Magical Water Margin: They all call me brother

Page 24

Across from Guo Sheng, a towering ice crystal mountain range erupted beneath his feet. The frigid ice, frozen in the air, sculpted in mid-air into a half-length statue of Xue Rengui, a war god from the early Tang Dynasty, protecting Guo Sheng within it as well. Each plate of the tiger-skin, fanged, gleaming armor reflected the myriad lights within the cave. When a giant halberd made of ice was swung, the trailing snowflakes resembled a destructive aurora borealis.

At this moment, Liu Hong also saw the demonic power of the two.

【Demon Messenger - God's Face】: Please summon Lü Bu/Xue Rengui to briefly descend to the mortal realm. The duration depends on the individual's physical limits (currently once per day, 6 seconds each time).

"This demonic power... is it from Lü Bu and Xue Rengui of ancient times? Are they considered demons too?"

Liu Hong was somewhat surprised.

"The names are different. God, demon, ghost, immortal, Buddha are just different names for the same thing in the subspace."

Wu Song watched the two fight intently, his eyes glued to them. Although the two were usually quite weak, their fighting power was terrifying during those six seconds of divine intervention.

Two half-body war gods, materialized from ice and fire elements, roared in unison, wielding enormous halberds that blotted out the sky as they charged at each other! The two halberds collided in mid-air with the force of splitting mountains and shattering the sun, and the shockwaves of crimson and azure exploded like two giant dragons wrestling and fighting!

"boom!!!"

In an instant, the stalactites hanging from the cave ceiling melted into lava rain in the high temperature, only to be frozen into a sky full of ice crystals by the cold wave before they could even hit the ground. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the rock walls from the alternation of extreme heat and cold, and the debris was swept up by the air currents and instantly turned into dust. The two phantom figures maintained their tug-of-war posture in the explosive energy turbulence, with Lu Bu's blazing beast-devouring bronze armor and Xue Rengui's ice statue's black armor scales eroding and annihilating each other at a visible speed, ultimately turning into nothingness.

At this moment, both Lü Fang and Guo Sheng were shocked. The demon that had signed the contract with me was too powerful, to the point that my body could only withstand the cost of summoning the demon for six seconds a day. Once that was exceeded, my flesh and blood would collapse.

I originally thought I could defeat her with this move, but I didn't expect that she would be a demon messenger of the same type as me!

Now, the two sides are back to the awkward situation of being entangled in a halberd, unable to break free.

Seeing that the two were completely unable to continue fighting, Liu Hong made his move. He spread his wings and charged forward like a golden storm. His iron rod, wrapped with a double-tailed comet, used the force of his charge to accurately strike the two halberds.

"clang!!!"

The powerful impact instantly shook the two halberds apart, and the shockwave from the shafts caused the two men's arms to tremble, forcing them to retreat.

Lu Fang and Guo Sheng are both very strong in terms of attributes and strength, but that is the limit for ordinary people, which is the level I reached when I stormed the brothel a year ago.

After a year of rigorous training, with the blessing of the dragon blood and the assistance of Pan Jinlian, Li Cunxiao, and Yue Fei, he has surpassed the limits of ordinary people in both martial arts and attributes, and his strength has reached 22.

Lu Fang and Guo Sheng looked at their trembling arms and halberds in disbelief. This person has such great strength!

When they looked up at Liu Hong, they were also stunned by his towering 2.4-meter frame and his pair of magnificent, gilded wings, and exclaimed the same thing Liu Hong had said when he saw Suo Chao and Wu Song: Is this even human?

"Impressive skill! May I ask your name, sir?"

Lu Fang planted his halberd in the ground, looking at Liu Hong with surprise. Guo Sheng, on the other hand, gripped the halberd shaft and coldly assumed a fighting stance.

"The Great Sage Who Conquers Heaven, Liu Hong."

Liu Hong bowed to the two men.

"Both heroes are equally skilled! The battle was exceptionally exciting, and I couldn't take my eyes off it!"

"Oh! So you are Brother Liu Hong, who rid the people of Qinghe of a scourge and burned down the brothel to rescue the women from their misdeeds! I have long admired your name. Please accept my bow!"

After hearing this, Lü Fang's eyes lit up, and he bowed respectfully before looking at Guo Sheng.

“Sai Rengui, I think we’re about the same skill level, neither of us can beat the other. But Brother Liu Hong is so powerful, he hit me with his stick and my arm is still shaking. I’ll admit defeat and not fight anymore. Why don’t you fight Brother Liu Hong?”

Guo Sheng gave Lü Fang a cold look, a look so icy that it made Lü Fang sneeze.

She first bowed to Liu Hong, then picked up her halberd and returned to Du Qian's ranks, signifying her surrender.

