Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 60 - Are You Telling Me to Go Mad

Chapter 60 – Are You Telling Me to Go Mad

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Geum Dae-bang immediately burst out in anger and shouted.

“Dispose of these meddlers and continue what we were doing! All second-rate and below martial artists, block the Bai tribe martial artists from approaching!”

The Bai tribe village’s martial artists, seeing the tide gradually turning thanks to Ju-seong and Red Beggar, began fighting back even more fiercely.

Bai Li felt her heart pounding at the suddenly reversed situation.

‘So there are such things as righteous warriors.’

There were many who revered chivalry, but how many among them threw themselves into action without calculating the consequences?

Of course, those men weren’t picture-perfect righteous warriors.

One spoke extremely roughly, and the other was literally a beggar.

But seeing them act straightforwardly on what they held in their hearts, appearances didn’t seem to matter.

A middle-aged man in white robes, Bai Li’s father and White Crane Sword Sect’s sect leader Bai Shuhan, raised his sword and shouted.

“Swordsmen, grip your swords tightly! Do not forget the spirit of White Crane Sword Sect! Punishment awaits those who seek gain through slander and plunder!”

Soon, all the invaders’ second-rate and below martial artists clashed with all of White Crane Sword Sect’s martial artists.

White Crane Sword Sect had only about half the numbers, but with first-rate martial artists mixed in, it was an evenly matched fight.

Led by Geum Dae-bang, a total of three first-rate martial artists took on Red Beggar, while the remaining dozen or so fell to Ju-seong. In Yunnan Province, where the average martial level was low, each of these opponents was a powerful figure who could have been a faction leader or elder.

“Are you from the Green Wood Lotus, or the Southern Commerce?”

One man stepped forward and replied. He was the one with half an ear missing, with a fierce face and impressive physique.

He was probably the second strongest after the beanpole.

“It’s true that Yunnan’s martial world is divided between two powers, but not everyone has joined that fight. We local martial artists don’t gamble on uncertain bets.”

“So instead you persecute the weak like this. Since squeezing the weak yields the most certain gains.”

Ju-seong pointed at the martial artists before him, continuing the rant he had left unfinished earlier.

“You lot are truly the bottom of the martial world’s men. The lowest men, so to speak. One day your members might be so appalled by your rotten attitudes that they drop off and run away, so don’t be too surprised.”

What was important in becoming a master was nothing other than attitude. Ju-seong was realizing that only recently.

“How rude. Can you still say that after taking our blades? No matter that you’ve crossed the wall, facing this many should be difficult.”

Ju-seong cupped his hand around his ear and asked.

“Hm? What are you babbling? Sorry, but the words of bottom-feeders don’t reach my ears.”

The imposing martial artist’s expression chilled as he commanded.

“Crazy bastard, that’s why there’s no reasoning with him… Everyone, slowly close in and pressure him. Once Sect Leader Geum handles that strange beggar and joins us, we press from then on.”

Ju-seong snickered and pointed behind with his finger.

“That beggar is completely dominating, though?”

The martial artist, Dan Chu-hyeok, flinched in surprise and turned to look despite himself.

Contrary to Ju-seong’s words, Red Beggar was having a hard time, getting beaten badly. Geum Dae-bang’s skill was greater than expected.

At that moment, Ju-seong’s voice came from disturbingly close.

“You really looked when I told you to?”

Dan Chu-hyeok, feeling the chill at the back of his head, hastily turned his head back, but Ju-seong had already closed to within arm’s reach and was unleashing a dozen palm shadows.

Palm force scattered in all directions, blocking the other martial artists’ approach.

Meanwhile, Ju-seong’s vicious grappling technique coiled around Dan Chu-hyeok’s right arm.

-CRACK CRACK CRACK!

“AAAGH!”

A large saber fell to the ground, and Ju-seong’s fist pierced through Dan Chu-hyeok’s hefty belly.

-THUD!

The surrounding martial artists had a momentary illusion of Ju-seong’s fist punching through Dan Chu-hyeok’s torso and out his back.

That’s how powerful the punch was. Dan Chu-hyeok’s feet momentarily lifted into the air.

Having instantly neutralized the leading martial artist, Ju-seong began an all-out brawl with the remaining martial artists.

Until just days ago, each of these was a powerful figure he would have struggled against.

In that time, Ju-seong had broken through to peak level, but…

Looking at it differently, he had only risen one level.

There were about ten first-rate martial artists in total. Even for Ju-seong, fighting all of them at once was a dangerous challenge.

