Black Wind Ridge's night was torn apart by blades and blood.
The dying embers of the bonfire flickered in the gale, illuminating the chaos strewn across the ground and the figures lunging at one another.
Screams, roars, and the sharp clang of clashing weapons tangled together, turning the once-silent mountain hollow into a churning millstone of flesh and blood.
Chen Jianghe crouched in the shadow of the wagon formation, his gaze sweeping over the battle like an eagle's.
Zhao Tieshan and Wang Gui were each tied up with two black-clad assailants. Their blades and staves flashed as they fought. They had a slight advantage, but couldn't break free just yet.
Zhou Yong was in the most danger. He was fighting three men alone. His saber work was fierce, but blood was already running from his left shoulder, and his steps were growing unsteady.
Meanwhile, at the center of the wagon formation—
Su Derong was fighting the two Dark Strength experts alone.
This was the first time Chen Jianghe had seen Third Senior Brother fight with everything he had.
Su Derong, who usually lounged around with a fan in hand, looking every bit the indolent young master, now had bloodstained clothes and disheveled hair.
The folding fan in his hand swept like a short staff one moment and stabbed like a dagger the next. When its ribs collided with blades, they rang out like metal striking stone.
But... the disadvantage was obvious.
The two black-clad Dark Strength experts worked in perfect tandem, attacking from either side in a relentless tide.
One wielded Twin Short Halberds, its vicious, cunning strikes targeting the joints in Su Derong's legs. The other carried a Goose-Quill Saber, its snowy flashes scattering like flakes as every strike aimed straight for his throat or heart.
Su Derong had driven his Xingyi Fist to its limits, cycling through Splitting, Crushing, Drilling, Cannon, and Crossing. Each punch carried a faint rumble of wind and thunder as Dark Strength burst forth.
But two fists couldn't contend with four hands. He was hard-pressed on every side.
"Shhk—!"
A flash of steel swept past, opening another gash in Su Derong's left shoulder, deep enough to expose bone.
He grunted and staggered, spinning his folding fan to barely deflect the Twin Short Halberds thrusting after him.
"Young Gang Leader!" Zhao Tieshan's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. He tried to turn and rush to the rescue, but two black-clad men held him fast.
Zhou Yong's eyes nearly bulged, too. He slashed to drive one man back, then looked around and yelled, "Where the hell is that brat Chen Jianghe?! He was killing people just a moment ago—how'd he disappear in the blink of an eye?! Damn it, I must've been blind! Who knew he was such a coward, afraid to die!"
Wang Gui grunted as he knocked a blade aside, then turned and shouted, "Brother Chen! Help the Young Gang Leader!"
Chen Jianghe gripped the Butchery Blade in his hand. He couldn't move. This was no time to intervene.
The two Dark Strength experts were linked in their flow of energy, their attacks unbroken. If he rushed in recklessly, he wouldn't just fail to help; he might throw off Su Derong's already precarious rhythm and become a burden.
He had to wait.
Wait for an opening—one big enough to turn the tide.
But at that moment, Su Derong let out a sharp, hoarse shout, his voice roughened by the rush of blood to his head. "Zhao Tieshan—burn the wagons!"
Zhao Tieshan froze.
"Burn them!"
Su Derong took a hard blow, coughed up blood, and roared.
Zhao Tieshan's eyes blazed red. He suddenly knocked the blades in front of him aside, pulled a fire starter from his robes, struck it alight, and flung it at the stacked cargo boxes!
They held medicinal herbs, but to keep the damp out, their exteriors had been coated with tung oil.
The fire starter landed. With a roar, flames surged up!
The two black-clad Dark Strength experts were also startled by the sudden blaze, their movements faltering for an instant.
In that instant—
Su Derong's folding fan snapped open. He jerked his wrist, and three fine silver needles shot from the tips of the fan ribs, aimed straight at the face of the man wielding the Twin Short Halberds!
The distance was too short. The man had only enough time to turn his head, but the needles had already pierced his left eye and throat!
"Argh—!"
The black-clad man staggered backward, clutching his face. Black blood seeped through his fingers—the needles were poisoned!
The other black-clad man, the one with the saber, flew into a rage. He stopped holding back, his blood and energy erupting with a roar as his Goose-Quill Saber let out a piercing shriek and hacked at Su Derong's head with all its might!
