Witch Hunter: Goujian Sword

–Witch Hunter: GOUJIAN SWORD–

"Hah.. brothel, wait!"

Bruk!

The cute face of Yaoyao, splattered with raindrops, bumped into her brother's back.

"Brother…?"

"Wh—who are you?"

Qing and Yaoyao stepped back a few paces, trying to calm their rapid breathing. Qing gripped his younger sister's right hand tightly upon seeing a man dressed entirely in black and a woman in a matching outfit beside him.

"Are you two… come from a village nearby?"

The man with wavy brown hair neatly trimmed and square glasses walked closer to the two children. But the children didn't trust the stranger and kept stepping back.

Seeing this, the man with square glasses knelt down, one knee touching the wet ground, not caring that his long black pants were dirty from the mud.

"Calm down. I'm not a bad person. I'll ask only once more."

He closed the umbrella he was holding to clearly reveal his face, which bore a slight smile. Immediately, raindrops fell on his dry body.

"Are you two from the village at the end of that road?" He raised his right hand, the palm covered with a pitch-black glove, pointing to the path behind Qing's back.

Qing began to feel that the man before him was not dangerous. He started to trust him a little, recalling the situation of Sizhu and his father in the village. He decided to ask for help from the man.

"Ah um uncle! Can you please help my friend and father in the village?!"

Qing approached the man and grabbed his raised hand.

From Qing's gaze, the man understood what was happening there.

"They… they are fighting against the witch that have cursed our village! Our friend is badly injured! And my father… he is being chased by those monsters! Please help them, uncle!"

Qing lowered his head, holding back tears. A few minutes ago, he was desperate, only able to run away from the village without be able to do something for his father and Sizhu. Now he hoped the mysterious handsome man in front of him could at least help Sizhu in the village. He didn't want to lose anyone else since the day his mother died.

Please help them, uncle! Please!

He looked at the man with pleading eyes.

The man nodded once, then gently stroked the heads of Qing and Yaoyao.

"Bethanie, take them to the car. They're cold from the rain."

"Alright."

The beautiful woman with dark purple-black hair standing behind the man nodded softly. She then gave her umbrella to the two children so the rain wouldn't hit their heads, while accepting the umbrella from the man with glasses.

"What about you, sir? Will you go there alone?"

Ignoring the cold rain soaking his long black coat and the katana sword at his waist, he nodded once.

"Yes, I'm sure it won't take long. If more than thirty minutes pass, you may follow me, Beth."

"Understood, Manager Jianying. Please be careful. We don't know where that big source of mana power comes from."

Breaking through the heavy curtain of rain, leaving the umbrella behind for the children he met, the man named Jianying walked toward the village.

***

"Hah… hah… MUZHE!!!"

A man whose hands were stained with red blood turned and faced the source of the shout.

"Sizhu…" With a clenched jaw and claws, his gaze bent in pain. "You… with such grave wounds… still alive... you really are as *that* man said."

Filled with burning emotion in his chest, Sizhu hardened his stance and jaw. Pointing at Muzhe with his wooden staff stained in blood, glowing with green firelight.

"You… murderer!!!"

Stamping the hard muddy ground, Sizhu launched himself forward. Though not as fast as his charge ten minutes earlier, he closed the distance by about thirty steps in five seconds.

Only three steps left to strike Muzhe, who looked wide-eyed in surprise.

A graceful swing of the staff came from the right.

Thud!

Crat! Crat! Crat!

Three invisible wasps shot towards Sizhu, split in two with their bodies burning green flames that didn't extinguish by the rain.

Muzhe stepped back in shock.

He extended his right hand, pointing at Sizhu who was only five steps away.

Immediately, dozens of giant invisible wasps in the air sped toward Sizhu simultaneously.

Seven on the right, six on the left!

Without looking or glancing back, Sizhu spun his green flaming blood staff rapidly to the right and then the left, creating a beautiful infinity symbol around himself.

BLAR! ZRAT!

The thirteen wasp corpses fell to the muddy ground, bodies split and burning with green fire.

A strange green light filled every dark corner of the village night. The shimmering blaze was a terrifying yet magnificent sight.

It froze every creature that saw it in awe.

"You… with that wounded body… impossible!"

Muzhe jumped backward as he saw the staff swing about to stab him. Luckily the attack was slower than the movement of his wings.

He hovered five steps above the ground. His four wings fluttered to stabilize.

The cracks in his right hand had fully healed. But he dared not approach the young man surrounded by green flames below.

What is this… why is my hand trembling…?

"Am I afraid? Haha, of him? The dying youth? Hahaha!?"

Sizhu didn't look up but shot a sharp glance at Muzhe flying above.

With one hand, Sizhu pointed the green flaming blood staff at Muzhe.

"You will die tonight, Muzhe."

The words were whispered almost inaudibly, but Muzhe's wasp senses made them sound as clear as crystal.

It made him shiver.

"You will die! SIZHU!"

