The wooden planks of the dock creaked under their feet as Yu Liang, Wei Feng, and Xiao Fei stepped onto the ship.
The odor of iron and rotten flesh assaulted their nose as they saw the bodies lying twisted and bloody.
A sharp, ugly laugh cut through the air.
"Well, well now... more rats crawled aboard."
Across the deck, a group of enemy disciples stood with blades in hand, robes splattered with fresh blood. One of them nudged a corpse with his foot, rolling it over so the glassy eyes stared up at the sky.
"Your fellow disciples didn’t last long. Tch Tch It was pretty boring, honestly."
Another chuckled and wiped his sword on a dead man’s sleeve.
"None of you understand what just happened, do you? That’s fine. Understanding isn’t necessary when the result is already decided."
Xiao Fei was frozen in his tracks. His eyes were fixed upon the body lying next to the mast with arms twisted unnaturally, and mouth open in its last shriek.
Wei Feng’s eyes darkened as they moved from the corpses to the jeering figures.
The gaze of Yu Liang took a look around the deck once. Blood pooled in the gaps between the planks from the fallen disciples. The more silent they got, the bigger their smirking faces became.
"What’s the matter?" one called, resting the spear against his shoulder. "Lost your courage already?"
Another leaned against the railing. "Maybe if you beg, we’ll let you crawl away that is If we’re feeling generous."
Their laughter burst out across the bloodstained deck.
The remaining friendly disciples who were still holding on froze as their faces drained of color the moment they recognized the three newcomers.
"It... it can’t be..." one whispered. "They’re... handyman disciples..."
Another staggered back. "They’re all alive... and... They didn’t even look injured." his voice trailed off into a shaky breath.
"Wasn’t this supposed to be the reinforcements? They sent us a bunch of pathetic handyman disciples like us?"
The one beside him sat down hard on the deck, panic spreading fast through group. "What are we supposed to do? Even if we fight, we’ll never—"
"Shut up!" one of them snapped, gripping his spear tighter. "Look how many of them there are. Look at the corpses. They already killed more than half of us, and it was just them!"
A heavy silence fell over the group. Eyes flicked from one face to another. Whatever hope they’d been clinging to drained away with every second.
One muttered under his breath, "This isn’t a fight we can win. Not even one of us stands a chance..."
Another whispered back, "If we run, they’ll chase us. If we stay, we’re dead. There’s... no way out."
The deck seemed all of a sudden much more smaller. The stench of blood and fear suffocated them as if the weight of a mountain were pressing down on them.
"Enough with this pathetic whining," one the disciple sneered. "If you’re so afraid, then let me show you what you should really be afraid of."
He stepped forward and pointed his spear at one of the surviving handyman disciples.
A mocking laugh echoed among the enemy group.
At the very moment that the lean man made to attack, Yu Liang also took action. His speed was incredible as he dashed forward, the metal blade, which he had taken from the taller man, in his hand.
Thud! Thud!
The two heads fell to the deck with a thud, rolling a little before coming to rest. The closest enemies, shocked into stillness, looked at the decapitated heads, as if their brains couldn’t accept what was happening.
The laughter died instantly.
Yu Liang didn’t pause. His eyes swept them, cold and steady.
Yu didn’t waste time. His gaze quickly ran over the group. Enemy group which had acted ruthlessly now shuddered, aware of what it cost them to underestimate him.
A few of them reached for their weapons with trembling hands. Their blades had barely left their scabbards when Yu Liang moved again.
Swishhh.
The blade spun through the air and buried itself in one man’s chest. He collapsed backward without a sound.
Another tried to lunge with a spear. Yu Liang’s next swing clipped his neck clean. The head rolled to the side as the body crumpled.
Chaos erupted. Screams tore across the deck, raw and high, mixed with the sound of wood splintering and bodies hitting the planks.
Some of the disciples couldn’t even get a chance to fight. One of them slipped on the blood and fell onto the corpse of his own comrade, only to have Yu Liang’s blade came down across his shoulders.
Crack.
He didn’t even get the chance to utter a cry before he died.
Another opened his mouth to yell. The next instant his head left his shoulders and hit the deck with a dull thud, eyes still wide in disbelief.
The few who managed to draw weapons shook so hard, the blades rattled in their grips. Every strike from Yu Liang came faster than they could react.
Every death was immediate.
By the time the last one on that side of the deck realized the fight had started, he was already surrounded by corpses.
Yu Liang’s shadow fell over him. The man’s breath caught. His knees buckled Yu Liang even struck.
From the top of the deck to the railing, it was carnage. Corpses littered the floor with eads rolling everywhere.
The few survivors now stood completely frozen, unable to move or even scream, paralyzed by the speed and brutality of the handyman disciple in front of them.
Yu Liang stood in the middle of it all with blade in hand.
From among the survivors—who moments ago were paralyzed by despair—the soft murmurings of disciples could be heard.
"...is he... really just a handyman disciple?" one whispered, staring at Yu Liang’s blood stained figure.
Another swallowed hard. "Even seeing it with my own eyes... that speed, that strength... no handyman should be able to do that."
Further back, a disciple pressed trembling palms together. "He saved us... we’d all be dead already if not for him."
"Yeah... saved..." another echoed, the weight of relief finally hitting him. His shoulders slumped as if he’d been holding his breath the entire time.
Then a strangled laugh slipped out of him, half joy, half disbelief.
"Hah... we’re alive. We’re actually alive..."
The group slowly began to speak again, their voices carrying both awe and relief. Their eyes stayed fixed on Yu Liang, some wide with shock, others already holding a thin, fragile hope that hadn’t existed moments before.