System: I Can Open Martial Arts Chests-Chapter 83 - 74: Night Raid (Part 2)

Dong Yubai was about to retort when he heard Cao Qiupu nod:

"Indeed, I searched for a long time today but couldn’t find any trace of this person."

"Are you talking about the person who left a palm seal on the stone monument?"

Du Hanyan asked at this moment.

Chu Qing and Cao Qiupu exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously.

The palm force of that person was extraordinary. When Chu Qing encountered Cao Qiupu and Du Hanyan, he initially thought it was left by them.

But later, he felt something was amiss.

Cao Qiupu was chasing the white horse; he didn’t even know there was an illusion array here, let alone left a mark on the stone monument.

As for Du Hanyan, it was even less possible... The person who left the palm seal had a wide palm; Du Hanyan’s delicate hands couldn’t leave such a large palm seal.

And neither Dong Xingzhi nor Dong Yubai had that kind of power.

Moreover, if it truly was the doing of Dong Xingzhi, after Du Hanyan spoke, Dong Yubai certainly would have rushed to claim his second uncle was the culprit.

Now, the expressions on this uncle and nephew pair were full of confusion.

It was evident that someone else must have left the palm seal.

The atmosphere became somewhat silent, and Du Hanyan furrowed her Liu Mei gently:

"This person’s palm force is extraordinary, yet he doesn’t show himself. He must have other motives...

"Third Master, do you think he might be the person you saw during the day?"

Chu Qing pondered for a moment and shook his head:

"It’s uncertain."

"Whatever the case, caution is key."

Du Hanyan said:

"The situation here is unclear; it’s best to leave as soon as possible. Let’s stay alert tonight, and I will break the array tomorrow morning."

Accidentally entering this place was unexpected; who could have thought that after passing through a layer of fog, one would mysteriously enter a village?

The peculiarity of this village was evident; anyone with a bit of sense wouldn’t wish to complicate matters further.

Chu Qing wholeheartedly agreed with Du Hanyan’s words and found a place in the hall to sit down with Gentle.

The atmosphere gradually quieted down.

After that, the group organized food and drink around the fire, and there was nothing much to say.

Before long, the sky completely darkened.

Except for Brother White, everyone else had already gathered inside the hall.

Perhaps because of the fog outside, the night seemed exceptionally deep, with a cold wind sneaking in through the window cracks, causing the fire to crackle.

Chu Qing, who was meditating, suddenly opened his eyes.

After a moment, Du Hanyan and Cao Qiupu also raised their heads:

"There’s a sound."

Indeed, there was a sound — footsteps... but not normal footsteps.

The sound was like a drunkard staggering on the road after getting drunk.

But the problem was, there were too many of these sounds, impossible for so many people to be drunk and present here simultaneously.

The key point was that they’d searched the entire village during the day without finding a single living soul.

Yet now, suddenly appearing at night, where were they during the day?

The questions arose in their hearts when they heard a bang, as the main door of the hall was pushed open from outside.

It was already autumn, the weather turning cold, and the cold wind rushed into the hall through the broken door, causing Dong Yubai, who was sleeping under a blanket, to shiver.

He opened his eyes, not yet clear who was before him, and cursed:

"Who the hell opened the door in the middle of the night? Are you sick?"

As he spoke, his eyes finally fully opened.

Standing before him was a peasant man in his fifties.

His figure was awry and awkward, and he held a hatchet in his right hand, quietly staring at Dong Yubai.

Dong Yubai was startled, then turned furious:

"How dare you scare your master Dong! Are you courting death?"

He lunged forward, wanting to give this old man a slap.

"Stop!!"

Cao Qiupu’s eyes widened, thinking how audacious young martial world practitioners had become these days?

The situation was clearly off, and he charged straight up without even asking why?

And his uncle wasn’t stopping him either?

That thought just arose when they saw the old man suddenly raise his head, his eyes emitting an eerie black gleam.

Then that apparently broken arm moved with unbelievable speed, swinging the hatchet.

Dong Yubai came quickly and left quickly.

He arrived in good shape; yet leaving, his chest bore a slashed ’one’ mark.

Lying on the ground, he hadn’t realized what happened, but the intense pain inevitably made him scream.

His wretched cries added to the night’s heaviness.

Dong Xingzhi awoke as if from a dream, unsure whether to first check his nephew’s injuries or confront this mysterious old man.

But while he was unsure, the old man’s intent was clear.

He stepped forward, hatchet spinning, aiming directly at Dong Xingzhi’s neck.

Ultimately, Dong Xingzhi, unlike Dong Yubai, managed to evade the chop and struck the old man’s back with a palm.

He resented the old man’s ruthlessness for not sparing Dong Yubai.

This palm was delivered with full force, causing the old man’s rear chest to collapse.

His figure staggered towards the fire.

Dong Xingzhi assumed the old man was certainly dead, then hurried to check Dong Yubai’s injuries.

Unexpectedly, the old man turned his head, swinging the hatchet at his head.

This sudden move caught Dong Xingzhi off guard, forcing him to retreat hastily, hair loosening and falling away.

The old man’s chop had cut through his hair tie.

"You dare seek death!!"

Dong Xingzhi, enraged, lunged and struck the old man with seven punches.

All hit his chest, shattering the bones, making him fly out like a broken bag, slamming into the hall’s side wall.

It’s unknown what was broken, as there was a continuous creaking sound, and a whole wall suddenly sank, revealing a dark passageway.

The change was beyond everyone’s expectation.

Simultaneously, subtle footsteps were heard from outside the door.

The old man was just the first, with dozens to hundreds following him.

By their clothes, they seemed to be the missing villagers from the village.

Disappearing during the day and suddenly emerging at night...

Du Hanyan’s eyes narrowed at the old man’s tactics. If this group joined forces, it would be troublesome to handle.

Yet glancing at the passageway, she felt it wasn’t the best solution.

The passage’s conditions were uncertain; randomly rushing in at this moment might lead to a dead end.

So she decided promptly:

"Let’s break through!"

But before she finished, Chu Qing had already led Gentle to the hall’s entrance.

"This guy..."

Du Hanyan felt speechless but couldn’t delay, leading her fellow disciple to charge into the crowd, attempting a breakout.

But these people were too strange, their martial arts unlike martial arts, attacks unstructured, yet wielding weapons with striking blade light.

And they were hard to kill.

Even with shattered bones, they could stand like nothing had happened, attacking.

Du Hanyan found no effective way to break the encirclement, when suddenly, a neighing sounded, and Brother White charged through the crowd, sending the seemingly mind-lost villagers flying.

It dashed to Cao Qiupu, snorted disdainfully as if to say: At crucial moments, rely on me, eh?

Cao Qiupu was delighted, immediately directing Brother White to lead the breakout.

Following this skirmish, Du Hanyan led her disciples behind Cao Qiupu, exiting the hall.

Tonight, the stars were dim, fog shrouding the sky.

In the mist, shadows flickered, seemingly surrounding the village square.

Chu Qing and Gentle hadn’t left, standing a short distance ahead, calmly observing the approaching foes from all directions.