Chapter 101: Watering the Horse and Throwing Money (2)
“……!”
At Chui’s words, the prisoners snapped out of their daze.
If they missed this bleeding discount opportunity, a real bleeding situation would occur.
“Ge-get out of the way!”
Xu Se-chi rushed out in a hurry.
He picked up a long spear loaded on the cart and carried it away—no, he tried to carry it away.
“Ehey—”
He would have done so if Gyeon Sul had not grabbed the back of Xu Se-chi’s neck.
“Customer. You have to pay money before you take it.”
“What? Mo-money? In the midst of all this?”
Xu Se-chi’s forehead was beaded with cold sweat.
The expressions of the other prisoners also began to turn deathly dark.
Even the stubborn ones who had held out without spending money until things reached this point had trembling eyes.
In the end, the prisoners threw up both hands and feet in surrender.
“I’ll pay! I’ll pay, so put it on credit! Oh, I will absolutely pay!”
“No credit. I will deduct it from the money of the guys who paid in advance first, so you can repay them later.”
“I-I still have some money left from what I paid last time, right? Deduct it from that!”
“Ehey—you can’t buy this long sword with that much money. Ootta—you could buy this short dagger, though.”
“Damn it! Just give me that quickly!”
“No. I’m not selling.”
“What!? Why!?”
“I decided not to sell goods to people who speak informally.”
“Uaaah! Please give it to me! Give it! The assassins are right in front of us! Hurry! Please!”
Gyeon Sul did the weapon business in high spirits.
He felt proud seeing the items selling like hotcakes.
“Now I understand why merchants say they feel full even without eating when business is good.”
Meanwhile, the assassins from the Heterodox Alliance had bewildered expressions.
Seeing cripples who clearly did not have a handful of internal energy arming themselves with swords and spears to confront them…
“Did they hire mercenaries?”
“No, looking at their appearance, they seem closer to slaves.”
“We will deal with those guys first.”
The assassins’ eyes grew fierce.
They were narrowing the siege using the spear and staff techniques they had learned from Gu Gang-ryong, the Staff Ghost.
However, the prisoners did not back down easily either.
Although their internal energy was sealed, they had once been a ferocious band of water bandits.
At the very least, the foundation of their martial arts remained.
“We have far more numbers!”
“Extend your spears so they can’t get close!”
“Fuck! Dying now or dying tomorrow is the same anyway!”
The number of prisoners was one hundred and eight, while the attackers were just a little over twenty.
It seemed they could somehow hold out if they banded together tightly and fought back using only spears.
“…….”
“…….”
The prisoners and the assassins began to confront each other in a tense standoff.
Right at that moment, there was a secret movement among the prisoners.
‘I knew a day like this would come eventually.’
Gongson Ang. A water bandit of the Hundred-Head rank who had once belonged to the Rooster Fortress of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union.
For reference, his older brother was Gongson Hap, a Hundred-Head of the Pig Fortress who had met Chui at the Wave Market and died at the very beginning.
‘Three Calls of the Yellow Springs. My brother’s enemy… I can absolutely never forget you.’
Gongson Ang gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.
And he secretly gestured to the other prisoners who followed him.
“We go as prepared.”
“Yes, Hundred-Head.”
Gongson Ang was smart.
He had watched closely from the very beginning when Chui loaded the weapons onto the cart.
And ever since Chui started selling the items on the cart to the prisoners one by one, he had been planning to purchase weapons someday.
And now, they could finally buy weapons.
‘The number of guys I gave prior word to is thirty. These are the guys who will immediately turn their spears and swords around the moment I give the signal.’
Gongson Ang intended to launch a counterattack against Chui by starting a rebellion as soon as he obtained weapons.
However, because Chui was so flawless, they could not seize victory even with thirty people.
This was because their dantians were all shattered.
‘But in the midst of that… it seems an opportunity has come.’
Gongson Ang looked at the assassins in front of him.
If they deliberately broke the formation that was confronting those guys, then they would immediately go to kill Chui through this gap.
“…….”
Gongson Ang glanced to the side.
