Chapter 7: Revenge (2)
Ouyang Po, leader of the Black Path Gang.
He was in a slightly sensitive state while settling the tribute that had to be paid to the upper organization.
There was a man who was sneering at such a Ouyang Po.
An escort warrior of the Cao Family Manor. He was the one who always protected Cao Taibeom.
“You failed, didn’t you?”
“······.”
At the escort warrior’s words, Ouyang Po kept his mouth shut.
As if he already had a headache due to the tribute issue, things got even more twisted.
The escort warrior of the Cao Family Manor had an annoyed expression from beginning to end.
“The Manor Lord is very angry. And so is our young master.”
“······.”
“Disguising the Black Path Gang members as Green Forest bandits to attack the Swift Tiger Escort Agency. Killing all the escorts to completely break the prestige of the Swift Tiger Escort Agency, and the Black Path Gang handling the plundered escort goods on your own. In addition, plenty of rewards from our Cao Family Manor. What a profitable business this was, wasn’t it?”
“······.”
“But you couldn’t even do that, so how did it end up in this state? Phew. That’s why the tribute to be offered to the Heterodox Alliance is also on the line. What if a Debt Collecting Ghost comes down at this rate? What will you do then?”
Ouyang Po could not talk back to the escort warrior’s sneering.
It was a strange thing.
He had certainly grasped the martial arts level of the Swift Tiger Escort Agency’s escorts perfectly.
He sent enough people to wipe them out, so why was this side wiped out instead?
Since not a single Black Path Gang member returned alive, there was no way to know what on earth had happened.
Eventually, Ouyang Po showed his annoyance.
“We will succeed next time. Because I will send the Four Heroes of the Black Path.”
“You should have sent them from the very beginning, shouldn’t you?”
“Did I know it would turn out like this? In the first place, it is also the fault of the Cao Family Manor for misinforming us about the level of the Swift Tiger Escort Agency escorts’ martial arts.”
“You are blaming this on us? Ha.”
The escort warrior smirked.
Soon, he leaned his upper body forward and spoke in a serious tone.
“There must be no mistake this time.”
“I understand.”
“Only if the Swift Tiger Escort Agency’s current escort mission fails will the Tiger Pit Sect be driven into a financial corner. Only then will those guys accept our young master’s marriage proposal.”
“I said I understand.”
“Our young master’s mind will be at ease only when he sees Ho Ye-yang, that girl who has nothing but pride, eventually selling her body because she cannot overcome money. Do you understand?”
“Ah, how many times do I have to tell you!”
The escort warrior and Ouyang Po bickered.
Right at that moment.
Boom!
A loud explosion sounded from far down the hallway.
“······?”
“What is it?”
Ouyang Po and the escort warrior stood up at the same time.
At that moment,
Thud—
Something rolled inside the inner chamber.
Roll, roll, roll……
It was four heads.
The Four Heroes of the Black Path. The top experts of the Black Path Gang.
The four strongest martial artists in the Black Path Gang, excluding Ouyang Po, had rolled in like this with only their heads remaining.
* * *
From the very beginning at the front gate until entering the inner manor, Chui killed exactly forty-four people.
He did not use any other weapon.
The single horse bone in his hand was all he had.
Crack—
A human skull touched by the horse’s femur,
Thwack—
crumbled like grains of sand.
At that time,
“Who is the one causing a ruckus?”
There were four people blocking Chui’s path.
Red Face, Scarface, One-eye, and Beard.
Their martial arts levels were between third-rate and second-rate.
Chui quickly grasped their identities.
“You are the Four Heroes of the Black Path, right?”
“An arrogant young punk like you…… gasp!?”
One of the Four Heroes of the Black Path could not finish his sentence and gasped for air.
It was because Chui suddenly lifted his foot and kicked Red Face’s crotch.
“Keuhak!?”
Both testicles burst one after another.
As Red Face collapsed while grabbing his crotch, the man with a scar on his face rushed to his side.
At that, Chui immediately reached out his fingers and stabbed Scarface’s eyes.
“Aaargh! Fuck!”
Over the head of Scarface, who was retreating while holding his eyes, One-eye and Beard leapt.
Chui threw the bone toward One-eye’s blind spot, while simultaneously stepping back to avoid Beard’s sword.
Thwack!
One-eye, whose head was grazed by the horse bone flying like a flying wheel, collapsed straight onto the floor.
From his slightly crushed temple, brain fluid was dripping drop by drop.
At the same time, Chui kicked a porcelain vase in the hallway.
Crash!
The middle section of the vase shattered, and sharp shards immediately scattered into the air.
……Puff-puff-puff!
The sharp shards stained the face of Red Face, who was clutching his crotch with one hand, even redder.
“Argh!”
The moment Red Face hesitated, Chui picked up the horse bone that had fallen to the floor and struck his face with it.
Cave-in—
His blood-red face caved in abnormally.
Eyeballs and teeth flew out and scattered in different directions.
“W-What is this bastard? Why does he fight so weirdly?”
Beard opened his mouth in disbelief.
Even in the underworld where bizarre fighting methods were rampant, there was no one who fought ruthlessly in this manner.
At least as far as he knew.
