Unrivaled Spear Demon
67 The Yangtze River Pirates (1)
After sending O Ja-un on his way, Chui descended the mountain.
In a valley where the water was clear and the air crisp, Chui paused for a moment before a cascading waterfall.
…Thud!
Two weapons were placed upon a rock.
The black staff, Ink Bamboo.
And the Huashan Plum Blossom Sword, embedded with seven red jewels.
As a long staff, the Ink Bamboo had a blunt end.
As for the Huashan Plum Blossom Sword, it was a peerless blade, one of only seven in the entire Huashan Sect, and its lethal aura was extraordinary.
Do great weapons truly harbor a spirit?
Hummm… Ssssssss…
The two were emitting their own energy, keeping each other in check. That was how it appeared to Chui’s eyes.
A staff that was heavy and solid but could not be sharpened.
A sword that was sharp and keen but lacked a hilt.
These were weapons that had once been held by the greatest masters under heaven, commanding the martial world.
"If I attach a blade to the end of the staff, it will become a spear."
Chui nodded. The last words O Ja-un had spoken lingered in his mind.
'You are better suited for a spear than a staff!'
He had seen it well.
Just before Chui’s regression, the world had called him the Changwi, the Spear Demon.
Chui lifted the sword blade and brought it against the staff.
Clang…
Metal struck metal, ringing out.
It was not a clear sound. It was a jarring noise that felt uncomfortable to the ears.
'It feels as if they are strangely repelling each other.'
Chui furrowed his brow.
The Ink Bamboo and the Plum Blossom Sword did not harmonize.
Although both were legendary weapons of the world, they refused to mix, pushing each other away.
Even joining two different farming tools together was a difficult task; to seamlessly connect such exceptional weapons was, in truth, an impossibility.
'If I join them clumsily, both will be ruined.'
If he were to simply walk into any blacksmith’s shop, melt the metal in a fire, and hammer them together, he might end up destroying both weapons entirely.
'…Should I seek out the Old Smith of Anhui?'
In the past, before raiding the Black Way Guild, Chui had once commissioned a weapon from an old blacksmith.
He had obtained a fairly decent black spear back then, but he had lost it in the fight against Staff Fiend Gu Gang-ryong, obtaining the Ink Bamboo in its place.
'If it is him, he would surely be able to join these weapons.'
Chui nodded, recalling the perfection of the black spear, awls, hammers, and caltrops that the Old Smith had crafted.
However, there were two problems.
First, Anhui, where the smithy was located, was very far away. Since he would have to return to where he had come from, it would inevitably take a long time.
And even if he spent that time traveling there, it was uncertain whether the Old Smith would still be in that place.
Since the Black Way Guild had vanished and the grudges had been resolved, there was no reason for him to remain there.
No, perhaps he had already left for a more distant place, claiming he had no more attachments to this world.
'Should I look for someone else to modify these weapons, or should I head that way?'
Chui pondered deeply. He wondered if there was another way to modify the weapons without having to go all the way to Anhui.
In his memories of his past life, there were several blacksmiths he had frequented, including the Old Smith of Anhui, but they were all in distant places, or he did not know where they might be at this point in time.
'If so…'
Just as Chui was about to make a decision.
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
A scream echoed from the foot of the mountain below.
"?"
Chui lifted his head.
Below the rock, beyond the winding mossy field, a person was visible.
A veil covering the face below the eyes, long hair fluttering in the wind, and the curves of a body revealed even through the loose-fitting light armor.
A woman, name unknown, was running with her light armor fluttering.
And three hairy men were chasing after her.
"Hahaha! You think you can escape us here?"
"How coy! I’ll catch you and show you some affection!"
"If you keep running, I’ll cut off one of your legs!"
The three men chased the woman with swords in their hands.
They wore necklaces made of other people's fingers, ears, and teeth, and had painted grotesque patterns on their faces with blood and ash.
They were likely a band of mountain bandits who killed merchants passing through the mountains to steal their wealth.
"Ugh!"
The woman tripped over a tree root while running.
The three bandits approached her, cackling.
"You're lucky, girl."
"Your companions are all dead, but you’ll live a long time."
"And there's more. From now on, you have three husbands."
The woman lifted her head, trembling. Her large eyes, visible above the veil, were filled with tears.
At that moment.
"Hey."
Chui stepped between them.
With an expression of annoyance, he waved his hand dismissively.
Chui spoke to the three bandits.
"I’ll let you go, so leave."
"……."
The three bandits stared blankly at Chui.
Presently, the man who appeared to be their leader opened his mouth.
"Yes. We shall do so."
The bandit bowed his head and simply turned away. The other two followed him, asking.
"No, Boss, why are we just leaving? Leaving the girl who was going to be our wife?"
"Is that brat someone special?"
Then, the leader covered his nose and said.
"The smell of blood is overwhelming, you fools. Can't you tell? Even just by the scent, it’s the stench of a human butcher."
"Isn't that the same for us?"
"This isn't for show like us; it's the real deal. If we get tangled up with him, it’s a guaranteed funeral."
"Eek… I see. As expected, Boss has a good nose for the scent of a person."
They hurried their steps away.
However.
"Huh!?"
They had a good nose for the scent of a person, but they did not know how to judge a person.
Splat- Splat- Splat-
Watching the blood spray from their own necks, they collapsed forward.
Chui, who had been standing behind them before they knew it, shook the blood off his awl.
He had only said he would let them go, so it was not a lie. The only problem was that the place he was sending them to was the Yellow Springs.
Chui removed the finger necklaces hanging from the bandits' necks.
How many travelers had met their end at their hands until now?
Chui extracted the Changwi from the bodies of the three bandits and swallowed them.
