Chapter 1243: [Bullying Others Too Much] (Part 2)

Zou Yong's palm gripped the bowstring tightly, the bowstring red, the fletching white; at this moment the skin on the back of his hand turned as pale as snow, and as force poured in, the skin of his palm took on a translucent hue, with faintly visible blood vessels.

The distance between them had closed to within five zhang, the arrowhead's red light flared.

Hu Xiaotian already sensed that Zou Yong's arrow would be extraordinary; he dared not be careless. The qi in his Dantian Qi Sea surged wildly, flowing through his meridians into both arms. The Wind-slashing Blade in his hand instantly flared with blade-light; the blade became crystal-clear, its fish-scale patterns shimmering like a hidden dragon straining to break free from its cocoon. Hu Xiaotian gripped the hilt tightly, intending to control this mighty blade-qi about to erupt—even he could not predict how tremendous its destructive power would be.

Zou Yong pulled the bowstring back another half inch, drawing the bow to its limit, his strength reaching the extreme; an arrow of unprecedented power was ready to be released, yet he had no confidence in his heart.

At that critical moment, a thin, small old man appeared like a ghost before Zou Yong.

Zou Yong focused entirely on preparing a life-and-death strike against Hu Dafu, not noticing the old man's appearance; Hu Xiaotian also kept his attention on Zou Yong, failing to see the old man arrive. By the time he spotted the old man suddenly appearing, it was too late to withdraw his blade—a blade-light two zhang long shot from his sword, slashing toward the old man. The old man blocked Zou Yong, blocking his desperate arrow; in his hand was merely a plain black wooden bow, simple and unadorned, a plain black wooden bow with uniformly black bowstring, yet no arrow on the string.

The old man casually drew the black wooden bow. He let loose a false shot—*twang*—the bowstring's vibration was not loud, yet it felt like a whip lashing the point of Hu Xiaotian's heartbeat, making his inner self tremble inexplicably.

The blade-light instantly reached a zhang before the old man, but it was as if it struck an invisible wall; light and shadow shattered. The killing intent vanished instantly, clean and clear.

The old man stood before Zou Yong, blocking for him a falling mountain that seemed to cover the sky and earth. Zou Yong felt the near-suffocating sensation suddenly ease; his steps grew unsteady as he retreated three paces, staring ahead in lingering shock.

Hu Xiaotian had already fallen to the ground; the light of his long blade dimmed in an instant. The killing aura spreading around him also weakened considerably.

The old man's face was expressionless, like his plain black wooden bow; his ancient-well calm eyes stared steadily at Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian unexpectedly showed a caution and calm never seen before tonight; his earlier impulsiveness and domineering attitude vanished without a trace. He did not press the attack, but slowly returned the Wind-slashing Blade to its sheath, smiling at the old man and saying: "Senior, your archery is astonishing. Though many are skilled with the bow, only one can reach the realm of controlling qi as arrows. If I am not mistaken, you must be Master Tang of the Falling Cherry Palace."

The old man had his identity exposed by him, yet his expression showed not the slightest change: "Among the younger generation, few can achieve blade-qi control; FengXingyun is one such. Your blade technique is inferior to his, but your inner strength far surpasses his. From your blade technique I can tell you have not practiced the blade long; you formerly practiced the sword." His gaze flicked to the long sword at Hu Xiaotian's waist: "You use the blade to conceal your true sword art; old man, I now roughly know who you are."

Hu Xiaotian's heart startled—old ginger is spicy; Tang Jiu Cheng indeed proved formidable, seeing through his blade lineage at a glance. He kept his composure: "Master Tang, your virtue and prestige are high; with your stature you would not arbitrarily make an enemy of a junior without cause. This is my private grudge with Zou Yong; please, sir, do not intervene."

Tang Jiu Cheng's face remained expressionless, impossible to tell if he was angry or pleased: "Zou Yong's affair is my affair; I owe him a favor."

Hu Xiaotian chuckled: "Few could make Master Tang owe a favor—very well! Since Master Tang has stepped forward, I cannot refuse you this face." His gaze swept past Tang Jiu Cheng's shoulder to fix on Zou Yong: "Zou Yong, out of respect for Master Tang I will spare you today—but as long as the Grand Princess does not return, our grudge cannot be settled. If anything happens to the Grand Princess, I will make you pay with your life."

With Tang Jiu Cheng backing him, Zou Yong's courage grew considerably; he sighed: "Hu Dafu, why do you press so hard? You know in your heart that the matter of Xue Lingjun has nothing to do with me."

Tang Jiu Cheng whistled from his mouth; a short arrow shot forth without warning, piercing the throat of a Golden Scale Guard. The arrow's construction was odd—only an arrowhead, no fletching. After passing through that guard's throat it continued drifting slowly in the air, hovering three chi from another guard's throat without releasing. That guard panicked and hid everywhere, but no matter how he dodged, the arrow clung to him like a shadow.

