I Obtained Guan Yu's Martial Arts - Chapter 66

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Obtained Guan Yu’s Martial Arts Episode 66
Karma and Retribution (6)
“That’s nonsense.”
Zhang Cheng, who blocked the entrance to the courtyard with his entire body—the Jueying Dao master—shook his head firmly.
“You are the Family Head. The Family Head would face one of the Heiyingwen’s four pillars alone? An organization composed entirely of assassins, no less.”
Zhang Cheng stood immovable in that spot, as resolute as Zhang Fei defending Zhang Ban Po.
Guan Hui, standing before him, swept his beard as if troubled.
“Relax. It’s fine.”
“Fine? There’s nothing fine about this. The Guan Family Estate is gaining renown as a great clan of the Guan name.”
Zhang Cheng let out a long sigh and glared at Zhu Hu, who stood behind Guan Hui.
This man who boasted of being a strategist actually dared devise such a reckless scheme?
“Would you snap the wing of a bird that has only begun to soar? Stop this at once.”
The retainers of the Guan Clan watching from behind nodded in agreement.
This was a conversation between the Family Head and a Guest Retainer indebted to the family.
By strict propriety and custom, it would indeed be disrespectful—yet no one remarked on it.
Everyone knew that the Family Head and Guest Retainers of the Guan Clan were friends without formality.
“Zhu Hu. Calling yourself a strategist, and yet pushing the Family Head’s life into danger. You should be ashamed.”
A flicker of disappointment crossed Zhang Cheng’s eyes.
At first he’d thought Zhu Hu nothing more than a petty pickpocket with little martial skill, but through their shared trials, he’d gradually come to recognize his usefulness.
Yet here he was, conspiring in this madness.
It was truly a bitter disappointment.
He was holding back only because there were so many eyes watching.
Otherwise he would have seized the man by the collar and hurled curses in his face.
“Zhu Hu bears no fault. This was my choice.”
“…How could you make such a choice?”
Zhang Cheng’s face twisted with exasperation.
“We are Guest Retainers of the Guan Clan. Before we are your friends, we are the Family Head’s blades. How can you refuse to wield your blade?”
When he thought about it, it had begun after the battle with Yellow Heaven.
From that moment on, Guan Hui had stopped using the family’s Guest Retainers and comrades for personal matters.
He could not bear to risk those who had suffered grave wounds, fearing they would truly die this time.
“…It is not as you say.”
Guan Hui, who had paused for a moment unable to answer, shook his head.
“Then why did you leave the girl from the Yellow family alone while you went to the Yak Clan?”
“This is not the time for argument. Time is pressing—step aside.”
“Family Head…”
“That is an order from the Family Head.”
…”
Zhang Cheng, his head lowered heavily, stepped back from the threshold.
His heart still objected, yet as a Guest Retainer he could not defy the Family Head’s command.
It was not in his position to do so.
“I have a request for you and Zhang. Should assassins target the Guan Clan, please keep our retainers safe.”
The impassive Guan Hui’s eyes turned toward the two Guest Retainers.
In the eyes of those two who cherished him as a friend before they honored him as Family Head, they saw the passion within his gaze.
It was fear for the death of his retainers.
“Then go.”
“Understood.”
Chuo Xue followed behind Guan Hui as he stepped past the threshold.
She was not a member of the family and held no binding loyalty, so she had been permitted to go with him.
“…Sigh. What in the world is he thinking?”
Zhang Cheng spoke, watching Guan Hui’s retreating figure grow distant.
His gaze, which had fixed itself on Zhu Hu, now carried resentment.
“…Sir. No—the Family Head was only trying to prevent the situation he fears most.”
Complex emotions rose and fell across Zhu Hu’s face.
“More than his own death?”
“Yes. The Family Head does not fear his own death. He fears something else.”
“And what exactly is that?”
…
Zhu Hu, whose lips moved silently, lifted his head and slowly scanned everyone before him.
The Guan martial disciples, smudged with dust from their training.
The other retainers who had come at the sound of commotion.
Even the bureau chief and Huang Xiao wore troubled expressions.
All of them stared at Zhu Hu’s lips, unable to grasp his meaning, desperate to hear more.
