Chapter 446: [Chaotic Battle] (Part 2)

Zhu Dalì said: "Literary contest it is, you go first!"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Let's agree beforehand, if we don't finish these three punches, whoever moves is the grandson! I'll strike first, if I don't finish my three punches and you dare to move, you and your brother are both my grandsons; when you strike back later, if you don't finish your three punches and I move, I am your two grandsons."

Zhu Dalì thought for a moment, feeling he might be at a disadvantage, so he nodded and said: "Good!" He planted his horse stance firmly on the spot, his feet stomped heavily, crack crack, and two pieces of blue stone were shattered under his feet.

Hu Xiaotian secretly sighed, destroying the cityscape so openly, yet no city officials came to intervene—what era is this! He loosened his muscles and bones, and Qiqi came to his side and whispered: "Can you do it?"

Hu Xiaotian whispered to her: "When I strike later, be ready to flee at any moment, run backward."

Qiqi blinked her eyes, seeming to have understood.

Zhu Dalì was already impatient, urging: "Is it over or not?"

Hu Xiaotian smiled, walked over slowly, and raised his fist.

Zhu Dalì shouted loudly: "Come on!"

Hu Xiaotian took a deep breath, leapt out like a leopard, raised his right fist and smashed it into Zhu Dalì's lower abdomen; the momentum of this full‑force punch was quite terrifying. Hu Xiaotian still had some confidence in his martial arts, and at the same time hoped Zhu Dalì was a showy but weak opponent, perhaps he could knock him down with a single punch.

Only after Hu Xiaotian actually struck did he realize this possibility simply did not exist; his fist hit like striking an iron plate—though the momentum was terrifying, upon hitting the target the opponent's body didn't move a bit, and the recoil made his own arm sore all over.

Zhu Dalì hehe laughed: "Kid, tickling you? Come again!"

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought: Not good, no wonder Zhu Ba sent this brute out—this person's external training kung fu is quite formidable. Let alone three punches, even if I threw thirty punches it might not affect him.

Hu Xiaotian subtly signaled Qiqi, raised his fist again, Zhu Dalì focused his mind and breath, waiting for his second punch to land, but Hu Xiaotian feinted a circle, went around Zhu Dalì and rushed straight toward Zhu Ba in the crowd. Capture the leader first, Hu Xiaotian weighed the situation in his mind: although the enemy was numerous, this bunch of beggars should be a rabble; as long as we seize the leader Zhu Ba, we could control the overall situation. Pull one thread and the whole body moves. Once he acted, it would inevitably cause a shift in the enemy's camp, giving Qiqi a chance to escape.

At the moment Hu Xiaotian acted, Qiqi had already turned the horse's head, the cold light in her hand flashing. She drew out her concealed dagger and stabbed it lightning‑fast into the horse's rump; the chestnut horse, stabbed by the dagger, cried out in pain, let out a mournful whinny, raised its four hooves, and charged toward the alley mouth.

Two broken carts stood side by side blocking the intersection; the chestnut horse, heedless of pain, rushed toward the two broken carts, trying to use its body to smash the carts open. More than ten beggars raised their dog‑beating sticks, pointing the tips at the chestnut horse—puff! puff! puff, the sound of the tips piercing the horse's flesh never ceased. But Qiqi had long been prepared; at the instant the horse was stabbed, her body leapt from the horse's back, performed two consecutive flips in mid‑air, and landed already outside the encirclement, then she fled without looking back.

Seeing Qiqi escape successfully, Hu Xiaotian felt relieved, but immediately was occupied by unprecedented pressure; dozens of beggars glared at him tiger‑like. Although Hu Xiaotian had succeeded in drawing the enemy's attention, he knew he could not possibly capture Zhu Ba in the crowd—he had only rushed out two zhang before being blocked by the surging beggars, a forest of dog‑beating sticks pointed at him, trapping him in the middle.

Zhu Dalì let out a furious yell, turned and walked toward Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian burst out laughing: "Zhu Dalì, I've only punched you once and you already moved—just as we said earlier, you and your brother are both grandsons."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Dalì suddenly remembered his earlier promise; his feet instantly planted firmly on the ground, he did not want to be anyone's grandson.

Zhu Ba, however, was not as easily fooled as his brother; he sneered: "Brother, no need to waste words on this petty man—let's all go up together and beat him hard, let even his parents not recognize him."

Hearing the order, the beggars roared and charged at Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian shouted loudly: "Everyone stop! I am an imperial official; whoever dares to move against me is committing contempt of the sovereign!" Qiqi had already escaped danger, Hu Xiaotian no longer feared revealing his identity.

This shout really stunned the beggars—since ancient times civilians do not fight officials, unless it's an open rebellion; hearing the words "imperial official" makes anyone weigh them in their heart.

Zhu Ba stared at him with suspicious eyes, yet saw Hu Xiaotian wearing a blue robe and a small cap, askew, the classic attire of a household servant—what imperial official would dress like that? After a brief hesitation he burst into laughter: "If you're an imperial official, then I am the Dakang Emperor!"

The whole gang of beggars followed suit with hysterical laughter, obviously nobody believed Hu Xiaotian's words.

