As the night approached the third watch, more and more figures began emerging from the alleyways surrounding the commissioner’s residence, gradually encircling the vast estate.
The second-in-command of the Dragon Slaying Gang, who was leading the group at the very front, raised his head and looked at the two guards dozing at the gate. A trace of contempt flashed through his eyes.
He remembered the chief’s instructions: commoners should not fight the authorities. Their main purpose in coming here this time was to issue a warning. As long as the other side knew what was good for them and gave the Dragon Slaying Gang a sufficient face-saving way out, they would not mind burying the hatchet and letting bygones be bygones. But before all that could happen, there is one requirement: they had to make the other side see the Dragon Slaying Gang’s strength and determination!
Throughout all the generations, the provincial administration commissioners of Jianghuai had never picked fights with local powers like them. Each commissioner served a three-year term, seeking nothing more than to get through it peacefully. Thus, why would they provoke a major incident and earn a black mark on their performance record?
That was why they had come with such confidence and ease of mind.
But as for the bloody humiliation they had suffered, why not wash that humiliation away with the blood of these guards as a start!
He let out a cold sneer and slowly raised his hand.
*Clack!*
Before he had time to wave his hand, a sudden, jarring sound rang out from above. The second-in-command was startled, and before he could react, another familiar creaking and grinding noise sounded.
The moment he heard the sound, his face turned deathly pale. His eyes darted upward, and he saw that the previously unremarkable wall had suddenly opened up with countless windows. Out of those windows, innumerable crossbows emerged. Their dark, sinister frames resembled snakes slithering out of their holes, coldly locking onto the kill points of everyone below!
In an instant, the Dragon Slaying Gang’s second-in-command felt his heart, even his very soul, filled with terror– walls filled with crossbows, this meant the other side had been prepared long in advance and was intending to wipe them out!
He was just about to shout for a retreat, but unfortunately, it was already too late.
*Whoosh!*
A dark cloud suddenly rose into the night sky. At its peak, there glimmered a cold, dark blue light. With a single ‘whoosh,’ it swept overhead, covering the sky.
“Ah!”
In an instant, screams of agony erupted!
The men of the Dragon Slaying Gang, armed with long sabers and short swords, were just about to storm the provincial administration commissioner’s residence. In fact, they had still been basking in the pride of their own audacity in daring to attack a government residence. Who knew that their opponents would prove to be even more audacious than they were— daring to start a merciless slaughter without so much as a word of warning!
“Ah!”
In an instant, screams of agony erupted!
In a blink of an eye, a great swath of men at the very front fell under the powerful crossbows. Blood spurted from the fallen corpses, instantly staining the broad expanse of ground before the provincial administration office a bright crimson!
A stir rippled through the crowd, yet astonishingly, they still did not retreat. Or rather, those in front wanted to flee, but there were simply too many people to allow for it. Those arriving from behind still had no clue what was happening at the front, and their pushing and shoving made it impossible for those ahead to retreat. The arrows were fired only once, then stopped. The crossbow rattled, seemingly shifting and changing shooting positions. The black tips of the bolts shifted constantly, pointing in various directions. The feeling of being under the surveillance of a killing machine was horrifying—- everyone felt the cold, piercing, snake-like eye of the bolts fixed on them. Instantly, their clothes were soaked through with sweat. When the bolt’s aim would move past them, they would let out a sigh of relief, feeling as if they had just escaped death…but then the bolts would turn around, and then a crossbow would be aiming right at them once again. The cycle repeated endlessly, a continuous, never-ending torment, an unrelenting dance between life and death. Even the toughest man couldn’t withstand this sort of psychological torture. They had barely been maintaining order, but someone suddenly let out a yell and pushed their way backward by stepping over their companions’ corpses. This was all it took to throw the whole area into chaos. People in the front were pushing backward while those in the back were trying to go forward. The noise of cursing, fighting, shoving, screaming, and pushing was all mingled with the splattering of blood and crushed corpses. The area in front of the provincial administration commissioner’s residence has turned into a blood colored rice stew.
The second-in-command, the man in charge, leaped above the heads of the crowd in an attempt to bring the group under control. But they had brought far too many people, and more were still surging toward the scene, seemingly without end. Once chaos broke out, his voice was long swallowed up by the deafening noises, leaving his lone figure, standing above the crowd, waving desperately and helplessly in the firelight.
Those who had not yet arrived at the provincial commissioner’s residence had also heard the commotion ahead and quickened their pace. This group moved with even more speed and discipline. However, just as they reached the alley entrance, with a sudden whoosh, enormous nets of blades sprang out from the walls on both sides!
Under the moonlight, the blades across the net glinted, their coldness reflecting into the crowd’s eyes. The people who were charging forward the fastest could not stop in time. They crashed straight into the deadly traps, leaving them battered and bleeding!
Some, seemingly in possession of considerable martial arts skills, somersaulted into the air, attempting to leap over the blade nets. From somewhere in the darkness, a voice sounded, “Shoot!”
In an instant, figures with bows appeared on top of all four surrounding walls, sending a volley of arrows to force the somersaulting figures to retreat.
Some of those who had been blocked in front of the provincial commissioner’s residence finally managed to squeeze through and tried to escape through the alleys, but they too were stopped by the net of blades. If the Dragon Slayer Gang, filling the square and alleys, was like an octopus, the net was like countless slashing blades, severing the octopus’s tentacles, its limbs separating as the people were scattered. And then…they were pinned down and given a beating!
From every direction came the pounding footsteps of archers racing along the tops of the alley walls. Some would suddenly go forward, some suddenly to the left, some suddenly to the right. Their movements were unpredictable, leaving one without a way to know if someone would abruptly appear and shoot an arrow at you. It was just like the crossbow machines that kept circling round and round without firing, keeping everyone under constant threat. Without ever knowing if they would suddenly unleash another volley, leaving yet another wave of people fallen across the courtyard.
It could be said that the provincial administration’s residence had not even begun its full-scale slaughter, yet it had already driven the Dragon Slaying Gang mad with terror. Death itself was not frightening. Your vision would go black, then it would be over. What was truly terrifying was the constant threat of death hanging over your head. You knew it was coming, but with no way of knowing when it would strike!
The wide open space was packed with people, all of them retreating in an attempt to escape the sweeping fire of the crossbow machine. However, when those in front successfully squeezed themselves backward into safety, those who were now in the front, exposed to the danger, would then immediately begin shoving their way backward desperately as well….layer upon layer, the entire crowd churned and was jostled together. Some thought they had finally squeezed their way to the rear, only to discover, perhaps just moments later, to their utter horror, the surging mass of people had pushed them right back to the front.
Immense crowd, panic, and nightmare-like looming of death. Many were trampled to death in the open space. Those in the alleyways fared even worse, as some were crushed flat against the walls.
In the darkness, all manner of screams and howls rose straight into the heavens. The firelight cast the writhing silhouettes of people into ghostly shadows, like demons haunting the night. Countless townsfolk huddled beneath their blankets, trembling. A few, summoning their courage, pushed open their windows for a peek. From that night onward, the terrifying scenes they saw would return again and again, like demonic spirits, hunting their dreams.
All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com
This is definitely Ning Yi’s doing. I bet he’s keeping an eye on what this woman is up to and what she’s hiding. 😂
Woooow, que audaz Feng Zhewei, enfretarse a esta banda de matadragones!!! Como bien dice la frase: “El que tenga miedo de morir que no viva”. Era atrevida, astuta pero a su vez cauteolosa.