Chapter 91 - 87: Shoot the Horse First, Then the Rider

Chapter 91: Chapter 87: Shoot the Horse First, Then the RiderXiao Jie was truly frightened, surrounded by three horse bandits, death was certain if this happened in the open wilds. But there was still hope if he made it into the forest. Fortunately, they were not far from the trees; the two of them, along with their dog, sprinted wildly into the forest. The urgent sound of horse hooves followed from behind, Xiao Jie looked back and muttered anxiously, as the three horse bandits recklessly pursued. "Cheng Xian—run around the trees!" "Rou Qiu, lure one away!" Xiao Jie yelled loudly, there was no escape now, they had to fight. Yet, he didn’t run around the trees. Circling the trees would only evade the enemy’s attacks but would not allow for a counterattack. Human energy was no match for a horse’s, and if dragged on, defeat was inevitable. How to deal with cavalry was something he knew all too well, if only he could make the horse stop, then he could hit them easily. Xiao Jie charged directly under a large tree, leaned against it, and faced the oncoming horse bandits. He quickly switched the shield from his bag to his left hand. Fortunately, at this moment, Rou Qiu did not falter, barking furiously and successfully diverting one of the horse bandits. Another injured horse bandit charged towards Cheng Xian, who obediently started running around a tree. Horses had difficulty turning, especially in the forest where they needed to dodge trees, and could only follow Cheng Xian running. The last horse bandit charged towards Xiao Jie, who trembled at the sight of the long spear in the bandit’s hand. Under the spear of the cavalry, all are equal. If hit by it, he feared it would be an instant kill—He hoped he wouldn’t charge with the spear. The next second, the horse bandit placed the long spear under his rib, leveled it, aimed it at Xiao Jie, and spurred his horse forward in attack. Damn! Xiao Jie’s heart leaped. He focused all his attention on the swiftly approaching spear tip, raising his shield, ready to block. The enemy’s spear tip kept adjusting slightly. Xiao Jie felt a huge threat. Having played with cavalry charges in combat games, he knew the spear head could adjust its position—it didn’t need to hit straight on, even a slight pick on the side would be enough to hurt him immensely. If he decided to roll, the enemy could simply adjust the direction and still hit him. Xiao Jie dared not gamble and simply assumed a squatting position, slanted his shield, and hid his entire body behind it, ready to withstand the blow. The long spear, with its momentum, solidly struck Xiao Jie’s shield. Bang! -237 (37 points of excessive damage)! The shield in his hand shattered instantly, one blow was enough to break a full-durability shield, yet it also successfully neutralized the attack. Shit! Xiao Jie was horrified. If it had hit him directly, it would have been an instant kill, since he only had 150 health. Luckily, after striking him, the horse collided with the tree and stopped. Now, it was finally his chance to attack. One Cut, Two Pieces! Helical Slash! -51! -19! -24! -22! He dealt over a hundred damage in one breath. Three attacks dealt a total of one hundred and fifty damage. A spear thrust came from the horse bandit. -11! Ha, ha, just that, without the speed enhancement the long spear’s damage plummeted—it was even weaker than a machete, and no threat to him. Xiao Jie boldly traded blows, not dodging or evading, engaging in a wild exchange of blood. After suffering three strikes and inflicting five slashes, the horse bandit was left with only two hundred health. Panic finally set in, and he steered his horse to flee. Xiao Jie couldn’t let him escape, if there came another charge with the riding spear, he would be in danger. One Cut, Two Pieces! This time he aimed for the horse’s leg, betting on causing a limb cutting effect. Sadly, though the strike dealt a significant 53 damage, the horse’s leg remained unharmed, and with an acceleration, it extended the distance between them. This is bad! Xiao Jie thought, the enemy still had 150 health, there was still a chance for him to be killed instantly. But he had no other choice, he had to use every means to maximize his output. He switched to a bow and arrow and shot, hoping to inflict as much damage as possible before the charge. Unexpectedly, the arrow hit the horse’s buttock, causing it to neigh in pain and suddenly collapse. What happened? Xiao Jie was shocked and delighted until the horse bandit climbed up from the horse’s corpse. Then it suddenly dawned on him. So that was it! The roaming horse bandit’s combined 420 health bar included both the horse bandit and the horse. No wonder it was so robust. Now dismounted, the life bar above the horse bandit’s head read 137/220. In other words, the horse had 200 health, and since he had been mainly hitting the horse due to his position, the very last arrow had depleted the horse’s health completely, resulting in what had just transpired. Without the horse, he was no longer afraid! Xiao Jie quickly drank a blood bottle, switched to dual blades, and charged forward. The horse bandit swung the long spear and thrust, but without the horse, the horse bandit was merely at the strength level of an ordinary mountain bandit. Xiao Jie countered with a Blade Reflection, knocking the weapon away, rushed forward and unleashed a flurry of dual blade slashes followed by a One Cut, Two Pieces, taking him down directly. Just as Xiao Jie had dealt with the horse bandit, he had no time to catch his breath when a call for help came from Cheng Xian. "Save me! Save me, Feng!" Xiao Jie turned only to see Cheng Xian being furiously chased and slashed by the bloodied horse bandit. He hastily bent the bow and nocked an arrow, aimed at the horse