20demayo Chapter 3 What to do then? Just wait to die?
Chapter 3 What to do then? Just wait to die?
Before he could finish speaking, Wang Ziteng suddenly roared, "Get out of the way!"
He was like an enraged bull, pushing off with his feet and his right fist, like a cannonball, slammed into the burly young man with a face full of scars!
This punch was the "Bow Stance Punch" taught by Master He. Wang Ziteng had mastered it and unleashed it with fury, full of momentum and a fierce, unstoppable force.
The burly young man opposite him was clearly not expected that Wang Ziteng would attack so suddenly and with such force, and he hastily raised his hand to block.
"Bang!"
Their fists clashed with a dull thud.
The burly youth felt an unexpectedly strong force coming from his arm, which made half of his body go numb. He stumbled back three steps, one foot landing on the slippery wood at the edge of the wooden bridge. His body swayed violently, and he almost fell directly into the turbulent and muddy river below!
His face turned deathly pale. He hurriedly steadied himself, his eyes filled with horror and lingering fear.
Wang Ziteng's clean, crisp, and incredibly powerful punch caught the eye of Grandpa He, who had been watching them intently from the observation platform. He muttered, "Good lad! That stance, that explosive power... he's a natural-born martial artist! What a pity..."
Under the shade of the canopy, the leader of the Lonely Bamboo Hall nodded slightly and said to the branch leader beside him, "This young man is decisive and strong; he's a promising talent. However..."
He glanced at Zhang Yuan, who was still pale and was being protected behind Wang Ziteng, and shook his head slightly.
"Carrying such a burden, it will be difficult to get through the next hurdle."
In the world of gangsters, loyalty is essential.
But when it comes to life and death, it's best to put loyalty aside.
Just as the burly young man staggered backward and the other two were intimidated by Wang Ziteng's imposing aura, a glint flashed in Zhang Yuan's eyes.
He quietly stepped forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Wang Ziteng, and seizing the opportunity, he suddenly shouted into the chaotic and crowded surroundings, "Charge! Opportunity!"
The voice wasn't loud, but it possessed a peculiar penetrating power and inflammatory quality.
The other orphans, who were originally blocked from leaving and were itching to act after seeing Wang Ziteng's display of power, were like a powder keg that had been lit. They instinctively obeyed the command, bursting out with their survival instincts, howling and rushing towards the entrance of the wooden bridge!
The crowd surged toward the narrow bridgehead like a flood bursting its banks.
The other two burly teenagers blocking the bridge changed their expressions drastically when faced with the sudden, chaotic surge of dozens of children.
No matter how fierce they are, they dare not stand in the way of this irrational "crowd," otherwise they would be the ones to be knocked into the river!
The two exclaimed in surprise, no longer caring about stopping Wang Ziteng and Zhang Yuan. They hurriedly turned around and, together with the staggering, burly young man, awkwardly retreated across the wooden bridge.
Zhang Yuan's seemingly casual and opportunistic "using one tiger to devour another" tactic caused the leader on the observation platform and the head of the Guzhu Hall under the pavilion to raise their eyebrows slightly, revealing a hint of surprise and amusement.
This skinny kid is actually quite quick-witted.
On the edge of a mountain not far away, a scholar dressed in a blue robe with three short tufts of beard stood with his hands behind his back, taking in the chaos at the wooden platform by the river.
His gaze lingered particularly on Zhang Yuan, whose seemingly calm eyes now revealed a shrewd insight into the ways of the world. He murmured to himself, "At such an age, in dire straits, he remains calm in the face of danger, and leads the masses to break the deadlock..."
"Such shrewdness and courage are rare, truly rare."
Behind the scholar, a tall young man covered in black scale armor bowed slightly, the standard long sword hanging at his waist and a waist tag engraved with green bamboo patterns making a soft sound with his movements.
He lowered his voice, his tone stern and authoritative, and asked, "My lord, two hundred guards are in position, bows and crossbows are cocked, and the encirclement is complete. When shall we move out?"
The scholar's gaze swept over the orphaned children scrambling to cross the bridge below, and the guards standing ready on the plank road. A confident smile played on his lips as he waved his hand lightly: "No rush. Xu Changhe is still putting on an act. Let's wait for the effects of the 'muscle-softening powder' to take hold before watching another good show."
"Let these kids run around a bit more, they'll help us scatter some of the smaller fry."
Riverbank.
Zhang Yuan and Wang Ziteng followed closely behind the surging crowd, rushing across the narrow, swaying wooden bridge.
The bridge surface was slippery, and children kept losing their balance in the pushing and shoving, falling into the river with screams, and being swept away by the turbulent waves, leaving only a few desperate cries echoing on the water.
After crossing the bridge, the path ahead is not smooth, but a simple boardwalk built along the riverbank, only wide enough for one or two people to walk side by side.
At the end of the plank road is the "lone bamboo stake" wooden platform, suspended in the middle of the river, symbolizing a way out.
