Hidden Shadow – CH 058

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Arrow on the String (2)

Wind speed, humidity, temperature, light…

Everything was in terrible shape. Even with a sniper rifle, shooting was extremely difficult. However, An Jiu’s status as one of the best snipers was not solely due to the weapon’s power.

This face-to-face shooting might result in mutual destruction. Standing next to An Jiu, Mei Tingyuan was so tense she almost forgot to breathe.

Except for the howling wind, everything seemed still.

An Jiu slowly shifted the arrow.

Mei Tingyuan’s eyes widened in surprise, realizing An Jiu was not aiming at the black-clad man on the ancient pine tree at all!

Just as she was confused, An Jiu suddenly released her bow!

The bowstring hummed, and the arrow ripped through the wind, flashing a cold light in the darkness!

Almost simultaneously, the archer opposite also released his bowstring, the arrow coated in a bright, dazzling blue light, looking like a bolt of lightning striking straight down! Even a ninth-level martial artist’s internal energy could not materialize! The one opposite was clearly a master of the Transcendent Realm!

Mei Tingyuan opened her mouth, wanting to shout, but the sound was stuck in her throat, unable to utter a single sound! Then, to her horror, she saw An Jiu standing silently in place, showing no intention of dodging!

An Jiu stared intently at the blue light, her eyes reflecting a bright blue.

“Are you stupid? Dodge!”

With Mei Tingyuan’s shout, the light, carrying a sharp sound, grazed past An Jiu’s temple, the resulting gust of wind blowing off her hood, and the arrow pierced the rock wall behind her with a thud, shattering the rock.

The black-clad man on the ancient pine tree, who had initially paid no attention to An Jiu’s off-target arrow devoid of internal energy, was suddenly astonished to find the arrow being pushed away from its original direction by the valley wind. When it was nearly five zhang away, the cold-gleaming arrowhead was clearly visible, pointing towards his chest!

He frowned, his thick brows furrowing, and swiftly moved away. Even though he was so fast that he was invisible, the arrow still struck a corner of his cloak.

The black-clad man stood on the cliff, pulling up his cloak, staring at the hole pierced by the arrow, his eyes filled with undisguised shock.

An Jiu looked up, sensing that the person on the opposite cliff was also looking at her. Their eyes met for a moment, and then the figure vanished into the night.

An Jiu’s cheek, still stinging from the arrow’s whistling, turned back to see that the arrow had almost completely embedded itself in the rock face, leaving only the black fletching at the tip.

“You are bleeding from your face,” Mei Tingyuan said, her voice trembling slightly, a mixture of excitement and fear.

Seeing the fierce fighting on the opposite side, and Mei Tingchun already shakily crawling over, An Jiu took out some wound medicine from her pocket, rolled up half of her mask, wiped away the blood, and applied some ointment.

“You are really amazing.” The Lou girl stared at An Jiu with her watery eyes, her voice slightly childish. “I am Lou Xiaowu.”

Mei Tingyuan did not pay much attention, assuming she meant she was fifth in the family.

But then Lou Xiaowu added, “I am nineteenth in the family.”

Mei Tingyuan paused, her eyes flickering. “You just called her ‘Second Sister.’ Is your Second Sister very powerful? What’s her name?”

“My Second Sister’s name is Lou Mingyue,” Lou Xiaowu said hesitantly. “But she told me I cannot reveal her strength.”

Mei Tingyuan held her sword to her neck. “Will you tell me or not?”

“I will not tell you.” Lou Xiaowu looked resolute.

“Really, will not tell me?” Mei Tingyuan pressed the sword closer to her neck.

Lou Xiaowu glared at her. “If you dare kill me, my Second Sister will kill you to avenge me!”

“What are you glaring at me for! Showing off your big eyes, are you?” Mei Tingyuan angrily smacked her head with the flat of the blade of her sword. “Childish!”

On the opposite side, after Mei Tingchun crossed, Mei Tingjun untied the ropes, drew his sword, and joined the battle.

“Fourteenth, help them,” Mei Tingyuan said, no longer teasing Lou Xiaowu.

An Jiu ignored her, sitting cross-legged to watch the fight.

Lou Xiaowu seemed very interested in An Jiu but was too shy to approach. So she squatted down about two feet away and awkwardly struck up a conversation: “Your archery is really good.”

“…”

“Were you not afraid just now?”

“…”

“I did not see you even breathe.”

“…”

“Why did you not use your internal energy?”

“…”

“Ah, you do not have internal energy, do you?”

“…”

“That’s not right; your mental strength is so strong, your internal energy should be quite good too!”

“Do you know Mo Sigui?” An Jiu suddenly asked.

Lou Xiaowu was pleased to receive a response and asked enthusiastically, “No, who is he?”

An Jiu said calmly, “You should get to know him. You and he are the same kind of people.”

“Which kind?” Lou Xiaowu asked curiously.

An Jiu, focused on the battle opposite, uttered a word without even glancing at her: “Annoying.”

Lou Xiaowu glanced at her, inwardly thinking, “Too sharp-tongued! No trace of a master’s composure! I would never admire her again!”

Mei Tingyuan, seeing that there were fewer than ten arrows left in her quiver, did not ask her to fight again and could only nervously crane her neck to watch the battle.

Seeing that the battle was dragging on and that the opposing side still had a skilled archer who had not joined the fray, the group began to retreat while fighting.

