A Kidnapping and Several Funerals to be Arranged

Yijin walked along completely oblivious to what was occurring behind him. He hadn't even given a thought to the fact that an assassin might attack his master instead of him. Yijin sipped from a papaya flavored coconut milk drink that he had bought from the nearby convenience store without a care in the world.

His master on the other hand was in deep trouble. Kayegawa Kagekuro was a renowned hand-to-hand combat specialist from the Japanese Special Forces. He had been forced into seclusion due to a controversial mission in Taiwan that had led to the deaths of his squad-mates and his being betrayed by fellow special operations team member Ichisake Sanjurou.

Juanbei held up his fists and entered an aikido stance. Kayegawa laughed abruptly. "Are you kidding me, Juanbei Ren. Do you really think that a Japanese martial artist does not know how to combat Aikido?" Juanbei watched as Kayegawa suddenly leaped forward. Juanbei effortlessly dodged Kayegawa's upcoming attack by leaping upwards into the air as Kayegawa performed a leg sweep.

Juanbei landed softly and blocked two more oncoming blows sent by Kayegawa with ease. "What the hell is this? I was told you have no physical Qi. How are you blocking these attacks?" Kayegawa stumbled backwards, confused. He entered the hengdangbu stance once more and beckoned Juanbei towards him. Juanbei beamed at Kayegawa's frustration.

The assailant dashed forward in a heartbeat and slammed his foot vertically downwards towards Juanbei's shoulder. Juanbei's hand sprung like lightning to Kayegawa's foot and clasped it tightly. Kayegawa smiled at this and pushed himself off the ground with force. He performed an expertly done spinning heel kick and slammed his foot directly into Juanbei's face. Juanbei shouted at the unexpected move and flew through the air.

The Qi imbued into the blow was incredible. Yijin would have had trouble dealing with the attack, let alone Juanbei. Juanbei's only redeeming factor was that his mental Qi density was ten times stronger than most and as such he could read most of his opponent's attacks before they even occurred. Juanbei rose from the ground and shouted in annoyance as he blowed one of his nostrils.

Blood splattered onto the floor as Kayegawa gave a sadistic grin in return. "Are you enjoying this, 'Master Juanbei?" He said with an air of condescendence. Juanbei annoyedly stepped up. "I'm not letting myself get killed by the likes of you." Kayegawa smiled. "Fine by me!" Kayegawa sighed in content and looked behind Juanbei as Kayegawa's associate slammed a syringe into the man's lateral neck.

Juanbei shouted and flipped Kayegawa's associate to the ground, but it was too late. The anesthetic drug contained within the syringe had already entered Juanbei's bloodstream. It would not be long before... oh look there he goes. Juanbei toppled over and fell to the ground unconscious as Kayegawa gave a loud thwack to his associate's nape.

"Go grab his body. I have to write a note to our beloved friend, Huanzhi."

Without a word, the associate ran up to Juanbei's body and quickly lifted him off of the ground. He carried him to a black sedan that was situated just past the back door of the Sun Martial Arts facility. The doors opened and Juanbei was, quite literally might I add, tossed into the trunk after having his limbs tied with zipties. He landed with a thud as the metal covering was closed over him.

Kayegawa stepped out, cleaning his glasses with a beige cloth as he walked. "I feel a little hungry after this, let's grab something to eat on the way." Kayegawa got in the front passenger seat and placed his glasses on his face once more, lighting a cigarette. Juanbei would not awaken for quite a while.

Yijin arrived home, something eerie was amiss. The door was unlocked. He had specifically locked it before heading out. He readied himself for any attacks as he opened the door. He entered and popped out from behind a wall. Someone was grabbing a chocolate-covered, frozen banana from Yijin's fridge.

"Who the f*** are you?"

Yijin's voice was unexpected and the man whirled around. "GODDAMN!"

He was in his late thirties and was dressed poorly. An impoverished, homeless man most definitely. Yijin bowed his head. "My apologies for disturbing you, sir, but you are in my f***ing house!" Yijin walked up to him menacingly, but couldn't keep a straight face once he saw the banana still in the man's mouth. Chocolate dripped down the man's face as he chewed occasionally.

"Here, take these tupperware containers of food. Enjoy, but get the hell out."

Yijin handed the man some plastic containers and the man bowed, still chewing the banana as he walked out. The man walked out quickly, still holding the food. He entered the elevator without a sound before spitting out the banana and pulling out an Iphone 14 Pro. He dialed a number and the line rang a few times before a voice picked up.

"What happened?" Said the voice.

"It's done. Yijin Liu is infected with the Horned Viper Gas. Master Lu should be free of problems soon." The alleged beggar said.

Suddenly, a loud thud was heard. The roof latch of the elevator fell and Yijin landed through it. "Horned Viper Gas, you say?" Yijin smiled. "My master used to give us Horned Viper Tea every day, you idiot." Yijin slammed his foot with all his power into the man and sent him into the elevator's wall. A dent was made, at least a few inches thick. Yijin smiled as the man groaned once, sliding downwards dead, and the voice on the line continued asking questions.

"Pi Tan? Pi Tan? Are you there? What's going on?" The feminine voice on the phone asked hysterically upon hearing the metallic thud of her associate being hit.

"Hello, may I ask to whom I am speaking? Miss?" Yijin said, in an incredibly polite voice. The woman replied.

"So you must be Yijin Liu, I've heard a lot about you from Master Lu Gongfen. You must be pretty strong to take out Pi Tan in a single blow. Of course, we are talking about someone who defeated Master Lu himself. You said you wanted to know who I am? I won't tell you my name until we meet, my new love. For now, just call me Nocturnal Arachnid."

Yijin furrowed his brows for a moment and started laughing. "What the hell is that name! HA! You must be joking." He began to mock her. "Oh my new love, just call me Nocturnal Arachnid.' You must be f***ing kidding me. This has to be one of the best jokes I've ever heard. You know you-" At this point in time, a furious growl was heard from the so-called, "Nocturnal Arachnid." and the line was hung up from the opposite end. Yijin shut his mouth. "Wow I really suck around women!" He spoke sarcastically.

The doors of the elevator slid open and Yijin stepped out. The man inside of the elevator was groaned a few times whilst being dragged out by Yijin. Yijin trudged along, the would-be assassin being towed along like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. The staff of the apartment building started filming this as Yijin pulled around a fully grown man and opened the doors before throwing him out with force into the street. "If you try that shit again, I'll make sure you don't breathe another breath."

Yijin shut the doors and started to walk back to the elevator. The staff watched in amazement before starting to talk to one another.

"That is one toxic relationship right there."

"I know right?"

Yijin growled. "And you two, shut the hell up!" He pointed at the staff and they quickly began acting nonchalantly and dropped their phones on the table. Yijin sighed and rubbed his eyes with his index fingers before walking into the elevator.

"F***ing idiots."

I'll go through the next day only touching upon the fact that Yijin went to school, passed another P.O.P. Quiz with flying colors and boasted about it to Xiao, who almost failed the quiz. Yijin completed school, beat up a couple of bullies again and then spoke to his friends for about an hour before heading out. He arrived at Sun Martial Arts Academy in the early evening. The doors were unlocked. Students were not present. But why? It wasn't yet the weekend.

Yijin walked in and called out, "Master! Are you in here?"

No response. Yijin walked in further and opened the door to the office. It was unlocked curiously enough. Yijin stepped inside and spoke, "Master?" There was nobody inside. The laptop was gone. The notebook, gone. The only thing left was a bloody letter on top of Juanbei's desk. Yijin quickly opened the envelope and began to read.

