Chapter 44: Shaking The Prefecture City
Night fell.
Linjiang Prefecture.
In the northwest corner of the prefecture city, a large area of courtyards.
A ghostly figure, like a phantom lurking in the dark night, moved freely through the courtyard walls, appearing and disappearing unpredictably.
As the figure flickered, it barely disturbed the wind, suddenly arriving at a large mansion at the very center of the courtyard area.
This was the Dragon River Gang’s stronghold.
Within Linjiang Prefecture City, various factions mingled, with all sorts of people gathering, and numerous gang forces, with over a hundred gangs alone that could be named.
And even among these many gangs, the Dragon River Gang’s influence and notoriety ranked in the top three.
Or, more accurately, its ill repute.
The Dragon River Gang controlled several small and medium-sized wharves and warehouse districts on the outskirts of the prefecture city. Merchant ships coming and going, docking and unloading cargo, had to pay a substantial guarding fee if they lacked powerful backing.
Simultaneously, they aggressively seized territory within the city, extorting ‘protection money’ from shops and vendors in their territory.
Furthermore, the Dragon River Gang’s primary sources of income were usury, operating brothels and gambling dens, and doing dirty work for certain noble clans and powerful families.
“Yan Laosan at the wharf has improved several notches.”
Hong Yuan stretched out his arms, like a great bird spreading its wings to soar, and lightly glided towards the main house, the thought crossing his mind.
In truth, it was not surprising.
The high and mighty noble families and influential clans, the lords and generals, and the lowly, corrupt gangs were merely two sides of the same coin.
Where were there so many good and kind individuals?
To maintain a life of luxury and indulgence, the methods of operation were largely the same; it was just that noble families and the powerful needed to maintain an appearance, wrapping themselves in a layer of elegant packaging.
As for why Hong Yuan appeared in the prefecture city, it was because during the weapon forging period, he always needed something to do, lest he waste time idly.
Whoosh!
His body leaped into the air, as if arriving on the wind, drifting towards the courtyard where the main house was located.
Hong Yuan’s body was still in mid-air when he heard a continuous, sharp whistling sound of piercing wind.
Crossbow bolts!
More than ten crossbow bolts whistled from above and all around, directly targeting Hong Yuan’s vital points. In an instant, he was plunged into an extremely dangerous situation.
No room to advance or retreat, no way to evade!
Just as he was about to be riddled with arrows like a porcupine in the next moment, his sleeve suddenly fluttered, unfurling as gently as a cloud.
What unfurled was not a cloud.
It was blade light!
A sheet of cold, gleaming blade light shot out from Hong Yuan’s sleeve. It was a curved saber with a narrow blade. Once gripped in his palm, it was like a crescent moon rising in the dark night.
The cold, dark crescent moon rose, and the blade light surged, instantly engulfing all ten-plus incoming crossbow bolts.
With a series of crisp ‘pfft’ sounds, the crossbow bolts turned into fragments and debris, scattering in all directions, splashing towards various parts of the courtyard.
Crack! Crackle!
“Good! Very good!”
Accompanied by the sound of applause was a hoarse voice, as harsh as a night owl’s hoot: “As expected of the ‘Flying Sky Yaksha’ who has become famous in the prefecture city in such a short time, this eyesight, this lightness skill, this blade technique… you truly have some substance, worthy of the preparations I, Li Jiao, have made for you!”
Whoosh!
Torches were also lit on the surrounding rooftops at this moment.
Under the torchlight, the sounds of figures leaping to the ground echoed from all sides. A total of eight burly men with sharp auras surrounded them.
They held powerful crossbows, already loaded with bolts.
A clear breeze stirred the torches, casting half the courtyard in an unsteady light and shadow.
Two figures emerged from the main house.
One was about forty years old, not tall, but extremely robust and solid, with dark skin like a piece of iron that had been tempered for a long time.
His eyes held a ruthless glint, and he stared at Hong Yuan with a cold smile.
This person was none other than the Dragon River Gang Leader, Li Jiao!
The other was short and ordinary-looking, with only a pair of narrow, sinister eyes. This person kept his hands tucked into his wide sleeves, watching the scene with great interest.
“So this is the ‘Flying Sky Yaksha,’ I wonder what he truly looks like? Is he as terrifying as the legends say?”
“Brother Cao, do not be impatient. After we capture this villain, you can look all you want,” Li Jiao said indifferently.
Hong Yuan ignored the eight crossbowmen surrounding him and looked straight ahead, speaking, “Li Jiao, you knew I was coming to find you?”
