“Song Yi, Song Yun, Ling Chixia, Stinkin’ Monk Huijing and you are… Jin Wangshou?”
“It has been a long time… Third Master Bai.” Jin Wangshou, a haughty man roughly forty years old, lowered his face as he met eyes with his long-time rival.
“What tricks did you use to…” Bai Zhiqing cut himself off.
Lady Bai opined, “They are all injured in some capacity. If they weren’t poisoned, they must’ve been defeated in battle.”
The captives all lowered their heads upon hearing Lady Bai’s soft voice.
Hai Yecha: “Hahaha, these eyesores abuse their family privileges to do as they please. We didn’t use any poison or ploys. We soundly crushed them in fair duels. Seven Champion White Princes, ‘champion’ of what?”
“Song, Jin, Mount Lu, Cold Mountain Temple descendants have been captured. What is Fiends’ Genesis up to? Have they managed to gain support of someone with power? Are they really planning to be the godfather of the martial world?” mumbled Bai Zhiqing. Unable to find answers to his queries, Bai Zhiqing subsequently questioned, “What are you capturing descendants of the Seven Champion White Princes for?”
“You spoilt people who grew up with silver spoons your ancestors worked for don’t scare us. We don’t have a grudge with you. We just need tributes to welcome our master. We could make do with troops from other clans, but your Valley of Yearning is the most deplorable, so we won’t have vented until we capture you, Bai Zhiqing.”
“Hoho, we’re carrying out personal vendettas in the name of official duties now, huh?”
“Whatever you say.”
Vivianite could just stand there in the audience stands to be a distraction. Therefore, Bai Zhiqing felt extra apprehensive when he knew Vivianite was targeting his beloved wife. Only he and his wife could match Darkcloud and Squall Demons among those present. At best, they’d barely edge out a win against the duo with Vivianite distracting them. Nevertheless, Bai Zhiqing didn’t want to regret getting his wife hurt in his gamble.
Though Hai Yecha was ecstatic to sense Bai Zhiqing’s hesitation, he pretended to not care. “I know what you’re worried about, but you don’t need to worry. Let’s do this: we’ll send out one person to duel against you. One match and the result is final. If we lose, we’ll walk back down the mountain. If we win, you’re coming with us.”
Bai Zhiqing didn’t fear a duel. Thing was, he was currently compromised. He didn’t have the confidence to out-skill Vivianite, either. Since his wedding, this was the first time he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“Flipping Jiang Chen!” Bai Zhiqing cursed.
Jiang Chen was the brains of Fiends’ Genesis. Without him, even if Hai Yecha could command the operation on his own, there was no way he had enough weight to hire the likes of Vivianite and Mount Wu’s duo.
“Third Grandpa Bai, why are you frowning? I can take care of this trivial issue for you.” Hong Jiu sauntered up to Hai Yecha, stopping six metres away. “Ol’ Hai, let’s have a chat.”
Shocked, Master Qi went after Hong Jiu to whisper, “What do you think you’re doing when you’re still healing?”
Hong Jiu looked over his shoulder and beamed. “Don’t worry.”
Master Qi absentmindedly nodded.
Master Qi: Wait, what would I be worrying about? You’re the one who should be worry.
Hai Yecha smirked. “Fine. We’ll chat right where we’re standing.”
“Why so cautious? They say even turtles can triple their size if they have a bigger heart.”
Frankly, Hai Yecha was quite annoyed he had to fight another verbal war after finally leading Bai Zhiqing into abandoning a numbers’ war. “We have no fear of fighting. That said, I am speaking to Patriarch Bai at the moment, so respect the pugilistic world’s rules for a moment.”
Hong Jiu: “Hahaha, rules, your stinky foot. You know his wife is hurt, yet you had an assassin try to assassinate her. Write your rules onto a sheet of paper. Scrunch it up into a ball, and then shove it up your rear. You’re just afraid Patriarch Bai gives the order for all his disciples to charge.”
Despite Hong Jiu exposing him, Hai Yecha continued, “Not bad. You’re right. Doesn’t Patriarch Bai also have his qualms? Everyone here can testify I offered him a fair duel with one of our comrades.”
Yeah, like hell you’d offer a fair one-on-one duel.
“What do you mean? That guy carrying scrap iron over there tried to assassinate Lady Bai. The midget and malnourished tree there tried to jump Patriarch Bai. You come to Valley of Yearning and tell Valley of Yearning what to do? Who do you think you are?”
“So?”
“You can mindlessly get into fights, but you can’t mindlessly make enemies. If we’re talking pugilistic world rules, we can’t take this insult lying down.”
