I Obtained Guan Yu's Martial Arts - Chapter 17

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Obtained Guan Yu’s Martial Arts — Chapter 017
Bow Ghost (2)
Swish!
Guan Hui’s Guan Yue Dao carved a crescent moon through the air, and another corpse drifted in the void.
One Blade One Kill.
Each time the Guan Yue Dao traced its arc through empty space, another disciple of the Blood Gang met their end.
Having consumed a Spirit Pill, Guan Hui now stood at the threshold of Second Class—a level that rendered him far beyond the reach of mere Dark Path disciples.
Added to an Absolute Technique that could justly be called supreme across all ages was his innate divine strength, elevating him beyond Second Class entirely.
“Hm. One left.”
Guan Hui flicked the Guan Yue Dao lightly, shaking blood from the blade, and his gaze shifted toward Gu Man.
“P-p-please, just spare me. Great Hero. Or rather, great master!”
Gu Man dropped swiftly to his knees.
The sword and hidden weapons at his waist had long since been cast to the ground.
He had preemptively removed every possible cause of misunderstanding.
‘Hm. Sharp eyes and quicker instincts.’
A flicker of interest crossed Guan Hui’s gaze as he looked down at Gu Man.
He felt a curiosity—something rarely kindled by Dark Path scum.
Yet Gu Man, overwhelmed by that gaze, began to tremble.
That look was like a great tiger considering whether to devour him, savoring the thought.
‘For heaven’s sake.’
Unable to meet that stare, Gu Man squeezed his eyes shut.
‘I wasn’t supposed to end up on the Dark Path…….’
Originally, Gu Man was a martial artist from a third-rate sect in town.
Four years ago, his sect had been destroyed in a major conflict.
After that, he wandered the martial realm without affiliation.
And somehow, he had ended up here.
Cold steel.
The chilled blade of the Guan Yue Dao touched Gu Man’s throat.
The lingering warmth of fresh blood on the edge and the inherent chill of the weapon sent shivers down his spine.
“If you want to live, you’d better answer well.”
“O-of course! Great Hero! I’ll explain from the beginning.”
Gu Man, his back already damp with sweat, began to explain the contract.
“Th-the Blood Gang is originally a Dark Path sect that does anything for money. I joined the Blood Gang just a few days ago, but…….”
“Tsk. Skip the superfluous details and speak plainly.”
“Aagh! S-so sorry!”
As the space between blade and throat narrowed further, Gu Man’s complexion went deathly pale.
Wondering if he’d frightened the man too much, Guan Hui opened his mouth to reassure him.
‘Calm down. I might let you live.’
“Hah! I’m tempted to slit your throat. Still can’t calm down?”
His inner thought had slipped out again without permission.
“S-s-s-so very sorry!”
Half-paralyzed with terror, Gu Man rushed to spill the information.
“Th-the An family! Thousand Li Tracking Scent! Huang Zhong! The Divine Bowman’s arts! Single-lineage succession!”
“……What? A martial artist who inherited Huang Zhong’s legacy? I thought that art was lost?”
After the fall of the Later Han, the Three Kingdoms Period descended into endless war, divided among Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu.
That era had been filled with generals as brilliant as stars in the heavens, and their martial teachings had been passed down to the present day.
Yet there were also cases where the arts of past masters had been lost entirely—as with the Guan family’s loss of Guan Yu’s martial way.
The White Old God Bow Technique, the martial art of Huang Zhong, who was called the Divine Bowman and ranked as one of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu Han, was among such losses.
“Hah! To think an heir to such an art could exist. Remarkable. But how did the An family learn of it?”
Information about the Divine Bowman’s art was not something the An family’s level could access.
Huang Zhong’s techniques would surely count among the finest Absolute Techniques of the Central Plains.
This was information only the Five Great Families of Heaven—those wielding the most powerful influence in the martial realm—could possess.
“They learned of it by chance, so they dare not move openly. Instead, they’ve hired the Blood Gang to work in secret.”
“I see. If they acted themselves, the Five Great Families’ intelligence network would catch them. Clever. But what do they intend to do with the Divine Bowman’s disciple?”
“They mean to recruit her.”
“They use the Thousand Li Tracking Scent to pursue her in secret just to recruit her? Will that work?”
