146: Chapter 146 The Sharpshooter

The team member stood rooted to the spot, cold sweat soaking through his clothes on his back.

The black wolf's corpse lay at his feet, its eerie green eyes having already lost their luster. The wound where the arrow had entered through the eye socket and exited the back of its head was still oozing dark red blood, which dripped drop by drop down the wolf's fur onto the fallen leaves.

He instinctively turned his head, wanting to see who had shot the arrow.

Just as he turned, the bushes on both his left and right sides exploded simultaneously.

Two gray wolves lunged out from the shadows, one on the left and one on the right, their sharp claws carving two cold streaks of light through the night.

The gray wolf on the left lunged for his throat, while the one on the right snapped at his ribs.

The two beasts coordinated with extreme tacit understanding; they were clearly veteran hunters who had sealed off all his retreat paths.

The team member's scalp tingled violently.

He had just narrowly escaped the black wolf's sneak attack, his center of gravity hadn't adjusted yet, and his sword was still in front of him; he had no time to defend.

Two fourth-grade Vicious Beasts were attacking at the same time—he couldn't dodge, and he couldn't block.

This time, he was truly a dead man—this thought had just emerged in his mind, and he didn't even have time to feel despair.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two sounds of air being torn apart rang out almost the exact moment that thought arose.

The sound was extremely sharp and thin, like two red-hot iron wires simultaneously piercing through the air.

The first arrow of light grazed his left ear, the fierce wind whipped up by the arrow causing his earlobe to sting.

The second arrow of light swept past above his right shoulder, less than three inches from his neck.

He could even feel the scorching airflow stirred up as the arrow shafts brushed past.

"Puchi. Puchi."

Two sounds of arrows entering flesh rang out almost simultaneously.

The throat of the gray wolf on the left was pierced through by an arrow; the arrow shot in through its throat and exited through the back of its neck, bringing with it a spray of blood mist.

A fist-sized bloody hole exploded in the chest of the gray wolf on the right; the arrow spun as it drilled in, shredding its heart before pinning it to the tree trunk behind it.

The bodies of the two gray wolves stiffened in mid-air for a moment, then crashed straight to the ground like two chopped-down logs, dying instantly without even a single twitch.

From the lunge to their deaths, it took less than a single breath's time.

The team member still maintained his sword-raising posture, his whole body frozen in place, eyes wide open.

His lips moved, wanting to say something, but only a garbled, breathy sound came from his throat.

"What are you still standing there for! Get to work!"

Captain Ma's voice exploded from the front, like a thunderclap that shocked him awake from his shock.

He shuddered violently, gripped his sword, and charged back toward the Vicious Beasts in front.

But his brain was still buzzing—two arrows, shot simultaneously, hitting simultaneously, one piercing the throat, one piercing the heart. What kind of archery was this?

He wasn't the only one in shock. The members of Team 6 all stole a glance back amidst the fighting.

They saw the figure standing by the lake—Lin Tian was still standing in place, his feet nailed to the ground as if they had taken root, the cold moon bow held in his left hand, the bowstring still vibrating slightly, emitting a very light, very fine humming sound.

His right hand had just pulled a new arrow from the quiver, his movements unhurried, with no expression on his face, as if those two arrows just now were merely a casual act.

Everyone then suddenly realized.

So this kid wasn't scared silly. A person scared silly couldn't shoot arrows like that.

He was just standing in place because he needed to attack from a distance.

It wasn't that he didn't dare to rush up; it was because his position was supposed to be in the rear.

Having figured this out, the team members' morale surged significantly. With an archer holding the line in the rear, what were they afraid of behind them? What were they afraid of in terms of sneak attacks?

They only needed to focus on dealing with the Vicious Beasts in front of them; everything behind them could be left to that kid.

The rhythm of the battle changed instantly.

Captain Ma took the lead, the blade light from his long saber stretching into a bright, snowy streak in the night, slicing across the waist of a gray wolf and sending it flying sideways.

The other team members no longer worried about their backs, letting go and attacking with full force, their swords and sabers dancing with fierce momentum.

