Chapter 174: I, Lin Chen, will never abandon any junior brother

Dozens of breaths later!

*Whoosh! *

Lin Chen stood on the top of the hundred-zhang iron gate and shot an arrow.

The arrow fell, and thirty zhang outside the iron gate, a fish monster's forward figure stopped abruptly and fell to the ground with a boom.

This distance was within his shooting range.

Piercing the fish monster's head with one arrow, Lin Chen's expression didn't change, and he pulled the bow and nocked an arrow again.

These fish monsters were obviously not as good as the batch that surrounded Master Xu and others. In terms of movement speed and body size, they couldn't compare to the one that sneaked up on Jiang Jiang Shijie earlier.

It was just that the quantity was extremely terrifying.

In ten-plus breaths, Lin Chen shot thirty arrows, but still failed to stop these fish monsters from approaching the iron gate. These fish monsters were brave and not afraid of death, and the death of their companions didn't stop their pace at all.

*Bang bang bang! *

The first batch of fish monsters had already reached the bottom of the iron gate and began to use their bodies to ram the iron gate.

The impact sound made the expressions of the ten or so youths inside the gate change instantly.

"Lin Chen, your arrows are not enough."

Jiang Qing swept her eyes over the arrow quiver behind Lin Chen. By now, it was already half empty. Fifty-plus arrows were completely not enough.

"More monster beasts are coming."

On the battlefield not far away, as another surrounded figure was swallowed by the monster beast tide, another batch of monster beasts ran crazily toward this side.

The fins of these fish monsters were like feet, allowing them to walk fast on land, and their speed was not slow at all.

Lin Chen frowned. He also saw more and more fish monsters starting to approach this side. Master Xu and others couldn't hold on, and once Master Xu and others were swallowed by the fish monster group, the next step would be for these fish monsters to gather toward the iron gate.

"It's Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang!"

Jiang Qing suddenly spoke. Lin Chen looked in the direction of Jiang Qing's gaze. In the dense forest on the left outside the iron gate, a figure was running wildly, directly killing through the fish monster group rushing toward the iron gate.

Seeing this, Lin Chen pulled the bow again, and the arrow whistled out, shooting at the fish monsters behind this figure.

"Go, go down and meet Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang."

Seeing that this Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang's figure had already reached the bottom of the iron gate, Lin Chen and Jiang Qing went down from the stone steps.

"Lin Chen, what's the situation outside?"

"Senior Lin Lin Shidi, what was the movement just now?"

Seeing Lin Chen and Jiang Qing come down, many youths on the bottom opened their mouths to ask one after another. Lin Chen didn't pay attention to these youths, but opened the iron gate directly.

Zhang Jiang, covered in blood, appeared in front of everyone.

Seeing Zhang Jiang, the youths on the scene had looks of joy on their faces and spoke one after another: "Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang!"

In their view, Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang's appearance meant that the monster beast crisis had been solved.

"Listen well, there are too many monster beasts, and they can't be killed at all. Master Xu dragged the monster beasts and asked this instructor to tell you. Now there are two paths in front of you. One is to continue waiting inside the iron gate and wait for reinforcements to arrive. But looking at this situation, I don't know when the reinforcements will arrive, and this instructor can't guarantee that this iron gate will definitely be able to hold until the reinforcements arrive."

Zhang Jiang took a deep breath, speaking extremely fast: "There is another path, which is to leave from the east side of the island. That water area has had a great monster die, and the aura of the great monster is still there. These fish monsters dare not approach, so you can take a boat to escape from here. But there is also danger. From here to the shore on the left side of the island, you may encounter fish monsters. You decide for yourselves!"

Hearing Zhang Jiang's words, the youths on the scene were all stunned.

Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang's meaning was that they couldn't hold on for long. Once they couldn't hold on, the fish monsters would come here, and the reinforcements didn't know how long it would take to arrive. This iron gate might not be able to stop the fish monsters.

That is to say, staying here is highly likely to be a dead end.

"Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang, can't you accompany us to the east side of the island?"

A student spoke. The so-called accompany is to escort.

"There are too many fish monsters. If I send you over, it will only attract more fish monsters to block. These fish monsters' main targets now are us ranked martial artists. This is your only chance."

