332 Duels (1/2)
Chapter 332: Duels
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
The bandits felt conflicted about this ”Dragon Slaying Contest”. In accordance with the existing rules of their trade, the loot always belonged to the one who got it first, but this time, the one who led the charge would definitely take the most risk. Given that, no one wanted to risk his own life to pave the way for others.
The title ”Bandit King” rather appealed to the bandits, but they were also clear that if they fell under the Dragon King's saber, no one would even remember their names.
Therefore, after the short fat man announcing the beginning of ”Dragon Slaying Contest”, all of the different groups of bandits reacted nonchalantly and modestly declined to lead the charge.
They could not figure out why the Dragon King stayed behind in the desert when he was not injured. They were particularly worried about falling into a trap set by the Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei felt that it was unnecessary to continue observing the hesitant bandits, so he tightened the flap to securely close the tent and sat beside Maid Lotus. He put his Five Peaks Saber down beside himself and then gripped the Dragon Head Sword.
He had no choice but to use his sword now, as there were so many enemies outside and some of them probably had superb kung fu; Maid Lotus would be killed if there was so much as a slight delay in his actions.
He sincerely hoped that there were no kung fu masters like Fayan among the bandits, since the swordcraft of Death Scripture had a fatal defect—the backfire effect. Several years ago, when Maid Lotus and he had just begun practicing this sword technique and only occasionally failed to kill their targets, the backfires would not cause them any severe qigong deviation. Nevertheless, the backfire effect had been getting more and more harmful to them since they had started practicing Wayless Qigong to rapidly improve their sword skills. Now, they could no longer easily recover from such a qigong deviation caused by the backfire.
Maid Lotus had been sitting still for a whole day. Even a senior monk who was deeply absorbed in a meditation could not hold this position for such a long time. Now, she was oblivious to her surroundings and unable to fight back when being attacked. Even a small child can easily kill her at this moment.
The frayed edge of the carpet beside her was already covered with frost.
Gu Shenwei closed his eyes and channelled his Internal Breath to increase his sensitivity to his surroundings. Once a living being came within 3.3 meters of him, he would be able to spot its living energy. At first, he only sensed Maid Lotus' energy. It ”looked” like an extremely thin thread or fibre, which would break at a touch.
Soon enough, he felt that the first wave of 'contestants' were swiftly approaching his tent in a very unique way.
They came from three different directions and were traveling toward his tent at a high speed. If he had used his eyes to track his enemies, he would have never been able to immediately spot them and kill them without disturbing Maid Lotus.
With his eyes closed, he could clearly sense their living energy at this moment.
He stabbed three times with his sword and each time he hit the target accurately.
The next moment, he opened his eyes and saw three fountains of blood spewing out of the sand in his tent.
Evidently, the first wave of attackers had planned to use ”Sand Tunneling Skill” to sneak into the tent.
When blood stopped gushing out, Gu Shenwei picked up the Five Peaks Saber and inserted it into the ground. He gently ran the saber through the sand and then inserted his hand into the sand to pull out three heads. After he threw them out, the other bandits outside immediately withdrew 1.5 kilometers.
Gradually, night began to fall. As winter in the desert was particularly cold, Gu Shenwei was unable to maintain the fast circulation of his Internal Breath for a very long time. He needed some rest now.
However, his enemies would never give him such a chance.
”Dragon King, please come out. Let's have a talk,” a bandit shouted outside Gu Shenwei's tent.
”I can hear you in the tent,” Gu Shenwei said, while standing behind the curtain at the entrance of his tent, with his Five Peaks Saber in hand.
He heard the bandit exchange some whispers with the other 6 or 7 people outside, and a moment later, the bandit said, ”Dragon King, let's get straight to the point. We've come here to avenge Chipo's death. You can't blame anyone else for this. After all, it was you who handed him over to those machetemen. According to our rules, you have to pay with your life for sending him to his death.”
”Chipo is still alive.”
The bandits outside the tent paused for a moment.
”Dragon King, are you kidding us?” asked the bandit.
”Chipo didn't die. The Golden Roc Fort saved him. The head it hung up was just a fake human head,” said Gu Shenwei.
”Haha.” ”Hur Hur.” ”Hee-hee.” The bandits sneered. ”Dragon King, are you trying to persuade us to spare your life? Do you think we'll buy your story?”
”Well, you won't be able to hear any story in this world very soon,” said Gu Shenwei.
He did not want to waste time explaining to the bandits. In his eyes, they were either idiots being used by the Golden Roc Fort or wicked guys who intended to acquire the ”Bandit King” title on the pretext of avenging Chipo's death.
The bandits took the Dragon King's provocation very seriously and no one was laughing this time. They were quiet for a moment, before the same bandit who had spoken up for the others said, ”Dragon King, I'm He Sancai, widely known as 'Invincible Machete of Tianshan'. Today, my counterparts and I have come here to challenge you to a fight. They are known as: 'Sand Devil' Zheng Tai, 'Tiger on the Hill' Ouyang Jing, 'Fierce Spear' Shi Dazhi, 'Single-Armed Machete' Zhang Xin, 'Old Reaper' Deng Xiaoyuan and 'Duansheng Taoist'.”
These names were familiar to Gu Shenwei. The first five men were widely-known bandit gang leaders and the last two were notorious burglars. During the past few years, he had traveled to many different places to evade his pursuers before getting into the Great Snowmountain. Although he had never met these people before, he had heard lots of tales about them.
”Alright, just come at me,” Gu Shenwei looked back at Maid Lotus and said.
Surprisingly, the seven bandits did not attack the Dragon King together. Instead, they complied with the rules of dueling and were prepared to take turns fighting him. The first of them was Shi Dazhi. ”Try taking a blow of my spear, Dragon King!” he shouted.
Gu Shenwei swiftly stepped aside as Shi Dazhi's spear shot into his tent. It was moving in a sideways fashion like a giant python, but Shi Dazhi himself did not break into the tent, seemingly fearful that there was a trap for him inside it.
As it was very dark inside the tent, Gu Shenwei could only rely on his hearing to determine where the spear was. He kept dodging the spear until he seized a chance to grasp it with his hand. He took advantage of Shi Dazhi's forward momentum and pulled him into the tent.
Shi Dazhi was a tall strong man. Due to his own inertia, he continued rushing forward with his spear in hand after entering the tent, towards Maid Lotus.
Gu Shenwei immediately lifted up his Five Peaks Saber and used its hilt to knock Shi Dazhi out. He then took the man's spear and threw it aside.
Right at this moment, another challenger came forth.