Chapter 64. Even Dog Dung Has Its Uses

The people hit directly by the Flame Chicken Great Hand Seal were flattened. Even amidst this, those with keen senses and excellent lightness skills managed to dodge, but it didn’t matter. The reason was that I had successfully intimidated them.

As soon as I landed on the ground where my palm had struck, I wrapped the Flame Chicken around my right hand, as if preparing to use the Flame Chicken Great Hand Seal again. As the moonlight, the only source of light, turned my hand red again...

The ragtag alliance retreated in unison.

This was a normal reaction. The bodies of those who had been hit directly by the Flame Chicken Great Hand Seal were scattered around.

The leaders of the enemy forces used the ragtag alliance as a shield and retreated further.

Thus, I had concentrated their attention with a single attack.

I, the man who uses techniques not to kill the ragtag alliance but to gain the upper hand, am me.

"Where is the Silver-Eared Yu Shaoqing? You’re hiding, aren’t you? Where is the leader of the Wu E Men, who is like a bat or a rat? You’re hiding too, aren’t you? I heard the crazy Iron Island Lady, who throws hidden weapons, has joined. Ah, there you are. Listen up, everyone. I killed the deputy leader of the Yun Wu Hui."

I pointed at Li Longnou, who was glaring at me from behind his subordinates.

"And that guy over there. You’re going to die today because of that old fool who has only lived to eat the food given by the Great Temple. Remember that."

I finished it short and sharp.

Now, I had provoked all the enemy leaders.

Provoking the enemy leaders is effective when a chaotic battle breaks out. As the number of dying enemies increases, they tend to blame their allies.

I drew Hei Miao Ya from my waist and said,

"What are you staring at, you idiots? Come at me all at once."

Suddenly, from behind, a thud was heard, and Dugu Sheng, wielding a pair of sabers, advanced, killing anyone in his path. Then, the Twelve Disciples and Xiao Junping, leading the Hei Miao Fang, broke through the encirclement at my rear.

I laughed, shrugging my shoulders in the middle of the enemy ranks.

"The moon is beautiful, my subordinates are in high spirits, and I feel good too."

As I infused the Flame Chicken into Hei Miao Ya, the blade turned red.

When I suddenly advanced, the ragtag alliance retreated. They still moved to protect their leaders.

What I always pay attention to is the psychological state of the enemy. Therefore, I incorporated psychological warfare into my steps and tone of voice.

"Ragtag, get out of the way. I only kill the leaders."

As I suddenly cackled and charged with my sword, the ragtag alliance, who had volunteered to shield the leaders, scattered in fear.

Of course, I don’t spare the ragtag. I poured wind into the backs of the fleeing and chased them down, slicing them like a butcher.

In an instant, screams and roars mixed together.

Amidst this, a calm voice from behind, belonging to Bai Ren, was heard.

"Hong Shimai, clear out the ones hindering the Great Senior Brother from the rear. The Twelve Disciples, join in to assist the Great Senior Brother."

Bai Ren seemed to understand my overall strategy.

From behind, the clear voice of Dugu Sheng, leading the dark Haomen, was also heard.

"Great Leader, what should we do?"

Dugu Sheng, without stopping his sword strikes, replied,

"Just kill them all."

As soon as Dugu Sheng finished speaking, someone’s scream rose to the sky. Nearby, Xiao Junping was urging his subordinates with curses. Most of the curses were variations of "Get your act together!"

I swung Hei Miao Ya simply to conserve my power and advanced. When the enemy retreated, I pressed forward at a slightly faster pace. Since killing the ragtag doesn’t consume much power, my mouth was free to talk.

"Today... didn’t you feel like something bad was going to happen?"

I cut off a man’s shoulder with Hei Miao Ya.

Splat!

I beheaded a man rushing at me from the side and leaped into the air, kneeing someone in the face.

Thud!

"Did you think it was your chance because the Great Temple was dead?"

I stabbed Hei Miao Ya into the neck of a man who had fallen from the knee strike.

Thud!

As I pulled out Hei Miao Ya, a long stream of blood poured over the heads of the retreating men.

"Why do you keep running? Huh?"

I increased my speed and swung my sword again.

While swinging my sword, I also delivered side kicks, front kicks, roundhouse kicks, flying kicks, and palm strikes, all the while making meaningless noises. Sometimes, I even said things without knowing why, but it didn’t matter.

The important thing was to talk while killing the enemy, and the words didn’t need to be accurate.

This was just a way to control and maintain the flow of the battle.

Thanks to this, our subordinates had no trouble locating me. A charge led by me naturally formed.

"Why did the Great Temple suddenly die? You crazy bastards. Why did it die?"

I pulled a man towards me with the Absorbing Technique, grabbed his collar, and asked calmly,

"Why did it die?"

I tapped the man’s forehead, who was mumbling, with the handle of Hei Miao Ya.

Thud!

Now, more men retreated when I looked at them. But I deliberately chased those who were visibly retreating.

"Why did it die? Answer me, you bastards."

Someone let out a "Yaaah!" and turned to run. I roared like the enemy’s scream.

"Yaaah!"

"..."

When the attention was focused on me, I infused the Flame Chicken into the blade and blew on it.

"Ha-a. It’s warm."

The scent of the Flame Chicken wrapped around the blade.

"Flame Chicken Great Saber Technique."

The man who calls out the names of techniques while fighting is me.

