Chapter 309: Dog-Meat Branch Master, the Knee Breaker

That very night, another major incident took place.

Experts from the Beggar Sect came to pay a visit, and one of them issued a challenge in the name of a sparring match, seeking battle with the Caobang’s experts.

For this kind of open and proper Jianghu challenge, the one presiding over the hall had to accept.

Otherwise, they would become a laughingstock of the Jianghu.

The Caobang’s Deputy Hall Masters, Lin Cunxin and Zhao Jinshan, entered the arena one after another, but both were defeated and injured at the hands of that Third-Rank Martial Artist from the Beggar Sect.

In the end, it was only when Hall Master Old Seven personally stepped in and traded injury for injury—blinding one of the man’s eyes—that the ill-intentioned Beggar Sect experts were finally forced to retreat in a hurry to seek treatment from Divine Physician Shen.

Although the Caobang’s Sanhe Commandery hall had repelled the Beggar Sect’s challenge and therefore would not need to accept another challenge from them for a year, the Beggar Sect was certainly not going to let the matter rest. They would turn their attention to the remaining branch helms.

At dawn, Old Seven sent out a carrier pigeon message, notifying the four major branch helms and telling their four helm leaders to prepare for the Beggar Sect’s assault.

Sure enough.

Once the Beggar Sect saw that the Caobang’s Sanhe Commandery hall had held firm under Old Seven’s defense,

they arranged for a Second-Rank Martial Artist to go to the main hall the very next morning and formally deliver a challenge letter for a martial match.

According to Jianghu rules…

the rank of the challenger could not exceed the rank of the strongest martial artist in the branch helm.

The branch helm could send at most three people to answer the challenge.

If they defeated the challenger, the other side would have to leave behind one hundred taels of gold.

But if all three defenders lost,

or failed to defeat the challenger within the allotted time,

then the branch helm would have to hand over one hundred taels of gold instead.

Of course,

such challenge matches…

only arose when both sides were roughly equal in strength.

Small factions like the Yulong Gang or the Qingyi Sect did not even qualify to submit a challenge letter.

They would be afraid of getting wiped out.

This time, the Beggar Sect had come in fierce force, bent on revenge, bent on humiliating the Caobang, bent on suppressing them. They had come thoroughly prepared.

The Beggar Sect sent a man with some fame in the Jianghu—the “Dog-Meat Branch Master.”

Although he was only a Second-Rank Martial Artist, in every aspect he was extremely close to the Third Rank. He had cultivated internal arts for many years, and his staff technique had reached Perfect Mastery. In only a few moves, he found the flaws in Cui Mingjue and his two companions, and then smashed all three of their kneecaps on the spot.

Because of that, Cui Mingjue had to hand over one hundred taels of gold to him while trembling with pain.

The Dog-Meat Branch Master, Luo Laoqi, then went to the Leishui Sub-Branch.

The Leishui Sub-Branch Master arranged for more than thirty waterborne fighters to ambush him on the way, but Luo Laoqi had a Fourth-Rank Martial Artist guarding him, one who was also highly skilled in the water, and they killed ten men in the river.

Luo Laoqi then entered the Leishui Branch Helm openly and brazenly. One after another, he shattered both kneecaps of the branch helm’s chief and its two deputy helm leaders.

It completely ruined the martial paths of all three men, crippling them for life.

After taking the one hundred taels of gold handed over by the Leishui Branch Helm, the Dog-Meat Branch Master Luo Laoqi set off under the protection of that Fourth-Rank Martial Artist for the Jinhe Branch Helm.

The Jinhe Branch Helm Leader was so frightened that he shut his doors under the pretense of illness, not even daring to continue business.

Standing at the front gate of the branch helm, the Dog-Meat Branch Master Luo Laoqi shamelessly relieved himself in a stream of yellow, foamy urine, then left behind a line of “calligraphy”—

I will come again tomorrow!

The meaning was obvious.

If you kept pretending to be sick and shut your doors every day, refusing to do business, then I would ruin your Jinhe Branch Helm’s shipping trade and force your branch helm to close.

As the Dog-Meat Branch Master left by boat, he picked black grime from beneath his fingernails and said,

“The next stop should be the Sanjiang Branch Helm.”

