Chapter 575 A Ghost
Almost twenty days had passed since Zhang Heng entered this dungeon. He had challenged many dojos and learned many skills from them. Now, he could switch between sword techniques according to the circumstance. However, during life and death situations, people would still choose to rely on their instincts.
Here, Zhang Heng’s instinct was the swordsmanship he learned from the Black Sail quest. Honed by fighting with other pirates as a pirate for ten years, the so-called Annie-ryu was actually a sword technique that did not belong to any sect. It relied solely on combat instinct and experience.
After Zhang Heng’s katana broke off, he took the initiative to get closer to Kirino Toshiaki, hoping to narrow the gap between them. The battle became more perilous, and at the same time, their reflexes were being put to the test.
When it came to the speed of his reflexes, it had to be Zhang Heng’s forte. He had experienced more battles than Kirino Toshiaki and knew how to capture the right time to land a critical hit. There was no one better than him
– it was something Zhang Heng relied on when he was in a life and death situation. Kirino Toshiaki, fifteen years older than Zhang Heng, had better swordsmanship and was physically stronger than Zhang Heng. The age, however, meant that the speed of his reflexes might have declined over the years.
At this critical moment, though, he still managed to remain calm. Since he could no longer mount a defense, he turned to the offense again. The only thing on his mind right now was that he had to fight to save his life. Since he was still conscious, he had to look for every opportunity to land a critical blow on Zhang Heng by using his Juzumaru. And at the same time, he would wait for the chance to increase the distance between him and Zhang Heng.
Both were trying their hardest to fully utilize their specialties while looking for each other’s weaknesses. Kirino Toshiaki was considered the most potent adversary that Zhang Heng had encountered in this quest so far. It was also the battle he enjoyed the most. For now, neither could take advantage of anything.
However, as time went by, Zhang Heng had become more and more familiar with Kirino Toshiaki’s moves—the way he struck and his strategy was made known to Zhang Heng bit by bit. On the other hand, Kirino Toshiaki had just gotten used to Zhang Heng’s Niten Ichi-ryū. Unfortunately, Zhang Heng changed to a new fighting style in a blink of an eye. This time, he had become more elusive. His swordsmanship was something the Japanese had never seen before, leaving for a very confused Kirino Toshiaki.
At this time, Zhang Heng finally his counterattack klaxon. The katana in his right hand initiated contact with the Juzumaru, blocking Kirino Toshiaki’s attack. Meanwhile, his wakizashi stabbed Kirino Toshiaki’s lower ribs.
Kirino Toshiaki realized that he was in grave danger. Instead of pressuring Zhang Heng, he withdrew his Juzumaru decisively and attempted to slash Zhang Heng’s left wrist-he was trying to minimize the injuries that Zhang Heng was about to inflict. In the process, however, he sensed something wasn’t right. Zhang Heng had to be pretending that he was going to stab him in the lower ribs. Apparently, Zhang Heng must’ve predicted his fighting style a long time ago, waiting for an opening, and slashed Kirino Toshiaki with his katana when the time was right.
Kirino Toshiaki immediately stepped back, but it was too late—the two drew apart again. However, Kirino Toshiaki’s right hand was bleeding, where on the ground lay two severed fingers.
Zhang Heng’s strategy was to change the way he fought in a short period. He had taken advantage of Kirino Toshiaki’s slower reflexes. Simultaneously, he was also deliberately tempting Kirino Toshiaki to go back to his previous fighting style. In the end, Zhang Heng was rewarded with an excellent yield.
Kirino Toshiaki could no longer hold Juzumaru with a hand left with three fingers and was forced to hold his weapon with his left hand. But his left hand was definitely not as flexible as his right. He would not have any problem if he were fighting ordinary battles, but now that he faced a formidable opponent like Zhang Heng, a disadvantage like such cost him the winning spot.
Looking at the severed fingers on the ground, Kirino Toshiaki finally put up an expression on his poker face. However, the expression was not despair or fear but rather a relief.
