Chapter 39: Underwater Combat

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Underwater Combat

The river’s surface sparkled under the light, reflecting a silent, murderous figure on the shore. Clad entirely in black with a Black Cat hood over his head, only his sharp eyes were visible.

Moving as gracefully as a fluttering butterfly, it took only a few brief encounters for the squad of Red-clothed Guards beside Zeng Anmin to fall amidst flashes of cold steel.

THUD.

As the last Red-clothed Guard collapsed, Zeng Anmin watched helplessly as the assassin in the Black Cat hood drew closer and closer.

"Are you from Prince Jiang’s Mansion?" Zeng Anmin probed.

The assassin said nothing, pressing forward step by step with his cold blade.

TAP, TAP, TAP.

The assassin’s footsteps grew closer. Nearly everyone near the dock fixed their eyes on this scene. Hiding in the shadows or crouching behind cover, they peeked out with excitement, curiosity, or pity. To them, Zeng Anmin’s official robes were a symbol of pure evil. Conversely, the assassin wielding the cold blade was none other than the Black Cat Martial Artist—a hero who punished the wicked, upheld justice, and fought for the common people!

"How should I break out of this situation?" Zeng Anmin wondered, his heart completely calm. He wasn’t afraid, merely concerned. If he fought this assassin in public, his own identity as the true Black Cat Martial Artist would be exposed on the spot. Therefore, there was only one way...

SWISH!

The assassin’s hand was steady, and his short blade was incredibly fast. When that silver line flared, it seemed to slice through time itself.

Seeing this strike, everyone held their breath. That young man in official robes was going to die! No one grieved for him; no one even felt pity. They only stared wide-eyed at the highly raised tip of the blade, anticipating that it would slit the youth’s throat in the very next second.

SPLASH!

The sound of someone plunging into the water echoed as waves splashed across the river! In this critical moment of life and death, Zeng Anmin had chosen to jump into the river to survive!

WHOOSH.

The assassin’s blade sliced through empty air, producing a sharp whistling sound as the strike missed its mark entirely. Stunned, he stared down at the river. Following Zeng Anmin’s dive, only rippling circles of water responded to the assassin.

SPLASH!

Without a moment of hesitation, the assassin dove into the river as well, chasing after Zeng Anmin.

The surface of the water gradually returned to calmness. A few of the bolder commoner trackers slowly moved toward the riverbank. They looked down at the water, but aside from the fading ripples, they couldn’t see a single thing.

BUBBLE, BUBBLE.

After Zeng Anmin entered the water, the Martial Arts Aura within his body began to circulate frantically.

[ (Color) High-end Martial Power: Your Martial Arts Combat Power is one level higher than your Martial Arts Realm. ]

Although he was only at the Ninth Grade, his swirling Martial Arts Aura was unusually active due to the boost from his Golden Finger’s Martial Art attribute. His true combat power was actually at the Eighth Grade.

"I can hold my breath for another fifteen minutes," Zeng Anmin assessed. Drifting in the deep water, his Dan Feng eyes were incomparably sharp.

Right at that moment, a Short-handled Hand Axe silently appeared in his grasp. Streaks of colorful light flickered across it, revealing ancient and mysterious patterns shimmering on its surface. The moment the Hand Axe materialized, the surrounding water seemingly began to boil. Zeng Anmin tilted his head back, looking up toward the surface. He was now like a seasoned hunter, patiently waiting for his prey.

PLOP.

The assassin plunged into the deep water, searching for Zeng Anmin. Finally, he spotted a blurry silhouette.

BUBBLE.

The assassin breathed a sigh of relief. Gripping his sharp blade, he swam toward it at top speed. At the same time, a thought popped into his mind: "Why isn’t he fleeing?"

However, this thought dissipated in a mere instant. The early winter water was bone-chilling. An ordinary person suddenly falling in would definitely be paralyzed by the extreme shock of the cold.

Pushing through the water, the assassin drew closer and closer to the blurry figure. Thirty feet, twenty feet... finally, the distance between the two of them closed to less than ten feet.