We've already used our trump card, which can only be used for six seconds a day, and it's still a draw. This battle was never going to end well. Since Liu Hong, the Great Sage of Chaos, has given us a dignified way out, we should just go down the aisle. There's really no need to keep entangled.

The situation was quite awkward. Song Wan and Du Qian did not have a clear understanding of the fighting strength of Liu Hong's family. They only felt that they had the advantage in numbers and that the leader was either themselves or the other side. For this reason, they invited two powerful outsiders, Lü Fang and Guo Sheng.

But to everyone's surprise, the two fought to a draw, and both conceded defeat to Liu Hong!

Chapter 47: A Small Gathering of Heroes at Ghost Fanlou

Song Wan remained silent among the rats, still calculating the current situation, but the hot-tempered Du Qian could no longer hold back. His towering four-meter-tall body came crashing down! His enormous hands dragged a giant tree trunk, as thick as a person's embrace and four meters long, which was practically a battering ram capable of breaking through city gates.

"Damn it, if Guo Sheng can't do it, then I'll do it!"

Burn them!

The ogre's two heads roared deafeningly. Liu Hong took a look and realized that this monster was quite powerful, with terrifying strength, even greater than Wu Songjin. However, its other attributes were too weak.

Du Qian (Demon) (Ogre +10 Strength, -2 Agility, +4 Constitution, -4 Intelligence, -4 Charisma)

Level: 5 (Level 4 Ogre + Level 1 Warlock)

Life: 50, Psionic Energy: 4

Strength 26, Agility 8, Constitution 20

Intelligence 4, Perception 8, Charisma 12

【Demon Messenger - Double Mind】: You grow a second head, which allows you to cast warlock spells independently while you are in battle.

"Roar!!!"

Du Qian's two heads roared in unison. The left head controlled the body to launch a ferocious charge, while the right head chanted incantations and used a technique called [Stone Fist] that increased the body's strength by 6. Du Qian's long, wheat-colored arms were instantly covered with a thick layer of rock, and his strength surged from 26 to 32.

The towering rock arm swung up a massive tree stump and slammed it down on Liu Hong's head! The wind pressure cracked the earth, sending stones flying everywhere.

"boom!!!"

Du Qian's blow shook the entire cave, creating terrifying spiderweb-like cracks in the ground. Countless dust particles shot into the sky from the cracks in the earth, and the tree stump, under the reaction force, sent wood chips flying everywhere. The power was exceptionally terrifying.

The only downside was that it didn't hit.

Du Qian frowned, turning his head to the left and right respectively, searching for Liu Hong's location. He wasn't in front of him, to the left or right, or behind him—where was he?

"call--"

The buzzing of gilded wings tore through the air, and Du Qian's two heads rose up at the same time, only to see a burst of molten gold lightning explode on the cave ceiling—Liu Hong had actually flown to the cave ceiling, dodging the attack, and then retracted his wings and swooped down!

His movements were as fast as lightning. He wielded a thirty-pound iron rod, simultaneously combining the exquisite techniques of the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear, the celestial power of the Double-Tailed Comet, and the swooping attack of the Golden-Winged Roc. With two sharp "cracks!", Du Qian was left dizzy and disoriented. His massive four-meter-tall body spun around like a top before crashing down, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Kill instantly with one hit.

Seeing Liu Hong's valor, the cannibals were stunned. Their leader had been killed in an instant? Song Wan was also somewhat surprised. He looked deeply at Liu Hong's family and then immediately expressed his opinion.

"We are willing to acknowledge Brother Liu Hong as our leader!"

Du Qian was defeated but completely convinced of his defeat. He stood up from the ground, shaking his head and bowing to Liu Hong, both heads simultaneously showing their submission.

"A bet's a bet! I'm willing to obey Brother Liu Hong's orders this time when we rob the birthday gifts!"

[However, you can only hear it when they rob the birthday gifts!]

Seeing that both leaders had agreed, the other underlings naturally bowed and clasped their hands in greeting to Liu Hong. Lü Fang and Guo Sheng, on the other hand, were two unlucky souls whose goods had been spilled in the Yellow River. At this moment, they only wanted to use the birthday tribute to recoup their losses, and they didn't care who became the leader.

It would be perfect for Liu Hong, who had just given himself a way out and whose combat power was outstanding, to become the leader.

Among the crowd, only Wang Lun's expression was unpredictable. His refined and amiable face became somewhat distorted due to jealousy and anger, before he smiled brightly again and bowed to Liu Hong.

The three factions, led by Liu Hong, Wu Song, Pan Jinlian, Li Cunxiao, Zhu Gui, Wang Lun, Song Wan, Du Qian, Lü Fang, and Guo Sheng, swore a blood oath under the bronze statue of Guan Yu!

Three pillars of blue smoke rose from the bronze incense burner, and the chilling aura emanating from the hem of Guan Yu's robe permeated the entire underground temple. Ten figures knelt in the firelight cleaved by the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, the six-hundred-year-old green rust on the blade suddenly gleaming with blood.

