Chapter 138: Small Heavenly Dragon in Heaven Dragon King in Yangtze
[Kakaka! They say they should kill a few men as soon as they capture them as an example.]
“Oh, look at that.”
He was Sun Wukong, who mocked me for not being able to read lips, yet was translating the words going back and forth over there in real-time.
Since he was the Victorious Fighting Buddha, should I call him Buddha?
‘But his personality is a complete mess…’
[They say that if someone who can swim jumps into the river, for every guy that escapes, they should also tear the limbs off those who stood by and watched? Kaka! These guys have their brains working a bit. Kakaka!]
“Indeed.”
The pirate ship of the Water Dragon Fortress was large enough to accommodate about eighty to ninety people.
It was sufficiently large for running amok on the river.
However, if they boarded all fifty people on this side, space would become scarce.
Since they said it was for threatening the Namgung Clan, they probably intended to capture and board everyone somehow, but if their purpose was to show an example, there could easily be victims.
In this case, the initial plan to pretend to be captured obediently and then smash them in a counterattack was discarded.
It felt like I had to launch a preemptive strike to end this without casualties.
“Sigh! I’m using this like this.”
The reed leaf I had been holding since the riverbank left my hand.
It advanced, cutting across the rolling surface of the Yangtze River.
“Uh? Uh-uh, hey, young man?”
Someone called out to me, but my body was already cutting through the air.
[Kaka! They’re asking if you’re running away alone and abandoning the little girl?]
“Yes, yes.”
I heard it too.
But I dismissed it moderately.
Because those words would all change very soon.
“Ha!”
“T-That! That! That!”
As I stepped onto the reed leaf floating on the Yangtze River, a stranger sense of floating than when boarding the boat was felt.
However, I focused my mind and balanced myself.
[That is the upper hand. The law of Assimilation. Realizing how to not limit yourself to merely moving the body is the start of that realm. If there is wind, receive the wind’s help; if the place to step is unfavorable, become one with the air and borrow the foundation to leap forward. It is about loading yourself onto the energy existing in the world.]
When I first awakened the Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step, my body had vertically scaled a steep Mount Hua. I had the confidence that I could do it.
“It’s Crossing the River on a Reed!”
“My goodness!”
People shouting about Master Bodhidharma’s anecdote were lined up.
The voices of the astonished and cheering people filled up behind my back.
However, if there was a problem.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
My body kept drifting backward.
‘Ugh… damn it…’
I tried to move forward by busily rotating my ankles, but it was no use.
I understood how much cold sweat Master Bodhidharma must have broken out in when creating the anecdote of Crossing the River on a Reed.
Before long, I was side-by-side with the boat I had left.
Doubt was rising in the gazes of the people who had been expressing admiration.
[Kakakakakaka!]
[Khum! Khup!]
‘You can just laugh, Master.’
Well, even I think it’s funny.
This incident will truly remain a dark history for the rest of my life.
‘What Crossing the River on a Reed for someone like me…’
“Haa…”
Let’s just do it my way.
Pat!
With a deep sigh, I leaped from the reed leaf.
Pat! Pat!
Kicking off the water surface was a different feeling from placing my body on a reed leaf.
Should I say it felt like touching soap bubbles? It was a feeling of having to make the most of the resilience of a soap bubble that might pop at any moment.
Still, after trying it a few times, the feeling came right away.
‘If I tumble here, it will truly be a death by embarrassment.’
Fortunately, perhaps because I was incredibly focused, the method of kicking off the water was learned more easily than expected.
Accumulating my resentment step-by-step with every leap, I ran rapidly on the water.
“This is all because of you guys…”
Despite reaching the immediate vicinity of the pirate ship in an instant, I did not stop.
“You bastards!”
Rather, accelerating even more, I directly struck the side of the ship with a single palm!
Boooom!!
The pirate ship rang loudly, as if it had become a giant drum.
If I had intended to break it, I would have punched a large hole, but my resentment would not be extinguished by just that.
Creak!!
As a creaking sound rang out loudly, the hull tilted and shook heavily.
“Crazy!!”
“What is that bastard!!”
The water bandits of the Water Dragon Fortress screamed.
Adjusting my body that had been pushed back by the recoil, I kicked off the water surface once again.
“Shoot! Shoot that bastard!!”
Swish! Swish!!
Even though the ship tilted so much that it was hard to support one’s body and even stand properly, a few responded by shooting arrows.
But it was not at a level that could pose a threat to me.
Even if focused fire flew in under normal circumstances, I would have snorted and deflected it.
Lightly avoiding the sporadically flying arrows, I leaped toward the tilting pirate ship.
“I will flip you over!!”
Boooom!!
Screeech!!
“Ugh!”
“It’s capsizing!”
“Hold on tight!”
The pirate ship, which had tilted obliquely from the first strike, was completely capsized this time.
Still, perhaps because there were some experienced ones, there were those who jumped off on their own before the ship capsized.
One of those bastards climbed onto the capsized ship.
“Blegh! Crazy!! What kind of bolt from the blue is this?”
A water bandit was seen pouring water out of his mouth and nose, perhaps having swallowed a large amount of water as he hastily jumped into the water.
[That’s the guy. Kaka! The guy who suggested killing a few people before starting. Kakaka!!]
“Oho?”
Although he was a scoundrel Buddha who talked as he pleased, this sort of thing was fine.
Stepping onto the ship in a single stride, I pounced like a tiger targeting its prey.
The water bandit, whose reaction was late, hurriedly swung the Willow Leaf Saber in his hand.
