"Stop him!"
"Archers, fire! Fire!"
"..."
The shouts in the distance drew closer and closer. Suddenly, a figure ran out from around the corner up ahead.
The man carried a steel saber that gleamed coldly in the moonlight. A fierce expression on his face, he ran toward Wu Shuangren.
A lone bandit!
Wu Shuangren was startled.
Even a fighting champion from his previous life would risk being stabbed to death if he faced an ordinary person armed with a dagger barehanded.
Let alone a vicious bandit skilled in martial arts?
Wu Shuangren's first reaction was to turn and run. That was the best way to deal with an armed opponent.
But the bandit was too fast. Wu Shuangren could tell at a glance that he had no chance of outrunning him. The man would catch him before he made it out of the alley!
Wu Shuangren swept his gaze around and immediately picked up a saber lying on the ground.
It was a constable's saber.
He gripped the hilt tightly with both hands and faced the charging bandit, his heart pounding.
He had been in countless fights, but he had never fought anyone to the death.
Calm down! I have to stay calm!
I'm a champion! I can do this!
Wu Shuangren stared fixedly at the man, his attention utterly focused. The nearby shouts, the clanging gongs, and the approaching footsteps all faded away.
In that cramped alley, face-to-face with an enemy on a narrow path, Wu Shuangren felt as though he had returned to the octagon. Every movement his opponent made registered in his eyes.
Ten meters.
Five meters.
Three meters.
The man charged forward and swung his saber down with both hands, letting out a fierce shout:
"Die!!!"
2 Traits
The shriek of the blade cutting through the air and that fierce shout struck Wu Shuangren's eardrums almost simultaneously.
Gripping the saber with both hands, the man swung it in a wide arc from behind his shoulder. The gleaming blade left an afterimage in the moonlight as it hurtled straight for Wu Shuangren's face.
Before the blade arrived, that savage presence had already borne down on him!
None of Wu Shuangren's opponents in his previous life had possessed such a presence.
It was the presence of a desperado!
Wu Shuangren's heart lurched. The fighting instincts he had honed in his previous life made him want to retreat sharply and open up some distance.
He had never fought anyone to the death with a weapon before, and he was at a psychological disadvantage.
Yet the instant he wanted to retreat, a strange impulse sprang up in his mind. Guided by an instinct that seemed buried deep in his bones, he twisted at the waist, put his strength into both arms, and swept his saber upward!
Clang-!
A piercing clash of metal erupted in the narrow alley, sending sparks flying.
The instant the two sabers collided, the web between Wu Shuangren's thumb and forefinger shook violently, and his arms went numb. His opponent was far stronger than him!
He stepped back half a pace with the blow, deflecting its force at just the right moment. Before his heel had found its footing, the man's second strike followed him like a shadow, slashing down diagonally.
Then came the third strike, the fourth... A continuous flash of steel filled the air as five blows fell in the blink of an eye, each faster and heavier than the last!
Wu Shuangren gritted his teeth. He could just make out his opponent's movements, but this body was not the one he had tempered through countless trials in his previous life. It should not have been able to keep up with the man's speed.
But for some reason, the instant his opponent struck, he could instinctively predict the blade's path and swing his own saber to block in advance.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Five explosive clashes rang out in almost unbroken succession.
Wu Shuangren struck and retreated, dissipating the force of each blow without letting his footwork fall into disarray.
Each time he blocked, the angle at which the blades met was extraordinarily precise. Rather than meeting force with force, he used subtle twists and deflections to divert and disperse his opponent's surging strength.
His opponent clearly held the advantage in both strength and speed, yet Wu Shuangren parried every one of those five blows, fierce as a raging storm.
Even Wu Shuangren himself thought it was a miracle!
"Huh?"
The bandit gave a short cry of surprise, a flicker of astonishment crossing his fierce eyes.
He had not expected this young constable, who looked so green, to possess such seasoned saber skills!
Thoughts flashing through his mind, the bandit's eyes turned fierce. He repeated his earlier move, raising his steel saber high and making as if to strike Wu Shuangren's upper body. His shoulders heaved, his presence imposing.
But just as the blade was about to fall, the bandit gave a low roar and abruptly checked the downward blow. He lowered his body and lunged forward like a wildcat pouncing on its prey, stepping out with his right leg into a bow stance. His height dropped in an instant, and he used the momentum of his forward lunge and crouch to turn the chop into a sweep, tracing an arc with his steel saber as he slashed swiftly at Wu Shuangren's thigh.
Flying Sparrow Bends Its Shadow!
This killing move had been taught to him personally by the boss. It targeted the lower body, combining feints and real attacks. Countless skilled fighters had fallen to it.
The more experienced a fighter was, and the better he was at predicting moves, the more easily he would fall for it!
But before the bandit's saber had completed half its sweep, before the blade had reached Wu Shuangren's thigh, Wu Shuangren had already swung his own saber down in a horizontal slash.
He did not know why, but he could see through his opponent's feint and intentions!
The change in his move made it look as though the bandit had deliberately put his own hand in the path of Wu Shuangren's blade.
Pfft!
A dull sound rang out as the sharp blade cut into flesh.
The hand gripping the saber went flying, blood spurting after it.
"Aah-!!!"