Whenever a Vicious Beast attempted a sneak attack from behind, an arrow would always fly from the direction of the lake, as fast as a meteor, as accurate as if it had eyes, killing with a single shot—never needing a second arrow.

Lin Tian's hand was very steady. He pulled an arrow from the quiver, nocked it on the bowstring, drew the bow, aimed, and released. The entire movement was smooth and flowing, without a single bit of excess.

The essence of the Meteor Arrow Technique was only one thing—speed.

With Internal Energy infused into the arrow, the moment the bowstring snapped open, the Internal Energy attached to the arrow would explode at the tail, creating a second stage of thrust. Thus, his arrows were much faster and much fiercer than those of ordinary archers.

Ordinary arrows hitting a Vicious Beast might get stuck in bone or be deflected by scales.

But his arrows wouldn't—under the infusion of Internal Energy, the penetrating power of the cold iron arrowhead increased exponentially; even a thick-skinned Vicious Beast couldn't block one of his arrows.

One arrow, two arrows, three arrows.

Every arrow shot resulted in a Vicious Beast falling to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the number of Vicious Beasts that had died under his arrows already exceeded ten.

On the ground by the lake shore, the corpses of Vicious Beasts lay scattered about, each one pierced by an arrow, the location of the wounds almost exactly the same—either the eye socket, the throat, or the heart.

They were all vital points; not a single arrow was superfluous.

After fighting for a while longer, the Vicious Beast pack began to retreat.

The largest black-furred Vicious Wolf had its front leg slashed by Captain Ma's saber, let out a shrill howl, and turned to bolt into the depths of the forest.

The remaining few gray wolves and a few Vicious Beasts whose names they didn't know heard the howl of the alpha wolf, and they also abandoned their opponents, tucked their tails, and slipped into the forest.

The dark, dense forest was like a big mouth, swallowing these beasts one by one, leaving only the sound of fading footsteps and the cracking of breaking branches.

"Do not pursue!" Captain Ma stood at the edge of the forest with his blade held horizontally, the blood on the blade dripping drop by drop onto the ground.

The team members stopped. Some were bent over, hands on their knees, panting heavily.

Some sat directly on the ground, backs against a tree trunk, the sweat and blood on their faces mixed together, streaming down their chins.

They were all carrying injuries on their bodies—on their arms, shoulders, and legs, torn open by the claws and teeth of the Vicious Beasts. However, they were all superficial wounds, not injuring tendons or bones, and would heal in a few days after being bandaged.

Then their gazes fell upon the ground.

On this open ground between the lake shore and the forest, dozens of Vicious Beast corpses lay scattered.

Black wolves, gray wolves, and a few beasts whose names they couldn't call out—some lay on the ground, some face up, others curled into a ball. Most of the corpses had arrows stuck in them—in the eye sockets, throats, or hearts.

The arrow shafts glimmered with a faint cold light under the moonlight, and the feathers at the tail of the arrows trembled gently in the night breeze.

Everyone's gaze turned toward the lake side.

Lin Tian stood beside the bamboo raft of Fish Pond No. 6, the cold moon bow already hung back on his back.

Moonlight leaked down from the gaps in the clouds, spilling onto him and enveloping him in a layer of faint, silvery-white halo.

His robes were clean, without a single drop of blood on them. His hair was neat, and his breathing was steady.

If it weren't for the bowstring of the bow on his back still vibrating slightly, if it weren't for those dozens of arrows on the ground still glimmering with cold light under the moonlight, one couldn't tell at all that he had just experienced a slaughter.

He just stood there, as if nothing had happened at all.

But everyone knew what had happened. Those arrows stuck in the Vicious Beast corpses each represented a precise kill. Dozens of arrows, dozens of Vicious Beasts.

And they weren't ordinary wild beasts; they were true Vicious Beasts—thick-skinned, agile, and extremely tenacious Vicious Beasts.

For an ordinary archer to hit them with one arrow, it would be good enough if the arrowhead could penetrate the fur; it simply couldn't cause fatal damage.

But Lin Tian's arrows—every single one accurately hit a vital point.

