The Blade of the Wudang Grand Master
In the back alleys of Kowloon, Hong Kong, acid rain fell in a steady drizzle, turning the glow of neon signs into bleeding crimson smears across the wet pavement.
Zhang Chen walked beneath a black umbrella toward an old warehouse that served as a secret Triad outpost. His steps were lighter than they had ever been.
The agonizing headache that had gnawed at his skull for years was gone. The murky poison that had constricted his dantian had vanished as well.
For the first time in years, he had reclaimed true freedom.
“All of this… came from nothing more than a single gesture from that person.”
Zhang Chen murmured to the empty air and offered a light, respectful bow toward the sky.
The Spirit Class Gu that had bound him—the Heavenly Spider—had been subdued in an instant. The overwhelming spiritual pressure Kang Suho had unleashed still lingered vividly in his memory.
The fact that the man they had tried to turn into a Half-Human Half-Shikigami was actually Dueokryeong still filled him with bone-deep terror.
He is not human. He is the incarnation of Dueokryeong, the ruler of the Underworld.
Zhang Chen was certain of it.
The owner of that white hand that moved like a butterfly.
Kang Suho was the living incarnation of Dueokryeong.
There was an old legend passed down through the Wudang Sect for generations.
On the prophesied day when the gates of the Underworld would open, heaven and earth would touch, and every living thing would mingle with every dead thing in the final cataclysm.
Before that day arrived, the rulers of the Underworld would first descend into the mortal realm.
The first to come was Dueokryeong.
The one who commanded every wandering ghost in the world. He grew stronger by devouring vengeful spirits, feeding on the accumulated grudges of those who had died unjustly.
The legend said that the moment Dueokryeong set foot in the mortal world, every grave on earth would tremble and the dead would open their eyes.
Following him came the Death Emperor.
The one who ruled death itself. If Dueokryeong was the king of ghosts, the Death Emperor was the very phenomenon of dying. When he reached out, the lifespan of the living would burn away before their eyes, and no flower or blade of grass would ever grow on the path he walked.
The ancient texts of Wudang recorded it clearly:
Those who face the Death Emperor are already dead. They simply have not yet fallen.
Third to appear was the Soul Emperor.
The one who governed the origin of souls. While the Death Emperor ruled the death of the flesh, the Soul Emperor oversaw the annihilation of the spirit. Any soul devoured by him could not even become a ghost; it was completely erased from existence.
Last, and latest to arrive, was the Underworld Sovereign.
The Wudang legend concluded:
The day the Underworld Sovereign opens his eyes will be the true end of the world.
Zhang Chen swallowed hard.
These days, he could only pray that the Underworld Sovereign would return as late as possible.
“I was lucky enough to catch the eye of Dueokryeong… Is this also fate?”
There had been no reason for Dueokryeong to spare his life.
Together with Chunmei, he had helped turn Kang Suho’s younger sister into a Half-Human Half-Shikigami and worked to transform her into a White Spirit Ghost.
I’ll raise the White Spirit Ghost into a disaster-class evil spirit and use her well as my shikigami.
Those had clearly been Dueokryeong’s words.
The declaration that he would use Kang Minah—Kang Suho’s own sister—as a shikigami.
That alone had confirmed it.
This was not Kang Suho. It was an Underworld Class evil spirit wearing his skin.
How could any being use its own blood relative as a shikigami?
Your ability is quite exceptional. If I were to kill a talented man like you so carelessly, how could I ever face Ancestor Zhang Sanfeng again?
Zhang Chen had firmly believed that Ancestor Zhang Sanfeng had saved him.
When Dueokryeong praised my ability, did that not mean he intended to take me as his subordinate?
A deep murderous intent swirled in Zhang Chen’s eyes.
Now that he served an absolute master, he had to clean up the remnants of his past.
Ma Weicheng—the Triad’s Red Pole who had treated the Wudang Grand Master like a dog.
He would cut off that bastard’s head and offer it to his new master as proof of loyalty.
“Stop. Identify yourself.”
Two burly Triad thugs standing guard at the warehouse entrance raised their pistols and blocked his path.
