Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Four Shots, Serpent Slayed

1
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
This was because the image changed all of a sudden.
In the perspective of the viewers, the “camera” fell from the sky all of a sudden, until they reached the ground and were at the moment looking through someone’s eyes.
There, they saw the crawling Black Serpent only about a hundred meters away, between the fog and the pool. But unlike what they would expect from common human eyesight—just the silhouette of the Black Serpent—the eyes of the “streamer” were of higher definition. It was akin to going from 270p to 720p. They could almost see the gaps between the Black Serpent’s ink-like scales.
In front of their “eyes,” they saw a large, bronze-colored crossbow with a very showy design. The body of the weapon was almost half a person in length and the crossbow’s arms seemed to be made of ox horns.
A bolt had already been loaded on the weapon, while the weapon was aimed right at the Black Serpent which was still slithering toward the pool.
“He’s going to—”
The viewers didn’t have time to describe the new sight because at the moment the view switched to them—
Click!
The hand holding the bronze crossbow had already released the guillotine.
Whoosh!
The first bolt that looked as thick as a child’s arm was unleashed toward the coming snake at lightning speed, leaving a blue flash behind its path.
It took less than a second for the bolt to cross the distance spanning more than a hundred meters!
Thud!
The bronze bolt made of sturdy material hit the layer of black scales on the Black Serpent.
In fact, it even threw off sparks. The potent kinetic energy drove the bolt through the Black Serpent’s scales, penetrating its body.
Only a small length of its tip remained outside, by which time black blood came gushing out from the blood groove rapidly.
“Nice shot!”
Several viewers out of the hundred thousand strong yelled out in awe.
It didn’t need elaboration how difficult it was to hit something slithering on the ground from over a hundred meters away;
Those who were watching the action in a first-person view could fully understand the difficulty involved.
This was because the shooter only had an ancient bronze crossbow that looked unusually heavy. There was no 8x scope, or any computational support equipment.
“Hiss, hiss…”
When the Black Serpent that was crawling towards the pool suffered the sudden attack, its purple tongue, which was as thick as a child’s hand, flicked out as it made a sound.
At the same time, it twisted and reared its head reflexively, biting towards the bolt!
Whoosh!
However, just as it turned its head, a ray of blue light shot towards it once again. It hit the Black Serpent’s exposed belly, which would have been clinging to the ground if it hadn’t reared its head.
Thud!
This second shot went completely inside the soft, less-protected belly tissue, leaving a hole as big as half a chicken egg.
“It’s actually the legendary repeating crossbow…”
Some of the spectators who knew something about crossbows were shocked.
Crossbows came in a great many varieties throughout Chidragon history, such as the Great Yellow Crossbow used in the Han Dynasty, the Divine Arm Crossbow from the Song Dynasty and the Qin Crossbow from the Warring States era.
However, the most famous person was undoubtedly the legendary “Zhuge Repeating Crossbow” of the Three Kingdoms period which was purportedly capable of unleashing ten continuous bolts.
However, since this weapon belonged to legends such as the creation of the “wooden ox”—a single-wheeled cart—modern people found it pretty much impossible to reproduce the Zhuge Crossbow that could be used in actual combat.
However, from the first point of view, the crossbow in the person’s hand was clearly a fully-functional repeating crossbow. that could be fired continuously.
“But repeating crossbows always have accuracy problems. You can’t control the subsequent shots well after the first one. Yet this guy succeeded despite the target being over a hundred meters away!”
“Hiss, hiss…”
While the viewers expressed their surprise, the Black Serpent was still shrieking in pain after getting hit twice.
It seemed the creature had somehow sensed where the attacks came from. It suddenly lowered its long body to the ground again and swiftly headed to the “camera.”
“Oh no! He’s discovered!”
“It’s fast! Is this still a snake?”
The furious Black Serpent’s speed was astonishing. It was like a black shadow as it flew towards the rocks!
The people watching the livestream found it difficult to discern the Black Serpent’s figure clearly.
Although the distance between the parties exceeded a hundred meters, there was no doubt that in less than ten seconds, the Black Serpent would be enough to directly pounce on the attacker.
“What’s this guy doing? Run already!”
Many viewers felt their hearts racing faster. Several women even subconsciously turned their heads away.
Whoosh!
The attacker held the bronze crossbow as steadily as before. By closely following the Black Serpent’s rapid movements, he slightly adjusted his aim and unleashed a third bolt.
Pew!
The bolt did not hit the Black Serpent’s abdomen like the previous two shots. Instead, it hit the back of its head.
“That was awesome!”
“It’s a little off compared to the previous shots and he didn’t hit the monster’s belly but… can to even score a hit when the black snake is zigzagging on the ground at such fast speeds. Wait, is this guy like, the world champion of archery?”
“Now that you mention this, I think our city does have a lady who won the national tournament. Qin Yueyu, was it?”
When they saw the attacker continuing to fire and managing to hit the target despite the circumstances, many viewers managed to calm down. All of them wondered who this “professional archer” was.
“Hiss, hiss…”
After being hit by that many bolts, the wounded Black Serpent was on the verge of madness.
It furiously flailed its head around, opened it maw and bit at a random rock beside it.
The solid rock that had gone through countless scorching summers and violent storms on the high mountain peak, was no weaker than metal in terms of hardness. Yet, it shattered like tofu under the snake’s deadly fangs.
Considering the outcome of the hard rock, imagine the bite on a human!
“Terrifying!”
“Hurry up and run. There’s no way to kill it.”
Worried and covered in sweat, all the viewers cheered and urged the streamer to escape in their minds.
However, the streamer never moved an inch from his original position. Less than a second after the third shot, the next bolt was already flying free,
which went for the Black Serpent’s stomach again; the creature had revealed an opening once again while it was madly chomping the rock.
Whoosh!
The fourth bolt looked much different than the previous ones.
It had a bright, silver glimmer unlike the previous blue metal. As it traveled farther in the orange light of dusk, it rapidly blended into the environment by taking on a similar hue,
starting from its tip. Then the color expanded toward the rest of its body, until the silver bolt looked almost like a beam of yellowish-red fire!
When the flaming-red bolt’s tip collided with the snake’s black scales—
Boom!
Instantly, an explosion sounded.
From the connecting point of the bolt, bluish-yellow flames emerged and ignited the serpent’s body as if pouring fuel over it.
“Ah!”
At the same time, cries of surprise could be heard from many residential areas and buildings in Yang City.