The God of the Human Realm!

Chapter 25 He left after accomplishing his task (5k)

"what--"

"My hand...my hand is broken!"

A piercing scream echoed across the dock. The once fierce and muscular thug clutched his drooping right hand, blood seeping from between his fingers. He knelt on the ground, howling in pain.

"You worthless piece of trash!" The fat, burly thug leader drew his iron rod and swung his free hand in a wide arc, slapping the screaming thug on the back of the head. He yelled, "Shut up, you wail!"

He cursed fiercely, his fleshy face trembling, and his fierce eyes glared at the wandering swordsman in a black outfit who had leaped onto the dock.

Upon realizing that the other person was alone, and although he wore a bamboo hat that obscured his eyes and brows, his fair chin and clear voice clearly indicated that he was a young man, he was filled with rage.
"Damn it, what kind of virgin dares to jump out and meddle in other people's business? Doesn't he know how many eyes the Horse King has? He's tired of living and looking for a beating, isn't he?"

The thug leader revealed his vicious nature, raising his iron rod and pointing it straight at the man in black opposite him, as if he would poke several holes in the man's body if he didn't give him an explanation.

The other dozen or so thugs on the dock also reacted, raising their sticks, knives, and swords, grinning as they gathered behind the fat, burly leader.

They all glared at each other, waiting for their leader's order to swarm forward and beat the troublemaker to death or maim.

The docks were frequented by many travelers and merchants. They were used to the overseers and thugs oppressing the laborers and had long since become accustomed to it. However, they never expected that a chivalrous knight would come to their aid today!
At this moment, everyone stopped and watched the two sides with great interest. Some even looked excited, wishing that the two sides would start fighting soon so they could watch a good show.

Among the crowd of onlookers, there were a few martial arts practitioners dressed in tight-fitting clothes and carrying swords, but they all remained calm and watched with their arms crossed.

Wow!
A large ship, its sails adorned with the character "Tao," pushed through the waves and docked at the pier. A bright-eyed young woman in a fiery red dress rushed onto the deck and asked the elderly man dressed as a butler, who was directing his men, "Uncle Yong, what happened at the pier?"

As she spoke, the girl in red also cast her bright, clear eyes toward the noisy crowd.

Two more people emerged from the cabin. The one in the lead was dressed in brocade robes, with a handsome and dashing appearance. He looked to be in his early twenties, yet he already possessed the air of someone in a high position, and his brows exuded a sense of authority.

Following the young man in fine clothes was a burly man with a strong build, broad shoulders, large hands, and a rugged appearance. As he walked, his eyes opened and closed, piercing and bright.

The beautiful girl in the fiery red dress smiled and waved to the two of them: "Big brother, Master Jin, come and see the fun!"

The butler, addressed as "Uncle Yong," spoke respectfully: "Young master, young lady... Yan Laosan's men at the docks are beating and abusing the laborers. Some chivalrous men couldn't stand it and injured someone. It looks like a fight is about to break out."

"Oh? Quick! Hurry up and bring the boat over there, I want to go ashore and take a look," the girl in red said impatiently.

The young man in fine clothes couldn't help but smile wryly. His sister usually enjoyed reading martial arts novels and was quite fascinated by the stories. Now that she could see it live, she naturally didn't want to miss it.

Just then, a loud and powerful voice rang out from the dock.

“Don’t worry about who I am. If the road is uneven, someone will straighten it; if there’s injustice, someone will take care of it. In short, it’s wrong for you to bully people indiscriminately, and I can’t let you continue to act recklessly.”

The crowd on the dock saw the wandering swordsman, wearing a straw hat and dressed in black, raise his long sword and speak passionately, each word clear and forceful.

In an instant, everyone's expressions changed, and they all looked at the wandering swordsman with strange eyes.

It wasn't admiration, but rather the way I looked at that idiot.

On the Tao family's large boat, the young man in fine clothes, upon hearing the impassioned speech, couldn't help but chuckle: "So he's just a hothead."

The usually stern-faced 'Master Jin' beside him also managed a smile: "This young man looks like a greenhorn just starting out. I wonder which family he comes from? If he has some backing, he might only suffer a bit. But if he has no backing or background, once he falls into Yan Laosan's hands, well... hehe!"

Master Jin chuckled twice, but everyone present, including the girl in red, understood the meaning behind his words.

Although she appeared lively and innocent, she was ultimately from a prominent family and, through her upbringing, had also come to know some treacherous and cruel things.

If that wandering swordsman had no powerful backing, the person who injured Yan Laosan today would likely be tortured to the point of wishing for death.

Yan Tieshan's stronghold was located in the center of the dock, only twenty or thirty feet away from where the group of thugs were confronting each other.