“After I finish with the Sanjiang Branch Helm, I, Luo Laoqi, will become a thorn in the eyes of every Caobang disciple in Sanhe Commandery, the sort of target the Caobang will put a death bounty on without hesitation! I probably will not dare step into Sanhe Commandery again after that…”

Though his words sounded mournful, his eyes flashed with icy viciousness.

“But! If I can avenge the dead brothers of the sub-branch, humiliate the Caobang, then I will gladly bear that bounty notice!”

“Heh heh!”

“I only hope the helm leader of the Sanjiang Branch Helm has some backbone. He had better not be like that eunuch from the Jinhe Branch Helm, hiding behind closed doors and refusing visitors.”

Seated beside the Dog-Meat Branch Master Luo Laoqi was the Fourth-Rank Martial Artist. His face was covered with stubble, and he wore a patched Hundred-Patch Robe. He was Elder Zhu, an Outer Elder of the Beggar Sect.

He gave a cold snort.

“Hmph! If the Caobang were not so deeply entangled with the government, and if the Constable Captain of the Six Gates were not leading an ambush inside the Sanhe Commandery hall, I would have liked nothing better than to chop Old Seven and every Caobang disciple inside that hall into pieces to honor the spirits of our fallen brothers!”

“No hurry.”

Luo Laoqi raised a cup of wine and narrowed his eyes.

“The two Deputy Hall Masters of Sanhe Commandery are injured. Old Seven is injured. Now the chief and deputy helm leaders of the main helm and the Leishui Branch Helm are all badly wounded. Once we take down the Sanjiang Branch Helm and the Jinhe Branch Helm, the Caobang’s momentum in Sanhe Commandery will be completely shattered!”

After a pause, he continued,

“And once that happens, we can slowly settle accounts with the Caobang disciples—this blood debt, and the blood debt of Branch Master Chen before that. We will settle all of it with them properly.”

Elder Zhu nodded silently.

After a while, he said,

“I heard…”

“that the helm leader of the Caobang’s Sanjiang Branch Helm is not only young, but… apparently no easy opponent.”

Elder Zhu suddenly spoke in warning.

“This boy called Wangchuan has already done quite a few significant things in Huishui County. Blackwind Stronghold, the Earthfiend Sect, and the Five Poison Sect have all suffered losses at his hands… And during the Blood Moon Incident, only the Sanjiang Branch Helm suffered minimal losses. At present, shipping across the Sanhe River waters is operating normally, almost completely unaffected.”

“So what?”

Luo Laoqi laughed coldly.

“I am forty-seven this year. I have immersed myself in the Martial Dao for more than twenty years! Even ordinary Third-Rank Martial Artists gain no advantage against me… And now I am supposed to deal with some newly risen Second-Rank Martial Artist? Hmph! Let us only hope he does not hide.”

“… ”

Elder Zhu nodded.

The boat passed the Sanhe Commandery dock, drifted downstream, and entered the Sanhe River waters.

Not long after, it docked at Hejiang Town.

There were many ships at the dock plaza, and people came and went in an endless flow. It seemed as though no one there felt any fear of the challenge that was about to arrive.

But Elder Zhu’s eyes were sharp. The moment their boat approached, he noticed someone already hurrying into the branch helm to report.

“The shipping trade is completely unaffected.”

“The docks look relaxed outside but tightly guarded within. Their vigilance is strong.”

“As expected, they have methods.”

A grave look entered Elder Zhu’s eyes.

He had visited four branch helms, but only the Sanjiang Branch Helm gave him a distinctly different feeling.

Even from afar, he could hear the synchronized shouts and training sounds coming from inside.

Luo Laoqi took the lead, leaping ashore, idly playing with his dark iron staff as he strode directly toward the gate of the Sanjiang Branch Helm.

“Stop!”

“Who goes there!”

The guards at the entrance drew their blades and shouted.

Luo Laoqi halted. From his robe, he produced an iron sword token, tucked inside a red challenge letter, and pushed it toward the Caobang disciples before raising his voice toward the inside.

“A disciple of the Beggar Sect!”

“Luo Laoqi has come to the Sanjiang Branch Helm to issue a challenge!”

“Sanjiang Branch Helm!”

“Do your Second-Rank Martial Artists dare fight or not?!”

His booming voice clearly carried internal force. It was full of vigor, sharp and clear to the ear, and shook people to the core.

In an instant, the entire dock fell silent.

Luo Laoqi became the center of everyone’s attention.

The Caobang disciples all looked at one another.