“The Family Head fears……”
Zhu Hu slowly lowered his gaze.
“Our deaths more than his own. He dreads losing us far more than losing himself.”
……
Silence descended upon the manor where Yun Cheng dwelt.
The heavy, suffocating quiet pressed down upon the shoulders of several present.
* * *
Shanxi Province. Taiyuan.
The Red Lantern District, where only crimson light traced the streets.
In one shadowed corner of the murky lane, an old man with thick ash-grey whiskers sat upon a mat, his wares spread before him.
Swish—
A woman approached the cluttered stall of what appeared to be a shabby merchant.
She was a courtesan from a pleasure house, her cheeks and eyelids painted a striking shade of pink.
“Where?”
The old man asked.
His voice was so quiet that even the faint sound of his lips moving could scarcely be heard.
“Taiyuan.”
“……? You’re saying he came from Yun City to here?”
Alarm crept into the old man’s voice, causing it to rise.
For an assassin, composure is everything.
Yet this intelligence was grave enough to shake even one who had lived as an assassin for decades.
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Alone?”
“Yes. He is currently at Stone Forest, according to reports.”
“Tch!”
The old man’s breath caught.
Stone Forest near Taiyuan was a forest thick with boulders and craggy stone.
With massive rocks scattered like houses throughout, it was a place where ambush thrived.
That the target was there alone could mean only one thing.
“He’s waiting for us?”
“It would appear so.”
“Arrogant fool.”
A cold gleam of killing intent flickered above the old man’s eyes.
“A mere Family Head from some backwater village, and he dares defy the mighty Heiyingwen.”
The old man’s face twisted into something grotesque and malevolent.
It was true—the Heiyingwen Shanxi Branch lacked resources compared to other branches.
The branch commander, this old man, had harbored inferiority for over a decade because of it.
When he was already scorned by his peers, being looked down upon by some country Family Head was more than he could bear.
“……I’ll teach him a lesson. Prepare all the operatives.”
“……All of them?”
The woman’s eyes widened slightly.
It was an order that shattered the composure of even an assassin.
The Family Head of the Guan Clan, whose martial prowess was estimated to be of first-rate Peak Realm level, was more than manageable for a single Red-robed Assassin.
There was no need to deploy all thirty assassins.
“He must learn the price of his arrogance. After I kill him, I’ll annihilate his entire bloodline.”
“The contract does not include the Guan Clan, Commander.”
“Silence. I’m sick of being disrespected. Summon them all. This is the commander’s order.”
“……Understood.”
For an assassin of Heiyingwen, obedience to orders was as vital as breath itself.
The woman suppressed her feelings and nodded wordlessly.
Snap—
Moments later, as the woman took a step forward, she vanished.
“Insolent wretch……”
The old man folded his mat and rose, gathering his sinister killing intent within himself.
“The price of arrogance shall be paid in the blood of your line.”
The old man, a bundle strapped to his back, leaped onto the rooftops.
He thrust the bundle through a small gap between the tiles, and from within he drew forth a blood-red robe and donned it.
The crimson robe that only those assassins of Heiyingwen who had reached the Peak Realm were permitted to wear.
The old man’s expression twisted into something monstrous.
He shed the merchant’s guise and donned the assassin’s bearing, moving across the rooftops toward Stone Forest.
Beneath the clouded moon, his shadow raced forward with such speed it outpaced the light itself, his Lightness Skill laid bare and lethal.
* * *
Can you manage it?
Guan Yu’s voice carried a note of concern.
Guan Hui simply nodded, unflinching.
“Yes. No problems.”
Assassins don’t scruple at dirty tactics. It will be a hard fight.
“I can handle it.”
You’re certain you need no assistance?
“Yes. I’m fine.”
Guan Hui nodded as he answered.
In the old days, when his martial arts were shallow, he had leaned heavily on Guan Yu’s support.
But now he no longer wished to depend on his ancestor’s aid.
‘If I’m ever to truly grow, I have to do this myself.’
With Guan Yu’s help, he could stand against masters of higher realms.
But there would be no real enlightenment in that victory.
Fighting with aid was fundamentally different from building experience through one’s own struggle.
‘I won’t accept his help unless my life hangs by a thread.’
