Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 250 - 243: The Philosophy of Swordsmanship

Chapter 250: Chapter 243: The Philosophy of Swordsmanship

The atmosphere became tense. After a few drinks, Hu Daoke’s courage rose, and seeing the wine stains on Tangmo’s leg, he couldn’t help but curse aloud, "Who the hell did this? Sister Moumou, tell me, let me deal with them!"

Tangmo glanced at Luo’er, who signaled for her not to upset Hu Daoke further, they were still waiting for a mission, and problems could not arise here.

She nodded, then assured Hu Daoke, "It’s okay, it’s just a bit of a stain, don’t worry, and don’t drink anymore, we have work to do!"

Yalunte glanced at Luo’er, a hint of a smile appearing on his face. It seemed Luo’er was indeed a competent leader, not one who would be thrown off by unexpected incidents. However, he seemed slightly lacking in managing his team.

Before they could respond, a man slammed his cup on the floor, spilling wine everywhere. He stood up, pointed at Hu Daoke and cursed, "Who are you cursing, you ugly mongrel!"

At his rise, his companions also stood up, encircling two tables, a group of more than ten people.

"Who are you calling a mongrel?" Hu Daoke stood up sharply, furiously pointing at the offender. If it was not for Baiyue and Tangmo who held him back in time, he probably would have initiated a fight already.

"Everyone, calm down!" Luo’er, though he didn’t like the term mongrel, didn’t feel a need to start a disagreement over such a small issue given they were on a mission.

"Hey, it’s not really fair for you all to have weapons while this brother is unarmed," remarked Yalunte as he eyed the opponents with their weapons, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Old man, mind your own business, or else you’ll also be dealt with!" the man argued back fiercely.

Still, he raised his head towards Hu Daoke and continued, "Have those two girls accompany us for some drinks, then we’ll let this slide. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being rude!"

At his command, his companions raised their weapons - the ones with swords drew their blades while those with rifles cocked their guns, ready to shoot. The Advance Team didn’t have their weapons with them, and it was clear they were at a disadvantage in this conflict.

Yalunte glanced at Luo’er, then the other Advance Team members, and slowly stood from his chair. He calmly said, "These people invited me to stay at the hotel, so I can’t just ignore this, otherwise I’ll have to sleep outside again."

With that, he slowly pulled out the long sword at his waist. Unlike the Advance Team, Yalunte never went anywhere without his sword, even when coming to drink, he carried his long sword with him.

Sword in hand, Yalunte took several steps towards the crowd, casually flexed his wrist, and addressed the antagonizers, "There’s no need to resort to bladed combat over such a trivial matter, put them away!"

"In your dreams!" The ringleader rejected his advice and raised his sword, ready to attack.

"So you want to fight?" Yalunte asked. But far from looking nervous, he seemed rather amused.

"Apprentice?" Yalunte turned to Cheng Ziang who was watching him intently and chuckled, "If you want to learn swordsmanship, watch closely!"

The second he finished speaking, Yalunte struck. His wrist vibrated rapidly, the silver light of his sword creating several arcs in the air and disarmed their weapons before they could react.

The sound of clattering weapons filled the room. A rifleman quickly loaded his gun and prepared to pull the trigger, but Yalunte was faster, stepping forward and piercing the front of the rifle with his sword, it came out through the gaps between the rifleman’s fingers, without hurting him at all.

The rifleman froze in fear, feeling the cold sword edge close to him, his hands trembled and he no longer had the strength to pull the trigger.

"If I had hit your gun barrel, your gun would be ruined, aren’t you going to thank me?" Yalunte laughed.

Being an informant for the headquarters in Otherworld, getting access to Earth’s firearms was a breeze for him, hence he wasn’t unfamiliar with such weapons. He was confident that he could easily cut the rifle in half with his sword.

"Thanks... thank you..." the rifleman stuttered.

Yalunte chuckled and withdrew his sword. The rifleman didn’t even have the strength to hold up his rifle anymore, letting the barrel fall to the ground.

Yalunte had disarmed several people closest to him almost instantly, a feat that required impeccable skill. Clearly, he had let these people off lightly, only to teach them a lesson.

Even though only a few were disarmed, the others had lost all courage to attack. Some had already recognized his identity.

"Ah, Yalunte Burlingchi, you are Yalunte Burlingchi!" someone in the crowd shouted Yalunte’s name in shock. Upon hearing his name being called, a shift of expression occurred amongst the faces of everyone present.