bandit but hesitated momentarily and instead, shot flat at the horse beneath him. Most of the attacks during the battle with this horse bandit had also ended up hitting the horse, assuming that this horse probably didn’t have much blood left. Sure enough, after three arrows, the horse neighed pitifully and collapsed thunderously, throwing the horse bandit off as well. Xiao Jie, seeing his chance for revenge, charged forward and executed a Splitting Stone Slash, killing the horse bandit with dwindling blood volume on the spot with two axe strikes. Dealing with the last horse bandit became easier. The two refreshed their energy, then charged together, enduring the horse bandit’s attacks as they frantically hacked away. The horse bandit, severely wounded and trying to flee, but Xiao Jie had already pinpointed the monster’s weakness. The two slashed fiercely at the horse, and once it died, the remaining dismounted bandit was nothing much. With the last horse bandit falling, the battle finally ended. Looking at the human and horse corpses on the ground, both felt a surge of relief. "Hahaha, that was damn thrilling, wah wah wah, let’s not do this again next time, Feng, I was almost scared to death." I Want to Be Immortal said, both crying and laughing. Xiao Jie strongly agreed; he understood that feeling—adrenaline pumping, heart racing, scalp tingling, acutely aware that one’s life could end at any moment... A true fight for life and death, far more thrilling and heart-stopping than any game he had ever played. It was both exhilarating and frightening. "Indeed, that ambush was too perilous. Those horse bandits not only had fast attacks but could also summon each other. Encountering them for the first time truly made my scalp tingle." "Even now that we know their weakness, I still absolutely do not want to encounter these creatures in the wilderness, unless we find a way to counter them." He concluded and looked at the three bodies—no, six bodies, as the horses could be looted separately. It was unknown what kind of loot these fiercely fought monsters would drop. He walked up to one of the horse bandit corpses and searched it. copper, leather bracelets ×1. That’s it? Xiao Jie was somewhat speechless. Compared to the difficulty of the battle, the loot was somewhat underwhelming. He then searched a horse corpse. This time, he found a large piece of leather ×3. Okay, this thing must be classified as a beast-type monster, only dropping materials, not equipment. "Your turn," Xiao Jie said. "Me?" "You have better luck than me." "Alright." I Want to Be Immortal nodded in response and reached for another horse bandit corpse, only to find it even worse than Xiao Jie had fared, with just over forty copper coins to show for it, not even a white board equipment. "Damn, surely this thing was just a little monster?" An opponent nearly causing their annihilation, just a little monster? I Want to Be Immortal found it somewhat hard to accept. But a situation where only money dropped without any equipment could only occur with little monsters. If it had been a boss or an elite monster, at the very least, it should have dropped an excellent or fine quality equipment piece. Xiao Jie sighed, "These were indeed just little monsters. Their actual blood volume is similar to that of mountain bandits. It’s just that while mounted, both the rider and horse’s blood volume were combined, which is why they looked so formidable." These things had similar ground-fighting abilities to mountain bandits, but their mounted combat was quite fierce. "You didn’t think we were really that powerful, did you? Don’t forget, this is still just Newbie Village. Once we leave Ginkgo Valley, who knows what sort of powerful creatures we’ll come across outside. I guess the game placed these horse bandits here as a sort of mental preparation for us." This kind of design has appeared in many games, initially providing players with some easier-to-handle monsters until the players feel they are strong, then suddenly a formidable enemy appears to teach the players a lesson. It seems that this effect has been achieved. Before leveling up to level 10, Xiao Jie isn’t planning to leave Ginkgo Valley. "Alright, you’re right, Feng. I did get a bit carried away," I Want to Be Immortal said as he searched the last body, finally finding a decent piece of equipment this time. [Fish Scale Leg Armor (Leg Guard) Leg defense +18. Equipment Effect: Resist swing. Provides 30% enhanced defense against swing damage. Item Introduction: Leg guards linked with fish scale pieces, providing good defense capabilities, particularly suitable for protecting against sword damage.] This was naturally for I Want to Be Immortal, further enhancing his already strong defense. The other two horses also yielded several large pieces of leather, which were decent skinning materials and somewhat valuable. At least this was not a vain struggle. Just as they finished looting the spoils, I Want to Be Immortal suddenly exclaimed, "Feng, that thing’s back!" Xiao Jie turned around, and sure enough, he saw the pick-up little monster sneakily hiding behind a tree, peering over at them. Damn, you still dare to come back! Xiao Jie was infuriated upon seeing this creature; this pick-up little monster had clearly lured them towards the horse bandits on purpose. He had never encountered such a cunning little monster before. Angered, he shot an arrow regardless of the fact that the distance was completely out of the bow and arrow’s range. Whoosh—thud! The arrow, unsurprisingly, missed, landing several meters away from the pick-up little monster. Xiao Jie sighed, "Forget it, let’s not chase. This creature is too fast; chasing it could lead to disaster." The pick-up little monster ran to the arrow, pulled it out of the ground, and stuffed it into a small pocket on its back.