Chapter 33: Hard Qigong!!
Lu Yun’s gaze passed through the gap over Little Fatty Lei Yaoyang’s shoulder and landed on Gu Sican, who was standing at the entrance to the cabin.
The next second, a cold smile touched the corners of his lips. He loosened his left hand, and the sealed wooden box dropped to the hard deck beside him.
The five fingers of the left hand that had just released the box suddenly splayed open, then clenched violently into a fist!
Qi instantly erupted from his fingertips, like five invisible tentacles lashing through the air toward the deck!
His targets were the two Mauser pistols that Captain Fang and Captain Ren had dropped earlier!
One of the pistols, the one closer to him, seemed to be snatched up by an invisible hand. It shot through the air with a WHOOSH and landed squarely in Lu Yun’s open left palm!
The entire motion was as fluid as flowing water, over in the blink of an eye!
The moment the gun was in his hand, Lu Yun’s entire aura changed!
If before he was an unfathomable Martial Arts Grandmaster, then now, he was more like a God of Slaughter whose marksmanship had also reached a state of perfection!
Lu Yun was also extremely familiar with firearms; you could even call him a deadeye who never missed.
During the chaotic years at the end of the last dynasty and the founding of the new republic, fists and feet alone were far from enough to survive and prosper.
Lu Yun had long since mastered all sorts of firearms from the Western World. Using the extraordinary body control and perception of a Martial Artist, he had honed his marksmanship to a sublime level.
Now that he had broken through to the Huajin Realm, his five senses were elevated to a superhuman level. His control over the firearm, his prediction of bullet trajectories, and his grasp of timing had all reached an unbelievable state!
Captain Fang, who had just been sent flying by Lu Yun’s punch, was struggling to his feet, enduring the excruciating pain in his arms. He happened to look up just in time to witness this.
Lu Yun held the pistol, its muzzle aimed at Gu Sican by the cabin entrance!
In that instant, a chill shot up from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head!
"Xiaogu!!! Run!!!"
Captain Fang used every ounce of his strength to scream out the warning!
BANG!
The gunshot rang out, its flash once again illuminating the darkness of the cargo ship’s deck!
This time, the shot came from the Mauser in Lu Yun’s hand.
"AHHHH..."
A woman’s piercing scream immediately followed! Gu Sican’s right arm, the one holding her pistol, jerked violently, her sleeve instantly soaked in blood!
She could no longer hold the Mauser, and it fell to the deck with a CLANG!
But it wasn’t over!
Just as Gu Sican stumbled in agony from the gunshot to her right arm, losing her balance...
BANG!!
A second shot followed immediately!
"AHHH!!!" An even more agonizing scream burst out!
A spray of blood erupted from the outside of Gu Sican’s left thigh!
THUMP!
Gu Sican could no longer stand. She pitched forward, falling heavily onto the hard deck!
All she could do was let out pained, helpless screams. Completely incapacitated, she watched as a pool of blood rapidly spread out beneath her.
The young male agent next to Gu Sican had witnessed the entire sequence: Lei Yaoyang being used as a human shield and shot, followed by Gu Sican being taken down with two precise shots.
He was scared out of his wits, utterly terrified!
"Don’t kill me! I surrender! I surrender!!"
The young agent’s voice was almost a sob. His knees buckled, and he dropped to the deck with a THUD!
With trembling hands, he took the Mauser from his hip and raised it high above his head.
Fearing Lu Yun wouldn’t believe his surrender, he flung the Mauser with both hands, sending it flying over the ship’s railing and into the river!
With that, all the special investigators from the Cultural Relics Bureau aboard the cargo ship had lost any means of threatening Lu Yun.
Lu Yun surveyed the scene, a slight smile playing on his lips. He began to taunt the Little Fatty, Lei Yaoyang, who was still in front of him.
"Little Fatty, this old man has always been fair. That young lady shot at me once, so I felt it was only right to return the favor twice."
"Also, thank you for your cooperation tonight."
Cooperation?
Lei Yaoyang felt like crying. ’Cooperation? Who the hell wants to cooperate with you! You dragged me over to be a human shield!’
Lu Yun continued, "Little Fatty, perhaps we’ll meet again."
These words sent another shiver through Lei Yaoyang’s flabby flesh. ’Meet again? God, no! I hope I never see you again for the rest of my life!’
