Epilogue

  Who did it?

  The heroes did not speak, and everyone looked around. The other dozen or so Japanese pirates stood up in surprise and hid on the side of Song Ruyu. Song Ruyu didn't mind either.

  At the moment when all the heroes were shocked, a man with a short stature of about fifty years old walked out of the crowd. He wore a white face and had a long braid on his back. He carried a long cloth package on his back. In his left hand he held a bow. Step by step, he walked to Song Ruyu's front, smiled slightly, turned around and loudly said to the surrounding heroes: "You are all masters of the Central Plains martial arts world! This person is the one I shot and killed! Because he is not a Dongyang Fusang person, nor is he the turtle thief Kameyama Hidetada you mentioned."

  Song Renyi furrowed his brow, looking at him and asking: "Who are you, daring to shoot and kill the prisoners of our Tian Chao without the permission of us heroes at the Wulin Conference?"

  That short man calmly said: "I am the real Kameyama Hidenobu. I killed him, do you understand? In those years when your Ming army saw us, they fled in panic like a mouse. Now you're here again, acting out a play, I really find it ridiculous. You've brought an actor to pretend to be me and make a fool of yourself."

  Song Renyi flew into a rage: "You madman, how dare you speak such nonsense!"

  That short-tempered man didn't listen to him and continued talking to himself: "I am the real Kameyama Hidenao, the first swordsman of the Wokou. I originally didn't want to show up, but you people found a group of actors to impersonate me, is this humiliating us?"

  Song Renyi angrily said: "Where did you come from, you madman? If you continue to spout nonsense, I'll..."

  The short man let out a loud roar, interrupting Song Renshi's words: "Shut up! What can you do to me? Are you going to have that eighty-year-old butler of yours, Song An, who has trouble walking and is carrying a broom, come and hit me?"

  Song Renyi was about to respond when Master Zhihai stood up: "Amitabha, this donor, regardless of whether this matter is a play or not, don't you know that Heaven has the virtue of good birth?"

  The short guy said: "I used to think that people were not easy to fool, but now I see that you guys are a bit shameless. Let me say it again, I am the real Kameyama Hidenori, don't believe me? Go call out Song An and have him take a look at me!"

  He said as he slowly took out a four-foot-long cloth package from behind his back, and slowly opened it, revealing a knife inside.

  Japanese sword! A real Japanese sword!

  The crowd was in an uproar, with everyone discussing it heatedly, but most of them were just mocking the short man. However, no one believed that the notorious pirate from back then had grown up to look like this. Song Renshi took a deep breath, thinking to himself that regardless of whether or not this person was really Kameyama Hidenao, he had still killed someone and yet dared to show his face again.

  Just as he thought of this, another person rushed over from the crowd, a middle-aged woman. As soon as she ran over, she fell to the ground on "Turtle田秀" and cried out: "My lord! Who was it that killed you? You died so miserably! You played the role of a Japanese pirate in the Song family so many times, how did you meet with disaster?"

  This woman was obviously the wife of Di Tianxiu, and she made a scene, causing everyone to discuss it. Song Renyuan felt embarrassed. Song An hurried over with his servants to persuade the woman and had them carry away the corpse.

  The short man drew out a Japanese sword, and all that could be seen was a flash of cold light, with sharp edges. The short man pointed the knife tip at Song Ruyu and said: "You people from Central Plains have repeatedly created this ridiculous farce, an old cripple holding a broom shouting loudly can scare our more than ten Japanese warriors to cry out for their fathers and mothers. Don't you think that such self-deception is humiliating yourselves? If you are beaten by such enemies until your buttocks are sore and you pee in your pants, have you already reached the point of no return? Aren't you fond of pretending to be Japanese pirates and then defeating them? Now it's good, I am really Kameyama Hidenao, come on let's compare our skills!"

  Song Renyi's face turned iron-green as he stared at the short man. The heroes also looked at him with disdain. At this time, a person walked out from the side of the canal transportation gang, and Song Renyi saw that it was none other than the gang leader Liu Tieshan. This Liu Tieshan had a strong build, tall and majestic, in his thirties, holding a 40-jin heavy golden silk ring knife. He walked up to the short man and said: "Little boy, you killed people and owed debts, today your grandfather Liu will let you know the power of our canal transportation gang."

  As soon as he finished speaking, the golden silk ring knife chopped towards the short man, and the short man swung his Japanese sword obliquely. The two weapons collided, and sparks flew everywhere, making a clear "ding" sound. The short man calmly retreated and retracted his move, while Liu Tieshan panicked and continuously backed away. When everyone looked again, Liu Tieshan's golden silk ring knife had been cut into two pieces, and there was a blood stain on Liu Tieshan's face. However, the Japanese sword in the short man's hand was not damaged at all.