“If not, they’ll force the matter. Once they have the child, she won’t resist anymore.”
“……Truly a mad scheme.”
“A hero of the Light Path such as yourself would find it incomprehensible, but on the Dark Path, such things often befall female martial artists.”
“Hm. So that’s how it is.”
Guan Hui nodded once he had grasped the full picture.
Gu Man’s rambling had made it difficult to follow at first, but once he heard the whole account, the logic was quite clear.
The An family aspired to transcend the An family domain and become the premier house in Shanxi Province.
Yet with their current martial prowess, it was impossible—they were caught in a state of anxious uncertainty.
And then, by no mere chance, they discovered a woman who had inherited Huang Zhong’s martial legacy!
So, without letting word slip to anyone, they had stirred up this entire mess in pursuit of her secret techniques.
“This looks like we’ve stumbled onto a proper way to make those Zhang family dogs eat dirt.”
A brilliant scheme flashed through Guan Hui’s mind, and a smile played at the corners of his mouth.
An elegant stratagem had occurred to him—one to deliver a resounding blow to the arrogant Zhang family fool who dared send assassins into another’s home.
“She is the child who inherited Han Sheng’s martial arts. Help her.”
“Yes. That is my intention.”
Guan Hui nodded readily, for he too had planned to aid her.
Though, truth be told, his reasons differed somewhat from Guan Yu’s. Rather, they differed greatly.
‘Heh. Zhang Liu, you damned cur. I’ll feed you a proper meal of your own medicine.’

* * *
Zhang Liu, master of the Shadowless Blade, brought his palm down upon the table before him with crushing force.
Crash!
The furniture, unable to withstand his fury, shattered into dozens of fragments that scattered across the floor.
“I—I apologize, sir!”
One of his subordinates, unable to bear the vicious killing intent radiating from him, dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the ground.
“I n-never thought the Blood Gang would fail… to succeed, that is—”
“How exactly are you conducting business if you can’t dispose of a single Third Class practitioner?!”
Zhang Liu clenched his teeth until they threatened to crack, swallowing his rage.
He had poured enormous sums into the Blood Gang for this campaign against the Guan family.
Yet they had gorged themselves on the money like pigs and still failed.
This was the problem with those garbage-tier Dark Path vermin.
They were obscenely money-hungry yet utterly useless at their work.
“Where is the Blood Gang master, that son of a bitch?”
“…I am here, sir.”
Bai Shi, leader of the Blood Gang and master of the Red Crutch Sword, had been waiting outside and now approached.
With his massive frame and hands as thick and heavy as a wok lid, he wore a sullen expression as he took the seat across from Zhang Liu.
“You’ve come.”
“I have, sir.”
By age and by years spent in the martial world, Bai Shi was unquestionably Zhang Liu’s senior.
Yet between these two warriors now, not a shred of such propriety remained.
Because Zhang Liu possessed superior martial skill and far more powerful backing, he had long since discarded any pretense of courtesy.
“Why did you fail?”
“…I offer my sincere apologies. The target’s martial skill proved to be of higher standing than anticipated. It appears he truly did kill Guang Sha Xin.”
“What? You’re telling me to believe that the master of that vermin-infested Guan family is a First Class practitioner?”
Zhang Liu’s lips curled into a contemptuous sneer.
He refused to believe the rumors that the Guan family master had killed Guang Sha Xin.
Even if the entire city proclaimed it as fact, he was absolutely certain it could not be true.
“I observed him myself. He is nothing more than Second Class level.”
“Guang Sha Xin was merely someone who had taken a single step into the First Class. With bad luck, he could fall to a Second Class opponent.”
Not all First Class practitioners are equal.
Though both stood at the threshold of the First Class, a vast gulf in skill separated Guang Sha Xin from Bai Shi.
For Guang Sha Xin had forcibly elevated his realm through crude Spirit Pills, and his limitations were painfully obvious.
“Next time we will not fail. This time, I will bring the entirety of the Blood Gang’s forces.”
“Now that is something I wish to hear.”
The perpetual hardness that had gripped Zhang Liu’s features finally eased somewhat.
The full strength of the Blood Gang numbered a hundred strong.
