Unrivaled Spear Demon
71 The Yangtze River Pirates (5)
Chui recalled a conversation he had once shared with Hong Gong on a rainy night.
‘You are lucky. When I taught this martial art to someone else before you, it was in an incomplete state. Yes. Was his name Ga Jeong-maeng? I wonder what that poor pirate fellow is doing with his life now?’
The Butcher of the Rat, Ga Jeong-maeng.
Chui pulled that dust-covered name from the depths of his old memories.
‘Right. There was such a man.’
Chui had not missed the name when it suddenly drifted into his ears while he was eavesdropping on the pirates’ conversation.
‘Come to think of it, this must be the time. When that fellow was still a member of the Yangtze River Pirate Fleets.’
Strictly speaking, Chui had no direct connection to the Butcher of the Rat.
The Butcher of the Rat was a figure of the past who had already died and vanished by the time Chui emerged into the martial world.
There was only one reason why Chui, at that point in time, had taken an interest in the path of a historical figure like the Butcher of the Rat.
‘……The Butcher of the Rat. A disciple of Hong Gong.’
It was exactly as it sounded.
The Butcher of the Rat was a man who had mastered the Changwi-ching.
And he had done so long before Chui.
In other words, if Hong Gong, who taught the Changwi-ching, was Chui’s master, then the Butcher of the Rat, who had learned it from Hong Gong even earlier, was effectively Chui’s older martial brother.
‘Hong Gong once said that before he met me, he had taught the Changwi-ching to a pirate in the Yangtze River Pirate Fleets just for amusement. The fellow’s name was definitely Ga Jeong-maeng…… the one who went by the title of the Butcher of the Rat.’
It might have been called amusement, but in reality, he was likely an experimental subject created for the perfection of the Changwi-ching.
In short, the Changwi-ching that the Blood Demon Hong Gong had passed on to the Butcher of the Rat was in an incomplete state.
‘It is only natural, as even Hong Gong probably had not fully systematized the art of Changwi-ching at that point.’
Naturally, the Butcher of the Rat, the disciple raised by Hong Gong, could not handle the demonic energy of the Changwi-ching and went mad, subsequently committing countless bloodbaths.
After that, he was trapped in a net of heaven and earth, and after running wild, he was captured and killed by masters of the Righteous Way.
Chui had only learned of this history long after he had entered the martial world.
‘……But he is still alive at this point in time, isn’t he?’
Chui was curious.
What kind of person his older martial brother was, whether he was currently practicing the Changwi-ching or not, and if he had learned it, what level he had reached, or if he hadn’t learned it yet, whether the Blood Demon Hong Gong would eventually appear before him.
…Grip!
Strength surged into the hand holding the staff.
One of the highest-ranking goals Chui had set for himself after his regression was to kill the Blood Demon Hong Gong.
‘You live your life like a bug anyway. Why don’t you come down here and have a gamble with me?’
The man who had used him, tried to kill him in the end, and driven his closest friend to death.
If he waited near the Butcher of the Rat, he would eventually be able to meet him.
Perhaps that was why Chui did not simply pass by the Butcher of the Rat standing before him.
If he captured and interrogated her, the youngest junior sister of the Butcher of the Rat, he would be able to obtain various pieces of information.
By combining the information she spat out while alive with what she revealed upon death, he would be able to grasp not only simple facts but also what she was trying to hide and her true intentions.
However.
“My master is not dead!”
The Butcher of the Rat did not seem to have any intention of dying quietly.
Boom!
She unleashed a kick with all her might.
The top of the Butcher of the Rat’s foot tore open again, and countless pebbles flew toward Chui.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The pebbles turned the rocks and trees behind him into rags.
But Chui had already leaped into the air to avoid them.
Whoosh-
Chui’s staff flew in like a venomous snake and struck the Butcher of the Rat’s abdomen.
The Butcher of the Rat rolled on the ground to dodge it and immediately snatched up a hand axe that had been lying on the corpse of her subordinate.
…Grab!
Seeing that she had chosen an axe despite there being spears and swords nearby, it seemed she preferred that type of weapon above all else.
“Uaaaaaaah!”
She charged straight at Chui, brandishing the crude hand axe.
Clang!
Even wounded, a beast is still a beast. The Butcher of the Rat cornered Chui, swinging her hand axe in every direction.
Ssssss……
Internal energy emitted by the Butcher of the Rat rose from the surface of the axe like a heat haze. It flowed along the blade and gathered like dew at the sharp tip.
Pop-pop-pop-pop!
Droplets of internal energy scattered like dew. They pierced holes into rocks and trees alike with a dull thud.
Whirrrrrrr-
Chui spun his staff to deflect them. At the same time, he used a move from the "Returning Horse Spear" to thrust hard at the Butcher of the Rat’s chest.
“Die.”
A cold voice and emotionless eyes were directed at the Butcher of the Rat.
Clang!
The staff deflected the axe blade upward and struck the Butcher of the Rat’s shoulder.
“Ugh!”
She suppressed a scream and tumbled backward.
There stood a tree that had been struck by lightning, and the spot where the Butcher of the Rat fell happened to be in the direction where a sharp branch was jutting out.
…Thwack!
The branch pierced the Butcher of the Rat’s left calf. Having been pierced by a branch once while drifting downstream, this was her second time suffering a puncture wound from one.
“Damn it, why is there such a bumper crop of branches!?”
She ground her teeth once.
Snap!
She kicked the branch that had pierced her left foot with her right foot, breaking it.
Truly astonishing fighting spirit. A venomous nature that bordered on the desperate.
Chui nodded.
‘There is a reason why her martial arts are so profound even at such a young age.’
The fact that she had become a Peak master at an age that didn’t even seem to reach twenty meant that she hadn’t just stumbled upon one or two fortuitous encounters.
