Working Like a Slave

Wu Zhengzhong broke out in a cold sweat; the arrow that had hit the wall was made of wood.

But the direction he aimed at was right between his eyebrows.

If Duan Xu hadn't pulled him away in time, his skull would have shattered like the wall.

"Who dares to ambush my Scale Python Martial Arts School's disciples?"

"If you've got the guts, step forward!" Duan Xu's voice was rough, and when he roared angrily, it sounded like a bear's howl.

The tremors caused dust to fall from the walls on both sides of the alley.

The people in the distillery mistook it for some kind of livestock that had run into the city, and rushed out without even bothering to put on their shoes.

Only then did they realize that it was a rather young and robust boy shouting.

Does Duan Xu still have the mood to drink with Wu Zhengzhong at this moment?

The martial arts exam had just ended, and someone dared to provoke them like this. If word got out, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the Scaled Python Martial Arts School? So the two of them displayed their unique skills.

Wu Zhengzhong leaped onto the high wall, using his sight and hearing to locate the attackers hiding nearby.

Duan Xu picked up the two arrows.

He felt like he'd seen it somewhere before, but with the crisis looming, he couldn't remember where. He searched every corner of the alley at lightning speed.

After searching for a long time, until sunset, the two of them still hadn't found a single trace.

When asked, people in the neighborhood said they had never seen anyone furtively setting up traps in the alley.

  

"Damn it, this is really weird. Someone must be trying to get revenge on someone, so they planted this hidden weapon."

"We ended up running into each other by sheer chance," Wu Zhengzhong patted his junior brother on the shoulder. "Let's go, let's go."

I've stored several jars of fine wine in this Peach Blossom Lane. Everyone's going to have a jar later to ward off bad luck!

Duan Xu was very vigilant. Looking at the broken crossbow bolt, he had a strange feeling of familiarity.

But his thoughts were interrupted by his senior brother, so he stopped thinking about it and went into the shop to have a drink.

The two drank together until midnight, and then emerged from the tavern, tipsy, arm in arm, chatting idly.

"Senior brother, listen to me, listen to me. I truly envy your family's wealth and power. You don't have to worry about what you want to eat, unlike my family..."

"There's nothing to envy. Just practice hard, and you'll have another chance to take the martial arts exam next year. Pass it and become a martial arts scholar, then you'll live a life of luxury!"

The two walked along the alley for more than ten minutes, covering a distance of nearly 700 meters, when their drunken eyes suddenly became bright again.

"Looks like no one was following us. We were wrong," Wu Zhengzhong cursed, feeling that his luck had been terrible lately. "I can't even drink to my heart's content. I'll definitely find another disciple from Poshan Martial Arts School to vent my frustrations another day."

Duan Xu was also puzzled. He had made an appointment with his senior brother to pretend to be drunk and go home, to see if someone was really going to assassinate him.

After leaving the winery, he walked all the way to where he was now, but he hadn't seen a single person or sensed any martial artist's presence.

"It should be."

The two of them, no longer caring about anything, swaggered back to the wine shop, and drank for another two hours.

As dawn broke, most of the people at the distillery had left, and the two had finally had their fill of drinking.

After rushing to pay, they walked out, smelling strongly of alcohol and slightly out of it, supporting each other.

"Senior brother, you're really amazing! Zhou Ye and Zhang Chen from that Broken Mountain Martial Arts School are both veteran experts in internal energy cultivation, and you defeated them with just one hand?"

Wu Zhengzhong patted his junior brother on the shoulder: "What's this? It's just that Lin Hu and Liu Mingze didn't run into me, otherwise I would have crippled them both!"

"They're nothing special. My senior brothers Lin Zhennan, Xiao Xiangbei, and I encountered them in the hunting grounds. We used a little trick to make them flee in a sorry state. Their success on the list today is purely by chance!"

"Their Broken Mountain Martial Arts School is full of useless trash. They claim to have great development potential and many disciples with internal strength, but they are all showy but useless."

