Five Exchanges (Part 3)
Ming Feizhen: There’s not much time left.
While the deal was five exchanges, it didn’t mean that Elder Lianhua had to wait for the fifth to drop Ming Feizhen. She could’ve ignored the unwritten rules of a match between an elder and a young individual to go all out right from the commencement. So, technically, he might’ve only had one chance. She wasn’t the Yan brothers or Wu Ping; she wasn’t going to reveal her skills in front of him and give him time to think of countermeasures.
In all the time Ming Feizhen had been eavesdropping, he never heard any piece of information that provided insight into her skills. That was the reason he decided to bait her with his life. Even then, it only provided him a glimpse of one technique, and it was one that didn’t have much behind it, signifying the fact that it wasn’t her specialty. When she fought Yuan Kou, she used commonly taught joint-locking techniques; however, she was proficient enough to reach a stalemate against him when he was serious.
Following an inhale, Ming Feizhen adjusted the status of his muscles. An extensive period of food and water deprivation, fatigue from having his collarbone pierced, the arm injuries sustained while, taking down Wu Ping, all these accumulated factors did a number on him. That was his problem, though, not his opponent’s. As he meditated with his eyes clothes, he revised the information he gleaned on Elder Lianhua and analysed whatever he could.
Just as Ming Feizhen was studying the eighty-year old elder, she watched him. Ever since she laid her eyes on him, Elder Lianhua was sure of two things: one, he wasn’t very old. Two, he was a hazard.
Elder Lianhua would’ve remained retired if it wasn’t Jiang Chen who requested her aid. Growing up alone, her determination and diligence were the source of her accomplishments in the martial world. The only time she ever owed anyone was when Jiang Chen lent her a hand. She had kept a clean slate for the first half of her life, and she intended to keep it that way until her last breath.
Most of the adepts Jiang Chen hired were under the impression that it was easy money. Fiends’ Genesis’ new headquarter truly was covered well compared to their erstwhile base, never mind the numerous contraptions that provided a sound security system. In the unthinkable event that someone could locate their base, unless the intruder was of Lai Jingzhen’s calibre, there was no way they were getting in. Even if they managed to go that far, there were plenty of secret passages for Fiends’ Genesis’ members to escape from. Elder Lianhua was the only individual to believe it was a high-risk job, a belief rooted solely in the fact that it was Jiang Chen who recruited them.
When Jiang Chen still used his Gongsun surname, he was more handsome, more imperious and stronger than now. Had Elder Lianhua not seen him with her own eyes, she never would’ve believed such a man existed – even with eighty years of life to speak on – yet he was soundly defeated. Of the three times she witnessed his defeats, his loss during Fiends’ Genesis’ downfall wasn’t the worst. Jiang Chen’s worst defeat was when his ambition put the future of the country in the balance.
Nobody was ever lucky in Jiang Chen’s affairs. No degree of solid growth counteracted the inherent risks. The mercenaries here disliked Elder Lianhua for they interpreted her attitude as her being a diva. Their attitudes toward her convinced her even more that her decision was right as they couldn’t see what she could see.
Frankly, despite her hearing being superior to many others, Elder Lianhua didn’t possess magical senses that could expose Ming Feizhen’s lies. Wu Ping’s master would likely believe he was Wu Ping. She lied when she said she could see discrepancies between Wu Ping and Ming Feizhen’s internal disciplines. If Wu Ping truly was injured, then he would more or less be in the exact state Ming Feizhen was in.
Mayhap it was her age. Mayhap it was her time living in seclusion. Whatever it was, it honed Elder Lianhua’s senses. Honestly, she didn’t need her hearing to detect something off. For her, it was akin to distinguishing between the sun and night. Perhaps not even Ming Feizhen was aware of what she was aware of.
Wu Ping was ordinary; he didn’t leave much of an impression. On the other hand, this “Wu Ping” was comparable to a moving body of darkness. Wherever it went, it would unsettle people, visiting their stomach as a sick feeling and chilling their spine. As a matter of fact, he felt more dangerous than Jiang Chen. The danger he posed didn’t need to be mentioned or proven. It was so great that it should’ve been visible to the naked eye. Seeing him was the same as seeing the danger level of Jiang Chen’s job.
“You said five exchanges, so what are we waiting for?” scathingly asked Elder Lianhua.
Ming Feizhen slowly opened his eyes to see the gaze of somebody ready to go down with him if necessary. That was the most troublesome type of foe. “I’m not waiting for anything, but… we seem to have a guest. Why not show yourself after coming all this way?”
“Oh, you noticed me, Brother Wu?” The mature man ambled out in his perfectly-maintained scholar robe.
Without looking behind her, Elder Lianhua asked, “Young master Ouyang, why are you here… instead of outside?”
“Hahaha.” Ouyang Xiucai saluted Ming Feizhen and Elder Lianhua. “While this one is not on patrol, he could not resist the allure of the many interesting places at this new base. He did not expect to see a few brothers lower the eight doors, so he ended up confined here. Nevertheless, it is but only a trivial matter. Are you two about to fight?”
Yan Jiangnan nearly gasped aloud when he saw Ouyang Xiucai.
Anybody with a vested interest in the pugilistic world would recognise the name Ouyang Xiucai. Having returned from the Western Regions not too long ago, he started establishing himself in the north. Because he was good as he was bad, he had enemies from orthodox and unorthodox factions just as he had friends from both sides. If there was one thing both sides could agree on, it was that he wasn’t somebody to underestimate. Jiang Chen hired him for a reason. If there was one another thing they could all nod to, it was Ouyang Xiucai’s wayward temper.
“Hahaha, Brother Wu, if you don’t show some of the advanced techniques from ‘Melancholic Swordplay’, the elder will not spare you.”
Ming Feizhen: “That certainly is the case.”
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