Chapter 6: Revenge (1)
Chui sought out a village in Inner Pine County, Anhui Province.
From every house where white smoke rose from the furnace, various sounds of laughing, crying, and getting angry could be heard.
Among them was a house where no smoke rose and no sound was heard.
A collapsing thatched-roof house.
Chui passed through the crumbling brushwood gate and entered the yard overgrown with weeds.
<All Farm Implements>
Every time the wind blew coldly, the split signboard made a creaking sound.
It was presumed to be a place that was once a blacksmith shop making farm implements like sickles or pitchforks.
“It has been a long time since I was here, too.”
Chui muttered quietly.
Before his regression, it was a place he had stopped by around the time he was widely spreading his demonic name of Spear Ghost.
Creak—!
Chui opened the blacksmith shop’s door at his own discretion and entered.
“Who is it?”
A voice was heard in the darkness.
Chui replied.
“It is me.”
“……?”
Then the old man sitting on the edge of the table raised his head.
The old man, who was missing his right eye, right hand, and right leg, lifted his bloodless face and looked at Chui.
“Who are you?”
“Chui.”
“I don’t know such a fellow. This place is closed, and I don’t do it anymore.”
“I came knowing that.”
Chui walked in front of the old man and sat before the table.
And he said.
“I came to have some farm implements made.”
“I said we are closed. Are the earholes of this young brat blocked?”
“First, I would like to request a hammer.”
“…Crazy bastard.”
The old man took his eyes off Chui.
And just as he was about to bring the liquor bottle he was holding to his mouth.
“Length, seventeen inches. Handle circumference, four inches. The head, rounded in a spherical shape. I would like the weight not to exceed ten catties.”
Chui’s words stopped the old man’s hand.
He put down the liquor bottle he was trying to bring to his mouth and looked at Chui for a moment.
“Nails won’t be driven with that kind of thing, though?”
“It is not for driving nails.”
“Ha. Should I just attach a few thorns to the hammer head too?”
“Then it would be inconvenient to carry.”
“……”
The old man quietly stared at Chui.
Soon.
Thud—
He set down the liquor bottle in his hand on the table.
And he narrowed his single remaining eye.
“What else?”
“Two eight-and-a-half-inch awls. One forged twenty-six times, one forged thirty-four times.”
“The handle?”
“Anything. However, the outer part wrapped in the skin of a dryland holryul. It would be good if it was around the lower back.”
“The finish?”
“Seamlessly.”
The old man scratched his head vigorously.
Dandruff fell in heaps like salt.
“It takes long.”
“No. Make it fast.”
“Come the morning of the day after tomorrow.”
“I will come tomorrow afternoon.”
“Truly a crazy bastard.”
The old man threw the liquor bottle far away, shattering it.
The strong fire-liquor soaked the dusty floor.
Chui asked.
“I would like to have something with weight and clean, though.”
“How about a sword?”
“Too short.”
“How about an axe.”
“Too heavy.”
“Are you looking for a spear?”
“Bring it out.”
The old man stood up from his seat.
He cleared the cover laid on the floor and then opened the wooden door beneath it.
Soon, the old man took out a spear wrapped in layers of black cloth from there.
A single black-colored spear without any decorations.
Chui spoke with an expressionless face.
“It is too short. It must exceed one zhang to be useful.”
“You have to go to a military camp to find something like that. This is the longest one. Grinding the blade will take a day.”
Chui nodded.
“Is there nothing small and sensitive?”
“How about iron caltrops?”
“Bring them all.”
The old man stood up with heavy steps and swept his hand over the upper wall once.
As if dust was falling in showers, a small space inside the wall was revealed.
Inside it was filled with strangely shaped nails.
Click—clack!
The old man picked up four nails and joined their heads together.
Then the nails were firmly assembled together, taking the shape of iron caltrops.
“Since they are hollow nails, they are good for draining blood. Barbs are sprouted on the tips, so once they lodge, they don’t come out easily either.”
Chui quietly nodded.
And then he asked again.
“What about work clothes?”
“Ha, to think there is a fellow looking for clothes at a blacksmith shop.”
The old man shook his head in amazement.
However, the listless look from earlier had long since vanished.
Quickly—
He took off the dirty top he was wearing.
It was a leather garment made of gray fur, and marks of dried, hardened wine and vomit were clear here and there.
The old man dusted it off vigorously and placed it face down on the table.
“Bear skin. It is a guy that devoured seventy-four people.”
“You managed to catch it?”
“No one could catch that guy. It died of old age all by itself.”
Chui stroked the bear skin armor once.
The old man added.
“Average weapons cannot pierce it. Well, it will hurt a bit, though.”
Chui nodded.
“What about dessert?”
“What flavor.”
