Chapter 59: Killing an Official
Translator: Translation Nation/chuchutrain Editor: - -
“Kill!”
“Kill!” Zhang Dashan shouted loudly as he pointed his long spear forward. The brave village men’s face were red as they echoed his screams, pointing all their spears in the same direction.
One of the warriors smiled, as he dodged a spear and slashed down on the person wielding it. A villager had been slashed and screamed out in agony. At the same time however, a command was given, "Stab!”
Hearing the command shouted by Zhang Dashan, the villagers got into their formation, as they did the last time on the Black Wind Stronghold. Regardless of how fearsome the warrior was, or how skilled he was in fighting, they followed the command issued and stabbed in his direction.
“Pu, pu!” The long spears jabbed towards his direction and pierced his body. The screams of the victim caused their hairs to stand on edge. This man was a skilled warrior who had underwent years of battle training. He was famous for his skills in battle, and yet, when he was faced with so many spears, he only managed to dodge a few. two spearheads sunk deep into his body, and pierced his heart and lungs. In spite of this, he still raised his sword, wanting to kill more villagers.
“Stab again!” The few villagers around him swung their spears forward as a few more spearheads entered his body. Not being able to withstand the damage and pain, he died soon after. His eyes were gaping wide, as if he was unable to believe what had just happened to him.
“Do not scatter, stab together, do not advance without everyone else!” Pei Zi Yun ordered them. At this point the villagers and the bandits in black had clashed. Sounds of weapons hitting against each other, and the shouts of people in agony could be heard everywhere.
When the warrior had fallen, the mask he wore slipped off, revealing his face. Under the light of the torch, the corpse of a monk was plain and clear. The scars on top of his head were still fresh. The Village Chief came along and gasped. He also felt something was amiss, "Why is there a monk here? I heard these bandits shouting loudly about wanting to avenge their Black Wind Sect brothers. Unless there are some Black Wind bandits with family members that became monks?”
“Kill!” A villager had thought that killing bandits was easy. In conceit, he dashed forward ahead of everyone else.
“Do not rush ahead…” Before the sentence could be spoken, the bandit dodged to the side, and hacked down onto the spear wielded by the conceited villager. With another flash of the sword, he slashed down onto the villager. As he fell down, his shoulder was separated from his chest, and he died immediately. At this point there was a woman shouting, as she ran towards her fallen son. She fell to her knees and hugged his dead corpse, crying, "My son, I told you not to come out. Why did you run out….”
Before she could complete her sentence, the bandit swung his sword down again, and the woman’s head flew into the air, blood splattering over the ground.
“This was Zhang Wu. he had learnt some fighting skills from the old hunter. Who would’ve expected him to die in just one slash.” People who had seen him died sighed, as their hands and legs trembled in fear.
“Do not separate from the group, stab at them together. Do not dash forward!” Pei Zi Yun was still shouting, "Idiots. You are just mere villagers, if you do not fight in unity, how are you supposed to stand a chance against these skilled warriors. You will be murdered in a flash.”
Zhang Dashan echoed loudly as well, "Do not separate from the group. Stay in formation, stab them together!”
Although Pei Zi Yun was a High Scholar, the impression the villagers had of him was that of a weak bookworm. Naturally, when a critical fighting moment came, they would not listen to him, for fear that he would issue the wrong command.
But Zhang Dashan was their own clansman, and thus they looked up to him, especially since he was the leader of the villager’s fighting men. After hearing the command issued by Zhang Dashan, it was clear that these villagers remembered their training sessions and stayed in formation. Screaming at the top of their lungs, "Kill, kill them all!”
Another two warriors approached the villagers, underestimating their powers. Afterall, they were skilled Daoist fighters well known for their fighting techniques. Why should they be afraid of these trashy villagers. They raised their swords and dashed forward and met with the outstretched spears "Pu, pu!” The sound of spears penetrating flesh was heard.
These skilled Daoist fighters, who would not bat an eyelid while killing, have fallen to these lowly villagers.The had been pierced numerous of times through their vital organs and fell to the ground, dead.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” After slaying several bandits, these villagers have regained some confidence. Although their faces were still pale, they were no longer terrified.
“Zhang Dashan, keep this up.” From afar, he could hear the sounds of fighting, followed by a softer, "Boom! Boom!” on a door. Pei Zi Yun knew this could not be good. The wall was where the bandits were supposed to distract the villagers, and his house was the actual target. When he had realized this, he slipped away, under the cloak of darkness, back into his own yard.
“Boom!”
At this sound, the door of the Pei household had been broken into. The people guarding the door were all flung away. There were two monks outside holding on a large tree trunk to force the door open. Another two men who had taken down signboards from other houses, and used them as shields to deflect arrows. Once the door had been broken down, they tossed aside the tree trunk, drew their swords and walked in.
