The next day.
In the morning.
The Zhou Family's headquarters were situated in a remote region that had great scenery. Rather than calling it a martial sect headquarters, it felt more like a holiday resort.
This place was very well-known to those from the Chinese martial arts world, not only because the Zhou Family Style's disciples were numerous and running a very successful training hall system, but also due to that battle of the grandmasters several years ago. Rao Aimin had fought her way to the Zhou Family's headquarters and single-handedly battled with two of the grandmasters, Zhou Tianpeng and Chen Xi. Some of the traces left behind from the fight back then could still be seen. A woman's shoeprint was still clearly imprinted in the wooden front doors.
At this moment, the front doors of the headquarters were tightly shut!
Some faint voices came from inside.
"The Kunlun Sect was taken down as well!"
"Then what should we do!"
"Shaolin, Kunlun, who's next?"
"Surely it won't be us, right?"
"That won't happen! H-He needs to rest at some point!"
"That's right. I heard that the four Kunlun Sect elders attacked him together yesterday. Even though Zhang Ye only took 20 attacks to beat the four of them, he would still have sustained some injuries! And even if he were made of steel, he can't possibly attack one sect a day, right?!"
"Whatever, hurry up and pack the things!"
"Yes, Eldest Senior Bro has already spoken. We have to be ready to retreat at a moment's notice."
"We're running away just like this?"
"It's not called running away, it's just a tactical withdrawal!"
"This is too hard to stomach!"
"Oh right, remember to keep the plaque safe. It's been passed down since the time of our ancestral founder—"
Bang bang bang.
Someone suddenly knocked on the door!
The faces of the headquarters' disciples abruptly tightened!
Zhou Tianpeng's seventh disciple of this generation, Seventh Brother Zhou, looked over to the front door and asked while trembling, "Who is it?"
A man spoke from outside, "Old pal, open up!"
Old pal?
Who is your old pal?!
Eighth Brother Zhou furrowed his brows. "Don't you have the wrong address?"
The man outside knocked on the door again and said, "Old pal, open up!"
"Who the hell are you?" When Eldest Brother Zhou heard the commotion, he came out as well.
Then, a surprising turn of events took place!
With a boom and a crash, the front doors of the headquarters were kicked open by someone on the outside!
Zhang Ye strode in with his hands behind his back. "I'll just barge in since no one's opening the doors!"
Instantly, everyone screamed in shock!
"Ahhhh!"
"It's him!"
"He's here!"
"It's Zhang Ye!"
"Hurry and run!"
"Run?! We have to face the enemy!"
"Face the enemy! Face the enemy!"
"Grab your weapons! Pick up whatever you can get your hands on!"
When the Zhou Family received news from the Kunlun Sect, they started packing up their things overnight and planned to move everyone, including the books and items, from the headquarters by the end of the day. But little did they expect that they wouldn't make it in time! However, it was clear that they were still prepared for this. After Shaolin met with disaster and the Kunlun Sect got routed, if they still did not make any preparations, then they would really be idiots!
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtA moment later, more than 20 Zhou Family Style disciples came rushing out. Half of them were actually wielding modern compound bows made out of steel—this strategy was very ruthless, but it could be seen that they really had no other way out. Even if they had to bear the brunt of the criticism of the martial arts community for the rest of their lives, they would still stick with their unwise decision and use this tactic to deal with Zhang Ye!
However, Zhang Ye did not even look up at them because he had received a call at just this moment.
Ring ring ring, ring ring ring.
Eldest Brother Zhou gave a hand signal. "Listen to my commands!"
Everyone from the Zhou Family Style School nervously kept their eyes on Zhang Ye. Some of their hands were shaking badly even though they had compound bows on them. They were in truth not all that confident!
No one could have expected that at such a critical juncture, when faced with so many arrows pointing at him, Zhang Ye could actually do something that would stun everyone from the Zhou Family Style School and make their jaws drop!
Zhang Ye answered the call and said: "Hello, who is it?"
This was an opening!
You asked for it!
"Loose!" Eldest Brother Zhou's eyes brightened!
The Zhou Family Style's disciples couldn't be more excited as none of them would ever give up on this oversight by Zhang Ye!
Whoosh!
An arrow flew like the wind at him!
The next second, the arrow stuck into the ground near Zhang Ye's feet as it missed its target!
Zhang Ye did not move a muscle. "Oh, Lu Yuhu? I'm outside now, what's the matter?"
Whoosh!
A second arrow was loosed!
Zhang Ye took a step forward all of a sudden, and that arrow zoomed past his face and struck the front door of the headquarters, its shaft rattling!
"Shoot!"
"Loose!"
"Loose!"
A third arrow shot through the air!
Zhang Ye lowered his head slightly and carried on walking. "What? Old Rao has woken up?"
A fourth arrow was coming for him!
Zhang Ye veered to the left. "When did she wake up? Just now?"
A fifth arrow came whistling in!
Zhang Ye leaned to his right. "Haha, that's good then. I told you guys you didn't need to worry about her. Old Rao is much tougher than everyone else. She doesn't die when others would!"
A sixth arrow darted over!
Zhang Ye turned his head to the side. "Did the doctor say when she'll be discharged?"
A seventh arrow came!
Zhang Ye lowered his head again. "Another two weeks?"
An eighth arrow!
Zhang Ye kept walking forward as he rotated his shoulders to dodge the arrow. "Alright, I understand. Make sure she recovers properly; I'll help her handle the rest. Haha, let her know that she owes me a favor now….Hai, not to the point of owing me a life, just a favor will do!"
Everyone was dumbfounded by what they saw!
Eldest Brother Zhou was dumbfounded!
Third Brother Zhou was dumbfounded!
Fifth Brother Zhou was dumbfounded!
They could not believe their eyes!
