Walking the Ten Thousand Daos

Chapter 12: Origins

In the dark night, two burly men exchanged blows - puff puff, the sounds of their fight echoing. Though fierce in appearance, Lu Shan only felt his punches and kicks falter, as if every move was anticipated by his opponent.

Li Qi seemed almost clairvoyant, always intercepting Lu Shan’s strikes in mid-air, preventing him from landing any decisive blows!

With his technique failing to find an effect, his strength inferior, and unable to break through the opponent’s thick skin, Lu Shan quickly lost the fight. His hands were broken, and his ankles crushed underfoot.

Around them, besides Li Qi and Lu Shan, there was no one else left.

Huff... Li Qi wiped the mixture of blood and sweat from his brow, feeling a bit nauseous.

Not because of killing, he had no particular feelings about killing, neither excitement nor disgust. But to look terrifying and scare off the haulers, he had bitten into raw flesh several times. The strong metallic taste made him a little queasy.

On top of that, he had taken several heavy blows. Even with the thick skin from Bull Strength Art, his internal organs roiled, his skin cracked, though the wounds weren’t severe, they weren’t minor either.

If those twenty-plus haulers had been willing to fight to the death in formation, he might really have died here.

Fortunately, even after undergoing a certain degree of training, a rabble was still nothing more than a rabble.

“Big Strong Shan, you really messed up this time. How about it, are you convinced?” Li Qi sat down, maintaining his Bull Strength Art, speaking to Lu Shan.

Tch! Lu Shan spat, but his aching limbs made the gesture weak and powerless. The spit barely flew half a meter before landing on his own belly.

“Li Qi, you cunning bastard! There’s no way I can be convinced!” he shouted angrily.

“But I admit it, I lost. I accept that. But you’ve killed so many people, yet spared me. You broke my hands and feet, but if you want to insult me, you’re dreaming!” He struggled, yelling at Li Qi.

“Alright, I’m not the insulting type. Why would I insult you?” Li Qi shook his head. There was no point in insulting Lu Shan.

He was letting him live just because he had a few questions.

“You’re crippled now. Answer a few questions, and I’ll let you go. You won’t die here. You’ve been a gang leader for a long time, so you must have some savings. Go back, heal your wounds. You’ll be a cripple, without being able to lift your hands, but at least you won’t starve. Deal? Yes or no?” Li Qi said bluntly.

“We both know, although we’ve fought for so long, we still honor our words. I wouldn’t be deceiving you now. How about it? Are you willing?” Li Qi sat beside him and asked.

“What do you want to ask?” Lu Shan’s guard was still up, but his tone softened somewhat.

“You’re definitely not a hauler. Where are you from?” Li Qi asked first.

“Tch, and you think you’re one?” Lu Shan scoffed. He painfully shifted his body and leaned against a stone. “That’s the pot calling the kettle black. You showed up three years ago out of nowhere, dressed all strange, without a trace of a cultivation method on you, you couldn’t even wring a chicken’s neck.

I’d wager someone shattered your innate three treasures¹ and dumped you in Li Prefecture like trash, didn’t they?”

Li Qi’s expression froze at the strange term.

He knew his guess was right.

But now was not the time to reveal weakness, so Li Qi shook his head. “Why do you care so much about my business? I'm the one asking you questions.”

“Heh.” Lu Shan sneered but no longer asked any questions.

“You still haven’t answered me, where are you from?” Li Qi pressed.

“Song Kingdom, deserter.” Lu Shan answered impatiently. “Back then, Song Kingdom was attacked by the Tang, the whole nation collapsed. The generals dared not fight, the soldiers dared not advance. I fled, followed the Li River all the way to Li Prefecture.”

Li Qi suddenly understood.

So that explained everything.

The military discipline, the morale-based battle formation, those must have been learned by Lu Shan during his time in the army.

But thinking further, something didn’t add up.

“No. If you’re a deserter from Song Kingdom, then with your skill, how could those two hauler gangs have held you off? Shouldn’t they have been swallowed up long ago? For example, your battle formation today, plus your martial techniques, shouldn’t you have won ages ago?” Li Qi frowned.

“You think I don’t want to? If not for you, the Wave-Breaking Gang and Water-Horse Gang would have been devoured by me long ago!” Lu Shan glared.

“The Strong-Force Gang is the youngest faction. Six years ago, I fled here alone, built the Strong-Force Gang with my own hands and feet. My method is a basic military strength training from Song Kingdom, which also trains battle formation skills. After four years of endurance, I finally made some progress but then you showed up, forcing me to hold back and accumulate strength again.”

Lu Shan’s anger grew as he spoke. “If not for you, this place would have been mine to command two years ago!”

Li Qi thought carefully.

Indeed!

When he first arrived, the Strong-Force Gang often encroached on the other two factions. But to protect himself, he devised a strategy of alliances, joining forces with the Water-Horse Gang to repel several assaults. Using the geographical advantage of the Wave-Breaking Gang’s water-based skills, they managed to hold off the Strong-Force Gang many times.

So it seemed after that, Lu Shan must have realized he couldn’t easily win with his current strength, so he hid his formation to keep it as a trump card.

When he finally obtained the spell technique, he launched his plan without hesitation.

But he hadn’t expected Li Qi to learn the Bull Strength Art in a single day and then rapidly plan a counterattack.

Thinking this through… Lu Shan did seem quite unlucky.

But if he wasn’t unlucky…

Then the unlucky one would be Li Qi.

“What about your formation-” Li Qi tried again.

“Dream on! Even if you kill me here, I will never teach it to you!” Lu Shan cursed vehemently.

It was understandable. In this world, cultivation methods were treasures not to be shared, unless one joined an organization and proved loyalty, or established a master-disciple bond, or made an equal exchange. Otherwise, obtaining others’ cultivation methods was almost impossible.

Just look at the Water-Horse Gang and Wave-Breaking Gang, both were nearly forced into extinction, yet neither of them could accept exchanging cultivation techniques.

For them, it was better to be wiped out than to share their cultivation methods to outsiders.

“Alright then. Since you’re crippled, and the Strong-Force Gang’s morale will probably be gone after today, take care of yourself.” Li Qi said.

Then he stood up and crushed Lu Shan’s head with a single kick.

Spare his life?

Ridiculous. This man’s ambition was clear, crippled or not he couldn’t be trusted. If he was set free, what if he returned for revenge?

Li Qi usually kept his word but that didn’t mean he’d risk his life to pay the price for honesty.

Better to eliminate future troubles, and then figure out how to deal with the government.

(Chapter End)

¹Innate Three Treasures = Essence, Qi, Spirit. In simple terms, it could mean cripping someone's foundation.