Chapter 220: Guangdong Jin Manor-2
Chapter 220: Guangdong Jin Manor-2
'If there are Four Demons under heaven, then in the Southern Sea there are three demons: the Demon Mirror, the Demon Sword, and the Demon Blade.'
Among the Three Demons of the Southern Sea, the Blood Sea Demon Blade Yun Sak, who corresponded to the Demon Blade, sat in his own ship, in his own seat, with his eyes quietly closed.
He was currently waiting for news of the Four Heavenly Kings of the White Shark Sect, who had gone to capture the children of the Jin Family Stronghold.
The plan was to use them as hostages to disperse the Jin Family Stronghold's forces, then defeat them piecemeal.
But for some reason, the waiting time had grown longer than expected.
At this, Yun Sak's close subordinates watched his closed eyes with anxious hearts.
It was because, given Yun Sak's temperament, he would not wait for them much longer.
Then, in an instant, Yun Sak's eyes flashed open and he asked his nearby subordinates curtly.
"Any news?"
The subordinates exchanged glances and answered cautiously.
"None yet."
Yun Sak fell into thought for a moment, tapping his chair with a finger. Tap, tap.
Then he opened his mouth again and spoke briefly.
"Execute."
It was a short statement whose meaning was unclear, but at those brief words, the faces of the surrounding subordinates darkened sharply.
Yun Sak was not originally one to speak at length.
But his close subordinates, who had been at his side for a long time, could accurately infer the meaning of his words.
It meant to execute the plan without hostages.
One subordinate spoke cautiously.
"B-but, Faction Leader. If we attack without dispersing them, the damage will be immense. And it goes against the orders given by Jin, the sect leader."
At that, Yun Sak smirked and spoke again.
"Big brother cares about results. Like a pirate should."
The "big brother" Yun Sak referred to was the Hainan Sect's leader, Jin Tae-do.
He was saying that since Jin Tae-do would only care about the result anyway, they didn't have to follow his orders exactly—so Yun Sak would do as he pleased and clash head-on, as a pirate should.
At those words, the subordinates exchanged glances.
They did not doubt the ability of their boss, the Blood Sea Demon Blade Yun Sak.
But even so, the Jin Family Stronghold was no easy opponent.
Beyond simply being strong, they were men notorious for being incredibly tenacious and vicious.
So one close subordinate cautiously opened his mouth again.
"Still, perhaps we could wait just a little longer...."
It was in that instant.
Spat!
A single line of light appeared within the cabin.
It was a line that had manifested the moment Yun Sak grasped the katana at his waist.
And when he released his hand from the katana, the neck of the subordinate who had been speaking began to slowly slide away.
Puhwaak!
As blood fountained from his severed neck, the other subordinates, their faces instantly drained of color, bowed their heads simultaneously and shouted.
"Understood, Faction Leader!"
They had no choice.
For Yun Sak was the quintessential martial artist of few words and much action.
And he was not a man who cherished human life.
Whether enemy or subordinate, it did not matter.
Thus, the frontal assault on the Jin Family Stronghold without hostages was decided.
***
Puh-puh-puh-pung!
The first opening was the cannons.
The White Shark Sect boldly bombarded the Jin Family Stronghold with cannons right now, barely past early evening, within the provincial capital of Guangzhou.
It was an act impossible unless one completely disregarded the government troops.
And the effect of that bold attack was immense.
Kwakwakwang! Kwaaaang! Kwareureureuk!
"Uwaaak!"
"Wh-what is it?!"
"C-cannons! It's a bombardment!"
"What?! What are you talking about, here inside Guangzhou?!"
"Incoming again! Take cover!"
Puh-puh-puh-pung!
"Uwaaaaak!"
"Th-the ships!"
"My leg! Aaaagh!"
"Keuaaaak! Save me!"
Under their cannon fire, one side of the Jin Family Stronghold began to collapse outright.
This was possible because the Jin Family Stronghold bordered the Zhu River, allowing for the immediate deployment of naval forces.
The Jin Family Stronghold's docks and the ships anchored there were being destroyed in a matter of moments.
The same was true for the warriors guarding the docks and the riverside.
Terrified and panicked, they milled about in confusion before being struck directly by cannon fire and blown apart, or crushed under the debris of collapsing structures, groaning as they died.
A scene of hell was unfolding at the Jin Family Stronghold.
Watching the spectacle from the flagship among the thirty-odd warships, the Blood Sea Demon Blade Yun Sak looked upon the chaos he had created and his lips curled up slightly into a smirk.
It meant he was in a very good mood.
Just then, a subordinate beside him asked cautiously.
"Boss, no, Faction Leader. What shall we do now?"
Yun Sak, his gaze fixed on the Jin Family Stronghold, answered curtly.