The strike was so fast that only a blur remained.
With his body gravely wounded, Su Derong had no strength left to dodge.
He watched the approaching blade flash, and his mind grew strangely clear.
Father, Mother, Grandfather... Derong has failed. I couldn't protect the Su Family Escort Agency.
Little Junior Brother... it's just as well that you escaped. You're still young, and you're talented. Someday, you'll be able to drink a few more jars of fine liquor on your senior brother's behalf.
He closed his eyes.
At that very instant—
"Duck, Senior Brother! I'm coming to help!"
A furious shout exploded from the shadows to one side!
Chen Jianghe sprang out like a leopard. While still in midair, he raised his right hand and flung a large pouch of lime powder straight into the face of the saber-wielding man!
The man had focused all his attention on Su Derong and was caught completely off guard. The lime powder engulfed his head.
"Argh!" A scream rang out.
His eyes burned with pain, and his vision blurred. His saber slowed involuntarily.
Chen Jianghe hit the ground, rolled, and dodged the wildly slashing blade. At the same time, he reached to his waist with his right hand and slipped the newly forged iron Brass Knuckles over his fist.
Five Elements Fist—Crushing Fist!
His punch shot out like an arrow, driving straight into the opening beneath the black-clad man's ribs.
The raised ridges of the Brass Knuckles punched viciously into flesh!
"Crack!"
The crisp snap of breaking ribs was swallowed by the battle cries.
The black-clad man howled in pain and flailed with his left palm, Dark Strength bursting in every direction as dust and stones flew.
But Chen Jianghe didn't meet him head-on. His footwork shifted again and again, circling like a fish around a rock, slipping past the man's palm strikes by a hair's breadth each time.
At the same time, he unleashed one punch after another.
Splitting, Crushing, Drilling, Cannon, Crossing!
He cycled through the five forms of Five Elements Fist, every punch clad in Brass Knuckles. Each blow landed, targeting the joints, tendons, and vital points.
The black-clad man couldn't see and had to rely entirely on his hearing and his ability to sense his opponent's energy. He was already at a disadvantage, and Chen Jianghe's cunning, vicious flurry of close-range strikes left him completely flustered.
"You little bastard, you're asking for death!" he roared. Ignoring everything else, he brought both palms together and unleashed his Dark Strength to the utmost, sweeping it out in every direction!
It was a desperate move that would take them both down.
But Chen Jianghe seemed to have expected it. He swiftly retreated and raised his right hand again—
A second pouch of lime powder!
The powder showered the man's face once more.
The black-clad man was now completely blind. His palm strikes were fierce, but they no longer had any aim.
At that moment, Su Derong forced out one last breath of strength and sprang up from the ground. His fan was back in his hand, and its ribs had been folded together into a short spike. He thrust it into the saber-wielding man's back, driving it straight through his chest!
"Ugh..." The black-clad man went rigid. He slowly lowered his head, staring at the bloodstained fan ribs protruding from his chest. His eyes brimmed with disbelief and unwillingness.
Su Derong pulled the fan ribs free, and the black-clad man's corpse crumpled to the ground.
He staggered, nearly falling, but Chen Jianghe caught him in one swift motion.
"Senior Brother..."
"I'm fine." Su Derong waved a hand. His face was pale as paper, but he grinned. "Nicely done, Little Junior Brother."
They turned to look toward the other side.
Seeing what had happened, the other poisoned black-clad man was terrified out of his wits. He paid no heed to the poison spreading through him and turned to flee into the darkness.
"Not so fast!"
Chen Jianghe and Su Derong sprang after him almost at the same time.
Su Derong's folding fan opened again, and several silver needles shot toward the man's back.
Chen Jianghe flanked him, his fist wrapped in Brass Knuckles charged with Bright Strength, aiming straight for his temple.
The man was poisoned and much slower now. He barely dodged the silver needles, but Chen Jianghe's punch slammed into the side of his head.
"Bang!"
The dull sound of his skull shattering.
The black-clad man flew sideways like a broken sack, crashed into the rock wall, and slid slowly to the ground. He never moved again.
The two Dark Strength experts were dead.
The fire still burned, but the battle cries were gradually dying away.
When the remaining seven or eight black-clad men saw both of their leaders dead, their morale collapsed. Chen Jianghe and the others quickly killed them, too.