Chapter 73
"Is it Taiyi Shenma and Wuyou Daoke?"
Not to mention Taiyi Shenma, the leader of the demonic cult, Wuyou Daoke was also one of the top masters of his time.
"Taiyi Shenma, his Manifest Demon True Art was said to be worthy of being called the best ultimate art of his time. As expected of the divine art of the thousand-year demonic path..."
Yang Jian could not examine Wuyou Daoke's body in the end.
He had only heard later that Taiyi Shenma had personally taken care of Wuyou Daoke's body.
"If that's the case, does it mean that the demonic cult is now planning to conquer the world?"
"Well."
Yang Jian grinned. Jiang Ziya and Xi Xichang could not tell whether his expression was an affirmation or a denial.
"Great hero, if you know something, please tell me. This is no ordinary matter."
"Hey, can you cover the sky with your palm?"
"What?"
At the sudden words, Xi Xichang's heart was burning.
If the demonic cult had made a move, the righteous path had to prepare for it.
But how could she not be frustrated when Yang Jian, who would know the truth better than anyone, was saying such strange things?
"No matter how much you try to hide it, big things are bound to be rumored. If they were planning to conquer the martial world, how could those with light mouths stay quiet?"
"Ah..."
Guangdong is far.
If the huge demonic cult were to make a move, the rumor would spread throughout the world faster and more swiftly than any current.
"But I think there's no harm in preparing in advance."
"Then do so."
"What..."
"Isn't it enough to ask for help from the Sichuan Alliance and the Qingcheng Sect? But will they care about that? With a pack of tigers right in front of them?"
The tigers meant the Black Contemplation Fortress.
It was impossible that Xi Xichang did not know the meaning.
"Even the weak gather their strength when a crisis is right in front of them, it's the law of nature."
"Haha... even the Martial Arts Alliance is keeping silent, so what can you do?"
"I just hope that this chaos will end soon. Because I'm tired and only getting hurt."
Xi Xichang thought of her younger brother, Xibo, who was leading the Qingcheng Sect.
"It's an eye that can't feel the beauty even when looking at a flower."
"What?"
"If you solve one problem, you'll think of another. Do you want to live your whole life solving problems that others have made?"
"That's not something that others have to solve, it's my life."
"Haha!"
Yang Jian burst out laughing and raised his teacup.
The child was not like a child, and to see her as a flower, she was a child like a sharp dagger.
But how could he not know? If a sword, not a flower, solves a problem, only blood and wounds will remain.
'I'm not some kind of monk...'
All things return to their source. As he got older and also aged, Yang Jian was finding himself speaking like an old monk.
While the conversation had stopped for a moment, a voice was heard from the side.
"Isn't the Thunderclap Sect nothing special? How could it be destroyed in one night?"
"It's true that its name was just inflated. As a fellow martial artist, it's a truly shameful thing. I heard that the Twin Swords of Guankou didn't even leave a corpse, so I don't know if he didn't just run away."
"!"
At the very insulting words, Yang Jian turned his gaze to the table from which the sound had come without realizing it.
There, a dwarf old man with a hunchback and a giant with a bald head were sitting.
"Hehe... it must have been quite difficult to run away with those famous twin swords."
At the continuing words, not only did Yang Jian's face harden, but even Jiang Ziya's expression was distorted.
"Hmm..."
Yang Jian took a short breath and tried to regain his composure.
There was nothing good to be gained from making a fuss here.
In the end, it was Jiang Ziya who got angry.
"What are those bald heads talking about!"
Someone hurriedly grabbed the hand of Jiang Ziya, who had roughly pushed back his chair and stood up.
Contrary to his expectation that it would be Xi Xichang, the owner of the hand was Yang Jian.
"Sit down."
"It seems Senior Huang is enduring it because he is a great man, but I am a petty man with a narrow mind."
Jiang Ziya shook off Yang Jian's hand.
