Chapter 64: Chapter 34. A Single Slash

Chapter 64: A Single Slash

A splitting headache, parched throat, and wave after wave of dizziness.

Chou Jinru opened his eyes. The scene before him flickered close and far, sharp one moment and blurry the next, while a heavy, pungent odor filled his nose and mouth.

"Water... water."

Struggling to sit up and find some water, he was just about to roll over when he noticed a red-haired girl slumped beside him, who was naturally awakened by his movement.

It turned out to be Reed.

Shouldn't he have been on the 34th floor of the Lungmen Financial Center, confronting the Ursus people? How did he suddenly... end up back in Swire's old residence, with an extra Reed by his side?

"You're awake?"

Reed rubbed her sleepy eyes, her tone neither warm nor cold, and picked up the thermos from the bedside table. She had apparently prepared warm water long ago.

"How did I get back?"

He had zero memory of what happened in between. He had only ever experienced this kind of feeling when he blacked out on his roommate's twentieth birthday, forgetting everything after a heavy hangover.

After drinking the water, his burning throat felt much more comfortable. Reed sat on the edge of the bed and recounted the events he couldn't remember.

...

"What on earth did these Ursus people come here to do?"

Just as Chou Jinru was racking his brains in utter confusion, Bison in front of him picked up a cup of water, took a sip, and asked, "Would the Doctor like some as well?"

"Oh, thanks, I happen to be a bit thirsty."

Chou Jinru didn't think much of it. He took the cup from Bison's hand and poured a mouthful into his mouth. The liquid slid down his throat into his stomach, sweet and mellow, with a rich and pleasant taste. It didn't feel like plain water at all. Do people in Lungmen live this luxuriously now?

Curious, he asked, "What kind of beverage is this? It tastes pretty good."

Bison took back the cup and explained, "This is the Water of Life those Ursus people are always talking about. Unlike the cheap swill they usually drink, what I brought is top-shelf stuff that only Ursus nobility can afford... Mr. A-Guang? Mr. A-Guang! What's wrong with you?!"

Water of Life...

Chou Jinru's mind spat out a single thought: isn't this stuff just Russian vodka? In the bitter winter, only two things caught the eye of the combat race: pork with thick fat, and the Water of Life that could be ignited with a lighter.

Steaming heat radiated from the top of his head, accompanied by a feeling of lightheadedness. Everyone he looked at appeared with four overlapping shadows—had everyone present mastered the forbidden shadow clone technique?

With one hand supporting himself against the wall and the other grabbing Bison's shoulder, Chou Jinru breathed out the reek of alcohol and complained discontentedly, "A-Song, your old man isn't playing fair. It's as plain as day that those masked men upstairs are all after you, yet he let them into the financial center anyway. Who was he putting on a show for? The grand Lungmen Financial Center can just pull these reckless stunts, and he's not even afraid the Lungmen nobles will cause trouble for him?"

Bison was torn between laughter and tears: "Mr. A-Guang, please stop talking nonsense."

"Fine, have it your way, we won't talk about it. There's only one thing I want to do right now."

Chou Jinru was out of his mind and uttered only that sentence before falling silent. In his field of vision, he saw emotions converging into a pool. He reached out and made a grasping motion in the empty air, kneading the deep red emotion representing anger into a ball.

"Magnify."

Uttering those two words softly, the corners of his mouth curled up as he slapped Bison heavily on the shoulder: "Go beat them up!"

Before Bison could react, he saw those cautious Ursus people suddenly widen their eyes and charge forward with their weapons raised. A sudden, overwhelming fury had clouded their minds, leaving room for nothing in their eyes except the enemy.

"Ura~!"

Bison looked at the scene in shock. Why did they suddenly start a charge?

Reality didn't give him much time. The foremost Ursus man had already rushed right up to him, lifting his short blade and slashing fiercely at his round shield. A heavy force traveled through his arm, pressing his round shield downward.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three consecutive blows struck the surface of the shield, yet the ferocious Ursus attacker gave Bison a strange feeling. Why did these people only hack at his shield? They were practically face-to-face, so why was their target exclusively the round shield?

A hand rested on his shoulder from behind as an orange figure leaped over, kicking an Ursus man squarely in the face mid-air and sending him crashing to the ground.

Huai Tianpei's appearance eased the pressure on Bison's front, drawing away a portion of the swarming Ursus assailants.

"Stay down!"

Bison braced his round shield, smashing it hard into the enemy's body. Tilting the shield's surface to parry an incoming blade, he swung his fist and hammered it into that furry face. The surge of alcohol rushed through his entire body, and as he stared at the downed Ursus man, an indescribable sense of relief washed over him.

"Hahaha, come on then!"

The Hoof-beast youth's face flushed red as he roared loudly, but instantly three or four blades slashed toward him from the surrounding area, forcing his grand declaration right back down his throat.

"Gang beating is not heroic!"

Bison roared in anger, subconsciously ignoring why he had also become so irritable.

At this moment, Chou Jinru was leaning against the wall, fast asleep. He couldn't see how the anger meter in his vision was blazing with fierce flames, while the other three emotions were on the verge of going berserk, leaving only a tiny gap unfilled in the surprise meter.

Rage had taken control of everyone. Their emotions turned volatile, transforming them into powder kegs that could be detonated by a single spark.

The moment Huai Tianpei flipped down and landed, she snatched a long bench from the ground and spun around to parry. With a flash of blade light, an Ursus man's short blade followed closely, chopping the bench in her hands into two pieces.

Having no choice but to grab both halves of the bench, she felt a momentary daze, as if she had returned to her childhood.

Having practiced martial arts since she was a little girl, she had grown up listening to the hero tales told by her father. The legendary figures in those stories were all masters of martial arts possessing chivalrous hearts, ridding the world of evil to protect the peace of the realm. Yet whenever he spoke of the days when he fought alongside Lord Wei against Ursus in the past, her father always grew taciturn, brushing it aside by saying it was all in the past and refusing to speak another word.

Hey!

Blocking an incoming blade, the sharp edge bit deep into the long bench. Huai Tianpei used her right hand to grip the bench as a makeshift arm guard to fend off the enemy's onslaught, while her left hand swung the other half of the bench in a wide arc, smashing it heavily against the unsuspecting face of an Ursus man. In an instant, the bench shattered into a flurry of flying wood splinters. Standing right there amidst the debris, she saw the hazy silhouette of her father's departing figure appear before her eyes.

Rolling sideways to dodge, she smoothly picked up a short blade from the ground. The moment her fingers touched the hilt, the familiar feeling rushed back.

"A-Hu, Red-Eyebrow Wing Chun is ultimately just a technique for one-on-one combat. The true mastery of our family lies within this blade. It has no name, created by a great hero in ancient times who knew no martial arts whatsoever and had no study of swordsmanship or saber techniques, relying solely on a Yanling saber to contend against monsters."

"Dad, what was the name of that great hero?"

"Remember this, his name is Wang Chongyang."

Boom!

The blade light fluttered like scattering snowflakes. All the Ursus men present collapsed to the ground simultaneously, their protective gear broken into pieces and blood flowing freely.

Huai Tianpei felt as though every ounce of strength had been drained from her body, and she collapsed limply into the ruins, the only thing supporting her being the blade still clutched in her hand.

Then the blade shattered into inch-long fragments.

(End of this chapter)