Eye sockets, throat, heart—all were the weakest points in defense, positions that would be fatal with a single strike. This was not something an ordinary archer could do; this was a Master Archer.

"Are you all alright, Senior Brothers?"

Lin Tian walked over, his gaze sweeping over the wounds on the team members' bodies.

His tone was very ordinary, as if he were asking what they had eaten for dinner today.

The team members came back to their senses, one by one standing up from the ground and gathering around Lin Tian.

The team member who had been saved from beneath the black wolf's claws walked in front; the wound on his shoulder was still oozing blood, but he didn't care about the pain, grabbing Lin Tian's arm, his voice trembling: "Junior Brother Lin, thanks to you. If it weren't for those two arrows of yours just now, I would have been dead."

The others also spoke up one after another. Some patted his shoulder, some cupped their fists at him, some just nodded forcefully without saying anything, but the gratitude in their eyes was genuine. If Lin Tian hadn't been restraining those Vicious Beasts from a distance, even if they could have won, it would certainly not have been this easy.

Those Vicious Beasts that lunged from behind, those beasts that snuck in from the side, those dark shadows that crept over while they were entangled with the opponents in front—each was a fatal threat.

It was Lin Tian's arrows that pinned these threats to the ground, one by one.

Lin Tian waved his hand: "We are all from the same sect, naturally we help each other."

Captain Ma walked over. His saber had already returned to its sheath, and his clothes were torn in several places, revealing his lean, strong muscles and several bloody scratches underneath. He stood before Lin Tian, looked him up and down, and then reached out, heavily patting Lin Tian on the shoulder.

The force of that palm was not small, patting Lin Tian's shoulder down a bit.

"Well done, Junior Brother." Captain Ma's voice was not loud, but every word seemed to be pressed out from his chest, carrying a heavy weight: "I will request a commendation for you."

Lin Tian cupped his fists, not saying much more.

Next was cleaning up the battlefield.

The team members dragged the Vicious Beast corpses together, cut off useful Materials to store away, and piled the useless parts by the edge of the forest to be dealt with tomorrow.

The arrows stuck in the Vicious Beasts were pulled out one by one, wiped clean of blood, and inserted back into Lin Tian's quiver.

Someone counted them—a total of twenty-three arrows, twenty-three Vicious Beasts.

Most of them were gray wolves, and there were a few beasts that even Captain Ma couldn't name, larger in size than the gray wolves with thicker fur, but under Lin Tian's arrows, they were no different from the gray wolves—all killed with a single shot.

Captain Ma did not participate in cleaning up the battlefield. He straightened his torn robes and strode toward the bamboo building to the east.

Inside the bamboo building, Field Master Zhou sat on a meditation cushion in the center of the main hall, with green smoke curling from the bronze incense burner in front of him. The captains of several teams were lined up on both sides, reporting the battle situation of the night in turn.

"Fish Pond No. 1, eleven Vicious Beasts, repelled. Two team members with minor injuries, no serious injuries, no deaths."

"Fish Pond No. 2, eight Vicious Beasts, repelled. One team member with minor injuries, no serious injuries, no deaths."

"Fish Pond No. 3, fifteen Vicious Beasts, repelled. Three team members with minor injuries, one with serious injuries, no deaths."

"Fish Pond No. 4..."

The captains reported one after another, their voices calm, as if they were talking about a very ordinary matter. Vicious Beast attacks were indeed not a rare occurrence at Yunhai Fishery.

It happened once a month, sometimes twice or even three times. The beasts in the mountains would smell the scent of the Treasure Fish and sneak over, be killed or repelled by the guards, and after a period of time to heal their wounds, they would come back again.

Coming and going, the guards were long used to it. As long as there were no deaths and no loss of Treasure Fish, it wasn't a big deal.

Field Master Zhou sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion, eyes closed, listening to the captains' reports, nodding occasionally.

His face was indistinct behind the green smoke of the incense burner, and no expression could be discerned.

It was Team 6 Captain's turn.

Captain Ma stepped forward and cupped his fists: "Fish Pond No. 6, over thirty Vicious Beasts, repelled. Five team members with minor injuries, no serious injuries, no deaths. No loss of Treasure Fish."