“Heh heh!” Li Jiao emitted a hoarse chuckle, his gaze playful. “You ‘Flying Sky Yaksha,’ starting from Wushan County, you’ve fought your way through various counties, challenged masters from all paths. A few days ago, you arrived in the prefecture city, and in just a few days, you’ve defeated six martial arts school masters, three gang leaders, and two masters from noble clans. Any of them with a bad reputation who fell into your hands either died or were crippled!”
“Would someone of my great renown, Li Jiao, be overlooked by you? If I hadn’t made some preparations, wouldn’t you have underestimated me?”
Li Jiao’s gaze grew colder. “If you don’t want to suffer, I, Li, advise you to surrender. I, Li, am someone who cherishes talent. With your martial arts, if you’re willing to serve me, this Gang Leader will let bygones be bygones.”
As he spoke, Li Jiao already regarded the other as a bird in a cage, a turtle in a jar.
He had reason to be confident.
Besides the eight crossbowmen in the courtyard and himself, the Cao Gang beside him was an evil path master who had fled from his manor. It was said he had murdered and raped women from several noble families, leading to him being jointly pursued by several major noble clans and forced to flee.
To win over this Cao Gang, Li Jiao had paid a great price.
But it was worth it.
This Cao Gang was a master on par with him, both having reached the level of “balance of hardness and softness, freely controlled.”
This was not all. In various parts of this mansion, Li Jiao had also hidden nearly a hundred agile and skilled men. As soon as he clapped his hands and lit a torch,
these subordinates would receive the signal and swarm in!
Huh?!
Li Jiao frowned, his heart skipping a beat. He suddenly felt that something was amiss. He clapped his hands again with force.
The clear sound of clapping echoed in the night and spread with the wind to a distant place.
Li Jiao’s face turned rigid, as if he had been slapped hard across the face, turning ashen.
Cao Gang’s narrowed eyes suddenly widened, and he looked at Hong Yuan in astonishment.
“If you want to summon your subordinates, I suggest you save your strength, or I’ll send you down to join them immediately.”
Hong Yuan’s gaze fell on the curved saber in his palm, and he chuckled lightly.
“Impossible. Both Brother Cao and I were very vigilant. That’s nearly a hundred people. Even a microscopic level grandmaster couldn’t have killed them without a sound…”
Besides disbelief, Li Jiao felt more pain – heartache!
Those nearly hundred people were his true core. They had cultivated their strength for years, and even if they couldn’t each fight ten men, they could at least hold their own against three or five ordinary ones.
With so many people gone, he couldn’t even describe it as a severe loss of vitality; it was like losing an arm and a leg.
Once word got out, other forces would likely seize the opportunity to try and annex his Dragon River Gang.
Hong Yuan was unsure if the microscopic level could achieve this.
But for him, it was not difficult. His talent of “Clear Eyes and Penetrating Sight” provided a powerful perception of minute details within three zhang, making the so-called ambush a joke.
If the other party lit torches, it would have taken Hong Yuan some effort to sneak in.
But since the other party wanted to set up an ambush and surprise attack without any light, it completely became Hong Yuan’s domain. He easily crept up behind wave after wave of people, and with a sweep of his curved saber, he reaped their lives.
Everything was silent in the dark night.
“The night is long, and I have much to do. If Gang Leader Li has no further questions, I will send you on your way now. Don’t keep your brothers waiting too long!”
Hong Yuan flicked the edge of his saber with his finger. A clear, crisp ‘ding’ sound, as if opening a signal.
“Fire!”
Li Jiao roared, killing intent overflowing in his eyes. “Kill him!”
There was no need to worry about the Dragon River Gang being plundered later. If he didn’t kill this Flying Sky Yaksha now, what future would there be?
The powerful arrows whistled, tearing through the air, and in the blink of an eye, they struck again.
Hong Yuan slanted his curved saber, splitting an arrow with a ‘ch’ sound. Before the arrowhead could fall, it was struck by his blade, swiftly shot out, piercing the throat of a crossbowman.
Then, the blade light shifted, and Hong Yuan himself seemed enveloped within it. He suddenly flickered to the side of two crossbowmen, and the remaining arrows missed their mark.
The curved saber swirled again, and with a crisp sound like tearing silk, the heads of two crossbowmen flew into the air simultaneously, while Hong Yuan disappeared again.
A fierce gust of wind assailed them.
Li Jiao and Cao Gang felt a chill on their faces as a dark shadow appeared before them, the curved saber swinging down.
“Do you really think this Gang Leader is afraid of you?”
Li Jiao suddenly produced a pair of Water-Splitting Daggers in his hand. They tore through the air with incredible speed, and with a sharp whistling sound, the daggers collided with the blade, creating a series of sparks and light.
Amidst the flickering light and sparks, Li Jiao’s expression changed.
The opponent’s strength was great, and his blade technique was fast.