Seeing the famous Twin Swords of Guankou being made fun of by those idiots, he felt as if he were also being made fun of.
Yang Jian, watching Jiang Ziya striding towards the two strange men, asked Xi Xichang.
"Aren't you going to stop him?"
"The Twin Swords of Guankou are true martial artists, and their name is not one that ruffians should take in their mouths and swallow."
At Xi Xichang's short words, Yang Jian felt his heart soften a little.
"But there's nothing good to be gained from a commotion, is there?"
"Since it has come to this, it seems it would be good to gauge Scholar Jiang's skills against them."
Xi Xichang was always mindful that Jiang Ziya had not revealed his martial arts to her.
This was surely a good opportunity to check Jiang Ziya's skills.
"Do you know who they are?"
"Judging by their ugly appearance, I think they are the Two Strange Men of the Unshaven."
They were famous strange men of Hubei, and the first, Wu Guai, who was a dwarf, and the second, Xing Guai, who was about seven feet tall, had received the nickname 'Two Strange Men of the Unshaven' because of their habit of breaking into temples and shaving the heads of Buddhas.
Thanks to their strange behavior and strong martial arts, numerous martial artists had challenged them, but countless had knelt or been killed by their joint attack.
Thump!
The first, Wu Guai, who had looked up at Jiang Ziya, who had slammed his palm on the table, glared at Jiang Ziya with narrowed eyes.
"What are you?"
"My name is Jiang Ziya."
"If you don't move this hand quickly, you might become a ghost without an arm."
"Try to move it with all your might."
"Haha! What a rude brat. Xing Guai, move this reed-like arm. It's ruining the taste of the alcohol."
Xing Guai, as soon as he heard Wu Guai's words, raised his large arm and grabbed Jiang Ziya's wrist.
Jiang Ziya immediately used his power as soon as his wrist was grabbed.
"Huh?"
Xing Guai, when he saw that Jiang Ziya's hand showed no sign of moving even when he used all his strength, his veins bulged out on his face.
"Grrr...!"
As Xing Guai used his power, smoke rose from Jiang Ziya's thin wrist. As the red-faced Xing Guai was about to use his strength again, Wu Guai gently stopped Xing Guai.
"That's enough."
As the angry Xing Guai was about to get up from his seat, Wu Guai tapped Xing Guai's shoulder with his wooden staff.
It was a signal to stop.
"Is this all?"
As Jiang Ziya asked with a blank expression, a smile appeared on Wu Guai's lips.
"Haha, this brat has honey on his palm. Did you come before the elders to show off a little trick?"
"While you can't even handle my little trick, how did you grow the guts to take the name of the Twin Swords of Guankou in your mouth?"
"Are you a disciple of the Twin Swords of Guankou or a guy who wipes his ass? You young brat. If you want to show off your half-baked skills, aim for others."
"I'm not trying to show off my skills. It's just that your attitude towards the senior, the Twin Swords of Guankou, was unpleasant."
"You brat, I was shaving the beards of the martial artists who had died in my hands when the Twin Swords of Guankou was holding a sword. But what kind of senior of the martial world? He may be your senior, but he's not my senior."
"No matter what you say, I have to hear an apology."
"Haha... what a reckless brat."
Wu Guai lightly lifted his staff and swung it at Jiang Ziya's head.
Although it was a very light movement, the staff contained a force of a thousand pounds.
"Thwack!"
Jiang Ziya immediately took his hand off the table and firmly grabbed Wu Guai's staff.
A strange light appeared in the eyes of Wu Guai, whose staff had been grabbed. This was because although it was a simple movement, it was a move that contained the strange moves of the Eight Changes.
The eyes of the people in the tavern were already gathered on Jiang Ziya and the Two Strange Men of the Unshaven.
Among them were also people from the Wudang Sect who had been pursuing them after hearing that the Two Strange Men of the Unshaven had appeared here.
"Master, who is that man?"