“A taste that makes the tongue dry. A strong one.”
As soon as he heard those words, the old man climbed onto the table.
Once again, dust fell in showers, and a door near the rafters on the ceiling opened.
Inside it, small jars about the size of a palm were lined up, and the old man took out the sealed jar located at the very back among them.
“Deadly poison. It is from the Southern Barbarian regions. I heard it is used by the Miao tribe, but I haven’t been able to check out of fear.”
“Can I taste it?”
“Originally, I’m supposed to charge money.”
Chui unsealed the jar and smelled the odor rising from inside.
And then he spoke briefly.
“You were scammed, shopkeeper.”
“Damn it. I figured as much.”
“Give it to me anyway. The Qiang tribe’s is also usable. Though not as good as the Miao tribe’s.”
Chui finished ordering.
The old man spoke in a dry voice.
“Where should I send it?”
“I will come to pick it up.”
“It seems you are anxious to do some farming.”
“Before that, I plan to make fertilizer first. To bury it in the field in advance.”
“You bought quite a lot of this and that. It will be expensive.”
“Tell me what you want.”
Chui spoke, and the old man listened.
No talk of money passed between the two.
The old man closed his single eye and thought about something for a moment.
“…After retirement, I lived quietly alone. Raising an only daughter I barely obtained in my late years.”
The old man spoke, and Chui listened.
“My daughter died.”
“……”
“It has been three days.”
“……”
“Can you save her?”
“……”
The old man spoke to himself while looking at the door creaking in the wind.
When Chui did not answer, he let out a small sigh.
“Since the scent of blood was so thick, I mistook you for a ghost and made the request. As expected, it cannot be done.”
Then he spoke as if nothing could be done.
“Then, since it cannot be helped, kill at least the guys who killed my daughter.”
“Who are they.”
“The Black Path Gang.”
“I understand.”
“There are four of them.”
“I said I understand.”
“They are the ones called the Four Heroes of the Black Path… Damn it, aren’t you going to ask who they are?”
The old man grumbles.
Chui stood up as if there was no need to hear more.
“I’m going to kill them all anyway.”
With those words, Chui left the blacksmith shop.
Just as he was about to step out of the brushwood gate.
Pause—
Chui’s steps stopped.
He saw that a doghouse next to the brushwood gate was empty.
In front of it, a single horse bone with dried blood was rolling around.
From behind, the old man’s voice was heard.
“We slaughtered the dog on Dog Day. I endured this summer with that.”
Originally, the bone that the dog had gnawed on ended up killing the dog.
Chui picked up the thick horse bone.
The old man asked.
“Why that?”
“Because I like it. I will use this until the items are completed.”
Chui departed without even looking back.
And the old man looking at Chui.
The old man’s expression was subtle.
It was an expression that made it impossible to tell if he was smiling or crying, or perhaps both,
Whether he was thinking of his daughter or the ones who killed her, or perhaps both, this was also unknown.
* * *
The Black Path Gang. A heterodox sect that ruled Inner Pine County.
Inside the Black Path Gang, which spread out like the back of a whale, there was an important meeting today.
This was because today was the day the branch leaders of each regional branch gathered together to settle the tribute payments.
Therefore, the gatekeepers guarding the main gate of the Black Path Gang had their eyes filled with intense focus.
Just then.
A boy clad in shabby clothing walked before the main gate of the Black Path Gang.
With a foul-smelling bone held in his hand.
The gatekeeper snorted.
“What kind of dog bone rolled in from where again?”
Toward Chui standing before the main gate, the gatekeeper spat and said.
“Are you carrying that around to gnaw on it? Get lost. It smells.”
However, the gatekeeper could not continue speaking any longer.
Crack!
This was because his skull was smashed by the bone swung from top to bottom, killing him instantly.
“W-What?!”
“You bastard?!”
The two gatekeepers who were smirking beside him reacted in a hurry, but.
Thud! Crack—
They, too, had their faces caved in by the bone, and their necks broken, dying instantly.
Chui, who had just killed three members of the Black Path Gang.
He shook off the newly dried blood from the bone.
Then he opened the main gate of the Black Path Gang and walked inside.
Under the blazing torches, the manor of the Black Path Gang was clearly visible.
Since it was a place he had also visited before his regression, the internal geography was roughly familiar to his eyes.
‘…I missed many of them back then.’
Chui raised the bone and swung it in the air a few times.
It seemed that his body was not yet warmed up with only three gatekeeper dogs.
‘This time, let’s do it more meticulously.’
Since he had come knowing all the escape routes, he would be able to hunt down and kill even the fellows he had missed in his previous life.
Chui slowly moved his steps.
Deep inside the Black Path Gang.
Into the deepest part of the hunting ground.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost