Chapter 49: When Three Walk Together, One Must Be My Teacher (3)
River refers to the Yellow River, stream refers to the Yangtze River, and lake refers to Lake Dongting.
In the center of the Hegemon Society’s manor, there was a large lake.
This small lake, with a landscape that seemed to be a direct scale-down of Lake Dongting, which was a famous product of Hubei Province, held a large artificial island in its belly.
There were two bridges in total connected to that island.
One was a bridge leading to the west, and the other was a bridge leading to the east.
“West.”
“Then I will go East.”
Chui headed to the west, and Oh Ja-woon headed to the east.
It was the move of making a sound in the east and striking in the west, the sixth strategy of the Victory Strategies among the Thirty-Six Stratagems.
“You bastards! Not a chance!”
The warriors of the Hegemon Society drew their swords and rushed.
Each of them was a Second-Class Guard like Hwang Chun.
…Crack!
The staff extending from Chui’s hand bent one guy’s neck into the shape of a hook.
Behind the guy with the broken neck, three guys leaped up.
The three thrust their swords along with a thunderous battle cry.
Seeing their perfect coordination, it seemed they had not done this kind of combat for just a day or two.
However, before their swords could extend to the maximum distance, Chui’s staff nipped them in the bud.
Crack, crack, crack!
As Chui swung his staff horizontally and long, the waists of the three broke simultaneously.
Right at that moment, there was a guy swinging his sword from behind.
Chui immediately pulled his body back, then stabbed his face with the opposite end of the staff, smashing his skull.
Crack!
Blood and brain matter mixed and sprayed.
They dyed and washed away the night soil water that had drenched Chui’s body with a new color.
“He is an expert! Coordinate your attack!”
The survivors crossed their blades with each other.
It restricted Chui’s body like a net made of blades.
However.
Whoosh!
Chui tore apart the net of blades entirely with just a single crude motion of swinging his staff horizontally.
Crack— crunch!
The head of another guard was smashed.
Simultaneously, the drinking table was split in half, and the place turned into a complete mess.
Thud, thud, thud—
A shower of pouring blood.
Only then could the guards hit by it grasp what kind of entity the presence before their eyes was.
“…….”
“What are you doing? Why are you not coming?”
“…….”
“Shall I go?”
Fear.
Overwhelming disaster.
It was not just a matter of whether some night soil water was splattered or not.
As Chui raised his staff, the guards’ expressions were dyed with horror.
If hit by that, the head would be crushed like an egg, and the spine would be snapped like a piece of rotten wood.
It was so fast and heavy that even brushing past the wind would tear off several handfuls of flesh.
…Boom!
The staff shot out, drawing a black trajectory.
Although there was no spearhead and only the shaft remained, at this point, it did not matter whether a blade was attached or not.
One guard raised his sword to block Chui’s staff, but.
Clang— thud!
The staff broke the sword, went inside, and directly caved in the guard’s chest.
Broken ribs tore through the flesh and came out.
The guard who was struck in the chest by Chui’s staff died instantly on the spot.
…Clatter!
Another corpse rolled on top of the drinking table.
The number of corpses that died with their heads smashed, chests caved in, necks bent, and waists broken was already fifteen.
It was something that happened in the span of taking a gulp or two of tea water, let alone the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
At that moment.
“What is this ruckus!”
“That way! There is an intruder across the bridge!”
“Cross the bridge! Capture and kill the intruder!”
Warriors of the Hegemon Society began to gather on the opposite side of the western bridge.
Shrug—
Chui moved his shoulders once.
And then he leaped onto the bridge.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!
The sounds of footsteps were loud on top of the elegantly curved bridge deck.
Chui quickly scanned the number and level of the enemies.
The guards on the opposite side of the bridge all wore black cloaks and held red sabers in reverse grips.
On their chests, the words ‘First-Class Guard’ embroidered with gold thread were visible.
Chui clicked his tongue.
‘These guys will be somewhat annoying.’
Seeing that the aspects of the enemies were all unusual, they were definitely the elite of the elite.
Before long, those who began to cross from both sides of the bridge encountered each other in the center.
Clang!
Chui’s staff and the saber of the guard at the very front collided.
“……!”
Chui’s eyes flashed with a peculiar light as he saw his staff blocked midway.
The guard who received the staff retreated while clutching his wrist after losing his saber, but he did not die from a single blow like the Second-Class Guards he fought before crossing the bridge.
And following that, several guards swung their sabers.
Whoosh— clang!
Chui spun his staff once to deflect the blade tips.
And then he stepped on the railing of the bridge and leaped high.
“He jumped! He is in the air!”
“Kill him when he falls!”
“Give him a sword stab immediately!”
The First-Class Guards of the Hegemon Society prepared to end Chui’s life.
However.
…Plop!
Chui stepped on the railing of the bridge and dove into the lake just like that.
The guards frowned.
“Does he intend to escape by swimming?”
“Nonsense. How heavy was the staff that guy held?”
“Right. I got a crack in my wrist bone just from clashing sabers once.”
The guards did not know with what thought Chui had jumped into the lake.
Although this lake looked shallow, the depth was as much as two jang, so Chui’s figure was not visible at all.
At that moment.
Bulge—
The surface of the river water that the guards were looking down at suddenly began to swell.
A single red carp stuck its head above the water surface and puckered its mouth.
That was also brief.
Swish!