Zhang Jiang shook his head: "Master Xu said, you decide this matter yourselves, but you must be fast. You don't have much time to think."

After speaking, Zhang Jiang didn't even step into the iron gate, turned around and slashed dozens of fish monsters that had rushed to the front of the iron gate into two halves, looked back at the crowd, but a smile appeared on his face: "You are all the best students this instructor has ever taught. As long as this instructor still has a breath, the fish monsters won't be able to get close."

Throwing down these words, Zhang Jiang turned around, his posture upright, and rushed toward the front, his figure quickly disappearing into the dense forest.

"Those who attempt to kill the future hope of our Great Liang..."

"Should be executed!"

The powerful voice came back from the dense forest, and all the youths on the scene had looks of being moved.

"Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang."

A youth's voice was choked with sobs. He could feel the tragic nature in Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang's tone. Over these three months, although they were scolded as trash by Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang all day long and tortured miserably, at this moment they only hated that their martial arts stage broke through too slowly to join hands with Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang to kill the monster beasts.

"Jiang Jiang Shijie, I will head to the east side of the island."

Lin Chen didn't have much mood to be sad and quickly made a choice.

If staying in the iron gate had a greater chance of survival, Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang wouldn't have come over specifically to pass this message.

On the way to the east side of the island, they would inevitably be attacked by fish monsters, but it was better than being surrounded by fish monsters here and having no wings to fly when the time came.

"I will go with you."

Jiang Qing also nodded and chose to head to the east side of the island.

"What about you all?"

Lin Chen looked at the others. Facing Lin Chen's question, the youths who were in a sad mood began to think.

"Since Senior Lin Lin Shidi is going, I will go too!"

"Screw those fish monsters. Instead of hiding here and waiting for death, it's better to fight it out."

Apart from the two who were lying on the ground fainted and the one kicked fainted by Lin Chen, the other thirteen made a decision.

Ten chose to head to the east side of the island with Lin Chen, and three chose to stay.

Lin Chen looked at the three who chose to stay and didn't persuade them. Everyone had the right to choose. Moreover, his analysis that the iron gate side couldn't be defended was just a guess. Perhaps the reinforcements would come quickly, and staying in the iron gate would be safer.

"Let's go."

After making the choice, Lin Chen didn't hesitate, held the bow and arrow and took the lead, Jiang Qing followed closely, and the other youths also followed quickly, moving toward the east side of the island at high speed.

Thirty breaths later.

Lin Chen shot an arrow toward the grass on the left. A fish monster just wanted to jump up, and the arrow pierced its head.

At the same time, more rustling sounds came from the dense forest in front. Lin Chen looked at the youths behind him: "If you want to survive, rush over. We don't have time to hide."

How huge the fish monster tide was, Lin Chen saw clearly when he stood on the steps earlier. It was impossible to avoid it by taking a detour. If you avoided this group, you would encounter another group, and the longer you delayed, the less chance you would have to escape.

Taking advantage of the instructors dragging the main force of the fish monsters, killing a bloody path at the fastest speed was the only way.

Looking at the figures of fish monsters emerging from the dense forest, Lin Chen didn't choose to shoot arrows. He inserted the Snake Shadow Bow into his waist, his Qi and blood surged, and the next moment he rushed directly toward the fish monster group.

Following Lin Chen's action was Jiang Qing.

Jiang Qing acted just as decisively. Lin Chen waved his palms, and every time his palm fell, a fish monster died.

These fish monsters were equivalent to the Open-Acupuncture Stage in strength and couldn't withstand Lin Chen's palm at all. Jiang Qing on the side, although she couldn't kill a fish monster with one palm, also covered several fish monsters with her palm shadows, and the fish monsters blocking her were also dying wave after wave.

Seeing the two of them so brave, the panic in the hearts of the youths behind them who saw the fish monsters for the first time also settled down.

Everyone looked at each other, and the bloodiness of the youths was also stimulated.

Kill!

Kill all those blocking the front!

If they really couldn't escape, killing one would break even, and killing two would be a profit.

Fifty breaths later!

Lin Chen looked at the endless fish monsters in front, then looked at the forward speed, frowned, and roared: "Others deal with the fish monsters on both sides, follow closely behind me!"