Actually, it’s just a different name for an attack similar to the Flame Chicken Great Hand Seal. But to the enemy, seeing the red threads wrapping around the blade, it’s different.

"Die."

I advanced, spraying the Flame Chicken in a whip-like form. With each swing, four or five bodies were torn apart. As I cackled and advanced, it felt like a third of the enemy was fleeing. In reality, more and more were breaking ranks and running away.

Some were beheaded by Shu Xiansheng and Li Longnou before they could take a few steps.

I looked at Shu Xiansheng, who had beheaded a fleeing man, and roared,

"Shu Xiansheng!"

Shu Xiansheng glared at me with wide eyes.

"Teacher, why don’t you believe me? I killed your deputy leader. Weren’t their skulls split by an axe? Am I wrong? It was an axe, right?"

Shu Xiansheng’s face turned red.

"That crazy guy..."

I approached Shu Xiansheng, holding the blood-soaked Hei Miao Ya.

"He died from the axe in the crematorium. I’m the culprit."

The Yun Wu Hui officers blocked Shu Xiansheng, and I charged through. Now, the enemy’s conversations were clearly heard.

"Shu Xiansheng, stay calm. We still outnumber them."

This was Li Longnou’s voice.

"Everyone, gather. That guy is the leader."

This must be the voice of the Iron Island Lady.

But Yu Shaoqing never spoke. I asked the Yun Wu Hui officers while fighting them.

"Officers, where is Yu Shaoqing? Is he the one who escalated this situation?"

I cut a officer’s saber like a bun with Hei Miao Ya and drew a straight red line on his face.

"Kyaah!"

I quickly stabbed the man’s neck with Hei Miao Ya and roared,

"Yu Shaoqing. I’ll issue a wanted notice for you throughout the Central Plains. Running today won’t help. I’ll live to find you. Especially, I’ll split you with an axe."

Suddenly, a massive force surged from the left like a tidal wave.

Boom!

I countered precisely with my left palm, but the sword swing caused me to be pushed slightly to the side. Unfortunately, a meteor hammer flew sharply from the direction I was pushed.

I had no choice but to swing Hei Miao Ya to deflect the meteor hammer, which then wrapped around the blade.

I realized my mistake.

"It’s the Meteor Hammer Wielder. Nice to meet you."

At the same time, something flashed in front of me, and a hidden weapon, likely an iron island, flew towards me.

I pulled the meteor hammer and did a backflip to dodge the iron island, then clashed with Li Longnou, who appeared from the left with his white hair flying. Li Longnou, who seemed cautious, didn’t approach closely despite pouring out palm strikes and palm force.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

"You old fool."

Suddenly, the taut metal wire of the meteor hammer I was pulling snapped. Hong Shen had appeared and cut it with a dagger.

I clashed with Li Longnou’s palm force once more and cackled.

Then, Bai Ren, Qing Jin, Bai You, and Hong Shen, who had each killed dozens of ragtag and arrived, took positions at my rear and surveyed the surroundings.

The tide of the battle can be decided in one move, or it can be a repeated cycle of intense and calm phases, like now.

During a calm phase, I adjusted my mask and looked around.

We were initially at a disadvantage in numbers, but the bodies on the ground were all the enemy’s.

A subordinate officer, Cheng Shitai, who had followed me without killing anyone, pointed at someone and shouted,

"You there!"

Everyone’s attention turned to Cheng Shitai. Cheng Shitai said confidently,

"You’re the Silver-Eared Yu Shaoqing, right?"

A man with ordinary attire and a plain appearance stared at Cheng Shitai.

I wiped the blood off Hei Miao Ya and asked Cheng Shitai,

"Why him?"

Cheng Shitai replied with a tone of certainty,

"He’s doing nothing. In this chaos."

"You’re a great detective."

I felt Cheng Shitai was impressive in many ways but couldn’t think of a suitable idiom, so I said,

"Even dog dung has its uses. Well done."

"Yes."

Even as I glared at him, the man presumed to be Yu Shaoqing showed no change in expression.

If he were a ragtag, he should be afraid.

Suddenly, Yu Shaoqing smiled, perhaps judging that hiding his identity was meaningless.

When he was expressionless, he looked like an ordinary man, but when he smiled, he seemed like a completely different person.

Yu Shaoqing said to me,

"You’re not the leader of the Hei Miao Fang. Will you discover my true identity faster, or will I discover yours? You can’t find me just by knowing my name, Yu Shaoqing. Let both sides continue the fight. Isn’t a decisive battle necessary?"

Yu Shaoqing spoke as if his true identity was even more significant. Surprisingly, he even threatened his allies, Li Longnou and Shu Xiansheng.

"Li Longnou, Shu Xiansheng. Are you going to fight like this after taking my money? It hasn’t been long since you made grand promises to take over Nan Hua, repay the debt, and expand your influence."

I hesitated to remove my mask for a moment.

'Look at this guy.'

I carefully observed Yu Shaoqing’s demeanor. He initially looked young, but upon closer inspection, he seemed to be over forty. His posture and eyes suggested he had considerable skills.

Amidst this, I had a sudden thought.

When you look closely at the world, the worst people are those who lend money.

After a long time, I felt it was better to capture him and torture him to extract all the information he knew rather than kill him immediately.

There was no specific reason.

I am the kind of person who acts without a solid foundation or reason.

Now, as the overall leader of the enemy, Yu Shaoqing gave an order, as if his true identity had just been revealed.

"Let’s keep fighting until the end, you scum of the black path."