At this moment, Yan Tieshan stood on the second floor of the gambling den, his hands behind his back, coldly watching the scene unfolding on the dock through the open window.

Besides him, there were five other people in the room, including four guards who were always by his side.

Of the four, two were deserters who had committed crimes in the army, and two were outlaws who roamed the streets and were quite skilled in martial arts.

Yan Tieshan had only twenty or thirty elite thugs under his command, and these four were the leaders.

Not long ago, he recruited five hunters with excellent archery skills.

Yan Tieshan originally thought that his power was already quite considerable, at least enough to control a dock and the profits from several streets and alleys.

Not long ago, a strongman broke in one night, killing and injuring about twenty of his men, but he couldn't stop him. This made Yan Tieshan feel uneasy, so he recently had the idea of ​​recruiting a real expert as his right-hand man.

This man was standing next to Yan Tieshan. He looked to be in his forties, with a strangely shaped curved knife at his waist. He was so thin that he looked like a stick, with his shoulders, back, and collarbone as sharp as knives and his joints clearly defined. Only his eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, exuding a chilling coldness.

The thin, middle-aged man let out a hoarse, grating laugh and said, "Brother Yan, it seems your territory isn't peaceful either. You've taken good care of me, He, these past few days, and I'm not going to take the benefits without doing the work. How about I take down this troublemaking brat for you, as a way of repaying your kindness?"

Yan Tieshan's eyes turned cold, but he chuckled lightly, "Why would Brother He need to trouble himself with such a mere brat who doesn't know his place?"

Although he was all smiles and laughter, Yan Tieshan was furious to the extreme.

This gaunt middle-aged man, named He Xiaofeng, may look thin and weak, but he is actually a master swordsman. His attacks are both unpredictable and fierce, and his swordsmanship is as fast as the wind. Few people can withstand a round of his rapid attacks.

This person rose to fame in the Hero Arena, and in just one year, he has already become the champion with nine consecutive victories.

To win over He Xiaofeng, Yan Tieshan not only treated him to good food and drink, but also showered him with money and women.

In just a few days, the extravagant spending made even Yan Tieshan feel the pinch and he even regretted it.

But He Xiaofeng took the benefits but didn't want to do the work. He wouldn't even call him "Third Master." Now he wanted to repay his kindness by sending away a little brat. How could Yan Tieshan not be furious?

He Xiaofeng gave a forced "hehe" twice, without even glancing at Yan Tieshan's changing expression.

He truly looked down on Yan Tieshan.

Linjiang Prefecture has twelve counties under its jurisdiction, and the Heroes' Arena was funded and organized by some wealthy and powerful families in these twelve counties. It not only allows them to recruit skilled martial artists to their ranks, but also to run gambling games and amass wealth.

As the champion with nine consecutive victories, He Xiaofeng naturally attracted many wealthy patrons, so it would be strange if he even looked at Yan Tieshan.

In He Xiaofeng's eyes, Yan Tieshan was nothing more than a local thug who got rich by sheer luck.

He Xiaofeng knew perfectly well why the other party had invited him, but he treated him like a sucker, eating and drinking heartily, grabbing money in his hands, and playing around with women.

Doing something for Yan Tieshan? What kind of thing?

When did He Xiaofeng ever agree to that?

Upon hearing those powerful words, the burly leader on the dock twitched his fleshy face, and a fierce glint flashed in his eyes:

"Damn, he's an idiot. He thinks he can just stomp on the uneven road? Get him, all of you, cripple his legs, and see how he can stomp on it then!"

At his command, the dozen or so thugs behind the fat leader, their faces contorted with rage, roared in unison, drew their short knives and long clubs, and charged at Hong Yuan like mad dogs, showing no regard for coordination.

"When I was a kid, movies and TV shows often featured bullies harassing the elderly and weak, and then heroes would appear and easily defeat them. I guess this fulfills a dream I had, right?"

Hong Yuan held his knife in his hand, but did not draw it, watching the thugs rushing towards him.

The first few thugs rushed forward. Two of them roared and swung their sticks at Hong Yuan's head, while two others on the left and right threw their weapons.

"You little brat, die!"

puff! Poof!

Puffs of dust and fine sand scattered, heading straight for Hong Yuan's face. It was clearly lime powder and mud. Hong Yuan had already noticed the two men's little tricks. At this moment, he turned his body and avoided the fine sand and ash. He shouted in coordination, "Despicable!" With his long knife in hand, he turned his hand with incredible speed and blocked the two clubs that were being swung down. No matter how hard the two thugs tried, Hong Yuan's hand holding the knife did not budge.

He looked at the two men and said, “Stop, stop! I see that you two look like weasels, unsightly. You must have suffered a lot of bullying in your lives, right? You are just like these dockworkers, suffering people. Why do you have to be accomplices to evil? Turn back before it’s too late.”

