The Function of Bows and Arrows

On October 10, 2022, an unknown wave of cosmic radiation swept across the entire Earth, almost ignoring the geomagnetic shield.

Life all over the globe underwent various mutations and evolutions in a very short period of time.

Of course, many people did not change, but some gained legendary abilities, while many more were considered evolutionary failures and turned into ‘zombies’.

Zombies, the most common and most dangerous creatures in the apocalypse.

They appeared like a synonym for the end of the world—uncontrollable mutations, highly contagious—and in the early days, they often dismantled survivor groups from within.

However, as time went on, people summarized some of the zombies’ characteristics and ways to deal with them.

First of all, from a physiological standpoint, an ordinary person cannot deal with a zombie.

Tireless, powerful, impervious to pain, and they won’t stop moving unless their brain is destroyed.

All these traits gave them the upper hand in fights against humans, especially in a country with strict gun control.

But their cloudy eyeballs also made their vision equally cloudy.

In contrast, their hearing and sense of smell were extremely sensitive.

In other words, as long as they didn’t hear human sounds or smell human scents, they couldn’t find their targets.

So, although the RV was currently surrounded by a horde of zombies, thanks to Xu Huairou’s modifications, the vehicle was highly sealed and would not emit human scents.

With any luck, once the horde wandered away, there would be no problem at all.

Why say “with any luck”?

Naturally, because there were times when luck ran out.

Zombies, although judged to be failed lifeforms, were also capable of evolving.

And evolved zombies would possess a little bit of intelligence, as well as some special sensory abilities.

“Looks like our luck isn’t so great. We’ve run into an evolved one.”

Watching the zombie horde outside the vehicle refuse to disperse for a long time, even showing a tendency to attack the RV, Lu Shanshui sighed.

“And I wanted to get a good night’s sleep.”

Lu Shanshui put his trench coat back on, picked up his longsword, and walked towards the door.

“Hey, don’t you need help?”

“Don’t worry. An evolved one that needs a group of regular zombies for cover is no threat to me.”

Lu Shanshui seemed very confident in his own strength, just like the Ren Anhua of before.

Hearing this, Ren Anhua stayed inside the vehicle.

She also wanted to see what this kid was made of.

Zombie hordes were extremely troublesome.

Although a single ordinary zombie posed a limited threat to an Awakened with powerful abilities, there were just too many of them.

A seemingly endless war of attrition would often rapidly drain an Awakened’s stamina.

Most abilities consumed a considerable amount of energy to use, but it was also difficult to protect oneself in a horde with only one’s physical body.

Generally, when encountering such a horde, an Awakened would try to fight their way out and escape first.

But this Lu Shanshui was actually taking the initiative to attack, and he even looked confident.

This made Ren Anhua a little curious.

Immediately after, Ren Anhua was stunned by Lu Shanshui’s meat-grinder-like performance.

She saw him charge into the horde, relying on his longsword to weave through them at the limit of his ability.

Clad in black, he was like a phantom in the dark night.

Wherever he went, organs and brain matter mingled, limbs and rotten flesh flew together.

But strangely, she couldn’t feel any ability fluctuations at all!

Recalling Bai Rui’s introduction of Lu Shanshui, she had also clearly stated that Lu Shanshui was just an ordinary person, but he was super skilled with a sword.

But this wasn’t just “super skilled with a sword.”

This was like he had unlocked a dynasty warrior mode.

However, there were indeed no ability fluctuations.

Ren Anhua’s mind was a bit jumbled.

Could it be that this person had achieved this level with only the body of an ordinary human?

This was too illogical, too unscientific.

She had never seen such a person.

Did he think he was filming a movie here, with just one sword?

A flash of inspiration struck Ren Anhua.

Right, that sword was no ordinary sword.

It was made from a material that didn’t exist in this world, created by Bai Rui using her ability.

Instantly, Ren Anhua figured it out and then felt that this team was a treasure trove.

If a sword casually made by Bai Rui could allow an ordinary person to do this much, then Bai Rui’s value…

Not only that, the team also had a top-tier healer who could save someone even after their heart was pierced, and an extremely rare spatial ability user.

And judging by her own current situation, Ke Xingmei’s biological ability was probably nothing simple either.

This team was practically a mobile military fortress.

Lu Shanshui was still outside, mowing them down.

He showed a hint of fatigue, but it looked like he could fight for a long time yet.

The experienced Ren Anhua could tell that this hint of fatigue was just an act.

No matter how many you reaped, a single person could never finish off a whole horde.

He wanted to lure out the evolved one commanding these zombies.

As long as he killed this evolved one, the horde would naturally disperse.

An evolved one capable of gathering a horde posed a great threat to a settlement, as the scent of living people in a settlement could not be concealed and would be worn down by an endless stream of zombies, eventually leading to the settlement being breached and its people scattering.

But for wanderers on the outside, as long as they took out the leader and then concealed their scent, the gathered horde would automatically disperse.

It wasn’t too much of a threat.

However, this evolved one seemed to be particularly cautious.

Even when Lu Shanshui acted like he was panting with his hands on his knees, it didn’t lure it out.

