Chapter 149: Chapter 135: Advancing Instead of Retreating, Defeated and Fled
Let me analyze this Chinese web novel Chapter first to understand the context, style, and content before translating.
[Step 1: Contextual Analysis]
Literary genre: This appears to be a Chinese cultivation/martial arts fantasy novel (wuxia or xianxia).
Language style: Action-focused narrative with descriptive combat scenes, formal but accessible language.
Tone: Serious, action-oriented, with elements of strategic thinking and martial prowess.
Plot keywords: Archery duel, martial arts, ambush, battle, strategy
Characters:
- Wu Liangchen (武良辰): Male protagonist, skilled in archery and martial arts
- Chen Bamei (陈八妹): Female, skilled archer who challenges Wu Liangchen
- Yan Feng (严峰): Male, appears to be a subordinate of Wu Liangchen
- Zhang Pengcheng (张鹏程): Male, appears to be a leader or official
- Mo Daoyuan (莫道远): Male, seems to be plotting to take over territory
- Xie San (谢三): Male, leader of a faction
- Niu Da and Niu Er (牛大牛二): Male brothers who are large and powerful fighters
Now, let me proceed with the translation following all the guidelines.
[Step 2: Integrated Translation and Polishing]
I’ll translate the text line by line while adhering to all the rules provided, particularly the glossary terms.
Blood instantly flowed down, staining her cheek red.
But Chen Bamei didn’t even blink. She raised her bow and fired several arrows in succession, all while advancing instead of retreating. She rushed forward directly toward Wu Liangchen.
She knew very clearly that her archery skills were slightly inferior to Wu Liangchen’s, as evident from the three arrows they had just exchanged.
Moreover, Wu Liangchen’s Qinggong and Body Technique were also superior to hers.
So to win, her only option was to take a dangerous gambit.
As for her own life, Chen Bamei had long since placed it beyond consideration.
In her view, in this battle, she would either succeed or die with honor!
If she couldn’t defeat this man, he would inevitably become a demon in her heart and a nightmare for her archery, preventing her from making any progress for the rest of her life.
For someone who loved archery as much as life itself, that was no different from death.
But just as she rushed close, she found the eaves empty, with no trace of Wu Liangchen.
Chen Bamei’s heart skipped a beat.
He had clearly been there just a moment ago. How could he vanish in the blink of an eye?
Almost at the same moment she began to wonder, a figure appeared behind her without a sound.
Chen Bamei realized something was wrong, but it was already too late.
Wu Liangchen struck suddenly, chopping a palm strike on her neck. Chen Bamei collapsed to the ground without making a sound.
Looking at the heavily unconscious Chen Bamei on the ground, Wu Liangchen didn’t deliver a killing blow. Instead, he quickly searched her body, taking her bow, arrows, money pouch, and treasure bag. Then he crushed all the joints in her limbs before throwing her to Yan Feng and his men.
"Tie her up and guard her closely!"
"Yes!"
Yan Feng led his men forward to bind Chen Bamei securely, while Wu Liangchen had already turned and left the scene.
The reason he didn’t kill this woman was because he wanted to extract information about Cyan Cloud Mountain from her.
After all, Huai Mountain was adjacent to Dinghai City and was on his route home. Therefore, he needed to gather intelligence on Cyan Cloud Mountain’s next moves to plan ahead.
At this moment, Zhang Pengcheng was completely unaware that the skilled archer he had hired at great expense had already been defeated. He sat in his carriage directing his subordinates to advance step by step.
It must be said that he did have some skill. His soldiers followed orders strictly and advanced steadily. They soon pushed to the center of Flower Square, and hadn’t even encountered any meaningful resistance along the way. This caused the two men’s hearts to relax a little.
Zhang Pengcheng’s anger turned to joy as he chuckled, "It seems that Xie San and Wu Liangchen knew they couldn’t win and have already fled. Now Flower Square belongs to us."
Mo Daoyuan was also very pleased.
After scheming for so long, he had finally obtained this gold mine of a territory. Although he still had to pay Zhang Pengcheng a large sum in compensation, it was all worth it.
After succeeding, his prestige would rise even further. At that point, as long as the Gang Leader didn’t come out of seclusion, the entire underground world of Huangpu Guard would respect him above all others.
Just thinking about becoming the underground king whose words would be obeyed by all, and how even the inspector or those wealthy merchants with vast resources would have to treat him with courtesy when meeting him, Mo Daoyuan couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.
But just then, the troops who had been advancing steadily suddenly fell into chaos.
Zhang Pengcheng’s heart jolted, and he immediately asked the guard outside the carriage, "What’s happening?"
"Someone is steal—" Before the guard could finish his sentence, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air, followed by a crisp "crack," and the guard fell silent forever.
Inside the carriage, Zhang Pengcheng felt a chill run through him as he shouted, "What the hell is going on?"
The only response he received was a violent impact, after which the entire carriage began to shake violently.
It was a millstone!
Just now, a thousand-pound millstone had fallen from above, landing directly on top of the carriage. If the carriage hadn’t been specially reinforced, this single blow would have destroyed both vehicle and passengers.
Even so, the carriage was somewhat deformed from the impact. The area near the window had developed two cracks nearly half a centimeter wide.
Through these two cracks, Zhang Pengcheng and Mo Daoyuan could see that the battlefield had turned into complete chaos. Xie San’s men had finally shown themselves.
They all had red cloths tied around their arms and wielded swords and spears, fighting fearlessly against their enemies.
Though they were outnumbered, with their fierce fighting spirit, they were actually holding their own in the battle.
Among them, two giants standing at least two meters tall were particularly eye-catching – the brothers Niu Da and Niu Er.
They looked like descended vajra warriors, each wielding a massive iron staff, swinging wildly on the battlefield.
They didn’t know any proper staff techniques, but with their immense strength, these two staffs caused devastating damage, forcing enemies to scatter before them, none daring to challenge them directly.
Moreover, as the battlefield reached a stalemate, high-speed stones would occasionally come flying out of nowhere, breaking limbs at the least and shattering skulls at worst.
Zhang Pengcheng’s guard had just died this way.
Though few in number, especially on a battlefield with thousands of fighters, where they seemed almost negligible, these stones appeared and disappeared so mysteriously that no one knew who would be the next target, causing everyone to panic and lose the will to fight.
Under these circumstances, the millstone that had fallen from the sky made many more people consider retreating.
Zhang Pengcheng’s men were still holding up relatively well. The real issue was with the members of the Beheading Gang.
Although some of them were battle-hardened elites, most were just street thugs. They could handle winning battles, but once faced with this kind of brutal slaughter, they naturally couldn’t bear it mentally.
