, and within a fraction of a second, she must shoot through both men, leaving two remaining silver arrows to fight the two below!
Was it a matter of seconds?
Perhaps.
In this moment, Zhou Man's decisiveness shone remarkably clear.
She closed her eyes. When they reopened, purple light flowed through her irises. The night, in her vision, became as luminous as day.
Nocking her arrow, she leaped from behind the rock.
While still airborne, she had already found the perfect angle and released her shot!
The silver-cast arrow streaked through the darkness with a faint trail of light, forming a long, straight line that pierced through both figures.
But simultaneously, Zhou Man exposed herself completely.
How could Chen Si, who had waited so long below for precisely this opening, possibly miss such a flaw? With a slight release of his long fingers, the golden arrow flew free, hurtling toward the airborne figure!
Zhou Man had just executed an extremely difficult one-on-two attack, requiring an impossibly precise angle. Though exposed and aware the opponent would strike, she didn't spare even a glance. Instead, she rolled mid-air, attempting to evade Chen Si's arrow.
Yet Chen Si was an innate master, and his arrows carried devastating power.
Even with her swift evasion, she was still struck in the left arm.
The blazing golden arrow grazed her flesh, sending blood spraying before it vanished into the pitch-black forest, startling a flock of birds into flight!
Zhou Man rolled upon landing and took cover behind another half-man-high rock. Yet the first sensation that washed over her wasn't physical pain, but heartache!
What a magnificent arrow!
She'd glimpsed it clearly when it passed: the arrow was inlaid with gold, its shaft covered in runes, its feathers crafted from flamingo plumes. A single arrow could equal her entire fortune.
Yet it had disappeared into the forest!
In this tense situation, Zhou Man had no opportunity to retrieve it for her own use.
Chen Si, watching her dodge and hide behind the rock below, felt resentment surge within him. From the sound, he knew his arrow had found its mark, and the enemy must be wounded, so he laughed aloud.
Unbeknownst to him, Zhou Man behind the rock was also laughing.
Wounded, yes—but her objective had been achieved: two enemies felled by two arrows!
Jin Buhuan felt unease stirring, noticing something unusual: "Her arrow has changed."
Previously, she'd used ordinary eagle-feathered arrows, but now a faint silver gleam caught the light.
Chen Si dismissed this concern. After his first arrow failed to finish her, he nocked another, staring at the rock concealing Zhou Man and calling out, "Your archery skills are truly exceptional, the finest I've ever witnessed. It's a pity—you're a beautiful woman, yet you're a thief? You're already injured, so why continue this struggle? Why don't you simply lay down your weapons and emerge? We won't kill unarmed people, and we won't harm you at all."
Zhou Man tore a strip of cloth from her garments and bound the wound to stanch the bleeding. She spoke as though she possessed eyes in the back of her head: "I'm not worthy of the mercy of noble families. You speak so pleasantly—why don't you put down your bow and arrows first?"
Chen Si laughed when he heard this. "Okay, okay!"
Zhou Man immediately understood this wasn't agreement but laughter born of anger.
Tonight, no one would voluntarily surrender their bows and arrows—unless they were competing to determine superiority, to fight until death!
The two archers ceased speaking.
Jiajin Valley suddenly grew so quiet that even the birds and insects sensed some dangerous presence and fell silent.
Chen Si had already drawn his bow, his entire body still as stone, all attention focused on the rock concealing his opponent.
An invisible string seemed to stretch taut through the air itself.
Zhou Man understood perfectly that the next arrow would determine who stood superior between her and Chen Si.
Yet the more the tension mounted, the calmer her heart became. She couldn't even register the pain from the wound on her left arm.
In this moment, she removed the cloak she'd been wearing. Then she raised her gaze toward the sky above the deep valley—
A bright waning moon hung in the dark blue firmament, illuminating the Jiajin Valley below, casting sparse tree shadows across the rocks.
A dark cloud drifted ahead.
At this moment, the moon was sliding into the clouds, its brilliance gradually fading.
