Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 61 [Three-Foot Sword], Slaying the Shrimp Soldiers!

Three hundred students on the third floor of the five-zhang-long (approximately 10 meters) warship unleashed a volley of arrows, instantly disrupting the attack rhythm of the one hundred mosquito guards on the ship's mast.

"boom--!"

Three hundred cyan arrows exploded in the night sky, creating a cloud of icy mist.

The entire ship trembled, and with the weight of over a hundred mosquito demon guards gone, the masts and sails began to slowly rise again.

"Crack!"

More than thirty ice sculptures of demonic mosquitoes, pierced by arrows, fell like kites with broken strings, crashing onto the deck and shattering into a blood-stained ice crystal.

The remaining seventy mosquitoes between the masts were also thrown into disarray, their thin wings flapping out a piercing buzz as they scattered and flew away as if their nest had been destroyed.

However, the hundreds of water jets they sprayed before fleeing poured into the third-floor cabin like a torrential rain.

"what!"

Gu Zhimian screamed and staggered backward.

His left arm was ripped open by a water jet, leaving a three-inch-long gash. The blood splattering from the wound emitted a green glow.

"puff!"

Dozens of students were hit by the water arrows, and muffled groans rose and fell.

But, despite this.

The students discovered that the demon guards were nothing special.

These seemingly ferocious mosquito guards have frail demonic bodies; a single Xuanbing Arrow is enough to turn one of them into an ice sculpture, which then explodes upon hitting the ground.

Only a few dozen of them were wounded by water arrows, not fatally, and none of them died, while thirty of the hundred-headed mosquito demon guards had already perished.

Their casualties were significantly higher than those of the students.

If they continue fighting like this, the three hundred students will only need a few volleys to wipe out all one hundred mosquito demon guards, with minimal casualties themselves.

The fear in their hearts quickly subsided, and their resolute faces gradually emerged.

"Brothers, don't be afraid! These mosquito demons are afraid of the cold, and the Xuanbing (Mysterious Ice) is enough to defeat them!"

"So, these mosquito demon guards are nothing special after all! They scared me to death!"

Zhou Guangjin's legs stopped shaking, and he looked much more relaxed, but he held the six-pound bow in his hand as steadily as Mount Tai.

He drew the bowstring taut, the tip of the Xuanbing arrow pointing directly at the fleeing mosquito demon guards outside the window.

"Hmph! Demonic and barbaric techniques stop here; they're nothing special!"
"How dare you, a mere insect, disturb my journey to the examination?"

Li Yunxiao even kicked away the broken chair blocking his way, finding it an eyesore.

Jiang Xingzhou's face was ashen as he stared out the window at the mosquito demon guards preparing to attack again, his expression blank.

Cao An leaned against the window frame, his left sleeve soaked in demon blood, his right arm pierced by a water arrow, and half of his clothes covered in blood.

"Brother Cao?"

Jiang Xingzhou turned his head and asked.

"It's nothing, this little injury is nothing! If Brother Jiang can fight, so can I!"

Cao An grinned, looking at the wound on Jiang Xingzhou's arm, and said.

"The injured retreated inside the building."

The dozen or so students, who were seriously injured and unable to fight, staggered back to the center of the cabin, leaving a trail of blood on the deck.

However, twenty students with minor injuries remained standing still.

"Two rounds of fire!"
Don't give mosquitoes a chance to breathe!

Jiang Xingzhou's blood-stained sleeves fluttered as he took a deep breath.

Raise your hand,

Where literary spirit is infused,
An ice arrow spun silently between his fingers.

The arrowheads, stained with blood from his sleeves, gleamed with a cold, crimson light.

The six-pound bow, like a full moon!
He drew the powerful bow to a perfect circle, the bowstring vibrating and emitting a clear, melodious hum.

Three hundred students silently drew their bows, the creaking of the taut bowstrings creating a somber chord.

"put--!"

Jiang Xingzhou drank lightly.

"Zheng——!"

In the instant the three hundred bowstrings twanged, the icy mist trailing from the arrow tails drew three hundred icy trajectories in the air.

“Whoosh!

Whoosh!

The second round of ice arrows was even more fierce than before.

Another barrage of three hundred densely packed ice arrows rained down, the sheer precision of the rain was chilling. Just as the seventy-odd mosquito demon guards regrouped and swooped down on the third floor, they were instantly turned into a sky full of icy blue targets, their falling remains creating crimson splashes on the deck and the river.

Several mosquito demons were even nailed to the "Jiangyin Wenyun" flag on the mast.