At this speed, the fish monsters killed couldn't keep up with the speed of the fish monsters gathering. If this continued, they would inevitably fall into the fish monster tide.

Hearing Lin Chen's words, the other youths also began to shrink the formation, following closely behind Lin Chen.

At this moment, Lin Chen had no reservations. The terrifying Qi and blood circulated crazily in his body. Every palm shot out not only killed several fish monsters, but also pushed over a large area of fish monsters. As for these pushed-over fish monsters, Lin Chen didn't even look at them, leaving them to Jiang Qing and the other youths behind him.

A group of eleven people was like a sharp arrow, and Lin Chen was that sharp arrow, forcibly killing a path out of the fish monster encirclement.

One zhang, two zhang, three zhang...

After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, there were finally no fish monsters in front.

The youths on the scene all breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the back of the person in front, with admiration in their eyes.

They stood on both sides and fought with those approaching fish monsters, and felt extremely strenuous, while Senior Lin Lin Shidi brought them out of the encirclement by his own strength. The terror of this strength could be imagined.

If there were no Senior Lin Lin Shidi, they wouldn't be able to rush out of the fish monster encirclement at all.

Lin Chen at the very front was covered in blood at this moment, all from those fish monsters he killed.

He didn't know how many fish monsters he had killed, and now he had finally killed his way out of the encirclement.

"Don't scatter the formation, keep this formation and speed up!"

Lin Chen ordered. He was afraid that at this last moment, these people behind him would relax their breath and give the fish monsters an opportunity.

Ten-plus breaths later, everyone completely killed their way out of the fish monster encirclement and continued to act toward the front without hesitation!

A quarter of an hour later, after completely throwing the fish monster group behind them, Lin Chen stopped his steps. With such running plus the physical strength consumed earlier, he felt exhausted.

"Everyone rest for thirty breaths."

Looking at the exhausted appearance of the crowd behind him, Lin Chen ordered.

The youths on the scene had no objections to Lin Chen's words, and they were indeed unable to walk anymore.

One of the youths heard this and sat directly on the ground. "Tired..."

"Stand up!"

Lin Chen swept his eyes coldly at the other party: "Sitting down at this time will only make you more tired. Resting for thirty breaths is to let everyone adjust the Qi and blood circulation in the body. If you want to fall behind next, then sit and rest."

In a state of exhaustion, sitting down will only make one more tired, because the breath that was tight in the heart has dissipated.

"Yes!"

The youth stood up quickly and didn't feel that there was anything wrong with what Lin Chen said. Even they themselves didn't notice that at this moment, in their hearts, Lin Chen's image was almost the same as the instructor.

"Senior Lin Lin Shidi, something is wrong."

Jiang Qing, who had been following Lin Chen silently, suddenly whispered.

"?"

"Don't you think this fish monster attack is a bit strange? And Xu Bo... since Master Xu knew there was an escape route on the east side of the island, why didn't he let the instructor take us to the east side of the island from the beginning?"

Jiang Qing's voice was very low, and she deliberately kept a distance from other students.

"Jiang Jiang Shijie, what do you mean?"

"Master Xu always likes to do some unexpected things."

Hearing Jiang Jiang Shijie's words, a look of thought appeared on Lin Chen's face. This sentence revealed a message: she understood the temperament of this Master Xu.

Lin Chen's thoughts began to recall quickly, from encountering fish monsters on the shore behind the back mountain, to Yu Yu Jiaoxi Min taking them to the iron gate, to Yu Yu Jiaoxi Min leaving, and Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang returning to notify them, and then returning to kill without hesitation.

Yu Yu Jiaoxi Min, has such good acting skills?

Lin Chen didn't quite believe it. If this fish monster attack was arranged by Master Xu, Yu Yu Jiaoxi Min's acting skills were too good. He followed Yu Yu Jiaoxi Min up the stone steps, and he saw the anxiety in Yu Yu Jiaoxi Min's eyes clearly.

"Perhaps, that Yu Yu Jiaoxi Min was also kept in the dark?"

Jiang Qing pointed out another point, and Lin Chen suddenly realized. If Yu Yu Jiaoxi Min didn't know the truth, then this was really possible.

