Chapter 65: The Madman Under the Moonlight

I felt unpleasant as soon as I heard Yousheng's words. It couldn't be helped.

Until just now, I felt like a general leading troops, but with Yousheng, my status had been reduced to a mere piece on a chessboard. If he says not to fight, I fight; if he says to fight, I don't. This is my consistent mindset.

I followed Yousheng's words exactly.

"Fight until the end with all your strength... Are you giving me an order now?"

I raised one hand slightly and said,

"Let's have a truce."

"……!"

"Senior Brother?"

"Lord Fang?"

Both the enemy and my allies looked at me simultaneously.

I lowered my tone gradually.

"Fine. I've officially confirmed that Yousheng is behind this. Are you all just being played by him? I can tolerate a gambler, but I can't tolerate the owner of the gambling den. In the end, the owner of the gambling den makes the most money. You don't even know how much he makes. My proposal is simple: a temporary truce."

Yousheng replied with a smile.

"You're talking nonsense."

"That's a fair point. But if we continue fighting, the ones who will suffer the most are General Long and Master Shu."

General Long asked with a pale face,

"Why?"

Master Shu also chimed in,

"I've never suffered a loss in my life."

I nodded at the two of them.

"You won't suffer a loss if you share the spoils of Nanhua. You both have already calculated your positions, but I'm different. The most important thing is that Yousheng didn't bring any troops. This is the key. I guarantee that if we continue fighting, more than half of you will die by my hand. Of course, my subordinates will die too, but the one who won't suffer any loss from start to finish is Yousheng, who set this up."

Yousheng interjected,

"What do you want to say?"

"Yousheng must have persuaded you two that he would benefit by taking over Nanhua without a major figure. In the process, most of your subordinates will die by my hand, and I won't die. In the end, the ones who will die are your subordinates who joined this fight."

Yousheng interjected again,

"What are you trying to say? Get to the point."

"The most important thing is that no one should suffer a loss during the truce. The money you received from Yousheng will still be there, right?"

Hongxin raised his hand.

"Senior Brother, what do you mean by the money you received from Yousheng still being there?"

"This is a psychological trick of giving and taking. The large sums of money that General Long and Master Shu received from Yousheng are still with their forces. In exchange, they plan to repay the debt with the spoils from conquering Nanhua. It's a shame to return the money they received, but it's not a shame to take others' possessions to repay the debt. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Yousheng must have used this. He gave you a large sum of money and told you to conquer Nanhua to repay it. You get the bird and the egg... But the key is that Yousheng won't suffer any loss. He didn't bring any troops today, didn't fight himself, and didn't come with any comrades. How much is the life of a subordinate worth in money? The mistake General Long and Master Shu made is not even calculating the value of their subordinates' lives. Fine, that's the current situation analysis."

I glared around and said,

"The one I want now is not General Long or Master Shu. If you, the enemy and my allies, stay still..."

I laughed inside my mask.

"I'll catch Yousheng first. I'm a man of my word. If you accept my proposal, I'll take off my mask here. It will be a loss for me, but to catch Yousheng, I have to bear this loss. By the way, Yousheng will continue to persuade you to fight. Let's listen to what he has to say."

"……"

Yousheng was about to incite and threaten General Long and Master Shu to continue fighting but closed his mouth again.

In the end, General Long and Master Shu looked at Yousheng with dubious expressions. Yousheng frowned and said,

"Are you going to be played by his words?"

I burst out laughing immediately.

"Hahahaha..."

I laughed for a while and pointed at Yousheng with my finger.

"Am I right?"

I instantly wiped the smile off my face and asked the people,

"Let me catch Yousheng. You can fight afterward."

I took off the Black Cat mask and handed it to Hongxin. Hongxin put on the Black Cat mask and replied,

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

I said with my face exposed,

"Do you know me?"

Is there anyone here who recognizes the waiter from Riliang County? No.

"I've already taken a loss. If I had continued to hide my face, I would have had the confidence to assassinate half of your forces. General Long, Master Shu, the decision is yours."

Yousheng looked at General Long.

"Senior General, can you handle it?"

General Long replied,

"Yousheng, did you really think of me as a mere pawn?"

"Of course not."

General Long looked around and said,

"I'll make a counter-proposal. I won't accept a truce immediately. However, the Nanhua Black Path, the Li Hua Black Path, and all my troops will surround this place, and the talkative one and Yousheng will have a life-or-death duel."

General Long looked at me.

"Whichever side dies in the duel, I will withdraw my troops. This way, you will bear the blame for killing Yousheng, and a true temporary truce will be established. What do you think, Master Shu?"

Master Shu replied, trying to suppress his laughter,

"Senior, you're right."

If Yousheng wins, he will push the troops to conquer Nanhua.

If I win, I will withdraw the troops.

Indeed, Long Ganghu doesn't want to suffer any loss.

But there's something they are mistaken about.

I have never been a mere pawn on a chessboard. Even if General Long does this, I have a plan.

"Let's do it. I always welcome a one-on-one duel."

Bai Ren approached and said,

"Senior Brother, this means I will observe the duel to confirm your skills."

I met Bai Ren's eyes.

"Is that so? You're smart."

