Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 183: Chapter 20: The Fountain Fight (Part 3)

Ruan Anming’s men on the ship, five or six in a row, were all slain and sunk into the sea.

Stepping on the deck, Xue Ba swayed, his garments soaked with blood, looking as though killing a few more would be no issue at all. He lifted his head to glance across the way, at the deck crowded with sailors whose faces were numb with shock.

Another of Zhang He’s Black Flag pirates boarded the ship, his face framed by tawny beard, nearly six feet three inches tall, broad and solid enough to stuff Xue Ba inside him whole.

Xue Ba’s face was covered in sweat, with several large tears in his clothing.

The bearded man gritted his teeth and stamped fiercely on the deck!

The raft was slick with blood not yet dried, Xue Ba slipped and was about to fall on the ship.

The bearded pirate rushed forward, brandishing his blade at Xue Ba’s stomach.

In desperation, Xue Ba let go of his sword handle and reached out to grab the bearded man’s blade. Incredibly, he caught it!

The blade, carrying momentum, only penetrated half an inch into the flesh. Xue Ba clenched his teeth so hard they nearly bled, yet he managed to wrestle the blade and the bearded man over!

The boy lifted his face to see the bearded pirate toppling over him, both men falling onto the ship; it appeared as if the bearded man had pinned Xue Ba beneath him.

Onlookers from all sides craned their necks, unsure of the outcome. Those with keen eyes saw Xue Ba, pinned beneath, bite a huge chunk from the bearded man’s neck and couldn’t help but swallow their own saliva.

Xue Ba pushed away the beard man, whose neck gushed blood like a fountain, and with difficulty, he stood up, only to realize that the perfectly aligned blade had struck his own stomach, and was still hanging there while he stood up.

He grasped the sword handle somewhat helplessly, then let go once more.

Removing the blade at this moment would make the wound worsen significantly.

Ordinary people would certainly not be able to stand at this point, but Xue Ba looked surprisingly at ease. Killing a few more seemed no problem at all.

“Is this runt possibly a Gaoli ghost?”

Ruan Anming fixated on Xue Ba atop the raft.

Gaoli ghosts, each one a sharp tool of the Five Flags. These years had seen perhaps only three to four hundred casualties. To realize, the entire Five Flags, not even counting those in the periphery or who had retired, boasted a total of a hundred thousand men, each of them seasoned sailors skilled in navigation, archery, and the ruthless business of piracy. Among these, only the finest were qualified to become Gaoli ghosts.

Moreover, the secret rites to refine Gaoli ghosts, originating from various families on Treasure Island, are known today to only a sparse few such as Red Flag’s Madam Shi, Black Flag’s Madam Guo, and so on. In addition, their creation is not a simple task, and replenishing them is quite troublesome.

Should Tianbao bring forth a Gaoli ghost right off the bat, it certainly poses a troublesome matter. Killing men is not like mowing grass, nor is a naval duel like doing arithmetic. Everyone on the ship knew this youngster was not to be trifled with. If you, as the leader, let your men walk into certain death, playing games of “inferior ranks take on superior ranks,” you ought to bring out genuinely strong contenders instead.

“Min, it’s your turn.”

Black headgear, dark cheeks with two white stripes, about five feet tall, wearing a black jacket, straw sandals, and short pants.

This was the Min Ruan Anming spoke of.

With a single glance, Min leapt onto the raft, holding a sharp hook sickle in his right hand.

By now, Xue Ba’s breathing was heavy; his vitality not quite there, to say nothing of the blade still “planted” in his belly.

“Gaoli ghosts, I’ve met a few.”

Min beckoned with a hook of his finger, “Come on~”

Li Yan had been watching the raft the whole time, her eyebrows relaxing then tensing repeatedly, remaining silent.

“Xue Ba is no match.”

Cha Xiaodao stated decisively. ‘A Fleeting Glimpse’ was highly accurate in judging those with a clear gap in strength. This Min posed a deeper threat than Xue Ba. Besides, the naval clash might seem to end lives in a few moves, but it actually drained physical strength immensely. Xue Ba was already running low on energy, and continuing the fight would likely lead to his death at Min’s hands.

