At that desperate moment, Madam Liang, seeing the mountain bandits scatter one after another, shrieked hysterically:"Ma Rulong, Qian Song, Chen Chong—you three must not abandon me! I've shared your beds, I've given you free buns—this filthy water stains us all! Don't you dare run!"
Ma Rulong, chief of Rat Ridge, growled:"Do you have some hidden stratagem?"
Madam Liang roared, eyes bloodshot:"At this point, there's but one path left—fight them to the death!"
Hero Fang Xiong, known as Hero Among Men, snarled:"You are all cut from the same rotten cloth, addicted to killing. Better to wipe you out in one stroke!"
At these words, Ma Rulong's temper exploded. His fury surged like fire, and he cursed:"And who the hell are you to meddle? I've had enough disgrace today—I'll cut you down first!"
With that, he leapt like a hawk, his two fingers stabbing like spears. Fang Xiong cried out in shock,"Two-Finger Zen!"
Indeed—it was a rare, sinister art, channeling all the body's qi and strength into the fore and middle fingers, striking only at vital points, lethal as any blade. Ma Rulong's digits lashed out, sharp as knives, stabbing at Fang Xiong's chest and throat in rapid succession.
Fang Xiong spun, his mighty palms whirling to parry. The two clashed fiercely: finger against palm, palm against finger, sparks flying in the air. At one moment, Ma Rulong's left hand swept aside Fang Xiong's guard, his right fingers darting straight for the Heart-Center point. Fang Xiong slid aside, counter-palm striking. Ma Rulong flowed like a serpent, left hand slashing down with two fingers, aiming now at the Purple Palace point.
Fang Xiong twisted, but not swiftly enough—his back was pierced at the Shendao point. Pain lanced through him, staggering his stance. Ma Rulong sought to press his advantage—when suddenly a thunderous palm struck in from the side. Qi roared like a wave.
Crash! Ma Rulong was forced back several paces, nearly toppling.
He glared at the interloper and bellowed:"What do you mean by this?!"
Wu Tong stepped forward, the Wolong Blade gleaming in his grasp, his eyes like cold lightning."To kill is to pay with one's life. Such is heaven's law!"
Madam Liang, wild-eyed, screamed:"Enough prattle! We four will fight to the death!"
Verses were recited then, bleak and mocking:
A thousand charms, a face that beguiles,At last exposed, she weeps with guile.A wanton frame the world reviles,Schemes and sins—yet all futile.
Qian Song of Lying Wind Ridge thought grimly, Better to strike than sit and wait for death. He shouted:"Blades out!"
Chen Chong, deputy chief of Tiger Ridge, still clung to hope."Lord Wu—could we not let matters end here?"
But Wu Tong's eyes turned hard, his voice resonant and cold:"In the end, the filling of buns is exposed. You four are snakes and rats in one nest. If I fail to execute justice today, the countless spirits slain here will howl before the Yama King, demanding my head for negligence. My conscience cannot bear it!"
Though he was not one to kill lightly, the truth was plain: the three chiefs had shielded Madam Liang's atrocities. Fang Xiong's call for their extermination had sealed the matter. There was no turning back.
For was it not said: The clouds rise with the dragon's flight, the winds roar with the tiger's cry? Now the hideous crime of flesh buns was laid bare, their men had fled, their power collapsed. Yet Madam Liang still shrieked, her bandit's spirit undimmed:"Enough talk—fight to the death!"
Ma Rulong bellowed like a beast:"Head bowed or lifted, the blade falls all the same! Brothers—together! Leave none behind!"
He lunged with saber flashing like lightning. The other three, seeing him charge, roared in unison:"Come take our lives if you dare!"
Blades clashed.
Wu Tong's seven-star footwork flowed like drifting clouds and streaming water. His Wolong Blade whirled, arcs of steel like thunderclouds bursting. One stroke—Summon Clouds, Call Rain—flared like sunlight through storm, swift, fierce, flawless.
Against such mastery, the four found themselves faltering, drenched in sweat within ten exchanges, their hearts chilled. They knew: alone, none could last three strokes. Only by shielding one another did they barely cling to life.
Then—Qian Song sprang back, shouting:"Make way!"
His sleeve flicked, unleashing a storm of golden darts—Money Darts, famed among assassins. They poured like rain upon Wu Tong.
Wu Tong's blade blossomed into a wheel of light. Ding ding dang dang! Every dart rang off steel, falling harmless to the floor.
Chen Chong crouched, hurling steel darts in rapid sequence—one to Wu Tong's chest, two screaming for his eyes. But again the Wolong Blade flashed. Clang clang clang! All three fell broken.
Now Madam Liang flung her silver needles, thin streaks of death whistling through the air. Yet Wu Tong spun the blade like a hurricane, sparks ringing, every needle shattered.
At last his voice thundered, terrible and final:"The spirits demand vengeance—this blade shows no mercy!"
He launched Riding Thunder, Commanding the Blade. His body blurred like lightning. The knife's light howled. In a heartbeat, it passed through four bodies.
Not a scream was heard.
One by one, Ma Rulong, Qian Song, Chen Chong, and Madam Liang crumpled, blood pooling, eyes wide in frozen terror.
So swift was the stroke it seemed the gods themselves had swung the blade.
Wind rose, dust swirled. Wu Tong sheathed the Wolong Blade in a single motion and strode back to Zhao Rou's side.
Fang Xiong and Deng Ling approached, cupping their fists deeply."With Lord Wu's aid, these villains are destroyed!"
Wu Tong bowed humbly in return."You two saw tigers on the mountain yet entered undaunted—true courage!"
Fang Xiong shook his head with a bitter smile."Never did we expect the three strongholds and that harlot to be one and the same. Without Lord Wu's righteous steel, we'd be corpses already."
Zhao Rou added gently:"Such a valiant couple—heaven itself shields the righteous."
Wu Tong nodded."Good men find heaven's favor, the virtuous heaven's aid."
Suddenly, the thunder of hooves rose again. Five riders swept in, reining their horses hard, leaping down in haste.
One among them cried out in anguish,"Second Chief!"
A burly, middle-aged woman rushed forward. The moment her eyes fell upon Chen Chong's corpse, she wailed in grief, her voice shattering the air:
"Who did this?! I will avenge you!"