  Liu Tieshan felt very ashamed, facing the surrounding crowd's discussions, he let out a loud roar, holding his short knife to chop that dwarf, but the dwarf did not dodge, instead, he raised his Japanese sword and stabbed Liu Tieshan in the chest. Liu Tieshan quickly dodged to the side, but exposed his own weakness, just as the dwarf lifted one foot and kicked Liu Tieshan's buttocks.

  Liu Tieshan was kicked out more than ten feet away, lying on the ground like a dog eating shit, with half of his steel knife thrown far away. Just as he was about to get up and fight again, he felt his head being trampled under the foot of that short guy!

  The heroes were shocked, one by one they stared in amazement. The short man let out a loud roar: "Doesn't anyone believe I'm Kameyama Hidenori?" As soon as his voice fell, he saw him poke the Japanese sword on Liu Tieshan's back with a "pu" sound! The Japanese sword pierced through Liu Tieshan's heart and nailed it to the ground. Liu Tieshan let out a miserable cry, his body involuntarily stretched upwards, and was kicked to the ground by the short man again. Liu Tieshan trembled a few times and stopped moving.

  The bloody tragedy left all the heroes speechless, staring at Kameyama Hidenobu. At this moment, no one doubted that this brutal dwarf was a Japanese pirate and the first swordsman.

  Kameida Shū jumped out of the circle, ignoring the group of people who came to carry away the corpse. He laughed loudly and said: "I have been hiding in China for 20 years, originally intending to spend my remaining years in seclusion. But you three repeatedly humiliated me. I killed him just to prove one thing - I am the real Kameida Shū!"

  At this moment, the heroes no longer jeered and ridiculed, but instead one by one had faces filled with anger and fear.

  Song Renyi's face turned iron-green as he stared at Kameyama Hidenobu, feeling embarrassed, tense and angry. In fact, Song Renyi was terrified, although he was the master of Xingwu Hall. However, being in a high position is not easy to bear, in this situation, the leader of the Huaiyang Bang would be killed in one round, with his identity, he must take action, but taking action would definitely not be able to defeat this Japanese pirate.

  At this moment, a young salt worker stood up and shouted: "Let's go together, I don't believe this Japanese pirate still has three heads and six arms!"

  His words had barely fallen when the heroes all shouted in unison that they would attack together, but no one moved.

  Just as everyone was talking, Kameyama Shūichi lifted his foot and kicked over the other half of Liu Tieshan's steel knife. He raised the tip of his shoe, and the knife tip hovered in mid-air. Suddenly, he kicked out violently towards the young man from the Salt Gang. The knife tip shot out with lightning speed, stabbing the young man from the Salt Gang in the throat before he could even react. Fresh blood gushed out, and the young man fell to the ground, clutching his throat. He struggled for a few moments before dying.

  The heroes suddenly fell silent again.

  "Those who talk too much are just asking for death. If you want to come together, then come on! Let's see who comes first, Shaolin monk!" His words turned sharp, and the knife tip was already pointing at Master Zhihai.

  "Ah, Amitabha! I, an old monk, am willing to learn from your superior skills!"

  "Master, I respect you Shaolin monks because twenty years ago you were one of the few who dared to confront us martial artists. We suffered at your hands many times, and today I have come here with another purpose - to challenge Shaolin!"

  As soon as this statement came out, the heroes ridiculed him with their noses, discussing and arguing "Don't look at how many catties you are" , "What kind of thing is this!" , "Looking for death, self-inflicted!" , "Challenging Shaolin, in those years Shaolin beat them until they didn't even recognize their own mothers"

  ……

  Kameda Shū did not look around him, he just waited for Chihai Dashi to make a move.

  Master Zhihai saw this and joined his palms together, saying: "Amitabha Buddha, the donor is not polite." After speaking, he only saw him waving his palms to open up and welcome Kameda Shu, who was not polite at all. He swung his Japanese sword and chopped towards Master Zhihai one after another.

  Master Chi Hai, dodging and weaving, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Kameyama Shuji saw Master Chi Hai's empty-handed stance and increased his attack. Although Master Chi Hai was on the defensive in terms of moves, his mind remained calm, every move and style steady and firm, each dodge anticipating the enemy's next move.

  Kameida Shū remained calm, thinking to himself that he was ten or twenty years younger than the old monk and had a clear physical advantage. The old monk wasn't panicking now, but after expending some energy, he would eventually become disordered.

  In this way, the two men, one attacking and the other defending, Master Zhī Hǎi dodged Kameyama Hidesato's thirty-seven slashes. Seizing the opportunity, when Kameyama Hidesato thrust his long sword at him, he suddenly brought out both palms together, clamping Kameyama Hidesato's Japanese sword between them, and with a swift motion kicked Kameyama Hidesato's wrist.