As I smiled faintly, Bai Ren stepped back.

General Long gave orders to all his troops,

"Spread out the formation. Build a包围圈 so no one can escape. Don't fight each other where you engage the enemy. Start the duel."

Master Shu also chimed in,

"Spread out even more. Kill anyone who tries to escape."

Yousheng turned around and looked at the leaders of Yunwu and Tieqian who were blocking him. General Long also approached, standing in a way that would block any escape route.

Yousheng smiled.

"Are you all crazy?"

General Long replied,

"Why? If you win, it's fine. Nothing has changed. Will you fight directly or hide? That's the only difference. If your forces are so great, you should prove it with real strength, not just words."

Regardless of whether they argued or not, I moved like a cat and approached Yousheng from behind.

Yousheng scratched his chin, drew his sword from his waist, and turned around.

As I lowered my stance, the ends of my flying hair were cut by the sword. I thrust the Black Cat sword straight and honestly.

Clang!

Yousheng deflected the Black Cat sword and attacked me with fast sword techniques.

With a tight-lipped expression, Yousheng reflected the moonlight off his sword and launched a rapid thrust, then transformed it into a three-pronged illusionary sword technique.

This was a technique that used the residual image of sword energy.

His footwork was stable, his sword was fast, and he maintained a firm stance while moving smoothly.

I deflected his sword with the Black Cat sword and thought,

'He's from the White Path.'

It was definitely not a technique learned on the streets. There were traces of at least ten years of intense practice in a specific sword technique.

Despite his appearance as a mere observer, his hidden skills were not bad.

Even I couldn't counterattack rashly until I confirmed the entire sword technique he had mastered. At such times, I can't help but admire the grandmasters of the White Path who created such martial arts systems.

However, I can admire his martial arts, but he has no chance of recognizing mine.

My martial arts have no foundation.

A mix of third-rate dao techniques, third-rate sword techniques, gravekeeper's scythe work, practical combat, martial arts gambling, shoulder-over-shoulder learning, third-rate secret manuals, second-rate secret manuals, the Golden Nine Small Techniques, and Guangsheng's martial arts, all intertwined and fought, have created my own martial arts. The skills I learned while fleeing, the insights I gained from being cut in various places, and the processes I pondered to escape mental possession are all mine.

Because I had no foundation, the entire process of my survival became my foundation.

I deflected all of Yousheng's attacks and watched as his sword technique flowed smoothly from the first move to the last. After that, the moves mixed, transformed, and recombined to attack me.

I deliberately took a step back, retreated to the allied formation, and then stood firm, blocking all of Yousheng's sword attacks.

I am the man who can withstand the strong attacks of a White Path swordsman with an ironclad defense.

If he's not stupid, he should realize something...

I maintained my defense and then grinned,

"Swing faster, faster, faster. You're slow, faster, faster. That technique, the third one."

There are times when someone attacks enthusiastically, almost as if possessed, but can't escape, like Yousheng now.

Suddenly, I created a palm force using the Yan Ji Dashi technique.

Yousheng, who was swinging his sword at an incredible speed, instantly split the palm force into three parts.

When releasing palm force,

Sometimes it is compressed like real power and used for attacks.

Sometimes it is an empty illusion like a cloud to deceive the opponent. Creating an illusion with real energy is not easy.

However, just as Yousheng created an illusionary sword, I can also create an illusion with palm force. When Yousheng cut through the large illusion three times...

I shot forward like a gust of wind, threw the Black Cat sword, and leaped diagonally as he swung his sword.

Clang!

With my left hand, I used the Xing Da Fa, and with my right hand, I used the Mu Ji Zhi Fa.

I used the Xing Da Fa to pull Yousheng's unbalanced body, then forced an imbalance and hit him with the Mu Ji Zhi Fa on his shoulder.

When his arm holding the sword stiffened, I landed and struck Yousheng's upper body acupoints with my thumb and index finger in quick succession.

His shoulder stiffened, his neck became rigid, his mouth couldn't open, and his lower body felt as if it was tightly blocked, as I sequentially infused Mu Ji energy into the acupoints.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

I looked at Yousheng, who was frozen like a statue, and said to General Long's side,

"This guy is now my prisoner. He is my subordinate, my slave, and a prisoner of my subordinates. I can torture him or kill him as I please, so don't tell me what to do from now on."

I used the Xing Da Fa to grab the Black Cat sword that had fallen to the ground and added,

"Arrogant bastards."

As I spoke, I felt like teasing him more and opened my mouth.

"Looks like he has pride, so he handed over the leader like this. This is General Long's mistake, an old man's foolishness, an old man's stubbornness, a failed judgment to assert his pride, and an old man's senile choice."

I pretended to spray water from the Black Cat sword and danced around Yousheng, who was stiff as a board.

As I danced with the sword, Hongxin asked,

"Senior Brother, are you going to kill him?"

"I don't know. I just wanted to act like a madman. Sword dance under the moonlight, madman under the moonlight, the waiter from Riliang County, the liberator of Heixianbao, the leader of the Black Cat Gang... That's me."

I danced the madman's sword dance seriously in front of Yousheng, who was just staring.

The moonlight, which had been obscured by clouds, now shone on me.