280 BC. Chu State
Lord Xiong Huan was a prince of Chu State. Although he was not one of the prominent generals in Chu State, yet he was known as a minister who was in charge of all the weapons production in the whole country.
That day, Lord Xiong Huan inspected the workshop that produced weapons in Ying City. Unexpectedly, the supervisor presented a beautiful spear to him.
"This is such a beautiful spear!" Lord Xiong Huan was astonished when he saw the spear. "I have never seen such a beautiful spear like this before!"
"My Lord surely has never seen this kind before!" The supervisor said. "This spearhead is a special one that was made even before the time of Ou Yezi and Gan Jiang! Legend says that even Ou Yezi was very eager to scrutinize this spearhead!"
"Really?" Lord Xiong Huan asked while observing the spear. "Then this spear must be at least two hundred years old."
"Older than that," the supervisor said. "Lord, you should try this spear!" The supervisor said and let Lord Xionghuan aim at a wooden plank he put about ten meters ahead.
Lord Xiong Huan threw the spear, and the spear thrust the wooden plank without breaking the wooden plank.
Lord Xiong Huan widened his eyes in surprise. "This spear is indeed special! Where did you get this one?"
"This spearhead has a long history. It is said that this spear belonged to Lord Ejun, the brother of King Kang and King Ping from a few hundred years ago," the supervisor explained. "Then, I don't know exactly what happened, but then this spear later on circled in our military men. A month ago, a grandson of General Xiong Longji sold this spear to me! He needed some money. Therefore I didn't have to pay dearly for this spear!"
"Indeed, this spear is a valuable treasure!" Lord Xiong Huan said with full excitement. He would have never thought that his life would have to end because of that spear.
Around 3 PM, Lord Xiong Huan and his guards left the weapon workshop to return home.
After a while, Lord Xiong Huan's chariot had to stop as someone was blocking their way. A person using a sword stood in the middle of the road.
"Get off from here," the chariot driver said. "You are blocking our way!"
The swordsman answered, "Is Lord Xiong Huan inside the chariot?"
"Do you think that you have enough qualification to deal with our master?" the chariot driver said. "Get lost immediately!"
"I will only let you all go if Lord Xiong Huan is willing to give his spear to me!"
"What if he doesn't want to?" The chariot driver asked.
"Then all of you will die!" the swordsman said. With that word, the swordsman started to use his sword to attack the guards.
Lord Xiong Huan stayed at his chariot while he was guarded closely by four soldiers. He thought that he was secured. From the chariot's window, he saw that the one who was attacking his chariot was a swordsman dressed in white with a veil covering his face.
It didn't take a long time for him to realize that he's not safe. The swordsman had killed half of his guards.
The swordsman easily killed ten soldiers. He's not weak and could not be underestimated.
"How much money do you want? Let us go!" Lord Xiong Huan shouted from inside his chariot.
"I'm not interested in your money!" the swordsman shouted. "I only want the spear!"
Hearing that word, Lord Xiong Huan started to clutch his spear to protect himself. That spear was a valuable weapon that he wanted to present to the king. He would not give up that spear easily to that swordsman.
The swordsman is unexpectedly formidable, and he managed to kill all of Lord Xiong Huan's guards. He stabbed his sword toward the chariot to stab Lord Xiong Huan.
"Who are you? What kind of enmity do you have at me that you want to kill me? Lord Xiong Huan asked.
"You…Chu royal family killed my husband!" the swordsman said. Apparently, the swordsman was a woman.
"Was your husband a soldier?" He asked. Except for soldiers from other states that he killed during wars, he didn't remember that he killed someone.
"Lord Ejun!" the woman said.
"Who? I don't remember we have that name in our clan!" Lord Xiong Huan said. "Perhaps it's another official who killed him. But I could swear I didn't kill him!"
"Huh!" the swordsman lady snorted, "I don't want to kill you also! Just give me the spear, then I will spare your life!"
"This spear is a precious weapon belongs to the Chu royal family! I won't let you take it from me!"
Lord Xiong Huan used his spear to counter-attack the swordsman. His spear easily cuts the swordsman's sword and leave him without any weapon.
The swordsman halted his attack and left the place. Lord Xiong Huan thought that the spearman had already left. He moved carefully to the chariot driver seat and drove his chariot away from the palace.
His chariot just left the place a few hundred meters when suddenly, the swordsman chased the chariot.
The swordsman ran in front of the chariot and started to attack Lord Xiong Huan with a tree branch that he picked up from the forest.
Lord Xiong Huan used his spear to dodge the swordsman's tree branch, and the tree branch was cut at least a few inches.
Lord Xiong Huan had an advantage since he used a formidable spear. However, the swordsman was more skillful in his martial art.
The swordsman knew that Lord Xiong Huan's spear was too mighty. He dodged, evaded, and attacked the man on his body while avoiding any contact between his wooden stick weapon and Lord Xiong Huan's spear.
There's something strange about this swordsman. He used his sword mostly to stab and seldom slash. The swordsman was using his sword, just like someone was using a spear.
Lord Xiong Huan was somehow a well-trained military man. Finally, he could see the swordsman's weakness. He then used a trick and managed to use his spear to hook the swordsman's wooden stick and threw it away.
Without any weapon, the swordsman could not do much, and he had no chance to evade Lord Xiong Huan, who used his mighty spear to split his head.
The swordsman screamed and closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate.
"Crang!" a loud sound of metal clashed. Sparks appeared from the weapons collision.
Another swordsman wearing a loose black robe and a hood was using his sword to dodge Lord Xiong Huan's spear.
"Good spear!" the man in black said. "Indeed, a good spear!"
"Stay away from me! This is not your business! I will give you a lot of money, and you should leave!" Lord Xiong Huan said while he tried to get some money from his pocket.
The man in black laughed and answered, "I hate Chu people! Also, I'm more interested in trying your spear rather than your money!" With his word, the man in black started to attack Lord Xong Huan again.
The man in black was very agile. He managed to kick Lord Xiong Huan on his chest and made Lord Xiong Huan retreat a few steps backward.
The man in black then jumped forward and used the chance to slit Lord Xiong Huan's throat with his sword. It was such a light stroke on his throat. And suddenly, Lord Xiong Huan's head fell off his neck.
And even before Lord Xiong Huan could scream or realize what had happened to him, his head already fell to the ground.
The swordsman was shocked and disbelieved at what he saw. He had never seen anything like that before. He knew that the man in black was far more formidable than Lord Xiong Huan.
The man in black took the spear and scrutinized it. "Good spear! But this is not the first weapon under heaven! I don't want it! This spear is only suitable for an amateur!" he laughed and threw the spear on the ground. The man in black ran away, almost like flying, leaving the place.
The swordsman lady felt something strange in his heartbeat. It was a strange feeling that he felt. Although the view of a head fell on the ground was horrible, but he's not afraid. But why did his heart beat irregularly?
The swordsman had no idea who was the man in black who just saved his life. The swordsman didn't even manage to see the man in black's face as he wore a hood to cover his face. He didn't want his spear, so why did he save him?