But it was far from the imposing presence of a top-tier master who could silently kill a hundred men, as he had anticipated!
Cao Gang, standing on the other side, also shifted his footing. His movement was extremely strange, like a snake suddenly darting up.
His hands, kept in his sleeves, were long and pale white, changing rapidly. Sometimes palm, sometimes finger, they made whistling sounds, like two poisonous snakes flicking their forked tongues.
One hand coiled like a snake, wrapping towards Hong Yuan’s neck, while the other transformed into a snake’s kiss, fiercely aiming for his glabella.
“Eh?!”
Hong Yuan was slightly surprised. He had sparred with many masters, but martial arts with such exquisite force transformations as Cao Gang’s were still few and far between.
Cao Gang’s palms were like nimble snakes, changing through many wondrous postures, pursuing Hong Yuan’s evasive form, his finger and palm movements releasing and retracting force intermittently.
This was a hallmark of the “freely controlled” level.
In the first layer of force transformation, once the force reached the fingers and palms, regardless of whether the martial artist wanted to retract it at that moment, there was no opportunity to do so.
The force was like a dam bursting, only able to be unleashed.
However, at the “balance of hardness and softness, freely controlled” level, one could move force to the fingers and palms, holding it in readiness, like a fully drawn bow, only releasing it at will upon contact with the enemy.
Seeing the Flying Sky Yaksha struggling under Cao Gang’s pursuit, only occasionally counterattacking with his curved saber, Li Jiao, holding his Water-Splitting Daggers, ferociously pounced, joining the encirclement.
He sneered repeatedly, “I was almost fooled by this scoundrel. Your martial arts are nothing special. What sorcery did you use to harm my men?”
“Let me guess, poison? Or perhaps sorcery?”
As Li Jiao spoke, his speed increased, his pair of Water-Splitting Daggers like venomous scorpions, whistling through the air, incessantly stabbing out.
The three fought at incredible speed, weapons whistling within the courtyard, the green bricks shattering underfoot, sending gravel splashing towards the remaining five crossbowmen.
These five men raised and lowered their crossbows, lowered and raised them again. They were merely watching the battle by the flickering torchlight, and the speed of the three was so great that their eyesight dared not fire easily!
Li Jiao and Cao Gang fought together, feeling the battle was exhilarating, the most satisfying battle of their lives.
Moreover, although it was their first time fighting together, as they fought, they became more coordinated, as if they were brothers with a deep understanding.
They had completely suppressed the opponent.
A sinister grin appeared on Li Jiao’s face. His Water-Splitting Daggers became a blur, rapidly striking at Hong Yuan’s vital points, coldly saying, “How much longer can you last? Three moves? Ten moves? Flying Sky Yaksha? Tonight, I’ll turn you into a dead Yaksha!”
‘The martial arts styles of these two have some similarities; both are adept at strange and unpredictable variations, though Li Jiao leans towards hard force, while the other leans towards soft force…’
‘Hmm, so force can be used like this. I’ve learned something, learned something!’
In the eyes of Li Jiao and Cao Gang, Hong Yuan, who was caught between them and seemingly on the verge of being captured and killed, was still able to think of other things.
With more encounters against various masters, Hong Yuan’s combat experience grew rapidly. Earlier, he could only use his formidable martial arts to force enemies to reveal their skills.
Now, he could subtly guide the opponent’s life’s martial arts out of them, which was far more advanced.
“Almost there!”
Hong Yuan sighed.
“What? You want to surrender now? Too late! You killed so many of my men, you can only die!” Li Jiao advanced like the wind.
“No, I just wanted to say that I’ve seen enough of your martial arts!”
Hong Yuan’s evasive movements suddenly paused. The curved saber twisted and turned in his palm, then suddenly shot upwards, transforming into a sheet of light, slashing towards Li Jiao’s advancing form.
Li Jiao’s eyes were filled with coldness, and his face showed surprise. Before he could even think, he could only raise his pair of Water-Splitting Daggers to his chest to block.
Chk!
The blade light cut into the gap in an instant, severing both of Li Jiao’s wrists. With another inward sweep, a head flew into the air.
Cao Gang, who had been advancing with Li Jiao, was horrified and stopped in his tracks.
Hong Yuan’s blade momentum was not yet exhausted. He used the residual force to spin his body, and a burst of power from his feet sent him soaring nearly ten zhang high.
In the next moment, he inverted his body, head down and feet up, discarding the curved saber. His left hand opened and closed into a palm, descending like a meteor!
Diamond Palm!
This was the culmination of his current stage of force transformation, integrated with the techniques of many martial artists since his clashes with various masters, starting from Wushan County.