Tremble, tremble, tremble…
Beside him, Xu Se-chi was trembling so much that it was pitiful.
Gongson Ang’s eyes narrowed.
“Hey. Goat-mustache.”
“Ye-yes?”
Xu Se-chi turned his head.
Gongson Ang whispered into Xu Se-chi’s ear.
“When I give the signal, slip out to the side.”
“Wh-what? Then the formation will collapse?”
“Exactly. That way, that fellow Chui will die at the hands of the assassins.”
“Eeeek!?”
Xu Se-chi was startled.
Soon, he whispered while looking around.
“A-are you saying we should start a rebellion now?”
“Yes. We’ve been paying the bribes up till now to prepare for this moment. To buy a lot of weapons at once.”
“My goodness. So that wasn’t to buy food to eat?”
“Of course, you idiot. Do you think I coughed up all those slush funds just to eat a few pieces of meat?”
“B-but…”
Xu Se-chi hesitated.
Then, he whispered almost inaudibly.
“Still, starting a rebellion against the Thousand-Head is a bit…”
“What?”
“No, think about it. The reason we are still alive and haven’t died until now is all thanks to the Thousand-Head releasing supplies…”
Hearing Xu Se-chi’s words, Gongson Ang’s expression became blank.
‘What is this bastard talking about right now?’
But Xu Se-chi’s expression was serious.
Clear madness and conviction could be seen in his eyes.
“I-I made an oath. When Thousand-Head Chui sold me the grilled crab skewers, I swore to follow him to the ends of the underworld…”
“Heh… Your slave mentality is soaked to the marrow and has even encroached on your brain. Get lost, you crazy bastard!”
Gongson Ang kicked Xu Se-chi’s buttocks, sending him flying.
Then he immediately executed the plan.
“Everyone! Begin the attack!”
At the same time, the thirty prisoners who were in collusion with Gongson Ang turned their spearheads backward.
When the formation collapsed, the assassins also reacted at once.
“A gap opened over there!”
“Strike all at once!”
“Let’s avenge our master!”
The tide of battle turned in an instant.
It was not that a favorable situation became unfavorable, but rather a bizarre mixture.
The spears and swords of the prisoners and the assassins suddenly descended upon the carriage.
“Uh? Uhhh!?”
Namgung Yul, who had little experience in the Jianghu, showed a panicked look.
However, Gyeon Sul, a seasoned Jianghu martial artist, just smirked.
“I’ve been waiting to see when it would burst. Shall I do it?”
“No. I’ll do it.”
Chui also showed no other reaction except a short reply.
He only grabbed the Plum Blossom Ghost Spear, which had been resting in a corner of the carriage all this time, for the first time in a while.
Charararak!
The staffs and spears of the assassins flew through the air.
Chui raised his spear with a calm expression.
And he swung it once in the air.
…Boom, boom, boom!
The vortex created by the spinning Plum Blossom Ghost Spear deflected the assassins’ staffs and spears.
At the same time, the tip of Chui’s spear swept past, slashing the attackers’ glabella, throat, heart, and groin one by one.
Chrrrrc! Clack!
The spear blade that had extended from the shaft was pulled back by the chain and snapped back into its original position.
Pfft, pfft, pfft!
Belated fountains of blood sprayed from the assassins’ bodies.
Chui’s spear had penetrated three inches deep into their glabella, throat, heart, and groin respectively, gouging the insides.
“Kuaaaack!”
Only those who were struck in the groin screamed, while the rest crashed onto the ground without even being able to let out a shriek.
Those who were alive when they leapt into the air were already dead or crippled by the time they hit the ground.
“Wh-what kind of monster is this!”
“Was it not a coincidence that he defeated our master!”
“What kind of sorcery are you using, you bastard!”
The assassins continued to surge forward, but Chui brandished his spear without paying them the slightest mind.
…Clack! …Clack! …Clack! …Clack!
The Plum Blossom Ghost Spear, segmented in a deformed shape, extended endlessly due to the chains connecting the sections.
Every time Chui swung it, an assassin without fail sprayed blood.
‘Indeed, a spear is much more convenient than a staff.’
