“Gu Qianlin, Ye Wensong… ‘K’ has just sent word. ‘Mr. X’ had begun his mission. You guys gather the police brigade, the security squad, and the special force team immediately. Send them to Long Sankui’s mansion right now.” Fan Changlong issued the orders to his captains after receiving Liu Tieguo’s call.
The entire headquarters came alive all of a sudden.
At the People’s Hospital, Liu Tieguo stood alone in the corridor and stared blankly at the raging storm. A peal of rolling thunder accompanied the intermittent flashes of lightning. As he stood gazing out of the window, he lit up a cigarette, dragged a deep puff then let it out slowly from his lungs.
As he pondered on Xiao Luo’s mission, he murmured, “The king of hell beats his death drum, he’s here in the mortal world to claim some lives!”
…
…
The gale was howling like the anguished screams a thousand of evil spirits.
Long Sankui sat grimly on the Taishi armchair that was placed right at the front gate of his mansion. His ever-present dragon-headed cane was not with him this time. It was a weapon to be used in a fight, not to help him walk. He had no use of that now as he had replaced it with an impressive looking guandao[1].
His weapon was two-meters in length and adorned with intricate motifs of a phoenix. Its forged blade was half a meter long and etched with a life-like dragon with claws out, and inlaid in gold. It was both a finely crafted weapon and a terrifying one.
Two rows of Dragon elite guards stood, fierce and unwavering in the rain. They kept their eyes on the guandao, and its well-honed blade reflected a unique radiance even under the stormy night skies. They subscribed to Lord Guan Yunchang’s principles and values, and this weapon represented the strong sense of justice and loyalty of the famed warrior and bound them all. Lord Long had his glaive forged in the likeness of Lord Guan’s legendary guandao.
The Green Dragon Crescent-moon Blade! [2]
The “Green Dragon” weighed an imposing hundred and twenty catties, and none of the elite guards could handle that weapon. Only their chief, Lord Long, was able to wield it as his weapon. During the era where Dragon Gang was rising to power, he had used it to chop off countless heads, and it had continuously been washed in blood ever since. This ritual made the weapon possess a fierce and deadly spirit, and it was feared by all who faced it.
The Green Dragon was not just Lord Long’s weapon, but a symbol of their Gang codes and beliefs. Once drawn, all their followers would rally to it during a battle with fanatical zeal, and none of their foes could resist them!
Long Sankui had stopped playing with the walnuts in his right hand, and he started to crush them one by one to get the kernel within. He tossed them into his mouth, like how one would eat peanuts. Soon the floor was littered with walnut shells.
Beside him stood the most wanted criminal in the entire country, Hei Lang.
He was dressed entirely in black. He wore a fierce expression on his face that resembled a snarling wolf. His cold, glowering eyes were devoid of any compassion.
“F*ck, why hasn’t that little *sshole show-up? Is he not afraid of me f*cking the people around him up?”
Long Sankui banged the guandao to the ground in anger and smashed the blue marble floor creating a cavity in the marble tile. Countless cracks started to extend out from the hollow like a web.
“From my understanding of him, he’d come.”
Long Sankui snapped, “Huh! If he doesn’t show up, it’ll be his biggest regret in life! And if he does show up, you men better slash the hell out of him, if he doesn’t get chopped to pieces, I’ll never be able to relieve my hatred!”
He regretted letting Xiao Luo go. Had he known that Xiao Luo would have destroyed so much of his underground businesses, he would not have given in to Chu Yunxiong’s mediation. He would have sent all three thousand of his disciples to chop Xiao Luo into meat sauce. But it was too late now. Although the police had still not obtained any proof of his complicity in Dragon Gang activities, his hatred towards Xiao Luo was still unabated. To watch Dragon Gang and everything he had built collapsed in such a way was unbearable. As its chief, he vowed to drag Xiao Luo along to hell if he were to perish trying.