However, at this moment, ten expressionless members of the Green Bamboo Gang stood at the entrance of the plank road!
They held short, hardwood sticks as thick as a child's arm, their eyes cold and indifferent, like fierce gods blocking the way.
Driven by the will to survive, the two children at the front, with red eyes, tried to force their way through.
"Go back!" came a sharp shout.
Two gang members swung their wooden clubs out with a dull whistling sound, showing no mercy!
"Snap!"
"puff!"
The clear sounds of bones cracking and blood spurting rang out almost simultaneously.
The two children who rushed forward had their chests cave in instantly, blood gushing from their mouths. They were thrown away like ripped sacks, crashing heavily to the ground. Their bodies twitched painfully a few times before falling silent, clearly beyond saving.
This bloody, violent, and merciless scene was like a bucket of ice water being poured over their heads, instantly freezing all the children who had rushed to the boardwalk in place!
The chaos and impulsiveness of crossing the bridge were completely frozen by the fear of death.
The children were pale-faced and filled with fear. Looking at the ten cold figures holding blood-stained wooden clubs and the two small corpses still twitching slightly on the ground, no one dared to take another step forward.
Wang Ziteng's Adam's apple bobbed, veins bulged on his forehead, his hands were clenched into fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and his body trembled slightly from anger and repression.
But instead of acting impulsively, he took a sudden step to the side, using his still somewhat thin but exceptionally firm body to protect Zhang Yuan even more closely behind him, watching the fierce-looking gang members warily, his teeth clenched.
Before the plank road, there was a deathly silence, with only the crashing of the turbid waves and the distant noise of the gang eating and drinking.
At this suffocating stalemate, the helmsman's hoarse, cold voice rang out again from the high platform at the rear, like a death knell, clearly echoing throughout the entire arena:
"A quarter of an hour."
"If you can't cross the plank road or step onto the wooden platform in front of the lone bamboo stake within fifteen minutes... you'll be expelled from the Green Bamboo Gang!"
As the cold verdict was pronounced, the air in front of the walkway seemed to solidify into lead, pressing down on each child and making it hard for them to breathe.
"We can't beat them... They're all martial artists at the Acquired Realm, and they're stronger than oxen..."
The deathly silence before the plank road was broken by whispers of despair.
A thin boy stared at the still-bleeding corpse on the ground, his teeth chattering, and he instinctively backed away.
"Since I can't hold onto that lone bamboo stake anyway, why risk my life? Maybe...maybe I should just run away..."
He muttered to himself, then turned and tried to slip away to a less crowded area.
"Run? Run where?" Another slightly older child, his face covered in mud, but his eyes blazing with anger, shouted, "Being driven out is the same as dying! Starving to death, freezing to death, being eaten by wild dogs! We might as well fight them! If we all team up, we might die together, or at least take someone down with us!"
His voice was hoarse, carrying a desperate, resolute edge, which caused several equally unwilling children around him to clench their fists and stare fiercely at the gang members wielding sticks on the plank road.
Wang Ziteng felt his blood boil. He was never one to back down from trouble, and seeing someone willing to risk their life ignited his innate courage.
"That's right! Let's fight them—"
He roared and tensed up, ready to charge forward, wanting to use his trained fists and feet to fight against those fierce-looking gang members.
"Ziteng! Don't move!" Zhang Yuan suddenly grabbed Wang Ziteng's arm.
The immense force made him sway, and his already weak body went limp, but he held on tightly, his voice rapid and clear.
"Are we going to our deaths? Look at them! Even if these guys are only at the early stage of the Acquired Realm, they have the strength of three hundred pounds in each arm! And they're armed with clubs! If we charge in unarmed, whoever goes in will die! We'll be knocked into the river and fed to the fish in one fell swoop!"
Wang Ziteng was pulled back to a halt. Looking at the ten indifferent, stone-carved figures on the plank road and the blood-stained wooden sticks in their hands, and recalling the horrific scene of the two of them being instantly smashed away, the brute force in his heart couldn't help but falter.
He gasped for breath, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Zhang Yuan: "Then... what do we do? Are we just going to wait to die?"
Zhang Yuan's eyes quickly scanned the chaotic riverbank, his brain working at lightning speed.
A head-on confrontation is a dead end, and waiting to die is also a dead end; we must find another way!
His gaze swept over the abandoned debris on the shore, finally settling on a dilapidated little wooden boat, not far from the boardwalk entrance, stranded precariously in the shallow mud. The boat was small, but heavy enough to be cumbersome.
"Who says trials have to be fought head-on?" Zhang Yuan's voice suddenly rose, carrying an undeniable certainty that instantly drowned out the surrounding noise and sobs.
He suddenly pointed at the wrecked wooden boat, his voice echoing along the riverbank: "See that broken boat? Move it over here! Push it over there! Ram them off the pier!"
This groundbreaking idea stunned everyone.
Using a boat to ram people?
Crash into those fierce-looking, acquired martial artists?