"Oh, right,"
Lu Yun said as if remembering something, glancing at the wound on Lei Yaoyang’s thigh, which was still bleeding profusely.
"Judging by how fast that leg of yours is bleeding, you’d best have someone get you to a hospital."
"Wouldn’t want you to die an early death from blood loss... that would be a real shame. If you have any wives at home, they’d be left all alone, wouldn’t they?"
The words were so cruel they struck fear into Lei Yaoyang’s heart, making him forget to even cry out in pain.
Having said his piece, Lu Yun lingered no longer. He casually placed the pistol on top of the small wooden box, steadying it with his left hand.
Then, as he walked slowly toward the gangway, the fingers of his free right hand spread slightly and made a grasping motion toward the deck.
He was reaching for the Rosewood Walking Stick he had tossed on the deck when he first boarded the ship!
An invisible force emanated from his hand, and with a WHOOSH, the walking stick flew into his grasp.
With the box in one hand and the walking stick in the other, Lu Yun calmly descended the cargo ship’s gangway and set foot on the solid ground of the pier.
"OWWWW!!!"
Little Fatty Lei Yaoyang, wailing on the deck, suddenly started screaming curses.
"Gu Sican! You crazy woman! You bitch! If I die, my ghost will come back to haunt you! I’ll... I’ll hover over your bed every night and scare you to death!!"
Halfway through his tirade, he suddenly remembered Lu Yun’s "kind" reminder.
’At the rate my leg is bleeding, I’ll really die if I don’t get to a hospital!’
The instinct to survive instantly overwhelmed his anger toward Gu Sican. He quickly turned his head and started shouting.
"Captain Fang! Captain Ren! Xiaochen! Quick... help me! I need to get to a hospital! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die young! I have six wives at home waiting for me! I can’t die!"
The three gunshots had alerted the Security Bureau personnel on the pier, the ones who had been told to stand down.
Now, a dozen or so guards in black, armed with rifles, were closing in on the cargo ship.
Their orders were to "not interfere with Lord Lu," but they never imagined it would cause such a commotion.
Someone had actually opened fire!
Lu Yun paid them no mind, calmly walking past the guards with his cane.
Yan Lintong was waiting by the black Ford sedan. As Lu Yun approached, he respectfully opened the car door.
"Drive."
"Yes, sir!" The driver immediately started the engine.
The black sedan drove away from Longyuan Bay Pier under the watchful eyes of the numerous guards.
They watched Lu Yun’s car disappear into the distance, listening to the faint wails and cries for help coming from the cargo ship.
A veteran guard couldn’t help but lean in toward his squad leader, Captain Zheng, and ask anxiously in a low voice.
"Captain Zheng, this... there were gunshots! This is getting out of hand!"
"Those big shots from the Cultural Relics Bureau are still up there. From the sounds of it, they’re seriously hurt! Could someone be dead? Should we go up and check?"
Captain Zheng’s scalp was tingling, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
Just then, Little Fatty Lei Yaoyang’s desperate cries for help rang out from the ship.
"Damn it!"
"Forget the orders! Go! Get up there and save them! Get a stretcher! Call a doctor! Move!!"
"Yes, sir!"
The surrounding guards immediately swarmed forward, scrambling aboard the cargo ship.
Meanwhile, Lu Yun had returned to his study in the Lu Family’s Old Mansion.
The study was brightly lit. He placed the small wooden box from Longyuan Bay Pier on his large mahogany desk.
The box was secured with an exceptionally sturdy iron lock. Lu Yun didn’t have a key. He didn’t need one.
The next moment, Lu Yun picked up a cast-iron hand hammer that he had prepared beforehand.
He lifted the hammer with one hand and, without hesitation, brought it down on the iron lock!
The seemingly sturdy iron lock snapped under the immense force of the Grandmaster of Huajin!
Lu Yun set the hammer down, took a deep breath, and slowly lifted the lid of the box.
There was no glitter of jewels, no ancient, heavy bronzes or porcelain.
The first thing he saw was a layer of oil paper for moisture-proofing.
He peeled back the oil paper. Lying quietly beneath was a yellowed, ancient bamboo scroll, showing the clear marks of time’s passage.
The scroll was bound with an equally faded silk cord, rolled into a neat bundle.
Lu Yun’s eyes were immediately drawn to the outer part of the scroll, near the end.
Two small words were written there: "Hard Qigong"!