Chapter 2: Desperate Teenager
The woman was big and stout and looked around thirty years old. She wore crimson red clothes and a giant red flower situated in her hair. Her face was rough and ugly, and in her hand was a mace whose length was nearly the height of a grown man.
The man next to her was around forty years old and had an ordinary looking face. He wore blue silk robes and a short sword hung around his waist in a yellow wooden sheath. In his hand was a three foot long crossbow. It was not loaded since he had just fired it at Liu Ming as an opening attack.
“You two are not from the Black Tiger Guards, right?” Liu Ming took a deep breath and asked, as he eyed the two people closely.
After living on Savage Island for such a long period, he had learned a long time ago to probe his enemy for weaknesses before starting a fight.
His question was both a probe as to how strong they were and a way to stall for time.
In actuality, as soon as their gazes had met, Liu Ming’s brain had already started working.
The woman, with her thick arms and heavy footstep, is obviously a strength type. She is possibly a bit inferior in speed but with that weapon in her hand, even the slightest contact cannot be allowed. The man has white and steady hands and a shady look. He most likely has some kind of special skill. Against him, full attention and caution is required…
The other two naturally did not know that the weak looking teenager would be thinking about so much information in such a short time. This was their first time facing such a young opponent and they could not help but reveal an expression of interest.
The man grabbed a new bolt with one hand and reloaded his crossbow, that had multiple vents, while saying icily, “Liu Yang Zong, from the Yang City in the south. Seven years ago, he deceived the king and was sent to the jail in Nan Lan County; he later died of sickness in jail. His son, however, was given a chance to live due to his young age although he would have to live out the rest of his life imprisoned on Savage Island. Yet, a month ago, Savage Island sunk to the bottom of the Dead Sea for reasons unknown. Most of the prisoners died in the waters, despite that only Liu Ming and eleven other people escaped from the Dead Sea. Now the Ministry of Justice has issued silver rank bounties for the escaped convicts: dead or alive. Am I right?”
The man’s voice faded as the red woman next to him let out a sharp laugh, “Little brat, this man died seven days ago by our hands. Was he your comrade?”
She casually grabbed a leather bag from her waist and threw it on the ground.
“Dok.” The bag flipped around and out rolled a bloody head.
The head was covered by quite a bit of facial hair, making him look around the age of forty. The head had a coarse dark expression on it while its mouth hung limply open.
Liu Ming glanced at the head and his heart instantly dropped. He whispered a name, “Steel-head…”
“So, I wasn’t wrong. Looks like you do recognize him. Brat, if you quietly let us arrest you the two of us can give you some leeway, and you might even survive after being judged. However, if you decide to make a move now, we will kill you without fail.” The man dressed in blue said after he finished reloading his crossbow.
“The two of you already know so much about me which means you two are probably from the Ministry of Justice. What level are you two? Using such empty promises to deceive me; are you lying to me because I’m young? The Imperial law cannot be defied. With the number of Black Tiger Guards I’ve killed, I’m afraid that even if the king himself was in my defense, I’d still be hacked into pieces.” Liu Ming blinked his eyes and did not for a second believe the man in blue.
The man snorted at this answer, neither denying nor confirming anything.
The red woman to the side laughed and said, “It’s unbelievable that this child is so young and still understands the Imperial laws so well; the people from Savage Island are extraordinary. Even if they are young, you cannot underestimate them. You are right that he, my husband, and I, the wife, serve the Ministry of Justice. Specifically, we’re at the Silver Scale level. Little brother, when you die and reach the Huang Quan, don’t blame us for bullying the weak. Husband, do it!”
TL: Huang Quan = Chinese interpretation of where souls go
When the ugly woman finished talking, her expression suddenly turned cold. She attacked, the swing of her mace fiercely whistled through the air as it sped toward the young man.
Despite her large body, she was abnormally agile; even though the mace in her hand was gigantic, she swung it as if it was weightless.
With perfect coordination, the man in blue on the other side raised the giant crossbow and fired a dozen bolts, which shot forth like cold rays of light, toward Liu Ming’s sides.
Liu Ming grimaced. If he dodged to the left or right, he would be jumping straight in front of the crossbow bolts, but if he remained in the center, then he would have to face the attack of the ugly woman.
Their coordination was flawless, it was no wonder that the two of them were husband and wife.
As Liu Ming looked at the scene, his face changed. However, his mind continued to move. The next moment he took in a breath of air, and his hand tightly clutched onto his silver blade. His sword became a streak of light as he swung it at the ugly woman’s head.
Even when face to face with the giant mace, Liu Ming paid it no heed. It was basically trading fatal hits.
The ugly woman’s eyes narrowed. Although she knew that her foe was not trying to die together with her, she was not willing to actually risk her life. She was forced to change her stature and pull her mace back a bit in order to block the silver sword.