As if the river water was swelling like a giant tumor.
Boom, crash, bang!
It began to stretch out like a long spear.
Crack! Boom, boom, boom!
One guard on the bridge was hit by the suddenly erupting water column and vanished without a trace.
The railing around him was scooped out and became tattered, as if bitten by the maw of some giant beast.
Only then did the guards realize what Chui was doing.
“What? What is happening?”
“Be careful! Something is coming from beneath the water!”
“H-He is executing a thrust!”
It was just as they said.
‘…….’
Chui descended to the bottom of the river relying on the weight of his staff, and from that spot, he thrust his staff hard toward the bridge above the water surface.
…Thud!
From where Chui took a step, a cloud of mud bloomed like a mushroom along with an immense amount of water bubbles.
The staff thrust in a straight line pushed the water of that area head-on.
Following that, a massive amount of water was pushed up together.
Boom, crash, bang!
Following the shape of the staff, a water column angled in a hexagon soared up.
The surrounding water pushed by Chui’s thrust drew a violent vortex and circled around the water column.
Thud!
Another guard who was looking down beneath the bridge was struck in the face by the water column.
He was only hit by water, yet his face was crushed red as if struck hard by a giant iron hammer.
Bang! Bang! Boom, boom, boom!
The water column pushed up from the bottom of the lake continued to strike the guards.
…Thud! Snap!
The neck bone of the warrior struck by the water column snapped as his head turned violently.
The one next to him had his arm swept into the water column, and his bone broke just like that.
“Aaack!”
A terrible confusion occurred on the bridge.
The guards, unable to go anywhere, were helplessly struck to death by the water column or fell into the lake as cripples.
“This will not do! Let us get off the bridge!”
“To where there is no water! Go to where there is no water!”
“Get off the bridge! W-We must get out of here first!”
The guards ran to the left and right sides of the bridge.
It seemed they intended to get away from the water somehow first.
However. The situation began to flow even worse for the guards.
This was because Chui, who was submerged at the bottom of the lake, changed the form of his attack.
Splash!
From thrusting to slashing. The trajectory of the staff changed.
The water surface bulged in succession, and soon a giant wave arose in a horizontal line.
Boom, crash, bang!
It swept over as if swallowing the entire bridge, sweeping away the guards who were scattering on top of it like a pack of ants.
“Pah!”
“Gah!”
“Spit! Phew!”
The surviving guards were flung into the center of the lake.
They began to swim for dear life toward the land.
Of course. Chui was not one to leave them be.
…Stab!
A struggling guard groaned and collapsed.
Red blood was spreading beneath his face plunged into the water surface.
…Stab! …Rip! …Stab! …Rip!
Screams of the guards were heard along with the sound of an awl in various places.
Of course, that was not the end.
Crack—
The head of one guard swimming skillfully was smashed.
It was because he was hit directly by the staff qi extending from the bottom of the lake.
Chui was killing those nearby with an awl, and those far away by extending his staff.
Gurgle……
Meanwhile, the guards who could not swim sank straight to the bottom of the lake.
No one grabbed their struggling hands.
* * *
“What! What is happening!?”
When the reinforcements who heard the noise arrived, the situation was already completely over.
The water of the lake was dyed red.
Beneath the bridge, which had become as tattered as dog bones bitten by wild dogs, dozens of corpses were floating.
They were all corpses with their heads smashed, necks bent, waists broken, and chests caved in.
Before that terrible disaster, the warriors who came to reinforce opened their mouths halfway and wore blank expressions.
Just then.
“North!”
A voice was heard from beneath the bridge.
One surviving guard was shouting while holding onto a wooden plank floating in the water.
“The intruder crossed the northern wall and fled while injured! His martial prowess is about first-class!”
Hearing the survivor’s testimony, the guards’ eyes lit up.
“He is injured!”
“Pursue! North! It is the North!”
“If we let this guy live, the honor of the Hegemon Society will fall to the ground!”
“If he is about a first-class expert, we can easily handle him ourselves! We will definitely capture and kill him!”
They shot off like arrows in the direction the survivor pointed with his finger.
Around that time.
“…….”
The surviving guard quietly climbed onto the wooden plank.
And after kicking the water surface a few times, he flew through the air and landed on the railing of the bridge.
Tap—
Chui.
Who had changed into the black cloak of the Hegemon Society before anyone knew.
Chui drew up red internal energy from his body.
Sizzle……
As the internal energy quickly circled through his blood vessels, his body grew hot and water vapor arose.
Besides that, numerous Spear Ghosts circled Chui’s body, shaking off and drying the water.
Before long, Chui’s cloak became bone-dry, as if dried in the blazing sun.
Flop!
Chui shook his clothes once.
Then, the blood dried on his clothes fluttered around, creating a thick red dust.
The black cloak worn by the first-class members of the Hegemon Society lay stiffly as if completely brand new.
Chui raised his sleeve and smelled it.
“……It does not smell.”
Fortunately, it smelled of neither feces nor blood.
Before long, Chui moved his steps onto the bridge.
Thud, thud, thud—
Creak, creak, creak—
The goal was the artificial island in the center of the lake.
A giant pavilion built in imitation of the Yueyang Tower of Lake Dongting.
It was time to knock on the door of the place where the Hegemon Society Leader, Do Mak-saeng, was.
He would see the face of the dog father who lost his dog son.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost