Chapter 1610: Life-and-Death Struggle (Part 1)

Hu Xiaotian's foot had not yet kicked into the snowball when it burst apart; Gangbala's figure reappeared, and he grabbed Hu Xiaotian's right foot in one swift motion. Hu Xiaotian remained calm despite the sudden change, thrusting his great sword forward at close range toward Gangbala's face.

Gangbala held Hu Xiaotian's right foot with his left hand, while his freed right hand grabbed the sword's blade. Seeing a large opening in Gangbala's chest, Hu Xiaotian raised his left fist and struck at his chest.

His fist struck Gangbala's body but felt like hitting an iron plate; Gangbala's expressionless face showed no change. The instant he caught Hu Xiaotian's attack, his whole body lunged into Hu Xiaotian's embrace—indeed, this monk had adopted a close-quarters wrestling style.

Hu Xiaotian had never seen any expert use such a close-quarters fighting style; their limbs tangled together, they rolled together in the air and crashed heavily onto the snow. In this situation, Hu Xiaotian's great sword was useless, so he dropped it and hammered Gangbala's face with his free left fist, delivering two heavy blows. Yet Gangbala showed no reaction; although Hu Xiaotian's punches could shatter stone, Gangbala seemed to have steel tendons and iron bones, feeling no pain, and his combat ability remained unaffected even after repeated strikes. His legs coiled around Hu Xiaotian's body, his arms locked around his torso—like the roots of an old tree.

Hu Xiaotian had never been in such intimate contact with another man in his life. After tumbling onto the snow, they rolled down the slope, tumbling head over heels. To avoid serious injury, Hu Xiaotian imitated Gangbala, curling his body as much as possible. Thus they clung together like a ball; as they rolled down the slope, snow piled onto them, enveloping them in a giant snowball centered on them.

The Black Hu experts, led by the Black and White Double Corpses, saw the situation suddenly turn like this and hurriedly gave chase from behind.

Xia Zhangming, who had been observing the battle from the air, also panicked, commanding the Snow Eagle and the Flying Eagle to closely follow the huge snowball.

The snowball grew larger as it rolled, with Hu Xiaotian and Gangbala alternating positions on top and bottom. Whenever Hu Xiaotian got a chance, he pummeled Gangbala's body. Gangbala, however, remained unchanged, simply clinging tightly to Hu Xiaotian, his grip growing ever tighter. Hu Xiaotian felt the air in his lungs about to be squeezed out; all around was darkness, and even his hearing faded—not because his eyes or ears were faulty, but because they were completely enveloped by the snowball. He could no longer attack; this was the most embarrassing battle of his life, like a boxer caught in a wrestler's hold. Though he possessed considerable skill, he could not exert his strength.

While the two tangled inside the snowball, outsiders had no idea what was happening inside; they only saw the huge snowball bouncing and jumping. The Black Hu experts cried out in alarm. Familiar with the terrain, they knew that not far ahead lay Broken Bone Cliff, over a hundred zhang high, and the snowball was rolling at great speed. It seemed about to reach the cliff's edge; if it fell over, even Gangbala's formidable martial arts would likely shatter him to pieces.

In desperation, Hu Xiaotian secretly circulated his profound skill, figuring that using the Great Void Technique once more would be no harm if it could free him from this predicament; otherwise, failing to drain the monk's inner energy would mean endless entanglement. Given their close proximity, it was an ideal moment to employ the Great Void Technique. Hu Xiaotian seized the opponent's pulse gate with his right hand; his Dantian Qi Sea had already formed a massive void vortex, attempting to draw inner energy from Gangbala's body. No matter how hard he tried, the opponent's meridians seemed completely sealed, allowing not a trace of energy to enter. Hu Xiaotian muttered inwardly that something was amiss—this monk's cultivation differed entirely from that of the Central Plains, and the Great Void Technique had no effect on him.

The massive snowball had already rolled to the cliff's edge, and the Black Hu experts shouted in alarm, but no matter how panicked their cries, it was already too late to stop the snowball from falling over the cliff.

The snowball bounced on the cliff's edge, lofted a short distance upward, then plunged straight down, falling with the flying snow to the base of the cliff.

Although Hu Xiaotian was inside the snowball, he could still feel the sudden weightlessness; his heart sank as he thought, "Oh no—have we fallen off the cliff?"

Just as the huge snowball landed, a dark mass of clouds rose from below the cliff—but it was not clouds; it was the Flying Eagle that had arrived in time, spreading its wings and using its back to support the massive snowball. Though brave, the Flying Eagle could not bear the weight of such a huge snowball, yet it at least buffered the snowball's downward force.

Boom! The snowball exploded from within; the Flying Eagle let out a terrified cry as an upward shockwave hurled it downward, separating it from the two above, and a large swath of feathers on its back were shaken loose and scattered.

After the snowball burst, Hu Xiaotian and Gangbala, still wrapped within, were flung back into the flying snow. Hu Xiaotian finally saw his predicament clearly; he was on the verge of calling out for his mother, but he didn't because Gangbala's hard head smashed brutally into his nasal bridge, the impact filling his vision with flashing stars. His right hand happened to slip free from Gangbala's entanglement; he raised two fingers and thrust them hard at Gangbala's eyes. Gangbala promptly shut his eyelids. Hu Xiaotian had thought he could pierce the eye sockets, but his fingertips met a rubber-like resistance—flexible and impossible to penetrate. This monk's hard-body skill was truly astonishing.

Gangbala tilted his head back again, attempting a second headbutt against Hu Xiaotian. Hu Xiaotian felt hot liquid streaming down his nostrils—not mucus but blood. He could not let Gangbala succeed again; another blow would likely disfigure him. He lunged forward, pressing his face against Gangbala's. At first glance it looked like they were kissing, but in reality they were locked in a life‑or‑death struggle.

The Flying Eagle swooped in again. Although the earlier blast from the snowball's explosion had given it some minor injuries, it was remarkably perceptive, knowing that if it allowed its master to fall like that, he would likely be smashed to pieces. This time it did not try to bear their weight with its body; instead, it approached from above, its massive talons reaching out to seize Gangbala's head—since the two were entwined, grabbing one meant grabbing the other.

If an ordinary person's head were caught in the Flying Eagle's talons, even the skull would likely be crushed, yet Gangbala remained unharmed. Seeing Gangbala's head held by the eagle, Hu Xiaotian thought his chance had come; he lifted his head and, imitating Gangbala, struck with his forehead at the monk's nose. The impact felt like hitting a stone, leaving him dizzy and seeing stars. He cursed his bad luck—practicing this hard-body art, dueling head‑to‑head with him was nothing but asking for trouble.

Although the Flying Eagle could not inflict real harm on Gangbala, its talons obstructed his vision, forcing him to free a hand to try to grab the eagle's legs. Hu Xiaotian feared he might injure the eagle, so he quickly seized Gangbala's wrist. They were now only about ten zhang above the valley floor; the Flying Eagle slowed their descent, and Hu Xiaotian shouted, signaling it to withdraw.

The Flying Eagle, highly perceptive, understood Hu Xiaotian's intent, released Gangbala's head. Hu Xiaotian, worried that Gangbala might butt him with his head, immediately pressed his face against the monk's again, and the two, still entwined, fell from a height of about ten zhang to the snowy ground below.

This time Gangbala was underneath, Hu Xiaotian pressed on top of him. The impact of their fall from over ten zhang was considerable, blasting a huge snow pit into the valley floor. Beneath the snow lay a small lake, and the force of their impact cracked the ice on its surface.

Hu Xiaotian heard the crackling of breaking ice; Gangbala's back lay flat on the ice surface, naturally feeling it more clearly than Hu Xiaotian. Face to face, lips touching, Hu Xiaotian's nosebleed stained Gangbala's face. After the monk's repeated blows, Hu Xiaotian had no leisure to worry about disguising himself—his features had returned to their original appearance. At such close range, each saw the other plainly; Gangbala's eyes showed surprise mixed with a hint of fear.

Hu Xiaotian keenly caught the fear in Gangbala's eyes, wondering what he was afraid of. The monk's martial skill was not inferior to his own, yet Hu Xiaotian could not draw out his inner strength; close‑quarters combat was supposedly the monk's forte. Logically, Hu Xiaotian should be the one feeling fear—why was Gangbala afraid? The cracking of the ice grew louder and clearer, and the layer beneath them began to tremble.

Suddenly a glimmer of insight flashed in Hu Xiaotian's mind: Could it be that this monk doesn't know how to swim? Is he afraid of water? Noticing the fear deepening in Gangbala's gaze, Hu Xiaotian grew more convinced of his guess. Gangbala tried to throw Hu Xiaotian off his back to escape the pressure—so the saying goes, "ten years east, ten years west." Though not yet a decade had passed, in just a moment their mindsets had completely reversed: earlier Gangbala had clung to Hu Xiaotian unwilling to let go, while Hu Xiaotian struggled desperately; now it was Hu Xiaotian who held fast to Gangbala and refused to release him.

The more Gangbala struggled, the greater the force on the ice beneath him—with a crack, the ice finally gave way under the pressure from above, splitting completely. Their bodies plunged through the opening into the freezing lake below.

Xia Zhangming had also flown to hover above the small lake. Having seen Hu Xiaotian land safely, he breathed a sigh of relief and was about to go help, but he hadn't even gotten close when the two fell from the lake surface into the ice hole; for a moment he didn't know what to do.

As expected, Gangbala could not handle water. He had trained his body in hard‑style kung fu, achieving steel tendons and iron bones that repelled blades and spears, but he knew nothing of watercraft. Plunged into the icy lake, all he could do was hold his breath. Hu Xiaotian, by contrast, was like a fish in water—though he too was freezing cold, once he reached the lake bottom Gangbala no longer dared to grapple with him. (To be continued…)