"Continue."
"Yes! Understood!"
The bombardment continued for a good while longer.
It lasted until the area adjacent to the Jin Family Stronghold's docks was completely devastated.
At the same moment, the situation deeper inside the Jin Family Stronghold was chaos itself.
Those caught in the shelling were dying, their groans echoing everywhere, while other martial artists, watching the scene, could not bring themselves to enter the bombardment zone to rescue them.
Unable to do anything, they could only watch as their comrades died and as the Jin Family Stronghold was destroyed.
It was then that the stronghold's master, the Mad Demon Staff Jin Gong-mu, came running to the scene.
He had been coming out of his father Jin Sa-mong's room and walking bitterly through the garden when the thunderous roar startled him, and he had rushed straight over.
He shouted with a face full of rage.
"What is happening?! Who on earth would attack us with cannons inside Guangzhou?!"
"We don't know! They're just bombarding us out of nowhere, without any prior warning!"
It meant that even as one side of the Jin Family Stronghold was being completely devastated, they had yet to even ascertain the enemy's identity.
Seeing his subordinates who were injured, unable to escape the shelling and dying, Jin Gong-mu screamed as if howling.
"So who is it?! Why?!"
It was then.
One subordinate, suddenly pointing toward the largest ship that was nearly hidden among the other vessels, shouted.
"F-Family Head! Look at the flag on that ship! That is definitely...!"
Jin Gong-mu's eyes turned in that direction.
Then a flag emblem he had seen somewhere before entered his vision.
A white shark insignia on a red background.
It was the very symbol of the White Shark Sect.
"...The White Shark Sect?"
Jin Gong-mu's expression went blank for a moment.
The White Shark Sect? Those cowards attacked us?
And on such a massive scale?
The White Shark Sect had never once picked a fight with the Jin Family Stronghold before.
So much so that there hadn't been even a minor clash, even as they grew into the second most powerful force in Guangzhou.
Thus, the people of the Jin Family Stronghold used to say in jest that they were fellows who knew their place, subtly looking down on them.
And yet....
"That White Shark Sect attacked us?"
Jin Gong-mu realized they had been under an enormous illusion all this time.
They had mistaken a wolf hiding its fangs for a dog with ten thousand wagging tails.
Crunch.
Jin Gong-mu ground his teeth.
The fury of losing his household members to an attack by those they had looked down upon, and the rage of having been so thoroughly deceived by those wolf-like bastards.
A burning heat was boiling up from deep within his chest.
Jin Gong-mu muttered, his eyes bloodshot.
"They dared to think lightly of our Jin Family Stronghold, didn't they?"
The Jin Family Stronghold's signature ultimate techniques were the Mad Demon Eighteen Staff, practiced by the main family line, and the Raging Tiger Thirty-Six Staff, practiced by the other sect disciples.
And both of those martial arts used fury and passion as their source.
The people of the Guangdong Jin Family Stronghold were those who unleashed even greater potential the angrier they became.
So much so that a saying floated around the martial world of Guangdong Province.
'If you must fight a man of the Jin Family Stronghold, you must kill him before he gets angry. If you fail, then no matter how strong you are, you will die alongside him.'
Once their fury began to boil, the martial artists of the Guangdong Jin Family Stronghold were men who would charge like mad dogs at any opponent, not hesitating to drag them down to mutual destruction.
Jin Gong-mu shouted, his voice infused with internal energy, his eyes bloodshot.
- Hear me, martial artists of the Jin Family Stronghold! The range of their cannon fire is limited to that distance at most; soon they will finish their bombardment and land!
At Jin Gong-mu's voice, the warriors of the Jin Family Stronghold, who had been anxiously watching their comrades caught in the shelling, focused their attention.
Jin Gong-mu's words continued.
- When fighting those bastards, do not think of defending the Jin Family Stronghold, nor of defeating them! There is only one thought we shall hold! Everyone, look there!
What Jin Gong-mu pointed to with his finger were the docks and outer walls shattered by the bombardment, and the structures bordering the river.
And... within them were the people dying in agony, and the corpses of those already dead.
Jin Gong-mu shouted with a voice simmering with raw emotion.
- There, our brothers died in agony. Are dying in agony! And we could not save our brothers! Engrave it in your minds! Remember them! Do not forget that helplessness! What we shall do is one thing alone! Only revenge upon them!
As Jin Gong-mu's blood-boiling cry ended, the martial artists of the Jin Family Stronghold, their eyes bloodshot like their family head's, let out low sounds akin to the growling of beasts.
"Ooooo!"
It was the sound of boiling rage.
The sound of them tightly compressing the fiery heat in their chests to unleash it all at once upon the enemy.