He was just short of dancing to taunt it.

Ren Anhua watched from the window for a while.

Lu Shanshui was darting around in the horde, sometimes disappearing from view, so she quietly opened the car door and climbed onto the roof.

The cool night breeze was very pleasant.

Watching Lu Shanshui dance around in the horde like a monkey made Ren Anhua feel it was rather amusing.

She even felt like she was missing a bag of sunflower seeds.

Hard work pays off.

Seemingly unable to stand the taunting any longer, a sturdy figure finally flashed out from under the cover of the horde and rushed towards Lu Shanshui.

And Lu Shanshui, like a marathon runner who had run for dozens of kilometers and finally saw the finish line, charged forward to meet it.

The moment they made contact, Lu Shanshui dodged back, and a dozen sharp sounds of muscle and bone tearing came from the zombie.

Lu Shanshui’s body moved like a phantom, completely unscathed.

Seeing this kind of swordsmanship, Ren Anhua instantly extinguished the idea that Lu Shanshui was relying solely on a good sword.

Anyone who believed he was just an ordinary person was an idiot, like that Lolita girl.

However, the evolved one was clearly not weak either.

Injuries to a zombie’s body had a very limited effect on it.

The zombie continued to attack Lu Shanshui ferociously.

The evolved zombie already had the awareness to protect its own weaknesses, preventing Lu Shanshui from ending the fight with a single blow.

Nevertheless, he gradually gained the upper hand through continuous, powerful slashes.

Even if the zombie didn’t feel pain, torn muscles and broken bones weren’t problems that could be solved by simply enduring the pain.

The bright gleam of the sword traced vicious arcs under the moonlight as Lu Shanshui dodged and counter-slashed.

Sometimes, even when he was several meters away, afterimages of his blade would continuously flash on the zombie’s body, cutting wounds deep enough to sever bone, while he himself remained unharmed.

The fight was like a magnificent performance, and watching it made Ren Anhua’s blood boil, eager to join in.

“Amazing, amazing! So cool, bro!”

Ren Anhua clapped from the roof of the car.

This guy’s fighting style was so damn cool.

Thinking about her own fights—either burning someone to ashes or melting a rock into lava and throwing it in their face, often ending the battle in a matter of seconds—it utterly lacked aesthetic appeal.

Hearing this, Lu Shanshui was taken aback.

He turned his head and saw that idiot clapping on the car roof, looking like she was watching a good show, and couldn’t help but feel a pang of annoyance.

The evolved zombie did not miss this golden opportunity.

The muscles in its legs tensed, and with an explosion of great force, the thing actually ran away!

“Fuuuu*k!”

The thing Lu Shanshui least wanted to see had happened.

If he let this zombie escape, it would be incredibly annoying if it just hid and continuously summoned ordinary zombies to attack.

The guy he had worked so hard to lure out would probably not fall for the same trick a second time.

Just as the zombie was about to escape, the sound of a bowstring snapping echoed.

Ashe-wen had appeared out of nowhere.

A steel arrow, carrying Lu Shanshui’s hopes, shot out, and then stuck into the ground by Lu Shanshui’s feet.

A moment of awkward silence fell upon everyone in the dark night.

Ashe-wen, carrying her longbow, charged into the horde.

One by one, wooden arrows were drawn from her quiver and nocked on the bowstring.

The wooden arrow shafts, upon contact with Ashe-wen, gleamed with a metallic luster.

Fired from Bai Rui’s specially made strongbow, they shot out with immense kinetic energy.

Not a single arrow hit its target!

Ren Anhua simply couldn’t figure out what this woman, Ashe-wen, was thinking.

If you don’t know how to use a bow, then don’t use it!

And for an archer to charge directly into a zombie horde was just asking for death.

However, the facts showed that no member of the team was simple.

Although Ashe-wen’s arrows didn’t hit their target, the ordinary zombies that were accidentally shot clearly demonstrated how powerful her arrows were.

Ren Anhua personally saw a single steel arrow blast through the torsos of three zombies, and then, without losing momentum, disappear into the unfathomable darkness.

Did having such a powerful teammate make one feel safe?

Of course not.

Ren Anhua was genuinely afraid that one of those steel arrows would accidentally hit her.

As a teammate, Ashe-wen was a greater threat than the enemy.

She didn’t know how Lu Shanshui tolerated it.

Perhaps seeing its own kind explode nearby made the evolved one feel a great threat.

After a few tumbles, it was almost grazed by a steel arrow.

It turned and charged towards Ashe-wen, wanting to take out this woman first.

Although Ren Anhua highly suspected that if the evolved one had just run in a straight line, it wouldn’t have been hit.

Those extra maneuvers were what made it accidentally catch a stray steel arrow.

But the zombie’s brain didn’t think that far.

It charged straight at Ashe-wen.

And Lu Shanshui, who was standing to the side, seemed to be afraid of being hit by friendly fire and stayed far away.

Your own ADC is being charged by the enemy tank, the support is probably still sleeping in the car, and the assassin is running away.

What do you do?