Chapter 2

The woman was big and stout and looked around 30 years old. She wore crimson red clothes and had a giant red flower in her hair. Her face was rough and ugly, in her hand was a mace whose length was nearly the height of a grown man.

The man next to her was around 40 years old and had an ordinary looking face. He wore blue silk robes and had a short sword hanging around his waist in a yellow wooden sheath. In his hand was a 3 foot long crossbow. It was not loaded since he had just fired it at Liu Ming as an opening attack.

“You two are not from the Black Tiger Guards, right?” Liu Ming took a deep breath and asked, as he eyed the two people closely.

After living on the Savage Island for such a long period, he had learned a long time ago to probe for his enemy’s weakness before starting a fight.

His question was both a probe as to how strong they were and a way to stall for time.

In actuality, as soon as their gazes met, Liu Ming’s brain had already started working.

The woman, with her thick arms and heavy footstep, is obviously a strength type. She is possibly a bit inferior in speed but with that weapon in her hand, even the slightest contact cannot be allowed. The man has white and steady hands and a shady look. He most likely has some kind of special skill. Against him, full attention and caution is required…

The other two naturally did not know that the weak looking teenager could be thinking about so much information in such a short time. But this was their first time facing such a young opponent and they could not help but reveal an expression of interest.

The man grabbed a new bolt with one hand and reloaded his crossbow that had multiple vents, while saying icily, “Liu Yang Zong, from the Yang City in the south. Seven years ago, he deceived the king and was sent to the jail in Nan Lan County; he later died of sickness in jail. His son however, was given a chance to live due to his young age although he would have to live out the rest of his life imprisoned on Savage Island. However, a month ago, Savage Island sunk to the bottom of the Dead Sea for reasons unknown. Most of the prisoners died in the waters, despite that only Liu Ming and 11 other people escaped from the Dead Sea. Now the Ministry of Justice has issued out silver ranked bounties for the escaped convicts: dead or alive. Am I right?”

The man’s voice faded, as the red woman next to him let out a sharp laugh, “Little brat, this man died 7 days ago by our hands.Was he your comrade?”

She casually tore a leather bag from her waist and threw it on the ground.

Dok. The bag flipped around and out rolled a bloody head.

The head was covered by quite a bit of facial hair making him look around the age of 40. The head had a coarse and dark expression while the mouth hung limply open.

Liu Ming glanced at the head and his heart instantly dropped. He whispered a name, “Steel-head…”

“So, I wasn’t wrong. Looks like you do recognize him. Brat, if you quietly let us arrest you, the two of us can give you some leeway and you might survive after being judged. However if you decide to make a move now, we will kill you without fail,” Said the man dressed in blue after he finished reloading his crossbow.

“The two of you know so much about me already so you two are probably from the Ministry of Justice. What level are you two? Using such empty promises to deceive me; are you lying to me because I’m young? The Imperial law cannot be defied. With the number of Black Tiger Guards I’ve killed, I’m afraid that even if the king himself was in my defense, I’d still be hacked into pieces.” Liu Ming blinked his eyes and did not believe in the man in blue at all

The man snorted at his answer and he neither denied nor confirmed anything.

The red woman to the side laughed and said, “It’s unbelievable that this child is so young and still understands the Imperial laws so well; the people from Savage Island are extraordinary. Even if they are young, you cannot underestimate them. You are right that he, my husband, and I, the wife, serve the Ministry of Justice, specifically, we’re at the Silver Scale level. Little brother, when you die and reach the Huang Quan, don’t blame us for bullying the weak. Husband, do it!”

TL: Huang Quan = Chinese interpretation of where souls go

When the ugly woman finished talking, her expression suddenly turned cold. She attacked, the swing of her mace whistled fiercely through the air as it sped towards the young man.

Despite her large body, she was abnormally agile; even though the mace in her hand was gigantic, she swang it as if it were weightless.

With perfect coordination, the man in blue on the other side lifted the giant crossbow and fired a dozen bolts that shot forth like cold rays of light, towards Liu Ming’s sides.

The young man grimaced. If he dodged to the left or right, he would be jumping straight in front of the crossbow bolts but if he remained in the center, then he would have to face the attack of the ugly woman.

Their coordination was flawless, it was no wonder that the two were husband and wife.

As Liu Ming looked at the scene, his face changed. However his mind continue to move, in the next moment he took in a breath of air, as his arms clutched tightly onto his silver blade. His sword became a streak of light as he swung it at the ugly woman’s head.

Even when face to face with the giant mace, the boy paid it no heed. It was basically trading fatal hits.

The ugly woman’s eyes narrowed. Although she knew that her foe was not trying die together with her, she was not willing to actually risk her life. She was forced to change her stature and pull her mace back a little in order to block the silver sword.

Liu Ming’s flicked his wrist and the silver sword retracted in a blur to prevent collision with the mace. Then , he viciously swung the sword twice, once to the left and once to the right.

Dang Dang. Two bolts that were swerving towards Liu Ming were instantly knocked away.

“Brat!” From a distance, when the man in blue saw his bolts stopped, he could not bite back the curse. Grasping something at his waist his waist, he once again started to reload the crossbow.

The special move he used earlier to secretly control the path of the bolts had dealt with countless strong enemies; he never would have guessed that it would be ineffective against the young man.

The ugly woman was also surprised but quickly regained her focus. She furiously swung her mace and started up the battle with the young man once more.

Every time she swung the massive weapon, wind would rage alongside it. Her whole body grew huge in ferocity, as if transforming into a humanoid beast. Her strength was unstoppable.

In contrast, the Liu Ming’s silver sword did not clash with the mace at all. It transformed into a ray of silver light as he circled around the ugly woman, trying to avoid most of the attacks.

Although he was at a disadvantage, every attack of his was aimed at a vital spot of the ugly woman. And every time, she had to slow down her offence in order to protect herself.

In such a situation, even though the woman’s martial prowess was far above Liu Ming’s, she yelled out in frustration.

But Liu Ming did not care; he strengthened his resolve and continued to endlessly dance around the ugly woman.

Looking at him right now, he almost seemed relaxed. However, in reality he had once again used a secret technique to squeeze out the last bit of strength from his body. Otherwise, his weak body would have been blown away by the violent winds created by the mace, let alone attack the woman.

From afar, as the man in blue saw the situation, his heart grew in shock.

He was fully aware of how powerful his wife was.

Although they would often practice with each other, he would never dare to fight directly in such a straightforward manner. But this boy, he was still in his teens and he could actually accomplish such a thing.

It was as if the boy started training martial arts while in his mother’s womb.

To his knowledge, some wealthy nobles would have their descendant train from an early age in body strengthening techniques. They would use various medicinal baths and and have them ingest elixirs nonstop, but even the most intense training would not produce someone as strong as the young man in front of him.

Fortunately, the young man was still young and his strength was obviously not enough. If another 3 or 4 years passed, even if the husband and wife fought as hard as they could, they wouldn’t have been able to safely get away.

Of course, the young man would not have that chance now that they had found him.

As the man in blue thought of this, his killing intent rose even more. He lifted his crossbow with one hand and with his other hand he took out his short sword from its wooden sheath.

The short sword was gray and was almost weightless: it was made out of bone!

With the slightest motion, the man stealthily rushed to the battlefield without a sound.

Liu Ming only took a glance and was able to see the man in blue’s deceptive actions. His already tense heart sank deeper into despair.

He could barely face one of them alone. If the two of them attacked together, then his life would truly end here.

Looks like he couldn’t help but risk his life once more.

He thought up to this point and his heart no longer had any hesitation. Against the giant mace, he actually stopped dodging. Raising his sword with his arm, he whispered, “Through the throat..”

Veins popped in Liu Ming’s arm and his arm suddenly grew by at least a full circle.

The silver sword made some strange movements, transforming into a silver ray that directly pierced the woman’s throat. The speed of it was vastly higher than previously demonstrated.

The woman was startled by the scene and wanted to retract her mace to defend but it was too late.

Though she was in rage, her heart made a decision . She relaxed both her arms and threw her mace straight at the young man’s chest.

In her mind, if she tried to use deadly attacks, he would most likely retreat backwards to protect his life.

But the corner of Liu Ming’s eyes only made a slight twitch and his movements did not change at all. He sucked in a large gulp of air, and then twisted his waist so that his chest became unbelievably flat.

Clang.

The giant mace gouged into the young man’s chest, leaving behind deep grooves of blood. Blood splattered out immediately.

But Liu Ming’s expression did not change at all, as if the one that took such a heavy hit was not him. With a twist of his hands, the silver sword was pulled from the hole in the woman’s neck.

The woman let out a scream with both hands clutching her throat. Her fat body twitched endlessly on the ground.

All of this happened lightning fast!

The man in blue just made it to the front lines and saw everything clearly. He roared in shock and hefted his crossbow to fire 10 bolts. At the same time, the bone dagger in his hand immediately stabbed toward the empty area next to Liu Ming.

As Liu Ming was about to deal another strike at the woman, his intuition warned him of great danger. Without thinking, he instantly turned his shoulder to the side.

Blood flashed and an invisible sharp thing grazed past the Liu Ming’s face, cutting some of his hair that was flying around.

“Enchanted weapons, you are a practitioner!” With a flip of Liu Ming’s body, he landed on his feet. As he gave a deeper look at the object in the man’s hand, he couldn’t help but cry out.

From the dagger in the man’s hand, several abnormal rays came out, flashing with a faint white light.

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