Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 62: The Butcher Dissects His Body, Ah Xiao Intercepts the Wolf (Please Read Further)
“Ah! Help me!”

Xie He was splattered with the blood of his personal servant, and his legs trembled uncontrollably. He didn't have the strength to run away, and could only let out a piercing wail.

The Xie family's elite members who had accompanied him on the mission were also thrown into chaos by the bombing.

Even holding knives and guns cannot bring them any sense of security.

Their mission targets are at most a few ship temples and a few temple keeper. They have done this several times before and after the New Year. There have never been any naval guns among the hypothetical enemy!
But the Xie family still has some foundation.

The ship's cabin burst open, and a cook dressed as a pastry chef rushed out amidst the rumbling cannon fire.

He covered himself and Xie He with a white cloth used for steaming noodles.

Strange to say.

The whistling cast iron shells, the sharp splinters of wood flying everywhere, and the flying flesh and blood would inexplicably deflect at bizarre angles or even pass right through them once they got close.

The cook, hiding inside the bundle, kept chanting incantations.

It wasn't like a traditional Taoist incantation; instead, it sounded more like a folk rhyme. He sang:

"Old Zhang, let me ask you, where is your hometown?"

"My home is in the center, thirty li away from the filling. When a diner takes a bite, a stone tablet appears, which reads: 'This place is indeed thirty li away from the filling.'"

Customers often encounter unscrupulous owners who betray them when they eat steamed buns. The buns are all skin with no filling, and you can't see the filling even after taking several big bites.

In fact, this is the specialty of the pastry chefs in the kitchen branch: a universe within folds, a world within a foot!
When diners can't find the filling, besides the owner being unscrupulous, another possibility is that they've encountered a master chef playing in the mortal world.

"Young master, come with me!"

While desperately using his best skills to protect Xie He, the seventh-rank cook Qiu Zhushui dragged him towards the cabin.

Those who can serve as chefs for important figures are usually the most trustworthy people.

This cook was a servant of the Xie family, whose ancestors had served the Xie family for generations and were extremely loyal.

In the Xie family, which now has only a handful of members, he is now the last remaining official.

Even though Xie He was usually arrogant and eccentric, he always showed great respect to this elder in the family.

At this moment, the saying "You can offend anyone but the cook" is elevated once again.

"Change to shotgun shells and spray the deck. Take out that cook!"

Zhang Wu, the first mate, stood at the hatch and relayed Wang Cheng's orders to the gunners on the lower gun deck:
"Switch to shotgun, lower the muzzle, and sweep the deck!"

Apart from a small number of crew members who needed to operate the ship, most of the crew went to the lower gun deck to operate the larger 12-pounder cannons.

Upon receiving the order, he immediately and swiftly switched to a shotgun, which was extremely lethal to personnel.

This type of shell was essentially made by binding many lead bullets or small iron balls around an iron rod using a tortoise-shell style rope technique, making it one of the earliest cluster shells.

Then, using a pry bar, they lifted the breech of the cannon, lowered the muzzle, and cleaned the deck from above on the towering sailing warship.

The countless iron balls transformed into a death storm the moment they left the gun.

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!
With cannons firing simultaneously, there was no blind spot on the entire deck.

Qiu Zhushui is just a mere seventh-rank chef. Although his unique skill is amazing, how long can he hold out?

In this turbulent Age of Exploration, the fleets of ships and cannons were almost invincible. Even the highest-ranking ghosts and gods dared not confront them head-on, for the consequence of fighting to the death was that they would truly die!
"Young master, jump!"

The cook, Qiu, was blinded by the dense fog and did not see the attacker.

But after two rounds of shelling, they had a clear understanding of the situation and quickly led Xie He to turn around and jump into the sea from the other side, which was not under attack.

With a flick of his other hand, he pulled a sharp dagger from his scabbard and plunged it into his chest without hesitation.

He emerged from the space between heaven and earth and entered the space between heaven and earth with ease, deftly cutting off a piece of his own liver.

A crimson magical light emanated from the blade, and with a soft gnawing sound, the piece of liver vanished rapidly. Qiu Zhushui, on the other hand, was flushed and glowing as if he had been injected with chicken blood.

