Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The midnight election had just begun, but the camp of the Court Attendants Army was already showing signs of going wild.
Within two hours after the thirty or so officers had been taken captive, five highly skilled guards had mysteriously died. And shortly after Dhuta Kingkong carried their bodies away, another group of officers stormed into the tent and ‘snatched’ all the captives away. Throughout the whole process, none of the nearby soldiers had stopped anyone.
“They can’t have gone far. They must still be hiding in the camp.” Furious, Dhuta Kingkong sized up all the people in the Dragon King’s tent but found nothing immediately suspicious. “I know who the captives all are, and I’ll get them all back before the lords come in!”
Shangguan Fei was keenly aware that the relationship between the Dragon King and King Riyao Tusai had completely broken down, so he said in a sarcastic tone, “All right, the Dragon King has heard your promise, so go and get them. Alas, King Riyao only left for a short while and it’s already devolved into such a mess. You should really reflect on what happened.”
Dhuta Kingkong left in a fit of anger, though two of his men stayed behind blatantly to keep an eye on the Dragon King and others.
Instead of hiding from them, Gu Shenwei ordered people to hang up the tent flap and continued to practice the fist and palm techniques as if that was the sole purpose he had entered the camp.
The five guards brought by Shangguan Ru were all from the Norland and belonged to the Second Consort. They also joined in on the competition with great gusto. They hadn’t learned any fist or palm techniques so what they used were the wrestling skills of the Norland people which was more intense and better looking than hand techniques. The roar, which was a familiar sound to the prairie people, drew many nearby soldiers in until even the two observers of Dhuta Kingkong’s view was blocked.
From the soldiers’ point of view, hand-to-hand wrestling was obviously more interesting than the flashy kung fu moves of the Western Regions.
The guards filled up the house with their performance. The next person to get on the field was Red Bat. She had been drugged by the Indra Fragrance, and her internal energy, which had never been that powerful, had yet to recover. So she could only exert thirty or forty of her peak kung fu skills. Looking around, the only person who was neck and neck in combat power with her was Fang Wenshi.
Fang Wenshi had the nickname of ‘Head-shaking Military Counselor,’ and this time he shook his head the hardest he had ever. “No no, I can’t do it. I’m a scholar, so I can’t do such things. Besides, Red Bat is a woman…”
Red Bat smiled. “Does Counselor Fang look down upon women? Then I’ll have to ‘consult’ you regarding a few questions.”
Fang Wenshi’s heart palpitated with nervous excitement at Red Bat’s smile. Fortunately, he still knew his own capabilities and so he shook his head. “I really can’t do it; it’s too hot today…”
Old Man Mu poked Fang Wenshi in the thigh, and the white fatty immediately bounced to Red Bat in a few steps as if his feet were on fire.
“Red Bat, the Counselor has used his ‘Jumping Skill’. Please get ready to receive his next blow.” Old Man Mu could only seek to squeeze out a little bit of fun with these little pranks.
The contest was a farce that made everyone laugh. In the face of an exotic beauty with a cool demeanor, Fang Wenshi steeled his heart and temporarily put aside his identity and dignity as a counselor and dashed at the other side like a hungry tiger.
The same move was used more than a dozen times, but not even a corner of Red Bat’s clothes was caught. Instead, Fang Wenshi had gone through more than a few somersaults. He sat on the ground, gasping for breath, wiping away his sweat while shaking his head. “I give up. You guys are just making fun of me. Counselors should only compete in minds and not in strength. Let’s have an idle talk. There, I’ll fight all of you myself.”
Not many of the onlookers understood what ‘idle talk’ was but they roughly knew that it was about using one’s tongue rather than one’s fists, so they broke into a raucous laughter.
Throughout the fight, Monk Lianqing had been talking with Shangguan Ru in a low voice, but now he stood out and loudly declared, “Dragon King, do you want to learn my Formless Prajna Palm?”
Gu Shenwei’s interest was roused by that proclamation but at the same time, he didn’t reveal any thoughts. Shangguan Ru had figured it out herself.
