Chapter 35: Wave Market (3)
A few drunk water bandits drew their swords.
“Who is that bastard?”
“Who cares! Kill him!”
“How dare this bastard!”
They did not see the corpses of their comrades who had died earlier.
This was because they had died in an instant.
“……”
Chui raised his staff.
And he stabbed the belly of the first water bandit who rushed at him.
Crack!
The sound of a spine breaking.
Unable to withstand the momentarily soaring abdominal pressure, the intestines burst out through the anus with a squelching sound.
Chui swept the staff sideways just like that.
The leg of the second water bandit, who was running from the side, caught on the staff and he tripped.
“Gack!?”
As luck would have it, in the spot where the water bandit fell, there was an iron nail protruding from the wooden plank.
Squish-
The rusty head of the iron nail pierced through the water bandit’s Adam’s apple and protruded from the back of his neck.
This happened despite it not being the sharp end of the nail.
“You bastarrrd!”
The third water bandit swung his sword at Chui.
Chui silently took a step forward.
And he pulled out a hammer from his bosom and struck the water bandit’s head horizontally.
Crack!
His temple collapsed inward, and a stray eyeball popped out into the air.
…Splash! …Splash! …Splash!
Three more corpses floated up to drift on the currents of the Yangtze River.
“……”
“……”
“……”
The water bandits also realized.
That the boy who had just boarded the wave market was no ordinary being.
Gongson Hap furrowed his brow.
“Who are you to run amok in another person’s place of business?”
It was a seemingly polite scolding, but it was highly contradictory.
This was because, in the first place, this place was not the business premises of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union.
Chui shook off the brain matter stuck to the hammer, as if it was not even worth listening to.
“First bandits, and now water bandits.”
The first blood he had stained his hands with since his regression belonged to bandits.
Of course, they had been underlings of the Black Path Gang disguised as Green Forest bandits.
This time, the opponents were water bandits.
Generally, they were a band of outlaws that was even more difficult to deal with than mountain bandits.
The laws and ethics of the land did not reach them.
To those who traveled the Yangtze River or made their living there, they could be described as evil spirits more terrifying than natural disasters.
However, Chui actually found it easier to deal with this type of enemy.
This was because there was no need to argue about justification or morals, nor was there any reason to weigh the severity of his attacks.
“Your blood is red for what you are.”
Hearing Chui’s words, Gongson Hap’s expression distorted.
This was because those were the very words he had spoken to the merchants of the wave market just moments ago.
Soon, the water bandits, receiving a look from Gongson Hap, moved in unison.
“He doesn’t seem ordinary, so strike him all at once.”
Like a leader commanding a hundred heads, Gongson Hap blocked Chui’s escape route in an instant.
Excluding the six who had died earlier, fifteen water bandits raised their swords, spears, axes, and bows to aim at Chui.
“Archers, shoot first!”
Hearing Gongson Hap’s order, the water bandits moved quickly.
Five archers stepped forward and loosed their arrows toward Chui.
Swish-swish-swish!
The arrows shot out, aiming at Chui.
Flutter-
Chui took off the old cape he was wearing and draped it like a shield.
…Thud!
The moment the arrowheads pierced through the hem of the cape.
Swish-
Chui snatched the hem of the cloak and deflected all the arrows in a different direction.
At the same time.
Clatter!
As soon as the hem of the cloak cleared, what caught their eyes were caltrops scattered in the air.
The sharp pieces of iron embedded themselves into the faces of the water bandits all at once.
“Aaaargh!”
The archers, who had relied only on distance and hadn’t thought to defend, clutched their faces and retreated.
Chui immediately swung his staff.
“Don’t worry! It’s too far to reach……!”
The water bandit at the very front stopped mid-shout.
This was because the tip of Chui’s staff had smashed his lower jaw and passed through.
Chui was swinging the staff while holding it between the tips of just two fingers.
Thus, he was able to attack from a much greater distance than the water bandits had expected.
Rip-
One water bandit, whose skin around the Adam’s apple was torn off by the tip of the staff, screamed.
With flesh and blood splattering frantically, even the roughest water bandits could not help but be terrified.
“Hieek!?”
“It’s a, it’s a ghost!”
“Aaaaargh—save me!”
Upon that crucible of confusion, Chui descended.
Crack! Crunch! Snap!
Chui beat the archers to death with his staff and used their corpses as shields to smash the heads of the charging swordsmen with his hammer.
A few water bandits using spears tried to stab Chui, but.
Crack!
They only had their spears and waists broken together by Chui’s staff.
“……”
Gongson Hap did not step forward until his subordinates were all killed.
Finally, when even the last water bandit’s head was smashed, he spoke.
“Who are you, and where are you from?”
“……”
Chui shook off the blood flowing down the staff and looked at Gongson Hap.
Gongson Hap said.
“I see. I won’t ask who you are or where you are from. I will also bury the matter of my subordinates’ deaths right here.”
“……”
“So let us just go our separate ways. What do you say?”
Gongson Hap was a quick-witted man.
He had clearly watched Chui turn twenty-one men into bloody pulps in less time than it took to drink a cup of tea.
Gongson Hap continued cautiously.
“My subordinates were fellows who couldn’t even be considered third-rate. Though they learned martial arts, they did nothing more than lick the rind of a watermelon. Honestly, if I set my mind to it, even I could slaughter those guys in the span of a single cup of tea.”
What Chui had done, Gongson Hap could also do.