Field Master Zhou's eyelids twitched. Over thirty. This number was more than all the other fish ponds combined.

Fish Pond No. 6 was located furthest to the west, right next to the mountain forest; every time Vicious Beasts attacked, it bore the brunt of it, enduring the greatest pressure.

Over thirty Vicious Beasts, and Team 6 only had seven people; to be able to repel them all without serious injuries or deaths, this battle result was quite impressive.

"Understood." Field Master Zhou nodded.

Captain Ma did not step back. He stood in place and cupped his fists again: "Fishery Master, there is one more special matter to report."

Field Master Zhou opened his eyes.

"This time our Team 6 had few casualties, thanks to that newcomer, Lin Tian." Captain Ma's voice echoed in the bamboo building, clearly reaching everyone's ears: "He is an archer who restrained a large number of Vicious Beasts in the rear. Of the thirty-plus Vicious Beasts that attacked tonight, more than half were shot and killed by him alone."

Field Master Zhou's eyes opened completely.

A newcomer.

A newcomer who had only been at Yunhai Fishery for half a month. A single person shot and killed more than half of the Vicious Beasts.

He had been the Fishery Master at Yunhai Fishery for so many years and had seen many talented young people, but not a single one could achieve such a battle record during their first encounter with a Vicious Beast attack.

For a newcomer on the battlefield for the first time, it would be good enough if they weren't scared silly and could follow the old team members to take action.

One person shooting and killing most of the Vicious Beasts—this was not a newcomer; this was a veteran hunter.

"Reward based on merit." Field Master Zhou's voice was unhurried, but the weight in his tone could be heard by everyone present: "Reward him well."

"Yes." Captain Ma cupped his fists and retreated back into the ranks.

The other captains stood to the side, their eyes flickering as they exchanged a few glances.

No one spoke, but what was hidden in those glances, they all knew clearly in their hearts.

After the reports were finished, the captains filed out of the bamboo building one after another.

The night was deep, and a thin layer of fog had risen on the lake; the moonlight shone on the fog, enveloping the entire lake in a hazy, silvery-white.

Captain Ma walked in the lead, his pace fast, his back straight.

Tonight, Team 6's battle record was the most impressive among the ten fish ponds; he had the right to walk fast, the right to hold his head high.

The captains behind him watched his retreating figure, their steps gradually slowing down.

"Team 6 has a new Genius recruit, seems pretty impressive." A captain crossed his arms, his tone carrying a somewhat ambiguous flavor.

Another captain scoffed. His surname was Liu, the captain of Team 3, who had been at Yunhai Fishery for five or six years and had led many newcomers under his command.

"What new Genius. A newcomer is true, but a Genius is not necessarily so." His voice was very low, but the disapproval in his tone couldn't be hidden: "You know what kind of person Old Ma is; he's the best at social maneuvering. I reckon this newcomer has some background, and Old Ma is pinning his own battle achievements on him to pave the way for him."

"Exactly." The captain of Team 4 also leaned in and nodded: "Our team also has archers.

They're okay at dealing with ordinary wild beasts, but it's not that easy to deal with Vicious Beasts.

Those beasts, some have scales, some have fur as thick as iron plates; when ordinary arrows shoot at them, it's good if the arrowhead can embed itself, it simply can't cause fatal wounds.

Even if the archery skill is superb and can hit vital points, you have to penetrate their defenses first.

A newcomer, how much ability can they have? How could they possibly use a bow and arrow to kill so many Vicious Beasts?"

"Unless it's a Master Archer." Captain Liu bit the last few words heavily: "But he is just a newcomer. A newcomer who has only just entered for a little over a year, how could he be a Master Archer?"

The captains exchanged words, the more they spoke, the more they felt their judgment was correct.

Team 6 did indeed fight beautifully tonight, repelling all thirty-plus Vicious Beasts, with only five team members having minor injuries.

But whose credit this was, it was hard to say. Old Ma had been at the fishery for nearly ten years; what kind of scenes hadn't he seen?

Giving a bit of his own credit to a newcomer with a background to sell a favor—this was something he was completely capable of doing.