Chereads / The Way of the Swordsman / Chapter 5 - A New World

Chapter 5 - A New World

A group of people quickly arrived at the threshing ground in the west of the town, where hundreds of people had gathered, with clear lines of confrontation. In the early spring, farmland was in urgent need of irrigation. Wanghou Township did not have enough water downstream, so they wanted to open another canal upstream. Cixi Town was unwilling to agree, and the dispute was unclear. So the old rules were followed - large-scale armed fights, or each side picked out brave men to fight. Over the past hundred years, as long as God did not open his eyes and rain, it would be like this, and it had almost become a fixed festival in the nearby area.

Asu ran into the Cixi camp, relying on his strength to squeeze forward, and met an acquaintance Hu the blacksmith in the front row. This guy was holding a long blacksmith hammer weighing dozens of kilograms, staring at the two people rolling and fighting in the field and shouting. Ah Su couldn't see clearly for a moment, so he asked, "Brother Hu, Brother Hu, what's the situation now? Who is the one fighting off the field?"

Blacksmith Hu turned his head and looked, grinning, "Brother Su is here, I'm afraid you will be disappointed, I'm afraid there is no hope for this water fight. Our Sanlang has won two games, and this time he can beat Chu Sancha, I hope no one will come to challenge him..."

Ah Su took a closer look and saw a 7-foot-tall man in the field who was particularly eye-catching. He was shirtless and had a waist. He was wearing a beast skirt, his whole body was black as if cast in steel, holding a huge three-pronged iron fork in his hand, dancing with it like a storm, with overwhelming power. Seeing him so ferocious, he was afraid that if he went up, he would not be able to withstand a few forks. He couldn't help but feel nervous, "Chu Sancha? Is he the crazy Chu who is known as the best hero in Wanghou? I heard that this man is born with supernatural power. He once fought a big tiger with his strength. 20 or 30 people couldn't get close to him. But he looked very ferocious. I don't know if Brother Youjiao can win..."

"Winning is the best, if not... hehe..." Hu the blacksmith weighed the long hammer in his hand. It seemed that this guy didn't intend to follow the rules. If his family lost, he might have to rush up and fight with more people.

Asu didn't feel any regret when he heard that his family might not be able to use it. In the village, weapons fights are carried out with no mercy, and there are often casualties. The people are tough, but not fearless. Most people come here just to show off. There are not many who dare to fight to the death. They are all ordinary villagers, not the army.

With a determined mind, Asu carefully observed the two people in the field. Chu Sancha did not mention him. He had divine power and was strong. He had been hunting animals in the mountains for a long time and experienced life and death. He did not know where he learned the method of catching forks. He was powerful but not without rules when he used the forks. What made him a little strange was Li Youjiao from his own side. Although Asu was from Cixi Town, he had been selling goods outside for many years. Today was the first time he saw the style of Li Youjiao, the hero known as the first one in Cixi - Li Sanlang.

Asu was not an ignorant countryman. If people in Cixi Town were to travel far and wide, he was one of the best. He had been to the surrounding areas, four prefectures and eight townships, as far as Shuangcheng and even farther away. The martial arts people had seen a lot of them. When the country folks fought, their weapons were nothing more than knives, sticks, forks, and rakes, but very few used swords, probably because the country folks could only rely on their strength, so the longer the weapon, the more advantage they had. The sword was an elegant and exclusive thing for the nobles and the rich, and it was impossible to use it without some martial arts and internal strength. I had heard that Li Youjiao was from the Li family in Shuangcheng, so it was normal for him to use a sword, but now it seemed that his sword was strange. Normal swords were sharpened on both sides, and could be used for stabbing and chopping, with a flat blade, but Li Youjiao's sword was triangular, very thin, and had no blade, only the tip of the sword was sharpened. In other words, this sword could only be used for stabbing, not chopping, which was really strange.

