When he successfully defused the most difficult remote-controlled bomb, The Starry Night began to stroll around in Nijo Castle, looking for traces of the young Chongzong.
Although he seemed relaxed on the surface, deep down he was incredibly nervous.
Upon closer observation, it was not hard to notice that as he walked, his thumbs and index fingers kept unconsciously rubbing against each other at the second knuckles.
If Chongzong died here, then all his efforts would have been in vain.
Even though The Starry Night didn't believe in deities, he silently prayed for Chongzong's safety in his heart.
And then, The Starry Night encountered Zaxi Duoji.
At that moment, Zaxi Duoji had just led a failed siege on the Tenshukaku of Ito Shinran and others, only to come back empty-handed.
Feeling somewhat defeated for not capturing the enemies, Zaxi Duoji made his way to the observatory of Tenshukaku.
Standing on the Tenshukaku, scanning the courtyard, Zaxi Duoji was the first to spot the intruder, The Starry Night.
Without a word, Zaxi Duoji greeted him by shooting an arrow directly at The Starry Night's head.
And The Starry Night's response was to catch the incoming arrow bare-handed.
To be honest, that was quite disrespectful.
Although The Starry Night got a cut on his hand from the arrowhead, catching an arrow barehanded was clearly not something a human could accomplish.
In a hurry to find Chongzong, The Starry Night had no intention of wasting time there.
Following the trail of the arrow, he quickly locked onto the approximate location of Zaxi Duoji.
Then, gripping the arrow in his hand, he raised it to the right side of his head, squatted down, exerted force, stepped heavily on the ground, pivoted his body from the feet through the leg joints, waist, back, finally channeling the power to his hand, and just like throwing a javelin, forcefully launched the arrow!
The arrow shot out like a missile, its sharp tip piercing through the air with a sharp whistle, before embedding itself fiercely into the wooden railing of Tenshukaku.
The point where the arrow hit the wooden railing was only two to three meters away from Zaxi Duoji.
And this was the result of a human throwing an arrow from the ground to Tenshukaku barehanded.
Taking into account the influence of wind speed and direction, it was hard to say whether shooting with a bow and arrow could be more accurate than The Starry Night's "throw."
Zaxi Duoji was truly startled by this arrow.
What kind of monster was this?
And when Zaxi Duoji looked down again to look for the person's trace, he found that the other party had disappeared.
— Did he run away?
Zaxi Duoji tried to deduce using his own knowledge.
But the other party was not one to be predicted using common sense.
As Zaxi Duoji thought this, The Starry Night had already rushed to the blind spot in Zaxi Duoji's line of sight below Tenshukaku.
While Zaxi Duoji became wary of The Starry Night, The Starry Night was equally cautious of Zaxi Duoji.
In this distance, with this wind speed and direction, the first arrow launched could accurately hit his own head (assuming The Starry Night didn't catch it) — a shooter of this caliber could not be ignored.
Moreover, the other party had the best visibility and broadest range of the castle in Nijo Castle.
Even though he could catch the first arrow, it didn't guarantee he could catch every subsequent arrow.
The Starry Night didn't want to continue acting cautiously, he needed to deal with this threat first before going to find Chongzong.
Therefore, The Starry Night began to climb Tenshukaku.
This climbing was not a staircase-type climb.
It was true climbing in the sense of climbing with hands and feet.
The Starry Night didn't use any tools, he started climbing up the outer side of Tenshukaku with his bare hands.
He made this decision for a simple reason: there could be guards or traps inside Tenshukaku, and taking the stairs all the way up would waste too much time.
The Starry Night wanted to deal with this archer as quickly as possible, so heading straight towards the target was the fastest option.
Thus, The Starry Night climbed up the six-story Tenshukaku, which was over twenty meters high, in one breath.
And he did it silently.
So when Zaxi Duoji saw a hand suddenly reach out from below the wooden railing of Tenshukaku, he was genuinely startled.
By the time he reacted, The Starry Night was already standing steadily on the observatory of Tenshukaku.
At that moment, the distance between them was only three meters.
The winner emerged in an instant.
In a rush, The Starry Night showed no mercy.
In a blink of an eye, like a shooting star, The Starry Night had retracted his fist, as Zaxi Duoji was knocked back several meters, rolling down the stairs.
There were no fancy moves, just a full-force charge, a forceful punch, condensing the fastest speed and greatest strength into the simplest yet most violent technique.
The Starry Night picked up the bow and quiver dropped by Zaxi Duoji, slung it around himself, then flipped from the observatory and returned the way he came, continuing his search for Chongzong.
