Using my hands as speakerphones, I inquired, “Boss, where should I go?”
Whilst advancing, Boss shot me a glare. As a diagonal thrust closed in on her, Boss made a beeline for her adversary and drove her knee into his face. See why I wasn’t worried?
“The farther the better! Get out of the way!”
I merrily ran off. Of course, there is always that one person who has to give chase. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t bypass Fortress Shen Yiren. Meanwhile, Wugufengdeng started squeaking exuberantly; he was high once we embarked onto the island.
Following Wugufengdeng’s navigation, I came to a rocky wall. It was a dead end, yet the fellow insisted he was in the right place. He dashed over to the wall and stopped at a specific spot, telling me, “This is the place.” I did see a path when I went over, but it was a hole for a rat. How was I supposed to fit through a fist-sized hole?!
Hey, shut up, chubby! You wouldn’t fit me in there even if Boss beat all my snot out of me! Guess I shouldn’t blame you when you’re just showing your usual path.
I lost all apologetic feelings when I glanced over to see Wugufengdeng boasting through his eyes and even slighting me. I was going to give him an earful when he decided to run inside.
Don’t run off! How am I supposed to find Second without you?! Great, how am I supposed to get in now? …
I stared at the rocky wall for a good while.
Man, I never wanted to be so conspicuous.
Boom!
***
After putting away the swordsmen, Shen Yiren picked up an imminent attack behind her and pinpointed her assailant’s position using Precision Scout. She advanced three steps and then blocked her forward momentum to recoil in the opposite direction, yet she still went back three steps when her sword clashed against the blunt weapon.
“A hard hitter, huh? Finally somebody worth my time. You deserve better than to go down without anyone remembering. Announce yourself,” Shen Yiren asserted.
“The name is Hua Jian.” The tall and chiselled man, sporting grey robe, wielded a heavy monk spade. Though they were hallmarks of monks, his tanned body and unblemished bald head indicated he was actually active in smithing workshops for the most part.
Shen Yiren immediately got out of the way when Hua Jian whipped down, barely saving her skull from being as deformed as the point of impact on the ground. While putting a hole in mud was nothing special, the speed of execution and retraction wasn’t something to laugh about. If nothing else, Shen Yiren couldn’t have imagined herself being that quick not too long ago.
Shen Yiren adopted a guerrilla warfare strategy as Hua Jian’s weapon complimented his style, denying her a close-quarters fight. Moreover, he was excellent at counter striking every time she probed him. Just as body weight differences matter in fights, so do weapons; a thin sword would struggle against a monk spade, let alone a heavy one.
Hua Jian was one of seven people Luo Ming chose to train personally. Owing to his time in the smithing workshop, Hua Jian had plenty of chances to refine his breathing, effectively developing his internal energy. Privy Hua Jian lacked the aptitude for intricate swordplay, Luo Ming had the former spar with thirty swordsmen daily, consequently developing muscle memory for offence and defence.
Shen Yiren suddenly reversed the tables in one motion, forcing Hua Jian to hastily heave his monk spade up. Alas, Shen Yiren glided her blade along his monk spade to prick his shoulder.
“What swordplay is that? I’ve never seen it before.”
“It’s not swordplay. I’ve never been one to be hung up over swordplay. As long as it wins fights, it’s a good style to me. If nothing changes, you’ll break my sword in two, and that’s going to be troublesome for me.” Shen Yiren transferred qi to her sword as she assumed her stance again. “I’m not wielding a sword. I wield cudgels, hammers, axes, rocks, wood… Wielding sharp weapons as blunt weapons.”
Shen Yiren took her sword layered in qi to manipulate it into a blunt weapon and smashed it into Hua Jian’s monk spade, rumbling his viscera!
Glossary
Monk Spade – This is commonly translated as crescent moon shovel, which is usually a sign the translator didn’t bother to research. Yes, monks supposedly often carried shovels with them, but this is a specific weapon, not a shovel. Some also call it a Shaolin spade because it’s almost exclusive to monks from Shaolin.
Click here for a visual of it