Zhang Chen folded his umbrella and smiled coldly.
“Filthy insects.”
Two yellow talismans slipped from his sleeve.
He slipped them between his index and middle fingers, then flicked his wrist lightly.
Whoosh—!
The talismans sliced through the air.
Nothing more than scraps of paper, yet they whistled like sharpened steel as they brushed past the thugs’ throats.
“Kkgh… Urk!”
Bright red blood gushed from their necks like fountains. They collapsed without ever pulling the trigger.
It was the Wudang Sect’s secret technique—Flying Talisman Slash—infused with sword energy.
Zhang Chen stepped casually through the growing pool of blood and entered the warehouse.
The vast interior was already packed with dozens of armed Triad members.
And in the center, lounging on a sofa with a cigar between his lips, sat Ma Weicheng, the Triad’s Red Pole.
“Master Zhang? You’re earlier than scheduled.”
Ma Weicheng exhaled a plume of smoke and asked arrogantly. He still had no idea his men outside had already fallen.
“Did you take care of that Korean detective bastard?”
“No.”
At Zhang Chen’s short, insolent reply, Ma Weicheng’s brows furrowed.
The surrounding thugs immediately leveled their guns at him.
The sharp clicks of rounds being chambered echoed through the warehouse.
“Are you fucking with me right now? I gave you three days.”
“The one fucking around was you. You planted the Heavenly Spider in my head and treated me like a dog.”
Ma Weicheng’s eyes widened.
He had never imagined Zhang Chen would bare his fangs.
After all, the man’s life had rested entirely in his hands.
Soon, a vicious smile spread across his face as he pulled a small black rattle from his pocket.
“Unfortunately for you, I still hold the leash.”
Ma Weicheng raised the rattle high.
“No matter how great a Wudang Grand Master you are, you cannot resist the power of a Spirit Class Gu. Kneel, Zhang Chen!”
Jingle—!
He shook the rattle violently.
The murky sound of the curse tool meant to trigger the Gu echoed through the warehouse.
But.
Zhang Chen did not kneel. He simply stood in place and scoffed.
There was not the slightest trace of pain on his face.
“…Huh? Why isn’t this working?”
Jingle! Jingle! Jingle!
Ma Weicheng shook the rattle frantically, panic rising in his voice.
Zhang Chen merely rolled up his sleeve with a relaxed expression.
“It’s useless, Ma Weicheng.”
“Th-this is impossible! The Heavenly Spider is a Spirit Class Gu! No human power can ever break it… How the hell did you remove it?!”
“I didn’t remove it. My new master destroyed it with a single gesture.”
Zhang Chen’s voice carried genuine reverence.
“Master? New master?”
“A being you insects could never even imagine. Your pathetic little curses are nothing but incense smoke before him.”
“Bullshit! Kill him! Turn that bastard into a goddamn honeycomb!”
Ma Weicheng screamed like a madman.
Dozens of thugs pulled their triggers at once.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!!
Hundreds of bullets rained down on Zhang Chen like a storm.
He didn’t even blink. Both hands moved rapidly, forming hand seals.
“Taiji Qigong—Protective Gang Qi!”
Boom—!
A hemispherical barrier of blue energy exploded outward from Zhang Chen’s entire body.
The bullets slammed into the blue wall and crumpled in midair.
Like steel striking an invisible iron shield, the deformed slugs clattered uselessly to the floor.
“M-monster!”
“The bullets aren’t penetrating!”
The thugs staggered backward in horror.
Zhang Chen maintained the barrier and pulled out a thick bundle of talismans inscribed with red characters.
“Now it’s my turn.”
He scattered the bundle into the air.
Dozens of talismans fluttered like butterflies.
His fingers formed another seal as he roared.
“Break!”
Kwaaaaang—!!
The floating talismans detonated simultaneously like grenades.
Blue flames swept through the warehouse, engulfing the thugs.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
“S-save me!”
The men engulfed in fire screamed and rolled across the floor.
Zhang Chen’s white trench coat billowed as he fired Flying Talisman Slash like bullets while charging forward.
He slipped through the flames like a ghost.