What made Asu feel strange was not only the sword itself, but also the sword technique used by Li Youjiao. Asu had seen other people fighting with swords in Shuangcheng. To be honest, it was indeed pleasing to the eye. Some were elegant, some were sharp, some were heavy, and some were flying. But Li Youjiao in front of him was like this. He kept the same posture throughout the whole fight. His left leg pushed his right leg and bent it. He only moved forward and backward, and rarely moved left and right. His feet never left the ground, but only touched the ground with his toes. He was nervous and twitched. He never put away the sword in his hand to prepare for the attack. The tip of the sword was always raised forward, slightly drooping, and his elbow was slightly bent. With his weird footwork, he looked like a big monkey. Even though it was so weird, he never lost the upper hand in the fight with Chu Sancha. "Could it be some kind of high-level sword technique that I can't recognize with my mortal eyes? Yes, yes, the ape sword technique. I seem to have heard of it somewhere. It must be like this..." Asu thought in his mind among the crowd.

Dozens of rounds passed, Chu Sancha's offensive was unabated, but he was getting anxious. His fork technique was not ordinary, it was learned from a wandering Taoist priest 9 years ago. The Taoist priest liked his natural supernatural power and simple and honest nature, so he taught him self-defense, saying that if he mastered the fork technique, he could conquer the world. The Taoist priest was not boasting. After he mastered the fork technique, no one in Wanghou Township could defeat him. Even the wanderers in the surrounding towns were not his opponents. He didn't expect that when he came to Cixi to fight for water with his fellow villagers today, he would meet such a freak.

Everyone else saw that his attack was fierce, accounting for 70% of the ten, but Chu Sancha knew that he had suffered. The bird-like person opposite him had extremely fast steps. He looked like he had no airs, but his body was full of flaws. Once you stabbed him, he would move forward and backward, and all his flaws would disappear. The sword was even sharper, more accurate and more ruthless. The whole person was like a coiled venomous snake, ready to strike a fatal blow at any time. If he hadn't been careful, he would have suffered a great loss. 'Go and rest. If you continue like this, once your physical strength is exhausted, won't you be at the mercy of others? Well, I should use my three-linked trick to knock this bird-like person down...' Chu Sancha made a decision secretly.

After thinking this through, Chu Sancha's attack slowed down a bit, and he regained his strength. After a moment, he roared, and the fork was strong, like a mountain pressing down on his head. The opponent was not in a hurry, and lightly placed his long sword on it, taking advantage of the momentum to retreat. Unexpectedly, Chu Sancha did not retract the iron fork after the chop, and took advantage of the momentum of the chop to swing it across the waist. The opponent's face changed slightly, and he dared not to make any more weapons contact, and retreated quickly.

Crazy Chu smiled viciously, strode out, and the iron fork was about to pick it back on the spot. This was the essence of the fork method taught by the Taoist, from bottom to top, and it was difficult to escape no matter whether he jumped back or dodged left and right. He thought that his opponent's quick retreat was just a pretense, so he retreated half a step and just barely avoided the fork tip, then suddenly rushed forward. Chu Sancha was chasing him, and before the iron fork was raised, a cold light came towards him, but he had no time to react, 'My life is over...', he watched the long sword pierce through his body at his right shoulder blade...

The iron fork fell to the ground with a clang, and Chu Sancha covered the wound with his left hand, his face pale, "Thank you for showing mercy, You Jiao, I am not as skilled as you, and this fight for water is a joke..." It is true that he is a rough man, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know what is good for him. With the opponent's accuracy, if this sword had hit his chest, he would have been alive now.

"I took advantage of the situation..." Li Sanlang clasped his fists, "If Brother Chu has time someday, you can come to Cixi to drink with me. We are still friends..." Crazy Chu's injury was not a big deal, but a flesh wound. He would only be unable to use his strength for a month or two. It was the same as the vicious officials in the government locking up serious criminals with iron chains through their shoulder blades. It did not hurt the root.

"The patrol is mighty...", "Sanlang is invincible...", "Jige'er, Jige'er...", Cixi Town cheered loudly. A large group of people immediately escorted Li Sanlang to the largest restaurant in the town. Along the way, more and more people gathered. Passersby and vendors were proud to know the patrol and talk to him. Some people who were curious showed off the patrol's martial arts. A group of boys threw away their bamboo sticks and wooden swords, and jumped around with wooden swords instead, imitating the monkey. The feast lasted from the afternoon until the moon rose over the branches. During this time, wealthy people from Qiangfu Township came to toast. For Cixi Town, this year's festival was perfect compared to the humiliation they suffered in previous years.