Chapter 35. A Fight Over a Loan (5)

The guy approached, sword pointed, step by step. The moment he was within striking distance, that sword would be launched at me. I was slowly backing away, but I wasn’t sure how long I could hold out.

‘If I can just hold on a bit longer, Wijiyen will come.’

The tension slightly eased. At that moment, the guy’s sword shot out. My mistake was letting my guard down. He had been observing me closely and didn’t miss the moment when I slightly relaxed.

“Die!”

His sword aimed precisely for my heart. But with a metallic clang, it hit something and bounced off, unable to penetrate further.

“Ugh.”

I felt a severe pain in my chest and tumbled to the ground. For a moment, I thought my heart had burst, but when I felt my chest, it wasn’t pierced. The throwing dagger I always kept in my chest had stopped his sword.

“Oh no...!”

Seeing that I was still alive, the guy raised his sword to finish me off.

I quickly pulled out the throwing dagger that had saved my life and hurled it at him.

—Clang!

The dagger hit his sword and bounced off. I twisted my body and landed a kick to his waist. My body spun half a circle in the air, and using the momentum, I got up and regained my stance.

It was a move that could easily break my back, but thanks to the enhanced spinal erectors from the animal form, I could do it without much trouble.

“Huff... huff!”

The pain from my chest made me breathe heavily, but I didn’t let go of the tension in my sword hand. In a fight where life and death hang in the balance by the second, letting my guard down was a mistake.

If I hadn’t habitually kept the throwing dagger in my chest, I would have been pierced.

“Phew... I almost died.”

“Hmph! You’re lucky.”

The guy snorted, showing his displeasure. He seemed to regret losing a golden opportunity. He raised his sword again and said,

“Hey, wait a moment. Really, just listen to me one last time.”

“What?”

“I’m not here alone. A master will be here soon.”

Wijiyen... please come before I die.

The guy looked at the servant who had guided me. The servant, who had been trembling at the unexpected swordplay, shook his head vigorously under his master’s stern gaze.

“No one followed me, young master! I checked carefully. He’s lying!”

“How could you, a mere servant, know if a master is being tracked?”

“...”

The guy seemed slightly puzzled by my bluff.

In fact, from the moment I arrived, the loan scam was as good as over.

Once my location was exposed, it was impossible to completely evade pursuit. The method to move the goods was also gone.

“So, surrender.”

“You sound like you’re doing me a favor.”

“Don’t be sarcastic.”

When will Wijiyen come?

I tried to hold back my fear and said, If Wijiyen comes, the situation will turn around. There’s no way he’s stronger than her.

However, Wijiyen was nowhere to be seen, and the guy sneered at my proposal, raising his sword again.

“What if I don’t?”

“...”

The negotiation is over.

It didn’t seem like I could stall any longer.

If we fight, I don’t know if I can win.

From what I saw of his sword skills, he was clearly above me. He even knew the Sailing Sword Technique or the Missile Sword Technique.

But that doesn’t mean I have no chance. I’ve trained hard, and if my guess is right, I have a good chance.

After observing, I decided to provoke him one last time.

“Fine, if you don’t like it, there’s nothing I can do. But you.”

“What?”

“You can’t use inner strength, can you?”

“...!”

You little brat, I knew it.

***

Duan Yingchuan was once a promising young man. Born as the sixth son of the Duan family, his martial talent was evident, and he entered the Zhenchang Sect at a young age.

He proved his talent by mastering the Brilliant Eighteen Sword Technique and the Whirlwind Forty-Eight Sword Technique by his teens and could naturally emit sword qi by his early twenties.

Although he remained an outer disciple due to his family background, Zhenchang treated him as an insider and even considered making him an inner disciple with the Duan family’s permission.

Thus, Duan Yingchuan was one of the few outer disciples to learn the Sailing Sword Technique, a secret technique of Zhenchang, due to his exceptional talent.

However, he had one problem: gambling addiction.

As an outer disciple, he lived freely outside the sect, had a house, and servants. He gradually became lazy and indulged in drinking and women, and the generous allowance from the Duan family only accelerated his downfall.

By the time he became an adult, he had lost all self-control and was deeply involved in various gambling activities, causing numerous troubles in the market.

When the Zhenchang Sect learned of this, they were shocked. They had considered making him an inner disciple, but now he had become a disgrace.

They tried to reform him with confinement and wall meditation, but it was all in vain. He was already deeply addicted to gambling.

Once a promising disciple, Duan Yingchuan became a disgrace to Zhenchang.

Feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the sect’s disapproval, he rebelled and became even more addicted to gambling. Eventually, the Law Enforcement Hall expelled him.

Being expelled from a prestigious sect is a cruel act, making one completely disabled by destroying the dantian, severing the tendons, and breaking the finger bones.

The Duan family, knowing this, paid a large sum to ensure that Duan Yingchuan’s martial arts would not be leaked and requested that only his dantian be destroyed.

If they refused, the Duan family threatened to sever ties with Zhenchang.