You have no idea how miserable Zhang Chen screamed when I broke his arms and legs myself.

He's already a top-tier disciple at Poshan Martial Arts School; I can't even imagine how weak the others must be...

Laughter echoed through the alley, and the cool autumn morning breeze brought a chill to the two of them.

Clatter!

Wu Zhengzhong tripped over a thin thread and broke. He immediately realized something was wrong, but no danger was imminent.

"What's wrong, Senior Brother?"

"No, maybe I was just too nervous!"

However, the next moment, two crossbow bolts were cleanly and neatly shot out from the small holes on both sides of the wall.

Upon hearing this faint sound, Wu Zhengzhong and Duan Xu's first reaction was to dodge.

However, alcohol numbs people's nerves, and their reaction speed is much slower than before.

With the addition of two probes to test the situation and lower his guard, it can be said that his reaction speed is even worse than that of an ordinary Ming Jin martial artist.

The arrows that were shot at them blocked their path, and the two men tried to flee backward.

Just as he stepped back, a whooshing sound came from behind him, the angle was tricky and the speed was incredibly fast.

For a moment, the two of them couldn't tell from which direction the hidden weapon was aimed at which part of them.

Realizing that he might not be able to dodge the hidden weapon, Duan Xu made a quick decision, grabbed Wu Zhengzhong and threw him to his side.

Pfft!

"Ah!" Wu Zhengzhong screamed in agony.

But because of this, the iron-headed arrow, which was originally meant to pierce the back of both men's heads, only pierced Wu Zhengzhong's spine.

This stab brought Wu Zhengzhong back to his senses, but the matter was far from over.

Duan Xu instinctively turned to go back and forth to Jiufang, but as soon as he turned his head, a ball wrapped in cloth was dropped at his feet.

The cloth suddenly burst open, releasing an incredibly foul odor.

The smell was no less intense than that of a rotting corpse on a hot summer day; inhaling it, the two of them sneezed simultaneously.

The sneeze successfully blocked their hearing.

A dark figure suddenly appeared from the direction of the alley entrance. By the time Duan Xu and Wu Zhengzhong sensed someone behind them, the figure was already approaching at an extremely fast speed.

No sooner said than done, the dark figure unleashed a burst of blood and energy, delivering a straight punch.

Duan Xu was still carrying Wu Zhengzhong. Seeing that he couldn't dodge, he threw Wu Zhengzhong up like a sandbag.

The shadowy figure did not stop punching, seemingly having anticipated Duan Xu's response.

Wu Zhengzhong was given a warning of danger mid-air, and a chill ran from his tailbone all the way to his brain.

With nowhere to borrow strength and unable to adjust his body in time, he immediately used the "Snake Transformation" technique from the Snake Python Kung Fu.

Its own flexibility instantly reaches an exceptionally soft and smooth state.

He wanted to use a sliding motion to avoid the full impact of the straight punch.

But the shadowy figure seemed to be familiar with his fighting style, and as he slid through the air like a snake, a straight punch with explosive force erupted.

With the other hand, it pinched down hard from top to bottom like chopsticks.

At this moment, Duan Xu behind him also reacted and was about to step forward to rescue Wu Zhengzhong. However, what he did not expect was that the shadowy figure grabbed him with his other hand the instant he was caught.

Another hidden dart shot out, and this time it was short, fast, and swift, even more aggressive than the previous four hidden arrows.

Duan Xu had no way to dodge and could only lean back. At that very moment, the dark figure formed a pair of pincers with both hands and clamped them tightly around Wu Zhengzhong's waist.

The immense force exerted from above and below made Wu Zhengzhong feel as if he were being firmly clamped by a giant, scorching iron clamp. He tried to use his snake-like strength to slide out, but he couldn't break free no matter what he did.

Click!

The shadowy figure unleashed its power once more.