Right at that moment.
“Uwaaaaah!”
The enraged Scarface rushed forward.
Whoosh—
The sword was swung, but because the hallway was narrow, its trajectory could not be fully completed.
Chui ducked to avoid the sword, then raised his head and bit off Scarface’s ear.
Crunch!
As the ear was torn off, fresh blood gushed out.
“Heuak!?”
The moment Scarface, who was retreating while holding his ear, lost his footing,
Stab!
Chui picked up a piece of porcelain and drove it deep into Scarface’s torn ear canal.
Thud!
With Scarface lying on the floor as well, Beard was now all alone.
“U-Uhhh……”
Beard retreated hesitantly.
Chui walked toward him.
Chew, chew…… crunch, crunch—
Chui spat the ear he was chewing onto the floor.
His attitude was so leisurely that he seemed like someone who had just come out for a walk.
“Y-You bastard!”
Beard drew his long sword and swung it toward Chui.
However,
Chui avoided the sword all too easily and dug into the opening in Beard’s flank.
Crack!
The bone smashed the bone.
Beard realized that not only were his ribs completely shattered, but they had also punctured his lungs.
He dropped his sword.
Then, clutching his flank, he collapsed against the wall.
“Pant…… pant…… Who are you? Who sent you?”
“The blacksmith shop.”
“What?”
Beard furrowed his brows, as if he did not understand.
But Chui did not answer any further.
He only cocked the horse bone in his hand backward,
Crack!
and swung it hard, shattering both the wall and Beard’s lower jaw at the same time.
“Four Heroes of the Black Path. Done.”
Chui picked up a sword.
Then he severed the heads from the fallen corpses.
Sometimes, the human body becomes a good means to convey one’s intentions.
It was even more so for an opponent who could not be reasoned with words.
Chui cut off the heads of the Four Heroes of the Black Path and tied their hair together.
Then he walked with quick steps down the corridor that had turned red, heading further inside.
‘Hmm. Should I have come after the weapon was finished?’
But to do that, he would have to wait for a whole day.
It was better to warm up his body in the meantime.
‘Only then can I visit the Cao Family Manor right away.’
Chui stopped, cracking his neck left and right.
Thud— roll, roll, roll……
He rolled the four heads in order.
None of them rolled properly because their conditions were a mess, but that would rather convey his meaning better.
Soon,
“Ahem— cough!”
A response quickly came from inside the corridor.
The escort warrior of the Cao Family Manor walked out.
“I belong to the Cao Family Manor of the Orthodox Faction and have nothing to do with these filthy unorthodox Black Path bandits. Today, I only came to negotiate a few things.”
He bowed slightly to Chui.
“You seem to be a hero who has come to subjugate these wicked Black Path Gang members, so shall I lend a hand?”
“······.”
Chui did not answer otherwise.
Only,
“Pui—”
he bit his lip to draw blood and spat it toward the escort warrior.
“Ugh!?”
He was startled and stepped back after the blood Chui spat hit his eyes.
“What are you doing! I belong to the Cao Family Manor, not the Black Path Gang…… Aaaargh!?”
The escort warrior stopped mid-sentence and suddenly began to rub his eyes frantically.
Chui recalled what the Blood Demon had said in the past.
‘One who has proficiently mastered this martial art is called a “Towering Vessel.” The blood of a Towering Vessel is like extreme poison to most martial artists. This is because it has the property of burning and drying up others’ internal energy that is not one’s own.’
Currently, Chui’s Spear Ghost Calling was still at the Bowed Pavilion stage, and even that was merely the first tier.
It was still a long way to go to reach the stage of Towering Vessel.
‘Still, it has some effect.’
Judging by how the escort warrior in front of him was rubbing his eyes vigorously and going wild, the efficacy seemed quite decent.
Even if it was not a deadly poison, it would be at the level of scattering extremely spicy red pepper powder in the eyes.
…Clang!
The escort warrior drew a sword from his waist.
A slash that was much faster and sharper than the previous Four Heroes of the Black Path swept down.
Seeing that his internal energy was condensed in the form of a faint gas, he was a warrior of at least the second-rate.
Riiip!
The wall touched by the escort warrior’s sword split like tofu.
The airflow of internal energy rotating at high speed along the blade had cut the wall.
Crash!
One side of the wall collapsed.
But Chui raised the horse bone without being flustered in the slightest.
The energy he had been hiding behind his breath until now exploded without filtration.
Sssssss……
A blood-red haze crept up from the small holes in the surface of the horse bone.
The resentful spirits of those he had beaten to death while entering the Black Path Gang until now gathered ominously at the tip of the blood-dripping horse bone.
[Save me……]
[I don’t want to die……]
[It hurts…… It’s cold……]
[Sob, sob, sob, sob, sob, sob, sob, sob……]
At the very end, the faces of the Four Heroes of the Black Path, who had become Spear Ghost, appeared; they constantly hovered around Chui’s body, shedding tears of blood.
The escort warrior of the Cao Family Manor, who barely opened his eyes and saw it, was terrified.
“D-Demonic arts!?”
It was not some crude trick of the heterodox faction, but the symbol of a genuine Public Enemy of the Martial World.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost