Obstinate and Unrepentant

To speak of the Doom Knight's fearsome reputation, one had to mention what the Marsh had once been like.

Back then, the Central District called the lower levels a paradise for cults. The dragon boats linking the middle and lower levels had once suspended service; people would rather go hungry than set foot near the swamp. For the Marsh had been full of villains using the name of gods to swindle and deceive. Lewd, depraved faiths sprang up everywhere, and every day, bizarre summoning rituals called forth phantom images of demons. Those with ulterior motives even fished up Relics of evil things from the Tide, using them as mediums to summon "evil gods" different from demons. Maddened believers offered friends and family upon altars, cutting open their bellies; lunatics called one another heretics and tied those of different faiths to stakes to burn.

It was also then that a girl brimming with justice had just finished her training and entered the workforce. On her first day, she sailed alone down a waterfall and into the swamp. That day, people saw her charge into a live-sacrifice ritual with a greatsword on her shoulder, beheading the cult leader amid fire and blood.

No mercy. No surrender accepted. Cult leaders who preached live sacrifice were to be killed without exception, and thugs obsessed with executions were surely doomed to die. In three months, she crossed the entire swamp, destroyed more than a hundred depraved evil cults, and slew countless demonic heretics. From that day onward, no one in the Marsh bled for their faith again. For should anyone dare break the taboo, the Knight of Doom would arrive by boat and turn the swamp into a land of blood...

—Translated from Granny Sang Jia Tells Stories, translator: Chu Hengkong.

"People walked toward their own doom through their choices. That is what they called fate." Granny Sang Jia smiled. "And that fate came true in such a crude fashion. That was youth, perhaps."

Ji Huaishu tugged hard at her raincoat hood, determined to hide inside the cloth and become dust. Chu Hengkong looked at her expressionlessly. "Don't you think you went a little overboard?"

"It couldn't be helped! With the times rotting this badly, there was no saving them without a heavy fist!" Ji Huaishu argued reasonably. "You have no idea what a hellhole the swamp was back then. I could run into seven demon-possessed people just going out for a bowl of noodles. Every one of those I killed was steeped in blood debts and deserved the harshest punishment by law, okay?!"

"Then why didn't you enforce the law through proper procedure?"

Ji Huaishu's gaze drifted away. "Well, that was, um, special times called for special measures..."

"It's a real pity you didn't join my line of work," Chu Hengkong said. Ignoring her clawing, bared-teeth expression, he turned to Granny Sang Jia. "What do you know about those monsters?"

"Children of the Tide... the gods did not tell me the secret of light." The old woman shook her head. "Within this old and decaying mind, the past is hazy as smoke. Even the words of the great Jingzang are no longer clear. Where is his gold...?"

The earlier assassination seemed to have disturbed her thoughts. Granny Sang Jia fell silent for quite a while before slowly saying, "It should be where flowers bloom... The great one in white stood among many flowers... He said that many years later, gold would be nurtured in the Marsh."

"After that, he hurried into the Tide, and no one knew where he went." Granny Sang Jia smiled. "And only the great one knew the truth of that gold."

Judging from her microexpressions and heartbeat, the old woman was probably not lying. Besides, at her age, she sought neither power nor wealth and had no motive to deceive them. It seemed the situation back then had been extremely grave; even Jie An's father had not had time to explain things properly to friends and family before hastily leaving the city to seek medicine. He had specifically come to the swamp before departing, presumably to obtain the "gold." But perhaps he had gone too early, and so had failed to bring it with him...

Chu Hengkong tossed this matter, along with the Glowing Corpse, into the basket marked "Problems for Youyou Jie An to solve." He stood, thanked her, and left. Grand Shaman Adali still guarded the door and said coldly, "Don't come again."

Chu Hengkong ignored him. The white-robed believers escorted them to the settlement exit. Jade Marsh District had neither the waterways nor the roads of the Central District. To travel outside, one either took the bus that ran three times a day, rode a wooden cart, or bicycled.

The believers lent them two jade-green bicycles. The two great detectives pedaled laboriously down muddy paths, while Ji Huaishu continued to rack her brains as she rode.

"I still think something's off. Even Uncle Jiewen, badly injured as he was, could have turned the swamp upside down. How could he fail to dig up the gold...? How heavy do you think that thing is?"

"You're not good at thinking, so stop thinking," Chu Hengkong said distractedly. Ji Huaishu accelerated beside him and rammed his shoulder hard with hers.

The Resurrection Corps outpost was in "Deeproot Settlement," an hour's ride away. Located near the roots of a giant tree, it was the most prosperous area in the Marsh. Here, the primitive and backward tribal style finally faded away, and modern buildings little different from those in the Central District became the norm. Yet squid and geese still ran wild through the streets, while most men and women wore drab gray robes. These clothes, which revealed no body contours, were the mainstream fashion in the Marsh, because water-avoiding geese would flee in panic at the sight of women. The women had no choice but to wear robes when going out... then, when the geese were not paying attention, seize them by the neck, drag them home, and chop them up.

Deeproot Settlement's landmark was the bronze Grand Shaman Prayer Statue. The fifteen-meter-tall statue of Adali stood in the center of the square, surrounded by flowers and food offered by the people. As they passed the bronze statue, Ji Huaishu let out a loud "Tch." It was clear she had no favorable impression of this Grand Shaman.