The Golden Scale Guard cried out in terror: "Mr. Hu, save me……"

The scene before him shocked Hu Xiaotian immensely; his inner strength might not be inferior to Tang Jiu Cheng's, yet achieving that elder's ability to command arrows from afar still lacked considerable practice. This man truly deserves to be master of the Falling Cherry Palace—his archery has reached a realm of divine unpredictability.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Master Tang, you truly open my eyes. If Zou Yong possessed even a tenth of your skill, I would hardly dare to oppose him; sadly his archery is utterly feeble. He has stirred up countless troubles abroad, and now he has abducted the Grand Princess. Once this gets out, who knows how many experts will come seeking his misfortune. If Master Tang wishes to keep him safe, he may have to stay by his side day and night."

Tang Jiu Cheng heard the threatening implication in Hu Xiaotian's words; he clearly meant that he could not constantly guard Zou Yong, and any lapse would allow him to act against Zou Yong. Tang Jiu Cheng blinked; the short arrow aimed at the Golden Scale Guard suddenly seemed to lose its support, falling to the ground.

The Golden Scale Guard turned in circles before the Gates of Hell, already scared witless; now seeing the short arrow finally leave him, the stone in his heart finally settled—but even so, his legs could no longer support his weight, and he collapsed with a thud.

Tang Jiu Cheng calmly looked at Hu Xiaotian and said: "There are many ways to keep a person safe; for example, I could eliminate everyone who wishes him harm."

Hu Xiaotian laughed loudly: "If you had that ability, Zou Yong wouldn't be anyone's catamite; he should long ago have become Prince of Bohai!"

Hu Xiaotian's remark made Zou Yong's face change; even Tang Jiu Cheng's composure felt a jolt in his heart.

Hu Xiaotian smiled at Tang Jiu Cheng and said: "I do not like to make enemies, but no matter how strong a sect, its energy is limited; the only one in Falling Cherry Palace I would fear is you alone. In a fair duel, even if I cannot defeat you, I still have some chance to escape alive from beneath your arrows. If you are set against me, go ahead—I fear not using a hundred men to take down one of your Falling Cherry Palace. Does your palace have a thousand followers? With a hundred thousand men I could wipe your Falling Cherry Palace from the world—surely not difficult."

Tang Jiu Cheng had never seen such an arrogant youth, yet Hu Xiaotian's words gave him an unprecedented sense of heavy pressure; the opponent might speak boldly but perhaps could not follow through—no matter how mighty a sect, it cannot rival a dynasty or state. Who exactly is this person? Could it really be him? Tang Jiu Cheng's lips curled into a smile for the first time: "The young are formidable; if you dare to act against Zou Yong, I will not mind clashing with the entire Falling Cherry Palace against your hundred thousand troops!" Though he would not yield, speaking thus as Tang Jiu Cheng already lowered his status to Hu Xiaotian's level, showing he now regarded Hu Xiaotian as a worthy opponent.

Hu Xiaotian nodded: "You kill one of mine, a life for a life! Brothers, carry away the corpses—I want to see whether this tiny Bohai Kingdom still has royal law!"

Tang Jiu Cheng watched Hu Xiaotian's party depart without any obstruction; Zou Yong's face turned as pale as paper, and only when Hu Xiaotian's figure vanished from sight did he exhale as if a burden had lifted. Looking up again, Tang Jiu Cheng's slender silhouette had already disappeared.

Zou Yong ordered his men to clean up the messy scene, then hurried back to his residence, the Lock Spring Pavilion. Reaching the small building, he climbed the stairs to the third floor, where he saw Tang Jiu Cheng's solitary figure standing silently at the railing, gazing far into the distance, still tracking the departing Hu Xiaotian and his entourage.

Zou Yong bowed deeply to Tang Jiu Cheng and said respectfully: "Your son pays his respects, Father!" It turned out he was Tang Jiu Cheng's eldest son, Tang Jing Tian.

Outsiders all believed Tang Jiu Cheng had only two sons: the elder Tang Jing Yu and the younger Tang Jing Fei. Tang Jing Fei, for seducing Lin Jin Yu's elder sister-in-law, killed Lin Jin Yu's elder brother; later Lin Jin Yu killed him. Moreover, Lin Jin Yu stole the Falling Cherry Palace's treasury treasure, the "Shooting Sun True Classic"; to this day that classic remains missing.

Tang Jiu Cheng's pair of white eyebrows knitted together; he whispered: "How did you provoke this demon?"

Zou Yong replied: "I have not provoked him; he came of his own accord to provoke me. Fortunately Father arrived in time, otherwise I would likely have died beneath his blade."

Tang Jiu Cheng said: "He did not intend to kill you; he simply has not yet reached the point of freely releasing and retracting blade-qi. If I had arrived a step later, you might not have been able to withstand his blade-qi."

"Has he already reached the stage of projecting blade-qi?" Zou Yong obviously still felt apprehensive.

Tang Jiu Cheng said: "He is not using blade technique, but sword technique! Among the younger generation, I have only heard of one who can project sword-qi—and even that one is intermittent."

Zou Yong seemed to think of something: "Hu Xiaotian?"

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