Shangguan Ru smiled a bit embarrassedly. She had managed to persuade the monk to teach the palm technique but didn’t expect the other side would bluntly bring it up in public.
Instead of disguising his desire, Gu Shenwei also frankly said, “The monk’s palm technique is really profound. I’d very much like to learn it.”
Old Man Mu jumped between the two. “Wait a moment, you said that the monk’s palm is profound. Are you saying that this Old Man’s fist technique is not as good as his? I’m not convinced!”
“It’s different. The Jade Pure Sect is good at using internal energy, and the Four Noble Truths Temple has better combat moves, each with their own advantages. But all I want now are the best moves.”
Neither of the two agreed with the Dragon King’s comment. Lianqing and Old Man Mu shook their head at the same time. One said, “Anyone can learn the moves but the key has always been directing the internal Qi. The Dragon King doesn’t grasp the essence of the Formless Prajna Palm.” The other said, “The martial arts of the Jade Pure Sect are extensive and profound. The Five Hole Punch is just one of them, and there are still many more subtle moves.”
At first, the two’s words were aimed at disproving the Dragon King. After a few words, they started arguing with each other. As their anger grew, they finally started debating about the differences between Buddhism and Taoism. Even Gu Shenwei could not understand what they were saying. Fang Wenshi was the only one who could get a few words edge-wise but that just added more fuel to the fire.
Shangguan Ru stopped the boring argument. “There’s no result in debating. It’s better to have a kung fu competition to decide the winner.”
Fang Wenshi felt a bit disappointed that they were going to fight again. Lianqing and Old Man Mu, however, both agreed that that was the best method. The two retreated three steps and were ready to make a move when loud noises came from outside.
“There’s a fight outside?” Old Man Mu’s eyes lit up, but he stopped just as he was about to jump out. He didn’t want to be charged with insubordination in front of the Dragon King.
“Shangguan Fei, go and see what’s going on. And hurry back,” Gu Shenwei ordered. “Let’s continue the competition.”
Old Man Mu looked up at Lianqing contemptuously. “Monk, the loser has to admit that his sect’s kung fu is not as good as the opponent’s. Do you have the guts to agree?”
Lianqing couldn’t bear the instigation and snapped, “All right, let’s each represent the Four Noble Truths Temple and the Jade Pure Sect to see which one is better.”
Gu Shenwei had fought with both of them before and knew their abilities well. Although Old Man Mu’s internal energy had been greatly reduced, his kung fu skills were still first-rate. Lianqing, who had become a monk midway, had only practiced the advanced martial arts skills for only several years and was quite inexperienced compared to his opponent. So Gu Shenwei cut in, saying, “I want to add an extra rule.”
“What rule?” asked both men simultaneously.
“I’m looking for a palm or fist technique that focuses more on the moves, so you two should not use your internal energy when you fight.”
“How can we fight like that?” The one to object was actually Lianqing. “If we don’t use our internal energy, the martial arts skills will become showy and impractical like… the fatty’s brawl with the woman.”
Old Man Mu agreed with the monk at heart but what he actually said, “The Four Truths Temple’s kung fu is nothing without internal energy, but our Jade Pure Sect is different. We have both internal and external components of our kung fu to deal with all kinds of challenges.”
The two were about to start arguing again. Gu Shenwei interrupted, “All martial arts moves naturally won’t exert their full power without any internal energy, but this is a game. Let’s add a few restrictions to increase the difficulty. Without using any internal energy, the one to hit the other three times first will be the winner.”
“All right.” Lianqing thought for a while and finally agreed.
“What if we accidentally use it? Sometimes it’s like a natural reaction and really hard to control,” Old Man Mu asked.
“That’s what the so-called ‘adding some difficulty’ is; the one who uses internal energy will be the loser.” Red Bat echoed the Dragon King’s words.
Old Man Mu frowned and thought hard, trying to think of a kung fu skill that had unique moves and could impress the monk and the Dragon King while still winning the match.
