Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 83: Chapter 76: A Punch of Deadly Might, An Expert’s Recruitment

Lei Ming gasped for breath. He’d already been stabbed several times, and half his body was covered in blood. Every breath tugged at his wounds, sending waves of searing pain through him.

Gritting his teeth, he ducked into a narrow alley to his side.

Suddenly, something white was thrown down from the top of the wall.

It burst in the air with a puff, releasing a pungent odor.

Quicklime powder!

’Shit!’

Cursing inwardly, Lei Ming immediately squeezed his eyes shut. Ignoring his wounds, he yanked up the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head.

He executed a desperate, clumsy roll to get clear.

After rolling several times, Lei Ming grit his teeth against the intense pain, slammed his hands on the ground, and forced himself back to his feet.

BANG!

The sharp crack of a gunshot echoed through the alley.

Lei Ming was shot in the calf of his left leg. A spray of blood erupted as he let out a muffled grunt, lost his balance, and tumbled to the ground.

But his will to survive took over. He continued the motion, rolling and scrambling on all fours, desperately throwing himself behind a corner with a dilapidated wooden crate, temporarily out of the gunman’s line of sight.

BANG! BANG!

Two more shots rang out.

But both bullets only hit the wall, kicking up two puffs of lime-dusted debris.

”He’s from Dragon Eagle... Is it really a good idea to kill him?”

someone asked in a hushed, indistinct voice.

But the gunman replied coldly, ”If we don’t kill him and give our superiors an answer, we’re all dead! It’s too late to turn back now! Dragon Eagle? Hmph. The authorities are a long way from here, and they aren’t omnipotent! After him!”

”Understood!”

The group of men chased into the alley.

But just then, a faint noise came from behind them.

One of them instinctively looked back, only to see a two-to-three-meter-long bamboo pole instantly transform into a sharp arrow, piercing straight through his throat.

SQUELCH!

The sound of his larynx shattering was faint. The man, speared through the throat, went limp. A gurgling rattle was the only sound left in his chest as he swayed twice and then fell silent.

Ambushed from behind at such a critical moment, the hearts of all the men sank.

”Who’s there?” someone barked.

SQUELCH!

The same trajectory, another fatal blow!

In the blink of an eye, the throat of the nearest assassin was also pierced by a bamboo pole, sending blood spraying into the air.

”It’s an ambush! Stop him! The rest of you, follow me!” The gunman fired back toward the alley’s entrance, trying to suppress his attacker. He was getting anxious... ’Both Lei Ming and Zhao Qilong have to be dealt with! Otherwise, we can’t bear the organization’s wrath!’

The group quickly split in two.

At the mouth of the alley, Wan Ze stood in the shadows, a bamboo pole in each hand. With a flick of his arms, he sent them flying left and right, both aimed straight for the throat.

THWIP!

THWIP!

The sound of sharp points sinking into flesh echoed twice, followed by short, strangled cries. The two men at the front collapsed, clutching their necks, their eyes wide with incredulous horror.

”Kill him! He’s just one guy!” The remaining assassins’ eyes turned bloodshot. They roared and charged, hoping to close the distance and hack him to pieces.

Wan Ze’s expression remained impassive. His pace suddenly quickened, and with a flick of his toe, he sent a loose bamboo pole on the ground flying up into his hand.

Pole in hand, he struck like lightning.

THWIP! THWIP!

Three more men rushing toward him had their heads pierced through, and blood gushed out like fountains.

Faced with such carnage, those without professional training couldn’t handle it. Some instinctively felt the urge to vomit.

But as they bent over, Wan Ze was already upon them.

The bamboo pole became a spear.

One by one, he swiftly popped their heads.

This was a battle to the death, a race against time! There was no room for hesitation or mercy!

One comes, one dies!

THWACK!

The bamboo pole pierced the man’s shoulder, but to Wan Ze’s surprise, the man grabbed the pole with both hands. Blood filled his mouth as he stared at Wan Ze’s face, inches away, and grinned ferociously. ”I’ve got you! Quick, hack him to death!”

Two burly men rushed in from the left and right.

They raised their machetes, aiming for Wan Ze’s head.

At the same time, a dozen more men roared and charged from behind, now only seven or eight meters away.

