Chapter 16

Ji Ming and Su Peng reacted at the same time. Ji Ming raised his hand and, without much aim, shot an arrow that drew a white line through the air and nailed into the eye socket of the bandit archer on the tower!

The bandit archer let out a惨叫 and fell from the tower, landing on the ground. Su Peng also ran over, shooting a flying knife as he ran, which nailed into the bandit archer's head.

The bandit archer grunted and then fell still.

Su Peng ran to Fu Kang, looked at him, and discovered that his game character had already lost its breath!

“Buzz... buzz... buzz...”

A low humming sound echoed in the game room. Fu Kang's game pod flashed red repeatedly, and it was ejected.

The team leader, Lei Ming, who was in the room, frowned upon hearing the sound. He put down the book he was reading and walked over, just in time to see Fu Kang, with a dazed look, being ejected from the game pod.

“No! This can't be true!” Fu Kang stood there for a moment before suddenly shouting. He was so agitated that he started waving his arms and legs, saying, “This is a conspiracy! It must be a conspiracy! They set me up, deliberately leaving a bowman!”

“Fu Kang, your game character has died. According to the contract, you are dismissed!” Lei Ming glanced at Fu Kang and said coldly. Then he sighed for some reason, seemingly regretting that Fu Kang couldn't even last until the formal contract was signed.

“You can go to Shi Qianjun to collect your one-month salary and then leave.” Lei Ming said to Fu Kang.

“This isn't my fault! Su Peng and the others are responsible! They killed me!” Fu Kang waved his arms and legs, shouting loudly. His eyes turned red, and he suddenly rushed towards the compartment where Su Peng's game pod was, seemingly wanting to confront Su Peng.

Lei Ming snorted and suddenly raised his hand. Lei Ming wasn't particularly tall, only half a head taller than the short and fat Fu Kang, and he might even weigh less. However, with just one hand, he grabbed Fu Kang's belt and lifted him up!

“Be quiet!” Lei Ming waved his hand and threw Fu Kang to the door of the room. At this moment, the door opened, and three Caucasian security guards rushed in. Lei Ming clapped his hands and said in English to the guards, “Take him out, let him calm down, and then let him go.”

The tall security guards nodded and lifted up Fu Kang, who was still cursing, and dragged him out of the room.

“It's over, continue,” Lei Ming clapped his hands and said to Su Peng and the others. Then he walked back and picked up the book he had just put down, as if nothing significant had happened.

In the game, Su Peng had already pulled out the flying knife and looked at each other with Sun Shijia and Ji Ming. None of them had expected to lose a companion so inexplicably.

“Sun Shijia, go and collect the items from Fu Kang's character. After a player dies, the body remains for twenty minutes before disappearing. You can still find some things if you search now,” Ji Ming said to Sun Shijia.

“Uh... okay, I'll go...” Sun Shijia was still in shock and numbly responded, then went to search Fu Kang's body.

Seeing Sun Shijia walk to one side, Ji Ming lowered his voice slightly and said to Su Peng, “You don't need to feel too guilty.”

“Huh?” Su Peng looked at Ji Ming.

“When I was a child, my family was poor, and I always played with some wild kids. The things they played with were free, but they were still fun,” Ji Ming suddenly changed the topic, causing Su Peng to look at him again.

Ji Ming seemed not to notice and continued, “One of the wild kids taught me a game. There's a kind of wild grass that, when dried, can be stretched and compressed. If you press the grass stem into the other half, it can be used as a whistle.”

Su Peng squinted his eyes, already knowing what Ji Ming was going to say.

Sure enough, Ji Ming smiled and said to Su Peng, “When we drew the short and long grass, I noticed that you were using the kind of grass I played with as a child... You seemed to have three long and one short grass, but when you were arranging the grass, you used your palm to press the upper half of the grass into the lower part, making them all short. Then you placed them in your fist and used your thumb to press the end of the grass. When others drew, you pressed with your fingers, and the grass would stretch back to become a long one. If you didn't press, it would remain short.”