Yalunte Burlingchi, the continent’s foremost swordsman. It’s said that he made a name for himself when he was only twenty, thus becoming the youngest colonel in the history of Otland’s royal guards. Thirty years ago, he participated in the war between the two worlds. He made numerous forays at the frontlines without suffering a single scratch, even while facing Earth’s army and their various guns and weapons.

Not long after the war ended, Yalunte left Otland and his whereabouts have been unknown ever since. Some say he agreed to the Earthlings’ offer and moved to Earth; some believe he had found the woman he loved and retreated to their secluded home in the wilderness; others speculate that he didn’t want to be under someone else’s rule, so he became a wandering swordsman, roaming the continent. Of course, only Yalunte himself truly knows the truth.

Yalunte has his own take on that war. As a colonel at the time, he was encased in the most complex yet defensive armor, able to resist even close range machine-gun fire, protecting its wearer from death. It was this sturdy armor that Yalunte relied on to dodge gunfire and rocket attacks, while he also attacked the Earth’s forces. However, he hadn’t expected his deeds to be the topic of discussion in the Otherworld even after decades.

Upon recognising the man before them as the continent’s foremost swordsman, these adventurers didn’t dare speak out against him anymore. They shrunk back in terror, watching the towering man before them with fear in their hearts.

"Pick up your things and leave. Your presence here is disturbing our drinking," Yalunte said casually, sheathing his sword.

With his reputation as a master swordsman, none of them even if they had courage in the hundreds, dared to cross him. Saving him the trouble of dealing with them further.

Hearing his words, they exchanged silenced glances, then breathed a sigh of relief. They cautiously approached, trembling as they picked up their weapons from the ground, then quickly fled from the premises as if escaping a calamity.

Cheng Ziang, with his chin resting in his hand, observed the scene before him. Even though his expression was as calm as a tranquil pond, he was internally conflicted. If he was to resolve this issue, there would doubtless be bloodshed. He never expected Yalunte to casually settle the matter just using his reputation to scare them off, which kicked up a strange feeling within him.

"Bravo, bravo!" Seeing the troublemakers leave, Hu Daoke excitedly clapped his hands in celebration. Yalunte turned around to accept his praise, then picked up his wineglass from the table and took another sip.

"Did you understand?" Yalunte put down his cup, turned to face a dazed Cheng Ziang and asked.

"Understand what?" Cheng Ziang didn’t understand what Yalunte meant.

"If it were up to you to deal with this situation, these people would probably have ended up bloody, am I right?" Yalunte precisely articulated Cheng Ziang’s internal feelings, startling him.

"How did you know?" Cheng Ziang asked, frowning.

"Not just you, if even this harmless elf was to handle these matters, there would have been bloodshed, am I right?" Yalunte said, glancing towards Luo’er with a smile.

From his years of traversing the world, he’d developed an acute sense of judgment of people. Luo’er was the typical type to fiercely protect his own, usually treating outsiders rather coldly. Most of the time, even if his own were wrong, he would still stand up for them, choosing loyalty over principal.

Luo’er blinked at him innocently. Yalunte was right. He was ready to get his hands dirty a moment ago, even though they had not brought along their primary weapons, the several side-arms such as handguns and daggers they always carried sufficed.

"Did you memorize the moves I just executed?" Yalunte then asked.

"I did not memorize them!" Cheng Ziang answered truthfully.

Upon hearing his answer, Yalunte nodded in satisfaction. He then went on to say in a stern tone, "Listen well. As a swordsman, you should not only understand the swordsmanship required to kill your enemies but also how to control them. Not everyone deserves to die, some only need to be taught a lesson. There is no need to kill them."

"The highest realm of swordsmanship is to have no sword in the hand, and no sword in the heart." Cheng Ziang suddenly blurted out this statement.

Hearing those words, Yalunte was briefly startled, then nodded approvingly, "Good point of view. It seems you’re not as clueless as I thought."

"That is a concept from Earth martial arts. The highest level a master can achieve is to persuade the enemy with reasoning, rather than with the sword," Luo’er explained.

"I quite like that idea!" Yalunte replied with a nod of approval.

"If every master persuades the enemy by reasoning, what’s the point of learning swordsmanship?" Hu Daoke felt compelled to add his two cents.

Before Luo’er could respond, Cheng Ziang beat him to it, answering coldly, "Masters convince their enemies with reason, yet they use swordsmanship to force the enemy to listen to their reasoning!"

"Great, just great!" Hearing Cheng Ziang’s response, Yalunte nodded his head approvingly, "It seems you’ve already entered that realm, handling things from here on shouldn’t be a problem!"