Chapter 14: Chapter 13: Snatching the Treasure
After returning to the Instructor Hall, Chen Yuan summoned Zhang Xiaoyi.
"Find some street loafers to watch the four city gates. If you spot Duan Kun, the ’Ghost Tooth Saber,’ one of the Five Guardians of the Black Water Gang, leaving the city, notify me immediately."
Zhang Xiaoyi nodded repeatedly. "Don’t worry, Young Master. I’ll definitely find some reliable people this time."
He was still blaming himself for the incident with Wei Yidao.
’I found a greedy, unreliable guy, and in the end, the Young Master had to clean up my mess. I’m so useless.’
"Don’t be so nervous. It’s just watching the gates, not even tailing someone. Anyone with eyes can do it. Just make sure you don’t reveal your Celestial Wolf Gang identity."
Zhang Xiaoyi nodded and immediately ran off to make preparations.
This time, however, he had learned his lesson. He couldn’t trust those loafers too much.
So, he planned to hire three loafers for each gate, none of whom would know about the others.
’That way, even if someone slacks off, at least one of the three should be reliable, right?’
If all three slacked off, well, that would just be his own bad luck.
Chen Yuan had Zhang Xiaoyi watch Duan Kun of the Black Water Gang because he wanted to take something from him.
Before seizing the Divine Artifact, it was naturally best for Chen Yuan to have as many trump cards as possible.
However, no matter how many Cultivation and Martial Techniques he had, Chen Yuan’s time was limited. In less than two months, Jiang Kaitai would begin the blood sacrifice for the Divine Artifact.
Therefore, besides his own strength, Chen Yuan needed to accumulate more trump cards before then.
Duan Kun possessed something that Chen Yuan wanted.
"Ghost Tooth Saber" Duan Kun, as one of the Five Guardians of the Black Water Gang, was at the Blood Movement Realm of cultivation.
The Five Guardians of the Black Water Gang were all powerful, every one of them in the Blood Movement Realm.
What Hu the Third had said before—that the Five Guardians of the Black Water Gang were stronger than the Three Heroes of the Celestial Wolf Gang—wasn’t wrong.
It was just that Chen Yuan and the other two were very young, while the youngest of the Black Water Gang’s Five Guardians was already forty.
In the original story, after the blood sacrifice of the Seven Kills Stele, the Celestial Wolf Gang was annihilated, and the Black Water Gang naturally took over all of Lianshan City without a fight.
With no rivals left, the Black Water Gang acted with ever-increasing arrogance and tyranny. They committed all sorts of evil, so there was a story arc where players had to fight the Five Guardians of the Black Water Gang.
It was during that arc that Duan Kun revealed one of his trump cards: a High Tier Hidden Weapon forged by the Divine Strategy Pavilion, Guanyin’s Tears.
The Divine Strategy Pavilion was renowned throughout the Jianghu for its Hidden Weapons and mechanisms, and it wielded the Divine Artifact, Divine Machine Hundred Refinements.
Every Hidden Weapon produced by the Divine Strategy Pavilion possessed immense power.
In the original story, the details about the Guanyin’s Tears in Duan Kun’s possession came from a flashback of his.
Someone had pawned a fragment of a mechanism at a Black Water Gang pawnshop, and Duan Kun discovered it bore the mark of the Divine Strategy Pavilion.
Following the clue, Duan Kun discovered that a servant who had defected from the Divine Strategy Pavilion was living just outside Lianshan City. It was that servant’s son who had gone to the pawnshop.
’Since they have a mechanism fragment, they might have the complete Hidden Weapon.’
Acting on a whim, Duan Kun took his men, killed the entire family, and actually found Guanyin’s Tears in their home.
The events in this flashback went by quickly, without specific dates or the location of the defected servant’s residence.
Based on his analysis of the quick flashes in the story, Chen Yuan deduced that the time Duan Kun obtained Guanyin’s Tears should be right around now, before the blood sacrifice of the Seven Kills Stele.
As long as Duan Kun left the city with his men during this period, there was a ninety percent chance he was on his way to seize Guanyin’s Tears.
After arranging for Zhang Xiaoyi to set up the surveillance, Chen Yuan once again entered seclusion to cultivate the Surging Waves and Flowing Clouds Technique.
Opening all the body’s acupoints was merely the beginning. To truly cultivate the Surging Waves and Flowing Clouds Technique to the stage of Great Success, one needed to continuously stimulate the acupoints, temper the Meridians, and expand the Dantian.
