THE MYSTERIOUS MAN

The waist-high weeds swayed in the wind. The evening twilight sky looked as red as the color of blood.

In the middle of the weeds stood a man dressed in shabby blue clothes. His tangled hair and clothes swayed in the wind. His foolish face was filled with fear. Because he was not alone.

Because around him had gathered, dozens of violent-looking people with deadly weapons in their hands. Judging from their appearance, it seems, they are the chosen heroes of the martial world.

A very thick killing atmosphere flooded the place. Those people, as it were, were eagerly scrambling to kill the poor man in blue.

"He he he! We finally found you!" snorted an old man standing at the front of the line. It looked like this old man was the leader of the group of fighters. An old man dressed as a priest of the Tao religion with a sword hanging from his shoulder.

"Sorry ladies and gentlemen. I...I believe you have the wrong person. I'm just a fool selling medicine." said the poor man in shabby clothes, timidly. After strengthening his resolve. The medicine man said "Unless..unless you need some kind of patches and balm. I have those."

"Cis!" Grandpa snorted. "Stop fooling around! Although I am old. But my two eyes are not old. There's no way I can misrecognize your face. You are the head of the famous Cloud and Water Society. It can't be wrong anymore."

"That's right! I've seen it too" shouted one of the group. "Me too! Me too!" several others chimed in.

The medicine man looked shocked. With a dumb face he asked. "Eh! You...when did you ever see my face? Did you...did you ever buy medicine from me but I forgot? Or..."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! NO MORE DENYING!" Grandpa shouted. The sound of his shout boomed in all directions. It signaled his perfectly trained inner strength.

Hearing that shout, the medicine man couldn't make a sound. He thought to himself, "O my wife. It turns out that my handsome face often brings trouble. Even today they confused me with someone else, and wanted to kill me. "

While the medicine seller was downcast. Grandfather had already said again. "He he he. If we can defeat you today. Surely our name will be famous throughout martial world."

Hearing the grandfather's words. Everyone became very excited. Some of them even raised their weapons.

"I beg you heroes, please spare this insignificant piece of my soul. Let me give free treatment to all of you. How about it?" Even at the end, the medicine man was still trying to find a way to live.

"Ha ha ha. It turns out that the Cloud and Water Society chief, who was said to be dashing, was just a bunch of nonsense. In fact, he is just a coward who is afraid of death and is good at acting." Grandfather laughed while mocking the medicine man. Everyone joined in the laughter.

"That's it! No need to wait any longer. Let's attack right away. While his friends haven't come to help. Besides, his martial arts skills is already extinct. What else do we need to be afraid of." One of the group shouted. Followed by a chant of "Attack!" So the group of armed men began to advance towards the poor medicin man.

Their movements were all fast and also very dexterous. It seemed that they were indeed composed of highly skilled people of the martial world.

The medicine man could only resign himself to his unfortunate fate. The machetes and other sharp weapons came like waves ready to hit the reef. He was so scared that he closed his eyes.

"My wife... it seems that today, I will immediately follow you to face King of the Afterlife" lamented the medicine man.

"Ha ha ha ha. It turns out that the Cloud and Water Society is just a bunch of fools. Why would they appoint someone like you as their leader?" Grandpa shouted while darting forward. In fact, his body lightening was also very high. Even though he moved later, he was already in front of the medicine man's face in a flash.

"Rot in hell with your dog brothers!" Grandpa's voice sounded so close. Startled, the medicine man opened his eyes. But it was too late.

A sword light flashed very fast. It was a lightning-fast strike from a high-level swordsman. It was aimed right at the medicine man's neck.

In fact, the grandfather leading the group was no ordinary person. His name was Yo Thiam Ji, who was nicknamed "One ray of lifelessness" as it was said. Once you see his sword light, it's the last thing you'll ever see in your life. It signifies how fast and vicious his swordsmanship is.

"Sratt!"

Yo Thiam Ji was stunned. The grandmaster had never expected it. That his famous lightning attack had failed to take a life this time. Because his special sword strike was successfully blocked.

By an index finger.

"If you insult me, I can only surrender.."

"But don't you ever insult my brothers..."

