Chapter 53: Club Fire (Part 1)
Ji Huaisu supported his body with the giant sword and took out a bandage from his waist bag to bandage his left hand.
Her left hand was completely useless, its palm a bloody hole, its fingers nearly severed by the sword's blade, held together only by the bones. But compared to those "offspring" who had been unknowingly bewitched by Maivia, she was lucky to have only one hand crippled. The Shuoyue bastard's illusion was too powerful, and it could not be broken without paying such a price.
After completing the emergency response, she breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the damned Gray Cat had finally died. She had finally personally slain the city's greatest scourge... But then Ji Huaisu, alertly gripping her sword, noticed something strange about Maivia's corpse. The hideous form had transformed into a pool of sticky black water, now silently bubbling. The bubbles burst, revealing the alluring face of a woman.
It was the Hand of Favor. The summoning ritual hadn't ceased even after Maivia's death, and new demons emerged from his corpse. Ji Huaisu swung her sword without a word, slashing them down. She discovered Maivia's backup plan: besides himself, he had set up another summoning core to ensure that the ritual to summon the Black Moon could be activated even after his death.
The summoning core will only be in one place, in the nest he has run for many years!
"Make sure everyone in the club is evacuated, then destroy the building!"
The team members nearby came to support. After Ji Huaisu gave the order, he suddenly realized: "Where is Akong? Where is Akong?"
·
Flames engulfed the gray building as the team members covered the men and women evacuating. Whether they were employees seeking a living or customers seeking pleasure, everyone ran out of the building with all their might, including some of Maivia's hired thugs. A few trapped on the upper floors, seeing no one to rescue them, jumped out of the windows without a care in the world.
They would rather fall to their death than be buried in a sea of fire. The green flame was too terrifying. It spread like a whirlwind, and it seemed that everything with a physical form would be burned to ashes.
"Is everyone here?! Those who haven't left, evacuate immediately. The firefighting equipment will be here soon!"
Jie An had already escaped the police car. After a hasty head count, his heart sank. Several more of his team members had been killed. Before the operation began, no one had anticipated such an unexpected event. They had triumphed over the enemy's minions, only to fall in this inexplicable fire.
Lu Xing was the last one to retreat, holding the frightened child in his arms: "Those who are still breathing have left. But Brother Chu is still in the building!"
Xie An raised his head wordlessly, his gaze piercing the blaze towards the top floor, where the fire was most intense. Two long shadows trembled and intertwined in the flames, like nobles clashing in a duel, or demons dancing in hell.
On the 17th floor, about to be burned, sword flashes crisscrossed. The extremely swift sword lights intertwined into an impenetrable net, and Du Muyan, at the center of the net, brandished his rock sword in defense.
This kind of blade net went beyond the common sense of hand-to-hand combat, as even the fastest swordsman could only wield two blades in his hands, creating a prison for a few seconds at best. But Chu Hengkong was clearly someone completely alien to common sense. He used only his tentacles to hold the blades, swinging them like chains. This attack combined the range of a long whip with the sharpness of a blade, effectively holding even a powerful swordsman like Yan back.
Chu Hengkong knew this was just a trade-off. Yan couldn't get out, and he couldn't get in. Yan's defensive position saved him some energy, but he also had the benefit of light armor to restore his strength. Neither side could do anything to the other. If his right hand hadn't been injured and unable to hold the sword, he wouldn't have fought such a meaningless war of attrition. The raging fire was constantly eating away at his available space, and his lungs were already aching from the smoke.
If the fighting continues like this, both sides will be burned to death.
Yan obviously realized this as well, and he looked into Chu Hengkong's eyes through the knife light.
"You should go, Inspector Chu. There's no need for someone like you to die here in vain."
"Will you summon monsters after I leave?" Chu Hengkong's eyes lit up. "That's not called retreating, that's running away. In a fight between warriors, it's better to die than to run away!"
Yan was stunned. He hadn't expected the other man to consider him a warrior. He saw this as a final battle for the club's demise, while the other saw it as both an inspector's duty and a warrior's perseverance. A duel between warriors had nothing to do with morality or professionalism. When men who prided themselves on their swords met on a narrow road, they would determine the winner before leaving.
"Then let's decide the winner." Du Muyan held the knife in both hands, "It's a fight to the death!"
A burnt wooden beam crashed down between them, forcing Chu Hengkong's tentacle blade net to a halt. Du Muyan seized the opportunity to leap into the air, stepping high onto the burning beam and unleashing a relentless uppercut like a deadly warrior.
Yan's single blade was as rough as rock, and his deft handling made it incredibly heavy. Such an attack was unstoppable, breaking even ordinary relic weapons. Dodging would only expose a flaw. Therefore, Chu Hengkong made no attempt to block it. He stepped forward, facing the blade, letting it cleave through his light armor and into his flesh.