Since Duan Yingchuan was an outer disciple, Zhenchang accepted the offer. After his dantian was destroyed, he could no longer be a martial artist and fled, not returning home due to shame.

He had been expelled from the sect and squandered the family’s wealth.

No matter how thick-skinned he was, he couldn’t face his family in this state.

‘I’ll win it back. I’ll win it back...’

Driven by the dangerous thought of winning back his losses, he tricked his younger brother, who had come to meet him, and stole all the travel money and valuables, fleeing to gamble.

‘Brother! Haaaaa!!!’

‘Phew, mission accomplished. With this, I should get a few hundred taels... Anyway, I’ll use this to make more money and buy something better.’

However, the phenomenon of a gambling addict winning against seasoned gamblers did not happen. He lost everything in ten rounds.

‘How about a draw?’

He pleaded with the gamblers, but it was useless. They didn’t even return his initial stake.

He ended up fleeing from the Duan family’s furious pursuit, ending up in various places.

Completely ruined, he was left with only one servant, Deokgu, who had served him since childhood.

However, Duan Yingchuan didn’t give up. Cornered, he drastically changed his approach.

‘One big win... Just one big win will do.’

Duan Yingchuan decided not to risk his life on gambling anymore. He would aim for a sure win.

But with no inner strength, his options for a big win were limited. After much thought, he found his breakthrough: a loan scam.

He learned that a woman named Kaixing was running a large loan scheme and actively seduced her, even using his body.

That’s how things got to this point.

***

I started to suspect that he couldn’t use inner strength when he failed to finish me with the Sailing Sword Technique.

‘That’s strange.’

The Sailing Sword Technique is a secret technique of Zhenchang. How could a cheap dagger made by a local blacksmith stop it?

It doesn’t make sense.

Even without sword qi, if he had used inner strength, he could have easily shattered the cheap dagger and pierced my heart.

This led me to suspect that he couldn’t use inner strength, and I had a hunch about who he might be.

Yunnan’s First Tiger Mouth

Duan Yingchuan

I had heard about the sixth son of the Duan family, who was expelled from Zhenchang for gambling, when I worked as a waiter and helped the Haoke Sect a few times to earn some money.

The Duan family had offered a huge reward to catch him, and I memorized the wanted poster, hoping to change my fate if I caught him. Unfortunately, he never came to the inn where I worked.

That memory helped me now.

“Are you Duan Yingchuan? The sixth son of the Duan family who was expelled for gambling.”

“...You know me well.”

“Bingo.”

I smiled, and he sneered.

“Right. I’ve lost my inner strength.”

“So, you are Duan Yingchuan.”

He slowly adjusted his grip on the sword and approached me.

“But tell me, with no inner strength, do you think a street thug like you can beat me?”

“...”

This is a tough question.

A master who has lost inner strength versus a mediocre practitioner with some inner strength. Which one has the advantage?

Usually, the master who has lost inner strength has the upper hand because of their superior sword skills.

Of course, I have learned sword skills and can use my inner strength to the best of my ability, but my chances of winning are only about 20%.

Naturally, I should say that I can’t win and try to stall for time, but...

“I think I can win.”

“What?”

“I think I can win.”

I just blurted it out. It was getting annoying.

After I said it, I felt relieved.

Duan Yingchuan started grinding his teeth.

“Fine. If you want to die so badly... I’ll show you my Brilliant Eighteen Sword Technique as a parting gift.”

“Show me your Brilliant Eighteen Sword Technique or whatever. I’m already scared to death.”

“You!”

Duan Yingchuan’s sword moved in a dazzling display, almost blinding.

‘But I can still see it.’

I gathered all my inner strength, heightened my senses and reaction speed, and barely blocked his sword with my own.

—Clang!

The swords clashed multiple times. Duan Yingchuan’s sword was slower and weaker than I expected, but the precision of his sword paths was terrifying.

‘This is the Brilliant Eighteen Sword Technique...’

Blocking his sword, which aimed for vital points, was impossible. If I could do that, I would be a master, not a mediocre practitioner.

So, I took large steps back to maintain distance.

My strategy was for a long-term fight.

Block what I can, avoid what I can. I focused on defense, knowing that the longer I could stall, the better for me.

‘Just 10 minutes, 10 minutes is all I need!’

A person without inner strength will be exhausted after 10 minutes of intense swordplay.

Think about why a boxing round is only 3 minutes. Maintaining extreme tension and anaerobic exercise for just 3 minutes can quickly drain one’s stamina.

So, I estimated his limit to be 10 minutes.

If I could hold on for 10 minutes, the situation would turn around.

...But there was an unexpected variable.

“Ugh!”

“Catch this!”

Suddenly, the servant Deokgu and Kaixing started throwing whatever they could find at me. Plates, bowls, and knives flew through the air. I dodged a plate heading for my head and shouted,

“You’ll die by my hands! Really!!”

Thus, a chaotic party of flying plates, bowls, and knives ensued.