The first deck of the warship,
The defensive line of fifty yamen runners with swords and shields had long been shattered by the frenzied attack of over a hundred shrimp demon soldiers.

County Commandant Zhao Tieshan, covered in blood from his iron armor and with his goose-feather saber dulled from the blows, was surrounded by several demonic shrimp soldiers, still fighting like a cornered beast.

At his feet lay the corpses of more than ten yamen runners—those young faces, who had been joking with him about the tavern girls in the prefectural city just half an hour ago.

The first deck collapsed.

The position of the mulberry wood archers on the second floor was also captured.

Of the entire ship, only the cabin on the third floor, where the three hundred students were located, remained standing.

At the bow of the ship, the nineteenth captain of the Shrimp Demon Squad stood coldly, his blade stained with the blood of the constables, observing the battle.

It slowly raised its head, its scarlet compound eyes fixed on the window frame on the third floor—where it saw Jiang Xingzhou, a young man with his hair tied up, standing in front of the window, his literary aura surging, directing three hundred students to draw their bows and fire simultaneously.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The rain of icy arrows pierced the air, and the remaining mosquito demon guards scattered in terror, only to be mercilessly shot down.

More than seventy mosquito demon corpses have fallen onto the deck or into the river, causing bloody waves to surge. Less than thirty remain, still fleeing in panic.

Every time the six-pound bow in the young man's hand trembled, a mosquito demon guard would turn into an ice sculpture and fall into the river.

"Gulu!"

Captain Shrimp Demon felt a chill run down his spine and his head.

Once the three hundred students have killed the mosquito demon guards in the sky, they can look down from their high vantage point and begin shooting at the shrimp demon soldiers on the deck.

If three hundred six-pound bows were fired simultaneously, not to mention these shrimp soldiers, the entire line would collapse.

Even its demonic armor, forged over a hundred years, is probably...
"Ugh——!"

It suddenly let out a sharp whistle, and its sharp longsword pointed towards the third floor.

The remaining thirty mosquito demons, along with the more than ninety shrimp demon soldiers on the deck, immediately abandoned the remaining yamen runners and mulberry wood archers on the first and second floors and rushed towards the third floor.

The mosquito demon is good at flying and sucking blood, but its fragile demon body is not good at close combat. It can only hover and harass from the outside, and is powerless to break into the cabin of the three hundred students on the third floor.

Only when a large number of shrimp demon soldiers skilled in close combat rushed into the third floor could they inflict heavy casualties on the students.

"Wow!"

At the whirlpool in the river,
Suddenly, four giant demonic fish soldiers, each 12 feet tall and weighing a thousand pounds, leaped out, each wielding a long black iron chain hammer, and landed on the deck.

These behemoths joined the charge, and the third-floor hatch was as fragile as paper before them!
"Brothers! Prepare for close combat!"

When two armies meet on a narrow path, the brave shall prevail!

"Cha-"

Jiang Xingzhou tore off a blood-stained hem of his blue robe and used it to tightly bind Tong Shengwen's sword to his hand.

A close-quarters battle is now inevitable.

A three-story ship, with nowhere left to retreat!

"[A three-foot sword]!"

As Jiang Xingzhou shouted, the sword flashed with a three-foot-long green light.

The "Three-Foot Sword" technique, a three-word mantra, can directly condense into a green sword aura.

You can also attach literary arts to a literary sword, giving the sword double the sharpness and lethality of a [Three-Foot Sword], making it even more powerful.

"[A three-foot sword]!"

"Qiang! Qiang! Qiang!"

Han Yugui's gold-inlaid sword, Cao An's bronze ancient sword, and Li Yunxiao's gilded jade soft sword were all drawn at the same time.

The students, their faces pale, drew their swords and cast spells on them.

A foot-long sword beam burst forth from the sword!
Although they were filled with fear and trembling, Jiang Xingzhou, the top scholar in Jiangyin County, whose chess skills far surpassed those of Han Yugui and Zhou Guangjin, had just led them to shoot down more than seventy mosquito demon guards, giving them immense confidence.

Following his orders during the battle was absolutely the right thing to do.

"boom!"

A shrimp demon soldier smashed through the hatch on the third floor.

Behind it, more than ninety shrimp demon soldiers were climbing the ship, while four giant fish demons wielded black iron chain hammers, smashing through the deck.

"kill--!"

The moment the three hundred sword beams of the young scholars lit up, the literary energy throughout the entire cabin surged, and the sword beams all slashed forward.

More than ten shrimp demon soldiers who rushed into the third floor at the forefront were instantly swallowed up by a blinding sword light before they could even swing their demon blades.

(End of this chapter)