"They’re here!"
Zhao Ya suddenly shuddered and lifted his gaze toward the distance.
Despite the layers of rain veils obstructing the view, the poison bait set in advance had now taken effect.
Zhao Ya felt the powder applied on his wrist heating up, a clear indication that someone had intruded.
This poison bait, capable of transmitting messages from afar, was not Zhao Ya’s invention but derived from the insect poison technique confessed by Bao Shan in a bid to survive.
In the marshes of the Far West Wilderness, there exists a special type of insect that hatches in pairs and stays together for life.
As long as these special insects are refined into medicinal guides separately, they can sense each other within a range of tens of miles.
Zhao Ya was immediately intrigued when he heard about it.
Because the properties of this thing were extremely useful.
If used properly, it could even yield unexpected effects.
Coincidentally, Bao Shan happened to have pre-refined medicinal guides with him at the time, and Zhao Ya took them all without hesitation, using them during this defense setup.
It turned out to be remarkably effective.
Consequently, Zhao Ya couldn’t help but feel a bit curious about the insect poison technique passed down in the Far West Wilderness.
It seems that this insect poison technique does have some merits after all.
At the very least, the insects capable of long-distance communication hold immense value.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on such things, Zhao Ya looked toward the direction from which the message originated.
Although the heavy rain was obstructing his view, Zhao Ya’s eye power still allowed him to vaguely see startled birds taking flight from the mountain forest.
In such torrential rain, unless facing extreme danger, birds wouldn’t easily leave their nests.
Yet, Zhao Ya did not make a move.
Everything had been arranged beforehand; now was the time to test the effectiveness.
The first to confront the assassins from the Separation Tower head-on was none other than Tian Yixin.
He was now hiding behind a rock, even though covered with a raincoat, the rain had already soaked him completely.
However, Tian Yixin didn’t care about that.
He wiped the rain off his face and focused on looking into the distance.
Despite the pouring rain, Tian Yixin was extremely excited.
Compared to the endlessly dull life before, these days of lurking in the dark, ready to fight to the death against invading enemies, were evidently much more thrilling.
This is the Jianghu life he had always fantasized about.
Tian Yixin thought silently to himself.
But just then, the thin iron wire at his hand suddenly started vibrating.
Tian Yixin was startled, knowing the enemy had arrived.
This iron wire was embedded beforehand, and if someone passed the warning spot, it would vibrate immediately, serving as an early warning.
Tian Yixin turned around and gestured to the others hidden in various spots, signaling them to be ready.
The disciples who had been ambushing here with Tian Yixin also felt invigorated.
Then Tian Yixin took a deep breath, planning to peek out and carefully observe the situation ahead.
But before that, he picked up a woven straw hat as Zhao Ya had instructed, using a stick to slowly extend it beyond the rock.
Almost as soon as it emerged, Tian Yixin heard a sharp whooshing sound, followed by a jolt in his wrist, and then the straw hat was pierced by a crossbow arrow and shot away.
Tian Yixin nearly cried out in shock.
Despite Zhao Ya’s frequent warnings to be cautious of the Separation Tower’s remote sniping team,
Tian Yixin was somewhat unconcerned, thinking it was merely a group of archers with hard crossbows; how formidable could they really be?
But he didn’t expect reality to slap him in the face so quickly.
If he hadn’t followed Zhao Ya’s advice and used the straw hat to probe first, he might not have survived or would have been seriously injured.
Tian Yixin felt both relieved and tense.
Knowing there was a remote sniping team from the Separation Tower outside meant he couldn’t easily show himself.
Tian Yixin could only quietly hide behind the rock, waiting for the right moment.
Because he had heard Zhao Ya say before.
In heavy rain like this, the more powerful and precise the hard crossbow, the more it would be affected.
So, the more crucial it was to remain calm at times like this because the opponent was surely more anxious than himself.
And indeed, things turned out as he anticipated.
At this moment, Wan Ying was hiding in a large tree.
Although the dense foliage blocked most of the rain and Wan Ying carefully sheltered it, the valuable hard crossbow in his hand was still inevitably affected.
Droplets covered the bowstring, and its curvature was different from usual.
Crucially, the feather of the crossbow arrow was also dampened by rain.
All of these significantly impacted accuracy.
Wan Ying was anxious yet helpless.
Just as he had just settled here, he saw a straw hat appear about 180 steps away, immediately aimed, and pulled the trigger.
But once the arrow was released, Wan Ying realized he had been tricked.
Sure enough,
the crossbow arrow easily shot through the straw hat, but there was no spray of blood.
Now, the situation clearly reached a stalemate.
He had exposed himself, but the enemy was still waiting, waiting for his mechanical crossbow to become increasingly ineffective.
Thinking of this, Wan Ying gritted his teeth and raised the crossbow mechanism again, scanning the rock and its surroundings.
But still found nothing.
"Damn it, are Azure Dragon’s disciples really this sly?" Wan Ying cursed under his breath and decided to give up.
Because he could clearly feel the mechanical crossbow in his hand starting to undergo changes.