The Pegasus Caravan only sent out a single wave of men, and the rest of the journey was uneventful. After unloading the goods, Liu Weian handed Black Bull and the other two ten silver coins each and told them not to log in for the next few days. The Pegasus Caravan was bound to retaliate, and safety came first. No graveyard runs for now.
"Take care!" Black Bull and his team were crisp and decisive, logging off without hesitation.
Liu Weian headed into an equipment shop—one owned by the Plum Blossom Trading Guild. In Stonehold City, there were only two entities he trusted: the Sun family and Plum Blossom. He trusted the Suns because of personal ties, and Plum Blossom because of their solid reputation. Their prices were steep, but quality was guaranteed.
"Shopkeeper, I'd like you to take a look at these." Liu Weian emptied the equipment looted from the knight's party onto the counter with a loud clatter. Over fifty pieces, at least. Among them, the knight's longsword and the burly man's battle axe were bronze-tier. There were nine black-iron items, the rest were standard white-grade. The Pegasus Caravan really was wealthy.
The shopkeeper, an elderly man in his sixties with half-white whiskers and sharp, discerning eyes, didn't even blink at the sight. Clearly a man who'd seen it all. He only paused briefly at the longsword and axe before looking up and calmly stating, "138 gold."
"Deal." Liu Weian was impressed. His own estimate had been between 130 and 140, but it had taken him ages to calculate. The old man had needed just a glance—this was the mark of true mastery.
He converted all the gold into Strength Seeds for delivery, keeping only 20 gold for emergencies. Then he holed up in the inn for two hours and managed to craft sixteen rune arrows. Progress was painfully slow—one tiny slip could ruin the whole process. Liu Weian wanted to grind all night, but he simply didn't have the stamina. Drawing runes twenty times was more exhausting than running twenty kilometers.
He stored everything away and logged out.
After picking up the delivery, he returned home with a massive haul of food. His appetite had been monstrous lately. By his rough estimate, each meal was equivalent to half a pig, and he still felt hungry afterward. He had to forcibly restrain himself from overeating.
Opening one of the packages, he retrieved a white crystal the size of a soybean—this was a Strength Seed from a zombie, shipped two days ago and delivered that morning.
The moment he swallowed it, a wave of searing heat flooded his entire body. Liu Weian nearly moaned in ecstasy. It felt like a parched desert receiving a gentle rain. Compared to the drizzle of the lower-tier Walking Dead Seeds or the damp fog of Rotting Corpses, the Zombie Seed was a deluge. Now he couldn't help but wonder—what would a higher-tier Strength Seed feel like?
One seed after another, Liu Weian consumed them, closing his eyes as his body absorbed the power…
Morning came. After a hearty meal and a full rest, Liu Weian logged back in.
Exiting Stonehold City, he advanced cautiously. He stopped at every unusual noise or flicker of movement. All the way to the graveyard—nothing. The Pegasus Caravan had vanished without a trace overnight.
"Did I scare them off last night?" he mused, only to immediately reject the thought. A caravan that size wouldn't crumble so easily. Something must have delayed them—or perhaps they deemed him unworthy of a large-scale response.
Just as Liu Weian relaxed, war cries erupted from all sides. A hail of arrows came raining down as seventy to eighty archers emerged from the underbrush.
Startled, Liu Weian spun around and ran. His speed was explosive, like a wild horse breaking free, darting over fifteen meters in a single burst. Just as the arrows were about to strike, he dove forward and rolled, narrowly escaping the brunt of the barrage—though two arrows still struck his back.
The second wave followed immediately. Even more archers.
Both arrows had hit his back, not his legs. That gave him a sliver of hope. He sprinted—not outward, but deeper into the graveyard. The Tokmu Bow appeared in his hands, and with a sharp twang, six arrows flew out like a storm.
He was going all-in. Normally, he could only fire four arrows at once—and only when he was in the zone.
Six cold flashes cut through the air. Screams rang out from the grass. When the archers tried to reposition, Liu Weian unleashed another six arrows. Six more went down.
Chain Arrows!
Two archers had just taken aim when a sharp sting hit their brows. Everything went dark.