The two men covered several meters in a single step, running faster and faster across the sea, gradually becoming two hazy shadows. This was a strange technique the cooks had learned from their ancestor, the Butcher Ding, called the "Butcher Ding's Body Dissection Technique," which involved sacrificing a part of one's body to greatly enhance one's cultivation level in a short period of time.

Because the liver can regenerate, it is one of the most regenerative organs in the human body.

Afterwards, as long as one takes some high-quality elixirs made by a "physician" and a "Taoist alchemist," one can recover completely, naturally making them the most cost-effective sacrifice.

The legendary skill of Butcher Ding in dissecting his own body has been turned into a regular skill by many chefs.

It is said that when the big thugs in Zhigu fight each other, they like to use this trick the most, without shedding a drop of blood.

"Put down the small boat and chase after them with me!"

By this time, the merchant ship had been riddled with bullets, and Wang Cheng could not allow his two main targets to escape.

Both sides were initially traveling along the coastline, and if one wasn't careful, they could easily escape ashore, making it difficult to catch them again.

He jumped into the sea first, borrowed the "turtle head body", and chased after it while riding on the crest of the wave.

Behind them, Zhang Wu, Zhang Wen, and others were preparing to launch a more maneuverable small boat to follow closely.

Bang!
Chef Qiu and Xie He, however, stumbled into a milky white mist that suddenly appeared on the sea surface.

Then the white mist expanded and contracted, and drifted away, skimming the surface of the water.

Wang Cheng, who had already caught up quickly, instinctively thought that there were accomplices waiting for him, and immediately shouted:
"Stop! Leave him here!"

[Brain Eye] immediately captured three blurry figures in the fog.

His right hand suddenly lashed out in mid-air.

A hidden dragon in the sleeve!

Dragon's Claws Probe!

The sword-drawing technique was as fast as lightning; the incomparably sharp blade light condensed into a single line, ready to cleave the mist and the people hiding inside in two the instant it was drawn.

clang!
The next moment, Wang Cheng did not feel the smooth sensation of cutting through muscle and bone; the precious sword Chiwen was blocked by another sharp weapon.

In a fleeting glimpse through his "eye in his mind," he saw what appeared to be a radiant silver hairpin held by a slender, white jade hand—or more accurately, a strange weapon that resembled both a hairpin and a knife.

"Are these three hairpins from Minzhou?"

The three-pronged hairpin is an exclusive adornment for women in Minzhou, serving as both a hairpin and a short sword for self-defense.

This small weapon led to the development of an external sword training technique exclusively for female officials: the "Jiang Yan" (Swift in the Courtyard).

The techniques are fast and dangerous; when mastered to a high level, one can even glide briefly while wielding two hairpin-shaped knives, leaping between the sails of warships as if flying.

The opponent's attack speed was indeed extremely fast.

After the blades clashed instantly, a line of silver light suddenly bounced off and gently pecked at the side of Wang Cheng's blade, deflecting the precious sword Chiwen.

A corner of her silver-white skirt swayed like a flower, and her long, powerful legs suddenly sprang up, whipping towards Wang Cheng's head with a sharp whistle.

Whoosh!
With a sudden, swift movement, Wang Cheng retreated like a wisp of smoke, but did not seize the opportunity to retaliate.

Through a brief exchange in the fog, he finally saw through the fog and recognized his opponent.

With delicate features, fair skin, and an aloof and stunning beauty, her silver-white dress made her seem like a fairy descended to earth.

Her stunningly beautiful heterochromatic brown and blue eyes, like the finishing touch on a painting, added a touch of humanity to the serene beauty, proving that she truly belonged to the mortal world, rather than a fairy sister who could ride the wind and return at any moment.

When I looked at her in my mind's eye, the luminous scales on her cheeks and arms that were gradually fading away added to her strange charm.

Wang Cheng blurted out:

"Sister Axiao, what are you doing here?"

This unexpected obstacle that intercepted Xie He was none other than A Xiao, the temple keeper of Lady Yan, whom he planned to visit first!
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(End of this chapter)