Thud!
His fist pierced straight through the nearest thug’s solar plexus.
Explosive internal energy—Fa Jin.
The man’s spine burst out his back as he died instantly.
“Shoot! Keep shooting, you idiots!”
Ma Weicheng screamed from behind the sofa.
The surviving thugs charged with machetes and rifles.
“Foolish worms.”
Zhang Chen drew a short dagger from his waist.
Blue sword energy rippled along its blade.
He danced between them like a reaper.
Slice! Slaaash!
Blood sprayed in every direction.
Each flash of his dagger precisely severed throats and hearts.
A perfect dance of slaughter.
“Kuhk…”
“S… save…”
In just three minutes, all forty elite Triad members who had filled the warehouse lay dead on the floor.
The interior reeked of blood, gunpowder, and burning talismans.
Zhang Chen approached the trembling Ma Weicheng, who was hiding behind the sofa, dagger still dripping blood.
“Hiiik! D-don’t come near me!”
Ma Weicheng pointed his pistol at him with shaking hands.
Zhang Chen casually swatted the gun away.
Clink—!
The pistol skittered across the floor.
“D-don’t do this, Zhang Chen! If I die, the Triad headquarters won’t let you live!”
“The Triad? Don’t make me laugh.”
Zhang Chen grabbed Ma Weicheng by the collar and lifted him into the air.
Ma Weicheng’s legs kicked helplessly.
“My master could erase the entire Triad in a single day if he wished. You insects are not even worthy of being his opponents.”
Zhang Chen’s eyes burned with the fervor of a zealot.
The eyes of a man who had replaced one terror with an even greater fear and reverence.
“Wh-who the hell is this master of yours?!”
“A name far too noble for the likes of you to utter.”
Zhang Chen poured energy into the hand gripping the collar.
Blue gang qi began digging into Ma Weicheng’s throat.
“Kuhk! S-spare… urk!”
“Your life will make an excellent first offering for my master.”
Zhang Chen raised the dagger in his other hand.
Blue sword energy gleamed ominously along the blade.
“Remember this clearly in hell. This is the price for touching the Wudang Grand Master.”
Squelch—!
The dagger drew a perfect arc and severed Ma Weicheng’s neck cleanly.
His head tumbled to the floor and rolled away.
Blood gushed from the stump like a fountain.
Zhang Chen tossed the corpse aside and flicked the blood from his blade.
Then, very slowly… he dipped his finger in the pooled blood of the corpses and began to write.
A single character, filled with respect for his new master.
守 (to protect)
It was taken from the middle character of his new master’s name—Kang Suho.
守
— Written in the blood of his enemies —
###
“Uuuuuurgh!!!!”
Inside the Triad headquarters in Harbin, China.
Ma Weijun—the One Dragon of the Triad who had been presiding over the meeting—suddenly snapped his eyes open.
He clutched the area around his heart and let out a ragged breath.
Everyone in the grand hall froze at his sudden action.
“My lord… what is the matter?”
“I must go to Hong Kong… Kowloon. Immediately.”
It was an important meeting attended by China’s Chairman and other powerful figures, yet he kicked his chair back and stood up without hesitation.
No one dared stop Ma Weijun when he was like this.
His closest subordinates immediately sensed that something had happened to his twin brother, Ma Weicheng, who was in Hong Kong.
As Ma Weijun strode toward his office, his loyal aides quietly made calls or sent orders via chat.
They began discreetly investigating what had occurred in Kowloon.
And the tragic news that reached Ma Weijun’s ears:
The death of Red Pole Ma Weicheng.
Upon learning that the Triad’s Kowloon branch had been completely annihilated, his eyes turned blood-red.
The sound of his golden shark-like teeth grinding together echoed sharply.
“Call Chunmei. She will come with me.”
“But, my lord… she returned to Yunnan because of the Miao tribe’s ominous affair. Wouldn’t another Gu sorcerer suffice?”
“I said call Chunmei.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Ma Weijun’s shark-like teeth began to gleam with murderous light.
“I will kill the bastard who murdered Ma Weicheng. I swear it on my name.”
