Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 159 - We Are the Ghosts

Chapter 159 – We Are the Ghosts

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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Edited by Celestial Knight

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The four hundred Guizhou martial artists were divided among four ships, roughly one hundred to each.

In contrast, the pirates had crammed at least one hundred fifty onto each of their ships. With five ships, that was well over seven hundred.

The information must have leaked when they’d hired ships upstream. Some Guizhou martial artists hired ships… that sort of news.

It couldn’t be helped. With this many martial artists moving, and in the sparsely populated lands of Guangxi, attention was inevitable.

There was no way to catch and silence everyone who saw them.

So they’d chosen the waterway to outpace spreading rumors, but it seemed someone had rushed ahead by skiff to deliver the news.

‘Fortunately, they didn’t properly grasp our strength and just gathered a ragtag mob.’

A blessing in misfortune. In any case, this level of interference was expected… if they blocked the way, he’d smash through.

True to lawless Guangxi, these bastards were even firing flaming arrows.

“All of you, treason charges! You want to be arrested?!”

Ju-seong bellowed a threat, but it was futile.

However, everyone on Ju-seong’s ships were formidable martial artists.

And the enemy, though they’d boarded boats, weren’t professionally trained in naval combat.

Archery? Without military or hunting backgrounds, there was no way they’d be skilled with bows.

Half the flaming arrows vanished into the Pearl River’s yellow waters with hissing sounds.

The remaining half were deflected by the Guizhou martial artists who stepped to the prow, weapons in hand.

Eight-Hook Ghost’s performance was particularly impressive.

-Whoooosh!

Extremely thin chains connecting his hooks whipped through the air, snagging incoming arrows.

Yi Pyo-eum appeared to have specialized in Blood Flower Crone’s internal energy arts. She drifted gracefully to the gunwale and fired off a blast of crimson palm force.

“Hmm.”

Ju-seong stroked his chin and pondered briefly, then shoved Won-gong and charged out.

“Benefactor?”

Won-gong was bewildered, but seeing Ju-seong’s retreating figure rushing off, he scrambled to follow.

“At least observe the situation before going!”

“I’ve seen enough! Let’s show those bastards the terror of Buddha!”

“Stop pretending to be Buddhist!”

Together, Won-gong and Ju-seong deployed lightness arts, flew upward, and landed on the enemy flagship.

No sooner had they touched down than waiting martial artists with fierce eyes thrust their weapons.

The flagship’s martial artists were clearly a cut above the rest. Won-gong swiftly activated Vajra Indestructible Divine Art, turning his skin golden.

But what was the flaw of Vajra Indestructible Divine Art?

Without mastery, one couldn’t move while deploying it.

That very weakness could be offset by a reliable companion at his side.

Ju-seong quickly ducked, and spears and short lances clashed overhead, sending sparks flying loudly.

“Monk! Don’t drop your Vajra Indestructible!”

Ju-seong seized Won-gong’s ankles and swung him like an iron mace.

The bald head glowing golden bright… this was truly a Golden Meteor Hammer.

Won-gong, unable to release the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art, repeatedly collided with the oncoming weapons. Indeed, the sublime mastery of Shaolin martial arts ran deep… blades of steel and iron shattered like sorghum stalks. While Ju-seong expertly wielded Won-gong to pulverize the pirates, a black iron ball suddenly shot from his visual blind spot.

Ju-seong quickly rotated Won-gong’s torso, catching the ball with his forehead.

-CLANGGG…!

The tremendous sound made nearby pirates collapse, bleeding from their noses and ears.

Ju-seong squinted, watching the meteor hammer being retracted. Following the chain with his gaze, he saw a hulking man wielding the real meteor hammer.

Twin balls attached to chains on both ends… a double meteor hammer.

Given it was paired weapons, this one was likely another Battle Maniac.

‘It didn’t crack even hitting Monk Won-gong’s hard forehead. Must be a meteor hammer forged from black iron.’

The opponent wasn’t just him. Immediately, Iron-Blood Little Evil came charging from the bow with twin halberds raised.

‘Meteor hammers should pair with meteor hammers.’

Ju-seong hurled Won-gong toward the meteor hammer wielder and rushed at the twin halberd user himself.

