Chapter 46

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The resin torches hissed, the flames flickering, and the atmosphere in the tent was so oppressive that it was almost suffocating.

Shikawa's body lay on the frozen ground, half of his chest almost blown open, revealing a large blood hole with white bones exposed, all shattered.

As a mid-rank peak barbarian warrior, his entire skeleton had been tempered to be as hard as iron.

Although even a pillar made of fine steel could be kicked and broken, who in the tent could shoot an arrow to shatter bones as hard as iron like this?

In the northern mountains of Python Tooth Ridge, which tribe had such a divine archer?

Gujianfeng looked at the blood hole in Shikawa's chest and was secretly alarmed, thinking that if Chen Xun really had the intention to kill them at Wild Horse Creek, he and the forty or fifty others, including Gu Yuan, would definitely not escape.

"Please allow the tribal chief to let Gu Yuan take his family and leave the village!" Gu Yuan knelt on the icy ground, bowing and pleading.

Gu Hu's face was ashen, his deeply lined old face looking ugly and fierce in the firelight.

Seeing that Gu Yuan was determined to take his family and leave the village, not wanting to participate in the battle between Black Mountain and Black Python, Gu Jianfeng was worried on one hand that Gu Yuan's family would not be able to survive in the wilderness, and on the other hand, he was afraid that his father would be enraged and punish Gu Yuan.

Thinking of this, Gu Jianfeng also knelt down and earnestly advised his father:

"Father, aside from the fact that Chen Xun saved my life, his archery skills are divine, and almost no one can avoid his shots within a hundred meters. Even if we manage to capture Black Python, the losses will be so heavy that Black Mountain and Mountain Tong cannot bear it."

The two upper-rank barbarian warriors of the Mountain Tong tribe, Shi Luo and Shi Ji, remained silent, their faces dark as they looked at Gu Hu.

Gu Hu's mind was in turmoil: now he was in a difficult position!

He had invited the Mountain Tong tribe, and their general, Shikawa, had been killed by Chen Xun's arrow. Besides Shikawa, another mid-rank barbarian warrior of the Mountain Tong tribe had his left shoulder kicked and shattered by Chen Xun, making him almost a cripple, just like Gu Shan.

After the cold wave and the beast attack, such heavy losses were unimaginable. If he were to suggest withdrawing the siege from Black Python's stone village now, how could the Mountain Tong tribe be willing?

Moreover, Gu Chen needed the golden wolf's blood to save his life! The Black Mountain tribe could not be left with only one upper-rank barbarian warrior.

The tent fell into a terrifying silence.

After a while, someone ran to the tent and shouted:

"Chief, someone from Black Python has come out of the village!"

Gu Hu thought that Black Python was relying on strong reinforcements to launch a night attack on the camp. He picked up a heavy spear and rushed out of the tent, leading his men to intercept them.

However, when he stepped out of the tent, he saw that the southern wall of Black Python's stone village was illuminated by a row of torches. A dozen people stood on the wall, using ropes to lower a huge block of river ice. Inside the ice was the golden giant wolf that was said to have been killed by the combined efforts of the Black Python people.

The cold wave had almost attacked all the tribes in the northern mountains. The Black Mountain tribe had also been besieged by over a thousand green wolves, suffering heavy losses. However, the head wolf that attacked the Black Mountain tribe was not as large or as pure in color, and it had escaped with injuries.

What did Black Python mean by lowering this giant wolf?

Seeking peace?

Black Python had been defending the stone village for many days, determined to fight to the death. Now, with strong reinforcements entering the village, they were lowering the giant wolf to seek peace. What did this mean?

Gu Hu was filled with doubt.

"Gu Hu, Shi Luo, dare you come forward and speak?"

A voice echoed, and Gu Hu was startled. Looking at the torchlight, he saw the person standing there, who was none other than the Black Python shaman Zong Tu, who was said to be critically injured and on the verge of death.

Zong Tu's voice was so loud, how could it be that of someone who was still recovering from injuries?

How could this be?

Could it be that Zong Tu was never injured, and Black Python had been pretending to be weak all along?

Cold sweat broke out on Gu Hu's forehead. He could hardly imagine what would happen if they were to forcefully attack Black Python's stone village and fall into Zong Tu's trap.

Zong Tu invited them to speak, and Gu Hu was not afraid to step forward. He and Gu Luo descended the hill and stood in front of Black Python's stone village. He saw several more people come down from the wall, carrying the giant wolf sealed in the river ice to a spot 200 meters in front of the wall.

"Gu Hu, Shi Luo, the cold wave occurs every ten years, and the wolf attacks have caused heavy casualties for all tribes. Everyone needs rest and recuperation. You have surrounded us, Black Python, but what benefits will you gain even if you destroy us?"

Zong Tu held a bone staff and asked in a trembling voice, his heart filled with anger, but for the greater good, he had to suppress his anger and continue:

"Even if we, Black Python, understand the situation and offer the giant wolf, will you be safe from the next cold wave and the massive beast attacks in ten years? Can you ensure that the Black Mountain and Mountain Tong tribes will survive without being destroyed?"

"Zong Tu, stop the nonsense. Rare treasures in the mountains have always belonged to the strong, a thousand-year-old iron rule of Python Tooth Ridge. If you are unwilling to offer the giant wolf, then let your bows and arrows speak." Gu Hu shouted, interrupting Zong Tu, his heart filled with guilt or not, but he could not let their morale weaken.

"Fine, let's follow the thousand-year-old iron rule. The giant wolf is 200 meters away. We will use six iron bows from our wall. If you can take it away before dawn, Black Python will never mention this again, and life will go on as usual. If the Black Mountain and Mountain Tong tribes cannot take the giant wolf away before dawn, please do not mention this matter again—agreed?" Zong Tu said.