Wan Ze’s expression didn’t change. He put force into his grip, violently twisted the hand holding the bamboo pole, and the pole snapped in two.

The man’s expression froze, and he involuntarily staggered.

Wan Ze flicked his wrist, sending the broken piece of the pole through the man’s head. He pulled it out, and in the next instant, the arm-length section of bamboo became another lightning-fast projectile, flying toward the charging group.

This forced their formation into disarray.

Seizing the opportunity, Wan Ze pushed off his feet and advanced instead of retreating.

With every step he ran, the vital energy in his body steamed and surged to new heights!

In an instant, his clothes were blasted apart, revealing a torso of knotted muscle as his entire body seemed to grow to a height of two meters.

He rushed forward, and a fist the size of a sandbag smashed violently into the face of the nearest man.

CRACK!

Half the man’s face caved in on the spot. Bright red blood sprayed from his mouth and nose, dyeing the white wall crimson.

He killed the man with a single punch.

A machete came slashing down at him.

Wan Ze didn’t even dodge. Relying solely on his Sharp Perception of the air currents, he flicked a finger.

With his current tyrannical physical prowess, the mere contact of his fingers was enough to shatter the blade in an instant. His two fingers were like a knife themselves, following the trajectory to land on the attacker’s hand, instantly severing the bones in his wrist!

”Argh!”

The man screamed.

But the sound had barely escaped his lips before Wan Ze kicked him away, sending him flying back to knock over the men behind him.

”Kill! Kill him! Don’t let him get any closer!”

came an enraged, frantic voice from behind.

In the next moment, three machetes swung at Wan Ze’s head, giving him no chance to breathe.

What they didn’t realize was that the third Effect of the Taming the Tiger Vajra Skill was boundless energy!

Not just simple energy!

The longer he fought, the more ferocious he became! He felt no fatigue whatsoever!

Facing so many enemies, Wan Ze felt not a trace of fear.

He was like a ferocious tiger besieged by a swarm of ants.

Instead of retreating, he pressed forward!

Every part of his body had become a lethal weapon.

A twist of his body.

A punch shattered the larynx of an attacker from the side!

A swing of his elbow.

And he crushed another’s temple!

A forward knee strike caved in the chest of an enemy in front, snapping his spine!

In the span of just two or three breaths, Wan Ze had brutally carved a path more than ten meters forward through the narrow alley.

Everywhere he passed, bodies lay strewn about, and blood had nearly dyed the alley ground red.

Faced with his overwhelming, unstoppable momentum, the last two assassins’ minds completely broke. They dropped their machetes, let out inhuman shrieks, and turned to flee deeper into the alley, scrambling and crawling as if they wished their parents had given them two more legs.

Wan Ze didn’t pursue these defeated stragglers.

He hurried in the direction Lei Ming had disappeared.

Following the sounds, he soon saw a derelict warehouse standing alone at the end of the path.

The man who had been leading the group was outside the entrance, firing into the warehouse. Seven or eight men followed him, preparing to charge in.

There was no time to lose!

Wan Ze’s eyes narrowed. He quickly pulled a bamboo pole from a corpse.

He hefted it in his hand twice.

Taking several steps in one bound, he pushed off the ground and accelerated toward the group.

Suddenly, he stopped.

His waist twisted like a great dragon, Power flowing through his body link by link. Using the momentum, he violently hurled the bamboo pole.

BANG!

At almost the exact same instant the gun fired, the warehouse wall shuddered violently!

Everyone was dumbstruck!

The man who had been shooting was, before anyone could even see it happen, pierced straight through the torso by a suddenly appearing bamboo pole. The immense force carried him backward and pinned him to the wall three meters away!

”I...”

The gunman stammered, feeling a sharp pain in his chest.

He looked down.

He stared in disbelief at the bamboo pole that had brutally pierced his body and embedded itself in the reinforced concrete wall. He felt his very soul tremble.

He wanted to look back.

But his body wouldn’t move, and the pain was soul-rending.

”Kill... kill him... Argh!”

He used all his strength to let out one final roar.

But he didn’t expect the sound of a watermelon bursting to come from behind him.

Immediately after, Wan Ze appeared beside him. His fist, already covered in blood, opened into a palm and mercilessly covered the man’s face.

”Kill me?”

”You’re not worthy.”