The technique would reach Great Success only when, with a single thought, the Inner Strength in every acupoint in his body could instantly surge and swell, filling his Dantian in a moment and erupting with a mighty force like a tidal wave.
He cultivated peacefully in seclusion for over thirty days, until Zhang Xiaoyi finally brought news.
Duan Kun had left the city through the south gate with his men!
Zhang Xiaoyi hadn’t slacked off in the slightest over those thirty-odd days.
Fearing the hired loafers would be lazy, he paid them daily, rotated the crews every few days, and even occasionally pretended to casually stroll by the city gates himself.
When someone finally reported that Duan Kun had left the city with his men, Zhang Xiaoyi rushed to inform Chen Yuan without a moment’s delay.
After changing his clothes, Chen Yuan found a bamboo hat and put it on.
"Get me a horse."
Zhang Xiaoyi prepared the horse, and Chen Yuan immediately gave chase.
To the east and west of Lianshan City were major roads, and merchant caravans almost exclusively used the east and west gates.
To the north and south were smaller paths, less traveled by caravans and used more by pedestrians from the surrounding villages.
Duan Kun had left the city on horseback with about ten subordinates. Chen Yuan examined the hoofprints on the ground and followed their direction.
About a quarter of an hour later, he could faintly hear some commotion ahead.
It was a courtyard built next to a small creek, now surrounded by seven or eight armed members of the Black Water Gang.
The bodies of a man and a woman lay on the ground, their blood staining the entire courtyard.
A bald, burly man in his forties held a thick, broad saber that was half a man’s height.
Its blade was pitch-black, with a serrated edge like a wolf’s fang—ferocious and sinister. This was none other than "Ghost Tooth Saber" Duan Kun, one of the Five Guardians of the Black Water Gang.
Duan Kun took his Ghost Tooth Saber and lightly patted the face of a boy of about seventeen or eighteen on the ground. He grinned maliciously, "Kid, hand over the Divine Strategy Pavilion’s Hidden Weapon, and I’ll grant you a quick death. Otherwise, I have ways to make you confess every time you wet the bed as a child!"
The cold edge of the blade against his face made the boy shudder. He trembled uncontrollably, his eyes filled with terror and regret.
He regretted not listening to his parents. He just had to go to Lianshan City for fun.
After seeing the prosperity of Lianshan City, he wanted to eat everything and buy everything, but his pockets were empty, with only a few copper coins to his name.
His family didn’t have much money, but he remembered there were some odds and ends, metal fragments, at home. His father had always treated them like treasure and forbade him from touching them.
The boy instinctively felt they were valuable, so he stole the smallest piece and pawned it, getting over two hundred coins. He then spent the entire day feasting in the city.
Who could have known that this single act would bring ruin and death upon his family!
Just then, a Black Water Gang member walked out of the house, holding a box, and shouted, "Boss! I found it!"
Joy surged in Duan Kun’s heart, but before he could speak, the sound of galloping hooves suddenly approached.
At the same time, the clear ring of a saber resounded.
The Black Water Gang member was still holding the box aloft, but his head was already flying through the air.
Chen Yuan snatched the box in one smooth motion, stuffing it into his robes as he leaped from his horse. The wide bamboo hat completely obscured the upper half of his face.
Duan Kun was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage. "You dare steal my things? You’re courting death! Kill him!"
Hearing this, the remaining Black Water Gang members immediately surrounded Chen Yuan and charged.
Chen Yuan flicked his wrist. The instant his Yanling Saber left its sheath, a brilliant flash of light streaked across the sky, as swift and startling as a swan in flight.
SHLICK!
With a soft sound, a spray of warm blood blossomed from the neck of the first man to charge. His forward momentum continued, but his body had already gone limp and collapsed.
Duan Kun’s expression changed.
’Such a fast saber!’
Another member armed with a Long Spear lunged from behind. Chen Yuan sidestepped and, with a sharp tug from his left hand, used immense force to pull the man off balance, sending him stumbling toward him.
The next moment, Chen Yuan’s left hand moved like a Spiritual Snake Silk Binding, instantly snapping the man’s wrist, twisting his elbow, and shattering his bones.
Silk Binding Jade Hand!
Accompanied by a series of sharp CRACKS, the Black Water Gang member’s left arm and throat were crushed, and he crumpled to the ground.
In a flash, he had killed two men. Chen Yuan weaved between the remaining gang members, his Yanling Saber like a blooming crimson flower—resplendent and beautiful, yet filled with deadly intent.
Every time the saber light of the Autumn Water Shocking Swan flashed, another man would blossom with blood and fall to the ground.
