Chapter Ninety-Four: Unmatched in External Arts

Gang Leader Wu, the Dark Butcher, woke at dawn and, seeing the bright sunlight outside his window, could not help but feel pleasantly disposed. He enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast, then practiced his Iron Sand Palm for a while. As his palms flashed through the air, every tree around him was snapped cleanly at the waist, and a wordless satisfaction welled up within him.

Three decades of external training had made his body unimaginably formidable. With this body-hardening art, he had already established a fearsome reputation throughout Yan Prefecture. The other gang leaders, upon seeing him, all addressed him respectfully as Master Wu, deferential and obedient.

On fine days, it was time to kill someone.

At that moment, one of his men came to report that the iron box had already been planted in the crack of the stones in Chu Youcai’s courtyard. Gang Leader Wu immediately broke into a grin and said with a sinister chuckle, “Good. Then we shall pay this Third Young Master Chu a visit.”

A mighty procession set out, brimming with swagger. The people nearby hurried to keep their distance, daring only to watch from afar, fearfully wondering which household would suffer misfortune this time.

Before long, Gang Leader Wu and the others arrived at the place where Chu Youcai lived. Then Gang Leader Wu said in a deep voice, “Bring my calling card.”

Just then, a calm voice drifted out from the courtyard. “A guest has come from afar; is that not a joy? Please come in.”

Gang Leader Wu’s eyes narrowed. The voice seemed distant and elusive, revealing nothing at all of the speaker’s strength. Yet he soon gave a cold snort, thinking that the fellow was merely an inexperienced scholar, and immediately his arrogance swelled. He strode to the front and pushed open the door.

Then he saw a youth in a blue robe seated before a stone table, graceful and at ease in a way that defied description.

“You are Third Young Master Chu?” Gang Leader Wu asked with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

The youth smiled faintly and said, “Indeed.” He did not even rise, merely adding, “So it is Gang Leader Wu who has honored me with his presence. May I ask what instruction you have for me?”

This youth was naturally Chu Youcai.

At that moment, as Chu Youcai drew near to Gang Leader Wu, he could feel a powerful surge of blood and vitality from the other man. Recalling that his own flesh and body had now reached full perfection, he could not help but feel an urge to strike, wanting to test exactly how far his cultivation had advanced.

Gang Leader Wu noticed that Chu Youcai had not even stood up. When had he ever been so disregarded? At once, he smiled darkly and said, “By order of the authorities, we have heard that this place harbors foul elements, so we have come to investigate!”

Then he noticed the bronze box lying in the crack of the stones beneath Chu Youcai’s feet, and said, “Third Young Master Chu, why not step aside and let us search the things in your courtyard?”

Chu Youcai smiled lightly and said, “So the Dark Butcher has reformed his ways? If there is truly an official order, why not show me the warrant for arrest?”

Before Gang Leader Wu could speak, his men could no longer restrain themselves. One of them said coldly, “You little brat, the gang leader is speaking to you, and you still won’t stand up? Who do you think our gang leader is, that you should dare question him? Hurry and bring out all the precious valuables in your home so we can inspect them properly!”

“Then it depends on whether you have that qualification,” Chu Youcai said serenely.

Seeing this, Gang Leader Wu’s face darkened to the extreme. “Such nerve! When the Dark Butcher acts, any who obstruct us are killed without mercy! Search!”

The gang’s thugs instantly swarmed forward, rummaging wildly through the entire room. They turned it upside down, making a clamor as if chickens and dogs had been thrown into chaos.

These men had long heard of Chu Youcai’s beautiful wife, and had even hoped to use this chance to burst into the room and humiliate Yun Cuixian at will. But after discovering that the room was empty and contained almost nothing of value, their fury only grew. They drew blades and spears, tearing the place into utter disorder.

In the end, however, they found nothing of worth. Defeated, they could only return to Gang Leader Wu and stand with lowered heads, saying nothing.

Gang Leader Wu drew a long breath, murder flashing in his eyes. “This Third Young Master Chu’s stone table has not yet been searched.”

The gang enforcers’ eyes lit up. In their arrogance they rushed forward, about to push Chu Youcai aside.

But at that moment, Chu Youcai turned his gaze upon them. His eyes flickered like a burst of flame, and the air around them suddenly seemed to stiffen. Then a vast and surging aura, like a mighty river racing eastward in thunderous flood, burst forth from his body, so overwhelming that these seasoned thugs did not dare move an inch.

A few of them forced themselves to take a step forward, but at once they cried out miserably, feeling as though their bodies were about to split apart. They tumbled to the ground, every limb convulsing with pain.

Gang Leader Wu’s gaze sharpened.

He had not expected Chu Youcai to possess such killing intent. Embarrassed and enraged, he thought: when had the Dark Butcher ever been obstructed? His whole body trembled with force as he suddenly charged straight at Chu Youcai.

At this moment, Gang Leader Wu seemed like an iron-bodied divine fiend. With every step he took, a deep depression appeared in the ground; with every breath he exhaled, the air itself seemed to shudder in fear. The atmosphere quivered with latent murder.

Thirty years of external cultivation had been concentrated into his palm. One strike from that hand could split iron, let alone the flesh and blood body before him!

Just as Gang Leader Wu was secretly delighted, Chu Youcai’s eyes flashed. He had already finished gathering his strength, and now he too thrust out a palm toward him.

Unlike Gang Leader Wu’s, Chu Youcai’s palm did not stir the wind at all. It appeared plain and unremarkable.

At once, the gang thugs were overjoyed. For how many years had it been since anyone had dared meet the gang leader head-on? Even those masters of Daoist arts could not do it. After all, their spells borrowed the power of heaven and earth, driving their attacks with virtue and merit, whereas their physical bodies could never be stronger than the gang leader’s!

In their minds, they could already see Chu Youcai dying miserably on the spot.

At this same moment, Gang Leader Wu was even more ecstatic. If he could strike Chu Youcai half dead with one palm, then bring the iron box back to Second Young Master Chu, that would be an immense contribution indeed! And it was said that Chu Youcai also possessed some sort of blade; once he had been tortured into confession, he could seize it and see what manner of blade it was.

Before he could even finish the thought, his palm wind finally met Chu Youcai’s.

Yet to his shock, it felt as though his hand had struck a steel blade. His supposedly invincible force was instead rebounded by an even greater power.

“It hurts!”

“The other side’s strength is no less than mine!”

“How is that possible!”

In that instant, such impossible thoughts flashed through Gang Leader Wu’s mind.

He hurriedly tried to withdraw his hand, but in that same instant the opposing force came crashing down with overwhelming weight and struck his body, making him feel as though he had been crushed into meat paste.

He was nearly suffocating, and even felt as if his chest were splitting open.

At that moment, the Chu Youcai before him seemed like a demon. The calm smile on Chu Youcai’s face now carried an all-encompassing pressure that robbed him of all control over his spirit, as though he were facing a sovereign ruler of heaven and earth possessed of divine majesty.

He had felt this only once before, in the presence of Second Young Master Chu.

And back then, when Second Young Master Chu had subdued him, it had been with exactly such power.

And now, Chu Youcai was the same?