Perhaps because he was a water bandit, the trajectory drawn by the blade tip was quite stable despite the shaking, unstable place.
But that was just it.
Clang!
“Kehk?!”
Before the saber swing could draw a complete line, I struck the flat of the blade.
Tendons could be seen bulging in the hand of the water bandit holding the saber. His two eyes, dyed with astonishment, dilated to the point where they could not become any larger.
They say a person sees a revolving lantern before they die. His pupils, which felt as if they could not dilate any further, looked exactly like someone viewing that revolving lantern.
Crack!
I snatched and snapped that water bandit’s neck.
The sound of a dry branch breaking came from my hand.
Once I threw the limp body into the river, no more bastards climbed onto the ship.
The surroundings became quiet.
[It is not over yet. Kakakaka!]
“Yes?”
[A few guys are swimming underwater toward that boat you came on. Kakakaka!]
It seemed they still intended to take hostages even in this situation.
“They are doing all kinds of things.”
The Yangtze River is also as turbid as the Yellow River. If they were moving beneath the water surface, it was truly difficult to identify it with the eyes.
Since it was below the surface, it was also hard to read with Listening Force or synesthesia.
Even so, it was not seriously threatening.
Yi Hwa was on that boat. If the water bandits clung to board the boat, they would have the rare experience of catching fire on the river.
However, there was no reason to leave it that way. It was cleaner for me to just end it.
“First, I’ll sweep away the bastards who couldn’t escape from the ship…”
Lowering my posture, I placed my hand on the bottom of the ship I was standing on.
The Flawless Heavenly Net passed down by Master Zhang Sanfeng.
A single stroke, which was no exaggeration to call the pinnacle of internal family heavy hand techniques, penetrated inside the hull and generated a giant wave.
Kuwaaaaa!!
A large wave rose, and all presences inside the hull vanished.
At the same time, I checked the place where the spreading wave caused fierce bubbles beneath the water surface.
I leaped as high as possible toward that position.
Recalling the technique I had displayed on Mount Hua using the Heavenly Demon Kalpaless Hand, I treaded on the air and soared.
Around the time I had gone as high as possible, I fell rapidly toward the water surface.
A destructive strike that breaks anything.
“Come out, you turtles.”
A single move of the Ultimate Extreme Strike struck the water surface fiercely like a falling meteor!
Kwaaaaa!
The water spray rose like a giant pillar, surging as if to pierce the sky.
“Ugh!”
“F-Flying? He’s flying?”
The water bandits forced up to the water surface flailed their limbs and screamed.
Meanwhile, a few met my eyes.
“Ah…!”
Amidst the sound of foam making my ears ring, that faint groan in which fear could be felt was clearly heard.
Having the same eyes as the water bandit who died on the ship, they seemed to know exactly what path they would soon take.
Thump!
I gave them what they expected.
***
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
When I returned to the boat, a silence different from when I displayed Crossing the River on a Reed (?) hung in the boat.
Half were people who feared, and half were people who looked in awe.
‘It’s no wonder.’
The martial artists normal people saw were merely at the level of sword fighting. There would be almost no one who had seen the realm I displayed.
To such ordinary people, I must have looked like something other than human.
‘Can a person live only receiving praise?’
Rather, I was glad that there were people who looked favorably upon me.
In the uncomfortable silence, the boat reached the dock, its destination.
However, the atmosphere of the dock was different from the boat’s atmosphere again.
‘What is this now?’
For some reason, the people at the dock were bowing continuously.
The sounds heard were also quite a spectacle.
[Kakaka! They’re calling you the Dragon King? Kakakakaka!]
‘…I can hear it too, you know?’
From ancient times, there has been a story that a dragon lives where there is large water. Thus, there is a legend that the Dragon King who rules the water lives in the Yangtze River.
They say sailors believe in superstitions well; they must be doing that after seeing the water spray soaring high into the sky.
“Sigh… is it a dragon here too…”
Even though I was already called the dragon of the sky (Young Heavenly Dragon), I also ended up being called the Dragon King, the divine beast that rules the water.
“Let’s go before it gets annoying.”
“Yes.”
Avoiding such an atmosphere was the best policy.
The moment the boat touched the dock, Yi Hwa and I quickly blended into the crowd and left the place.
***
Meanwhile,
“Wasn’t he a martial artist?”
“Martial artist, my foot! How could a human walk on water and cause a waterspout! I’m telling you, it’s the Dragon King! The Dragon King!”
A dispute unfolded at the dock.
The boatman who steered the boat raised his voice, spitting saliva.
“Then the fact that he was floating on the river at first…”
“Ah, he must not have been used to manifesting in a human body! After that, didn’t he walk on water? And look here, look! Can you see where they went now? Is there anyone who properly saw how they disappeared?”
Looking around at the boatman’s words, they could confirm that those two had indeed disappeared without a trace.
“Oh my…”
“It’s true. It’s true.”
“I’m telling you, it’s the Dragon King! Think about it! What kind of people are martial artists! They are folks who stake their lives on honor! If those gentlemen were really martial artists, wouldn’t they have revealed their names to raise their reputation?”
Although there was no lack of forced reasoning, the boatman’s interpretation sounded plausible at first glance.
From the perspective of the people who received help and those present here, they preferred that the one who swept away the water bandits of the Water Dragon Fortress and caused a waterspout was the mysterious Dragon King rather than a mere martial artist.
A short while later, the rumor that the Dragon King had manifested in the Yangtze River spread out.