Longxiang boxing: no movement.
In the split second before receiving the blow, Chu Hengkong shifted an inch to protect his vitals. The powerful force within the rock blade, transmitted through his twisting muscles, converged on the tentacles that simultaneously retracted. As blood splattered, Chu Hengkong leaned forward and swung his blade. With the same decisive blow, he pierced Du Muyan's suit's defense and cleaved through his abdomen!
This was a tactic of exchanging wounds for wounds. Both sides knew a prolonged battle would yield no winner, so they staked their lives on the blade. Du Muyan contracted his abdominal muscles to seal the wound, and he delivered a minimal slash at Chu Hengkong's wrist. Chu Hengkong alertly pulled back to defend, but Yan's sword barely flickered in the air before slipping back into its sheath.
This was a false move to confuse the audience. Seeing that Chu Hengkong had survived the vertical slash, Yan realized that another strike wouldn't be decisive. Yan chose to use this opportunity to sheathe his sword, intending to unleash the Iai attack that would pierce the water flag.
Du Muyan lowered his knees slightly, his thumb lightly touching the blade's hilt. His mind, body, and skills merged in this moment, all aimed at unleashing the most powerful strike of the Steel Edge Flow. At this moment, Chu Hengkong took a powerful step forward, his momentum as powerful and profound as the strength of an iron mountain, but the force came from his tense palm. His palm struck the hilt, forcing the rock blade back into its scabbard.
I can’t leave the house!
Chu Hengkong transformed his palm into a claw, his tail finger pointing at Yan's wrist. Yan's right hand suddenly loosened, and this seemed to magically control his hand, which was the foundation of Longxiang boxing. Chu Hengkong's left arm reached out and slashed with the knife, and at the same time, he clenched his fist to grab the knife, pulling the rough Yan knife directly from the sheath.
A swordsman cannot be without a weapon; fighting with bare hands means death. Seeing his weapon lost, Du Muyan acted decisively and slammed his palm against the blade. His rock-like palm withstood the blow, forcibly pulling the white blade from the tentacle.
Seizing a blade with bare hands, also known as "taking without a sword," this quick-witted move barely tipped the balance of victory back into equilibrium. Both sides, enduring the pain, distanced themselves. Du Muyan sheathed Chu Hengkong's blade, while Chu Hengkong, holding it with both hands, waited for his opportunity. Both were gravely wounded, and the next strike would determine the outcome.
The flames pressed closer and closer, the battlefield outside shrinking with each passing moment. The ceiling groaned under the weight, and a cluster of ashes fell silently. At this moment, Chu Hengkong took the lead and chose the desperate Ichimonji Slash!
Du Muyan drew his sword almost simultaneously, the gleam of his blade cleaving the ashes. But unlike the previous bold stroke of ink, it narrowed to a needle-like line. His Iai was also a vertical strike, the compressed force vibrating through the blade, creating a thunderous roar as it came out.
Steel Front Flow·No Counterattack!
This was the true art of striking first after being struck last, the club's greatest trump card. Even the strongest slashing blows were useless against this one, as the shockwaves would shatter all restraints and the enemy's blade upon impact. Only a concentrated, vertical slashing technique could unleash its full potential, a technique that even Ji Huaisu's sword and shield could not block.
The two blades collided in mid-air, the recoil instantly ignited, and an extremely powerful force rushed into Chu Hengkong's palm...but his blade did not shatter! His blade arc suddenly deflected at the moment of collision, like a flying swallow spreading its wings at sunset, bathing in the light and drawing an extremely strange circle.
The force of the collision deflected the blade from its original trajectory, thus avoiding a crushing end. It slashed diagonally into Yan's body, slicing through his heart!
The two figures crossed, the sound of metal clanging on the ground resounded. Chu Hengkong lost his grip on the knife. The unstoppable force erupted within his arm, nearly crippling his right hand. He barely managed to grab the rock knife with his tentacles and turned to defend himself. There was no time to waste, as the monsters in the club would only reveal their true colors after being seriously injured.
Du Muyan knelt on the ground, still holding the knife tightly in his hand.
"Excellent swordsmanship." The man praised.
Only then did his calm voice sound a little weak. He could no longer suppress his injuries. His clenched muscles relaxed, and his organs flowed out of his abdomen. From the fatal wound, boiling blood fell, as bright red as normal human blood.
Chu Hengkong was stunned.
"You are not a fallen one."
"I'm not."
Du Muyan turned around and smiled slightly.
Is it any wonder that people don't want to be monsters?
He fell to the ground, and his lifeless body fell into the fire.
(End of this chapter)
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