Chapter 220: Chapter 220 This is a Real Man

The sound of so many footsteps made Lan Zhengxiong’s expression change. He had suspected that the enemies of Xia Qian’s herbal company might come for him, but he never thought it would actually happen. A palpable killing intent arrived before they did.

The middle-aged couple, however, remained fearless. The man holding the large bow, in particular, had a sincere face, yet he radiated an aura of righteousness. “A pack of petty villains. Since they’ve come, let them learn that the arrows of the Arrow King, one of the Seven Saints of Dragon Country, are not to be trifled with.”

Indeed, he was the Arrow King. Among the Seven Saints of Dragon Country, sworn brothers who were ranked by their abilities, he was number six. An arrow was already nocked on his great bow, waiting for the enemy to appear before it would be loosed.

Outside the manor, the footsteps suddenly slowed and then stopped completely. Lan Zhengxiong knew his son and daughter-in-law were extraordinary. Though he himself possessed no martial skill, he was far more astute than either of them.

Lan Zhengxiong’s brow furrowed. “It seems they aren’t planning a frontal assault,” he said. “They must have a scheme. We must strike first to gain the upper hand.”

The Arrow King always listened to his father. His father had sent him away to train from a young age, and when he had wanted to give up, it was his father who traveled a thousand miles to guide him with patient words. The Arrow King and his wife, the Arrow Queen, hurried out to seize the initiative. But it was too late. After just a few steps, they suddenly felt their bodies go limp. Their hands were powerless; it was a struggle just to hold the great bow.

Lan Zhengxiong felt it too. This is bad…

Just then, figure after figure leaped into the manor’s courtyard. Leading them was a child, but this child had an eerie face with unusually slack skin. Lan Zhengxiong also spotted the Five Poisons on the child’s shoulder: a scorpion, a venomous snake, a centipede, a toad, and a spider.

“Hee hee hee,” the child giggled, but his laughter held none of a child’s innocence, only an unsettling chill. After laughing, the child finally spoke. “Hello, Uncle, Auntie, and Grandpa.”

Lan Zhengxiong, the Arrow King, and the Arrow Queen felt a wave of revulsion. They had already guessed the child’s identity. This was the Five Poisons, a man who was actually in his seventies or eighties. He had soaked in a medicinal pool for years, attaining the Body of Five Poisons, but it had also left him a dwarf, forever trapped in a child’s body. Despite his small stature, he had slaughtered countless people, poisoning untold numbers in the Miao Jiang region. His age far surpassed Lan Zhengxiong’s, yet he called Lan Zhengxiong ’Grandpa’ and his son and daughter-in-law ’Uncle’ and ’Auntie,’ which made them sick with disgust.

“What’s with that look? Do you not like me?” The Five Poisons pouted, hopping up and down like a petulant child. “But I’m still just a kid,” he whined.

“…” Lan Zhengxiong, the Arrow King, and the Arrow Queen knit their brows tightly. It was disgusting. Utterly disgusting.

The Arrow King couldn’t stand it anymore and roared, “Get the hell away from me! Be careful, or I’ll put an arrow through your head!”

The Five Poisons feigned terror, his body trembling as he lisped in a deliberately cloying voice, “No, please don’t. I’m so scared…”

The Arrow King couldn’t take it anymore. He raised his great bow and, gritting his teeth, tried to draw the string and fire. But his body was drained of strength; he couldn’t pull the bowstring no matter how hard he tried. This was the Roaming Bow. Powerful and strong, an arrow loosed from it was as urgent as a wanderer returning home. It was the very bow used by Hua Rong during the Northern Song Dynasty. Hua Rong had performed many legendary feats with his archery. When Song Jiang attacked the Zhu Family Manor for the third time, it was Hua Rong who shot down their command lantern, throwing their troops into chaos. But now, the bow was useless in the Arrow King’s hands.

The Arrow King was consumed by regret. How did I fall for the Five Poisons’ trick?

“My very body is a vessel of poison,” the Five Poisons explained slowly, his tone thick with pride. “Aside from these underlings of mine who have taken my pills, anyone else who comes within ten meters of me will find their strength drain away until they collapse and die.”

Everyone has a past, and the Five Poisons was no exception. He was born in Miao Jiang to parents who were masters of Poison Gu. They had once tried to refine him into a Gu himself. Unfortunately, a twist of fate intervened, forging him into a dwarf who would never age—a walking vessel of poison. But he didn’t blame them for it. After all, he had already poisoned them to death.

Now, the Five Poisons grinned, his childlike voice both cloying and terrifying. “To be honest, you are one of the Seven Saints of Dragon Country. In a real fight, I’d be no match for you. On open ground, your arrow would pierce my skull before I got within ten meters. But you made a mistake. One wrong step leads to many, and now you will die by my hand.”

The Five Poisons Boy began to walk toward the Arrow King. Gritting his teeth, the Arrow King refused to accept this fate. He couldn’t die here. Not at the hands of this vile creature. With a great roar, the Arrow King forced himself to draw his bow and finally loosed a shot.

SWOOSH!

The arrow flew, but without the Arrow King’s full strength behind it, it lacked its usual blinding speed. The Five Poisons Boy dodged it easily, but one of his subordinates behind him took the arrow in the throat and died instantly.

“Useless trash,” the Five Poisons sneered, spitting on the ground. Where his saliva landed on the herbs, they instantly withered.

Giggling, he once again started toward the Arrow King. But how could the Arrow King let him succeed? He felt his consciousness grow heavy, as if he might pass out at any moment. He had to grit his teeth to stay awake. Biting his lip until it bled, he used the pain to maintain a sliver of clarity. He had to hold on. His father and his wife were still here. He couldn’t let anything happen to them.

He remembered his childhood poverty. To secure him an apprenticeship, his father would climb the mountains at dawn to gather herbs, trading them for a chance for his son to enter a branch of the Hua Mountain sect beyond the pass. When his father came to visit, he always brought money. He didn’t want his child to have less than his fellow disciples; he wanted his son to hold his head high. His father, meanwhile, subsisted on thin gruel and husks.

And his wife? She was the beauty of their sect beyond the pass, while he was a penniless nobody. Yet, she had chosen him, never minding his poverty. It was for these two that he had fought so hard to become the Arrow King he was today.

“You’ll have to step over my dead body to get to my father and my wife!” the Arrow King roared. He bit his lip even harder until it was a bloody, numb mess. He then bit his tongue—not too hard, but enough to fill his mouth with the taste of blood.

Arrow after arrow shot forth. The Arrow King fought with all his might, but the force behind each shot diminished, and the Five Poisons dodged them all with ease. His men, however, were not so lucky, falling one by one to the errant shots. The Five Poisons didn’t care. He advanced step by step, closing the distance to the Arrow King.

“Even I have to admire you for lasting this long against my poison. But so what? Arrow King, it’s time to die. No one can save you.”

The Five Poisons lunged, arriving at the Arrow King’s side in an instant.

Despair washed over the Arrow King. Is this how I die?

“Father! My love! I have failed to protect you! I’m useless!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep