The Blade and Sword

CHAPTER 21-THE UNDEAD ARMY

Not only that, those undead masked men also have someone that controls them with a flute. Whoever holds the flute can command those undead troopers to attack anyone they want. Those shooters with arrows were not really deadly but they lubricated it with some Qi-energy removal pill by blending it into the sticky fluid, so it will be easy to lubricate it on the arrows’ head. So whoever is wounded by the arrows, it will weaken his body slowly. That's why those masked men can easily wound the Seimei-Sōshu as his body has weakened slowly from time to time. After the fierce battle with those masked men, he was the one that was hurt very badly and after the battle was over, he fell unconscious in a coma. However they also found out that somehow the undead masked men still had weaknesses which is their heart. As long as they can stab those undead’s hearts, they will fall down and die, and won't come back alive. For now, Unkensō has passed the danger. However, Kōgo’s condition right now might not be good, as he used quite a lot of his Qi-energy when he tried to stop the Koten. Now he was recuperating in his hut for recovery. His condition was quite worse either, but he didn't tell anyone. Anyone who asks about his condition, including his disciple, Koshin, would tell them he is okay but just a little tired. Since the Seimei-Sōshu was not available to lead Unkensō, they must select a new leader to replace the old one. Koken, who was the eldest disciple of Unkensō, finally returned from travelling. He heard the news about his master, Seimei-Sōshu, who had fallen unconscious in a coma, so he quickly returned home to check if the news was true or not. When he got there, he saw it with his own eyes and indeed it was true. Koken asked his fellows about what happened to the Seimei-Sōshu. So, they told him about everything that happened a few days ago. He couldn't believe that the Seimei-Sōshu that he treated like his own father and also a figure that he respected and trusted so much since he was very young, was suddenly in this tragic condition. Not only that, he was also shocked when he heard about Koten being taken away by those masked men at the tournament. What do they want from him? Koken, who treated Koten like his own younger brother, was very worried about Koten’s condition as he didn't know what they would do to Koten. On the other hand, Kotsuki was also shocked and sad when she heard that Koten gone missing and had been taken away by those masked men. She was very worried as well, as she didn't want anything to happen to Koten. No matter what, they grew up together since they were young. She also still remembered that night Koten told her that after he returned from the tournament he would propose to her father. Now all she wants is just Koten return home safely. Maybe Kotsuki doesn’t realize yet that inside her heart she also likes Koten but maybe not as much as she likes Koken. If Koten really returned and wanted to propose to her father, then who would she choose? Koken or Koten? Anyway, Koken suspected that Ryū’unsō might be the mastermind behind this. However, Kōgo has different thoughts that the masked men must be connected to the masked figures that appeared in the tournament. They must have come from the same organization. So it might not be possible if Ryū’unsō was involved in this matter. Kōgo also thought they weren't really just coming for the Mugen-Keisho but their main purpose is to find out how strong the current Unkensō is. It's just a test. what Kōgo’s thought, was also the same as other pugilist sects think after they heard what happened to Unkensō, if the culprit must be the evil sect Dōgonkyō who was behind this. Not only that, the pill that Koten took was very similar to the “Kijatan / Qìxiédān (EvilQi-Pills)” that had been roaming in the pugilist world ten years ago. For the record, Kijatan is a pill that can instantly increase the user's internal Qi-energy to eight times or even ten times. However, there is a side-effect in using this pill in long term conditions. The user body will be addicted to it, just like drugs and one day, when the body can no longer hold it anymore, it will burst out and the user will turn into an aggressive monster that will attack anything moving in front of him until the user body wears out. When it happens, the user will die slowly in pain, unless the user has the antidote to cure himself. The Kijatan was also reported to have been created by the evil sect Dōgonkyō before they were eradicated many years ago. That's why after the evil sect Dōgonkyō was dismissed, the evil pills also disappeared from the world slowly. Now the rumors about them were popping out into the surface together with that mysterious pill.