The ferryman who had come to receive them felt his pupils shrink to the size of needles.
He hardly caught a glimpse of the sword's glint before overwhelming fear enveloped his heart.
The sword light flashed like a flowing autumn stream, utterly unavoidable.
The sword blade brushed against his skin.
A twist of the wrist, a horizontal cut!
The ferryman's throat opened with a long, narrow gash, and a spray of blood surged forth, blossoming in mid-air into a shower of blood petals.
Passersby on the street screamed, tumbling and crawling as they fled.
In the blink of an eye, only Xu Zishuai and his companions remained.
The ferryman's eyes were wide open.
He clutched his throat, staring incredulously at Xu Zishuai’s face as he staggered backward.
His feet tangled with the boat's edge, nearly sending him into the water, but suddenly, there was support at his back.
The ferryman looked up and saw a long spear holding him back.
The river's tide slapped against the rocks, the sound of water unending.
A young man stood on the bank, his posture upright, upper body draped in shadow, his expression unreadable.
Liang Qu's forearm twitched, and with a flick of the spear, he sent the ferryman sprawling back into the boat.
The ferryman collapsed with blood still spraying from his throat, emitting a wheezing gurgle.
He reached out with trembling fingers as if wanting to curse something.
Xu Zishuai smirked coldly.
"You play your part well. Now peel off that human skin of yours."
The ferryman seemed not to hear, glaring a few more times before finally losing all signs of life.
Just as he was about to fall, the spear's tip pressed against his back.
A gentle prod confirmed that the spear had pierced him, the blood mingling with cold sweat, soaking through his back with a hiss.
The river wind was chilling to the bone, threatening to freeze even bone shards to dust.
Liang Qu spoke coolly, "The Skin-Wearing Technique, we knew about it long ago. You’d do well to behave."
Everything Zhao Hongyuan's letter could reveal was crystal clear.
The so-called ferryman was actually a dwarf, covered with a crafted human skin.
Once activated, it would wriggle and bind itself to the host, mimicking a normal person—a technique known as the Skin-Wearing Technique.
It was much the same as when Senior Brother Lu made the Shadow Beast Hide for him during Subduing Waves.
Xu Senior Brother's sword looked deadly but was actually quite superficial.
Alas, no matter the tricks, they can't change the fact that he's just a rower.
Who with real strength would want to be a mere boatman?
Exposed for his deception, the ferryman remained motionless.
Xu Zishuai, not one for patience, swung his sword and sliced off the outer skin, revealing a dwarf standing about one meter tall.
Only then did the dwarf abandon his disguise, shouting, "I won’t say anything! I’m under a Blood Curse! If I speak, I’ll die instantly, so you can just give up on that idea!"
"If you want to speak, we don't want to listen," Liang Qu said, holding his spear with some disdain.
The old remnants of the Ghost Mother Sect are a troublesome lot best left to the court to handle.
As for the Blood Curse, it involves infusing life essence into another person, forming a web to control their life and death.
It can be triggered passively or actively.
They indeed couldn’t break such a curse, but assuming the court couldn’t either?
Who knows if Zhao Hongyuan might have it or not? If not, that would be truly extraordinary.
With the ferryman captured, Xu Zishuai sheathed his sword.
"Let's go to the Zhao Manor and see Brother Lu."
"Okay."
Liang Qu pulled out hemp rope, binding the dwarf like a crab and slinging him over his shoulder, following Xu Zishuai straight to the Zhao Manor.
The whole street was deserted; what they’d done was enough to scare away the townsfolk.
At the Zhao Manor, dust and smoke filled the air, and all the servants had fled.
Lu Gang stepped over a half-collapsed shadow wall, reaching the courtyard’s center just as the main house's roof, heavy with bundled tiles and laid with ash for comfort by Zhao Hongyuan, finally gave way.
The collapse was sudden, the pillars breaking under the load.
Lu Gang avoided getting too close, taking a moment to assess the situation.