At that moment…

-Thwack!

Won-gong’s powerful hand grabbed Ju-seong’s nape and flung him toward the meteor hammer wielder instead.

“Compatibility says this is correct.”

Won-gong had quickly grasped the situation and judged that he’d be better suited to face Iron-Blood Little Evil.

Come to think of it, Ju-seong agreed.

-Whooom!

One meteor hammer sliced through the air. Its trailing sound wasn’t sharp but heavy.

Ju-seong lightly twisted to dodge, and the hammer passed him, traveling exactly one zhang further before being recalled.

Unfortunately, a pirate in its path had his torso explode.

Ju-seong clicked his tongue, watching the pirate’s innards splatter onto the yellowed sailcloth.

‘Tsk, lives his life scraping by, only to end up here…’

Obviously a bottom-tier third-rate martial artist. One of those who’d joined hoping to strike it rich only to die without dignity.

No time for lengthy contemplation. The man’s handling of the meteor hammer was no joke.

-Swoosh…!

The retracted hammer wrapped once around the man’s forearm and launched again in a wide horizontal arc toward Ju-seong.

Ju-seong tried slipping inside, but the second meteor hammer was already flying from another angle.

Double meteor hammer. Properly wielded, it was relentless… two massive iron balls driving opponents mad until they were crushed.

-CLANG! CRASH! CRUNCH!

The man kept the hammers in constant orbital motion.

Forearms, calves, thighs, even around his own neck… he wound the chains to redirect the hammers’ trajectories.

But Ju-seong wasn’t a tough opponent for this one. Initially, he’d thought Iron-Blood Little Evil should be his match, having faced Taowu lineage fighters before.

‘Actually, this type is my specialty.’

Ju-seong’s sleeve flashed, sending five silver threads streaking in strange trajectories.

The hulking man, gleefully swinging his hammers, saw this and laughed mockingly, then released the chains and dodged.

-Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

Five needles embedded in the gunwale behind him. Ju-seong watched the man roll once and smoothly scoop up his iron balls.

‘As expected, he’s a Battle Maniac.’

“HRAAAAAH! Little runt! I’ll kill you!”

The hulk roared like a beast and charged, stomping the deck as if to shatter it, dual wooden clubs now in hand.

‘First time anyone’s called me small.’

He was definitely big. Ju-seong, with his imposing frame, looked small by comparison. Perhaps slightly smaller than the Alliance Leader.

‘Wounding my manly pride. This insolent creature.’

Ju-seong smiled murderously and charged to meet him head-on.

-KABOOM!

Oak clubs infused with internal energy struck down. The hulk assumed this little punk would be pulverized.

But…

“I’m harder than you, bastard.”

The wooden clubs shattered to splinters, yet Ju-seong’s forearms that blocked them were pristine.

Ju-seong’s eyes flashed as he immediately executed a Capturing Hand technique. A serpentine motion, coiling and burrowing in… a curved hand.

The hulk, being a Battle Maniac himself, was confident in grappling. He yanked his elbow sharply to shake free, but…

“…?”

His arm wouldn’t come loose, as if clamped in a vise.

Before he knew it, Ju-seong had combined his divine-level Capturing Hand with perfect leg work to completely entangle the hulk’s arm.

-CRACK!

With a sound like old timber splintering, white bone jutted through the man’s skin.

“GRAAAAH!”

While the hulk howled, Ju-seong kicked up a chain and looped it around his neck.

“Kh, khrk… you’re… killing me…!”

Ju-seong watched the thrashing giant for a moment, tilted his head, then jabbed a needle into his crown to knock him out.

‘Complete idiot. Better to keep him alive.’

Having fought him directly, this one was stronger than that Iron-Blood Little Evil.

Yet he hadn’t stepped forward, which meant he was probably kept paired with a colleague because he was too stupid despite his terrifying strength.

In other words, this wasn’t someone the other Battle Maniacs acknowledged as their own.

Ju-seong sent two butterflies fluttering toward the other side without even looking.

As if bearing tender affection, silvery-white butterflies danced gracefully across.

Amid the bloodbath on deck, such incongruously beautiful things caught everyone’s attention for an instant.

