Su Xiao himself was surprised he had such an easy time dropping the guy, let alone expecting the others to have seen how he pulled it off. Su Xiao only intended to stop the attack; he never expected the guy to be in so much agony.
Ouyang Xiong, equally shocked, exclaimed, “How dare you attack first!” and then tried to catch Su Xiao with a palm strike. While his speed wasn’t extraordinary, the wind he generated from his hand was enough proof that he was a legit fighter.
Ye Luo pressed her fingers together to furtively help Su Xiao out, only to suddenly hear two cries before a big body flew past her eyes. The first cry came from Su Xiao, who was still standing where he was. The second cry came from Ouyang Xiong, who was now some distance away.
Just as with his previous foe, Su Xiao saw Ouyang Xiong move in slow motion. To avoid harming Ouyang Xiong as he did against his previous foe, Su Xiao only intended to push Ouyang Xiong back, never expecting to send the latter reeling without losing any ground when their hands connected. Su Xiao stared at his hands in confusion. It wasn’t just his power. Even his sight and hearing had been amplified noticeably.
Finally regaining his footing, Ouyang Xiong fossilised in horror. Upon making contact with Su Xiao’s soft hand, he felt a wave of energy shunt him back. He instantly planted his feet and tried to mould energy, but his dantian hurt. Therefore, he gave away eight steps. Alas, not even that was enough to dissipate the oncoming energy. Had he not been training to reduce the impact of force from childhood, he would’ve flown out the door and be diagnosed with an internal injury.
Ye Luo didn’t have the foggiest idea what Ouyang Xiong was aiming for. Su Xiao’s classmates only knew Ouyang Xiong wanted to pick a fight with Su Xiao. Su Xiao, god forbid he knew what Ouyang Xiu wanted.
Nobody was aware that Su Xiao’s counter had already surpassed the capabilities of Yijin Jing’s second layer. In other words, he reached the third layer faster than Ming Feizhen did and would be among the three fastest learners of Yijin Jing. His energy feedback happened faster than the brain could process. His developed meridians allowed him to store and mobilise a greater volume true qi. Since his qi travelled faster, he saw things in slower motion than before. In the past, he needed to rely on wielding his broadsword to direct energy in order to bring out 50% of the possible power in a technique. Now that his tendons and bones had developed further, as well, he no longer needed a medium to achieve the same result.
Ouyang Xiong entered the clinic again, though not with the same hubristic attitude.
“What do you want from me?” questioned Su Xiao.
“We… We… are here for Su Xiao,” answered Ouyang Xiong.
“I am Su Xiao. What do you want from me?”
Ouyang Xiong desperately tried to recall all the information he learnt before responding, “You… are Liu Shan Men’s Su Xiao?”
“Yes.”
“Then, are you not supposed to be a man who’s not very strong?”
Su Xiao flicked up a thumb. “You have good judgement.”
Good judgement, my foot! You’re a formidable lass!
“I am surprised someone as formidable as you would be standing by given Liu Shan Men’s plight. We, as students of Daren Academy, are duty bound to serve the p-”
Zhou Teng, He Shi and Wu Dayong wagged their hands. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“Despite your indifference, on account of our acquaintance, I am here to share some advice.”
Wu Dayong: “Yeah, yeah, Li Muye bullies the weak. You people bully everyone.”
Su Xiao: “Wait, what do you mean by Liu Shan Men’s plight?”
Ouyang Xiong didn’t expect that response from Su Xiao, so he asked, “You’re not informed? Liu Shan Men is in big trouble. The entire office has been vandalised. Surely you have heard about it?”
“What?!”
***
It all started at Liu Shan Men’s Vermillion Hall.
Wearing a bright-red uniform, Song Ou smugly played with his beard and squinted his eyes. He said to the person standing in front of him, “Hmph, you used to be Yiren’s lackey.”
“No, no, no, I am your subordinate,” argued Zha Pi, wagging his hand. “From the day I walked through Liu Shan Men’s doors, I was your subordinate, Captain. Everyone knows that he must faithfully serve in his post once he enters employment under an official to the death, and everyone knows Liu Shan Men’s captain is none other than you. It was wrong for Shen Yiren, Ming Feizhen and those fools to oppose you.”
Song Ou beamed as if he just dipped into a hot spring. “You are very right. Forget it. Let bygones be bygones. Reform yourself and follow my instructions from now.”
Zha Pi bowed. “I am your spear. Wherever you point, I shall stab. I am the brick at your foot. Wherever you need me, I shall move to. Should you tell me to go west, I shall never go east. Should you tell me to beat a dog, I will never target a chicken. Where in the world can we find a place without grass? For dinner, let us have s-”
“Enough, enough. Leave me. I have a job in two days’ time; I will summon you then.”
“Thank you, Captain!” Zha Pi strolled out of Vermillion Hall with the face of a soldier ready to go down for his country. As soon as he stepped outside, he ran into a hostile group.
“Hey, where’s Song Ou?!” brayed Lei Bao.
“Insolence! How dare you address the captain by his name?!” Zha Pi shouted back.
“Save me the b.s. Either you tell me where Song Smalldong is, or you can experience being ripped apart.”
“Listen here: even if you dig out my brains, sizzle, sizzle it in a pan of sizzling oil, I will never tell you Captain is right inside this building behind me!”
“Ah, I see!” Lei Bao booted the door open and marched in with his men.
Watching on from outside, Zha Pi yelled, “He’s not there! He’s not there! I swear the guy sitting in the chair isn’t him!” He stuck around to listen to furniture breaking, flesh banging on flesh and Captain Song’s cries of pain. Feeling bad for Song Ou, he took out a few peanuts from his pocket to snack on. “Nothing to do again today. Let’s go home.”