The grandfather was surprised to hear what he had just said. It was the poor medicine man's voice. He was even more surprised when he tried to pull back the tip of his sword. Because the tip of the sword seemed to be attached to the medicine man's index finger.

Everyone who was about to attack suddenly stopped moving. They were all stunned by the strange scene before them. They saw Grandpa's body floating in midair. His body was held in place by the tip of his sword that was attached to the medicine man's finger.

How high the grandfather's inner stregth was, everyone had seen earlier. But to be able to withstand his attack and also make a person float in the air. This was an even higher level. Everyone broke out in a cold sweat. Suddenly, one of them called out.

"'Sky Destroyer Divine Art!"

Meanwhile. Grandpa's face was already starting to flood with sweat. He tried his hardest to mobilize his inner strength, so that he could release the tip of his sword that seemed to be stuck to the magnetic iron. From the top of his head came a thin line of mist. "Brothers, don't be afraid! Quickly attack this man's body while his strength is pouring out to me." He called out loudly to his comrades.

The grandfather's call was like waking up the people from their slumber. Their spirits were reignited. They began to attack the medicine man.

In an instant, the medicine man's body was surrounded by dozens of weapon light. It seemed that soon his body would be chopped into a hundred pieces. Even a celestial god would find it difficult to evade those attacks.

Moreover, the medicine man was not a god at all.

The stabs and slashes of weapons were vicious and devastating, slashing mercilessly at the medicine man's body. The whistling of the wind and the light of the weapons came one after another.

But strangely, none of the attacks launched by the martial artists managed to scratch the skin of the medicine man. His body had never moved from where he was standing. Even his index finger was still holding Yo Thiam Ji's body up.

The more aggressively the people attacked. The more astonished they became. The medicine man's body seemed to become as light as a leaf and as soft as cotton. There was even a strange fragrance coming from his body.

After tens or even hundreds of moves had passed. The faces of the attackers, who consisted of martial arts champions, began to pale. Some thought that the medicine man was actually a ghost incarnate, while others thought they were dreaming.

Suddenly one of them called out again.

"The..The Dance of Celestial Breaker!"

Hearing those words. The people seemed to be shocked. They stopped attacking and began to step back. In fact, they dared to gang up on the medicine man because they thought that his martial arts was extinct. At first, they were also a bit skeptical that the fool medicine man was actually the person they had been looking for all this time. That is, the head of the Cloud and Water Society. Moreover, they saw that the medicine man was a bit foolish. But for the sake of a great name, it's also okay to kill the wrong person.

Now, even if you don't want to believe it, you have to believe it.

The martial artists who surrounded the Medicine Man began to move away. The sooner the better. Only Yo Thiam Ji remained whose body was still held in the medicine man's fingers.

"There's no mistaking it. The two arts just now did belong to that person. But isn't his martial arts already extinct?" Yo Thiam Ji thought.

Suddenly, the medicine man's middle finger lightly flicked the tip of Yo Thiam Ji's sword. There was a loud crash. Yo Thiam Ji's body bounced back a dozen spears and landed on the ground. But strangely, the grandfather's body was unharmed. It was just that his heirloom sword had been shaken into a dozen pieces. Everyone broke out in a cold sweat again.

"All of you go back to your homes, and don't ever look for me again!" The medicine man said. His tone of voice sounded flat. "I tried to make your lives easier. But you would rather make your own lives difficult."

Everyone looked both grateful and relieved. Only Grandpa or Yo Thiam Ji still looked curious. His face was red with anger after being humiliated in front of his colleagues.

He swiftly grabbed a sword from his partner's hand. Then with incredible speed, he launched a vicious strike at the medicine man's neck. The medicine man didn't seem to notice the lightning strike, so he didn't have time to dodge. Yo Thiam Ji was confident that this time his attack would not fail again.

"Sratt!"

Yo Thiam Ji's sword landed with a thud...

On the ground.

So did his body. He don't know when, but the old man was already lying on the ground. His vision began to darken. Until the end, he never knew what had happened. One thing he could remember was. The moment before the tip of his sword touched the medicine man's neck. He again smelled a distinctive scent. Like the fragrance of a flower.

"There's no mistaking it. It's him..." Yo Thiam Ji said inwardly.

"The Flower Swordsman."

*****