With Guan Yu as witness, Liu Hong drew his steel sword first, followed by the others, who all pulled out their knives, cut their fingers, and let their blood drip into a pot of fine wine.

"Heaven and Earth above! We, the ten brothers and sisters, hereby swear an oath to rob the birthday tribute together and share in the riches! If we break this oath, may we suffer a fate worse than death!"

Liu Hong's roar shook the ten bowls of blood wine, causing ripples to spread. The ten men drank the blood wine together and swore an oath in unison, vowing to fight to the death and seize the birthday gifts!

After the sworn brotherhood was concluded, Zhu Gui stood up and invited all the heroes.

"Du Qian, Song Wan, to be honest, your Ghost Fanlou is indeed very well hidden underground in Daming Prefecture, easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it is inconvenient to move around, and the most prosperous street in Daming Prefecture is right above you."

However, my hotel, Zhu Gui's hotel, is right next to Daming Prefecture! It's close to the Zhangshui River, making it the perfect base of operations. As soon as the birthday gifts leave Daming Prefecture, I can see them!

"Why don't you all use my hotel as your base? I've prepared plenty of tender chickens, plump geese, several delicious lambs, and a few jars of fine wine, all in preparation for our gathering, brothers and sisters."

"Okay, it's a deal!"

The group nodded in agreement, bid farewell to the Guan Gong Temple, and went inside Zhu Gui's inn to discuss how to rob the birthday tribute. Zhu Gui asked all the guests to leave, claiming that he had caught a cold and refused to see any guests, but filled every room with these bandits from the underground of Daming Prefecture.

At Zhu Gui's invitation, everyone raised their glasses and ate heartily, their mouths greasy with food, before returning to their rooms to sleep.

Liu Hong then began his second move, deliberately having Zhu Gui arrange for Lü Fang and Guo Sheng's rooms to be near the courtyard. After the two settled in, Liu Hong immediately began practicing the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear Technique and the Flying Dragon Staff Technique in the courtyard under the moonlight.

"Om-"

With a soft cry, a steel staff, as tall as an eyebrow, suddenly shattered the night, its sharpness like a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix and its grandeur like a dragon soaring in the sky merging into one in this small space.

Thirty catties of iron felt weightless in Liu Hong's hands. When the tip of the staff pierced the air, it resembled a white rainbow piercing the sun; when it swirled back, it transformed into a blue phoenix perched on a branch. Suddenly, the staff's shadow condensed into a thousand layers of snow, sweeping out a fierce wind like a dragon wagging its tail, startling the copper bells under the eaves into a tinkling tremor. In an instant, however, it resembled a hundred sparrows beaking in unison, with thousands of cold stars bursting from the tip of the staff, chiseling fine, metallic sounds on the bluestone slabs.

The moonlight was shattered into shimmering silver fragments, which entwined with his dragon-like steps, casting numerous phantoms on the pink wall—half of them were the feathers of a phoenix spreading its wings, and the other half were the surging scales of a dragon soaring into the abyss.

"What amazing skill! I wonder what this martial art, which resembles both a spear and a staff, is called?!"

Sure enough, after less than half an hour of practice, Liu Hongcai's eyes showed a hint of red and a touch of white frost.

Lu Fang was a martial arts fanatic. When he saw Liu Hong performing such exquisite moves in the courtyard, he couldn't help but rush down from his room to watch closely. He stared intently at Liu Hong and enthusiastically praised his superb martial arts skills.

She was in such a hurry that she hadn't even put on a coat; she was now only wearing a crimson short jacket, the cleavage of her breasts visible through the fabric. She wore crimson stockings, revealing two alluring glimpses of her snow-white thighs.

Guo Sheng emerged from another staircase, her bare feet, unbound by silk slippers, lightly touching the wooden steps, splashing two streaks of cold water in the moonlight. Her conservative, fitted dress, made of ice-silk, clung to her slender waist, revealing graceful, moon-white curves in the night, with two frost-like marks blooming at her ankles—her silk stockings had been left behind in her haste to arrive.

Although her cold eyes were filled with longing for this martial art, her face remained as cold and aloof as an iceberg, and she bowed politely to Liu Hongbin.

"This set of spear techniques is the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear, which was taught to me by my master. He was an open-minded man who liked to take on disciples. He believed that good martial arts should be passed down from generation to generation and that the Central Plains martial arts should not be lost or interrupted because of private hoarding."

Liu Hong also bowed to the two men.

"I see that you two are young heroes. There are some similarities between spears and halberds. Would you two like to learn them?"

"Alright, alright, Lü Fang greets Master!"

