Chapter 69: The Yangtze River Water Bandits (3)
Splash!
Hae Baek-jeong fell into the water.
Watching that, Chui thought.
‘It seems they are not well united.’
Compared to the righteous path, the organizations of the heterodox path did not have such a deep bond even among the same gang.
Furthermore, weren’t they a band of water bandits who plundered the Yangtze River as a habit?
Even if a mutiny broke out among themselves and they engaged in a sword fight, it was not strange in the least.
……However.
“What is that guy? Kill him too!”
“Kill everyone who seems related to that female pig bitch!”
“It is better not to leave any source of future trouble. Bring my bow and arrows.”
“As for the rest, lower the nets! We will sweep from the bottom of the river entirely!”
The water bandits shot nets and arrows at Chui as well.
They seemed to intend to kill everyone here.
Anyway, since he met water bandits on the river, a battle was inevitable.
Chui judged so.
“That will not do.”
Chui settled down to the riverbed.
There, smooth black pebbles were seen thickly piled up.
Thump!
Chui struck down his staff, vibrating the pebbles.
Creeeeak! Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack!
A huge shockwave shattered all the pebbles, and the fine mud dust that had settled beneath began to spread upward.
The clear water became muddy in an instant.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Chui continued to stomp his feet, raising mud clouds.
The arrows shot from above gradually began to lose their accuracy.
Ping—
A stray arrow grazed past Chui’s cheek.
‘Internal strength is loaded in it.’
It seemed that experts who could use bows quite well were aboard the boat.
In terms of rank within the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union, they would probably be around the rank of Hundred-Head.
‘…No wonder the arrows were piercing thuddingly all the way to the riverbed since earlier.’
Chui retreated to the deep bottom of the river to avoid the arrows.
However, he could not just hide at the bottom.
Unlike in the Hegemon Society, the water bandits had a measure to harass the enemy hidden in the water.
Splash!
The net lowered from the boat spread wide and began to sweep the bottom.
Rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle!
Hook-shaped lead weights attached to the end of the bottom-drag net dug and scraped between the pebbles, rushing in at a fierce speed.
Fish that had been moving between the upper, middle, and lower layers of the water were all caught in the net.
Chui was also caught in the net that swept his body in an instant.
“…”
The net was very tough and also strong.
Perhaps because it was twisted in several layers by mixing tree bark, vines, and animal tendons, and then soaked in salt, it could not be torn apart at once.
In addition, since the water current was strong, there was even less of a way.
If one got caught in such a net while in the water, one had to entrust their life to the person pulling up the net.
And if the net was not pulled up, one would have no choice but to drown while tightly bound in the water.
However, Chui did not really like leaving his life to someone else’s mercy.
Slice!
Chui raised the Plum Blossom Sword he had hung at his waist and cut the net.
A hole was made in the tough mesh, and Chui escaped through it.
The time he was dragged by the water bandits was not very long.
The boat probably could not move.
“…”
When he raised his head, the bottom of the boat dragging the net above was seen.
Chui swung his staff largely toward the rear of the boat.
Whoosh!
A huge water current arose, pulling up an countless amount of pebbles and mud.
Surge—
It seemed to wriggle like a giant dragon, and then soon began to spout toward the surface of the water.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
A dark wave rose along with a roaring sound.
It was a wave that was not only large in size, but also contained an enormous weight of pebbles and mud inside its body.
Naturally, the water bandits on the water surface went into a frenzy.
“W-What is that!?”
“The wave is rushing in! Turn the rudder!”
“Helmsman! Where did that bastard helmsman go!?”
“Aaargh! It’s coming! It’s coming! It’s coming! It’s coming! It’s coming!”
The boat, which saw the wave descending from behind, hastily turned its bow toward the port side.
Swoooosh!
As the boat tilted its body diagonally, the impact touching the wave was greatly reduced.
Clatter, crash, bang! Creak! Creak!
Several water bandits rolled around the deck and hit the mast or railing, breaking their necks and dying instantly.
However. Even if they endured the wave, they could not avoid the shower of pebbles and mud raining inside it.
Smash—Creeeak!
The planks constituting the boat broke, screaming terribly.
The water bandits on the boat grit their teeth and shouted.
“The guy is at the bottom!”
“He is a monster! He is raising a tsunami!”
“Nets! Bring the nets! Bring all of them!”
“No need for bows! Throw the nets!”
Nothing was visible in the water, which had completely turned into mud.
Therefore, the water bandits could no longer shoot bows.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Eventually, several layers of nets were thrown in succession.
Not only that, but the water bandits were driving the boat toward the place where the nets they had already set, and the discarded waste nets, were located.
‘…Hmm.’
Chui also noticed this fact quickly.
Because every time a wave rippled, the waste nets floating in the water clung together like black ghosts.
Slice—slice!
Chui swung the blade of the Plum Blossom Sword to cut the nets that wound in several layers.
If there had been no sharp and keen blade like the Plum Blossom Sword, it would not have been easy to cut the nets with an awl, hammer, or staff.
Chui thanked Oh Ja-woon, who crossed the plank path, and muttered briefly.
‘Since I received it, I will return it.’
