Chapter Sixteen: A Perilous Struggle

Kobolds were short, small targets, and so from a distance they were hard to hit—especially considering Jia Zhengjin’s archery was far from skilled. But once they rushed forward, closing the distance, things changed!

When one kobold was barely ten meters away, Jia Zhengjin nocked an arrow and drew his bow. This time, with a sharp thud, the arrow struck precisely at its neck. The unlucky creature was knocked down by the force, and though it wouldn’t die instantly, the poison smeared on the arrow took effect. Paralyzed, it could only lie helplessly on the ground, waiting for death.

Seeing he had finally hit his mark, Jia Zhengjin felt his morale soar. He retreated while shooting, and two more unfortunate kobolds—too eager in their charge—were pierced through and paralyzed by the poison.

Yet, boosted by their numbers, the kobolds were undeterred. With wild howls, they swarmed forward.

Unable to continue kiting, and unwilling to abandon the otherworldly human, Jia Zhengjin faced the advancing horde. Gritting his teeth, he stowed away his bow, raised his shield with his left hand, spear in his right, and strode forward to engage in close combat.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Of the kobolds present, about half still watched the hostage, but ten surrounded Jia Zhengjin. The numbers were overwhelming, and he was forced to defend, raising his iron shield to block. Wooden clubs swung from every direction, and inevitably some slipped through, striking him hard.

Pain surged through Jia Zhengjin, especially as these squat, unintelligent creatures—barely reaching his waist—beat him relentlessly. His anger flared. Enduring the pain, he began to counterattack, brandishing his iron spear.

The spear was coated in poison, and unleashed bursts of lightning with each strike, catching the kobolds off guard. The two nearest, who had struck him the most, were swept by the spear’s tip; their skin split, and they collapsed instantly, twitching violently from the double paralysis.

With renewed vigor, Jia Zhengjin thrust his spear fiercely, impaling a kobold, then kicked it aside.

But before he could savor his success, another kobold club smashed hard against his head.

Dizziness overwhelmed him, and he felt a hot trickle descending from his scalp, sliding down his cheek.

Blood? He wiped it with his sleeve; the fabric was instantly stained crimson, and his vision began to blur.

A vital blow! His health dropped by over twenty points. Coupled with the relentless assault, his HP fell from 100 to a perilous 51.

Jia Zhengjin roared in fury. If this continued, not only would he fail to rescue the girl, he would die first. He had no intention of dying so easily! Determined, he ignored the pain and swung his iron spear harder, lightning crackling in every sweep.

The battle raged for some time. As Jia Zhengjin’s stamina dwindled to around twenty points, nearing the brink of death, the kobolds surrounding him finally succumbed to his furious onslaught, their numbers reduced from ten to three. Just as he was about to collapse, the kobolds lost their nerve.

Howling, they glared at Jia Zhengjin but hesitated before his lightning-infused spear, and at last, turned tail and fled.

However, they still carried the hostage. Jia Zhengjin, having fought to the brink of death, could not allow his efforts to be wasted. He immediately switched to his bow, weakly pursued them, aiming at the kobold carrying the blonde girl.

The arrow flew, landing with precision—straight into the girl’s left foot.

She screamed sharply, then succumbed to the poison’s paralysis.

Damn! Jia Zhengjin’s jaw nearly dropped. His archery was truly embarrassing; not only had he failed to rescue her, he nearly killed the hostage himself! Fortunately, the arrow struck only her foot, and the poison’s effect was merely paralysis, not fatal.

He quickly nocked another arrow and this time struck one of the kobolds carrying the girl.

With a crash, a kobold fell, and the others lost balance, causing the blonde girl to tumble into the grass.

The remaining kobolds, realizing what had happened, tried to pick her up again. But Jia Zhengjin kept firing, and another unlucky kobold was struck through the head, dying instantly.

Demoralized, the kobolds finally abandoned their intended meal, turned, and scattered into the dense forest.

His HP now at 19, having lost another point due to bleeding while chasing, Jia Zhengjin felt himself grow weaker. He hurriedly searched the area, quickly finding several green herbs.

The forest was rich with medicinal plants, and green herbs were among them. Yet, until he built an alchemy lab, he couldn’t make potions; raw green herbs restored only a single HP each.

Fortunately, they also had a “stop bleeding” property. His greatest need now wasn’t HP restoration, but halting the bleeding. Many herbs had this effect; stopping the wound on his head was paramount.

Applying green herbs to staunch the bleeding, and eating several raw to raise his HP to thirty, he was still weak but no longer in immediate danger. Jia Zhengjin walked up to the blonde girl, crouching to examine her.

From afar, he’d only glimpsed her fine figure, but now, face to face, he saw under her disheveled golden hair a strikingly beautiful face. Her eyebrows were crescent-shaped, her eyes large and sparkling like blue sapphires, with long lashes. Her nose was tall and straight, her lips small—an archetype of Western beauty. In his previous life, she would have been movie star material!

At this moment, however, she stared wide-eyed, unable to move—the poison’s effect still lingering.

While paralyzed, she felt no pain. Jia Zhengjin grabbed the arrow in her calf, smiling awkwardly. “Sorry! At least I rescued you, so let’s not dwell on that arrow. I’ll pull it out and treat the wound—don’t worry, it won’t hurt!”

The centipede venom was still effective.

Jia Zhengjin pulled out the arrow, stowing it in his pack, then crushed a green herb and applied it to her leg wound. He plucked a broad tree leaf, fashioned a fiber cord to bandage her leg, and splinted it with a stick.

“Wait here a moment!” he told the immobilized blonde girl, not caring if she understood him. He turned, raised his iron spear, and finished off the remaining paralyzed kobolds.