On the snowy ground, a black-clad figure slowly walked towards the four people.
As the distance decreased, Liu Dahu, Meng Yuan, and the two attendants clearly saw the young man’s attire and appearance, suddenly their expressions froze, and their mood became exceptionally heavy.
Though it was night, the ground was covered with snow, so visibility wasn’t too low.
Even though they were more than ten meters away, the fitted black clothes the young man wore faintly reflected a lustrous glow, and the four of them clearly saw that it was obviously no ordinary item.
Looking at his appearance again, his face was like a jade crown, his skin didn’t appear as rough as theirs, even his exposed hands emitted a faint white glow.
The young man clearly wore no weapon.
Yet Liu Dahu and the three others felt their hair stand on end, their gazes growing extremely tense.
Especially seeing the young man continually approach them, the four readied themselves for a great enemy, unsheathing their weapons without hesitation.
"Leader Meng, he’s from Great Xia, he just heard what we said. Strike first, don’t let him go back to report!"
Liu Dahu took the longbow from his back and shot it swiftly at the black-clad figure, while loudly reminding the three beside Meng Yuan.
Recalling the words the young man just spoke, Meng Yuan’s pupils shrank, though a trace of hesitation flashed across his face, he gritted his teeth and still drew his knife.
The two behind him also drew their knives and charged forward with him.
"To be so foolish yet become a leader, it’s truly strange!"
The black-clad figure, naturally, was Xia Hong.
Seeing Meng Yuan really being instigated by Liu Dahu to charge forward, Xia Hong shook his head.
He merely waved his right hand lightly, swatting away the first two Iron Arrows shot by Liu Dahu, then his gaze sharpened as he caught the third with his left hand like lightning.
During this gap, Meng Yuan had already led his men to Xia Hong’s side, and just as Xia Hong caught the third Iron Arrow, the three broadswords were already swinging at him horizontally.
The three were no fools; seeing Xia Hong nonchalantly deal with all three Iron Arrows made them realize they had provoked someone beyond their capability.
But the problem was, the broadswords had already been swung.
Even if they wanted to retract them, they couldn’t.
Yet, Xia Hong neither dodged nor blocked.
Though there was fear on Meng Yuan’s face, seeing this, a fierce light flashed in his pupils’ depths, and the broadsword fiercely slashed down.
Clang... clang... clang...
All three broadswords hit Xia Hong accurately; Meng Yuan aimed for the neck, while the other two aimed for the waist and the chest.
But the anticipated beheading and disembowelment did not happen.
In the silent forest, only the sound of metal clashing against stone rang out three times.
Meng Yuan and the three found that where they struck had not even left a scratch, and they immediately broke out in a cold sweat, bodies beginning to tremble uncontrollably.
In an instant, they even forgot to retrieve their broadswords.
"Turn around and look at Liu Dahu."
Meng Yuan heard the voice and turned back, seeing Liu Dahu had run over a hundred meters away, his face flushed red in anger, wanting to curse, but dared not make a sound before the young man, standing motionless in place.
However, what happened next made his body tremble even more.
The young man merely raised his head and lightly tossed the Iron Arrow in his left hand at Liu Dahu in the distance.
It really was just a light toss, not even showing any effort.
Yet that Iron Arrow suddenly flew out like a meteor, drawing a straight line in the night sky, accurately hitting Liu Dahu in the back.
Liu Dahu let out a miserable scream and fell straight from the tree.
At this moment, Meng Yuan finally reacted, kneeling directly in front of the young man, pleading: "Have mercy, sir, have mercy, I was manipulated into attacking you, please spare me..."
Once he knelt, the two attendants naturally followed suit, kowtowing repeatedly, begging the young man for forgiveness.
Xia Hong didn’t even glance at the three, merely fixing his gaze on Liu Dahu not far away; seeing him lying motionless on the ground, a deep color flashed in his eyes, and he said to Meng Yuan’s two attendants, "Go and carry him here."
Having just witnessed what Xia Hong did, the two dared not even think of escaping; dropping their broadswords, they quickly got up and obediently carried Liu Dahu back from a distance.
An arrow still stuck in Liu Dahu’s back, he showed no reaction, lying motionless on the snowy ground after being tossed down by the two.
Xia Hong slowly moved forward, coming before Liu Dahu, just about to speak.
At this moment, the "dead" Liu Dahu suddenly jerked up, drawing a vermillion soft band of unknown origin from his waist, whipping it towards Xia Hong’s neck.
The vermillion band wrapped around Xia Hong’s neck from right to left.
Though the band was soft, the moment it touched Xia Hong’s neck, it suddenly became incomparably hard, tightly constricting him.
Thinking he had succeeded, Liu Dahu cruelly laughed twice, exerted sudden force with both hands, and yanked back violently, seemingly trying to break Xia Hong’s neck.
That full-force yank didn’t move Xia Hong at all; instead, Liu Dahu stumbled and fell directly to the ground.
"Did you think that one arrow was all my strength?"
Xia Hong looked down at Liu Dahu expressionlessly, his voice full of mockery.