He stretched out his hand, commanding the wasps born from human corpses nearby to attack Sizhu.

Dozens—no, hundreds of wasps the size of an adult fist like large tentacles charged at Sizhu.

Sizhu stood his ground without moving. Preparing again, he began spinning his green flaming blood staff.

Right.

The spin was so fast it created a blazing fire vortex, then Sizhu swung his staff wide to his right, spewing a large burst of green fire from the swirling staff.

BLAR!

"ARGH!"

Muzhe was hit by the fire spray as he hovered too close to Sizhu. He had just tried to vanish and attack Sizhu from behind, but that caused his upper left wing to catch fire.

He successfully blocked the attack coming from Sizhu's right side. In an instant, dozens of large wasps burned, the fire spreading from one wasp to another, unextinguished by the cold rain.

"What kind of fire is this? How is it possible! This fire isn't put out by water?"

Muzhe fell to the ground, losing his balance in the air. His burning upper left wing continued to blaze; he had to cut it off himself to prevent the green fire from spreading further.

They faced each other again, ten steps apart.

The burning corpses of large wasps and rainwater kept falling. Not only the green fire, but red flames inside the villagers' homes began to burst out, raging and consuming the wet wood.

The night was filled with sparkling light amid the heavy rain.

"Uhuk! Uhuk!"

Sizhu coughed up a lot of blood and fell on one knee. His staff became his support.

He forced his legs to stand upright again, wiping the remaining blood from his lips.

Muzhe laughed loudly, mocking Sizhu.

"Muahahaha! You will die soon, Sizhu! Even though my wasps failed to attack you directly, you have broken my rules! You are cursed! And your corpse will become a new host for my wasps!"

Sizhu laughed too, hearing Muzhe's confident words.

"Hah.. Muzhe… hah.. hahaha… Your curse doesn't affect me.. hah.."

He grinned, making Muzhe's face turn extremely shocked.

The middle-aged man saw the wasp larvae spewing from Sizhu's mouth. He never expected his ace card to be destroyed so easily.

Impossible! How can someone know about the curse? How? No normal human should be able to detect the curse I placed around this village.

I made the village boundary a curse for anyone daring to cross it, and the curse activates after three days if the person doesn't return.

Moreover, only I know and can control that curse as I please! Anyone crossing the boundary will have my wasp eggs inside their stomachs, and they won't even realize it because it's my special cursed technique!

And that youth easily broke free from my curse? By vomiting his guts? Impossible!

Muzhe then grinned widely, his expression changed after seeing Sizhu finish laughing.

But!

CRAT!

From Sizhu's waist, unbeknownst to him, several small wasps bit his wound wider. Not only that, the wasps stung from inside Sizhu's hollowed body, injecting paralytic poison throughout his body.

Aaghh! Since when?

Sizhu collapsed weakly, leaning on his bloody staff. He tried to move his paralyzed left hand to ward off the wasps gnawing at his right side.

But his left hand didn't respond at all, and he could do nothing but sit there, enduring the pain eating away at his waist.

Severe bleeding started flowing from the open wound. Sizhu grimaced in pain and screamed.

"Aaagghh!"

"Muahahaha! Don't you realize, Sizhu? When my wasp stung your waist a few minutes ago, at the same time, it planted its eggs inside you!"

Muzhe approached confidently. The green and red flames around began to fade.

Now, only Sizhu's glowing green pupils remained, unyielding.

One step, two steps on the blood- and water-soaked ground.

The man walked calmly toward Sizhu.

He raised both hands; hundreds of small wasps from the nearby human corpses gathered to form a cloud encircling them.

Muzhe smiled broadly, standing one step before Sizhu's face, ready to finish him.

"Sizhu… this is your final punishment for breaking my rules! You will be a fine host for my new wasps."

Sizhu had no strength left to resist but glanced around. He did not fall, sitting on one knee while groaning in pain gnawing at his waist.

Just before Muzhe's hand was about to cut Sizhu's throat, the young man's green eyes stared sharply.

"Did you hear that? The sound of thunder?"

CTAR!

In an instant, Muzhe's left hand was severed, flying into the air then landing on the muddy ground near his family's corpses.

In a flash, a thunderclap deafened Muzhe, black blood floated among thousands of raindrops falling to the ground.

In that moment, a man in a black coat and square glasses stood before Sizhu.

The green pupils reflected the lightning blade glowing blue, illuminating the darkness briefly, sharp and dazzling.

In the next moment, the very shocked middle-aged man was thrown far away by a kick.

He tumbled twenty steps away.

Thud!

The witch rolled on the ground.

"You've done well to survive this long in such a state."

"Hah… who… are you..."

Sizhu couldn't see the face of the man in front of him clearly. The red blood glow on his staff faded into wet blood blending with the rainwater.

Then Sizhu fell unconscious on the muddy ground.

The wasps gnawing at his waist flew off, disturbed by the rain and losing control from their master.

"Looks like I have to deal with these disgusting insects first."

***