……But that was all.
“Butcher of the Rat.”
Whatever circumstances or past an opponent he had decided to kill might have had, it was none of his concern.
“Butcher of the Rat.”
A strong enemy was like a fine medicinal herb, so Chui simply called out the opponent’s name three times in silence.
Whoosh-
The staff was swung.
Clang!
The Butcher of the Rat raised her axe to block it, but due to the recoil, she lost her grip on the handle.
Chui did not miss that opening.
“Ptoo-”
Blood drawn from biting the tip of his tongue flew out mixed with saliva.
It landed precisely inside the Butcher of the Rat’s mouth.
“Ptoo-ptoo-ptoo! What……?”
She had thought it was merely a dirty trick.
In an instant, the Butcher of the Rat’s eyes widened as if they would tear.
“Ughhhhhhhhh!?”
A searing, spicy heat. At the same time, an immense, scorching heat exploded from her mouth, down her throat, into her stomach, and deep into her dantian.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
It was a pain as if her lungs and intestines were all burning, as if she had swallowed a piece of burning charcoal.
But that was not all.
As the scream erupted, the Butcher of the Rat’s internal energy dried up.
As the energy flowing along the axe blade was severed, it was reduced to nothing more than an ordinary piece of scrap metal.
…Crack!
The tip of the staff, shot out in a straight line, shattered the Butcher of the Rat’s axe handle, and sent the blade flying.
The next sequence was, of course, inevitable.
Thwack!
It was time for Chui’s staff to be driven deep into the Butcher of the Rat’s abdomen.
“Gah……!?”
The Butcher of the Rat could not even let out a proper scream.
That was because Chui had immediately lifted his staff and slammed her body into the river.
Boom!
A massive pillar of water surged up from the spot where the Butcher of the Rat had broken the surface and been slammed down.
Gurgle-gurgle…… bubble-bubble-bubble-bubble……
The Butcher of the Rat sank into the water once more.
Auditory hallucinations echoed in her ears.
‘Mom…… Mom…… Mom…….’
A girl’s weeping.
Her mother’s face smiling underwater.
Her father’s hammer striking indifferently.
The sound of her older brother’s wailing as he pounded the earth in the pouring rain.
Gurgle-gurgle……
The last breath escaped the Butcher of the Rat’s lips like bubbles.
She tried to struggle, but perhaps because the current wasn’t very strong here, she only continued to sink.
‘Is this the end?’
Her body grew increasingly sluggish.
It felt as if her long-lost master’s voice was calling to her from somewhere.
‘Hae…… Hae…… go…… go far away…… learn about the world outside the fleet and return…….’
The Butcher of the Rat saw the fading phantoms off beyond her dimming vision.
‘I’m sorry. Mom. Dad. Brother. Master.’
And with the relief that she could finally be at peace, she slowly closed her eyes.
……However.
Thwack-!
The sudden pain digging into her side brought the Butcher of the Rat’s consciousness back to reality.
“Kuh!”
Before she could even scream, a pitch-black staff lifted the Butcher of the Rat’s body and pulled her out of the water.
“There is still one left.”
Chui had only called her name twice.
…Boom! Clatter-clatter-clatter!
The Butcher of the Rat, pushed out of the water, was slammed onto the gravel bed.
Chui was looking down at the Butcher of the Rat with an indifferent expression.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a pirate who can’t swim.”
At that voice, which carried a hint of absurdity, the Butcher of the Rat vomited up the river water that seemed to have filled her lungs.
“Blech! Ble-ble-blech!”
A few minnows that had been vomited out of her mouth could be seen flopping about.
Presently, the Butcher of the Rat spoke.
“……Why did you save me?”
“To kill you.”
“You madman.”
Hearing Chui’s answer, she let her head loll to the side, drained of strength.
But Chui’s answer was sincere.
‘……If she dies in the water, I can’t turn her into a Changwi, so I had no choice but to pull her out, however troublesome it might be.’
For instance, he had ultimately failed to turn Bi Mugeuk, whom O Ja-un had killed, into a Changwi. That was because he hadn’t been the one to personally deliver the lethal strike.
Like this, one could not turn an opponent into a Changwi unless one had personally seen their blood and killed them.
This was one of the fundamental principles that formed the basis of the Changwi-ching.
That was why Chui had personally gone into the water to pull the Butcher of the Rat out.
After all, if the Butcher of the Rat were to drown when he had her all caught, he wouldn’t be able to absorb her soul.
Presently.
Swoosh-
Chui’s staff soared high into the sky. It was to crush the Butcher of the Rat’s skull right then and there.
“Butcher of the Ra……”
Just as the third call was about to leave Chui’s lips, her lips trembled.
“My master… could not have died….”
Of course, it was a monologue that was of no concern to Chui.
“So… I must live… I cannot… die… here….”
Begging for her life would be useless. She was already on the verge of having her name called for the third time.
However, as if she had read Chui’s thoughts, the Butcher of the Yangtze continued.
“I’m not… begging… it’s a trade….”
“……?”
Was there anything left to trade at this point? To the Butcher of the Yangtze, who had lost her subordinates, her master, and her fellow disciples?
Chui paused his staff for a moment, and she continued.
“I will… forge you a spear….”
The Butcher of the Yangtze’s gaze flickered between Chui’s staff and the plum blossom sword hanging at his waist.
Chui recalled the words she had spoken when she first disguised herself as a delicate woman.
‘Since you have spared my life, I shall repay you.’
This time, she did not seem to be lying. In her eyes, which were slowly dimming, he could feel a desperate sincerity.
‘If you follow me, I will forge these two weapons into one.’
The moment Chui lowered his staff, a single tear fell from the Butcher of the Yangtze’s eyes.
“Help me.”
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