In what seemed like an instant, Chen Yuan had already killed four of the eight Black Water Gang members present!
"All of you, get back! I’ll handle him!"
Duan Kun roared, swinging his Ghost Tooth Saber and sending a howling gust of wind as he slashed toward Chen Yuan.
At first, Duan Kun hadn’t joined the fight, letting his subordinates attack first to probe the newcomer’s origins.
Duan Kun appeared brutish and simple-minded, but he was actually cunning and calculating.
’This guy dares to steal from me all by himself. He must have something to rely on.’
So, Duan Kun wanted his men to test the opponent, allowing him to find a weakness before striking the killing blow.
But he never expected this person’s Saber Technique to be so ruthless. It was beautiful yet deadly, and so incredibly fast he was felling a man with almost every strike.
Duan Kun had intended to keep the Hidden Weapon from the Divine Strategy Pavilion as his own trump card; he had no plans to hand it over to the Gang Leader.
That was why he had brought only his most trusted men. Now that half of them were dead in a single breath, Duan Kun’s heart was bleeding.
The Yanling Saber in Chen Yuan’s hand hummed and vibrated. Faced with Duan Kun’s powerful, heavy blow, he did not dodge or evade but met it head-on with a slash of his own.
In an instant, the Surging Waves and Flowing Clouds Technique circulated rapidly within him. Droplets of Inner Strength from his three hundred and sixty-five Circulation Acupoints converged, finally erupting into an incomparably majestic torrent of power.
His Saber Momentum descended, stirring up a wave of air. For a moment, it was like a surge of green waves, its might immeasurable!
Autumn Water Shocking Swan—Wave-Treading Slash!
Condensing the Inner Strength of Surging Waves, he unleashed a strike of ultimate power with the force of treading on waves. This slash wasn’t just fast; it was imbued with an incredibly fierce and powerful might.
A deafening boom, like the striking of a great bell, rang out. Duan Kun felt as if he had crashed into a bronze wall. The webbing between his thumbs and forefingers instantly split open, and blood began to flow freely.
The core Saber Intent of the Autumn Water Shocking Saber Technique was a single word: ’fast.’ The entire set didn’t contain many moves.
Besides some basic saber variations, the essence of the entire Saber Technique was condensed into three slashes.
These three slashes were the Wave-Treading Slash, the Autumn Wind Slash, and the Shocking Swan Slash.
With his current understanding of the Autumn Water Shocking Swan Saber Technique, Chen Yuan could already unleash eighty percent of the power of the Wave-Treading Slash, the most basic of the three.
Duan Kun was horrified, his face paling.
The Cultivation Technique and Martial Technique he practiced were actually quite ordinary, but he possessed Innate Divine Strength. When he wielded his Ghost Tooth Saber, Martial Artists of the same realm could only dodge; almost no one dared to face him head-on.
Who would have thought that not only was this man’s Saber Technique swift and ruthless, but his strength was also this immense?
Before Duan Kun could react, Chen Yuan’s Yanling Saber descended in a flurry of continuous slashes. The sky filled with saber afterimages of incredible speed, forcing Duan Kun back step by step, barely able to hold onto his Ghost Tooth Saber.
Duan Kun roared, swung the large saber horizontally with both hands, and abruptly let go, flinging the massive Ghost Tooth Saber directly at Chen Yuan.
The instant Chen Yuan slashed the Ghost Tooth Saber away, leaving his front wide open...
The muscles on Duan Kun’s body suddenly bulged, and he pounced on Chen Yuan like a giant bear, his hand clawing toward Chen Yuan’s chest!
Gold-Breaking Hand!
Chen Yuan extended his left hand. His Silk Binding Strength dissipated the force inch by inch. Duan Kun’s claw felt as if it had struck cotton; no matter how he tried to change his attack, he couldn’t touch Chen Yuan’s hand.
The next moment, Chen Yuan suddenly gripped Duan Kun’s palm. With a pull, a drag, a twist, and a wrench, his Shattering Jade Strength erupted, and a ferociously powerful force violently twisted Duan Kun’s hand like a pretzel!
Duan Kun let out a bloodcurdling scream, trying to pull his hand back, but Chen Yuan held it in a death grip.
The next instant, a flash of saber light passed, and Duan Kun’s head fell to the ground.
In the moment his head hit the ground, Duan Kun seemed to see the face under Chen Yuan’s bamboo hat. His pupils instantly widened, as if he couldn’t die in peace.
PS: Duan Kun is a character created by book-friend Mr. Yao.
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