More to it than What Meets the Ear
While Trailblazer Formation’s mental cultivation was a breathing method that could not grant combat powers, it did combat aging symptoms. Having learnt Ming Feizhen’s “Ancient King”, Tang Ye was quite capable of analysing mental cultivation systems. Had he not, he would not have identified the person who practiced the mental cultivation amongst the crowd, not that it was necessary to identify the one hundred people who practiced the discipline among the one hundred present. They claimed Night Fortress was a secretive group in Hangzhou’s martial arts community, yet there were a hundred of them sharing hot pot. The only person in sight who was not part of them was the waiter.
As he watched from the street, Tang Ye wondered if the group had inherited Ming Feizhen’s tradition of holding big banquets for three consecutive days followed by a small banquet over five days. He was concerned for Night Fortress when he heard Ming Feizhen could not get in contact with Hong Jiu, but his concern was evidently misplaced.
It took someone’s voice and a sudden spike in his threat-detection metre for Tang Ye to figure out what to do next.
“What are you here for, Buddy?” The brown-haired man showed up beside Tang Ye without warning, which meant that he cut distance as Tang Ye retreated without having to change his transit strategy.
Though he had his head down, the man dressed in plan attire that was commonplace as commonplace came had a visible tattoo face. Chang Biwan, also known as Six Yin Snake, vanished from prison while he was on death row and then never found again. If Tang Ye was to fight the swordsman in a fair fight, he would not have walked away unscathed.
“Who are you? Why are you spying?”
In a low voice, Tang Ye answered, “I was not spying.”
The moment he finished uttering the last word, Tang Ye sensed something prickly at the back of his head. Sensing danger, he coated himself in his cold and hot qis, then rotated out of the way. Somehow, the finger spear managed to penetrate his true qi armour. However, more concerning than Chang Biwan’s swordplay was that he was already in front of Tang Ye again.
Unbeknownst to Tang Ye, people were more vigilant of Chang Biwan’s bloodlust than his moniker. In his early years, Chang Biwan challenged people to duels to the death to improve his swordplay. Had he not been defeated and submitted to execution, he would have killed over a thousand warriors by this point. Placing an enquiry before attacking was already uncharacteristically merciful of him because he would have killed Tang Ye before the latter was even given a chance if it was prior to his apprehension.
Tang Ye utilised only 30% of his true qi to avoid losing control of it. Using palm techniques and one hand and employing finger techniques on his other hand, he managed to deflect Chang Biwan’s thrust enough that his opponent could not follow up.
Despite brainstorming several possibilities and lines, the uncertainty persuaded Tang Ye to not pick any of them. In the end, he coldly questioned, “Why did you attack me?”
“I’m not one for wasting his breath. You know why.” Chang Biwan emanated an imposing aura thanks to his fringe covering one of his eyes. “Men don’t have a need for many words. Would you really not know you’re spying when your eyes grow on your head? If you can’t explain yourself, you can explain yourself in hell.”
Tang Ye reactively retreated and depressed a shoulder before he could process the threat of a cold finger thrust, but he still gasped blood when he felt a thud to his chest. Chang Biwan, on the other hand, showed no emotional tremors as blood spilt onto his extended hand, which made it hard to detect his attack. Tang Ye never underestimated Night Fortress, but he did not expect just any random member would be so tough. Although he did not want to go all out against Ming Feizhen’s ally, he had no choice against an opponent of Chang Biwan’s calibre.
Chang Biwan made his move the moment he sensed a threat. Tang Ye immediately discerned the angle the next strike would approach from, prompting him to resist the pain of his true qi surging through his meridians to condense it externally from him, never expecting to be hit in six spots as if he had no defence to speak of.
“Ulterior motives are deserving of death.” Chang Biwan thrust his fingers towards Tang Ye.
“Brother Chang!”
The yell that came from the restaurant stopped Chang Biwan in his tracks.
“Wait…” the person within continued as he tried to catch his breath. “He’s one of us.”
Tang Ye realised he was saved from the moment he first heard the voice, but the more he heard, the more he believed there was more to it than what met the ear. He looked over to see four grown men supporting the speaker on his feet who looked as if he had aged several decades since they last met.
Tang Ye sprinted over and cried, “Brother Hong, your left arm!”
Hong Jiu, grimacing, patted Tang Ye on the shoulder. “It’s all for show.”
“…”
Hong Jiu heaved a breath at the heavens and, in a quiet voice, said, “It’s dangerous out here. Come inside first.”
There really was more than what met the ear!
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