Three bandits who had once been slash-and-burn farmers, but had become human butchers after tasting blood.
They were trapped within Chui’s dantian, reduced to a state of shedding tears of blood. Now, they would never be liberated, suffering even in death.
At that moment.
"Thank you for saving me."
A woman’s voice came from behind.
Chui turned his head to see the woman who had tripped over the tree root earlier.
She bowed to show her respect and spoke in a polite tone.
"I had intended to cross this pass starting two days ago, but I was too afraid to go because of rumors that a tiger was prowling on the other side. I happened to meet a group of merchants passing through the path and tried to cross with them, but… I nearly met with disaster when I encountered those bandits."
She had a small face and large eyes. Although she had covered everything below her eyes with a veil, the shape of her face itself was quite beautiful.
Furthermore, perhaps because she wore heavy eye makeup, one could guess she possessed a remarkably beautiful appearance.
However, such elements did not resonate much with Chui.
"Go."
Chui averted his gaze from the woman. He then intended to head down to the foot of the mountain.
At that moment, the woman caught Chui.
"Wait a moment."
"?"
As Chui turned his head, the woman continued.
"I wish to repay the grace of saving my life, even if only a little."
"I don't need it."
"I will give you what you need."
"?"
Chui twitched one eyebrow. The woman then said with sparkling eyes.
"It appeared that the awl you used to strike down the bandits earlier was quite worn out."
"……."
Chui looked at the awl in his hand.
Indeed, the tip had become very dull.
That was not all.
The hammer was also on the verge of its head falling off, and he had used up almost all of his caltrops.
Since he had to join the Ink Bamboo and the Plum Blossom Sword, visiting a blacksmith was essential.
The woman spoke to Chui just in time.
"Might you be able to show me the weapons you are carrying?"
"……."
Chui took out the staff and the sword blade he had been carrying on his back.
Seeing them, the woman let out a small exclamation of admiration.
"It is the work of a master. But the masters who made the two weapons are different. Are you trying to make one out of the works of two masters?"
"You know your stuff."
"My parents ran a blacksmith shop. So I, too, have some knowledge of metallurgy."
She had noticed Chui’s dilemma just by looking.
"Just as people dislike being told to become one body with someone else, joining pieces of metal with different properties is not an easy task. Especially when the weapons have strong personalities of their own."
"……."
Chui nodded, albeit slightly.
The woman said.
"May I examine them a little more closely?"
"Go ahead."
Chui extended the Ink Bamboo and the Plum Blossom Sword forward.
The woman approached with a cautious posture and examined them.
"Weapons born from the hands of different masters, having lived serving different owners. The owners of these weapons must surely have been masters who achieved greatness on their own paths."
Her discernment was quite accurate.
Chui thought.
The owner of the Ink Bamboo was Staff Fiend Gu Gang-ryong.
He was a master among masters who had once been active as one of the Martial World's Twin Fiends, notorious for his infamy.
The owner of the Plum Blossom Sword was The Death Plum Blossom, O Ja-un.
He was a man of great talent who had been the greatest rising star of the Huashan Sect, only to be framed and become a public enemy of the martial world, eventually becoming the Left Divine General of the Demonic Cult.
The weapons that the two of them, who had each been a hero of the unorthodox and a hero of the righteous, had used throughout their lives were the Ink Bamboo and the Plum Blossom Sword.
It was impossible for them to harmonize well, even if one tried to join them.
The woman continued to speak.
“Generally, to join two different weapons together, one must possess a stronger aura than the other. However, the auras of these two are so evenly matched that neither yields to the other. To suppress them and fuse them into one requires a master of extraordinary skill. Most blacksmiths wouldn’t even dare to attempt it.”
“What is your point?”
Chui asked.
The woman replied.
“You spared my life, so I shall repay you.”
The eyes visible above her veil emitted a straight, clear light.
“If you follow me, I will forge these two weapons into one for you.”
* * *
A river flowed at the foot of the mountain.
Clear, cold waves rippled against the riverbank, which was paved with black pebbles.
A ferryman who earned his living by transporting travelers had moored his boat at the shore.
Chui and the woman, who had descended from the mountain, boarded the boat.
Splash—
The ferryman pushed the boat out onto the water, which was so exceptionally clear that the riverbed was plainly visible.
The woman and Chui sat at opposite ends of the boat.
The taciturn ferryman stood in the middle, rowing.
For a while, silence reigned.
It was the woman who spoke first.
“My parents were the greatest blacksmiths under heaven. Both of them.”
“……”
“But now, they are both dead. It was due to the tyranny of a politician who envied my parents’ talent.”
“……”
“My only brother also set out on a path of vengeance, only to meet his end.”
“……”
“I alone survived, dragging out this wretched life. If I were to die, the lineage of my family would be severed, and my parents’ techniques would be lost forever.”
“……”
A deep sorrow seeped from her voice.
The ferryman continued to row in silence.
And Chui, too, said nothing.
“……”
After maintaining his silence for some time, Chui opened his mouth in a low voice.
“So?”
When the woman looked at him with a puzzled expression, Chui’s words continued briefly.
“When are you going to get to the point?”
“……?”
At Chui’s words, the woman tilted her head as if she did not understand.
Then, Chui added one more thing.
“What is it you want to say, that you went through the trouble of being chased by bandits, luring me with a plausible story and excuse, and even having a ferryman waiting at the river in advance?”
“……”
At those words, the woman’s gaze changed.
…Splash!
The ferryman who had been rowing suddenly dove into the water.
Now, only Chui and the woman remained on the boat.
Before long, the woman’s eyes curved softly above her veil.
“How did you know?”
The strings of her veil came undone.
The Butcher of the Yangtze.
It was the moment the woman’s true colors were revealed.
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