For a Dark Path faction in a province as small as Shanxi, that was a considerable force.
Though their martial prowess was merely Third or Second Class level, numbers could overcome skill; such a force would have no difficulty exterminating a Third Class family entirely.
“Good. When do you plan to depart?”
“Originally, I intended to set out this very day.”
“Then why are you dawdling here?”
Bai Shi’s face abruptly turned rigid.
Yet like the seasoned Dark Path warrior he was, he smoothed his expression and continued speaking.
“…The Thousand Li Tracking Scent became unnecessary. We have found her location.”
“……! Is it really true?!”
Zhang Liu lurched to his feet, startled out of his wits.
“You found the location of that enigmatic Bow Ghost?!”
“Fortune favored us. The locals spoke of her—she’s on Hang Mountain now.”
“Hang Mountain?! That’s not far from here at all.”
Hang Mountain was a modest peak situated in the northeast of Shanxi Province.
If one spent the night deploying lightness techniques, it could be reached in a single day.
“Quite so.”
“What are you standing around for? Everyone, make ready! I don’t care if we have to cut off that bitch’s legs—we take her alive!”
At Zhang Liu’s sharp command, the An family’s warriors hastened to gather their belongings.
“But what about those dogs from the Guan family…….”
Zhang Liu glared at Bai Shi as if ready to kill him for his whining.
“You brainless idiot! Is now the time to worry about that bastard?! We snatch her before the others steal credit for it! Shut your mouth and get the men ready, now!”
“……Understood.”
Crack—
Bai Shi clenched his fists so hard they trembled, making a silent vow.
One day…… if the chance ever came, he would kill that damned man, slowly, from within.

* * *
Two days later.
Guan Hui set out for Huang Mountain, bringing with him Gu Man—former deputy chief of the Blood Gang, current slave of the Guan family.
Remarkably, this versatile servant had learned a technique capable of tracking a scent across great distances.
“Even a loach knows how to squirm. Where did you learn such a thing?”
“Heh heh. When you live as a Second Class drifter, you pick up all sorts of odd skills, master.”
“Tsk. You should count yourself fortunate. I’m letting you live despite your Dark Path ways.”
“Yes! Absolutely, master! I understand! Your kindness—I carry it always in the deepest part of my heart!”
Rather than kill Gu Man, Guan Hui had decided to take him into his service.
This false Dark Path man had never crossed the line, never drawn a blade against the innocent.
“So that woman is here, then?”
“Yes, master. She is.”
“Excellent. We should go at once.”
“……Your expression looks as if you’re plotting something wicked, master.”
Gu Man stared at Guan Hui as if watching a madman.
The plan was clear enough: reach the woman, give her medicine to erase the Thousand Li Tracking Scent, then tell her to flee far away before the An family caught up.
So why was his expression twisted like some sinister Dark Path tyrant’s?
“Could you possibly be thinking of something underhanded…….”
Smack—
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Guan Hui’s words flow without hesitation, but his actions have a clear boundary.
He is more righteous than any righteous man could be.
Had he been otherwise, he would never have won the trust of Guan Yu.
For it is a hundred, a thousand times harder to give a second chance to the wicked than to the virtuous.
“Let’s go before sunset, slave.”
“Yes, master.”
Guan Hui tightened the cords of the Guan Yue Dao strapped across his back and began climbing Huang Mountain at an easy pace.
After walking for about half a double-hour.
Guan Hui suddenly sensed something amiss and stopped in his tracks.
“What is it, master?”
“Someone’s there.”
“What? What do you mean? I don’t sense anything at all, master.”
“No. There’s definitely someone.”
Guan Hui’s Qi Perception, sharpened through rigorous training in the Dragon Flying Divine Technique, had become impossibly acute for one of his Second Class rank.
The mental discipline of a general who had stood as the age’s pillar, combined with the peculiar essence of the Heavenly Martial Divine Body, had brought his sensory faculties to near the pinnacle.
“More than fifty of them, I’d say. Could it be Zhang Liu?”
Guan Hui and Gu Man climbed carefully toward the summit, their footsteps muffled.
And moments later, the sight that greeted them at the peak.
Dozens of dark-clad Evil Way men locked in fierce combat with a single woman dressed in pristine white.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————