"Go to hell!" The two thugs were furious and raised their legs to kick Hong Yuan in the chest.

Bang bang!

Hong Yuan lightly touched the ground with his foot and kicked out with two consecutive kicks. The two kicks, which were launched later, arrived first and almost simultaneously, hitting the two thugs in the face. At the same time, Pang Pei's power surged out, and the two men coughed up blood from their mouths and noses and flew out of the dock and fell into the river next to them, splashing a lot of water.

"If you don't want to go ashore, then go down into the river."

Hong Yuan sighed, spun his long sword like a top in his palm, and tapped the scabbard twice, striking the mouths of the two thugs who had been throwing lime and sand. Instantly, a crisp cracking sound was heard, and the two men covered their mouths and staggered back, all their teeth shattered.

In the blink of an eye, four thugs lost their fighting ability. This scene startled the remaining thugs who had rushed over. Seeing this, the fat, burly leader also swung his iron club and charged forward like a wild boar, shouting:
"Let's all attack together and kill this brat."

Instead of retreating, Hong Yuan advanced, charging straight into the group of thugs. With his long sword in hand, he parried left and right. Although it was just a sword, he blocked more than ten blows from sticks and blades, and not a single attack landed on him.

Hong Yuan was as slippery as a snake, weaving through the crowd. It was as if he had eyes in the back of his head, always dodging or blocking the slashing knives and sticks with his scabbard in an instant.

He used his knife, sheath and all, to strike, slap, smash, or chop... The blows landed on the thugs' hands, legs, faces, and mouths, and the sounds of bones cracking echoed one after another, accompanied by cries of pain.

"Stop! I might lose control of my strength and accidentally kill you!"

Hong Yuan twirled the scabbard in his hand and slapped it against the fat, burly leader's mouth, instantly shattering his teeth and filling his mouth with blood.

The onlookers on the dock were dumbfounded, many of them looking shocked. They had thought that the wandering swordsman would be easily beaten to death by the thugs, but the result was the opposite.

The wandering swordsman didn't even draw his sword before he knocked down more than ten strong thugs, each of them wounded.

These thugs were truly suffering, with one or more bones broken in their bodies. They weren't exactly tough guys; they were good at bullying ordinary people, but now they had lost all their ferocity and were already thinking of running away.

On the Tao family's merchant ship, the richly dressed young man stood with his hands behind his back, chuckling lightly, "I didn't expect this wandering swordsman to have such a disciplined approach; he's quite a skilled fighter. What a pity..."

The girl in red asked in surprise, "What's a pity?"

Master Jin walked to the young man in fine clothes and said in a deep voice, "It's a pity that this young man is too kind-hearted and soft-hearted. Even now, he still refuses to draw his sword and kill. Humph! Didn't his elders teach him that in a life-or-death struggle, one cannot be soft-hearted? He is kind-hearted and unwilling to kill, but the enemy may not be. Moreover, with such a kind heart, any enemy would take advantage of this."

Master Jin sneered and looked toward the two-story gambling den in the center of the dock: "Just watch, Yan Laosan is about to make his move."

The gambling den is on the second floor.

He Xiaofeng looked at the group of thugs on the dock crying and wailing, and couldn't help but chuckle: "Brother Yan, although this kid is a bit green, his skills are quite impressive. My previous words remain unchanged. I will make a move to repay you for taking care of me these past few days."

Yan Tieshan could no longer maintain his smile; his face turned ugly, and he waved his hand in refusal: "No need, I believe my men can handle him!"

As he spoke, he nodded to the four guards inside the room and left the room under their protection. In the corridor in front of the door, there were five dark-skinned men carrying longbows and quivers.

Yan Tieshan glanced around and said in a deep voice, "Gather your men and take down that troublemaker."

"Third Master!" Waiting respectfully to the side, Qian Xiucai, dressed in a scholar's long robe and nicknamed Poisonous Scholar, stroked his goatee, smiled and approached Yan Tieshan, saying, "I have a plan that can easily take down that blind brat."

He waved his feather fan, looking as if he had everything under control.

Yan Tieshan glared at him and said angrily, "Stop beating around the bush, just say what you have to say."

Qian Xiucai coughed and said, "Third Master, although that kid's kung fu is not weak, he never dared to kill when fighting our men. It is clear that he is not only a novice, but probably has never even been stained with blood. Since he is a kind and benevolent person, we can start from this point...hehe!"

Qian Xiucai whispered a few words in Yan Tieshan's ear. Yan Tieshan's eyes lit up and he laughed, "Good, strategist Qian's plan is brilliant. You are indeed my strategist. Since that kid wants to be a good guy, let's let him be one to the end. Let's go!"

As they spoke, Yan Tieshan, surrounded by four guards and with He Xiaofeng following behind, and dozens of thugs around them, strode out of the gambling den.

