Ch 334 - Coming To A Head

Cliff and the disciples were incensed. "We'll do whatever's necessary to throw out scum like you," one of them shouted in anger. "Now leave, before you get hurt."

Cliff smiled menacingly. "You think I'm afraid of your little tricks?" he said and assumed a defensive posture.

The most senior of Zachariah's disciples gave the signal to attack, and they all moved forward to begin their assault. They moved in perfect unison, each one attacking just as another retreated. Their blows came from all directions in a pattern designed to make successful parrying impossible. It was a technique designed to overwhelm.

However, against all odds, Lee held them off. His training was based on defensive moves, and he had spent many years preparing his body and reflexes for an attack by multiple assailants. He seemed to move at the speed of light, twisting and contorting his limbs in impossible ways in order to defend himself.

Cliff and the disciples were shocked. They had never seen the like. They had not been afraid of the Blood Brothers before, but fear was starting to grow in them. Lee was only one man, but his defensive skills seemed almost superhuman. If the Blood Brothers had such skill among their ranks, then facing the whole gang would surely be a hopeless task.

"Are we done with the warm-up?" Lee said as he took a step back from their assault. "Want to fetch a drink?"

He stared the disciples down. They were panting from the strain of the attack, and beads of sweat glimmered on their foreheads. Lee was calm and collected. It was as if the fight had not even begun for him.

"Enough of this," he said with scorn. "Let me show you how to fight for real." There was no pause after he had spoken. He immediately leaped into the air and kicked the senior disciple in the chest.

The disciple crossed his arms to protect himself, but there was no time. Lee's foot struck him in the sternum with a crunch, and he flew backward and fell onto the stonework a few meters away. He lay there, unable to get up, and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Lee quickly turned to the others and unleashed a frenzy of kicks on all of them. It was too fast to defend against, and in a few moments, they were all lying on the ground with broken bones and bloody faces.

The other disciples of the academy came forward to help their wounded brothers. As Lee stood over them with a mocking smile, the disciples lifted them off the ground and carried them into the academy.

As they passed Zachariah, he looked at them with pity. He clenched his fists and fixed his eyes on Lee. They were full of hatred and despair.

Lee met his eyes and laughed. "You boast about being the best, but I guess not," he said. Then, he suddenly became very serious. "You know why I'm here, Zachariah. Our founder's family was betrayed and murdered, and your old masters were in on it. You have a blood debt to us, and I'm here to collect."

He sneered. "Why didn't you come out to greet me yourself? Well, perhaps it was a smart move. You saw what happened to your little students. But with you, I won't be so gentle. The debt must be repaid, and I think your head would cover it."

Zachariah grew angry at Lee's arrogance. "You have inherited the arrogance of your founder. Hu Juli's ambition was a threat to everyone around him. He needed to be stopped. But he survived, and now you come here to continue his legacy of destruction. But I will stop you", Zachariah screamed.

Zachariah focused his internal energy. He channeled all his anger and fear, concentrating it into focused energy with which he could assail his opponent. Without saying another word, he rushed towards Lee.

"About time, old man", Lee thought. "Let's see what you've got."

Lee came forward to meet him, and their clash was like the crashing of two storm clouds.

Zachariah was a more formidable opponent than even seven of his students had been, and Lee required all his energy and focus to deal with him. His attacks were paradoxical and puzzling. His attacks were frenzied and deliberate, his movements were fast and slow, and his contacts with Lee were as hard as they were soft.

It was a style that he had studied for many years, and he had finally mastered it during his isolation. The idea was to create confusion, to make your opponent feel as if you're doing everything at once. A hard blow can be diverted, and a soft blow can be blocked. But when the attack is both at the same time, the choice of a proper defense becomes impossible. Lee was a master of defense, but Zachariah could tell that he was struggling. It was working.

He went for the final blow. With both fists clenched, he struck at Lee's chest with unimaginable speed.

But he had made a mistake. Using both hands to strike at the same spot was risky. If this attack landed, its force would topple the opponent. But its focused nature worked against the confusion his technique relied on. The success of the blow depended on the opponent being sufficiently bewildered already.

Lee was not. Zachariah's attacks confused him, but he was an expert in defensive techniques. He sensed ahead of time that Zachariah was going for the final blow, and he easily stepped aside.

Then, he swiped at his opponent's legs. Busy with his own attack, Zachariah had no hope of avoiding the counterattack. His legs buckled and he fell to the ground.

"Die, old man," Lee said and moved to stomp Zachariah's head into the ground.

Zachariah narrowly avoided death. He moved his head away from where Lee struck his foot into the stone, rolled away from him, and stood back up.

Then, one of his students called out to him and threw him his sword. He caught it in the air and immediately went for the attack.

Lee reacted quickly. In the corner of his eye, he could see that other students in the courtyard held swords. He rushed up to one of them and grabbed his sword from its scabbard. As he drew it and swung around, the two swords clashed together with a loud clang. Sparks flew.

Zachariah smiled faintly. He deflected Lee's sword and shoved his own into his shoulder.

Lee cried out in pain. "I'll take you with me, old man," he said. Then he lifted his sword and plunged it into Zachariah's chest. Both men collapsed onto the ground.

Lee stumbled to his feet, but Zachariah could not. He had been stabbed in the heart. He tried to get onto his knees, but he quickly fell back down. He gasped for air.

Lee picked up his sword and stood over Zachariah with disdain in his eyes. Without speaking, he raised his arm, there was a flash of light in the autumnal sun, and Zachariah's head left his body.

Lee lifted his face to the sky and closed his eyes. "Founder," he said solemnly. "The revenge for your betrayal has begun. One by one, I will bring tokens of their defeat to your tomb in your honor."

He bent down and used the sword to cut Zachariah's robe from his body, complete with the emblem of the Black Swallows. As he walked across the courtyard and disappeared out of the gate with his men, the academy was left in stunned silence. For what seemed like an eternity, not a sound nor movement was made in the courtyard but for the swallows dancing in the sky above.

Having dealt swiftly with Zachariah, Lee wasted no time in spreading his revenge across Pennsylvania. Chris took him across the state to hunt down everyone who shared in the blame for Hu Juli's fate. Lee defeated them all, and everywhere he gathered tokens to be brought to his founder's tomb.

When he was crossed off every name in the state from his list, Lee asked Chris to send out a message for him. Lee called for a meeting of the martial arts groups at Silver Lake in Baltimore. It was to be held in ten days. Every descendant of Hu Juli's betrayers must attend, or they could expect a visit from Lee.

And if anyone wished revenge for what had been done in Pennsylvania, Lee made sure to add, they could find him at Silver Lake.

**

In just a few days, the news spread all over the east coast. The news of what had happened in Pennsylvania caused an uproar in the martial arts community, and Lee's letter created furious debate.

Many wanted to go to Silver Lake to kill him. Others wanted to go and hear what he had to say. Respected leaders and elders in the community made statements, in which they declared that anyone who chose to go to the meeting would not be faulted for doing so.

A few days before the meeting was to take place, Jessop got the news.

A few weeks earlier, he had received a phone call from Alex and Debbie. They had told him that Debbie's condition was under control, but that she needed to stay in the Appalachians for another month before she was fully recovered.

Jessop knew what the actions of the Blood Brothers meant. It wouldn't be long before they returned to the east coast. The situation was very dangerous. But he chose not to tell Alex about Lee's actions. If he had, Debbie might become worried for the safety of the family. And if she left the mountains and came back to the city, it could be very bad for her.