Shangguan Fei trotted back, smiling with a gloating expression. He had found out the reason for the noise. “It’s ridiculous. That Baldy… Kingkong had seemed so important when he was organizing the competition, so how could he become an idiot so fast after he became backed by a lord?”
Dhuta Kingkong was eager to make a contribution but the soldiers of the Court Attendants Army refused to listen to him. So he ordered dozens of King Riyao’s bodyguards to search the area. Seeing that his manpower was still insufficient, he had privately made a decision to assign a thousand guards of the lord to take part in the operation.
And so, hordes of silver-armored knights had rampaged through the camp, breaking into every tent to check.
“Dhuta Kingkong has offended all the officers and soldiers. The officers were first to make a move, then the soldiers, as they all dragged down the many horsemen of King Riyao and beat them brutally. All of their armor was stripped off, and the rest of them retreated and did not continue searching. Look, I’ve got one here.”
Shangguan Fei produced a shining white wristguard and looked at it in the lamplight. “Huh, it’s silver-coated.”
Old Man Mu suddenly jumped up and cried out, “I’ve got it. Monk, take this.”
This fight was not dangerous at all so everyone looked on passively. Only Gu Shenwei watched on without letting any detail escape him.
Lianqing was still using the Formless Prajna Palm. As an onlooker, Gu Shenwei found that the monk had told the truth. On the surface, the style of this palm technique appeared quite impressive and powerful but what really made it stand out from other palm techniques were the subtle changes in the move. A casual feinting palm attack might immediately turn into a real deadly blow if combined with the peculiar internal energy.
Without using any internal energy, the speed of the movement had slowed down a lot which made it easier to observe and predict.
But there was no big mistake in Gu Shenwei’s judgment either. The moves of the Formless Prajna Palm did have a unique feature. Even without the support of internal energy, one could still exert seventy or eighty percent of its full power.
Old Man Mu used a fist technique that he had never shown before, which looked very complex. There were more than ten changes in almost every move.
The external martial arts of the Jade Pure Sect had been modified a lot by Old Man Mu and become insidious and vicious, which correspondingly had a higher requirement for the degree of unity in the practitioner’s internal energy. Without the support of one’s internal energy, it was like pumping water without a well, and the power would be greatly reduced.
Several moves later, Gu Shenwei was more convinced that Lianqing’s palm technique was his first choice.
Although Old Man Mu’s moves were quite swift and subtle, it could only be used by a little man. Gu Shenwei suspected that this was originally a tumbling shadow fist technique that specialized in attacking the lower body. Old Man Mu had gotten rid of the tumbling routine to adapt it to his own size.
Without internal energy, Lianqing obviously had the upper hand. The only problem was that the enemy was too short, causing him to have some trouble locking onto the target.
Old Man Mu was a bit anxious now. He didn’t want to lose to a common monk of the Four Noble Truths Temple so he began to change his moves as the fight went on, regardless of the origins of the martial arts skills as long as they were comfortable to use. This made his moves look more dazzling and won him lots of applause but the practical effects were actually worse.
After exchanging more than forty moves, the two hit each other once. Then Lianqing cornered Old Man Mu and hit the other side for a second time as expected.
No one knew how Old Man Mu turned the tables. When there was no place to retreat to, he suddenly appeared behind Lianqing, hit his opponent twice with moderate force before he leaped to the Dragon King and shouted, “I won.”
“You’ve used your internal energy, so you lost,” Red Bat smilingly said. Although she didn’t know how he had done it, she knew very well that Old Man Mu must have used his internal energy in his last move to get away.
Old Man Mu shook his head like Fang Wenshi while saying, “I used my internal energy on my feet, not my fists. Strictly speaking, I haven’t violated the rules so I’m still the winner…”
Old Man Mu’s lame arguments were refuted by everyone, and even Shangguan Fei refused to take his side this time.
The crowd was arguing furiously when a soldier came in from outside the tent. “Can anyone participate in the contest here?”
“Everyone is welcome,” Gu Shenwei replied. He didn’t expect that the wing guard Silver Condor would come to his door for a second time so soon.
