Killing Without Mercy

"Haha, where'd this martial wanderer come from?"

"Before you butcher a fat sheep, you've got to wave its horns around and scare people a little..."

As Hu Ma drew his blade and strode toward them, the soldiers of the Grain Searching Team clearly didn't take him seriously. Amid their boisterous laughter, they lightly tugged their reins, then suddenly picked up speed and surged toward him. Each held a black hooked spear, three zhang long, aimed straight ahead.

The weapons in their hands had a spike and a hook at the tip. Riding high in their saddles, they borrowed the horses' momentum as they charged, their assault fierce and terrifying.

But at that moment, Hu Ma drew a deep breath. The Punishment Official's great blade in his hand seemed to sense the fury in his heart, and suddenly rang out loud and clear.

In an instant, he shifted his footing and darted forward. His blade swept like a dragon; with a shake of his body, the hooked spears that had pierced him were flung aside. Then he spun his blade and cut down three or five of the passing Grain Searching Team soldiers, cleaving them in two.

Blood sprayed like fireworks in the night, and the killing intent in Hu Ma's heart seemed to burst free of its restraints.

It surged up in torrents. His blade flashed like a length of silvery silk as he charged straight toward the other soldiers converging on him from every direction.

"Bold!"

"You dare kill my men? Seize him!"

"..."

At the sight of blood, everyone in the town went mad. The people stoking the fire in the inn pulled out burning logs; the fierce woman salting meat snatched up the hooks used to hang it; the man portioning out the meat grabbed a cleaver