Gu Hu looked at the tribal chief of the Mountain Tong tribe, Shi Luo.

"Agreed!" Shi Luo responded in a deep voice, "If the Mountain Tong and Black Mountain cannot take the giant wolf away tonight, we will have no face to stay here."

Chen Xun and Zong Tu, among others, held the iron bows in their hands, drew the iron arrows, and watched the Black Mountain and Mountain Tong tribes try to take the giant wolf from the wall.

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The iron bows could shoot up to 600-700 meters, and in the hands of upper-rank barbarian warriors like Zong Sang and Nan Lao, their power was even more astonishing.

Black Python had obtained ten iron bows from the Su family, but four were damaged, leaving six usable. Among the others, Chen Xun, Zong Sang, and Nan Lao were the most dangerous with their bows.

Seeing the blood hole in Shikawa's chest, even Shi Hu did not think anyone could enter within 200 meters and survive under the three powerful bows of Chen Xun, Zong Sang, and Nan Lao.

The giant wolf, sealed in the river ice, weighed over ten thousand pounds. He feared that he would need to work with Shi Luo and Shi Ji to retrieve it under the threat of the six giant bows.

Under the attack of the iron-tipped arrows, ordinary iron armor and protective barbarian spirits could hardly withstand the force.

If the six giant bows on the wall focused on shooting one person, even with their strong cultivation and physical strength, he and Shi Luo and Shi Ji would find it hard to escape death.

As Gu Hu temporarily retreated to the camp on the hill, the more he thought, the more alarmed he became:

Gu Chen was critically injured, and his life was being sustained by spiritual medicine. He needed the golden wolf's blood to be cured. If he died before the stone village of Black Python and could not retrieve the giant wolf, the Black Mountain tribe would be at the mercy of others!

The Mountain Tong tribe could also not afford the loss of an upper-rank barbarian warrior being killed on the spot.

Zong Tu's proposal seemed reasonable and hard to refuse, but the hidden danger made it difficult to decide whether to advance or retreat.

"Father, I will lead the men to retrieve the giant wolf." Gu Jianfeng said.

"No." Gu Hu said sternly, his face dark.

"If I die under Black Python's arrows, I will have no regrets! And Chen Xun saved my life, so I should repay him with my life in front of the village." Gu Jianfeng insisted. He could not leave the village like Gu Yuan, and the decades of hatred between Black Mountain and Black Python could not be resolved because of him. Perhaps dying in front of Black Python's stone village was his destiny.

"Make a wooden shield!" Shi Luo said, "I have seen the Ghost Xi attack a city with wooden shields made from large trees to block arrows and stones."

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Seeing the Black Mountain and Mountain Tong tribes use several large trees, each three to four feet in diameter, to form a huge wooden shield, carried by a dozen barbarian warriors to approach the wall, Chen Xun secretly marveled at how war truly fosters human ingenuity.

Chen Xun glanced at his grandfather Zong Tu. He and Zong Sang and Nan Lao, working together, could shatter this seemingly invincible wooden shield. The time it would take for the Black Mountain and Mountain Tong barbarian warriors to drag the giant wolf, which weighed nearly ten thousand pounds, out of their 600-700-meter range would be enough for each of them to shoot four to five iron arrows...

"Shoot to wound, not to kill." Zong Tu said.

"The thousand-year-old iron rule is such that if they die, it is their fate. Why should I fear them coming to bite me?" Zong Sang said resentfully.

"Shoot their legs!" Zong Tu pressed his voice, his triangular old eyes glaring at Zong Sang, ready to strike him with his bone staff if he dared to argue.

"Cheating these bastards!" Zong Sang spat, resentfully.

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Gu Hu, unable to personally go down the hill to retrieve the giant wolf, watched as the huge wooden shield, hit by three iron arrows, shattered in an instant, and his hands and feet turned cold.

The twelve mid-rank barbarian warriors of the Black Mountain and Mountain Tong tribes were exposed to the six iron bows of Black Python. Even if his son Gu Jianfeng, a rare martial talent in the Black Mountain tribe for hundreds of years, were to die, or if the other five Black Mountain barbarian warriors were to die in front of Black Python's wall, the Black Mountain tribe would surely never recover.

Arrows flashed in the cold night, and although Gu Hu was not afraid of death, at this moment, his heart ached, his eyes closed, and tears streamed down his face.

If time could be turned back just a short while, he would never have thought of retrieving the golden wolf, and he believed Gu Chen would understand his decision to give up!

Shi Luo could not bear to watch the slaughter on the hill, and he could not imagine how the Mountain Tong tribe would survive in the northern mountains of Python Tooth Ridge after losing eight mid-rank barbarian warriors.

The barbarian warriors surrounding Gu Hu and Shi Luo were in even greater pain, their eyes blazing with anger, ready to charge down the hill with their weapons, into the rain of arrows and blood, to fight Black Python to the death!

After the sound of the arrows stopped, Gu Hu dared not open his eyes to see the scene below for a long time. Finally, he heard Gu Jianfeng's voice from the hill: "Father!"

Gu Hu suddenly opened his eyes and saw Gu Jianfeng and the others dragging the river ice containing the giant wolf, already at the foot of the hill, their legs pierced with arrows, blood flowing like a river...

Zong Tu, Zong Sang, Chen Xun, and others had already left the wall, the torches extinguished, and the wall was dark and quiet. But the whistling of the arrows seemed to still echo in the valley, shaking the heart.

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