Chapter 109 - Ambush
A year has passed.
In the suburb of the fortress city Mou, Fu Zhou prefecture. Shi Mu was sitting cross-legged on a huge bough, his eyes tightly closed in meditation. He was wearing a short black jacket, and had the silver knife and black blade slung over his shoulder. If not looking closely, one might not be able to tell that it was him at a glance - the years since he left the fishing village had seen many major changes to both his body and his countenance. Although the big eyes and bushy eyebrows of his had not changed much, the outline of his face had been sharpened by years of hard training, the facial features more distinct. His nicely tanned complexion had completely been replaced by a nearly bronze color. When it comes to his stature, the change was remarkable he had grown much taller, with wide shoulders and a tough chest, and his arms were just as strong as cast iron, which added to his innate stubbornness a sense of wildness. All in all, the fishermen of his native village would definitely mistake this strong young man as someone else, should they ever meet again.
Right at this moment, Shi Mu was breathing faintly, deep in his contemplation, with the thick foliage fully shielding him. Looking afar, there were no other living creatures in this woods, except the plants, which, whenever the wind came, would rustle in the breeze, swaying helplessly - a bleakness only a fortress of trees would display.
As a matter of fact, as early as one year ago, the city of Mou fell under the merciless attack of the barbarians. Throughout his journey from the Black Demon Sect to this part of the land, Shi Mu had witnessed countless tragic scenes that would send shudders through his spine. Villages plundered by the barbarians could be seen everywhere in the prefecture, and the once flourishing fields were trampled by barbarian riders. Adult normal men were harnessed and treated less like servants and more like animals, who would get a good whipping whenever their “master” felt like it. Women were raped and killed, their naked bodies left scattered all over the ground, like litter. As for the elderly and the children, they could not provide any practical usage (either manual labor or sex), hence, they met a quicker end, which was, in some ways, less suffering.
This atrocity of unparalleled savagery drained the last bit of equanimity out of Shi Mu’s head. His hands itch, his teeth grit, and the thought of avenging his people grew uncontrollably stronger each day. For all that mattered, he is one of the human species, and this country, Qi, is his homeland!
That’s why he was holding his breath in this woods, not far from a camp which was set up by the Zheng Yan Tribe, one of the eight tribes that launched the invasion against the three countries. Shi Mu had received a mission of ambushing the patrol group of this camp earlier.
Some time later, sounds of horses trotting this way to the woods grew increasingly audible. Shi Mu’s ears stirred, and his eyes immediately opened, gleaming gold. Through the leaves, he could see clearly a group of ten barbarian riders moving toward him. These riders were all extremely big, each standing at least three meters tall, with spears made of bones slung over their backs, and stone axes, which hung from their waists. Even the horses they were riding were much stronger than normal horses, otherwise, how could they bear the enormous weight of their masters and their weapons
The man leading them was a young barbarian of heavy build, whose arms were thicker than Shi Mu’s thighs. He was holding a mace, which looked extremely heavy, in the most casual looking way, as if the mace weighed nothing. He was, himself, bared to the waist, showing the eye-catching tattoos on his chest - a howling blue lion.
Information about the barbarians soon flashed across Shi Mu’s mind. As far as he knew, the leaders of barbarian patrol groups were uniformly Houtian Totem warriors, roughly the same level as normal Houtian warriors. Thinking this, Shi Mu quietly reached for his black blade at his back, his eyes narrowing with hatred.
The leader with blue lion tattoo looked rather wary, for, just one month ago, their camp had been raided by strong human warriors who caused great damage to their unit. But, just as they had passed under a big tree, the unexpected still came. As far as they could make out, the dense foliage of the big tree burst open without warning, and a large streak of cold light cascaded down to their heads with thirteen black knife shadows blending into the light. The silhouette of a black-robed youth pierced through the leaves. this was, precisely, Shi Mu!
The young barbarian leader shouted angrily, his eyes widely opened. In a split-second, his bulked arms grew even stronger, and oddly enough, blue lion hair started sprouting from his skin. He wielded the mace wildly, tracing an arc in midair and stirring a cold wind. In his hand, the mace went directly to meet the black knife shadows, like a fierce dragon.
Boom! The two weapons clashed in midair amid ear-deafening noises and the hum of metal vibrating. The thirteen shadows were dispelled, as well as the mace. Shi Mu was quite amazed to find himself severely challenged, both physically and mentally, by the brutal force of the barbarian leader; after all he had always been confident of his own huge strength. But right now, his right arm was groaning in the aftermath of the clash, almost struck numb. Undoubtedly, this barbarian leader must equal a Houtain warrior in his actual strength!
Shi Mu soon tumbled through the air, minimizing the impact. But the pursuing mace would not let Shi Mu go, and it rotated in the air, coming his way. Shi Mu’s eyes dilated, and, still in midair, he instilled his magic power into the black blade in the shortest time and then swayed his weapon, chopping heavily at the mace.
The two weapons collided once more. But this time, a glaring ball of fire exploded in the air! The barbarian leader was left no time to figure out what had happened, and he could only feel enveloped by an irresistible heat wave, his eyes could see nothing other than burning fire, and his hands stung from the blow, almost unable to hold the mace. The horse beneath him was in a worse condition heavy as it is, how could a horse bear the two succeeding strikes from Shi Mu Sadly, its four legs were instantly broken.
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