63 The Archer

Zhan Xiaobai led several dozen people, accompanied by the bandit strategist, to the rear of Tiger Head Mountain. After climbing a rugged stretch of the foothills, the mountain stronghold appeared before them. Though the fortress was in plain sight, they couldn’t reach it. Here, a sheer cliff several yards high rose up, steep and impossible to climb further.

“This is the second path down the mountain you mentioned?”

Zhan Xiaobai and the others stared at the top of the cliff, where the stronghold loomed faintly above. So close, yet unreachable—this frustrated Zhan Xiaobai.

The bandit strategist hurried to explain, “Yes, this is it. Above the cliff, there’s a thick rattan ladder. Lower the ladder and you can descend from above; raise it, and the path is cut off. So you can only come down, not go up. Wang the Tiger set up this rattan ladder specifically as an escape route. Usually, it’s pulled up and out of sight.”

The group suddenly understood. No wonder there was only one path up and two paths down. They had found the route, but were powerless. The cliff was simply unscalable.

“Should we weave a vine rope ourselves and toss it up?”

“It’s easy to find thick, long vines, but the cliff is more than ten meters high. How could we possibly throw it up there?”

“Unless the bandits above lower the rattan ladder themselves, I fear there’s no other way.” “Would bandits really be so foolish?” “There must be! Let the dog-headed strategist work his magic and trick them into lowering the ladder!” “Didn’t you notice there are no NPC bandits guarding up there? Who’s he supposed to trick?”

Everyone chattered and debated strategies.

As they fretted over their lack of bandits to dupe, movement came from the top of the cliff. A bandit poked his head out, looked around, and called out. Then, a burly bandit leader with a tigerish face appeared, immediately spotting the bandit strategist among the group. The bandit leader burst out laughing: “Ha! You ants below, I suspected this dog-headed strategist hadn’t returned to the stronghold—either slain or captured! You must have wrung the secret path from him and come to ambush me from behind. But I, the great Wang the Tiger, foresaw this and have been waiting here for some time. I’d like to see how you plan to climb up, ha ha—!”

Wang the Tiger, the lord of Tiger Head Stronghold?!

The group was astonished—this mountain boss appearing here at this time was far more cunning than they’d expected.

The bandit strategist, Gou Buli, was terrified of Wang the Tiger. At the sight of him, he dropped to his knees with a thud and cried, “Spare me, Lord! I was forced to bring them here!”

Afei, unable to stand the strategist’s cowardice, jumped out and shouted, “Hey, tiger-head up there, listen up! Lower the rattan ladder and surrender immediately, or when we storm the stronghold and wipe you out, you’ll regret it!”

Wang the Tiger laughed loudly from the cliff, “If you want to destroy me, you’ll have to get up here first!” He barked at a minion beside him, “Shoot! Don’t let a single one climb up!” With his orders given, Wang the Tiger hoisted his nine-ringed broadsword and retreated to the stronghold.

The bandit minion acknowledged, then took a small, battered bow and began to shoot arrows down at the cliff's base.

Though only a single bandit archer, and the bow’s power was unimpressive, his shots quickly sent the villagers below scrambling in panic, dodging wildly. The space beneath the cliff was cramped, packed with players, and those wild arrows hit their mark every time! -15HP, -13HP, -16HP... The pain wasn’t just their health; it was the cost of precious healing potions.

The bandit minion even aimed especially at the dog-headed strategist, sending him fleeing with his hands over his head. The strategist avoided the arrows, but others weren’t so lucky.

Zhan Xiaobai, frustrated, quickly ordered everyone to retreat and reconsider their options.

They withdrew several hundred meters, escaping the archer’s range, finally able to relax. With one bandit archer guarding above, they couldn’t do anything.

“Dog-head, why are there archers in the stronghold? Why didn’t you ever mention this?” Afei, furious, grabbed the bandit strategist and demanded answers.

The strategist blinked and grinned, “Of course there are. Why else would there be arrow towers at the stronghold gate? But altogether, there are only seven archers: three in each arrow tower at the gate, and this one here. Wang the Tiger is so shrewd, he guessed we’d come here in advance—can’t blame me for that.”

Afei was left speechless by the strategist’s words and let him go. Wang the Tiger’s presence here had caught them all off guard. Afei hurried to Zhan Xiaobai’s side and asked, “Big brother, since this route is blocked, what do we do now?”

What could Zhan Xiaobai do? If he had a bow, he’d shoot that arrogant bandit archer himself. Alas, he had nothing. He said helplessly, “Let’s withdraw for now. If we really have no other option, we’ll join Zhang Feng tonight to attack the stronghold. Let Zhang Feng take the advantage, we’ll suffer some losses.”

Qiushui, Young Hero of Spring and Autumn, Wutong, and the others could only stare blankly. “What else can we do? Retreat.”

Zhan Xiaobai led his group back down the mountain the way they’d come.

Suddenly, they saw a player approaching, climbing upward with effort.

This player was unremarkable: coarse cloth clothes and shoes, leaves and dust clinging to him. What stunned the villagers was the long hardwood bow slung across his back and the quiver of feathered arrows at his waist. He wiped sweat from his brow, spotted Zhan Xiaobai and company, and broke into a delighted smile.

Zhan Xiaobai nearly jumped up in surprise, pointing and shouting, “A bowman! Player archer!”

Not only him, but Qiushui, Young Hero of Spring and Autumn, and the many villagers behind were all amazed. In over a month of gameplay, this was the first ranged attack profession player they’d seen!

Ranged profession players were so rare for one reason: all players started with copper knives, and the village's technology couldn’t produce bows and arrows. Without bows and arrows, there could be no player archers.

At this stage, the only way for players to become archers was to acquire bows and arrows from NPCs.

No need to guess—this player must have gotten his hardwood longbow and feathered arrows from an NPC.

The player climbed up the mountain, working his way to Zhan Xiaobai and the others.

Zhan Xiaobai greeted him eagerly, “You are—?”

The player clasped his hands and smiled, “I am Little Treasure of the Fire Family, formerly a core member of the Gray Sunshine Village. After Gray Sunshine was destroyed by bandits, the leader lost heart and disbanded the team. I became a wandering player, apprenticed myself to an NPC mountain hunter, switched professions to hunter, and learned all sorts of skills. I often hunt bandits near Tiger Head Mountain. Didn’t expect to meet Chief Xiaobai and the elders here—what a fortunate meeting!” Zhan Xiaobai was famous, and a casual search on the forum would turn up his picture, so the player recognized him immediately.

“Not at all!” Zhan Xiaobai and the others exchanged polite greetings, but in their hearts, they were already plotting how to recruit this former Gray Sunshine Village core member. A rare hunter profession player—an absolute treasure!