Barry and Bell

Lee looked far into the distance, but still couldn't see the tail of the City of Victory.

Last night the Big Desert frightened Lee again. The whole world lost its calmness and turned dark. The strong wind with sand hit his face, as if someone was punching him from all directions.

Lee crawled on the ground, protected his head with his arms, and gritted his teeth.

He was really fed up with this damn place.

"General, General, wake up, wake up!" Tang shouted and shook Lee awake in the early morning. Lee felt his whole body fall apart.

"Stop, or I'll die."

Lee wiped the sand off his face and opened his eyes. There was nothing new but endless sand around him.

The dunes in Big Desert changed with the wind, and they were different day and night.

Lee did not see any trace of the immortals after witnessing the appearing and disappearing of the Falling-Moon city. Instead, he was once again taught a lesson by the unpredictable weather in the Big Desert and lost all confidence.

"Is it fun to tease us?" Lee said to himself.

"General, do you remember what Wilcher said?" Tang asked.

"'Some things will not exist if you are sincere'." 

Lee considered for a long time and then he sighed: "Too much is as bad as too little, and I fell into it."

It has been almost two months since Lee left the City of Victory. Lee knew it was time to go to Cactus. Otherwise, he could not make sure he would come back the City of Victory in time.

"Swoosh."

"Look out!" Tang shouted.

An arrow broke through the air and pierced directly through the chest of a guard, killing him instantly.

"Enemy attack!" Tang was guarding beside Lee and his sword had already been drawn out.

The other guards quickly surrounded Lee and Tang in the middle, concentrating on alert.

However, Lee saw nobody in the direction from which the arrow came. What surprised him was that there was no further offense. 

Why the enemies always liked to attack him with an arrow? 

Lee signaled two guards to press forward and look for the enemy's traces. He and others followed them closely and kept a short distance.

Opposite them, on a sand dune more than one hundred feet away from Lee and his guards, two men were lying on the ground, their entire bodies covered with yellow paint, blending into the sand.

The two men were twins, one named Barry and the other named Bell.

"Barry, they are tough, let's retreat." Bell said in a low voice.

"Don't hurry up. Let's play with them," Barry replied.

Another arrow came at high speed. Being prepared, a guard literally swung the arrow away. This time, they saw the arrow came from one dune. 

"Rush over," Lee ordered.

The two guards charged forward. When they reached the sand dune, they suddenly missed their step and fell into a pit, and then miserable scream was heard from the pit. The guards behind them stopped immediately.

Eric quickly went forward to check the situation. Then he found that the two guards in the pit were pierced by sharp wooden sticks, already dead.

Eric was crazy. One of the dead guards was his close friend. He bypassed this pit and ran straight madly, but only saw the human-shaped indentation on the sand. He roared: "I will kill you!"

Lee walked over and looked at the indentation on the sand. He sneered: "Just two?"

Another arrow broke through the air.

Tang cut off the arrow with his sword and said angrily: "Don't let me catch you!"

"Swoosh..."

Then a desert chase started between Lee's guards and the two brothers. Barry and Bell didn't care whether their arrows shot anyone or not. After shooting several arrows, they immediately left the place. Lee's guards slowed down because they were afraid of the potential traps, so they always kept a distance from Barry and Bell.

"Barry, we have pissed them off. It is not good they keep chasing," Bell was getting more and more worried.

"You are timid, Bell. Only the baby face seems good, but he looks like a fool. Nothing to be afraid of. We are totally safe," Barry scolded.

At sunset, the shadows of people were stretched out long. Lee suddenly stopped, held out his hand and said: "Bow and arrow."

A guard handed the bow and arrows on his back to Lee.

Lee observed that most of time the enemies crawled on the ground. He didn't know what method they used, but their speed was not slow. The sand in the Big Desert was flowing, so their move was covered perfectly. Only when they turned around and shot arrows, they would stand up a little. At this moment, the elongated shadow was Lee's only opportunity. 

"Swoosh".

Bell suddenly felt like something cold was poking into his leg and then the pain came.

"Barry, I'm shot," Bell's face, which was covered with yellow paint, was hideous. He pulled out the arrow from his leg and continued to crawl forward with gritted teeth.

"Damn, there is an archery master!" Barry was shot in the buttocks. He fell to the ground with sharp pain. He knew he couldn't move at all.

"Why don't you keep running?" Lee's hateful voice came from behind.

...

Lee's face was as gloomy as dark clouds, and he looked at the two brothers tied up in front of him.

"Where are you from?" Lee asked.

"Guys, there is a mistake," Barry said, "We are just passing by."

"Who sent you here?" Lee continued to ask.

"Your enemies?" Barry replied.

"Do you want to die?" Tang shouted fiercely. He kicked Barry in the stomach, and Barry spat out a mouthful of blood. 

"Very well," Lee said, "Look, next if you don't answer one more question, I'll chop off one of your brother's legs. Two, plus an arm. If you say nothing, I will cut him into slices in front of you."

Bell shivered, not sure if it was because of his injuries or Lee's words. He almost cried and said: "Come on, Barry. I don't like that." 

"Spare my life, my heroes," Barry gave in immediately, "My brother Bell wants to kill you. It has nothing to do with me. Please let me go."

Hearing that, Bell directly scold: "Fuck you, Barry."

Lee said nothing. He gestured to Tang, and Tang's sword waved at Bell.

"Our master," Barry shouted. The sword stopped.

"Who is your master?" Lee asked.

"Rissan."

"Rissan," Lee repeated the name and looked at his guards, "Have you heard of this person?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"General, don't waste time. He is just teasing us," Eric raised his sword and slashed at Barry. 

At the critical moment, a dart hit the blade, and the sword flew out of Eric's hand. The powerful force of the dart knocked Eric out. He stepped back several steps before stopping. His right arm, which had just held the sword, was still trembling slightly.

Lee's face was solemn, and his left hand tightly grasped the bow.

"Guys, let me go," Barry repeated loudly again, obviously more confident than before.

"General, Barry and I are injured. You just lose a few guys. We are even, please let us go," Bell spoke to Lee, and he had figured out who was the leader of this bunch of people.

"Rissan, get out." Tang shouted at the empty desert, his voice was extremely penetrating.

"Why are you shouting so loudly?" Lee's face changed slightly.

Tang came close and whispered in Lee's ear: "General, we have to retreat. We may not be able to defeat their master."

"I know," Lee looked to the northeast and said, "But it's too late. Your shouting has attracted more people."

More than thirty men in white robes, wearing black flame-patterned masks and carrying swords on their backs, were rushing towards Lee and his guards.