Liu Ming’s flicked his wrist and the silver sword retracted in a blur to prevent a collision with the mace. Then, he viciously swung the sword twice, once to the left and once to the right.
“Dang Dang.” Two bolts that were swerving toward Liu Ming were instantly knocked away.
“Brat!” From a distance, the man in blue could not bite back his curse when he saw his bolts stopped. Grasping something at his waist, he once again started to reload the crossbow.
The special move he used earlier to secretly control the path of the bolts had dealt with countless strong enemies. He never would have guessed that it would be ineffective against this young man.
The ugly woman was also surprised but quickly regained her focus. She furiously swung her mace and started to battle with the young man once more.
Every time she swung the massive weapon, wind would rage around it. Her whole body grew huge in ferocity, as if transforming into a humanoid beast. Her strength was unstoppable.
In contrast, Liu Ming’s silver sword did not clash with the mace at all. It transformed into a ray of silver light as he circled around the ugly woman, trying to avoid most of the attacks.
Although he was at a disadvantage, every attack of his was aimed at a vital spot of the ugly woman. Every attack forced her to slow down her offence in order to protect herself.
Even though the woman’s martial prowess was far above Liu Ming’s, this situation caused her to yell out in frustration.
Liu Ming did not care; he strengthened his resolve and continued to endlessly dance around the ugly woman.
Looking at him right now, he almost seemed relaxed. However, in reality, he had once again used a secret technique to squeeze out the last bit of strength from his body. Otherwise, his weak body would have been blown away by the violent winds created by the mace alone and he would have been unable to attack the woman.
From afar, as the man in blue saw the situation at hand, his was shocked.
He was fully aware of how powerful his wife was.
Although they would often practice with each other, he would never dare fight her directly in such a straightforward manner. However, this boy—who was still in his teens—could actually accomplish such a thing.
It was as if this boy started training martial arts while in his mother’s womb.
To his knowledge, some wealthy nobles would have their descendant train in body strengthening techniques from an early age. They would use various medicinal baths and have them ingest elixirs nonstop, but even the most intense training would never produce someone as strong as the young man in front of him right now.
Fortunately, the young man was still young and his strength was obviously not enough. If another three or four years had passed, even if the husband and wife fought together as hard as they could, they wouldn’t be able to safely get away.
Of course, the young man would never have that chance—now that they had found him.
As the man in blue thought of this, his killing intent rose even more. He raised his crossbow with one hand and, with his other, took out his short sword from its wooden sheath.
The short sword was gray and was almost weightless, it was made out of bone!
With the slightest motion, the man stealthily rushed closer to the battlefield without a sound.
It only took Liu Ming a glance to discern the man in blue’s deceptive actions. His already tense heart sank deeper into despair.
He could barely face one of them alone. If the two of them attacked together, his life would truly end here.
Looks like he couldn’t help but risk his life once more.
Thinking to this point, his heart no longer had any hesitation. Against the giant mace, he actually stopped dodging. Raising his sword with his arm, he whispered, “Through the throat…”
Veins popped out on Liu Ming’s arm and his arm suddenly grew by at least a full circle.
The silver sword made some strange movements, transforming into a silver ray that directly pierced through the woman’s throat. The speed of it was vastly higher than previously demonstrated.
The woman was startled by the scene and tried to retract her mace to defend but it was too late.
Though she was in rage, her heart made a decision . She relaxed both her arms and threw her mace straight at the young man’s chest.
In her mind, if she tried to use deadly attacks, he would most likely retreat back to protect his life.
However, the corner of Liu Ming’s eyes only made a slight twitch and his movements did not change at all. He sucked in a large gulp of air, and twisted his waist so that his chest became unbelievably flat.
“Clang.”
The giant mace gouged into the young man’s chest, leaving behind deep grooves that splattered blood out immediately.
However, Liu Ming’s expression did not change at all. It was as if the one that took such a heavy hit was not him. With a twist of his hands, the silver sword was pulled out from the hole in the woman’s neck.
The woman let out a scream as both of her hands were clutching her throat. Her fat body endlessly twitched on the ground.
All of this happened lightning fast!
The man in blue had just made it to the front lines when he saw everything clearly. He roared in shock and hefted his crossbow to fire ten bolts. At the same time, the bone dagger in his hand immediately stabbed toward the empty area next to Liu Ming.
As Liu Ming was about to deal another strike at the woman, his intuition warned him of great danger. Without thinking, he instantly turned his shoulder to the side.
Blood flashed and an invisible sharp thing grazed past Liu Ming’s face, cutting some of his hair that was flying around.
“Enchanted weapon, you are a practitioner!” With a flip of his body, Liu Ming landed on his feet. As he gave a deeper look at the object in the man’s hand, he couldn’t help but cry out.
From the dagger in the man’s hand several abnormal rays came out, flashing with a faint white light.