Chapter 131: Night Exploration of Lotus Bud Peak (Five)

The firelight grew distant, the goblins' footsteps also faded farther away, Li Bucai gave Yin Ji a thumbs-up, Yin Ji nodded, indicating they were ready.

Li Bucai, separated by the stone wall, pointed at the black-clad person hidden on the door with his finger, then clenched his fist, indicating to make a move.

Yin Ji swiftly flashed out the door, aimed at that person on the door and shot an arrow; the moment the arrow left the string, she quickly dodged back to her original spot, at the same time giving Li Bucai an opening, and nocked a second feathered arrow onto the string; by then Li Bucai had already leapt out of the cave dwelling.

The goblins' footsteps could still be heard; the black-clad person hid on the door, planning to wait until the footsteps faded a bit more before dealing with these three, but not expecting an arrow to be shot at her, wanting to dodge but it was already too late, so she could only block, gauging the direction of the incoming arrow, she lunged straight at it, raising her dagger over her head and stabbing toward the arrowhead; only a clang was heard, only a faint metallic clink, the copper arrowhead was shattered into two halves by her sharp dagger, sliding past on either side of her, worried that the arrow hitting the stone wall would alert the goblins, after breaking the arrow into two halves she quickly turned and stowed the arrow away.

At that moment, after Yin Ji shot her arrow, Li Bucai leapt out of the cave, holding two feathered arrows in his hand; as he leapt, he vigorously swung his arms to both sides, throwing the arrows at the two black-clad persons.

When the black-clad persons on both sides saw the cold light, they were about to leap over to help seize the person, but Li Bucai's left and right arrows blocked their advance; taking advantage of the moment when the middle person turned to retrieve the arrow, he reached out and grabbed that person's belt, then with a powerful backward heave, he hoisted her onto his back behind him; that person tried to stab his wrist with a dagger to break free, but Li Bucai had anticipated this, and before the dagger could land on his wrist, he seized her wrist, wrested the dagger away while simultaneously bending her arm behind her back, and using his buttocks he shoved her body hard, squeezing her arm in the middle, rendering her immobile.

Thus he held her sideways; her feet were completely off the ground, with no leverage, and when her other hand tried to struggle, it too was seized, likewise squeezed between the two bodies, completely under his control.

That person, probably fearing to alarm the guards and jeopardize the whole plan, actually remained silent.

"This is mine." The Young Marshal finally found an opponent, rushed forward, and still wanted to continue sparring with her.

"You should still pay attention to your rear; those two are yours to handle, capture them alive, don't make a commotion." After Li Bucai finished speaking, the two black-clad persons on the left attacked; one of their daggers had already thrust forward, Li Bucai held that person with one hand, and when the dagger came before his eyes, he slightly turned his head aside to dodge the move, then with his backhand grabbed her wrist, and with a light twist he seized her.

Meanwhile, the black-clad person behind her had already released the bolt from the crossbow; it was originally aimed at Li Bucai, but after Li Bucai seized the person in front, that person stood in front of him, so the bolt now shot toward that black-clad person; seeing the bolt about to hit her face, knowing that a hit would be fatal, the black-clad person could not move, only closing her eyes and bracing for the bolt, feeling her body shoved sideways by a tremendous force, then instantly pulled back, she turned her head in startled alarm to glance, and when Li Bucai saw the incoming bolt, he shifted her body to dodge it and caught the bolt steadily with his mouth.

Seeing her companion unharmed, that black-clad person drew her dagger and stabbed obliquely again, aiming straight at Li Bucai's wrist in an attempt to rescue her companion.

Li Bucai felt these people's strength was slight and their builds very slender, so he simply shoved that person into the armpit of his left arm together with the first person, using one hand to clamp both firmly under his left arm, freeing his right hand to catch the incoming blade, and also subduing the third person……

Among these five black-clad persons, only the one hiding on the door top displayed extraordinary skill; the rest were merely soldiers' tactics. The Young Marshal faced them simultaneously, holding off two, while Yin Ji from behind occasionally harassed with arrows; after just a few exchanges, the Young Marshal knocked down their weapons and held his dual knives against their necks.

"I've got this side handled, want to help… wow…" The Young Marshal was about to hand the two over to Yin Ji to go help Li Bucai, but upon turning his head he saw that the three had already been subdued by Li Bucai, his left arm pinning two sideways and his right arm embracing one sideways, and he couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air: "You… you… how did you manage that…"

It's hard to imagine how he managed to capture all three alive; holding three large living persons felt like holding nothing, and the three had no room to struggle. Never having seen such a capture, one inevitably gets a creepy feeling of hair standing on end.

By then Yin Ji had already tied those two up and stuffed their mouths to prevent noise; carrying the rope, she walked over, also startled, saying: "I… I… which one should I tie first…"

Li Bucai secretly thought: their numbers must certainly be many; if those seven were truly captured by their people and forcibly bound to be exchanged for hostages, even if exchanged back, they would resent me, thereby adding another enemy; our goal is the Tree Elves, and even if we cannot win them over, we must not drive them to the opposing side.

Having thought this through, Li Bucai shook his head at Yin Ji, then turned to the black-clad persons and said: "If I release you now, can we talk calmly?"

The black-clad persons' originally furious gazes, upon hearing and understanding his words, became much more restrained, and they nodded.

Li Bucai gently set the three down, and instructed Yin Ji to untie the other two.

After gaining their freedom, the five picked up their weapons, stood in a cluster, but did not attack, merely holding their position.

The Young Marshal and Yin Ji also simultaneously drew their weapons; Li Bucai waved his hand, stopping the two, and said: "I know your enemy is the Tree Elves; likewise, we too have come for the Tree Elves. I know you Dark Night Elves dislike contact with outsiders. Since we all share the same purpose, let's not interfere with each other—you take your sunny path, I'll take my narrow bridge. Now you may go." Saying this, he pointed to the secret passage entrance and said: "I don't know what your plan is, but we can now be considered on the same front; there is a hidden tunnel here that my people dug long ago; for safety's sake, you may use it to conceal yourselves, preferably having all your people lurk inside, for this resting cave is easily discovered by goblins."

These black-clad persons were all tall and slender, with waists thin, their faces no different from ordinary people, only their complexion slightly dark, their eyes bright, possessing a natural haughty bearing; the only difference from humans is that their ears are long and pointed, whereas the undead race's ears grow horizontally, while theirs grow slantwise backward—these are indeed Dark Night Elves.