Because it was indeed as Jiang Jiang Shijie said, there were unreasonable points in this.

"If this was arranged by Master Xu, what was Master Xu's purpose?"

"Courage test." Jiang Qing put forward a guess: "The fish monsters that surrounded us were all at the Open-Acupuncture Stage strength. Is there no ranked one? Is there such a coincidence?"

"Thank you, Jiang Jiang Shijie, for the reminder. I understand."

Lin Chen nodded. If this was a test arranged by Master Xu, then the test, besides courage and strength, I fear there was also one point: everyone's reaction when facing a life-and-death crisis.

"Continue forward."

Although Lin Chen had already recognized Jiang Jiang Shijie's judgment in his heart, he still didn't intend to change his original purpose. Once thirty breaths were up, he ordered everyone to move forward again.

At this moment, Min Huanbo had a speechless expression.

"Master Xu, if you want to arrange this test for the students, you should have told me. I really..."

"Really thought that this official and others were surrounded by monster beasts?"

Xu Li stroked his beard and smiled: "This official didn't deliberately hide it from you, but only by not letting you know could this test be realistic, and these students wouldn't suspect it."

"Lin Lin Shidi Min, Master Xu is right. Do you know why Master Xu finally let me go to the iron gate? It's because I acted realistically. Although I didn't look back, I can be sure that the moment I rushed into the dense forest, several of these little guys were moved to tears."

Zhang Jiang patted Min Huanbo on the shoulder, very proud.

"Forget it, you acted realistically. If it weren't for not expecting Lin Lin Shidi Min to open the stone steps and be able to stand on the top of the iron gate to see the situation on the island, which easily exposed the test, Master Xu would never have sent you. With your superficial performance, you could only fool this group of little guys."

Other instructors on the side were unconvinced, mainly because they also wanted to fight for this opportunity, but Zhang Jiang got it.

"Master Xu, you arranged this test to test the students' courage?" Min Huanbo didn't dare to care about the verbal disputes between these senior brothers and asked curiously.

"Courage is one aspect, more is the actual combat experience of life and death, as well as the nature that will be revealed at the critical moment of life and death."

Once Xu Li said this, the people present fell silent.

Master Xu is testing human nature.

Especially at the critical moment of life and death, this kind of test of human nature often has cruel results.

No one wants to die. When there is hope for life, as long as it is a human, they will seize the opportunity to live, even by unscrupulous means, and sacrifice companions for this.

"The three students in the iron gate have lost their courage points. Now it's time to go see the rest of these little guys."

Xu Li's face sank. Waiting for reinforcements to arrive in the iron gate is the most stupid behavior. The plan he arranged, as long as it's not a fool, should see that staying in the iron gate has a high probability of being caught in a turtle-in-a-jar situation by the fish monsters in the end.

Those three people are not unable to think of it, but because they are afraid of death, afraid of encountering fish monsters, and would rather gamble in the iron gate.

……

……

The island used for special training was very large.

It was so large that Lin Chen's group encountered several waves of fish demons along the way.

By the fourth wave of fish demons, a student finally could not hold on any longer; he was knocked down by a fish demon and fell to the ground.

"Lin Lin Shidi Qin!"

The companion beside the fallen student immediately shouted and slapped his palm toward the fish demon that was about to press down on him.

However, his palm strike did not have much power. The fish demon's body only swayed slightly and was not repelled. Seeing the massive body about to crush the student on the ground,

Bang!

The next moment, the fish demon's head exploded, and blood splattered everywhere.

Lin Chen, who had originally been standing at the very front, appeared before the young man before anyone knew how; after killing the fish demon, he bent down, hoisted the boy up from the ground, and pushed him directly into the center of the crowd.

"Many thanks, Senior Lin Lin Shidi."

Qin Hai, having escaped death, looked at Lin Chen with eyes full of gratitude. At the moment he had fallen, his mind had gone blank, and the fear of death had filled his entire brain; he knew very well what the result of falling among a group of fish demons would be.

As for Senior Lin Lin Shidi turning back to save him, he had never even considered it.

If he were in Senior Lin Lin Shidi's position, he absolutely would not have done so.

"Since the instructors handed you over to me, I have the responsibility to bring every one of you back alive."