  At this moment, Kameida Shu panicked. He only knew that his opponent would have a knife-snatching technique with bare hands, but he never expected that Chihai Dashi, at such an advanced age, could still move so quickly.

  When the time came, Master Chi Hai's clamping of the Japanese sword and kicking out were almost simultaneous, while Kame田秀's hands holding the knife were obviously half a beat slower. He subconsciously stretched out one arm to block Master Chi Hai's foot, and actually blocked it back!

  After all, Master Chihai's hands were holding the blade of his Japanese sword, and his main energy and strength were in his hands, so the kick he kicked out was not very powerful to begin with. Moreover, Master Chihai was already old, and facing Kameda Shu who was less than fifty years old, the physical disadvantage was self-evident.

  Kameida Shū blocked the kick, but he suddenly felt that the knife in his hand was loosening and about to slip out. He found that Chihai Dashi had exerted force with both arms to seize the knife, and his own knife could not be held on to. So he let go of it smoothly, and with his other hand drew a dagger from his waist and stabbed at Master Chihai!

  Zhī Hǎi Dà Shī didn't dodge!

  It turned out that Master Zhihai thought that with both hands grasping the knife, he had to be fully focused and exert his full strength. He saw Kameyama Hidenaga's sword leave his hand and thought he had won, just as he was about to jump out of the circle. However, he didn't realize that when he raised both hands, there was still an opening exposed at his waist. As a result, Kameyama took advantage of his short stature, quick movements, and swift knife work to stab a dagger into Master Zhihai's left ribcage.

  Zhī Hǎi Dà Shī let out an "Aiya" and loosened his grip on the Japanese sword, continuously retreating.

  Kameda no Masukuni took advantage of the situation and stabbed Chihai Daoshi with his Japanese sword.

  Just as Master Zhihai was seriously injured and in danger, Song Renyi rushed over to rescue him with his treasured sword. When Kameyama Hidenao's Japanese sword was less than a foot away from Master Zhihai, Song Renyi's long sword also stabbed towards Kameyama Hidenao.

  This is the strategy of surrounding Wei to rescue Zhao, because now crossing the treasure sword to save Master Zhihai has come too late, so Song Ruyu, in a state of urgency, stabbed Kameyama Hidenao with the treasure sword.

  Kameda Hidenori indeed did not hesitate, he deeply knew that his real slash killed Master Chihai, and he would also be struck by the treasured sword coming from the side. So, he hastily retreated, sweeping a horizontal slash towards Song Renyi. Song Renyi received the attack, using his long sword to block the Japanese sword, and cursed "Despicable!" as they fought in one place.

  The heroes cheered and applauded for Song Ruyu, several masters of the martial arts sects jointly rescued Master Zhihai back, and carried him away to be treated.

  Looking at the two people fighting, Song Ruyu was after all the master of Xingwu Hall, his martial arts were far above Liu Tieshan's help from Cao Yunbang. So, he wielded his sword to fight against Kameyama Hidetada. When they didn't exchange blows, Song Ruyu was very nervous, but once they did, he became even more nervous, because he wanted to win and feared losing.

  Afraid to win and afraid to lose, he was often hindered in his performance. So, Song Renyi's moves were hesitant and disorderly, and after ten rounds, he was drenched in sweat. On the other hand, Kameyama Hidesada was extremely relaxed, knowing that if he used sneak attacks to hurt the Shaolin monk, he would not have a good ending. Therefore, he went all out, determined to win or die trying. This determination left Song Renyi, who had no advantage, completely stunned.

  Song Renyi only parried two swords after the tenth round, and was slashed to the shoulder by Kameyama Shu's sword. Just as he was about to turn around and jump out of the ring, unexpectedly Kameyama Shu didn't follow the martial arts routine and took advantage of his retreat to make a slash.

  This knife was swift and accurate, but Kameyama Hidenori was not tall in stature, his arms were short, so this knife just happened to stab Song Ruyu's left buttocks. Song Ruyu was stabbed by this thrust, cried out in pain, and hastily retreated back to his own side.

  Kameida Hidetada seriously injured two of the greatest martial arts masters, and all the heroes were shocked.

  The master of Changbai Mountain Villa, Jin Dengke, couldn't sit still anymore. He picked up his single knife and was about to take action when the vice-master, Song Junjie, who was beside him, pulled him back. "You can't go, you're the master of Changbai Mountain Villa."

  Kameda Kōhei stood proudly in the courtyard, calling out to challenge all comers. None of the warriors responded, and just then a young man carrying a large sword walked up to Kameda. The youth was tall and robust, yet not lacking in refinement.