“What do we do?”

She asked,

“If he insists on taking point, what can I do but avenge him later.”

This style of combat ensures almost certain death for the first to engage. Even though those who fall into the water aren’t hunted down ruthlessly, the smell of blood summons various large carnivorous fish, and leaping into the sea only results in being bitten to death. If barely rescued, they’re left incapacitated.

“I quite like the kid.”

Cha Xiaodao frowned.

“`

“Let’s see what fate has in store for him.”

“`

Li Yan hugged his shoulders.

On the raft

“They all say that if you haven’t messed around with a woman, you’ve lived your life in vain.”

Xue Ba tightened the grip on his broadsword, which he had already exchanged once, muttering nonsensically.

“I’ve tasted meat a few times, fish, chicken, wild boar, and today even shark, but I’ve never messed around with a woman.”

The boy raised his long sword.

“The first one to go up, according to the rules, the gang will take care of me for life.”

Barefoot, he stepped out of the pool of blood, with the force of Mount Tai descending on his blade, Xue Ba was still muttering.

“I don’t need Tianbao to take care of me. If I survive, I want to mess with a woman once.”

Min crouched, her feet buried in the blood, the tip of her cleaver pointed upwards, facing the gleam of the sword with her dull eyes.

She swiftly pulled back.

Suddenly, something bizarre happened—Min stepped back, and yet another Min with a cleaver stood in her original spot!

The scene was eerily reminiscent of the legendary out-of-body experience!

Taiping Document, Replacement Body Spell

As the two rusty iron weapons clashed, the Min holding the cleaver trembled at the wrist but managed to catch the strike. Simultaneously, her body slipped forward like an eel, her cleaver gliding to the hilt and hooking forward, aiming for Xue Ba’s neck alongside his own blade!

This series of moves was both rapid and swift; hardly any pirate witnessed it clearly.

It was then that the retreating Min stopped and surged forward again, and the two Mins merged back into one.

Taiping Document, Guangdong and Guangxi Wild Skills—with 48,000 types, ranging from small feats like passing exams and acquiring wealth to grand ones like moving mountains and filling seas, covering everything imaginable.

Pfft.

The tip of the cleaver lodged into Xue Ba’s neck. Min tried to push forward several times but was stopped by the hilt, unable to move an inch.

A gleam flashed in Min’s eyes as she gripped the cleaver and pulled back!

A blade stuck in the neck might not be fatal, but pulling it out, even with today’s advanced medicine, would almost certainly be non-survivable.

Involuntarily, Xue Ba moved forward as she led, their feet splashing blood all over the ship, and they were now nearing the stern.

Everyone held their breath, but Li Yan furrowed his brows, looking toward the dense fog to the east…

Min unveiled a smile; the islands of the South Seas were rife with various strange toxins. Her blade carried one such poison, which she had acquired from exterminating a wild tribe named Bata with the Black Flag pirates. It was potent enough to quickly diminish a person’s combat abilities without necessarily being deadly.

With that thought, Min kicked the back of the broadsword lodged in Xue Ba’s abdomen, eliciting a painful cry from him.

She then bent down, attempting to break free as the cleaver’s tip tore through Xue Ba’s flesh, almost ready to be pulled out.

Xue Ba’s eyes filled with blood, his mouth dripping with it, he clung to Min’s belt with a dead grip and lunged forward.

Min’s face was a picture of disbelief. She couldn’t fathom where the kid found the strength. She managed an “ah” just before it was too late to react, and the two plunged into the water with a splash, one after another.

The water churned, and to the voracious carnivorous fish below, the two new plunges were far more exciting than any corpse. Several dark shadows immediately circled around them!

The pirates on both sides erupted in chaos!

“Save them!”

Intervention in a fight to the death on board was forbidden, but this scenario fell outside the accepted norms.

Bows were drawn, crossbows cocked, threats hurled back and forth, and without a second thought, Ruan Anming grabbed a bamboo spear and leaped from the boat.

On the red-stained surface of the water, Xue Ba’s face emerged first; he spat out a mouthful of water and, as soon as he opened his eyes, was met with a dark brown bamboo spear thrusting at him!

“`