"Hello Master Huanzhi Ren! I hope this letter finds you well. Well, not really since I'm out to kill you. I just wanted to let you know that your master is in the caring hands of the Kanling Gang's Number Six Executive. I will enjoy tearing him apart limb by limb. If you want to save your master, then meet us at the Dansao Warehouse on the East end of town. And hurry, cause my boys are already starting up on their seats to get a slice of your master. Enjoy! Sincerely, Kayegawa Kagekuro. Number Six Executive of Kanling Gang."

Yijin sighed. "So it's Kanling Gang now? Gods above, could he have sunken any lower than calling himself a gang?" Yijin ripped apart the letter and left it in Juanbei's ashtray. He quickly grabbed his jacket and put it on, walking out at a brisk pace. He traveled to behind the building before starting his flash step technique. He leapt upwards and onto the rooftop of the convencience store before wall running across some taller windows.

Yijin pulled himself upwards and higher before starting to jump across the air. People within the huge office buildings that he ran across were shocked. What the hell was going on? Yijin leapt and started somehow to walk on the air. His sprint was incredibly rapid and he arrived at the outskirts of the warehouse in no time at all. "What a pity. All these men will have to die."

Yijin perused the surrounding area. There seemed to be five sedans of five men each, meaning a total of twenty-five enemies. Easy pickings for the Unknown Swordsman. Yijin met with the first group easily. They were armed with pistols and took aim at Yijin, but before a single shot could be fired Yijin had already made contact of their bodies with his fists and kicks. They fell to the ground writhing in pain as Yijin dismembered their pistols.

He grabbed a baton off of one of them before slamming it onto each one of their heads. Five men dead in only a few moments. He continued onwards, surprising a second group by approaching from behind. Yijin choked one with his baton and then grabbed the man's silenced pistol and fired it at the other four. They fell to the ground with quiet yelps and bleeding profusely from their wounds.

"Damn, Lu Gongfen has such weak followers. Ugh, I should have never gotten involved with that idiot in the first place." Yijin turned to the one he was choking and fired two bullets into the man's forehead. The man's body twitched once before halting all movement. "Damn idiots."

Yijin pushed onwards. He wanted to be thorough. He wanted to be merciless. Another group fell dead, then another before Yijin finally reached the last group of five. The pistol had run out of bullets long ago and as such, Yijin used his baton as a projectile. He threw it like one would a hatchet and it slammed into the head of one of his enemies. Yijin then proceeded to steal that man's pistol and fired four loud shots into each of the remaining sentries.

Each fell to the ground dead.

Yijin walked to the entrance of the warehouse and dropped the gun to one side before stepping inside. He pulled open the door and ambled inside. In the center of the large warehouse, under a skylight with the moon's reflected light coming though, was Juanbei. Bound and gagged, with a blindfold over his eyes. Blood dripped from his mouth and nose as to one side of him stood Kayegawa and to the other side stood Matsuhiro Takahashi, the only other surviving member of Kayegawa's squadron and a fellow member of the Kanling Gang.

"Welcome welcome! How is everything going with you, Master Huanzhi Ren! You must be doing well to have been able to take out all of my men so effortlessly. Lucky for you, I haven't chosen to kill your master yet. Oh, but what's this? A knife in Suhi's hand? Oh it would be a shame to have to run that knife across Master Juanbei Ren's throat!" Kayegawa broke into a maniacal laughter before speaking once more with a relieved sigh,

"Ah! I amuse myself. Wait a second, I think I see some similarities here. Juanbei Ren, Huanzhi Ren. Don't tell me. Is he your grandson? Oh that makes this even more precious. Come on then, Masterful Unknown Swordsman, I want to see you sob. Sob over your grandson's corpse." He nodded to Suhi, who pulled the knife from his sleeve and prepared to run it across Juanbei's jugular.

"You've just made the biggest mistake of your life."

A distorted voice came from within Yijin. A voice that struck fear into the hearts of whoever stood near it.

"See that Huanzhi, ♪ You still need me! ♪" Xiangliu's disgusting voice burst forth as he began speaking to Suhi. He had already appeared behind Suhi.

"Got any regrets, kid?"