The sky roared with thunder and lightning, the rain poured down relentlessly as if dumped from above.
Chen Shouyi could barely hear: "What, what are you saying?"
The Shell Lady pressed close to his ear, almost burrowing in, and shouted at the top of her lungs: "There are giants on the sea like last time, a lot of them!"
"Boom!"
A bolt of lightning streaked across the air, directly striking the sea, bursting into a ball of electric light, illuminating the world for a moment.
What?
His whole body jolted, finally understanding, he wiped off the rainwater, quickly ran towards a nearby gigantic rock, scrambling up, soon climbing onto the rock for a better view.
The rain poured heavily, severely affecting his vision.
Through the hazy rain curtain, he could only glimpse several long shadows resembling canoes, slowly approaching.
One, two, three.
His heart sank, not yet recovered from his shock.
The Shell Lady stood on his shoulder, shouted again: "There, there are more!"
Chen Shouyi quickly looked in the direction she pointed, and after distinguishing for a while, he could vaguely see a shadow.
If it hadn't been for her reminder, he might have overlooked it.
He suddenly realized that the Shell Lady's vision seemed rather extraordinary, quickly asking: "Take a look, how many giants are there!"
With these days of learning the common language, Chen Shouyi's usual conversations posed little trouble. Similar to learning English, junior high school level was enough to sustain simple dialogues.
The Shell Lady looked carefully for a moment, leaned close to his ear and shouted: "One, one, one..."
Chen Shouyi was initially puzzled, but soon he understood.
She seemed unable to count beyond one, perhaps she knew the other numbers but had no use for them.
"Count again!"
The Shell Lady repeated: "One, one, one... one."
He silently noted, realizing that the Shell Lady continuously said twenty-three ones in one breath.
Twenty-three people.
He couldn't help but draw a sharp breath, his face turning sour.
He had thought about other barbarians searching for those two missing people, and that some might find this place, but never did he expect it to be like stirring a hornet's nest, with so many barbarians arriving at once.
This is fucking insane!
Chen Shouyi couldn't help but want to shout aloud, venting his frustration and anxiety.
Twenty-three barbarians, each of them physically stronger than a martial artist.
In this torrential downpour, they definitely weren't here just for water.
They would scour the entire island, hunting for any trace of a clue.
A small island less than a square kilometer, what's the chance they wouldn't find the spatial passage?
Or rather, what's the chance it would go undiscovered?
He realized he had messed it up!
It was like gambling on a dangerous bet, suddenly collapsing!
If these barbarians passed through the spatial passage and entered the city's busy streets, it would likely cause a horrific massacre, with many innocents dying, not to mention his home was just a few blocks away.
Chen Shouyi couldn't help but regret it, for keeping the passage secret out of his own selfish greed.
If there were troops stationed, no matter how many barbarians, they wouldn't break through this passage.
Sadly, it was too late to go back and report it now, he saw the nearest canoe gradually beaching ashore.
He immediately jumped off the over-two-meter-high rock, ignoring the numbness in his feet, grabbed his war bow and long sword, and rushed towards the passage.
Within ten seconds, he reached the edge of the passage.
Looking at the passage about a dozen meters away, he slightly exhaled in relief.
This was his last retreat; if he couldn't hold off, he would retreat immediately.
As for everything else, he couldn't afford to care much more.
He quickly checked the arrows in his quiver.
Altogether twenty arrows, none missing.
Feeling the cold touch of the metal arrows, he gradually calmed down.
He wiped the rain from his face.
Regret was useless now, he took a few deep breaths, his expression steeling with resolve.
Seeing that Chen Shouyi seemingly wasn't leaving, the Shell Lady anxiously hopped and shouted loudly: "Escape! Escape! Escape!"
However, Chen Shouyi turned a deaf ear, standing on a high ground halfway up the mountain, with a good view, he could barely make out five barbarians jumping off the first canoe that arrived.
At that moment, an idea struck him, suddenly remembering to attack during a crossing!
Currently, there was only one canoe ashore, and the barbarians were wading through the shallow sea, greatly limiting their mobility—this was the best time for a battle.
And the middle of the mountain was only two or three hundred meters from the shore, even rushing over now, it would be in time.
His mind raced.
He gritted his teeth, deciding it was worth the risk, and immediately dashed rapidly down from the mountainside.
The Shell Lady was startled by his movement, instantly flying up, watching the distant-running Chen Shouyi, and then eyeing the nearby spatial passage, her small face struggling, but still dared not to enter the passage alone.
Chen Shouyi ran down the mountain, tearing through the impenetrable rain curtain, sprinting all the way.
On this otherworldly island, he had never run as fast as he did today. His body seemed filled with a blazing fire, surging with boundless power.
In just over twenty seconds, he had already reached the foot of the mountain.
At this moment, the foremost barbarian, holding a long spear, finally noticed Chen Shouyi's sprinting figure, shouting in terror, seemingly to alert his companions, then strode through waist-deep seawater, heading for the shore.
Time was of the essence.
Chen Shouyi knew once he reached the shore, it would become increasingly difficult to shoot him down.
Blood rushed to his face, he sprinted with all his might.
A hundred meters, eighty meters, fifty meters.
Chen Shouyi abruptly halted, without time to catch his breath, quickly nocking an arrow and drawing his bow, the five hundred-pound heavy bow pulled to a full moon.
Just then, the barbarian had only just set foot on the beach.
In the next moment, with a piercing shriek, the arrow tore through the impenetrable rain curtain like lightning, leaving a long scar behind.
The barbarian raised his long spear, seemingly ready to block, yet just halfway up, an arrow pierced through the air faster than a clap of thunder, drilling through his skull, the arrowhead protruding from the back of his head.
His whole body shuddered, falling backward.
Compared to traditional bows, recurve bows not only had higher accuracy but could also store more energy, giving the arrows greater kinetic energy.
On Earth, a five hundred-pound recurve heavy bow designed especially for martial artists could reach initial speeds of four to five hundred meters per second, far exceeding sound speed.
And due to the considerable mass of the arrows, their kinetic energy also far outstripped that of rifle bullets, with tremendous lethality at medium to short ranges.
Just as the first barbarian fell, his companions were still reacting when a second arrow arrived, instantly drilling into his eye socket.
He continuously nocked arrows, drew, and shot.
Despite Chen Shouyi's slight dizziness from nervousness, over a thousand daily archery practices had ingrained everything into instinct, needing no thought.
In just a few seconds, the five barbarians on the first canoe were annihilated, blood slowly staining the sea, bodies floating and sinking in the seawater.
The successful beginning steadied Chen Shouyi's heart, slightly easing the tension.
Noticing the second canoe still over a hundred meters away, he quickly stepped up, pulling the arrow out of the first barbarian's head.
The total number of barbarians was twenty-three, while there were only 20 arrows—a single extra arrow meant one less danger.
Unexpectedly, as he placed the arrow back into the quiver, a sharp short spear shot towards him from the sea like a bolt of lightning.
Just as Chen Shouyi felt a premonition of danger, a fierce gust of wind brushed past his face, causing the skin to sting.
His scalp tingled.
At that moment, he almost felt the icy breath of Death from behind.
As he quickly retreated, he swiftly nocked an arrow and drew the bow, aiming ahead.
On a distant canoe, a tall, robust barbarian stood straight at the prow, glaring furiously at him.
"You! Die!"
ps: Please recommend and collect.