“And? What are you going to do about it?”
“So we’ll do as you did. A one-on-one duel? Accepted. Under pugilistic world rules, where the stronger man has the final say? Accepted. However,” Hong Jiu showed three extended fingers, “best out of three. Your team will be the three I just mentioned.”
Hai Yecha frowned. “Why should I accept?”
Given the three Hong Jiu mentioned were the strongest elites, Hai Yecha planned to send out Vivianite if Bai Zhiqing accepted the challenge. Thing was, Jiang Chen didn’t provide him with only those three for the mission. Accepting Hong Jiu’s proposition was the same as shooting himself in the foot.
Hong Jiu grinned, then went up to a big rock and caressed it. For whatever reason, his grin turned into a bright smile. “I thought you’d have realised I did something unbelievably stupid. I’m feeling excited.”
“Whatever it is you want to say, spit it out already. What are you acting all mysterious for?”
Hong Jiu kept caressing the top of the rock while mumbling, “They say Fiends’ Genesis’ sense of camaraderie is strong. I wonder if that’s true.”
“What?”
“I thought you knew about my epic victory. Three days ago, I went one on one, blow for blow against Drought Demon. I dropped him with a palm strike straight down on his dome.”
Despite being shaken, Hai Yecha laughed and replied, “Even if he did lose to you, he’d be hunting you down in less than three days. Keep that energy up when he visits.”
“Ahahaha!” Hong Jiu’s voice shook the tree leaves off their branches, startling elites and nearly knocking out amateurs. When they were wondering when it’d cease, he abruptly stopped and, in a sonorous voice, rhetorically questioned, “You think you have a solid body, but I don’t have the power to flatten a mountain?” He chambered both hands, then extended one into a palm attack – Use Not the Submerged Dragon – cracking the rock and sending it zooming into the distance.
Mount Wu’s duo stepped forward to intercept the rapidly-spinning rock. Unexpectedly, the rock broke into two, flying left and right from its original trajectory, which was where Mount Wu’s duo were standing. In spite of the rock being half of its original size, the two parts flew with even more force as a result of their amplified speed. As they didn’t expect the rock to target them all of a sudden, as well as fly faster, their momentum was still travelling forward – straight toward the rocks. Darkcloud promptly threw a heavy punch; Squall used flowing hand movements to redirect the rock’s direction. Though Mount Wu’s duo managed to fend off the attack, their arms were numb, indicating the rocks had more force behind them than they anticipated.
Lady Bai, nestling in her husband’s arms, looked over to Hong Jiu and smiled, expressing praise. “Dear, his internal strength is commendable. I would go as far as to say that he is above you, but it doesn’t seem to be Mount Daluo’s system.”
While Lady Bai was a far more dangerous fighter compared to her husband, Bai Zhiqing was more knowledgeable than her on martial arts. He took her hand and explained, “He learns a mixture of disciplines, namely Beggars Sect, Shaolin and Mount Daluo’s internal disciplines. He was born without the woe of ever being lousy at martial arts. When I treated his injuries, I checked on his meridians, and I can say that his internal energy is over twice as potent as mine. “
Knowing Hong Jiu wasn’t just provoking him but also making a statement, Hai Yecha’s nerves bundled up.
Hong Jiu retracted his arms, then asserted, “That’s what I hit Drought Demon with. Without Mount Daluo’s proprietary pill, I guarantee he won’t make it past the 7th next month.”
“… So what do you want?”
“In consideration of our numbers, the inevitably protracted fight and casualties, I propose we meet up here again in three days’ time with your three against our team of three. You win, and you can do as you please with Patriarch Bai and I, plus a pill for Drought Demon. If you lose, you’re to never set foot in Valley of Yearning again.”
“… The majority of Valley of Yearning’s elites are overseas, so they can’t make it back in three days. You think you can win with your current forces?”
“Hahaha, it’s only fun when nobody’s victory is guaranteed. Else, I might as well send a letter to Beiping.”
“Hmph, who do you think you’re scaring.” Of course, Hai Yecha was actually worried Hong Jiu sent a request for reinforcements. What were his chances if Hero Shenzhou or Ming Huayu came over? There were more benefits to waiting out the three days than not. Pretending to be reluctant, he responded, “All right, accepted. We’ll be back in three days. An honest man’s word…”
“… is as good as his bond!”
Hai Yecha departed with his forces once they agreed on a time, to which Hong Jiu cackled over. Once they were gone, Hong Jiu dropped.
Glossary
A Gentleman Raises His Whip – Means that someone is ready to get to work.