A sickle on a chain sliced through the air from behind, charging murderously.

When Ju-seong reached out to deflect it, a straight blade aimed for that wrist.

Trying to dodge both the straight blade and chain at once would put him in the range of the narrow-bladed sword being thrust by a swordsman who had positioned himself perfectly.

If he deflected the narrow-bladed sword, the chain sickle would fly at his neck. Dodging that would put him inside the range of the three-section staff being swung from afar.

In other words, to dodge all this with the elegant, profound principles of the White Phoenix Nine Palace Footwork, Ju-seong’s enlightenment was slightly lacking.

“Damn it, let’s taste some dirt!”

Ju-seong decisively threw away all martial dignity and hurled his body to the ground to dodge the narrow-bladed sword.

He rolled through the dust like a lazy donkey.

But that donkey’s kicks hurt rather a lot.

-CRACK!

Red energy shimmered amid the dust cloud.

One first-rate martial artist fell, clutching his shin bent forward.

Then Ju-seong grabbed a fistful of iron coins from his purse and scattered them, fully infused with internal energy.

So to speak, a money tantrum.

The iron coins, trailing crimson tails like meteors, shot out.

-Ting! Ti-ting! Thwack. Crack.

Some deflected them by swinging their weapons, but those with flexible weapons like whips couldn’t respond properly and became coin banks.

In the process, he couldn’t dodge all the incoming weapons either, so Ju-seong had to take a couple of hits.

-Slice! He felt the familiar sensation of being cut for the first time in a while as his shoulder was sliced by a blade, yet he only felt his lips twitching into a smile.

Thanks to giving up that piece of flesh, he could grab the wrist of the man who had thrust the sword.

-Sizzle!

“Urk!”

Ju-seong’s internal energy invaded the man’s meridians.

A peak-level martial artist’s internal energy underwent a qualitative change, and in the case of the Flame Crow Six Stage Art, this characteristic was particularly pronounced.

This was because the Flame Crow Six Stage Art mixed in Samadhi True Fire from peak level onward.

Igniting the middle dantian’s true energy produced Samadhi True Fire, and at Ju-seong’s current level, he could replace about one percent of his emitted internal energy with Samadhi True Fire.

Of course, even that much was enough to shred a person’s meridians.

“AAAAAAGH…!”

The man whose wrist Ju-seong had grabbed rolled his eyes back, shed bloody tears, and trembled all over.

White smoke from burning internal energy puffed from his open mouth.

Charred marks appeared along his meridians, and when Ju-seong released him, his body crumpled to the ground.

“He’s using some strange sorcery! Maintain distance!”

The nearby martial artists’ wariness rose, but once Ju-seong’s fighting spirit was on track, its momentum only grew.

He snatched the flying chain-mounted sickle, twisted his waist, and yanked it.

“Whoa!”

The martial artist who was pulled along smartly released the chain and protected his face with his forearms.

Even so, he couldn’t prevent his arms being shattered and sent flying.

“Let’s play with fire!”

Ju-seong shouted like a madman, infusing the stolen chain with the Flame Crow’s energy and beginning to spin it.

-Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Soon a red circle radiating heat surrounded Ju-seong, and the martial artists couldn’t even think of approaching that radius.

How could he be so familiar with infusing energy into an unfamiliar weapon?

“Back off for now!”

They quickly retreated and escaped the chain’s radius. One martial artist who clumsily tried to stop it with a curved blade had his grip torn and screamed.

Actually, this was because Ju-seong used the chain like a straight rod.

To infuse energy into a swaying chain, one would have to account for all those complex curves and undulations.

But with the chain straightened by centrifugal force, only the level of skill needed to infuse energy into a blunt metal rod was required.

And with superior comprehension, emitting the infused energy instantly wasn’t hard either.

-KABOOM!

The circle drawn by the chain became the epicenter of a crimson energy wave that burst outward, gradually fading to orange, then yellow.

Being capable fighters, each blocked with forearms or weapons, or simply curled up to endure the shockwave.

But opponents who had shrunk back were nothing more than easy targets for an attacker.

Ju-seong leaped and spun his body, making the chain coil around him like a snake.

-BANG!

Then he stopped his mid-air rotation, and the chain shot out like a viper’s fang.

This time he couldn’t infuse internal energy, but the chain’s weight alone carried tremendous force.

One martial artist collapsed with his lower jaw completely blown off.

Ju-seong dropped the chain and charged madly to find the formation’s weak point.