Zeng Anmin continued to wait with utmost patience. The Hand Axe hidden behind his back had been secretly accumulating power, while the Martial Arts Aura within his body circulated like madness. He knew that compared to Martial Artists who had trained all their lives, what he lacked wasn’t just combat experience, but also a Cultivation Technique, or rather, a Technique.

At this moment, the axe in his hand was no different from a common woodcutter’s hatchet. Even if it wasn’t an axe—even if it were a saber, a sword, or a staff—it wouldn’t make a difference. He only had one chance to strike.

Finally, the assassin was less than ten feet away from Zeng Anmin! A vicious sneer broke out in the assassin’s eyes, fully convinced that he was about to succeed!

However...

HUMM!

A flash of axe light slashed through the water. It was an exceptionally dazzling radiance, reminiscent of a rainbow on the horizon after a torrential downpour, or the vibrant azure of a boundless, clear sky. The river water fled in a panic to both sides, as if startled by the sheer power.

Having gathered his strength for so long, this was the exact moment Zeng Anmin had been waiting for. Except...

CLANG!

In his haste, the assassin raised his short blade to block. The axe cleaved against his cold blade and sliced right through it like cutting through tofu, its momentum entirely undiminished.

"What a sharp axe!" the assassin thought, as an absurd realization bloomed in his mind. "Could the axe in his hand be... a Divine Artifact?! And this son of the Governor in front of me is actually a Martial Artist?! Isn’t he supposed to be an unparalleled genius of the Confucian Dao?"

In the nick of time, the combat instincts honed through countless training sessions pushed the assassin to kick his legs frantically and shift his body aside.

BUBBLE.

Blood instantly blossomed, dyeing the river water red. Half of the assassin’s shoulder was gone, and his left arm, still gripping the severed blade, detached from his body. The agonizing pain served as a brutal reminder to the assassin: this young master of the Zeng Family before him was definitely not a Confucian Cultivator!

Zeng Anmin’s heart sank. This strike had failed to kill the assassin. Just as he raised his axe to chop again, the assassin slipped away like a loach, swimming desperately toward the surface. He was trying to escape! He wanted to get out and deliver the news that Zeng Anmin was a Martial Artist to his master!

Seeing this, Zeng Anmin’s Dan Feng eyes widened fiercely. "I absolutely cannot let the assassin leave the water alive!" he thought.

Without any hesitation, the remaining Martial Arts Aura within his body frantically surged through his meridians. Zeng Anmin accelerated tremendously. With both arms intact, he was vastly faster than the assassin who had just lost an arm.

Finally, at the exact moment the assassin was about to break the surface, a strong hand grabbed his ankle.

"Get back down!" Zeng Anmin thought, not daring to be negligent. Glaring ruthlessly at the assassin, he yanked the man back into the depths. "You want to expose my identity? Go to hell!"

A flash of axe light sliced through the murky water, slashing open the assassin’s throat. Zeng Anmin’s typically half-squinted Dan Feng eyes were now wide open and perfectly round!

SQUELCH!

HISS!

BUBBLE.

In utter disbelief, the assassin desperately clutched his severed windpipe, but no matter how hard he pressed, he couldn’t stop the flow of blood. Eventually, his struggles ceased. His eyes remained open in sheer unwillingness, but all signs of life were gone.

More and more blood drifted up to the surface. Above, a wisp of red first appeared in the azure water, followed by an increasing tide of crimson until it completely dyed a large patch of the river.

The commoners peering down at the water began to cheer with joy!

"He’s dead! The Black Cat Martial Artist succeeded!"

"There’s one less corrupt official preying on the common people in this world!"

"The heavens have answered our prayers!"

Underwater, Zeng Anmin’s head began to grow dizzy. His lungs felt like they were going to explode, fiercely protesting the lack of air. He did his utmost to suppress the urge to swim up to the surface, instead paddling his arms desperately to propel himself forward. If he popped his head out of the water right now, he would undoubtedly be exposed!