Guan Hui had resolved to save his ancestor’s intervention for that final moment alone.
Only then would his growth accelerate truly, only then would he reach the same height as the Family Heads of the great clans.
“Assassins are assassins, nothing more. Cowards that lurk in shadow, striking at backs—the Guan Clan’s martial legacy is not so weak as to fall to their ilk.”
Excellent. Growing more and more impressive.
Guan Yu’s satisfied laugh echoed within his mind.
As Guan Hui’s beard lengthened and his character deepened, Guan Yu felt the youth increasingly mirrored his own nature—steady where he had once been light, grave where he had once been frivolous.
Watching his descendant wield his blade across the realm was like gazing upon a mirror of his younger self.
Yes. The Guan Clan’s martial arts are unmatched. Face them without fear, and wield your blade with pride.
Ching—
The Azure Dragon Crescent Blade sang out a single, clear note.
The crystalline sound was like a dragon stirring from its ancient slumber.
“Cowards? I’ve rarely seen a coward keep his head attached to his shoulders while spouting such words.”
An old man in a red robe stepped out from between the rocks.
“Yan Ping, Commander of the Heiyingwen Shanxi Branch, at your service.”
With hands clasped behind his back, Yan Ping regarded Guan Hui with an air of casual confidence.
“You have a sturdier frame than the rumors suggest. Could you possess the Heavenly Martial Physique?”
Yan Ping raked his gaze over Guan Hui from head to foot, then let out a derisive snort.
“Nonsense. Something from legends couldn’t be real. You’ve simply mastered External Techniques to build your frame.”
Yan Ping had stumbled upon the truth without knowing it, and he paid it no mind as he continued.
“Our branch is weaker than the others, you see. The fact that I, a Red-robed Assassin, am stationed here says it all.”
Heiyingwen divides its assassins by the color of their robes.
At the peak stands Baihun, the Killing King and organization master, clad in pure white—a White-robed Assassin.
Then the Blue-robed Assassins, who face the elite of the great sects.
And the Red-robed Assassins, capable of slaying even masters at Peak Realm through ambush.
Finally, the Black-robed Assassins—numbering well over two hundred.
“The reason is simple: Shanxi Province itself is called a wasteland of martial arts, so we see no need to commit great strength here.”
Yan Ping laid bare his organization’s weakness without hesitation, absently tracing his fingers along the blade of his Hidden Dagger.
“But then, you’re merely a Family Head of some backwater village—hardly worth our contempt.”
Snap—
At a light gesture from Yan Ping, assassins materialized across the rocks above.
Thirty assassins sat motionless in varied positions, encircling Guan Hui in a perfect cage.
They had left him no avenue of escape.
“Thirty Black-robed Assassins and myself—a Red-robed Assassin. You’re a country fool; you wouldn’t know, but we Red-robed Assassins can kill even Peak Realm masters through ambush.”
Schk—
Yan Ping drew the Hidden Dagger from his belt.
The black blade, swallowing even the faint moonlight, radiated menace.
“I, Yan Ping, have walked the edge between life and death for decades. That I survived is no accident.”
The old man approached with heavy, deliberate footsteps—not the silent tread of a true assassin.
“Do you truly believe you alone can withstand Heiyingwen?”
Hmm.
Guan Hui listened to Yan Ping’s rambling and stroked his beard.
Beneath the moonlight, the imposing figure of the martial master drawing his hand across his lustrous beard resembled a great general commanding an era.
“So you’re telling me this is all the Heiyingwen Shanxi Branch has?”
“That’s right. Are you frightened now? Why did you come so arrogantly by yourself?”
Yan Ping, having misread Guan Hui’s expression, twisted his lips upward.
He had taken the composed face for one frozen stiff with fear.
“There’s no need to bring anyone along to swat insects like you.”
“…What?”
Guan Hui smiled arrogantly as he gazed at the old man’s face, twisted like a malevolent spirit.
“Vermin like you — I’m more than enough alone.”
Shing—
Guan Hui lifted the Azure Dragon Crescent Blade lightly, settled into a one-handed stance, and extended his other hand in a deliberate gesture toward Yan Ping.
“Come. This night will be finished before it grows cold.”

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