That was why Gongson Hap was saying this.
“If the two of us fight, one of us will surely die, but the other’s body will not emerge unscathed either. So would it not be better for us to avoid a battle of attrition? You were displeased because we raided the wave market, and I am displeased because you slaughtered my men, so let’s call it even.”
Gongson Hap spoke in a calm, quiet voice.
To this, Chui replied briefly.
“Is it because you are water bandits living on the water?”
“……?”
“Even if you drown, only your mouth will float.”
Chui raised the tip of the staff.
And then he wagged it.
“The one who surely dies will be you, and shall we wager whether this side’s body will be unscathed or not?”
“A newborn pup does not fear the tiger. You will regret this.”
Gongson Hap drew his broadsword.
Whoosh-
The broadsword drew a crescent-shaped trajectory, aiming at Chui’s neck.
However.
Clang!
Chui swung his staff, striking the blade of the broadsword, and sent internal energy flowing through it at that fleeting moment.
“……! ……! ……!”
Due to the recoil transmitted to his hand, Gongson Hap dropped his broadsword.
Splash!
The broadsword sank beneath the river water.
Gongson Hap gritted his teeth and retreated.
He could tell without even looking.
That his right wrist bone had been shattered in the exchange of that single blow just now.
‘A Peak Expert!’
Was it common for someone to be able to defeat him, who was at the first-class realm, in a single blow?
Only now could Gongson Hap feel Chui’s strength.
He clutched his trembling right wrist and retreated repeatedly.
And he came to lock eyes with Chui, who was staring blankly at him.
Rustle, rustle, rustle……
The sound of the wind brushing over the river water sounded exceptionally loud.
Red eyes visible between the black hair covering his face.
Seeing that, Gongson Hap gulped down his dry saliva without realizing it.
Experts possessed something called instinct.
Among the martial artists who lived by the blade, the length of their lifespan depended on how sharp this instinct was.
Gongson Hap knew that his instinct was sharp, and he trusted it just as much.
That was how he had been able to survive by choosing the gate of life in numerous life-or-death situations until now.
And now, the instinct he trusted so much was screaming desperately.
To run away. To flee without even looking back.
……But where would he run to?
This was the wave market.
Since it was a market formed on water, not on land, there was nowhere to run.
‘He doesn’t seem like the type to spare me just because I beg……’
Ultimately, Gongson Hap made a choice.
Scurry-
He quickly ran to the boat and pulled a rope on the deck.
Then, several firecrackers shot up from the deck.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gongson Hap looked back at Chui, who was walking toward him.
“Soon all of my subordinates will come this way. And that’s not all. Lord Thousand Heads is currently here. It would be better for you to run away even now, you know?”
“I just need to kill you faster.”
“Hehehe. Will that be easy?”
At that moment, Gongson Hap moved like lightning.
He grabbed the back of Baekli Yeon’s neck nearby and, pulling out a dagger he had kept in his bosom, pressed it against her throat.
“Now. One more step closer, and this brat dies.”
“……”
Gongson Hap was threatening Chui with a dagger pressed to Baekli Yeon’s throat.
Yet Chui was still expressionless.
“Little girl. I am sorry.”
Chui spoke in an indifferent tone to the terrified Baekli Yeon.
“I cannot leave the water bandits alone to save you.”
Then, Baekli Yeon, held by Gongson Hap, spoke in a trembling voice.
“I know. Just make sure mother can go to the land.”
“I promise.”
Chui nodded and took a step forward.
Gongson Hap shouted in shock.
“W-what are you doing! I will really kill her!”
“Kill her.”
As Chui took another step forward, Gongson Hap retreated another step.
“But know this.”
Chui’s crimson gaze stared into Gongson Hap’s eyes.
“In return for killing that child, you will suffer the most terrible fate in this world.”
“……”
“Starting from the tips of your fingers and toes, I will slice your flesh piece by piece until only your torso remains. Then, I will pluck out both eyes and all teeth, cut off your ears and nose, and sear your tongue with fire. And I will throw you into the pigsty managed by the wave market people, ensuring you can neither live nor die for the rest of your life.”
“……”
In Chui’s voice, which spoke unusually many words, there was still no rise or fall.
However, that was precisely why it felt even more realistic.
Furthermore, the terrifying aura emanating from Chui.
An overwhelming sense of incompatibility—belonging to neither orthodox, heterodox, nor demonic martial arts—shackled Gongson Hap’s soul.
Gongson Hap shouted as if in a struggle.
“L-Lord Thousand Heads… no, the Fortress Master will not let this slide. No, the entire Heterodox Alliance will not stand idle!”
“Whether the entire Heterodox Alliance moves or not, you will enter the pigsty. Having lost your arms, legs, eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. For the rest of your life.”
At Chui’s indifferent voice, Gongson Hap’s hand began to tremble violently.
Eventually, with his spirit completely broken, he asked.
“If, if I spare this brat and surrender… what will you do to me?”
At Gongson Hap’s question, Chui shrugged.
“It doesn’t seem like that is for me to decide.”
“……?”
The moment the blank-faced Gongson Hap turned his head along with Chui’s gaze.
Slap!
There was a palm that slapped Gongson Hap’s cheek.
Where the bewildered Gongson Hap turned his head, Baekli Yeon’s mother stood.
Snatched Baekli Yeon from Gongson Hap, she said with teary eyes.
“Kneel, you piece of shit.”
Unrivaled Spear Ghost