Liu Weian whirled the Tokmu Bow like a staff, knocking aside incoming arrows. A sharp pain stabbed his abdomen—another arrow had struck, likely tearing through organs. Every movement sent waves of searing agony through his body. Gritting his teeth, silent despite the sweat dripping like rain, he kept firing.
They say people reach new levels of potential in life-or-death moments. It was true. In seconds, he launched three volleys of six arrows—eighteen targets down. Even with overwhelming numbers, the enemy faltered. A gap opened on their left flank.
Liu Weian dashed forward, but before he could capitalize on the opening, dozens of agile warriors stepped in with swords drawn, sealing the breach. Archers were manageable, but melee fighters? Suicide.
He could've tried retreating deeper into the graveyard, but from the strength of the encirclement, he sensed a trap. The strongest point was the weakest. With a sudden pivot, he began firing toward the outer perimeter.
The archers didn't expect the shift in tactics. Six or seven fell before they could react. The rest tried to retaliate, but Liu Weian weaved like an eel, darting left and right, arrows whistling past his heels.
Then—another hit. An arrow slammed into his back. But he didn't stop. He zigzagged frantically, dodging as he returned fire. For every enemy he shot, his chances of survival increased; every missed shot made his death more likely. After just two or three minutes, fatigue gnawed at his limbs.
In a final burst, he charged forward. Another arrow pierced his back—but he kicked a corpse with everything he had. The body, propelled by a force of seven or eight hundred pounds, flew like a cannonball and blocked the incoming arrows.
He rushed up behind it, using it as a shield, and loosed another volley.
Thwip, thwip, thwip…
Every sharp whistle of an arrow brought another scream. By the time the corpse hit the ground, Liu Weian had blown a hole in their ranks and darted through.
"After him!" one archer roared, clad in leather armor. He took two steps—then froze as Liu Weian turned, Tokmu Bow drawn. The man dove to the ground. Two more screams rang out behind him.
Chain Arrows.
By the time he got back up, Liu Weian was out of range. He looked back at the two corpses—both shot through the heart. His face darkened.
Liu Weian sprinted another two hundred meters. His throat burned like fire. Still, he didn't dare stop. He might outrun the archers—but not the melee fighters.
But then… no one came.
A chilling realization struck—no pursuit meant another trap.
He halted. Sixty meters ahead, a line of figures emerged.
Archers. Again. Another seventy to eighty.
If he'd been just a second slower, he'd be in their kill zone. The Tokmu Bow had an effective range of forty meters. Beyond sixty, it lost accuracy. Their bows weren't black iron like his, so their range was likely even shorter—maybe thirty meters.
Footsteps echoed behind him. The melee fighters had arrived. They weren't rushing, just grinning like cats toying with a mouse. At full strength, he'd have a 20% chance of breaking through. But now? Even lifting a finger was a struggle.
Was this where it ended?
He'd taken out nearly fifty of them. Against the three hundred they brought, not a bad trade.
Just as Liu Weian prepared for a final stand, to drag a few down with him… a figure appeared in his vision. A completely unexpected one.
The girl—the one who hunted wild boars.
The moment he spotted her, so did the enemy. Shouts rang out, but the girl pounced like a lynx, diving into the archers' formation. Her short sword flickered like lightning—five or six fell before they even knew what happened.
By the time they reacted, over a dozen were down. Enraged, they turned their bows toward her—
But a deep, resonant twang echoed nearby.
Chain Arrows.
A storm of arrows tore through the air. Twelve archers fell in a line. The sheer force of that one volley stunned everyone—even the reinforcements paused. Was this a man, or a dozen archers in one body?
Six consecutive Chain Arrows had nearly drained Liu Weian dry. He was dizzy, barely staying upright. But he clenched his teeth and ran. If anyone had shot him then, it would've hit for sure. But the archers, still reeling from shock, only snapped back to reality once he was already beyond the perimeter.
A flash—then the girl appeared behind him. Her short sword danced, deflecting all incoming arrows. She slashed the arrow in his belly, severed the shaft, then scooped up the nearly unconscious Liu Weian and vanished from view.