Chapter 62: Escaping the Sword Manor

Since Master Manor Lord Di Jie intended to engage in a sword duel, it naturally drew a successive stream of spectators. The young maiden Xiao Bai and four other maidens dressed in red, cyan, blue, and purple respectively stood behind Manor Lord Di Jie, each holding a sword box in her arms.

Di Jie remained standing with his sword in hand, taunting his opponent, "Senior Ma, are you planning to concede?"

Ma Zengsan replied, "I am getting old and need to rest a moment. You should rest for a while too!"

Er Gouzi brought a chair over for the Manor Lord. As Di Jie sat down, the maiden Xiao Bai handed her sword box to the maiden in cyan and stepped forward to serve tea to the Manor Lord.

Failing to act with the dignity expected of his seniority, Ma Zengsan joked, "Your meat-selling business must be extremely lucrative to be able to support five maidens as lovely as flowers and jade."

Di Jie said, "Senior misunderstands. These five maidens are all my daughters."

After having his back pounded dozens of times by Xiao Bu gui, Ma Zengsan felt a wave of fatigue washing over him after drinking the tea served by the maiden Xiao Bai, so he said, "My legs are numb. Why don't you go and spar with Di Jie instead?"

"Very well!" Xiao Bugui folded his hands behind his back, and a long spear swung out from behind his waist.

It had originally been agreed that they would duel with swords, but now a young man using a tail had been substituted. Di Jie instantly lost interest. His daughters, being perceptive and sympathetic, said through the cyan-robed maiden, "Father, the four of us sisters returned late from our outing earlier and almost ruined Father's important business. Cyan wishes to fight in Father's stead."

Thinking that he might as well let his daughter test this young man's skills first, Di Jie said, "Very well, go ahead, my daughter. I see this young gentleman is someone who cherishes beauty and appreciates jade; since we are only exchanging martial arts pointers, he will not hurt you."

Di Qingyi spoke again, "Father, I would also like to use your treasured sword, Qingling."

Di Jie replied, "My daughter, that sword was originally meant to be given to you anyway."

The maiden in cyan opened the sword box, took out the Qingling sword, walked toward Xiao Bugui, and lowering the sword tip in a bow, said, "Di Qingyi requests your guidance, young gentleman."

"I am Xiao Bugui. Please offer me your generous guidance." Xiao Bugui was neat and decisive. His soft spear moved as fluidly as a whip; when Di Qingyi's sword slashed toward him, it was met and parried by the spear shaft. Under the impact, the spear shaft bent sharply into an angle, and the spearhead thrust straight toward Di Qingyi.

Di Qingyi took several steps backward, leaning her upper body far back as she slid away. How could Xiao Bugui let her escape? He used his flexible spear to catch her by the ankle. Di Qingyi's lower legs stood straight while her torso lay almost flat, completely losing her balance. Relying solely on her sword as a crutch to prop herself up, she executed a carp kiap-up, bounced back to her feet, and launched a counter-thrust with her sword.

Xiao Bugui sidestepped to evade it, then swept his tail-spear at the maiden's jade-like legs. Perhaps the blow was a bit too forceful, for the maiden let out a cry of "Oh!" and stumbled to the ground.

Out of chivalry, Xiao Bugui caught her by the waist and gently reminded her, "Maiden Qingyi, you have lost!"

Being a rather simple-minded maiden, Qingyi did not think to use the sword in her hand to launch a counter-kill; upon realizing she had lost the match, she was merely overcome with shyness, lowered her head, and ran back into the crowd of her sisters. Although she did not voice out loud how wicked yet charming this young gentleman was, her heart was already fluttering wildly like a startled fawn.

Seeing her younger sister lose the match, Di Hongyi naturally wanted to vent her frustration for her. She pulled a slender, long sword out of a square sword box, the blade looking remarkably like a metal measuring tape.

Ma Zengsan was struck with wonder, exclaiming, "Could this be the legendary Seven-Foot Sword?"

Di Hongyi flicked the long sword, and the blade rippled like silk fabric, emitting a sharp, piercing sound through the air. Feeling that he would find it difficult to parry this, Xiao Bugui unbuttoned his chest, revealing the pattern of a green lion tattooed upon it.

Finding Xiao Bugui's behavior vulgar, Di Hongyi blushed crimson with anger and scolded with disgust, "Shameless scoundrel, take my sword!"