The Soul-Chasing Phantom Butter was slow… about the speed of an arrow shot by an ordinary hunter. Any trained martial artist could easily snatch it.

Iron-Blood Little Evil too, even while exchanging blows with Won-gong, swung one halberd backward to swat the two butterflies.

Doing so without looking, relying only on energy sense.

But…

‘No sensation?’

He should have heard or felt something strike or get struck by his halberd, but nothing.

He hurriedly turned his head and saw two silvery-white butterflies clinging to the back of his hand.

“What the f… !”

Iron-Blood Little Evil recoiled and shook off the butterflies.

During the commotion, Won-gong had already withdrawn without pressing the attack.

He quietly performed a half-bow and murmured.

“Namo Amitabha.”

At the genuinely pitying tone, Iron-Blood Little Evil gritted his teeth and gripped his halberds.

Or tried to grip them.

-Clatter.

His left arm had gone numb.

‘Paralysis?’

Iron-Blood Little Evil quickly glanced down to check, but perhaps he shouldn’t have.

“My arm! My, my arm!”

His arm was already completely mushy beneath the skin. Only the bone remained in its original shape; everything else had slackened and sagged uselessly. The Human-Faced Spider’s potent water poison… prey whose muscles and organs it dissolves so the spider can drink them. Ju-seong’s poison wasn’t yet strong enough to liquefy flesh entirely, but it was more than enough to permanently cripple.

This was made possible by the Soul-Chasing Phantom Butterfly’s design.

In fact, Baekryeo had added one additional feature when crafting the butterflies.

A very fine groove running along the butterfly’s back to its needle tip.

Poison pooled along that groove.

Far more poison could be loaded and thrown than simply coating the needle’s tip. Greater capacity meant greater effect.

Just two butterflies could produce such gruesome results.

Fortunately, the poison hadn’t spread above his shoulder, but Iron-Blood Little Evil had already made a decision.

That decision came unnaturally quickly and violently.

“A servant of Taowu must wield paired weapons to glimpse the ultimate truth of combat. Having lost one arm, I am utterly ashamed before the Master.”

Iron-Blood Little Evil murmured these needlessly dramatic words.

Won-gong tried to stop him, but there was no catching someone who’d just launched himself backward with a peak-realm martial artist’s leg strength.

-THWACK!

He kicked off the deck and rammed his crown straight into the mast.

His skull burst like a melon, and Iron-Blood Little Evil died. Without leaving behind any story.

Ju-seong sighed and shook his head.

“Nothing but lunatics everywhere I go.”

With the situation settled, Eight-Hook Ghost spoke decisively.

“No prisoners. Kill them all.”

He didn’t even ask Ju-seong’s permission. This was non-negotiable.

He would follow Ju-seong’s command in operations, but handling remnants was their prerogative.

Ju-seong scratched the back of his head and sighed.

‘What a mad jianghu. Keeping my sanity isn’t easy.’

The Crimson Spider Sect and Guizhou martial artists’ stance was unwavering. They had to sweep clean these rabble swarming in now, so their own sphere would stabilize.

With interests intertwined, Ju-seong couldn’t meddle.

They held a half-extorted mandate of punishment from the local lord. Whether such a thing actually held any power was beside the point.

This was Guangxi. Anything could happen here.

Those who’d long benefited from that lawlessness now desperately wished for law and order’s salvation.

But Beijing was far, and the Emperor’s will did not reach.

The surviving roughly four hundred bandits were all sunk beneath the Pearl River’s yellow waters. Bound and herded onto one ship, then set ablaze.

Countless screams erupted horrifically. When the hull was half-submerged, the screams thinned, and once the deck sank, they fell silent as if by magic.

Like magic.

Ju-seong approached the blind swordsman Yang So-an, who silently watched the scene, and asked: “Do you not fear that all those lives will become ghosts and pursue you?” Yang So-an, who had always worn a cheerful smile, turned toward Ju-seong with a hardened expression. He gazed at Ju-seong with glossy white prosthetic eyes and answered: “We are the ghosts, young hero.” Ju-seong could only guess at the lingering resentment swirling in that voice… so chilling that he merely sighed.