The entire world grew so quiet she could hear only her own heartbeat. Zhou Man silently counted down.
Three, two—
One!
The moon vanished completely into the dark clouds. As the light shifted, the entire Jiajin Valley plunged into darkness.
Chen Si experienced a moment of discomfort.
Almost instantly, a dark shadow suddenly flew out from the right side of the rocky outcrop!
The prolonged standoff had stretched Chen Si's nerves to their breaking point. At this moment, the slightest movement could trigger a response, much less an actual shadow.
He had no time to think.
His fingers moved faster than thought itself, aiming the arrow in that direction and releasing the bowstring!
A resounding hum filled the air—
And it didn't emanate from his bow alone!
At that precise moment, a handsome, tall figure suddenly appeared on the left side of the rock, holding her bow high like a deity pronouncing judgment upon the world!
The instant Chen Si released his arrow, her remaining arrow—engraved with heavy silver—also flew from the string!
The two arrows shot from opposing directions with tremendous momentum, almost parallel. In mid-air, they approached each other momentarily, as though fate itself had arranged their meeting, yet they merely brushed past.
When he heard the second bowstring sing from the left, Chen Si knew he had lost—
The dark shadow on the right had grown clearer under the approaching golden arrow's brilliance.
It was merely a flying cloak!
And the opponent's arrow was already flying straight toward him.
This arrow differed from any that came before.
Imperfect yet beautiful, dark silver strands inscribed upon its arrowhead. As it flew toward him, it seemed to ignite gracefully, like a silver rainbow descending into the deep valley. It made one wish to open one's arms and embrace its arrival!
The second arrow from "Yi Shen Jue" (The Art of the Archery Gods)—Guan Changhong, the Long Rainbow!
Chen Si's bow hand had fallen. He stood motionless as the silver rainbow flew toward him.
Jin Buhuan watched with a shudder of fear.
At this critical juncture, he dared not remain idle. Cursing inwardly, he yanked the ancient bamboo brush from his waist and, at the final moment, flung it at the silver rainbow!
The arrow tip collided with the brush, which erupted with several cursive characters, blocking the arrow's path.
But only for an instant.
The moment the dark silver arrow met resistance from the ink characters, it shattered into countless fragments, transforming into tiny points of silver light that darted toward Chen Si like a sky full of fireflies.
The shattered arrow pieces pierced his body, even his face. In a split second, Chen Si became a bloody figure.
He strained to see the figure above him.
However, blood streaming from his eyelids blurred his vision. Even with his eyes forced wide open, he could only discern the woman's flowing garments, a veiled face, and a pair of pupils faintly shimmering with purple light!
Chen Si collapsed, unconscious.
Jin Buhuan, still recovering from the shock of witnessing that arrow, glanced upward and saw the figure to the left of the rock showing no sign of retreat. Instead, she raised her bow once more.
This time, aimed directly at him!
A chill shot from his feet straight to his forehead. In that instant, Jin Buhuan moved faster than he ever had—
With his left hand, he seized the suspended jade plate and hurled it into the pool.
With his right hand, he threw the returning ink bamboo brush to the ground.
Then he simply raised both empty hands and shouted upward, "Don't kill me, I surrender!"
"..."
The arrow between her fingers was about to leave the string, and Zhou Man's eyelids twitched. She had never anticipated such an absurd scene.
Surrendering on the battlefield?
Jin Buhuan, fearing she wouldn't believe him, spoke rapidly: "If you want the Jasper Marrow, take it. I have no objection. I'm not in the same group as them, but I beg you to spare my life."
Zhou Man remained unconvinced.
She didn't lower her bow and arrow but kept the arrow trained on him as she said, "Then turn around."
Jin Buhuan obeyed and turned his back to her.
The moon emerged from the dark clouds once more.
Very light footsteps sounded behind him. He glimpsed a slender figure approaching, then felt something press against his waist—probably the pointed tip of the longbow.
Even muffled, the voice clearly belonged to a woman: "You two came together, so why aren't you in the same group?"