Yan Tieshan and his men charged straight at him, their murderous aura causing the onlookers to retreat in fear. Although some wealthy men were not afraid of Yan Tieshan, they did not want to provoke him at this moment.

Seeing his dozen or so men sprawled on the ground, groaning in pain, Yan Tieshan snorted coldly and suddenly waved his hand.

Qian Xiucai nodded slightly, and several burly thugs wielding steel knives rushed out and burst into the surrounding group of laborers. They held their knives to the necks of several laborers, then dragged them out with murderous intent, glaring at Hong Yuan.

Yan Tieshan glanced at Hong Yuan and said coldly, "Kid, I, Yan Laosan, don't care where you came from. You can go wherever you want to be a chivalrous hero, but you shouldn't have come to my territory. Now, who can you save? With one order from me, their heads will roll."

Hong Yuan glanced at the trembling laborers held to the steel blades, then slowly walked past the thugs lying on the ground, stood three zhang away from Yan Tieshan, placed his hand on his long sword, and laughed, "Oh? What do you want, Yan Laosan?"

Yan Tieshan looked at the other party's calm expression and felt a sudden unease. He felt something was wrong. Given the boy's previous behavior, shouldn't he have been indignant?

He suppressed that strange feeling and said in a deep voice, "It's not about what I, Lao Yan, want to do, but how you want to settle this matter?"

“I, Yan Laosan, was just staying at home, not bothering anyone, yet you inexplicably came up and injured my people.”

Yan Tieshan stared coldly at Hong Yuan and said sternly, "Now I only have one sentence to say: If you want to fight, then I will kill these poor wretches right now. They all died because of you. Kill them, and then we'll fight it out! If you want to talk, then let's talk in my building!"

Yan Tieshan did not suggest that the other party lay down their knife and surrender. Even if the other party was kind-hearted, it would be difficult for them to agree to such a condition.

Therefore, the current idea is to lure the other party into the building. His lair is full of traps and mechanisms. Once inside, the other party will be completely at his mercy.

Of course, even in a real fight, Yan Laosan didn't think his dozens of thugs couldn't defeat the other side; he just didn't want to lose too much of his resources.

“Since you’ve said something, I’ll say something too!” Hong Yuan smiled.

"What?"

"Go to hell!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Hong Yuan suddenly sprang up, the stone slab beneath his feet shattered with a bang, sending up a large amount of gravel flying everywhere, and Hong Yuan himself was like an arrow released from a bow, suddenly rushing out!

In the blink of an eye, the three-zhang distance was covered, and the other person had already closed in on Yan Tieshan. Yan Tieshan was startled and instinctively took a step back.

The four guards surrounding him rushed forward, roared, and swung out the long swords they had been holding, slashing down at Hong Yuan who was rushing towards him!
Choking!

Hong Yuan drew his steel blade like a flash of lightning, and in an instant, one blade clashed with four others. The four guards were jolted, feeling a surge of intense force that caused them excruciating pain in their hands. As their faces paled in horror, Hong Yuan raised his blade and swept it through the air!
The blade flashed through the air like a streak of lightning, slicing across the throats of the four men, and their heads flew into the air with a 'thud'.

As blood splattered wildly, Hong Yuan did not stop moving and suddenly approached Yan Tieshan, whose face had turned pale.

"Good lad!" A cold shout rang out, and He Xiaofeng moved his hand, the curved blade at his waist appeared in his hand without him even noticing. Then, a cold moon-like blade light shone, slashing towards the front where Hong Yuan was about to pounce, as if he were offering his own head to the 'cold moon curved blade'.

Hong Yuan ripped off his bamboo hat and threw it out with a "whoosh," colliding with the cold moonlight blade. In an instant, bamboo fragments scattered everywhere, and amidst the hazy dust, He Xiaofeng's expression changed drastically as his blade light faltered.

Then, the wandering swordsman lunged forward, passing by Yan Tieshan. The chilling blade light quickly disappeared, and the swordsman was gone. He shot to the side of the scholar Qian, grabbed him with his large hand, and leaped out of the forest like a tiger.

puff!

With a muffled thud, five bloody holes appeared in Qian Xiucai's throat. His eyes were filled with terror, and his face showed an expression of utter shock. He fell straight to the ground.

Then a loud laugh rang out, and everyone saw the young swordsman stride away with incredible speed, leaping and bounding away from the dock area in a few bounds, leaving only the echo of his laughter:
"Kill one person every ten steps, and leave no trace in a thousand miles."

"When the work is done, I will leave, hiding my achievements and fame."

Hong Yuan didn't want to put on airs, but he felt the atmosphere had reached a certain point, so he sang and laughed wildly as he left.

The dock was deathly silent.

(End of this chapter)