“Kill everyone within, spare no one!” Zhang Jie Yu had already put on a mask, and was leading the black robed men. Once they crossed the yard, they saw a fat middle aged man. This man pointed at Zhang Jie Yu and shouted, "Shoot!”
“Pu pu!” Although the Chief Patrol Officer was slightly fat, he had proven himself many times in battle and was experienced. Realizing that Zhang Jie Yu was the leader among them, he ordered for the bowmen to fire their arrows at him. As soon as the command was given, 7 or 8 arrows flew towards him threatening to take his life. Zhang Jie Yu was not prepared for this. As the arrows flew towards him, his mind went blank.
“Ah!” Just before the arrows could touch him, the Dao Arts acted on its own to protect its owner. Yang Kun dashed forward, onto the incoming arrows path, and stood in front of Zhang Jie Yu.
All that could be heard were the sounds of arrows hitting a target. None of the arrows had missed their marks. Yang Kun’s entire body was littered with arrow heads. Zhang Jie Yu felt cold sweat run down his forehead. He was stumped, not knowing if he should proceed or return. There was a certain coldness in his eyes, "Kill, Kill, Kill them all. They have no time to shoot more arrows. Kill them all, avenge your fallen brothers from Black Wind Sect.”
“Kill, kill kill. Avenge the death of our gang leader.” Seeing that their gang leader had fallen, they rushed forward in a rage.
The bowmen had no time to notch another arrow, and thus drew their swords and started fighting.
“To hell with you bandits!” The Chief Patrol Officer was not wearing his official robe. With a swift movement, he showed off his fighting powers with a stroke that severed the head of a bandit. Blood splashed everywhere.
Walking two steps forward, another bandit screamed out in agony, and the Patrol Officer laughed out loudly.
Seeing the way he wielded his sword, it was clear that this man was experienced with fighting techniques. Zhang Jie Yu was slightly afraid. When did such a man join the fighting?
Seeing how this man could not be stopped, and that he was leading several soldiers who were inspired by him, Zhang Jie Yu’s face remained expressionless. He stretched out his hand and pointed a finger.
A white light shone out from under his sleeves and knocked the sword out of his hands. A clattering sound could be heard as the sword slammed onto the ground. A zap of electric energy shot through and engulfed the fat man. Although the Electric Arc was not very powerful, his target had been stunned, and stayed rooted to the ground, unable to move.
These men in black were all seasoned fighters. The minute they saw the Chief Patrol Officer lose his weapon, they took advantage of that opportunity and attacked him. The Chief Patrol Officer’s eyes radiated with a look of shock, and disbelief. Fresh blood seeped out, as he knelt to the ground.
“Kill!” Zhang Jie Yu swung his blade at him, and he was decapitated. The Chief Patrol Officer’s head parted from his body. At the same time, Zhang Jie Yu felt a sharp pain in his chest, and felt blood drip down from his nose. Using his hands to wipe away the blood, he looked down and saw that it was bright red.
Seeing his chief being murdered, Cao San shouted in fury, "You bandits. You dared to kill the Chief Patrol Officer. You shall be punished by death.”
Zhang Jie Yu was shocked, ‘What? That man was the Chief Patrol Officer. Why would he be wearing commoner clothes then. And I killed him. There will be consequences for this.’
Zhang Jie Yu was aware that this was bad. If the dynasty allowed any of their officials to be killed just like that, what right would they have to rule this land? If he were to kill a few bailiffs instead, the matter could still be covered up. But killing an official would have dire consequences and not just for him, but his family and sect as well. At this point, he knew there was no turning back. He dashed out and shouted, "Kill every single villager here!”
After killing everyone in this village, his problem would be solved by half, since nobody could point the finger at him.
One of the bowmen had just been stabbed. Blood and guts exited from his wound as he felt to the ground. Zhang Jie Yu dashed forward, and entered a room. He heard a woman scream in fear. Zhang Jie Yu looked at her before she saw the flash of a sword. She had been cut into half, her blood staining the floor.
“Go to hell bandits!” A sword appeared and countered Zhang Jie Yu’s sword. Both men were stumped.
“Pei Zi Yun!” Zhang Jie Yu’s eyes were red with fury.
Pei Zi Yun was secretly afraid as well. The person who had just died was his kitchen maid and thankfully not his mother. He remained quiet as he swung his sword down at Zhang Jie Yu.
Zhang Jie Yu shouted in anger, as he held up his sword to parry the blow. Both their swords met in a sharp piercing sound.