The Corps outpost was not far from the Grand Shaman's statue, a small three-story building. The several members stationed there were exceedingly welcoming upon seeing people from headquarters. Every word practically pleaded, "Please, for the brothers' sake, transfer us somewhere else. We really can't stay in this godforsaken place." Unfortunately, Chu Hengkong's mind was elsewhere, and Ji Huaishu was weighed down by her thoughts. All those bitter, pleading smiles were wasted on the blind.

Since spending the night alone was too risky, they stayed in a double room. The moment she entered, Ji Huaishu drew the curtains and turned on the air conditioner. The old machine clattered as it blew out cold air. She carelessly tore off her raincoat and flopped onto the bed. "It's hot as hell! This damn place is like a moldy steamer. If I keep walking around, I'm going to be cooked."

Chu Hengkong sat on a stool and stared straight at her. His gaze made Ji Huaishu's skin crawl. "...What are you looking at?"

"You," Chu Hengkong said.

The swamp was simply too hot. After battle upon battle, even her golden hair had clumped together with sweat. Beads of sweat dripped from the ends of her ponytail, slid across her swan-like slender neck, and seeped into her white tank top. Her clothes clung to damp skin, outlining her lovely curves in vivid detail. Between her top and shorts, one could faintly see sweat trailing across her lower abdomen, while her skin was slightly flushed from the stifling heat. At a time like this, no matter how extravagantly the rumors praised her, it was difficult to connect them with the person before him. There was no madness or bloodshed in sight—only youth and charm.

Ji Huaishu looked down at herself, suddenly a little embarrassed. "So what if I'm pretty? Wait a second, I'll go change..."

"Tempered a thousand times, brimming with spirit." Chu Hengkong's gaze was intent. "It could simply be called beautiful."

"What the fuck, what's wrong with you?!"

That gaze wandered over her body, revealing undisguised desire. Ji Huaishu's skin crawled, and she immediately grabbed her raincoat and wrapped herself in it again. "Calm the hell down!"

"Let me see it one more time."

"Wuh—what?!"

Chu Hengkong walked to the bedside and seized her shoulders without another word. Ji Huaishu's face instantly turned red. Panic and embarrassment left her at a loss, unable to speak for a moment. The man's face loomed larger in her vision, his breath carrying an anticipation hot as fire—

"Let me see that sword stroke from before again!"

"...Huh?"

"That slash!" Chu Hengkong's eyes shone. "You swept away the surroundings with sword wind, then struck the main body directly. The timing and angle of the attack were precise to the extreme, and the force spread wide and penetrated deep—enough to face ever-changing battle formations. A slash at the pinnacle, a skill so masterful it seemed divine!"

"..."

Ji Huaishu's mouth twitched. Chu Hengkong was completely immersed in that slash, chattering nonstop in his excitement. "I've been replaying your slash in my mind the whole way here, and I caught a hint of its essence. The key is the technique of Charge, right? Just demonstrate it once more, and I'll be able to master it!"

"Oh," Ji Huaishu said. "Oh."

The next instant, immense force knocked his hands away. It was often said that the hands were like doors: when both arms opened wide, it was what common folk called "throwing the gates wide open." Then dazzling flowing light became impact force and charged straight through the gap in his light shield. The technique he had dreamed of fell into Chu Hengkong's embrace in another form—

As the light shield sent him flying, Chu Hengkong thought this.

Martial arts in another world truly ran deep.

So a shield could also unleash a slash.

"Get the hell away from me, you martial-arts lunatic!!!"

Yet while airborne, Chu Hengkong smoothly spun his body and landed lightly as a feather upon the bed! The sheets spiraled around his landing point, forming a vortex. This was precisely the secret technique recorded in Three Thousand Sets of Dragon Village Boxing: Vortex Ukemi, using the environment to shed force. What a skill!

Chu Hengkong smiled in delight. "I found the feeling! Again—"

Ji Huaishu charged at him with the roar of a wild beast, one hand cinching around his neck. "I'll strangle you to death!"

"You misunderstood. It's not a joint lock. Use a slash," Chu Hengkong corrected seriously.

"You can lose consciousness like this!!"

"So you finally want to fight me? But I have the advantage in joint-lock mastery... Hah!" Ji Huaishu was thrown back onto the bed! She immediately counterattacked with a spinning kick! The struck assassin answered with a cross punch, and they entered an intense close-quarters battle! In the blink of an eye, they exchanged no fewer than thirty moves. What a fierce clash— even the insects around the building fled in terror from the Sha Qi!

"Scheduled check-in, scheduled check-in. Huaishu, Hengkong, how are things on your end?" Ji Qiufeng's voice sounded.

Amid a pile of clutter, the yellow crystal used for communication flashed rhythmically. To everyone at headquarters' surprise, the two usually reliable key operatives gave no formal response this time. The crystal only faithfully transmitted familiar background noises—

"Get the fuck off my bed!" "You started it." "That's disgusting, don't use tentacles!" "Who whipped me with a raincoat first?!"

After a moment of silence, the yellow crystal issued a courteous reminder.

"The two detectives must be very busy at present, so the scheduled check-in will be postponed by one hour..." Ji Qiufeng paused, then said with great interest, "No, two hours!"

The two detectives in the midst of battle simultaneously looked up. "You misunderstood." "It's not what you think!!"