Hu Family Saber Technique

After killing Hu Qiang and sensing a stir from the Wordless Book in his mind, Xiang Yang knew that his mission to slay Hu Qiang had been completed. A great stone dropped from his heart, and the killing intent around him faded somewhat.

Glancing at the other four women in the room, naked and unconscious from his blows, Xiang Yang's fading killing intent flared up again. But after some thought, he still did not act.

"Today, I killed Hu Qiang to avenge my father. That woman was also accidentally killed by my hand because of Hu Qiang; there is no burden in my heart over it. But these four women have committed no great evil and done nothing that outrages heaven and reason. If I kill them now, how would I be any different from Hu Qiang?"

Xiang Yang had his own measuring stick in his heart. Those who deserved death, those who could threaten him, he would never release like a tiger back to the mountain and leave himself trapped in a passive position. Yet those who did not deserve death, he would not slaughter indiscriminately either. After all, he was no demon, merely an ordinary man with somewhat selfish tendencies.

Though these four women had seen his face, the Horse-faced Man in Flower Alley had seen him too. It did not matter. Xiang Yang did not even care if Xiong Da and Xiong Er learned that he had killed Hu Qiang.

"Hu Qiang's identity is sensitive. Xiong Da and Xiong Er surely won't have the nerve to report this to the authorities. And so long as the authorities do not intervene, what can the Giant Bear Gang do to me? Besides, they may not even be able to discover that I was responsible."

Xiang Yang was a constable of the County Yamen, protected by official status. He was also a ruthless man who had killed before, with martial arts at his command. The Giant Bear Gang's paltry tricks posed no threat to him at all.

A bottom-rung jianghu gang like the Giant Bear Gang could at most bully ordinary people. Against a constable like Xiang Yang, all they could do was ambush him with a club where no one was around, or threaten him with his relatives and elders.

But now all of Xiang Yang's family had passed away. He was alone, with no one depending on him and no one for him to worry about. Who could seize a weakness or handle to threaten him with?

He casually tossed the woodcutter's blade aside, gave the scene in the room one last look, and turned to leave. Following the straw rope from before, he climbed over the wall into the neighboring yard, then crawled through a dog hole into the wild park behind Flower Alley. At last, he washed the blood from his face at a small puddle.

Xiang Yang took off his bloodstained robe and put it back on inside out, then calmly headed toward his home. Though he looked somewhat strange along the way, none of the passersby realized that he had just killed someone.

More than an hour after Xiang Yang left, the women knocked unconscious in the room finally woke, clutching their necks. When they saw that Hu Qiang, previously so fierce and invincible, had been beheaded, and that their own bodies were splattered with blood, their shrill screams tore through the sky and drew the Giant Bear Gang members outside rushing in.

"It's over! You bastard, you've gotten us both killed! I told you something had to be wrong with him. Otherwise, why would he have screamed so fiercely?"

The gang member who had heard Hu Qiang shouting earlier and wanted to go in to take a look wore a face full of terror. This was the third chief of the Black Wind Mountain Stronghold, sworn brother to their two gang leaders and an honored guest of the Giant Bear Gang. He had been hacked to death right under their noses, his brains chopped out. How were they supposed to explain this to the gang leaders when they returned?

The other man was sweating buckets as well. "What the hell do you know? You know who that man was. Would someone capable of killing him be ordinary? If the two of us had been there, we might have been silenced too. You should thank me for saving your life.

"Enough nonsense. You stay here and keep watch. I'll immediately report this to the two gang leaders. Also, have Pei Lao San detain every guest staying here tonight. These women can't be allowed to leave either."

After giving his instructions, the man left the room. Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, he pondered how he would explain matters to the two gang leaders and how to extricate himself. That was also why he was the one reporting it—he had seized the initiative.

On the other side, Xiang Yang hurried through the night, his expression taut. Only after returning to his small courtyard did he finally relax.

He filled a basin with clean water and carefully washed the blood from his body again, not even sparing the cracks beneath his fingernails. As he washed, he examined the mission reward bestowed by the Wordless Book in his mind: the Hu Family Saber Technique.

The Hu Family Saber Technique was the ancestral saber art of the great hero Hu Yidao. It had been carried forward and glorified in the hands of his son, Hu Fei, earning tremendous renown. It counted as a superior martial art of combat.

"This saber technique is quite straightforward. It says at the outset that the wonder of saber arts does not lie in force meeting force. Within its unbroken flow lies the principle of yin and yang; it can be hard or soft. Right now, it can indeed greatly increase my combat strength."

In the dim courtyard, only an oil lamp burned before the door to the north. Xiang Yang sat on a small wooden stool and wrung out a blue cloth, satisfaction glinting in his eyes. This was a true saber technique.

Basic saber techniques lacked a complete system. They were sufficient as martial arts for laying foundations, but somewhat inadequate as methods for fighting others and contending for supremacy. Xiang Yang did not consider himself a genius capable of using one basic saber technique to sweep the world undefeated. The deeper and more exquisite the martial art, the better.

Xiang Yang would not speak of anything else, but if he had practiced this Hu Family Saber Technique before, then with his current skills, even Hu Qiang at his peak would not have been his match.

"Hu Qiang was overbearing, relying entirely on the enormous strength forged through medicinal baths. His saber work was crude beyond measure. If I used the Hu Family Saber Technique's endlessly flowing soft force to entangle him in battle, my odds of victory would be eighty percent. That is the immediate effect of a profound martial art."

Hu Qiang's use of strength was like a seven-year-old brat wielding a great iron hammer. If an adult took even one blow, they would not be able to bear it. But had Xiang Yang practiced the Hu Family Saber Technique, dodging that hammer's strikes would have been as easy as eating and drinking. How could there have been any possibility of fighting without victory?

The more Xiang Yang pondered this saber technique, the deeper his understanding became. Especially in the saber manual's explanations and insights from Hu Yidao and his son, along with its tips for cultivating the saber art, which left Xiang Yang dancing with delight and beaming from ear to ear.

Carried away by excitement, Xiang Yang did not even bother with the fact that his upper body was bare. He went into the house, took out the Wild Goose Feather Saber, and began practicing. Move after move flowed forth, saber light flashing like a streak of white silk, utterly different from how it had felt to practice basic saber techniques in the past.

"So this is how the Hu Family Saber Technique is used. This stance, Empty Step Conceals the Saber, combined with the saber art's third move, Directly Seize the Enemy Chieftain, has seven ways to face an opponent. By completely calculating the opponent's next response, one can seize the initiative. Incredible."

In the small courtyard, Xiang Yang suddenly turned, leaped up, and chopped downward with a backhand stroke. When he struck, it was as though the power of a thousand jun descended; when he landed, he drifted like willow catkins on the breeze. In an instant, he swept sideways and drew the saber back, creating a stunning impression of stillness like a maiden, motion like a fleeing rabbit.

If Xiang Yang had previously understood the Hu Family Saber Technique only through the saber manual and the insights left behind by those who had practiced it before him, then through these drills, he had gradually begun to form his own understanding.

In his view, this saber technique differed from ordinary saber arts that fought to attack first and seize the initiative. It emphasized striking after the enemy yet arriving before them, responding to every move according to the enemy's attacks, nimble and ever-changing.

"Whew, it's getting late. I'll cultivate the Iron Crotch Technique first, then study this properly tomorrow."

Only after practicing three full times did Xiang Yang let out a long breath of hot air. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he spoke to himself.

He still knew no internal arts. This Iron Crotch Technique was his foundation, and he could not delay its cultivation for even a single day.