He opened his mouth and said in a low voice, “I can finally show my gratitude to my Master Saigo Takamori today. It’s a pity… I will never see the new era you promised.” After that, he raised his Juzumaru again. He then nodded at Zhang Heng and said, “Come on, I’d rather die in your hands than in the hands of some fool.” “As you wish.” Zhang Heng held on tightly to both of the weapons in his hands.
Okita Soki knew that he was cheated by the enemies when he drew the door curtain. However, he didn’t overthink it. Shinsaku Takasugi was in horrible condition. There was a high chance that he could no longer walk on his own, the reason why they were willing to rob the litter and risk being exposed. Besides, only one samurai left to protect Shinsaku Takasugi, which meant he needed to carry Shinsaku Takasugi on his back.
Soki recalled the split road he encountered along the way, and he turned around to head there. He soon made a new discovery. At one of the intersections, he saw a fresh blood poolShinsaku Takasugi appeared to be in a worse condition than he thought. Instantly, he went after them by following the trail of blood.
He had left Gion, and not far away was the residence of Tsu Domain. Tsu Domain belonged to the shogunate, and it was unlikely that Shinsaku Takasugi would ask for their help. However, a house belonged to the Hiroshima Domain on the other side of the street-many in Hiroshima Domain were quite close to the Tobaku supporters. Although the Shinsengumi’s wasn’t influential enough in Kyoto to break into a samurai’s house, Okita Soki would never let Shinsaku Takasugi get away anymore. Hence, he decided to climb the wall to enter the house.
As soon as he landed, someone was waiting to attack him. Fortunately, Soki had anticipated the sneak attack, managing to block the attack the moment it struck.
With the help of the moonlight, he could see the opponent’s face clearly. It was a young samurai that was about his age. He was the last samurai tasked to protect Shinsaku Takasugi. Seeing that the sneak attack had failed, the opponent soldiered on and continued to attack Soki. He wanted to turn the situation to his advantage.
His swordsmanship bettered most of his peers in all fairness, but he was still incomparable with a master like Okita Soki. When Soki was at his peak state, he could defeat his opponent in less than ten moves. But now, he had consumed too much of his stamina, and he was severely wounded as well.
As a result, it cost him some effort to win this battle. Soki had to use his signature skill to stab the opponent’s throat with his katana. Seeing blood spurting from the mouth of the young samurai, Soki finally felt exhausted. But fortunately, the battle was finally over now. What he needed to do right now was to look for Shinsaku Takasugi, who was hiding in the house, and stabbed him in his to make sure that he stayed dead this time.
In fact, Okita Soki wasn’t one to fancy killing people. But in this era, every man was forced to make tough choices.
He was a relatively lazy person and was closest to Kondo Isami, the Shinsengumi leader. He followed Kondo Isami from his hometown to Kyoto. The latter wanted to achieve something great. In the end, they chose to join the shogunate.
However, Okita Soki’s mind was not at work at this moment.
Once he dealt with the last samurai, his mind drifted to other places.
“Real headache… How can I see Miss Saya again? Okita Soki had been worrying about this matter for some time now. When the two met for the first time, he forgot to ask her address after a good chatting session. After that, he had “coincidentally” crossed paths with her several times, but he still failed to muster enough courage to ask for her address. Sometimes, he was only dared to look at her from afar.
He also went to consult the most resourceful member of Shinsengumi, Hijikata. The latter said to him, “Be brave! Just go and propose the marriage to her father. What she thinks is not important at all.”
Soki scratched his head cheeks repeatedly after hearing Hijikata’s words. He knew something wasn’t right with the idea, not to mention how he didn’t want to be hated by Miss Saya.
The next moment, he heard the sound of a bucket falling to the ground.
Were there more enemies?
Soki turned around abruptly, tightly clutching his katana, and that was when he saw someone he had been dreaming of.
However, this time, her innocent, healing smile was replaced by one of fear.
What was she afraid of?
‘Oh, it’s me. I’m now covered in blood like an evil spirit,’ thought Okita. “I’m sorry that you’ve to see my ugliest side before I could introduce myself to you.”