Then, from the ship, the Blood Sea Demon Blade Yun Sak, who had clearly heard his words, raised the corners of his mouth in a fierce grin.
"Heh."
It seemed this time the prey was a real beast.
Not some pathetic rabbits that screamed at the sight of blood, but genuine predators that grew fiercer the more they were wounded.
And Yun Sak had always desired such an enemy.
He smiled a bloody smile and spoke briefly.
"Charge."
At that, his nearby subordinates began to shout in loud voices.
"All troops land! It's a charge!"
Their voices instantly spread throughout the entire fleet of thirty-odd ships.
"Land! Charge!"
"Charge!"
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
Then, with a tremendous battle cry, the pirates began to pour from every ship, leaping into the river like a cascade.
Plunk! Plunk! Plunk!
It was a sight as if a wave of humanity, beginning from the ships, had covered the entire river.
The pirates, who had jumped into the river without the slightest hesitation, swam ashore expertly and began to surge into the Jin Family Stronghold.
It was a terrifying momentum, like watching a tidal wave pushing onto the land.
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
"Kill them all!"
"Yee-hah!"
For the martial artists of the Jin Family Stronghold, the wisest response would have been to stop them before they emerged from the water.
Unfortunately, with the areas close to the river already devastated by the bombardment, the Jin Family Stronghold could not immediately respond to them.
But they were the Jin Family Stronghold.
The Jin Family Stronghold of fury and passion.
They were not faint-hearted souls whose morale would drop just because they lost the first strike and their comrades had died.
Rather, they were like springs, exerting greater repulsive force the greater the pressure applied.
The Jin Family Head Jin Gong-mu shouted, filled with rage.
- Martial artists of the Jin Family Stronghold! What must we do now?!
Then all the Jin Family Stronghold's martial artists shouted in unison.
"Revenge!"
At that, Jin Gong-mu leapt forward first, crying out.
- Let us go! It is time for revenge!
"Uwaaaaaaaah!"
The elites of the Jin Family Stronghold, long renowned as the strongest in Guangdong Province, began their charge like a herd of enraged wild horses.
***
At the moment the Jin Family Stronghold was taking a prolonged bombardment from the White Shark Sect, the former family head Jin Sa-mong, who had been lying in a detached building, heard the commotion coming from outside and laboriously raised his body.
Then he called for the physician who was on standby.
"Physician Im! Physician Im!"
At his call, the physician who had been outside the door entered.
"You called, Elder Family Head?"
"What is that commotion? What has happened?"
The physician answered with a dark face.
"It seems some bastards have raided our Jin Family Stronghold. They say thirty-some ships are pouring down cannon fire."
"Cannon fire?"
Jin Sa-mong, who had been muttering the word 'cannon fire' with a hardened face, soon opened his mouth, his eyes flashing.
Though his face was haggard, his gaze alone emitted the aura of a wild predator.
"Physician Im, take me out there."
At Jin Sa-mong's request, the physician tried to dissuade him with a startled expression.
"You cannot, Elder Family Head! You absolutely must rest!"
But Jin Sa-mong was stubborn.
"If something goes wrong at the Jin Family Stronghold, what meaning would there be in me resting now? If it is nothing serious, I will not move at all, so do not worry and take me there. And prepare the Blood Burst Pill."
At those words, the physician cried out in shock.
"Elder Family Head!"
The Blood Burst Pill was a pill that instantly exploded one's energy to strengthen the body.
However, it had the side effect that once the medicine's duration ended, there was a high probability of falling into qi deviation or the body breaking down entirely.
And that Blood Burst Pill was highly compatible with the martial arts of the Jin Family Stronghold, which used fury and passion as their source.
The amplification effect on martial prowess caused by the medicinal energy was far superior to that of other martial arts.
Thus, the high-ranking martial artists of the Jin Family Stronghold always carried one Blood Burst Pill on their person.
Of course, it was all too natural that the stronger the effect, the greater the side effects as well.
When martial artists of the Jin Family Stronghold consumed the Blood Burst Pill, the intensified side effects after the medicine wore off usually killed most of them.
Yet even so, the Jin Family Stronghold's martial artists did not hesitate to consume it.
It could be said to be proof of the Jin Family Stronghold martial artists' venomous energy—their determination to never back down before an enemy, even if it meant dying together.
The physician tried to dissuade Jin Sa-mong with an earnest voice.
"You mustn't, Elder Family Head! If the Blood Burst Pill is ingested in your current bodily state...!"
But Jin Sa-mong was stubborn.
"As I said, I will absolutely not go out unless it is necessary. But if a crisis befalls the Jin Family Stronghold, what use is it to preserve this one life of mine? Quickly, make the preparations."
"Elder Family Head...."
The physician could not possibly break his stubbornness.