Upon hearing this, Lü Fang was overjoyed and immediately knelt down to pay his respects. Although Guo Sheng did not speak, he performed the master-disciple ceremony even faster than Lü Fang.

Liu Hong quickly helped the two women up, acknowledged them as his two disciples, and then curiously asked them why they had participated in the birthday tribute.

"Hey, don't even mention it. I used to sell medicine. A few days ago, there was a torrential rain on the Yellow River, and my boat capsized. All my goods and money were spilled into the Yellow River, and many of the caravan members died. Only about twenty people were left. But that damned county government has already collected the taxes on my goods. Now I've lost all my capital! I can't even pay my workers' wages!"

"I had no choice. Song Wan told me she had a quick way to make money; she said if I worked hard, I'd be well-paid, so I brought people to join. We're still owed wages."

Lu Fang gets angry whenever this is mentioned, and he slaps his thigh in frustration.

"My disciple is similar, except he sells mercury."

Although Guo Sheng was also worried, he did not show any expression on his face.

"I see. The birthday tribute is not for another five or six days. Come to my room. I have some money in reserve. Let's get through this difficult time first."

Upon hearing about their predicament, Liu Hong was quite surprised. Were Du Qian and Song Wan really that petty?

Without hesitation, he led the two women to the room, opened the chest, revealing one hundred taels of silver. Liu Hong didn't keep a single tael, giving each of them fifty taels so they could get through their respective caravans' predicament.

When Lü Fang and Guo Sheng saw that Liu Hong was so generous and loyal, asking for nothing in return and immediately agreeing to teach them such exquisite martial arts, and then giving them all the silver in the box without saying a word, they were completely stunned.

Lu Fang trembled with excitement, and even Guo Sheng's icy and aloof face showed a hint of emotion.

The two exchanged a glance, and the next second, they both knelt down before Liu Hong.

"Thank you for your help, Master! I am willing to go through fire and water to serve you in this robbery of the birthday gifts!!!"

Chapter 48: Demons Discuss the Robbery by the Zhang River

At this moment, the balance of power has been reversed. Liu Hong's group has a large number of high-level combatants, a total of four: Wu Song at level eight, Li Cunxiao at level six, and Liu Hong and Pan Jinlian at level four. Except for Pan Jinlian, who is slightly weaker, the other three are all top-notch fighters.

Their only problem is a lack of reliable subordinates.

The addition of Lü Fang and Guo Sheng as disciples gave Liu Hong's group a significant boost. Not only did they gain two more generals, but the remaining thirty or so men from the two caravans also joined Liu Hong's team. These caravans, like their leader, had been driven to the brink of destruction by the capsizing of their boats on the Yellow River.

The one hundred taels of silver that Liu Hong gave not only saved Lü Fang and Guo Sheng, but also these thirty-odd people.

Song Wan's team consists of only one skilled individual, along with about a hundred rat-men who can switch freely between human and rat forms.

Du Qian's team consisted of only twenty cannibals, with Du Qian and Wang Lun being the two best.

After acquiring Lü Fang and Guo Sheng, Liu Hong had become the strongest of the three, but Lü Fang and Guo Sheng were still nominally part of Du Qian and Song Wan's team, and no clues had been revealed.

The next day, Song Wan sent out a swarm of rats, and Zhu Gui also used all his connections in the underworld to investigate the birthday tribute. It took him two days to get some basic information.

One tael of silver is approximately 40 grams. Even if this birthday tribute of 100,000 strings of cash were all made of the lightest silver, it would still weigh a full 8,000 catties, or four tons. Moreover, most of it was obtained by Liang Zhongshu through his rampant oppression and exploitation of the people, and it contained a large amount of copper coins. Even if it was mixed with some more valuable gold, jewels, strange stones, and beautiful jade, the total weight would still be around six tons.

Such an overweight cargo transport could not be hidden from the eyes of others. Zhu Gui didn't need to run around. After staying at the dock for two days, he saw a large number of laborers, under the supervision of teams of soldiers, carrying heavy objects onto a giant riverboat while sweating profusely.

In order to transport such an extravagantly heavy birthday tribute, Liang Zhongshu specially arranged for a giant flat-bottomed transport ship that was 40 meters long. It was said that it could carry 100 tons of cargo, which was more than 1,300 shi (a unit of dry measure). The people gave this giant transport ship a special nickname: the Thousand-Shi King.

Moreover, Liang Zhongshu also equipped the ship with five small boats to protect the 1,000-stone transport vessel.

Subsequently, Liang Zhongshu dispatched the most elite river guards from Daming Prefecture in both capitals to be in charge of this escort mission. There were two hundred soldiers from both capitals. These Daming Prefecture river guards were all level 2 warriors, equipped with light leather armor, carrying a spear, a shield, a powerful bow, and two quivers of arrows. They could cover the enemy with a rain of arrows from a distance, as well as charge into close combat with spear walls.