Chui laid his staff horizontally and stirred largely sideways once.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
The waves raged, making the shape of a whirlpool.
Rooooooooar!
The lump of water bulging above the surface seemed to twist into a whirlpool shape, and then soon created a huge whirlpool-shaped water pillar.
“W-What is that?”
The water bandits on the boat opened their mouths, not even thinking of turning the steering wheel.
The large wave from earlier could be bypassed with steering skills, but there was absolutely no way to deal with that.
Because it was a natural disaster that even the well-worn water bandits of the Yangtze River were seeing for the first time.
Eventually.
Creeeeeak!
The water current Chui created struck the side of the boat.
The planks tore like wet sheets of paper.
The water bandits inside began to be swept away like a swarm of ants in a flood.
Of course, that was not all.
Mud, wood pieces, pebbles, reef fragments, ropes, torn net fragments, lead weights, fish, etc. mixed in the current and flew in at a tremendous speed.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!
They struck all at once into the bodies of the water bandits who were holding onto the boat and enduring.
A certain water bandit had his face hit by a lump of mud flying at an enormous speed, bursting his two eyeballs, and breaking his nose bone and front teeth.
Another water bandit had pebbles pierce through his torso.
Another water bandit had all his fingers wrapped in the net mesh torn off.
Another water bandit had a flying fish lodge in his face and died instantly.
They died off.
They all died off.
Whether it was the rank of Hundred-Head or Ten-Head, it was meaningless.
“Aaargh! How can we fight something like that!?”
One water bandit abandoned the boat in terror.
He kicked off the deck, leaped up, and dove into the water, but.
“…!”
Truly unfortunately, Chui was there.
“?”
Chui extended his awl toward the water bandit swimming fiercely toward him.
Squelch!
Along with the sound of a hole being made in the skin, blood spurted out.
“Aaargh!”
Screams of water bandits were heard from all over.
They all seemed to be diving into the water, abandoning the boat.
Chui stabbed and killed the water bandits who jumped into the water on their own one by one with his awl.
It was a return gift for the nets and arrows.
“Gasp!”
“Keugheok!”
Bubble, bubble, bubble…
The corpses of the water bandits who had dived into the water floated to the surface one by one.
Most were those who were hit and killed by floating debris swept by the water current or drowned by being wrapped in waste nets, rather than those killed by Chui’s awl.
“…”
Chui turned his head left and right.
The water, which had been so clear, became dark red due to mud and blood.
Since his vision was completely blocked, he had to rely on his qi sense (氣感).
‘Are there none?’
No sign of anything living was felt.
He even released the spear ghost to sweep the surroundings, but not a single water bandit who survived remained.
Thud—
Chui searched for a relatively shallow riverbed and inserted his staff vertically there.
And stepping and standing on it, he straightened his legs and waist.
Splash—
Chui poked his head above the water surface.
“Hew—”
Everything rippling was completely dark and red.
The smell of water, mud, and blood vibrated.
Chui took his eyes off the boat slowly sinking far away and looked at the dry land.
“No additional forces?”
It was a strange thing.
Even though he ran wild quite loudly on the river, no water bandits coming to support were seen.
Originally, bandits are like nits, so if you kill one, ten come, and if you kill ten, a hundred come.
“Strange.”
Chui shrugged his shoulders.
And collecting his staff, he went down to the riverbed and walked up to the dry land.
Boom!
When he injected internal energy to shake his clothes, the moisture disappeared quickly.
Rather than drying, it was close to being shaken off by a shockwave.
However, even after drying his clothes, Chui stood in place as he was for a while.
Because the water bandits might additionally come more just in case.
“…”
However, even as time passed, no sign of popular presence was particularly felt.
Chui waited until the black things completely settled and the red things were all washed away in the dark red river, but nothing occurred.
“What a strange thing.”
Chui checked if the staff and the Plum Blossom Sword blade were fine, and finally confirmed that the awl, hammer, and bundle of silk threads were all there before moving his steps.
Losing the poison jar and the few remaining caltrops in the process of escaping the net was deeply regrettable, but it was unavoidable.
Eventually, Chui walked to the downstream of the river.
When he crossed a few peaks, a watercourse laid with black pebbles was seen again.
“…!”
An interesting scene was unfolding there.
“Heave… gasp… pant…”
Hae Baek-jeong.
She looked as if she had barely climbed onto the land after experiencing all sorts of hardships while drifting downstream.
Around Hae Baek-jeong, who was panting with a tired expression while completely soaked in water, dozens of water bandits were gathered like a swarm of bees.
Several water bandits were already seen lying on the ground.
Seeing that every single one had their heads split into two pieces, it would probably be the work created by Hae Baek-jeong’s axe blade.
“I wondered why they weren’t there, and they were all gathered over there.”
The remaining forces Chui had expected were all flocked over there.
Probably they seemed to be water bandits who came to strike Hae Baek-jeong from the beginning.
Hae Baek-jeong was placed on the verge of death, surrounded by her own subordinates.
Of course, naturally, there was no reason for Chui to help her.
…
It was so until an familiar name was heard from the mouth of one of the gathered water bandits.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost