Chapter 3

"Damn, the damn Main God. Actually sent me directly into the river. Weren't you mostly broken? How can you still mess with me like this?" The teenager flailing in the river was our protagonist, Cheng Pan.

This guy used his hands and feet to avoid the waves, barely making it to the reed patch on the shore. He scared away two wild ducks that were courting. Finally, he encountered a boatman rowing a small boat.

When Cheng Pan climbed onto the boat, he spat out a mouthful of river water and took two deep breaths. Then he fabricated a lie about being robbed by river bandits, asking the boatman to help him get to shore. Perhaps it was his Beijing accent or his strange attire that made the boatman wary, as he didn't ask for any payment. Soon, the boat was about to dock at the pier.

He looked around and noticed a very strange problem. There were only a few empty boats at the pier, and not a single person in sight.

"What's going on? Where are the fishermen? Not a single person at the pier, aren't they afraid their boats will be stolen?" Cheng Pan asked the boatman, who was tying the boat to the dock. The boatman looked around suspiciously, as if he had heard something. He took a few steps toward the nearby trees.

Cheng Pan: "Something's not right." With a hiss, the water in his ears drained out, giving him a moment of relief. But that relief was short-lived. He heard a series of screams he had never heard before, so wild and fierce, similar to the gang fights in *Raging School*, but even more brutal. The screams were mixed with the sound of metal clashing. Cheng Pan quickly got up and looked in the direction of the noise. A bearded man and a middle-aged man with a stern face, each carrying a boy and a girl around 10 years old, suddenly burst out of the bushes and ran frantically toward the pier. Their three companions appeared from the woods and soon fell, blocking the pursuers. Behind them were 20 Mongol soldiers with curved swords and three towering Tibetan monks. "Damn, this is a life-or-death situation from the start." Cheng Pan didn't have time to curse the Main God. He quickly got up, untied the rope securing the small boat to the post, and grabbed two more oars from the boat. At this moment, the bearded man shouted, "Boatman, wait!" The Tibetan and Mongol monks behind them roared, "The court is capturing rebels, those who assist them will die." The monk's voice was so loud, it made Cheng Pan's ears ring. An arrow flew out, pinning the boatman's head to the ground. Seeing this bloody scene and hearing the words "those who assist them will die," Cheng Pan felt a chill. "If I cooperate with you, I won't have a good end. Maybe, after capturing Chang Yuchun, they'll cut off my head to claim a reward." Cheng Pan had no hope for the discipline of the Mongol army. Historically, the Mongols were incredibly brutal, especially in this chaotic era. The nearby fishermen had all been scared away. With this in mind, Cheng Pan steeled his resolve and shouted, "General Chang, hurry up!"

The bearded man and the middle-aged man, hearing this, showed signs of relief and sped up. The Mongols behind them shouted in a language Cheng Pan couldn't understand and rushed over.

Chang Yuchun jumped onto the boat, threw the two children on board, and grabbed the oar Cheng Pan threw to him, rowing with all his might. Cheng Pan also rowed with all his strength, while the middle-aged man used a wooden pole to push the boat forward. After rowing for about 20 meters, the Mongol soldiers reached the shore. They boarded another large boat, and four archers began firing arrows. Cheng Pan suddenly felt a sense of danger. His 10-meter super-sense kicked in, giving him 0.3 seconds to react to the two arrows aimed at him. The super-sense projected two clear flight paths in his mind. Cheng Pan leaned to the side, narrowly avoiding one arrow, and deflected the other with his oar. However, the young boy and Chang Yuchun weren't so lucky. Chang Yuchun was hit in the back, and the young boy was hit in the chest. Seeing this, Cheng Pan's heart sank. "This isn't right. In the original story, the Mongols didn't start shooting until the middle of the river."

Actually, the Mongols originally intended to capture them alive. But Cheng Pan's actions sped up the boat, increasing the distance. The Mongols, in a hurry, fired a round of arrows. Fortunately, the Mongol pursuers didn't fire a second round. Perhaps they saw that the first round hit Chang Yuchun and decided to try to capture them alive. As for Cheng Pan, with his delicate and weak scholar's body, his combat ability was negligible.

Cheng Pan didn't know that the pursuers despised him. He took advantage of the time it took for the enemies to board the boat and rowed with all his might. When the pursuers started to accelerate, he managed to pull ahead by another ten meters.

Chang Yuchun, despite being hit by an arrow, still rowed with great strength. The pursuers, however, had the advantage of numbers. The number of people rowing on their side was several times that of Cheng Pan's.

Thus, the two boats raced away from the shore. Cheng Pan's arms were already aching, but he didn't dare to slow down. The pursuers started firing arrows again.

This time, the middle-aged man was hit by two arrows, and the boat's speed slowed down. Over the next ten minutes, the pursuers got closer and closer. The enemies seemed to be playing a cat-and-mouse game, occasionally shooting a few arrows. Cheng Pan used his super-sense to dodge a few arrows, which seemed to anger the pursuers. Four arrows were shot in quick succession within a second.

Cheng Pan didn't have time to think about the Main God's recovery of the death mission function. His brain, enhanced by the super-sense, frantically observed the flight paths and speeds of the four arrows.

Suddenly, Cheng Pan predicted that three of the arrows would converge in a small space in a short time. He reflexively threw one of his oars far away and, at the last moment, turned his head to avoid the fourth arrow.

Everyone on both boats was stunned. Zhou Zhiruo, who was originally worried about her injured brother and father, also looked at Cheng Pan in surprise. The three arrows that didn't hit Cheng Pan's head collided with the thrown oar, deviating from their course.

However, Cheng Pan didn't feel the pleasure of being noticed by a girl. His head was bleeding, and one of his arms was dislocated from the violent throw.

Despite their surprise, the enemies continued to accelerate. On Cheng Pan's side, with one arm out of commission, the speed dropped significantly.

Fortunately, the enemies, perhaps exhausted from firing three or four rounds (strong bows are very tiring) or perhaps thinking the opponents were like fish in a barrel, stopped firing arrows.

As the enemies were about to board the boat, Cheng Pan saw another boat appearing not far away and breathed a deep sigh of relief.

He muttered to himself, "Finally, they're here."

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