It was only after more than ten minutes that Zaxi Duoji regained consciousness. He checked his injuries on his own — multiple abrasions and sprains all over his body, with the most severe being a fractured right knee joint, probably from falling down the stairs.
Initially, Zaxi Duoji's mind was sluggish as he struggled to grasp what had just happened to him.
The actions and physical abilities of his opponent far exceeded common human knowledge, nearly causing Zaxi Duoji to lose his judgment and logical reasoning.
After pondering for a few minutes, Zaxi Duoji finally understood what had taken place.
At the same time, he realized his bow and quiver were missing.
For Zaxi Duoji, this was a great humiliation.
The bow was his weapon, his companion, his life.
And now, it had fallen into the enemy's hands.
Rage surged within Zaxi Duoji, igniting like floating sparks in the air, slowly burning within him, engulfing his entire body.
The flow of blood quickened and intensified, coursing through him, impacting his body.
His temples throbbed violently, as if blood was on the verge of bursting forth at any moment.
A completely furious Zaxi Duoji fiercely punched the wall, directly creating a hole in the wooden structure.
Splinters pierced his hand and arm, but he felt nothing.
He tore off a whole piece of wood from the wall, then removed his top, tearing it into strips to bind the broken right foot, immobilizing it before limping down the stairs.
For Zaxi Duoji now, it was no longer about executing a mission, but seeking personal vengeance.
When Zaxi Duoji retrieved a spare bow and arrows, and found The Starry Night, it was already several minutes later.
During this time, The Starry Night had already found Chongzong. Seeing that the situation in the main hall had calmed down and Chongzong was unharmed, he didn't show himself, just watched from afar for a while and then left.
Since everything was fine, there was no need to do much more.
Each being well was the best outcome.
But The Starry Night couldn't leave just yet.
During his movements within Nijo Castle, he had grasped the overall situation.
He knew Bai Yaxin was on the verge of escaping, and if he succeeded, all the commotion today would have been for nothing.
Among these "all" naturally included a part of The Starry Night's efforts.
Not wanting any trouble, The Starry Night carefully calculated the situation.
If he didn't help clean up the mess now, there would be more to clean up later for Chongzong's sake.
After all, he was the one who caused these troubles, and leaving them unattended was a matter of principle. Simply being afraid of trouble and doing his best was not enough to simply move on and live with a clear conscience.
So, by helping Chongzong, Manranyama Souren, and the others to delay Bai Yaxin here for a while longer, they could permanently resolve this matter entirely, which was the most optimal solution.
Taking a quiet sigh, The Starry Night grumbled about his hardworking nature while following the direction of the helicopter on the ground, rushing towards the Ninomaru palace.
For The Starry Night, climbing obstacles like heights, jumps, or crossing waters were nothing out of the ordinary. He moved as effortlessly as walking on flat ground.
Although his current body's training level was not as high as before, in terms of physical potential and development, it far exceeded that of his old body.
In no time, The Starry Night had already caught up to the Ninomaru palace.
Then came the scenario of Ito Shinran's marksmanship forcing the helicopter to land, followed by The Starry Night stopping the ambulance, and Zaxi Duoji's sudden appearance midway.
Since his goal was to buy time, The Starry Night did not exert his full strength; he was just playing around.
He had no intention of taking over everything for Chongzong's group.
As the ancients said, it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him fish.
The Starry Night understood this principle well and didn't plan to do everything for Chongzong and his group.
On one hand, his identity and position were not suitable; if he did take over, he would undoubtedly be questioned about his reasons behind such actions.
This was something The Starry Night wanted to avoid.
He wanted to be an anonymous passerby, quietly lend a hand, and then leave without leaving a trace.
On the other hand, Chongzong and his group needed to grow; this was a great opportunity for them.
Up to this point, as observed by The Starry Night, Chongzong, Manranyama Souren, and the others had indeed performed well.
"Hey, buddy, why don't you continue the attack?" (The Starry Night)
Starry night Rito stood still watching Zaxi Daggy circling on a motorcycle.
He didn't even bother to turn his head to see if Zaxi Daggy was taking advantage of circling behind him to shoot him in the back with a sneak attack.
He only needed to listen carefully with his ears.
If he kept following the motorcycle's continuous turns, it wouldn't take long for him to get dizzy.
At this moment, Starry night Rito suddenly noticed that Bai Yaxin and Longya were missing.
- Are these two really making a run for it?
Starry night Rito was truly enlightened.
It turned out there was such a shameless boss.
Starry night Rito decided not to play anymore.