  "Wokou! I've been paying attention to you for a long time. Apart from being able to rob unarmed women and children, and bullying the elderly, what else can you do? Come on, let's fight!" The young man said disdainfully.

  Kameda Shūichi looked at the young man and thought he was in his early twenties, with a handsome and heroic appearance. However, the Spring Autumn Great Sword in his hand gave Kameda a real fright. This was a world-famous sword, exactly like the one wielded by Guan Yu, the famous general of the Three Kingdoms. It was 12 feet long and weighed around 100 kilograms! The hilt was made of fine steel, with a coiled dragon cast on it, its mouth spitting out the black gleaming blade body, while the blade itself shone with a cold light that sent shivers down one's spine.

  The young man looked at Kameyama Hidesada and said, "With your blood, I'll test my sword!" He raised his large sword and slashed at Kameyama. Kameyama didn't hold back either, swinging his Japanese sword to strike the young man. The young man deflected the sword with a diagonal swing of his own, then launched a "Yasha Tanhai" attack on Kameyama's lower body, followed by a horizontal swing of the hilt, "Autumn Wind Sweeping Fallen Leaves", again attacking the lower body. Such an offensive left Kameyama's Japanese sword only able to parry and defend, unable to counterattack. Suddenly, all advantage was lost. After the young man's repeated attacks on the lower body, he suddenly slashed down with a powerful blow, aiming for Kameyama's head. The force of this hundred-jin (a unit of weight) sword slash was immense, and Kameyama didn't dare to confront it directly, hastily retreating instead. The young man's sword missed its mark, but as soon as it hit the ground, he swiftly raised it again, aiming for Kameyama's side just as he dodged to the side. The young man's hilt then swung around in a "Horizontal Sweep of a Thousand Soldiers", forcing Kameyama to hastily dodge and weave.

  In this way, the young man took the initiative to attack, one move faster than one move more dangerous, forcing Kameyama Shū not to play its Japanese sword's advantage.

  Kameda Hidemasa was getting anxious, after all, dodging and hiding wasn't a solution, especially since the young man's weapon, once unleashed, would be unstoppable. His own sword was shorter than his opponent's by a good ten feet, and he had no way of closing in to counterattack. As a result, he was on the defensive with every move.

  The crowd erupted into thunderous applause as the fight reached its climax.

  In the midst of applause, the young man had already exchanged over thirty rounds with Kameyama Hidenori. Kameyama Hidenori was always on defense and couldn't land a single blow, feeling that all his techniques were completely suppressed. Now he had to admit that he couldn't beat this unknown young man. He wanted to stop or call for a halt, but the young man didn't give him any opportunity, with almost every blow being potentially fatal. Kameyama didn't dare use his Japanese sword to clash with the young man's large blade, after all, the momentum of that hundred-pound heavy equipment was not something he could withstand.

  Kameida felt tired, as he had been passively dodging and parrying, which consumed more physical energy. Just as he was distracted, the young man swung his large knife towards Kameida's lower body. Seeing the attack coming, Kameida hastily retreated backwards, and the young man followed up with a swing of his knife handle. Kameida used his Japanese sword to forcefully block it, but the young man took advantage of the momentum to swing his knife upwards from below. The blade swept over from bottom to top, and Kameida barely managed to retreat in time. The young man quickly closed in, swinging his knife handle upwards along with the movement of the blade. Kameida used his Japanese sword to press down horizontally, but it didn't make contact with the young man's knife handle because it had been raised to a height of three feet, and the blade had moved up to above the young man's head. The young man swung his knife in a reverse grip, "Looking back at the moon", and slashed downwards diagonally. This was one of the ultimate moves of swordsmanship. Kameida focused all his attention on deflecting the knife handle, but neglected to defend against the blade itself. Moreover, he had already exhausted himself from fighting against three powerful opponents, and had been wounded in the shoulder by the young man's large knife due to underestimating him. As a result, he was slower this time.

  A master's move is not something that can be slowed down casually, because it's a matter of life and death.

  The young man's knife gathered speed, power and ruthlessness in one go, sweeping to Kameida Shu's neck like lightning, then cutting across his throat, anterior cavity, and slanting out from his body. When the young man retracted his knife and jumped out of the circle again, Kameida Shu's head was separated from his body. His eyes were still staring at the young man in shock, refusing to close even in death.

  The crowd saw this scene and gave the young man a prolonged, thunderous applause. Song Renshi came over with an excited face, rubbing his butt, limping and said: "Well done, young man!"

  The young man wiped his nose with his thumb and gave Song Ruyu a proud sideways glance, saying: "My name is Liang Qingzhi, where are the Japanese pirates? Remember to tell me!"

  ……