The puppet and Ma Chaoqun became entangled in battle. When Ma Chaoqun’s treasured blade landed on the puppet, it would only leave behind a deep mark and produce a metallic resonance. The wood that went into making the puppets of mohism was all thousand-year ironwood, treated and cured with special methods. As such, ordinary wood could not be compared to them. Although Ma Chaoqun had the support of a Vitality talisman, he was forced back.
“Senior brother, what do we do?”
Senior brother Song’s expression finally changed slightly. He could take out a few more mid grade talismans, but that was far too wasteful. With a great swish, he rushed out of the carriage and kicked off the roof of the entrance, rushing into the sky. He soared over the open square like a great bird.
He completely ignored Ma Chaoqun and the others below. He landed on the hall and kicked off it again, directly shooting towards the dim room that Li Qingshan occupied.
The people of the jianghu on the square had never witnessed such agile movement techniques. They all raised their heads, dumbfounded.
Yu Zijian cried out, “The sixth layer!” She had come into contact with a lot of the common knowledge of Qi Practitioners during the time she had spent in the Clear River city. She knew exactly how terrifying sixth layer Qi Practitioners were, so she immediately began to worry for this uncle Niu of hers. She rushed into the hall.
Senior brother Song rapidly drew closer. He bent and curled his finger, and the heavy, wooden door shattered. He immediately spotted a huge figure with a large, bamboo hat in there with his back towards him, as if he had not sensed him.
There’s no one this burly among the three mountains! Senior brother Song immediately reached this conclusion and launched a vicious strike towards the man’s back. True qi surged.
“Uncle Niu!” Yu Zijian was rushing over as well. When she saw this, her beautiful face paled and sorrow welled up from the bottom of my heart. It’s all my fault. Uncle Niu is going to be killed by this baddie now.
The joy that had just surfaced on senior brother Song’s face vanished, as not only did the man remain there, but he did not even waver from the strike. He continued to drink alcohol from the bowl in his hand. The true qi senior brother Song emitted only seemed to go to waste. It failed to harm this man at all. This was the first time he had ever encountered something so strange!
“W- who are you?”
Li Qingshan suddenly turned around. There was a scarlet flash within the darkness under the brim of his hat. Senior brother Song wanted to pull back, but it was already too late. Li Qingshan’s arm, which was basically twice as long as a regular person’s, reached out. His hand—the size of a dustpan—enveloped Senior brother Song, gripping him by his neck.
Senior brother Song felt like metal chains had wrapped around him, without any hope of him breaking through. As long as the hand tightened slightly, his neck would snap, and he would be reduced to a corpse.
All Yu Zijian saw was uncle Niu finally standing up. His colossal figure was filled with unbelievable power, and his head was close to touching the ceiling. He took a step, and the ground shook, plates falling from the table. After taking a step, he pulled his arm back and yelled, “Call me Niu Juxia!” Then he tossed out senior brother Song like he was throwing a javelin.
TL: If you translate Niu Juxia literally, it would mean colossal hero Niu. It’s a comedic spin on great hero Niu.
With a swish, senior brother Song vanished. He even smashed through the roof, causing a few tiles to fall to the ground loudly.
All the people on the square saw was the figure leaving faster than it had come. It sailed through the air along a curved trajectory and hit the ground outside loudly. Senior brother Song’s mouth hung open unknowingly. Clearly, that Niu Juxia inside was much more vicious than he was.
“Senior brother, senior brother, are you alright?”
Senior brother Song was dazed from the fall, but he was protected by true qi, so he was not injured. Instead, he had been well and truly frightened. Who was that giant man? He actually felt like he could not even put up a fight before him. If that giant man wanted to kill him, he would have been dead already. Senior brother Song was truly afraid that he would suddenly change his mind, so he said hurriedly, “Go, let’s go!”
They completely disregarded Ma Chaoqun. They boarded the carriage immediately, raised the horsewhip, and took off. They scampered out of Salt Mountain city.
Yu Zijian looked at Li Qingshan in a daze. In that moment before, the light from outside landed on him, illuminating his simple face that had been hidden by the shadows.
His face was much younger than she had expected. He gave off a natural sense of power. His lips were slightly pursed as he radiated with a dignified aura. She was confident she had never seen a face like that before, but the familiar feeling only deepened instead of dispersing.
Is this fate? A strange thought suddenly crossed her head, which made her leap in fright. How is that possible? Isn’t this fate a little too big?
“Thank you, un… Niu Juxia!”
Li Qingshan returned to his bench and pressed down his hat. “There’s no need to thank me. You better go check on your father!”
Yu Zijian turned around and returned to the hall. The square had fallen utterly silent now. Everyone looked at her, as if they wanted to unearth the secret of this Niu Juxia from her.
Ma Chaoqun was ashen. In his eyes, senior brother Song was a lofty existence even with the entire Pheasant’s Grace mountain in perspective, yet he had actually been defeated in a single attack, unable to even launch a counterattack. The Vitality talisman on him dimmed and lost its effect, while the puppet soldier locked onto his arm firmly, pushing him to the ground.
Yu Shukuang said, “Is there anything else you want to say?”
Ma Chaoqun struggled desperately. His face was twisted. “It’s just like last time. It’s just like last time. It’s not because of my inability, but because of your despicable cheating! If you have the balls, kill me! The Pheasant’s Grace mountain will definitely avenge me! They’ll massacre your entire manor!”
Yu Shukuang suddenly laughed aloud, but this was not out of complacency as the victor. Instead, it was filled with bitterness and self-deprecation. “I really don’t understand. You’re ugly, and your personality’s a little extreme. You were only slightly better at martial arts than me. Just which part of me paled in comparison to you? Just why did Zi’er fall in love with you?!”
Ma Chaoqun said, “W- what did you say?”
Li Qingshan was surprised. Since when were there women who would poison the person they liked?
“Because she knew that if I won, I wouldn’t kill you, but if you won, you’d definitely kill me, which was why she went forward with that. She had once told me in person that she would marry you, the madman, regardless of the outcome of the battle. Before the battle had even begun, I had already lost.”
“But I refused. I wanted to prove to her that even if I have to die for her, I would not mind. But she just couldn’t accept me dying for her. How could she accept anyone dying for her?” When Yu Shukuang reached there, tears began to roll down his cheeks helplessly as well.
Ma Chaoqun was stunned. She had once tried everything to convince him to not have the battle with Yu Shukuang, but it only affirmed his belief that she had fallen in love with someone else. He was utterly furious, and he was determined to kill Yu Shukuang.
Yu Shukuang continued, “After the match, you left without saying anything. She was filled with regret. Although she married me with no other choice, she passed away heartbroken just a few years later.” Ever since then, he began to grow his beard, swearing to never take another woman. He focused all of his energy into raising Yu Zijian.
Neither of the two young and stubborn men were willing to take a step back, so the woman could only do what she could do, but it was all in vain.
Ma Chaoqun suddenly understood now. That kind-hearted woman had never betrayed him. It was he who had become blinded by envy and doubt. At this very moment, he suddenly wished she had actually fallen in love with someone else so that she could obtain everything she wanted and remain in this world happily.
“I was the one who hurt her!”