A piercing scream rang out, and pain and terror replaced the fierce look on the bandit's face.
He staggered backward, clamping his left hand over his severed wrist as blood gushed from the wound. Caring about nothing else, he turned and fled.
But he had only run a few steps when torchlight flickered ahead, followed by hurried footsteps and shouts.
"Over here!"
"Take him down!"
Several saber-wielding constables carrying torches rushed around the corner and ran straight into the wounded bandit.
Having lost his saber hand, what strength did the bandit have left to resist?
He was quickly tackled to the ground and tied up tight.
Wu Shuangren paid no attention to what became of the bandit. A new discovery had claimed all his attention-
After he had severed the bandit's hand with a single slash and defeated him, his field of vision had suddenly risen, as though his soul had left his body, allowing him to see himself.
Long hair, young, delicate features, and a youthful face.
This "character model" was quite good.
But none of that was the point. The point was that Wu Shuangren saw four white characters above his head-
[Match for One Person].
The instant he saw those four characters, he automatically understood what they meant: as long as he fought someone one-on-one, he would definitely win!
Is this my Trait?
Wu Shuangren finally understood why he had made those inexplicable predictions and instinctive reactions while fighting the bandit.
So it was because he had a cheat!
Am I already the strongest under heaven?!
While Wu Shuangren stood there in a daze, examining his Trait.
In the flickering torchlight, a stocky, dark-faced middle-aged man with a short beard strode toward him.
The newcomer wore an official uniform similar to Wu Shuangren's, but with a half-worn leather breastplate over it and a ring-pommel saber with a broad spine and thick blade at his waist.
It was Liao Yu, the head constable of Bo County.
"Shuangren!"
Liao Yu barked his name and hurried over in a few strides. His large, rough hand seized Wu Shuangren's shoulder as he looked him up and down. "Are you hurt? Huh? Speak!"
Wu Shuangren came back to his senses, and his vision returned to normal.
He shook his head. "Uncle Liao, I'm fine."
Liao Yu's face had already changed with fury. He raised a palm as broad as a fan, seemingly intending to smack him, but forcibly held himself back. Instead, he pointed at Wu Shuangren's nose, spraying spittle onto his face:
"You little bastard! Are your ears stuffed with donkey hair?! What did I tell you? I told you to stay put at the county yamen and not come running out! Did you take my words for a fart?! And you actually dared come out here alone? If something had happened to you, how could I have faced your father?!"
He and Wu Shuangren's father had once served together in the border army, and their bond had been forged through life and death.
Liao Yu had no children of his own, so he treated Wu Shuangren as his own son.
Wu Shuangren said nothing.
The body's previous owner had been a hot-blooded youth who knew little of the world. When Liao Yu led the team out, he had left him alone behind, forbidding him from joining the operation.
The youth's blood had rushed to his head, and he could not accept being treated differently. After Liao Yu had left with his men, he had charged out alone. That was why he had run into the bandit by himself and been killed with a single palm strike.
In fact, Liao Yu had indeed arrived too late.
Liao Yu glared fiercely at Wu Shuangren. "I'll deal with you when we get back! Follow me!"
He ordered his men to give the bandit's severed wrist a simple bandage to keep him from bleeding to death. Then, escorting the prisoner and carrying their torches, they headed back toward the county yamen.
The group had just reached the main street near the yamen when another commotion arose ahead. Another group was hurrying toward them with even more torches and lanterns.
The man at their head was around forty and tall, his face somewhat like Wu Shuangren's, but more resolute and weathered.
He wore no official uniform, only a dark gray martial outfit with a long saber at his waist. He was the father of Wu Shuangren's current body, the prison officer of Bo County-Wu Dongrong.
Wu Dongrong spotted Wu Shuangren from a distance and quickened his pace, rushing over.
When he drew close enough to see by the flickering torchlight that his son had no blood or wounds on him, the anxiety and worry he had borne all the way turned into blazing fury. Without thinking, he raised his arm and slapped at Wu Shuangren's cheek!
3 Ambition
The wind from the slap rushed at his face. Wu Shuangren's gaze sharpened, and his champion's professional training kicked in as he leaned back almost instinctively.
The slap grazed the tip of his nose, stirring only a few strands of hair.
"You dare dodge?!"
Wu Dongrong froze, his anger flaring even higher.
Worried for his brother's safety, he had also brought men out into the streets to help after receiving the news.
But halfway there, he had heard that Wu Shuangren had gone after the bandits alone. Frightened, he had hurried everywhere to look for him, terrified that if he was a moment too late, he would see his son's corpse.
Now that he saw Wu Shuangren was all right, all he wanted was to give this disobedient little brat a proper lesson!
Wu Dongrong's hair and beard bristled as he stepped forward to strike again.
"Old Wu!"
Liao Yu darted between them and spread his arms, firmly blocking Wu Dongrong. "The boy just went through a life-and-death ordeal, and you're going to hit him?"
"He's exactly the one I should hit, this boy who doesn't know how high the heavens are or how deep the earth is!"
Wu Dongrong roared, pointing at Wu Shuangren past Liao Yu.
"That doesn't mean you can hit him!"
Liao Yu held Wu Dongrong tightly. "Your son rendered a service tonight!"