Lin Chen's expression was indifferent, yet the words he spoke moved the other young men present. From this moment on, everyone had only one thought in their hearts: if they could survive this time, no matter what they encountered in the future, Senior Lin Lin Shidi would forever be their senior brother.

In the entire Jiangnan Dao, they only recognized Lin Chen as their senior brother.

Anyone else just wouldn't do!

"Junior brothers, you will stand on the outside in groups of five, taking turns. Those who are exhausted will return to the inside to rest, rotating as we advance."

Lin Chen could also feel the gratitude in these students' eyes, but now was not the time for excessive performance, or it would seem too superficial.

Acting requires seven parts truth and three parts falsehood.

Returning to the front, Lin Chen this time pulled the Long Yinggong from his waist. Using the Wind and Cloud Palm consumed a great deal of his physical strength, but using the Long Yinggong to smash directly into these fish demons was more effective—he would just use the Snake Shadow Bow like a blade or sword!

The double-folded Snake Shadow Bow, when unfolded, was no shorter than a blade or sword, and this way, the internal consumption was even less.

The fifth wave, the sixth wave……

By the eighth wave, Lin Chen's hands had already begun to tremble, and the stray hairs on Jiang Qing's forehead were plastered to her cheeks by sweat.

Of the twelve people on the scene, only she and Lin Chen had never rested.

"Senior Lin Lin Shidi, forget it if it's not working. You take Jiang Jiang Shijie and break through the encirclement."

"Right, Senior Lin Lin Shidi, don't worry about us anymore. Just bring a message to my family when the time comes. I like the fish-thread noodles my mother makes; when she goes to sweep my grave, have her prepare a bowl of fish-thread noodles."

"What nonsense are you talking about? If you die here, there won't even be a corpse left, and you're thinking about a grave? At most, it will be a cenotaph."

Lin Chen scolded, "Junior brothers, we are about to break through the encirclement. The moment before dawn is the darkest, but as long as we endure this darkness, the light is right in front of us."

"As long as I, Lin Chen, still have a shred of strength, I will absolutely not abandon you. This is not only my promise to Yu Yu Jiaoxi Min and Yu Yu Jiaoxi Zhang, but also my principle as a person."

Jiang Qing, who was also out of strength, listened to Lin Chen's words, her red lips slightly parted. Lin Lin Shidi really is……

She felt that if Lin Lin Shidi went to perform in a play, he would definitely become a star.

At this moment, she could already be certain that this fish demon attack had been arranged by Xu Bo, because according to what she had seen earlier on the stone steps, so much time had passed that Xu Bo and the others should have been unable to hold on long ago; there had been enough time for those ranked fish demons to have killed their way over.

Yet, they hadn't encountered any ranked fish demons until now. There was only one possibility: there were no ranked fish demons in this attack.

Without ranked fish demons, they couldn't have trapped Xu Bo and the others. Therefore, when she and Lin Chen saw Xu Bo and the others trapped by fish demons on the stone steps earlier, it was entirely a play staged by Xu Bo and the others, deliberately pretending that there were ranked fish demons present to delay them.

The stone steps were a hundred zhang high, and since Xu Bo and the others were far away, she couldn't see their fighting situation clearly at all, only preemptively assuming there were ranked fish demons.

In the dense forest not far away, Xu Li and the others listened to Lin Chen's dialogue, and there was a look of being moved in their eyes.

This Lin Chen……

"His martial potential is extremely strong, and he has such a sense of responsibility; this is the good fortune of our Great Liang." Xu Li made a decision in his heart!

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the group finally reached the east side of the island and saw a pleasure boat moored on the lake.

Seeing this pleasure boat, there was a glimmer of light in everyone's eyes, but at the same time, a large number of fish demons appeared in the distance on the left and right, rushing frantically toward this side.

The fish demons behind them also seemed to know that if they let Lin Chen and the others board the boat, they would lose their chance, so their attacks were even more ferocious than before.

One hundred zhang, fifty zhang……

Thirty zhang……

A young man who had originally been rotated to the middle to rest blinked his eyes. The next moment, he suddenly pushed his companion in front of him hard, shoving the companion toward the fish demons, while he himself used the force of the counter-push to leap high and rush toward the pleasure boat.

(End of chapter)