"Very well, I shall take your sword!" Xiao Bugui welcomed the Seven-Foot Sword with his bare chest. The maiden thought she was about to pierce a giant hole through his chest, but strangely and eerily, the entire sword was swallowed right into his torso. Before she could feel any joy, disappointment set in.

Unforeseen by anyone, the flash of delight on Di Jie's face vanished instantly, turning dark and gloomy. Losing a treasured sword naturally did not put him in a good mood, so he sternly demanded, "Quickly return the treasured sword to my daughter."

Xiao Bugui said, "Manor Lord, do not be anxious; I will return it to her right now."

The green lion spat out the treasured sword with a ringing clatter against the ground. Since such a precious sword was discarded so casually, the maiden Hongyi inevitably felt a pang of heartache. She picked up the treasured sword, wiped away the dirt with a silk handkerchief, and muttered reproaches against herself: "It is all my fault for my lacking swordsmanship that I lost the treasured sword."

Di Jie raised his sword, his eyes wide with fury, and barked, "Good lad, bullying my daughter! Do not blame me for being discourteous! Daughters, release your swords!"

Being obedient, the five daughters released their holds, and the five swords flew into the air, hovering and coming to a standstill beside Di Jie, all of their tips pointing directly at Xiao Bugui.

One cannot help but admire the truly powerful. Ma Zengsan observed, "So Manor Lord Di has already attained the realm where man and swords merge into one entity. Xiao Bugui, you must be careful!"

The six swords shuttled through the air like flying darts, manipulated by the sheer will of Manor Lord Di, thrusting at Xiao Bugui from the front, back, left, right, above, and below.

Xiao Bugui asked the green lion, "Green Lion, can you swallow all of these?"

The green lion replied, "I cannot. You had better figure something out yourself."

Xiao Bugui had no choice but to turn around and seek help from Ma Zengsan, only to find that Ma Zengsan had drifted into a heavy slumber, completely losing consciousness. Hao Meili cried out, "This is bad! The tea just now was drugged with knockout powder."

Hao Meili drew her sword to come to his rescue. To face the six swords together and guard against sneak attacks, Hao Meili instinctively moved to stand back-to-back with Xiao Bugui, leaving no blind spots in their line of sight.

At that very moment, a colossal pig descended from above, clamped its jaws directly onto a sword hilt, and utilizing a primordial, mighty force, forced the sword's energy to reverse, slashing back toward Di Jie.

As the pig fought against the reversed sword energy, struggling like a wild beast thrashing in a net, Di Jie redirected the tips of the five swords to pierce straight through the body of the giant wild boar into which Gao Dazhuang had transformed. Yet, refusing to yield even in death, Gao Dazhuang used his massive body purely as a heavy weapon and crashed it down upon Di Jie.

With a thunderous crash! The remaining Five Fiends and Four Protectors all manifested and descended into the Di family's backyard.

Hu Jiao shouted at the top of her lungs, "Xiao Bugui is the only son of our Demonic Cult Leader, Shi Yuhuan. How dare you act so presumptuously, Di Jie! Do you realize that your crime is punishable by death?"

The colossal pig demon was not dead, and the wounds left by the swords healed instantaneously. Shifting away the collapsed debris beneath him, Di Jie was already crushed to the point where his limbs were distorted and white foam bubbled from his mouth.

All five daughters panicked and swarmed around their father, calling out to the beloved father they held in such high regard. Meanwhile, Er Gouzi was still in the kitchen sharpening knives and boiling hot water; upon hearing the young mistresses' cries of grief, he realized the Manor Lord had been defeated, meaning there would be no killing and no meat to eat tonight, and he might even lose his own life in the process. Yet, not fearing death, he grabbed a sharp cleaver and rushed out to save his master. When he saw a crowd of menacing demons with claws and fangs bared standing in the courtyard, he froze in his tracks. Seeing his Manor Lord being hoisted onto a chair and carried away by four hired hands, he dropped his cleaver and ran forward to help.

Xiao Bugui stood rooted to the spot, completely unable to believe his own ears. Staring in utter astonishment at Hu Jiao, he asked, "Sister Jiao, what did you just say?"

Having heard it clearly and grasping the news, Hao Meili's heart was filled with shock as she echoed, "She said you are the son of the Demonic Cult Leader."

Fearing that Xiao Bugui would not believe it, Hu Jiao solemnly declared, "I am not deceiving you. We are here to rescue you; the Cult Leader is eagerly awaiting your prompt return so that mother and son may be reunited."