"Aaaaaah!" In just a moment, Wu Zhengzhong's lumbar spine broke.

But the shadowy figure had no intention of letting him go. As Wu Zhengzhong lost all his strength, the figure grabbed his lumbar spine with both hands and bent his entire body backward. With a headbutt, the figure slammed Wu Zhengzhong's head hard onto the ground.

Click!

The crisp sound of bones cracking echoed through the night sky.

Wu Zhengzhong lost consciousness and went paralyzed before he could even utter a cry of pain.

The dark figure moved with incredible speed, drawing a bamboo knife from its waist and slashing it in all directions, severing Wu Zhengzhong's tendons in his hands and feet.

"Senior brother!" Duan Xu staggered back a few steps, only to find that in less than a second, his senior brother had been crippled like a lump of mud.

At the same time, he felt a slight fear towards the man in black in front of him.

"Black Wolf, it's you! I recognize your eyes!"

The shadowy figure remained silent, leaping into the air and landing on the right wall. This time, it didn't throw a punch, but rather its claws.

Duan Xu suppressed his turbulent emotions and activated his Serpent Python Power, coiling upwards like a serpent.

"The python has the advantage over the wolf."

The venomous fangs clashed head-on with the wolf's claws, and with a hiss, a large gash was torn open in Duan Xu's skin by the wolf's claws.

However, due to the numbing effect of alcohol, his venomous fangs were dodged by the shadowy figure, causing Duan Xu to wince in pain.

It wanted to use its massive size to smash the shadowy figure away.

The shadowy figure leaped behind him, stepping on his shoulder, and at the same time, threw out a black thread from its chest that even Duan Xu didn't notice.

The black thread precisely wrapped around Duan Xu's neck. His eyes widened, and he knew something was wrong. His strong hands were about to tear the black thread off.

But as the shadowy figure landed, the black lines swiftly and tightly adhered to Duan Xu's skin.

Duan Xu realized that it was impossible to break free from the black line, so he decided to take a risk and fight the shadowy figure while it was still vulnerable.

But when he turned around, Duan Xu was so angry he laughed.

The dark figure was actually five or six meters away from him.

How can he fight back like this? What's the point of resisting? Is Black Wolf even a normal person?

Swipe!

The dark figure suddenly yanked the string, and Duan Xu felt a sharp pain in his throat.

But his breathing hadn't stopped, and he continued forward with his body upright.

"Black Wolf, what have I done to offend you? Why did you steal my prey? Why did you try to stop me from passing the imperial examination? Why did you try to assassinate me?! I want you dead..."

As he spoke, his aura surged, and his strength seemed about to rush up to his neck and snap the black line.

At the critical moment, the shadowy figure forcefully slammed its hand against the wall on the left.

轰－

The wall shook, and a trap buried in the bricks and tiles broke apart the soil, revealing a cloth ball that had been buried there long ago.

The cloth ball rolled down due to the force.

pat!

The cloth ball was smashed open, releasing a large amount of smoke and dust with a pungent, body odor.

Duan Xu couldn't open his eyes because of the fumes.

The shadowy figure took three steps in quick succession, its claws transforming into fists, and its fists into cones.

With each step, the body's energy and blood volume increased significantly, reaching their peak the moment the third step was taken.

A punch landed squarely on his chest.

boom!

The fist pierced Duan Xu's back, creating a ripple of force that dispersed the surrounding dust.

"Black Wolf!"

Duan Xu drew out the last syllable, followed by a muffled, thunderous bang.

The fierce blade, carrying the force to shatter mountains, crashed into the sturdy but not very stable wall.

With the force to penetrate the back of the paper, it exploded in his chest.

The dark figure gathered its strength again, but this time it wasn't aiming for Duan Xu's chest.

Rather, it was his limbs and bones.

Duan Xu's eyes widened in fear as he repeatedly begged for mercy: "Don't cripple me, don't cripple me, I admit my mistake."

I'll do anything for you!

ah!"

……