Of course, for Hong Yuan, this was merely the embryonic form of a palm technique. As his martial arts progressed in the future, he would constantly absorb its essence and refine it.
This palm strike came too quickly. Cao Gang’s eyes widened in rage. His hands had only been raised halfway when a palm strike heavily impacted the crown of his head.
Bang!
With a sound of exploding brain matter, the ground beneath Cao Gang trembled violently. Large chunks of green brick were crushed directly, and his feet instantly sank three inches. Then, his leg bones shattered.
Hong Yuan pressed his palm on Cao Gang’s crown, then used that force to ascend again. His legs spun like a whirlwind, kicking out the two fallen Water-Splitting Daggers and Li Jiao’s head.
The Water-Splitting Daggers pierced the chests of two crossbowmen like arrows, and Li Jiao’s head smashed the head of one crossbowman!
The remaining two crossbowmen were terrified. One’s crotch instantly became wet, and he fell to the ground, while the other cried out and fled like a madman.
Hong Yuan flickered, and in an instant, he was in front of the fleeing crossbowman.
Without even looking back, he lightly pointed a finger backward. As the crossbowman continued to run forward, he presented his forehead to Hong Yuan’s fingertip.
With a light touch, a soft ‘plop’ sound, the crossbowman ran a few more steps before falling headfirst, silent.
Hong Yuan leaped deeply and disappeared into the darkness.
As for the remaining crossbowman, Hong Yuan paid him no mind. He needed to leave a survivor to spread his name.
To open the Great Year Blessed Land, he could not adopt a path of timidity.
As for his current identity as the ‘Flying Sky Yaksha,’ Hong Yuan had not concealed it too well; it was only a matter of time before it was revealed.
Hong Yuan had not lied to Li Jiao. He indeed had many things to do tonight and was heading to his next engagement.
The next day.
Dawn broke.
Within Linjiang Prefecture City, as news spread in small circles across several blocks, the destruction of two major gangs overnight was sensationally reported to the Wei, Xiang, Guo, and Yang families, among other noble clans with the most prestige and influence in the prefecture city.
Besides the Dragon River Gang being wiped out, the other gang destroyed was the Long River Association. Its strength was slightly inferior, but its leader’s martial arts were even superior to Li Jiao’s.
The major families had the survivors interrogated thoroughly and sent people to investigate the strongholds of the two gangs. Even with the considerable power and numerous experts within these major families, they felt a sense of dread.
Too ruthless!
The ‘Flying Sky Yaksha’ had of course killed many people before, including several malevolent experts, and his reputation had already spread throughout the prefecture city.
The major noble clans had long noticed this mysterious newcomer, even entertaining thoughts of capturing or recruiting him as he caused such a stir.
However, after this incident, the major noble clans all ceased their activities.
The forces and martial arts of the previous individuals were not as formidable as those of the Dragon River Gang and Long River Association, nor had they caused such a commotion this time.
Attacking two gangs in one night, three “freely controlled” masters dead, including two gang leaders, with hundreds of thugs buried with them!
Martial arts of this caliber, battle records like these, would make even great families feel wary and shocked.
The news investigated by the major noble clans quickly spread.
It was also impossible to hide.
In addition to these noble clans investigating, the remaining gangs were all in a state of panic. Smaller gangs hid deeper like mice, while larger gangs withdrew their forces, their leaders gathering their subordinates around them, providing tight protection.
Soon, the entire prefecture city was in an uproar.
The name of the Flying Sky Yaksha spread through the streets and alleys, known to all.
Meanwhile, Hong Yuan ate breakfast at a large restaurant in the prefecture city, then went to a nearby brothel to clean up. After that, he returned to Black Iron Town refreshed.
He lit a stick of incense, a high-grade incense formula he had purchased from the prefecture city. Its effect was slightly superior to “Thousand Mile Wandering.” Immersed in the rich fragrance, Hong Yuan focused his mind, digesting the gains from the night.
‘After acting last night, I need to slow down. Experts at the second layer of Form Transformation, even several attacking together, might not pose much of a threat to me. Further engaging these individuals won’t yield much gain!’
‘I need to find a Microscopic Level Grandmaster to test my skills… Of course, that’s after the matter at Moon Embracing Garden is resolved, and after I’ve killed Wei Zhenzhu.’
Amidst the lingering fragrance, Hong Yuan entered a state of meditative absorption, until a girl as beautiful as a flower, Xu Qingjing, came to find him.
“Young Master Hong, our two uncles request your presence. Your ‘Life-Snatching Throat-Locking Spear’ has been forged.”
Will I split the updates into two parts from now on? Otherwise, people will always say I’m updating infrequently. Isn’t that how new books usually are? And I’m not a rapid-update writer. This book is mainly for stability…