“It's clear that Fu Kang and Sun Shijia didn't notice... In the end, you gave the short grass to Fu Kang, as a way to get back at him for making you lure the enemy with an arrow.”

Ji Ming said this calmly, his voice low enough that Sun Shijia, who was about seven to eight meters away, wouldn't hear.

Su Peng listened without any expression on his face and said, “So, are you going to report me?”

“I'm not that boring,” Ji Ming shrugged. “Since Fu Kang is already dead, let's just leave it at that. I just wanted to tell you that I know, and I'm not a fool.”

“Is that all?” Su Peng smiled slightly, but he didn't really expect an answer.

At this moment, Sun Shijia had already searched the items from Fu Kang's character and walked over. He had Ji Ming's golden wound medicine and five taels of silver.

At the same time, Sun Shijia was holding a bow, which was left by the bandit archer. He said to Ji Ming, “Brother Ji, this bow seems better than the one you have, so I took it.”

Ji Ming looked at the bow, and its attributes were indeed slightly better than his hunting bow. He nodded and thanked Sun Shijia, then switched to the new bow.

“Let's go. Since we've crossed the bridge, let's quickly head to Jiangning County to request reinforcements,” Su Peng took a deep breath and said to the two.

“Okay.”

The other two had no objections, and the three quickly left the area and headed to Jiangning County.

...

An hour and a half later, Su Peng and the others finally arrived at Jiangning County.

Even at night, Jiangning County still exuded a sense of grandeur. When Su Peng and the others arrived at the county, they saw the city walls, which were twelve meters high and entirely made of stone, and couldn't help but marvel.

The city gates were closed, but there were guards on the walls. After hearing Su Peng and the others' identities and intentions, the side gate opened, and several soldiers allowed Su Peng and the others to enter Jiangning County.

...

In Jiangning County, Su Peng and the others met Han Zhaizhu's nephew, who happened to be on duty that night.

“Is this true?” Han Zhaizhu's nephew, a military officer with slightly dark skin, frowned as he read the letter.

From the way the soldiers around him addressed him, his name should be Han Tuo.

“We can't delay. I will immediately report to the commander-in-chief. You three, follow me to suppress the bandits!” Han Tuo's eyes were filled with excitement and a killing intent as he said to Su Peng and the others.

The Black Water Army, which guarded Jiangning County, didn't have many opportunities to earn military merit. Now that there was a chance, how could Han Tuo not be excited?

Soon, Han Tuo led Su Peng and the others to the Black Water Army headquarters at night, obtained a military order and a tiger talisman, and was dispatched to lead two hundred Black Water Army soldiers to rescue Green Mountain Village.

...

In the middle of the night in Jiangning County, the city gates opened, and two hundred Black Water Army soldiers, clad in black armor and riding black horses, quickly and orderly rode out of the county.

Su Peng and the others also got three fast horses. The Black Water Army, from top to bottom, was uniformly dressed in black armor and rode black horses, which were tall and well-trained. Even though Su Peng and the others had not learned horseback riding, they could still ride.

The Black Water Army took the shortcut that Su Peng and the others had taken, and they rode much faster, about two to three times faster than when they came.

In less than two hours, Su Peng and the others had already arrived near Green Mountain Village with the Black Water Army. From a distance, they could see a sea of fire around Green Mountain Village.

Su Peng and the others rode close to Han Tuo. At this moment, a scout on a fast horse rode back, dismounted, and reported to Han Tuo:

“Report, sir! Green Mountain Village is under attack by bandits! A rough estimate shows that there are about three hundred bandits!”

“Three hundred?” Han Tuo smiled cruelly and said, “Two charges should be enough to wipe them out... Black Water Army, listen to my command! Follow me into battle!”

“Roar!” The Black Water Army, no longer caring about being discovered by the bandits, charged forward. Although they were outnumbered, not a single soldier thought they would lose!

Han Tuo unsheathed the exaggerated iron spear from his horse and raised it high, shouting, “Follow my command, charge!”

“Roar!”

The Black Water Army roared in unison, and Han Tuo led the charge down the hill!