Chapter 210: Stimulating Battlefield

Li Lin was momentarily stunned.

His plan was simple: assassinate a few people to reduce the enemy’s active forces.

Whether it would trigger infighting, he hoped so—but dared not expect it.

He had prepared for the worst.

If he truly couldn’t protect Zhou Qingqing, he could only abandon the mother and child.

After all… he had done his best.

He had no guilt.

Had anyone else obtained the Divine Bone, Zhou Qingqing would never have left Yuecheng—she would have died on the spot.

Yet he hadn’t expected his assassinations to be so unexpectedly effective.

First, he forced a group to confront Zhenwu Sect; then, after killing one more, Zhenwu Sect turned traitor and dragged Shaolin into the fray.

All these people had taken cover in the woods beside the official road.

In the Southern Frontier, other things were scarce, but forests were everywhere.

Trees grew in dense clusters, extremely lush, their canopies blocking out sunlight—let alone moonlight.

Once they hid in the woods, visibility dropped drastically.

Even the most skilled warriors could no longer rely on sight.

They had to depend mostly on hearing to judge their surroundings.

But Li Lin was different.

Everywhere in these woods were his little paper dolls.

These paper dolls were unaffected by darkness.

Besides, they didn’t see with eyes to begin with.

Li Lin moved through the darkness with ease and comfort.

Already, the woods echoed with the clashing of weapons.

It rose and fell in waves.

Some had hidden themselves, thinking they were well concealed.

Huang Gui had not appeared.

Over two hundred martial artists had gathered, many experts, their blood qi extraordinarily intense; though scattered, they still formed a vast circle of “blood qi.”

Huang Gui creatures had been driven far away.

Using the vision of his paper dolls, Li Lin slipped behind a black-clad man.

He thrust out his Shabone Liquor, then withdrew it.

A scream!

He leaped back, swiftly darting behind a large tree, then entering stealth mode.

One seamless combo—this entire sequence took no more than three breaths.

The victim of the backstab had almost no chance of survival.

In the wilderness, with such a grievous wound—a punctured kidney—he was unlikely to live.

Besides, Shabone Liquor was poisoned.

Yin poison!

Both grievous injury and poison—this was double insurance.

After entering stealth, Li Lin immediately left the spot.

The victim’s companion rushed over, picked him up, and shouted: “Second Brother, how are you…?”

His cry alerted even more people nearby.

Instantly, projectiles flew toward them.

Plum-blossom daggers, sleeve darts, flying locust stones—everything!

The black-clad man holding the victim roared: “Cowardly…”

Then he collapsed, covered in projectiles.

Li Lin, watching from afar, felt a chill run through his body.

Brutal—extremely brutal.

The entire forest had become a battlefield; after this incident, the surrounding combat sounds quickly fell silent.

It felt as if no one remained in the woods.

Li Lin used his Light Body Technique to climb a tall tree.

Though he had the paper dolls’ vision, he was surprised to find he could only see a hundred or so people.

The remaining dozens were hidden so well, he couldn’t spot them at all.

Or perhaps they were in the paper dolls’ blind spots.

The forest grew even quieter.

Li Lin held a stone in his hand and threw it forward and downward.

About five zhang ahead, a black-clad man hid behind a tree, highly alert.

As the stone neared him, he suddenly dodged, then turned his head toward Li Lin’s position.

But Li Lin had already left the branch.

*Thwip!*

A dart pierced the exact spot where Li Lin had just stood.

This man clearly excelled at concealed weapons.

But at that moment, the stone struck a larger black rock.

Li Lin hadn’t meant to hit the man—he’d only wanted to strike the rock, deliberately.

*Crack…!*

A sharp, clear sound rang through the woods.

*Sssssss!*

Another storm of projectiles rained down on the spot where the rock had hit.

*Ding ding ding.*

Many projectiles struck the rock, producing strange clangs.

Though the black-clad man was half a zhang away from the rock’s location…

…he was struck twice by flying debris.

One pierced his chest, another a plum-blossom dagger lodged in his right thigh.

“Ah!”

He let out a soft cry of pain.

It was instinctive.

But the black-clad man immediately realized his mistake and tried to flee—yet his injured leg slowed him; he’d only taken two steps when warriors hidden in the dark hurled more projectiles!

The black-clad man collapsed with a scream, still breathing, still gasping *huh… huh… huh…*

And his breaths grew weaker.

But his companions dared not make a sound.

They feared even the tiniest noise would bring death.

Soon, the black-clad man on the ground fell still; the forest fell silent once more.

This place was too dangerous—someone could easily die from stray projectiles.

Just now, a dart had whistled past his head—dangerously close.

Li Lin slipped away using stealth.

He planned to move farther off and let them exhaust themselves first.

So he turned toward Zhou Qingqing’s location.

Li Lin had never expected so many to pursue him, so his campsite was not far from the official road.

Once inside the woods, a short walk would bring them into view.

At this moment, Ji Feng and the Qingcheng disciples had arrived beside the campsite.

Then they saw a group of paper dolls standing ahead.

In the center of the paper dolls, a faint glow lingered—the firepit had not fully died out.

With that dim light, they could clearly make out the appearance of most paper dolls.

Some maids, some guards.

Then—thirty sword-and-shield soldiers, thirty spear soldiers, thirty archers, and ten cavalrymen.

Since cavalry was impractical in the woods, they had all dismounted.

When Ji Feng and the others arrived, the paper dolls’ heads turned in unison, all staring fixedly at them.

Ji Feng’s daughter was the youngest inner disciple of the sect, the little sister, named Ji Rongrong.

Seeing this scene, she unconsciously pressed her lips tightly.

It looked terrifying.

Purple paper dolls, faces painted with exaggerated blushes, appeared deeply eerie in the dark.

“Does anyone have a firestarter?”

“Yes.”

A disciple walked over.

Ji Feng lit a firestarter and was about to gather more dry leaves to ignite and burn the paper figures.

After all, no one wanted to fight such things.

If something could be handled simply, it should be.

But at that moment, a volley of arrows shot toward them.

Ji Feng instinctively swung his longsword.

Ding ding ding.

Several arrows were deflected.

His face turned pale as he shouted, “These paper figures are suspicious—stay alert!”

But his warning came too late.

At least two disciples screamed in pain.

Two paper arrows pierced their chests, burying deep into flesh.

Ji Feng looked again at the arrows he had deflected and realized they were paper arrows.

Yet they carried the impact of metal arrows.

Ji Feng suddenly felt uneasy.

(End of Chapter)