Why was it like this?
How could this be?
He could still talk animatedly on the phone as he dodged over a dozen arrows without even a change in expression?
Zhang Ye laughed and said: "Alright, I can't speak now, so I'll hang up first as I have some things to attend to."
He hung up.
The moment Zhang Ye lowered his head to put away his cell phone, the arrow that Eldest Bro Zhou held back from shooting earlier was suddenly loosed. With a whoosh, it flew straight at Zhang Ye's face.
Zhang Ye pocketed his cell phone, then raised his hand!
Time seemed to stop in this instant!
The next second, Zhang Ye grabbed that arrow. He flicked his wrist and threw it to the ground like he was throwing away garbage. He took another two steps forward and finally stood in front of them!
Seventh Brother Zhou exclaimed in horror, "I-Is he even fucking human anymore?"
"How did he do it? How was he able to do that?" Ninth Bro Zhou was shocked into daze.
Eldest Brother Zhou blanched! There really was someone who could dodge all these steel arrows at such a close distance? How was that possible! Even if they weren't very good at archery and the arrow volley was not uniform, this still shouldn't be possible! He knew that Rao Aimin and another one of the five grandmasters could achieve this feat, but he could not understand how Zhang Ye had managed to do it! Even Zhou Tianpeng and Chen Xi at their peak could not accomplish such a feat in this manner! Moreover, he was even talking on the phone?
But they did not know that just because a grandmaster couldn't do it, it would not mean that Zhang Ye couldn't do it. He was probably worse at some aspects compared to those grandmasters, like their concealed power and fighting experience. But with regard to reaction speed and agility, he was definitely superior to everyone else!
Others might not be able to see those arrows because they traveled too fast.
But Zhang Ye could see them clearly and was also able to dodge them as well!
Zhang Ye said with a laugh, "A few days ago, some of you used hidden weapons to carry out a sneak attack on me in the fight ring during the Tianshan Martial Arts Conference. I dodged one of those without getting hurt, so how difficult could it be for me to dodge arrows that you were shooting directly at me!"
"Take him out!"
"Let's all take him out!"
"This is a battle for the Zhou Family Style!"
"Everyone, no need to be afraid!"
"Let's attack together!"
"Let's fight him with all we've got! We have more people on our side!"
"Ah!"
"Let's run away instead!"
"We can't defeat him!"
"Don't hit me, I don't know anything!"
It was utter chaos in the compound!
Five minutes later.
Of the between 20 and 30 people who were present here, no one was left standing besides Zhang Ye.
Eldest Brother Zhou was lying on the ground, shouting, "Zhang Ye, don't you dare! That plaque was passed down by our Zhou Family Style's ancestral founder! If you touch it, you're making yourself as a sworn enemy of our Zhou Family Style!"
However, Zhang Ye took down that plaque and broke it with a single stomp. "The moment you people tried to hunt me down, we became sworn enemies! I've touched it and even stepped on it. What will you do?"
"Ah!"
"Oh, ancestral founder!"
"Old Crook Zhang!"
Quite a few people screamed in anguish!
Eldest Brother Zhou and several of the most loyal Zhou Family Style disciples saw red. They finally realized now just what kind of person they had offended that day!
Zhang Ye dusted off his hands again in that usual manner.
He turned around and departed, fulfilled.
The receding figure that the Zhou Family Style's disciples saw infuriated and rather terrified them simultaneously!
Eldest Brother Zhou suddenly bellowed, "Quickly notify the other sects!"
Eighth Brother Zhou despaired, "Which sect will he attack tomorrow?"
Ninth Brother Zhou clutched his arm in pain and said, "Maybe…there won't be a need to wait until tomorrow!"
"Why?"
"What do you mean?"
A few of the Zhou Family disciples who could still speak asked this.
Ninth Brother Zhou was sweating profusely as he struggled to raise his hand and point west!
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmEveryone understood immediately!
The headquarters of the Kongtong and Iron Palm Sects were situated not too far from them!
"Hurry! Hurry and inform them!"
"Inform the Kongtong and Iron Palm Sects!"
"Everyone who escapes is one less victim!"
"I'm afraid it might already be too late!"
...
Half an hour later.
At the Kongtong Sect.
Someone was banging on the front door!
"Who is it!" Wary voices came from within the Kongtong Sect.
Bang bang bang!
"Old pal, open up!"
Bang bang bang!
"Old pal, open up!"
Inside the Kongtong Sect, everyone was suddenly screaming!
"Ah!"
"Zhang Ye!"
"Zhang Ye is here!"
"Let's get out of here, quick!"
"Go!"
"Run! Run to the mountains behind the building!"
But the next second, the front door was kicked open by Zhang Ye. "Fuck, how did you people know it was me before the doors were even open? I'm here to collect a debt. It time to repay, with interest, the debts you people owe me!"
Bang!
Thump!
Crash!
Sounds of fighting rang out!
The Kongtong Sect's plaque which had been passed down for hundreds of years was smashed to pieces by the palm of Zhang Ye!
...
Awhile later.
At the Iron Palm's headquarters.
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"
"Zhang Ye is about to arrive!"
"Shaolin, Kunlun, the Zhou Family and Kongtong were all taken down by him!"
"Are we next?"
"Hurry up!"
"Pack everything up, faster!"
"The plaque! Take care of the plaque!"
But all of a sudden, without any warning, a sound came from beyond the door!
This eerie sound horrified the Iron Palm branch's disciples. Other people might not find the sound to be anything special, and the word used to describe it would not be considered scary either. In fact, it even sounded pretty harmless. But without exception, when the Iron Palm's disciples heard this sound, they were all scared out of their wits!
Bang bang bang!
"Old pal, open up!"
Bang bang bang!
Bang bang bang!
"Old pal, open up!"