Chapter 5: The Way of the Fish

Gritting his teeth hard, Hu San’s eyes turned bloodshot. Under the astonished stares of two old bandits nearby and the confused glances of new recruits, Hu San crouched low and darted out of the forest, vanishing into the night as he quickly approached the battlefield.

Suppressing the heart pounding in his throat, his first move was to approach a fallen bandit. In Hu San’s eyes, the longsword in the dead man’s grip was exactly what he needed; he’d been eyeing it for a long time.

The night was thick, the forest dense, and Hu San’s small frame kept him far from the core of the melee—circumstances that let him slip to the corpse without much risk.

His hands shaking, he rolled the body over to reveal a pale, bloodless face smeared with mud. Hu San recognized this bandit; once so arrogant and fierce, he now looked utterly devoid of life.

The ashen face was twisted in terror at death, the once ferocious features now almost comical in the firelight.

For reasons he couldn’t name, as he stared, the fear within Hu San faded away, replaced by a surge of laughter so strong that, had he not restrained himself, he might have burst out laughing then and there.

“So this is all a life amounts to. Such a vicious man, yet at death’s door he’s reduced to this. Is killing truly this simple?”

A faint smile crept across his lips. Hu San set his fingers on the sword’s hilt, paying no mind to the corpse’s lingering spasms, and pried open each clenched finger, one by one.

Every snap of a finger breaking sounded sharp in the night, and with each crack, Hu San felt his nerves steady and his vision clear.

When all five fingers had snapped and their sounds echoed in his mind, he grasped the light longsword, drew a deep breath, and felt as if he had been reborn.

“Well, well, a ruthless one! If the boy survives, he’ll surely amount to something!” Bandit A, who had watched Hu San’s actions in a daze, sighed. After Hu San finally took the sword, the bandit couldn’t help but speak up.

Bandit B nodded knowingly. “A pity though. He’s offended Longbow Zhang—he won’t live long. And even with a sword, what good will it do here? I reckon he’ll die on this battlefield before Longbow Zhang even makes a move.”

“It’s a savage battlefield. Even men like us have our heads hanging by a thread—what chance does a weak little brat have?” Bandit A nodded in silence, his face tinged with regret.

While the two chatted idly, Hu San’s initial excitement over the sword faded. Though it seemed light, it weighed five or six pounds—enough for him to swing briefly, but not for any wild slashing. The battlefield was deadly, even veteran bandits perished in a blink; Hu San hardly fancied himself more capable than they.

Excitement dulled, caution returned. He crept along the edge of the fight, searching for a suitable target.

Suddenly, not far off, a member of the Sky’s Edge gang staggered and tripped during a duel, falling forward. His opponent, a Wolfheart Mountain bandit, paused only for an instant before slashing the fallen man’s back.

The Sky’s Edge bandit rolled desperately away, oblivious to the terrain, desperate only to evade further attacks.

From Hu San’s vantage, he saw the Wolfheart bandit’s next blow miss, blocked by another Sky’s Edge man leaping from the crowd.

The Wolfheart bandit, frustrated as his prey slipped away to recover and rejoin the fray, didn’t notice that the Sky’s Edge bandit had rolled right to the feet of a child.

To his astonishment, before the bandit could react, the child seized a longsword with both hands and drove it straight down through his chest.

Sweating and pale, the boy’s face flushed with a sickly red as he clung to the sword’s hilt like a koala, pinning the bandit to the ground.

“Well done, boy!” the Wolfheart bandit managed to exclaim, but his attention was quickly drawn by the new foe. The Sky’s Edge bandit who’d come to help was startled by his comrade’s death and the boy’s ferocity, but dared not be distracted, focusing all his effort on the fight.

There was no question—the child was Hu San.

At the edge of the battlefield, Hu San panted heavily, staring into the bloodshot eyes of the dying bandit beneath him, watching the man’s body convulse, his breath falter, and a line of blood trickle from his lips.

Moments later, the Sky’s Edge bandit breathed his last, his eyes wide open in disbelief at dying at the hands of a mere child.

Breathing hard, Hu San struggled to his feet, yanked out the sword, and stabbed the bandit’s chest several more times, only lying back when he was sure his foe was dead.

He flexed his aching arms, a little surprised at how much effort his first kill had taken. After a while he recovered, and when he looked at the corpse again, his feelings had changed. Killing was truly so simple; it hadn’t needed such force.

With this insight, Hu San rose and searched for another target. This time, he was lighter and craftier with his blows, yet still dispatched his next victim thoroughly.

Ordinarily, a boy like Hu San, preying on the wounded and weak, might survive at first by being overlooked, but once noticed he’d be doomed. Yet as he moved among the corpses, risking death at every moment, he began to feel as though he’d become a fish.

Yes, a fish.

The scattered bodies around him were reefs on the ocean floor; the battling bandits, the great fish of the sea, locked in their own war. Strangely, though he’d never seen the ocean, the scene felt oddly familiar, as if he were a small fish hunting for scraps amid two warring schools.

The night deepened, mountain winds howled, torches flickered, and the dim moon hung above—a storm-tossed ocean, and Hu San the newborn fish within.

Unconsciously, his movements began to mimic those of a fish—his steps lighter, his actions more nimble.

The corpses strewn about became not obstacles, but aids and fortresses. Darkness, wind, shifting firelight, and uncertain moonlight—all became tools at his disposal.

Immersed in this state, Hu San managed to kill six bandits before drawing any attention. His efforts began to tip the once evenly matched battle.

A savage roar shattered his trance. “Boy, do you have a death wish?”

A hulking bandit with a spear charged at him like a mountain.

Yet the fear that would once have gripped Hu San held no power now. Though he was no longer in that strange state, the lessons lingered. He was no fool, and after that almost otherworldly experience, something had changed.

As the brute lunged, Hu San twisted around a boulder with uncanny speed, brushing past him like smoke.

The spear, driven with all the bandit’s might, slammed into the spot where Hu San had stood. Off balance, the brute crashed into the shaft, the impact knocking the wind from him, stars dancing in his eyes.

“So this is how the step works—it wasn’t clear before, but now I understand. Since I learned it as a fish, I’ll call it Fish Step.”

“But why did I become a fish? Was it eating all that fish by the deep pool the other day? Or was it something else?”

Now fully aware, Hu San realized the power of Fish Step. In the heart of the melee, he was still just a child easily crushed—but at the edge, in open ground, he now had the strength to protect himself.

Perhaps, more than just to protect himself.

Hu San spun behind the gasping bandit like a wisp of smoke. Seeing the man stagger, he slid the longsword across the exposed Achilles tendon.

A howl of agony rang out; the bandit collapsed, and Hu San stepped in, slashing his throat. The cut was not perfect, but it tore through the windpipe—a death sentence in these times.

Breathing out, Hu San felt a surge of excitement at slaying a true bandit by his own hand. He did not know the origin of Fish Step, but with it, and with battle, he was gaining the power to survive.

With Fish Step growing in strength, Hu San hefted his sword and prowled the battlefield’s edge. The weaker bandits there were perfect for honing his newfound skill.

He was certain: once Fish Step reached its full potential, he would no longer fear Longbow Zhang’s threats.

Having claimed his first trophy, the spear-wielding brute, Hu San’s confidence and skill grew quickly. From then on, the Sky’s Edge bandits at the fringes found themselves in dire straits—a careless step, and a sword flashed to sever an ankle bone. Any who tried to chase down the culprit were dispatched among the corpses by that deadly child.