The terrain here was narrow, and the plank road creaked intermittently, as if it might collapse at any moment, making it extremely dangerous. Therefore, seeing the enemy’s intention to retreat, Mei Tingjun and the others did not fight to the death, deliberately leaving gaps for them to escape.

Once the enemy retreated, the five of them regulated their breathing and leaped over one after another.

“Let’s go quickly,” Mei Tingzhu said.

The group, without even tending to their minor injuries, hurriedly left.

As they raced, the whooshing wind carried Mei Tingzhu’s words, “These people are highly skilled in martial arts; they do not seem to be trial participants! I’ve heard the Emperor is wary of the four great families. Could he be planning to take this opportunity to eliminate us? To avoid further attacks, let’s go together!”

Lou Mingyue, though displeased at being used earlier, could not deny the wisdom in Mei Tingzhu’s words.

“Yes, Second Sister, the archers who ambushed us on the other side of the cliff were Transcendent Realm experts,” Lou Xiaowu said.

If they encountered a Transcendent Realm expert, let alone four or five people, even the nine members of the Lou and Mei families combined could be instantly annihilated.

Thinking of this, Lou Mingyue’s eyes flickered, her peripheral vision catching sight of An Jiu at the back of the group. She did not understand why An Jiu was not using her internal energy, but that almost tangible spiritual power from earlier was definitely that of a Transcendent Realm expert! Could the Mei family be hiding a peerless genius?

“Alright!” Lou Mingyue agreed.

The plank road wound its way down, and the group, using their light-footed skills, rushed for what seemed like an eternity before reaching the foot of the mountain. What greeted them was utter darkness—the pagoda before them was simply unbelievable!

Surrounded by a dense pine forest, what initially appeared to be a rocky mountain had, upon closer inspection, been carved into a colossal pagoda! The pagoda comprised seven levels, sculpted using natural caves, with countless hidden chambers. At the very top, a pagoda upon a pagoda, its stupa-like shape clearly visible against the backdrop of the vast night sky.

The nine people remained silent for a long while.

Lou Xiaowu sighed, “I initially thought the trial was too long, but now it feels too short!”

“This must take up at least six or seven acres of land, right?” Mei Tingchun murmured.

Mei Tingyuan said, “Let’s hurry. We’ve arrived early enough; if the others catch up, it will definitely be another long fight.”

A heavy weight pressed on the hearts of the others. The issue was not whether or not they could find the fragments of the Heavenly Book; it was that someone was deliberately plotting against them.

“If you are right,” Lou Mingyue said, withdrawing her gaze, “are you still planning to go in? There will definitely be ambushes inside.”

The Mei family exchanged glances and fell silent.

Mei Tingjun said, “It’s equally dangerous inside or outside!”

“You mean go in?” Lou Mingyue asked.

“If the Emperor truly wants to eliminate us, I am afraid nowhere is safe. Inside, we might still find a hiding place, but outside, we will truly be on the defensive,” Mei Tingzhu said.

Lou Mingyue looked at An Jiu. “On the plank road, I sensed that this young lady’s spiritual power exceeded the range of a martial artist. You are…”

As she spoke, a powerful spiritual force spread out like a tide, then surged towards An Jiu like a giant wave; even those standing nearby were overwhelmed by its pressure.

However, this wave was like water entering a swamp for An Jiu, not even causing a ripple.

“Such powerful pressure!” Mei Tingzhu slowly exhaled, a strange feeling rising in her heart. “So you’ve already reached the eighth level.”

Lou Xiaowu said proudly, “Of course, Second Sister is the most powerful.”

Mei Tingyuan snorted, “And she still could not do anything to Fourteenth?”

An Jiu thought to herself, “Judging from their reactions, so-called mental power could also be used to attack people!” But why did she not notice anything unusual about this aspect in her previous life? Could it be a unique phenomenon of this world?

In fact, An Jiu had guessed something. She did not have this method of attack in her previous life, but her mental power, honed through countless trials, showed its advantage here.

An Jiu discovered that after being inside Mei Jiu’s body for so long, her sensitivity had not decreased but rather greatly increased. Every time she suppressed Mei Jiu while controlling her body to do other things, she felt extremely tired, but after resting, she found herself becoming stronger and stronger and able to control her body more easily…

The most effective way to cultivate mental power was through combat and experiencing desperate situations. The more trials one’s heart underwent, the stronger one’s mental power became. Therefore, for martial artists, cultivating internal energy was relatively simpler than cultivating mental power.

An Jiu already possessed an advantage in this area, and the need to suppress Mei Jiu was like a mental exercise with added weight—an opportunity most people would never have.

But how to launch a mental attack?

An Jiu recalled attacking the First Old Madam in her sleep. Judging from the First Old Madam’s reaction, her martial arts skills were undoubtedly high, yet she was forced to face the First Old Madam with a dagger; it could not have been entirely due to being caught off guard!

Suddenly, Elder Qi’s words echoed in her mind: mental strength could also be called fighting spirit, battle intent…

Understanding this, An Jiu suddenly focused all her attention and released her killing intent. At the same time, her longsword was drawn, pointing directly at Lou Mingyue’s face.

The sword stopped, and An Jiu’s killing intent gradually dissipated, allowing everyone to move their stiff bodies.

“I did not mean to offend you,” Lou Mingyue said, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. “I am sorry about earlier.”

An Jiu sheathed her sword. Faced with the apology, she did not know what to say, so she remained silent.