He batted away a spiked club thrust at him with Gold Splitting Fist, then struck the exposed chest with a Penetrating Unity finger technique.

-Poke!

The Purple Gold Centipede’s poison spread, and the martial artist instantly became paralyzed and collapsed.

Ju-seong fought a true bloody battle with the remaining martial artists.

Rolling under the paddy ridge to hide among the rice stalks, scattering sticky mud to block their sight, then shooting palm force to subdue them.

In the sticky paddy ground, qinggong or footwork was impossible.

Ju-seong planted both feet firmly in the mud and worked his hands busily.

Swords thrusting madly, blades slashing, axes chopping… Dodging or taking hits from a bizarre three-section staff and a long pole, for an instant the whole world seemed to slow as if submerged in water.

Ju-seong’s own movements, the martial artists striking at him, sounds going muffled and stretching out endlessly.

And in that split second, Ju-seong’s pupils flashed. Like untying a tightened knot, time returned to normal speed, and the bone-chilling sounds of impacts rang out across the paddies belatedly.

The surrounding rice stalks lay flat in a circle, and crimson afterimages of palms and fists shimmered in the air.

And the six or seven martial artists who had been surrounding Ju-seong…

They were already airborne, flying away, backs hunched like shrimp or faces snapped backward.

The human bodies tumbled here and there across the paddies, but no screams or groans were heard. All had been knocked unconscious or killed in one strike.

“Hissss… Hissss…”

Ju-seong stood there with every blood vessel in his eyes burst, exhaling white steam.

His killing intent was running out of control.

Ju-seong snapped his head around, seeking a target for his killing intent.

The beanpole and his gang, three of them pushing Red Beggar, caught his eye.

Perception and action happened almost simultaneously.

Ju-seong was already flying toward the opposite paddy ridge. Even with his killing intent consuming his mind, he moved with optimal efficiency in combat.

Before he knew it, he had infused the needles between his fingers with dantian poison.

Bluish-purple veins bulged on Ju-seong’s forearm, and a terrible silver-white poison mist rose from the needles.

-Shwik shwik shwik!

Ju-seong threw three needles at once while falling from the air toward the opposite paddy ridge.

One man took a needle straight to the nape. Another barely blocked it but was struck in the back of the head by Red Beggar’s pursuing palm.

The beanpole, who looked the strongest, not only deflected the needle with a fearsome quick sword but even charged at Ju-seong and swung his blade.

He must have thought he could take him, seeing Ju-seong’s considerable blood loss from flesh wounds.

But that hope soon shattered.

-Thump…

The sword face gave a deep hum and was deflected away.

From a truly imperceptible blind spot, Ju-seong’s kick shot up.

-CRACK.

“Ugh!”

Geum Dae-bang felt his ribs shattering one after another as he coughed blood. Ju-seong grabbed the collapsing man by the scruff and punched his face two or three times, pounding it into a pulp.

Ju-seong growled with bloodshot eyes.

“What’s your name?”

The beanpole spat out bloody phlegm and, despite wheezing, looked him straight in the eye and spoke.

“…Geum Dae-bang.”

“Dae-bang, why are there so many of your kind in this world? Is there no answer other than killing, and killing some more? Why don’t you all raise a demonic banner and gather under it, why are you scattered like grains of sand? Are you telling me to go mad?”

Geum Dae-bang gulped at the raging, storm-like madness flickering in this young master’s eyes.

This man was looking at him, yet not looking at him.

This man was looking through Geum Dae-bang at countless evildoers like him all at once.

So without going mad, there was no way to endure.

Ju-seong let out a hollow laugh and said.

“Unbelievable. Fine, let’s see who wins. I’ll kill you all.”

He reached out and gripped Geum Dae-bang’s throat.

“…Brother!”

Red Beggar’s voice came as if from underwater, far away. Ju-seong began slowly tearing out the hard, thick Adam’s apple caught between his index finger and thumb.

“…Killing bastards like you, killing and killing again… When I’ve cleaned out the martial world… I’ll rip out my own dantian, throw it in a gutter, and become a monk. Or maybe go back to doing street performances.”

Just as he muttered like a madman and was about to pull his hand back, a serene voice pierced his mind.

“Would the gentleman please show some mercy.”

It felt like the voice came from all directions at once, like what Buddhists call the voice filling all six directions.

The voice itself carried internal energy, and the energy was so profound and pure it felt like being doused with cold water in midsummer.

Ju-seong released his right hand and turned his head to stare at the old man who had spoken to him.

“…A peddler?”

Ju-seong murmured blankly.