Jin Buhuan smiled. "I, Jin Buhuan, only befriend intelligent people. The outcome of Chen Si's fight was decided the moment he asked me to remove the jade plate. You provoked him with words, and he truly fell for it. Even when he later shot you with an arrow, the risk and damage remained within your tolerance. No matter how you fought, you wouldn't lose. A fool like him, who can't be persuaded—how could he possibly be my friend?"
Zhou Man raised an eyebrow. "If he's not a friend, why did you save him just now?"
Jin Buhuan remained composed. "Although he's not a friend, he's still a retainer of the Song family. If he makes a foolish mistake and loses face, it benefits me. But if he dies here tonight, I truly can't explain myself."
The ancient bamboo brush still lay on the ground.
Zhou Man had encountered it before in her previous life.
She glanced at it and asked, "You carry this brush—are you a disciple of Du Caotang?"
Jin Buhuan replied modestly, "Yes, I am."
Zhou Man couldn't help asking, "Du Caotang is one of the four great sects in Shuzhou, renowned for its integrity. How could they accept someone like you?"
Jin Buhuan, incredibly shameless, accepted this as a compliment: "It must be the discerning eye of our elders that allowed them to recognize a pearl like me among the refuse."
Zhou Man finally laughed despite her anger.
Jin Buhuan, sensing strangely that the dangerous person behind him seemed approachable, attempted to ingratiate himself further.
But before he could speak, Zhou Man's voice turned cold: "Bring me the jasper."
Jin Buhuan paused before looking toward the pool.
The celadon vase Chen Si had left behind had fallen onto the water's surface.
Jin Buhuan considered for a moment, then said, "Yes."
He cautiously stepped forward and retrieved the vase from the water. Without turning around, he lifted it up, backing toward Zhou Man.
Zhou Man recognized this man was truly sensible: "Why don't you turn around and see what I look like?"
Jin Buhuan replied, "I don't want to die yet."
Zhou Man smiled again and took the celadon bottle filled with jasper from him. Then she poked him in the back with the end of her bow, gesturing toward where Chen Si lay. "Over there—give me his bow and arrows."
Bow and arrows?
Jin Buhuan felt startled, a thousand thoughts flashing through his mind, but ultimately only one remained: plucking feathers from a passing goose. This person behind him truly wouldn't leave empty-handed.
With the jasper already surrendered, he certainly didn't care about the bow and arrows. He took two steps forward and, with swift, efficient movements, stripped the unconscious Chen Si of everything.
A fine bow inlaid with rare crystals.
Eighteen long arrows, imbued with golden essence.
Still stepping backward, he handed everything to Zhou Man.
Zhou Man accepted it all.
Jin Buhuan hesitated momentarily before saying, "Can we make a deal? Give me half of the chalcedony?"
Zhou Man raised an eyebrow, regarding him, but offered no response.
Jin Buhuan explained: "We came this time to obtain the chalcedony because Miss Song Lanzhen of the Song family needs it for her flower cultivation. Now that we've suffered such casualties, if I return empty-handed, I'm afraid I'll face blame..."
Suddenly, silence stretched behind him for an extended moment.
Just when Jin Buhuan almost suspected she had departed, Zhou Man smiled and sighed softly: "I won't blame you. Song Lan is such a good person..."
Her voice was as ethereal as mountain mist. It proved impossible to determine whether it carried more irony, more sorrow, or more melancholy. Only the profound emotion that couldn't be dissolved flowed into one's heart along with the voice.
Jin Buhuan actually fell into a trance.
In this moment, a powerful desire suddenly seized him: to see what the woman behind him looked like.
So he boldly followed this impulse and turned around.
But nothing remained behind him.
Zhou Man had departed long ago without him noticing.
Jin Buhuan gathered his strength and leaped to a mountain peak. Standing upon the highest ridge, his expression no longer carefree, he searched all around, attempting to track down any trace of her. However, the Shu Mountains stretched like a vast sea—where could any trace of that woman be found?
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