At that moment, the both of them stumbled backwards, almost as if they were about to fall. Zhang Jie Yu’s face was ashen with anger, as he slowly walked towards Pei Zi Yun. He smiled coldly, "Who would’ve expected you to obtain the sword techniques from Free Cloud Sect. They actually handed it over to you. I must say, Free Cloud Sect had done a good job concealing it!”
Zhang Jie Yu no longer thought that Pei Zi Yun was a rogue cultivator. The fact that he could wield this much power in his sword blows was clearly proving that he had acquired the Free Cloud Sect’s fighting techniques. Although Pei Zi Yun’s strength was lesser than his own, Pei Zi Yun was clearly more proficient with sword techniques than he was.
“Kill!” The sounds of fighting drew closer to the door. Zhang Jie Yu gazed out and saw that the villagers were fighting in a formation. In unison, they stabbed their next victim as the bandit in black shouted in agony before falling to the ground. The rest of the black robed bandits saw this, and their confidence were shattered. Seeing their gang leader dead as well, they started retreating, all with the intent of running away.
'They have lost their momentum!' Zhang Jie Yu understood what was happening, his eyes wide open in fear. He too took several steps back. He saw a monk behind him rushing forward.
The monk let out a ferocious roar as he waved his blade in the air, trying to kill some villagers. In his frenzy, the mask dropped and revealed his face.
“That’s the monk from Silver Dragon Temple!”
“If this were a day earlier, we would have been fighting evenly. Now however, you’re doomed for sure!” Pei Zi Yun shouted in anger. His pupils radiated a deathly glare, one that was frightening enough to scare anyone who dared to gaze upon it, and caused people to tremble in horror. In that moment, he moved so quickly that his body turned into a blur, his sword outstretched. The next thing that could be seen was the flash of a sword.
“Ai….” The monk groaned in pain, as the sword pierced through his chest, fresh blood dripping from the wound.
'Heh heh, Dao Arts aren’t used for just the mere act of killing. It should be used to deter and to conceal. Although all that happened in a flash, I managed to combined all these strengths and killed this man as easily as killing a dog, even though in reality our skills were only on par with each other.' Pei Zi Yun thought to himself.
As he was about to rush out to kill more of them, someone held his hands, "My son, hurry and flee this place, do not fight with them anymore. These bandits are violents and have no qualms killing. Just now you risked getting yourself killed. As long as you are safe, our Pei family will still have hope.”
Pei Qian Shi continued, “Mother is old, it’s okay if I die.”
“Mother, don’t worry. I have to kill off these bandits and ensure that you are safe. Go and find the rest of the women and hide. I will come back for you soon!” Pei Zi Yun didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. His mother was unaware that he had fighting techniques, and thought of him as a weak scholar. Seeing the shadows move outside, he dashed out in pursuit.
“My son!” Pei Qian Shi watched him leave and felt as if she was watching her husband, Yuan Shen leave, that year. He too had told her, “I will handle this matter. If there are problems and I don’t solve them, who will?”
Tears streamed down her face.
In the yard, Cao San’s eyes were bloodshot. The Chief Patrol Officer has been killed in Snail Village. Since he was unable to repel the bandits from the village and caused this many casualties, he knew he was in trouble. Seeing his brother being hacked to death, this infuriated him. Abandoning all rational thinking, he rushed forward, without a care for his own life. He wanted to trade a life for a life.
A person shouting could be heard clearly, "Bandits, go to hell!”
Zhang Yun’s father, the old hunter, let loose an arrow and heard the sound of someone crying out in pain. A bandit fell over clutching his chest. The old hunter loosed another arrow, and another scream could be heard.
The fleeing Zhang Jie Yu’s eyes were bloodshot. All these were his own men. He too, did not wish to die here. Shouting back, "Go to hell!”
He pointed a finger at the old hunter, as a white beam of light shot out from within his hands, and hit the old hunter square in his chest.
The old hunter was standing on the roof of a hut, and had shot three bandits to death. Just as he was about to laugh in celebration, the beam of white light collided into him.
“Bam!” The old hunter, too had a ray of white light appear in front of him. However, it was not strong enough and the impact of the two white light clashing sent him flying off the roof.
Zhang Jie Yu shouted in shock, and noticed that his nose was bleeding. It was unbelievable that just a mere hunter would have his own protective enchantments on him, it caused both their beams to be destroyed.
“Kill!” Pei Zi Yun advanced, his sword gleaming under the moonlight. Zhang Jie Yu lifted his own sword to block the blow. As both their weapons collided once more, countless of sparks flew from contact.
They traded several blows, as Zhang Jie Yu felt an intense pain in his chest and saw the villagers closing in on him as well. Without hesitation, Zhang Jie Yu turned around, and sped off into the darkness, attempting to flee.