Hu Xiaotian gritted his teeth, took out the coiling dragon gold tablet from his waist and held it up high, shouting loudly: "Open your eyes and see clearly—this is the imperial bestowed coiling dragon gold tablet; seeing the gold tablet is like seeing the present emperor; you all had better kneel down at once!"

The beggars all focused their gazes on the gold tablet; Hu Xiaotian's words they could not tell true from false, but the gold tablet should be genuine, and each of them judged it so. Someone said: "Real gold!"

Another said: "We've struck it rich!" Zhu Ba laughed: "Haha, brothers, snatch the gold tablet from me!" In these people's eyes there was only gold; the imperial bestowed coiling dragon gold tablet possessed no deterrent power for them.

Hu Xiaotian's true intention was merely to buy time; Qiqi had escaped safely, and according to common sense this girl should be gone to fetch reinforcements; as long as I delay a bit longer, my chance of getting out increases. Yet Hu Xiaotian also felt uncertain—given his relationship with Qiqi and her nature, she might not be willing to share weal and woe with him; otherwise she would not have slipped away so easily. He had thought producing the coiling dragon gold tablet would intimidate the beggars, but instead it provoked their greed.

This gang of money‑loving beggars swarmed forward, intending to seize the gold tablet from Hu Xiaotian's hand.

A dog‑beating stick thrust toward Hu Xiaotian's chest; he reacted swiftly, his left hand grabbed the stick's tip, his right elbow struck the stick, forcibly snatching the stick from the opponent's hand. As soon as the stick was in his grasp, more than ten dog‑beating sticks swept horizontally toward his feet.

Hu Xiaotian leapt up to avoid the sweeping sticks on the ground, while above his head another barrage of sticks rained down like a storm. He held the stick aloft with both arms, bearing the enemy's attack; the force of more than ten sticks falling simultaneously was tremendous. Although Hu Xiaotian possessed ten years of Quan De'an's cultivation, he still lacked some refinement and could not fully unleash it at the critical moment; the shock numbed both his arms, the stick flew from his hand, and he staggered backward several steps.

A muffled thud of footsteps sounded from behind—it was Zhu Dalì killing his way from the rear, shouting loudly: "Everyone get out of the way, this kid is mine!" He reacted half a beat slower than the others; only now did he realize he had fallen into Hu Xiaotian's trap.

Hu Xiaotian turned around, only to see Zhu Dalì's fist suddenly shooting toward his face; Hu Xiaotian dared not be slow, and also threw a punch to meet it.

With a bang! the two combatants' aura surged like mountains and seas, sand and stones flew, the surrounding beggars were blinded by the dust. Hu Xiaotian retreated only three steps, yet in that crisis he actually managed to summon all his internal strength and withstood Zhu Dalì's blow.

Zhu Dalì never imagined Hu Xiaotian could actually block his overpowering punch; because of Hu Xiaotian's fierce counterattack, the whole man became excited: "Good! Interesting!" At this moment he finally realized this handsome‑looking kid was no mere showy spear; he readied his fist for another attack.

But Hu Xiaotian jumped up and down on the spot, rubbing his hands back and forth; the hard‑on‑hard punch from before had shattered the bones in his fingers, causing excruciating pain. He had originally wanted to swell his face to look fat, to grit his teeth and endure, but he simply could not hold on.

While jumping, the coiling dragon gold tablet at his waist clanged and fell to the ground. Hu Xiaotian hurriedly bent to pick it up, but Zhu Dalì would not give him the chance, roared loudly, stepped forward one pace, wind rushed into his ears; even the most ordinary move, when he executed it, carried a terrifying momentum.

Hu Xiaotian had no choice but to retreat; Zhu Dalì's external training kung fu had reached perfection, and clashing head‑on with such a person only meant he would suffer loss.

The beggars seeing the gold tablet on the ground all had their eyes light up; after a brief hesitation they surged forward, intending to be the first to snatch the gold tablet. This in fact helped Hu Xiaotian, as it blocked Zhu Dalì's second wave of attack.

The scene was utter chaos; Hu Xiaotian spotted Zhu Ba in the crowd, kicked a beggar in front of him over, and moved toward Zhu Ba, hoping to turn the tide by seizing the leader of the beggars.

Beggars on the left and right roofs also descended to join the fray; only on the left roof remained a ragged old beggar lying high up, basking in the sun while gnawing a chicken leg. Sunlight shone on the ground, the brilliant golden light of the coiling dragon gold tablet happened to fall on his face, as if stinging his eyes; the old beggar furrowed his brows. At that moment he suddenly felt the tiles beneath him trembling slightly; his dazed eyes instantly cleared, he looked toward the distance and saw a troop of leather‑armored warriors advancing like a black cloud pressing upon the alley mouth; glancing to the other side, he likewise saw a force of several hundred men moving to encircle the alley's rear.

The old beggar hastily took two bites of the chicken leg, pulled out a suona horn from his tattered sack at his back, brought it to his oily mouth and began to blow.

A loud suona blast rang through the clouds; everyone lifted their heads in unison to look upward, and the old beggar opened his mouth and said: "The imperial troops are coming!"

Hearing this, the beggars were startled; Zhu Ba made a snap decision, shouted loudly: "Brothers, the wind is tight, scatter!" (to be continued~^~)