According to Zhao Hongyuan, the envoy wielded power strong as a Wolf Smoke Realm expert, beyond Lu Gang by a small margin, which gave him the boldness to lead the blood ritual alone.
Even though Lu Gang ambushed him creatively, the opponent remained a concern.
Lu Gang glanced around, spotting a beam near a side room, and stepped forward, chopping it with a hand strike that split it cleanly.
He yanked it free.
Sinking his body and drawing breath, his muscles rippled like waves, transmitting force to the beam as he hurled it towards the ruins at the main house.
The air shivered, mist emerging briefly before dispersing, as the massive wood, encased in darkness, tore through the wind.
Its copper-sheathed head slammed into the rubble, driven with supernatural force far harder than steel.
The crumbled roof tiles smashed to dust instantly, the giant beam forcing its way deeper with irresistible might.
Finally, Huang Zejun, hidden within, couldn’t hold back, leaping aside to dodge the intruding timber.
His leg kicked up, splitting the beam, twisting his body midair to return a piece of it.
Concerned only with escaping the wreckage, he didn’t bother to check the outcome and dashed away from the house.
On another roof, Hu Qi was ready, bow drawn to full stretch, loosing an arrow!
The arrow, vibrant with air currents, seemed to teleport before Huang Zejun’s face.
Despite its lack of threat to a Martial Master’s protective aura, Huang Zejun instinctively dodged, which was enough!
Lu Gang shot forth, the ground erupting beneath him, with the thrown beam splintering into countless shards, sounding like a mighty avalanche breaking through.
Rushing torrents of blooded aura expanded, casting a shadow half a story high; as Huang Zejun witnessed, he tried to turn and brace with all his might.
Boom!
The cold night cracked with a thunderous blast, its roar echoing for hundreds of meters.
Huang Zejun was smashed to the earth, rolling along and carving a furrow dozens of meters long, stopping only against a collapsed side house as he barely regained his footing with Lu Gang already upon him.
"Lu Gang! Do you think I fear you! Try this punch from me!"
Furious, Huang Zejun, ignoring his injuries, burst forth blood aura, body ablaze violently red, his feet churning the ground beneath to gravel, gusts circling with each shift.
Stepping forward, twisting, his fingers clasping into a fist, he punched out.
The very air split as if two battering rams clashed head-on.
Bang!
Energetic forces danced like dragons, the earth itself seeming to ripple under their struggle.
An area tens of meters wide sank uniformly, within it bricks disintegrating, producing a circular expanse of yellow mud around them.
Their surging blood aura interwove into two blurred shadows like tigers and pythons, eerily ghost-like as they dueled in the night.
Huang Zejun stared at the steady Lu Gang, astonished.
Trying to leverage force with a clashing headbutt only allowed his powerful blood aura to sink silently like a mud dragon vanishing into the sea.
He was shocked—what kind of terrifying power was this, steadily grinding him down?
Lu Gang was equally perplexed; Huang Zejun had been sneak attacked with serious injuries, his chest bones likely shattered in places, yet he still held his ground!
Indeed formidable for a Ghost Mother Sect envoy, not clever yet undeniably powerful.
Their vigorous clashes released bursts of air like rolling thunder in the winter night.
On the roof, Hu Qi focused intently on the battlefield, hand on the bowstring, prepared to assist at a moment's notice.
Though incapable of causing real harm, he was ready to disrupt Huang Zejun's escape attempts.
Such support, no matter how minor, was valuable.
As Lu Gang and Huang Zejun clashed fiercely and Hu Qi remained focused, a hand quietly tapped his shoulder.
Startled, Hu Qi turned to see Xu Zishuai, and next to him was Liang Qu clutching the dwarf.
He was delighted, "Senior Brother Xu, you captured the ferryman?"
"Yes."
Xu Zishuai nodded, casually picking up the longbow, "Leave the rest to me!"
(End of Chapter)