Chapter 142: Chapter 130: A Visitor Arrives, Seeking to Slay the Inner Demon (Part 2)
She was staying in Heavenly Suite Number One, the most exclusive room on the top floor of the inn. It was incredibly expensive, but the view was worth it—opening the window revealed a panoramic view of the surrounding streets.
And for a top-tier archer, a superior vantage point was more important than anything else.
Chen Baimei tucked her money pouch away, then sat at the table to begin maintenance on her longbow.
First, she used a specialized tool to unstring the bow. Then, she laid the bowstave on the table and began to wipe it down meticulously with a cloth dipped in warm water.
She was incredibly thorough, refusing to miss a single nook or cranny.
Once she was done, she wrapped the bowstave in a hot towel and set it aside, allowing the wood to relax and settle.
Next, she coated the entire bowstring with beeswax.
Once everything was taken care of and the bow was reassembled, she began maintenance on her fletched arrows.
She adjusted the fletching on each arrow to perfection, wiped down the shaft, and lightly sanded the arrowhead.
By the time she had finished tending to the entire quiver of arrows, it was already late into the night.
Only then did she begin to eat.
Her meal was simple: just a bowl of white rice and a side of stir-fried pork with long beans.
Chen Baimei ate very slowly, chewing each mouthful several times before swallowing.
This ensured maximum nutrient absorption.
It was a habit she had developed during her days as a wanderer.
Of course, she only ate this way when she had managed to snatch some food and could hide away to savor it alone.
When she had to fight for her food, however, she ate faster than anyone.
After finishing her meal, she didn’t go to sleep. Instead, she slung her bow and quiver over her back, opened the window, and leaped out.
Soon, she arrived at the banks of the Great Qing River.
A light drizzle was falling, and the riverbank was deserted. Chen Baimei went to the site of last night’s battle. The bodies had been cleared away, but the signs of the fight remained.
She crouched down and began to search carefully, paying special attention to the lines of spattered blood.
Only an arrow piercing a human body at high velocity could create such a spray.
After searching the entire battlefield, she closed her eyes in thought for a moment. Then, she leaped to a corner roughly one hundred and seventy paces from the main battle site.
The ground here was clean, without so much as a single footprint.
But Chen Baimei was certain that this was where the arrows had been fired from.
She crouched down, peered into the distant darkness, and then suddenly drew her bow and loosed an arrow.
The arrow shot forward like a meteor, instantly striking a large tree on the battlefield.
The arrowhead sank deep into the trunk, the impact showering leaves to the ground.
Yet Chen Baimei was not satisfied.
She knew that Wu Liangchen had hit Zhang Pengcheng on a chaotic battlefield by pinpointing his location by sound alone.
And that was a feat she was currently incapable of replicating.
At this thought, Chen Baimei’s grip on the bow tightened so hard her knuckles turned white.
After all, for someone who had always taken immense pride in her archery, the admission of being incapable felt like a massive stone crushing her, leaving her unable to breathe.
Even now, she had nightmares every night, reliving that scene at the Wuyang Guard’s Imperial Inspection Office.
The arrow she had failed to intercept by a mere hair’s breadth had become her personal nightmare, frequently jolting her awake.
That was why, even now, she had not returned to Cyan Cloud Mountain.
It wasn’t because she feared punishment, but because she wanted to redeem herself.
She wanted to prove herself in the art of archery and reclaim her lost confidence.
And that could only be achieved by defeating that man.
So she had traveled south, making inquiries everywhere, until she finally arrived in the territory of the Huangpu Guard.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long after her arrival that she picked up a lead.
The battle during the Lantern Festival had brought to light an archer of incredible skill—someone who could even locate targets by sound and kill unseen.
The moment she heard the news, she knew instantly. ’It’s him!’
’Only he possessed such masterful archery.’
But Chen Baimei knew that while her archery was strong, her other skills were lacking. Trying to find him in Flower Square alone would be suicide.
So she had taken the initiative to find Zhang Pengcheng and propose a partnership.
With Zhang Pengcheng’s men drawing fire at the front, she could safely hide in the rear and bide her time. The moment that man appeared, she could kill him with a single arrow.
But now, standing on the battlefield and reconstructing the events of that night, a sliver of despair crept into Chen Baimei’s heart.
’Can I really do this?’
Just as she was about to be sucked into a vortex of self-doubt, she took a sharp breath, cutting off the thoughts. Her grip on the bow steadied once more.
’Whether I can do it or not, I have to try.’
’If I back down now, I can forget about ever making any progress again.’
At this thought, her gaze hardened with renewed determination. She turned resolutely and disappeared into the darkness.
Meanwhile, in Flower Square, Wu Liangchen was not resting either.
He was practicing his archery.
All of his Martial Arts were advancing in tandem. Especially now that his Golden Body Cross Training Skill had reached the proficient stage a few days ago, he had virtually no weaknesses.
And while the progress of his other Martial Arts had slowed slightly, it was still at a pace an ordinary person could never hope to match.
If he continued at this pace, it wouldn’t be long before he could break through the Blood Exchange threshold and reach the Minor Fourth Realm.
From his experiences on the road, and especially after last night’s battle, Wu Liangchen had come to appreciate the utility of archery more and more.
Last night, Mo Daoyuan had been lucky. Otherwise, a single arrow might have ended his life.
He would have died without ever even seeing his killer’s face.