He pushed.

The man’s head slammed hard against the wall. In the end, it wasn’t hard enough, and the wall brutally smashed it to pieces.

Without a backward glance, Wan Ze walked away, not even looking at the field of corpses he had cut through. He went to the door, but didn’t enter rashly. He shouted, ”Brother Lei, it’s me! Wan Ze!”

”Ah Ze...” A weak voice, filled more with relief than anything else, came from a corner behind the door.

Wan Ze rushed over and saw Lei Ming covered in blood. His face instantly twisted in fury; he wished he could drag the men he had just killed back to life just to kill them all over again!

”Let me patch you up first. On my way here, I already notified Brother Jia. He’s on his way... he should be able to find this place.”

The running battle had taken them far from the location he’d first reported.

But that wasn’t the most important thing right now.

Wan Ze tore off a relatively clean scrap of cloth and did his best to bandage Lei Ming’s wounds.

Lei Ming tried to grin, but it pulled at his wounds. He sucked in a sharp breath of cold air from the pain and said with a wry smile, ”Today... my luck really hit rock bottom. I almost cashed in my chips right here... Hiss!”

”What’s the situation?” Wan Ze asked with a frown as he quickly applied the bandages.

’These guys were dead set on killing him. But this is the Holy City. The name Dragon Eagle carries more weight here than the police department. He couldn’t understand who, besides an international organization like the Secret Palace that operated in many countries, would actually dare to make a lethal move against a Dragon Eagle Martial Artist in their own Holy City.’

”To be honest, I still have no idea what happened... Where’s Zhao Qilong? That bastard called me over in a huge rush for help, and the moment I arrived, I ran into this mess... During the chaos, my communicator was knocked out of my hand, and Zhao Qilong happened to pick it up. I had to fight while retreating... As I was running, I told him to hurry up and call for backup... I fucking knew you’d be the one to come! Heh heh... Would you call that being on the same wavelength...? Hiss—damn it, be gentler, bro! That’s my flesh you’re touching!”

As Wan Ze bandaged the wound under his ribs, the pain made Lei Ming’s eyes roll back in his head.

Wan Ze eased his touch, frowning in thought. ”I don’t know where Zhao Qilong went either. He was probably on the run when he called me... but I heard the sound of speakers nearby. He was probably heading south, near the Grand Theater.”

”As long as he got away. If that old codger died here too, then I really would have taken this beating for nothing...” Lei Ming sighed in relief and chuckled.

Just as Wan Ze was about to say something,

a faint sound suddenly came from the entrance.

Every hair on Wan Ze’s body stood on end, a reaction born from his almost demonic instincts.

Without a second thought, he yanked Lei Ming up.

The sudden movement nearly killed Lei Ming as his wounds were torn open.

But if Wan Ze hadn’t pulled him, the black poison needle that had just blasted a hole in the ground where they had been would have claimed his life.

’Fucking hell!’

Lei Ming felt like he was going to die.

’Who the hell is it now? Are they ever going to let me go? They just won’t quit, will they?!’

Beside him, Wan Ze looked up.

His expression was guarded.

Then a voice drifted in from outside the door, chuckling. ”Wan Ze, I’ve heard so much about you. I heard that after only two or three months of training, you’ve already killed several old hands in the martial world... Ordinary people are no match for you. It makes sense that you killed those wastes from the research institute, so this time, I’ve come to deal with you personally.”

Wan Ze saw the man walk through the door. He wore a long, dark gray trench coat open, with thin, gold-rimmed glasses, giving him the distinct air of a refined scoundrel.

”You know me?” Wan Ze was on high alert.

’Logically, he wasn’t well-known in the martial world. Besides the people he’d fought... no one should know who he was.’

The man with the glasses chuckled. He didn’t explain, but instead produced a black, two-finger-long needle from his sleeve. ”The poison on this is refined from the Five Venoms. If this needle so much as breaks your skin, it will send you to your grave.”

But then his tone shifted. ”Wan Ze, I’ve always appreciated talent, so I’m willing to offer you a way out. If you’re willing to submit to me, not only will I spare your life, but I can also grant you an even more powerful Martial Skill!”

”Submit to you? And be a dog, just like you?”

Wan Ze flexed his wrists and replied nonchalantly.