Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Awesome Archery Techniques
Four people, eight pairs of eyes, all their attention at this moment was focused on one person, and that was Hu Xiaodong, the leader of the group.
Tang Xiaoquan was very curious about what this man would do next, because he had also heard Wu Chao’s words earlier. In his view, trying to silently eliminate the five zombies outside without attracting the attention of other zombies on the street was obviously not an easy task, or perhaps even impossible.
However, just as Tang Xiaoquan was lost in thought, Hu Xiaodong took action.
He slowly put down the cleaver in his hand and started to take a feathered arrow from the quiver on his back, then expertly attached it to the bowstring.
He took a deep breath and then exhaled heavily. Tang Xiaoquan could clearly feel the man’s breathing beside him slowing down, finally reaching a state of complete calmness.
Hu Xiaodong waited silently and calmly for a few seconds, then suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp light bursting out from his gaze.
Standing up, stepping forward, drawing the bow, releasing the string, every movement was one fluid motion. When the sound of the arrow tearing through the air swiftly shot out, Hu Xiaodong had already returned to his original position.
"Bang!" The zombie fell!
Without any warning, from the initial calmness, to the swift action, and back to tranquility, all of Hu Xiaodong’s movements were as precise as if timed by a stopwatch, truly describable as fast as lightning, as agile as a rabbit.
Tang Xiaoquan was half-open-mouthed, he was completely in awe of Hu Xiaodong’s archery techniques.
He had seen some movies showcasing excellent archery, like Green Arrow and other American blockbusters, but in the end, those were all cinematic arts designed to deceive the audience’s eyes.
But now, Hu Xiaodong’s archery techniques were one hundred percent real skills.
Wang Qiang was equally amazed, his eyes widened so much they seemed ready to pop out.
Words like incredible, cool, or mind-blowing weren’t enough to express his admiration for Hu Xiaodong’s archery skills. At this moment, he had made a decision:
That is, when they return to the base, he must have Hu Xiaodong teach him this amazing Hundred-step Piercing Willow technique no matter what.
Hu Xiaodong remained calm and collected despite the surprise of those around him. He took another deep breath and then exhaled it, rising up to shoot again without fail, resulting in the arrow falling and the zombie dropping.
If the first arrow could be doubted as random by using the word "lucky," then when the second arrow succeeded, all doubts were instantly silenced.
Of course, none of the survivors at this point would question Hu Xiaodong’s archery skills, because the facts spoke volumes—five arrows, five hits, already perfectly demonstrating everything.
Once the last feathered arrow was released, the terrifying "sizzling" sound was gone, and Hu Xiaodong finally felt at ease.
He leaned heavily against the wall, exhaled long into the sky, and then quickly peeked outside the alley to check the situation. After confirming it, he picked up the cleaver and called the group: "Let’s go!"
Exiting the alley, five corpses lay quietly on the street about ten meters away, each with a feathered arrow protruding without exception from the center of their foreheads.
The shiny feathered arrows shimmered in the sunlight, black liquid gushed from the arrow shafts, quickly pooling into a stain of blood, permanently soaking into the corpse’s skin.
Hu Xiaodong expressionlessly picked up a newspaper from the ground. He casually wiped off the blood from the feathered arrows and carefully inserted them back into the quiver, then led the group to proceed on.
Needless to say, Hu Xiaodong was very familiar with the routes in this area. Under his guidance, the group would sometimes hide beside dumpsters and sometimes behind abandoned cars. All in all, Hu Xiaodong always used nearby obstacles to perfectly avoid the sight of surrounding zombies.
Even when there were a few heedless zombies blocking the way, they were quickly slain under Hu Xiaodong’s knife.
However, such cautious slow crawling was not without its drawbacks. At least, Tang Xiaoquan, who was bending over the entire way, currently felt his legs numb as if they were electrified.
Wang Qiang was in even worse shape, directly reduced to crawling slowly on all fours like an animal.
Yet it was no surprise Tang, Wang, and others were in such a miserable state. After all, at this critical moment, the streets were crawling with zombies everywhere. Not only did they have to be fully on alert, but they also needed to pay attention to Hu Xiaodong’s movements, and most importantly, they couldn’t make a single sound.
This was undoubtedly a huge test of one’s willpower and endurance, and Tang Xiaoquan’s group were just recent college graduates; four years of staying in and playing obviously couldn’t forge such willpower.
So...
They continued to obediently follow Hu Xiaodong. After about fifty meters, they reached another alley entrance.
This alley entrance was significantly larger than the previous one, at least Tang Xiaoquan and Wang Qiang could enter side by side without feeling any crowding.
Entering the alley, someone unknowingly let out a heavy sigh, but this sigh indeed expressed everyone’s feelings:
What a relief!
The group began stretching their stiff limbs. The recent "curious" journey certainly left them with an unforgettable memory.
A mere hundred meters or so, the group tediously took half an hour to crawl through it, moving at a speed that rivaled a turtle’s, which was truly embarrassing.
After a few steps, the team suddenly stopped as Hu Xiaodong, who was leading, looked around, then began to lightly tap on the wall in front of him.
Three long and two short taps, Tang Xiaoquan silently counted; he was sure this was a signal.
But around here, besides their few people, there didn’t seem to be any place for others to hide. However, just as he was endlessly puzzled, a slightly aged voice came over.
"Oh, Little Hu, you’re back!"
Following the sound, Tang Xiaoquan looked up and saw under the dazzling sunlight, an elderly man with gray hair was waving at them.
Could this be the base Hu Xiaodong mentioned?
As if to confirm Tang Xiaoquan’s thoughts, a long wooden ladder was timely handed down from above, along with a voice: "Wow, new friends are here!"
Due to the angle of the sunlight, Tang Xiaoquan couldn’t make out the person’s features, but from the fineness of the voice, he could deduce that the person couldn’t be very old.
This time, Hu Xiaodong didn’t take the lead but instead made a gentlemanly gesture of invitation, and it was this almost subconscious action that greatly elevated Tang Xiaoquan’s evaluation of him.
The group gradually climbed up the wooden ladder, and when they reached the top and looked around, they found it was a whole new world...