Since a staff is a club, one must strike with full force to the very end.
Only then can the impact be fully transmitted to the opponent.
On the other hand, since a spear is a bladed weapon, it does not matter if one does not push it with full force.
In any case, even if the sharp spear blade penetrates only three inches deep, a human will die or be crippled.
…Thud! …Thud! …Thud! …Thud!
Chui killed all twenty-four assassins in the blink of an eye.
He did so without even getting a single drop of blood on the hem of his blood-cape while killing every last one of them.
Chui’s voice was carried on the cold wind.
“Bury them. Since they came to avenge their master, we cannot let them become food for wild dogs.”
At the same time, Gyeon Sul’s gaze shifted toward the rebels, including Gongson Ang.
“That’s right~ The ones who will become wild dog food are a separate bunch.”
“……!”
Gongson Ang’s expression warped with terror.
“Uaaahhhhhhh!”
There was no longer any retreat.
Led by Gongson Ang, the thirty prisoners held up their spears and swords.
They rushed toward Chui with venomous expressions.
Of course, there was no way Chui, who did not sustain a single scratch even under the joint attack of first-class experts, would find it difficult to handle prisoners who had lost even third-class martial arts.
…Sqch!
Chui raised the awl in his bosom and twisted open the Adam’s apple of the prisoner in the very front.
Then, he kicked the groin of the prisoner rushing from behind and trampled the prisoner behind him as well.
Crack!
The hammer Chui drew swept past, smashing the skull of the prisoner rushing from the front.
Gyeon Sul, who was watching that sight, asked.
“Why aren’t you using your spear?”
“If too much blood and fat get on it, maintenance is troublesome.”
“Ah, so that’s why you didn’t drive the spear blade all the way in even when catching the assassins earlier? You really have a bit of clean-freak tendencies, don’t you?”
Hearing Chui’s reply, Gyeon Sul chuckled and continued speaking.
“My Dog-Head Guillotine doesn’t need separate maintenance. If the blade gets dull, I leave it dull, and if the edge chips, I just leave it chipped. Do you know why?”
Soon, the blood-reeking guillotine blade revealed itself.
Gyeon Sul began to slice off the shoulders, backs, and necks of the rebellious prisoners.
“Because no matter how this hits, it hurts like fucking hell! If it doesn’t slice, it tears them into rags anyway! Like this! Huh!? Like this! Huh!? Hohohohoho—”
Laughter erupting from his mad eyes invoked a slightly different kind of terror than Chui’s.
The prisoners also despaired.
“Uaaah! It’s no use! We can never win!”
“Since it has come to this, kill the woman at least!”
“I’ll take that bitch down to the grave with me…!”
They rushed toward Namgung Yul, who was standing quietly beside Chui and Gyeon Sul.
However, Namgung Yul was also a genius of the Namgung Clan, one of the Fifteen Pillars of the Righteous Path.
She was a figure counted as one of the best rising stars of the Ascending Heaven Academy in her own right.
Slash!
As Namgung Yul brandished her sword, the limbs of the prisoners were severed.
“Indeed, it is good that I did not feel pity. This is the true face of the Jianghu.”
She faced the battlefield with unwavering eyes.
Seeing that sight, Gyeon Sul whistled.
“How unexpected. I thought you would flutter down like a leaf at the slightest blood-wind since you grew up as a precious branch and jade leaf.”
“Precious branches and jade leaves also differ depending on the family. A precious branch and jade leaf of the Namgung Clan has a water vein made of molten iron flowing inside.”
Namgung Yul replied spiritedly while simultaneously casting a sidelong glance.
But heartlessly, Chui did not spare even a glance in her direction.
…Crack!
He merely raised his awl and slit the throat of Gongson Ang, who was resisting until the very end.
“Krrr—kehek!”
With a tearing sound of leather, a stream of blood sprayed over the white snowfield.
With this, the prisoners’ rebellion was entirely suppressed.
Chui wiped the blood on his awl with a cloth and walked past the surviving prisoners who were trembling.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you pulling the cart?”
“…….”
With an extremely calm expression, as if he had merely brushed off a clinging insect.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost