Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Fool of the Weapons Team
Keitaro actually looked very thin and weak, seemingly unable to fill out his clothes, and his movements were refined and scholarly, like a student. But when he started to fight, he was instantly exposed.
He sent Mihai soaring with a "Beauty Hanging Scroll" move. Not stopping after Mihai was several feet off the ground, Keitaro followed up immediately with a "Little Devil Wearing Boots," quickly closing the distance to Mihai with a combination of stomping and sweeping, delivering knee strikes to the chest, a flick to the groin, and a blow to the face and jaw. His movements were direct, purposeful, and unstoppable.
Over the years, he and Kanako had constantly been away under the guise of work, nominally doing archaeology but actually collecting martial arts. He had found a martial path that suited him, and the martial arts he learned had already been fully integrated.
In particular, the Chinese martial arts philosophy of "emphasizing yi (intent) over xing (form)" and "body-training through fist arts" greatly suited his taste.
Adding the Qigong method he obtained from the Phoenix Clan of Kensei Mountain several years ago allowed him to undergo a qualitative transformation. Forget Mihai, who was the bottom of the Eight Brilliant Blades; as long as the leader himself didn't personally come, there was no one in the Eight Brilliant Blades he needed to fear.
Mihai truly should not have threatened to harm his daughter, and it happened precisely when Keitaro's strength was fully accumulated to saturation.
If this had been inside a room instead of a forest, Mihai would have been pasted onto the wall for at least two seconds before being able to move.
For a killing fist master, two seconds is enough time to kill an opponent dozens of times over.
In the end, Mihai was struck by Keitaro's Coiling Silk Force (Chansijin) and sent spiraling down like a bullet, hitting the ground and nearly dying from the impact, his entire body too painful to move.
Mihai never imagined that the man whose fist art was once a messy jumble was now a powerful figure who completely surpassed him.
He hadn't died, but he would never be able to kill again.
From head to toe, the human body has a major acupoint every five cun and a minor acupoint every five fen. Keitaro struck dozens of them with his fingers, elbows, knees, and toes. Given Mihai's current circulation, Keitaro struck all the useful points, excluding only the fatal ones.
Mihai's physiological functions were completely out of order—pain, soreness, a cloudy mind. The shadow of death was covering him.
But he just couldn't die; after all, he was an Expert, possessing extremely powerful life force.
Now, this strength would become the source of his lifelong suffering.
Mihai could feel his Qi and blood boiling in his body, like fire. Keitaro's Qi was like a bullet fired from a gun, highly penetrating. Although Mihai managed to form a Qi wall in time, it was directly breached, and the penetrating Qi churned his body into a mess.
Mihai desperately wanted to curse, but his mute point was also struck, leaving him completely unable to speak.
Everything happened too fast. He could only stare with bloodshot eyes at Keitaro, who had stopped and was standing next to him.
"You will be like this from now on. I think this can comfort those you randomly killed," Keitaro said. Then he ignored Mihai and looked toward the other side of the woods.
Soon, a graceful figure emerged from there.
It was Hikigaya and Komachi's mother in this world, Kanako Hikigaya. Her real name was Kanako Urashima, Keitaro Urashima's adopted sister.
Kanako's fingers were still pristine white, but there were bloodstains on her shoes.
She landed next to Keitaro and saw Mihai on the ground.
"Kill him. We can't let the children know about our past, especially Naru's matter," she said.
"No need. This is the greatest punishment for him," Keitaro gave Mihai one last look. "He won't be able to move or speak for the rest of his life, and…"
He whispered, "Hachiman is a strong boy; he will take good care of Komachi."
"You… honestly, you secretly worry yourself to death about the kids, yet you ignore them," Kanako glared at Keitaro in dissatisfaction. "Luckily, we have Komachi; otherwise, your son would be gone. I really wanted to kill that masked jerk."
"No, you have to believe in him."
When he heard the words "masked jerk," the anger on Keitaro's face flashed and disappeared.
"You must not kill anyone. Hachiman will feel it. Do you really want to lose your son?"
"I know, I was just saying," Kanako replied sullenly.
"As for Naru's matter, he should know; it's his right. We just promised not to actively tell him."
The couple talked for a while, then left.
Before leaving, Keitaro glanced back at the dark woods, his eyes calm, and then walked away without looking back again.
Silence quickly returned to the area.
Mihai lay where he was, filled with mixed emotions.
He had truly suffered a massive loss this time. No, he should say he had lost his entire life.
'How did this kid become so fierce?'
He specialized in British short stick fighting, and although he had switched to a long weapon due to preference, his combat power hadn't dropped too much.
Thinking back carefully, Keitaro seemed to have used entirely Chinese martial arts.
But the use of Qi was unfamiliar; he had never encountered such scorching Qi.
'It seems he found something good in China.'
Mihai suddenly felt that the deep hatred between himself and Keitaro seemed to have vanished. Specifically, he had long forgotten why they became enemies anyway—he just didn't like the guy.
'The killing fist should be about killing. Why act like the living fist? No, that guy is fundamentally a living fist.
What's wrong with killing in martial arts? The so-called martial arts spirit is what's messed up, right? Are you going to stop fighting if you see fewer enemies on the battlefield? Why study martial arts if you want to be that fair!?'
Suddenly, he saw a pair of large leather boots.
'Who is this? Stepping on my hand! Does he think I don't feel pain?'
Mihai strained to rotate his eyes and saw the large leather boots retreat slightly. Their owner knelt down: first, the tight-fitting suit, then a long face.
Kagerō Kii, that must be the name. A very strange personality, but quite strong.
"Oh my?" Mihai heard the oddly-mannered man utter a strange question. "It's one of the Eight Brilliant Blades of Divine Retribution. How rare."
It was a pity he couldn't speak, or Mihai would definitely have blasted him with insults.
'Just kill me quickly, you idiot.'
"Hmm, right, I have to take your head back. Why aren't you talking?"
'Can't he see this? Because I can't talk!' Mihai thought there were truly many fools in the Weapon Group.
(Although I'm a huge idiot myself.)
"I really don't want to cut something that can't move…" He heard the man say in a tone of genuine regret, then heard the sound of a sword being drawn.
After that, he knew nothing more.
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