Hei Lang nodded and bowed slightly. He, too, believed that regardless of Xiao Luo prowess, if he turned up here tonight, death would be his only fate. With Hei Lang and some two hundreds of Dragon Gang elite guards, Lord Long would be invincible. His inner force was immense, and he had mastered the “Domineering Sword” technique, the way of wielding the guandao. The guandao could slice a car in half with a single blow, what more a mere human.
Right then, Hei Lang noticed that a silhouette was standing before the gate of the mansion. He stared hard at it for a moment, and said calmly, “He’s here.”
“Huh…The little pr*ck turned up, and he’s alone? He’s surely a f*cking arrogant son of a b*tch!”
Long Sankui said with a wicked smile forming on his lips as he eyed the lone figure at the gate with a murderous stare.
The Dragon Gang elite guards turned to meet the threat standing at the mansion gate. Their faces were grim, and their fighting spirit stirred. Every one of them was fanatically loyal to the Dragon Gang, and they took no prisoners. There they stood, two hundred killing gods intent on slaughtering Xiao Luo.
Xiao Luo wore a military-style olive green coat with a black undershirt, and he stood there drenched in the rain. In his right hand, he held a giant broadsword. The sword had nine iron-rings on the back of its blade. It was Guo Jianghu’s Nonuple Cycloblade, forged from refined steel capable of cutting a piece of rebar in two.
His soaked white canvas shoe made a squishy noise as he stepped through the water-logged ground.
He stopped some thirty or forty meters from Long Sankui. He stared at Long Sankui coldly with his keen wolf-like eyes.
“You little pr*ck. You surely are f*cking brave. Since you came as I ordered, I now want you to shove some shit up your throat. Will you do it? Hahaha!!” Long Sankui’s face now contorted with a raging fury. He resembled a ghoul from hell that was about to taste flesh and blood.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
Xiao Luo raised his Nonuple Cycloblade and pointed it at Long Sankui; its nine iron-rings rattled against the forged blade in a high-pitched ring. Xiao Luo roared, “Die!”
Xiao Luo swung the blade down, and without even hitting the ground, it left a deep gouge that quickly filled up with surface water from the water-logged field.
Air blade?
The elite guards took a step back, shaken momentarily. Only those who had mastered the way of the sword could form the air blade by transferring their inner power through to the swinging sword.
“F*ck you men, charge, chop the shit out of him!”
Long Sankui stood up in a fury, the veins on his temple were throbbing, and he threw the porcelain cup in his hand to the floor, shattering it.
“Kill!”
The two hundred guards roared and charged forward, resembling an army of fierce and angry wolves with a single-minded purpose – to kill their prey, Xiao Luo.
The guards in the front row had their long swords drawn and swiftly attacked in coordinated moves with skill and precision. They attacked relentlessly, and their slashing swords covered every inch of the space around Xiao Luo.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
The Nonuple Cycloblade was ringing in Xiao Luo’s deft hand as he wielded it with consummate skill and speed, parrying every blow from the guards. The clashing sound of blades filled the air, and sparks flew where the edges met. After a brief clash, the forward-most elite guards facing Xiao Luo felt the overpowering force of his blade, and their sword hands weakened. They broke their formation and were on the retreat.
Sensing the change in momentum, Xiao Luo continued to push them back before lowering his stance and executing a low horizontal slash at waist height with his air blade. He killed eight of the forward-most elite guards instantly, slicing them in two. Spewing blood, and splattering their entrails on the ground.
Long Sankui, Hei Lang, and the Dragon Gang elite guards were shocked. Xiao Luo had struck fear in their hearts. With one fell stroke, he had silenced the enemy before him.
Footnotes:
[1] Guandao: A Chinese pole weapon or glaive, also called a yanyuedao (偃月刀; “reclining moon blade”).
[2] Green Dragon crescent-moon blade: The infamous glaive used by the legendary Lord Guan Yu, revered for his fighting prowess and unwavering loyalty. It was also called “Frozen Glory,” and weighed at least 82 jin.