"Well... judging by the atmosphere, it doesn't seem that he's on good terms with the Two Strange Men of the Unshaven."
Wu Guang, the Wise Sword of Wudang, stroking his black beard, gathered his disciples.
He thought it was advantageous to watch the situation for now.
"Shouldn't we help him? It seems that man is being too arrogant."
Even at the question of his first disciple, Dao Weibu, Wu Guang could not easily make a judgment.
If he didn't use his hands, that man would die. But this tavern was not a suitable place for them to use their hands.
If he were to miss the Two Strange Men of the Unshaven by any chance, how could he handle the aftermath?
"Naye, what do you think?"
He asked his second disciple, Shen Naye, without hesitation.
"If we leave him alone, he will surely be killed by the hands of the two strange men, so I think we should naturally help him."
At the answers of his beloved direct disciples, a smile appeared on Wu Guang's lips.
"Good. That's how the disciples of the Great Wudang should be. But let's watch the situation for now."
"Master! But."
"Do you see that man over there? Shh! Don't think of looking at him, but look at him as if you were looking at a flower without any interest."
The man that Wu Guang had pointed to was the Twin Swords of Guankou, Yang Jian.
The disciples of Wudang, following their master's words, carefully and unnaturally observed Yang Jian.
"How do you feel?"
"A swordsman... he seems to be a truly extraordinary person."
After Dao Weibu's answer, Shen Naye answered.
"It's a state of gathering the killing intent inside. He's a person who can be said to have truly returned to the original state."
'As expected! Naye is one step above Weibu!'
Although both disciples had outstanding talents, Shen Naye had a superior talent than her senior, Dao Weibu.
In fact, another reason why Wu Guang was not easily moving was because of Yang Jian.
Although he looked calm on the outside, the prayer that was exuded from his two eyes was clearly the prayer of a great master.
If that person were to use his hands, even the Primordial Heaven Supreme would not be able to guess how the situation would change.
"Master, then..."
"Endure it for now. How can you think of standing up and running wild when you don't even know how to sit down?"
Dao Weibu suppressed his killing intent at his master's scolding. And following his junior and master, he watched the situation of Jiang Ziya and the Two Strange Men of the Unshaven.
"Ugh..."
Without even knowing that there were people from the Wudang Sect right in front of him, Wu Guai was in a truly difficult situation.
Although he had been about to shake off the young brat's hand and to smash his head, for some reason, his staff was not moving from Jiang Ziya's grasp.
'How can a brat have such strength?'
Wu Guai was sure that it was impossible for Jiang Ziya to have cultivated a power that surpassed him at that age.
But no matter how much he raised his internal energy, he felt his back getting wet as Jiang Ziya's grasp did not move.
"Apologize."
"You brat! Are you picking a fight with us? With us, the Two Strange Men of the Unshaven?"
As Wu Guai shouted loudly, Xing Guai, who had stood up with an angry expression, swung his large iron bar at Jiang Ziya.
Swoosh!
Jiang Ziya, who saw the iron bar that was flying at him with the momentum to smash his head in one go, immediately crossed his hands and made Xing Guai's iron bar and Wu Guai's staff get tangled.
It was a divine move of the Heavenly Demon Hand.
Clang!
"Ugh!"
Thump!
Wu Guai and Xing Guai, whose weapons had collided with each other with their power concentrated, staggered from the impact and fell from their seats.
Perhaps because the power of the older brother, Wu Guai, was strong, he was able to sit in his seat, but Xing Guai broke his chair and plunged his head into the floor.
"Have the esteemed seniors suddenly fallen ill with old age?"
Crunch!
Swoosh!
With the sound of grinding teeth, Wu Guai's staff was shot at Jiang Ziya like lightning.
Although Jiang Ziya quickly bent his body to avoid it, he felt his nose sting. But the moment he felt it was also a moment, and soon Wu Guai's staff was spinning in the air and was aiming for Jiang Ziya's forehead.
"You damn brat!"
(End of Chapter)