Chapter 372

The body technique is a Yin-natured yet hard-Yang practice within the Daoist Sect, aimed at inviting a Yin master or spirit to possess the body, borrowing its abilities for self-defense against enemies, or letting the spirit manipulate one's body to perform a set of fists for strengthening health.

In both Gangao regions, there are still many Dharma schools that take disciples, using the child-body method to admit them; in Cantonese speech, this is called a swift child. Indeed, this method is one of the best ways to verify the authenticity of magic, and it is also extremely effective.

However, everything has two sides; take the child-body method, for example: although it is swift and effective, many masters often practice the child-body method; when in child-body, blades cannot harm them and fire does not frighten them. Soon after entering child-body, one will find their essence, energy, and spirit elevated to a higher level. But this method requires a very solid mental method as a prerequisite; that is, one must undergo a long period of sedimentation, when both body and mind have reached a certain level, before one can invoke spirits via child-body, and moreover it is not advisable to do so for long periods, or to do it constantly.

But many people in the trade overlook this point, and even more people, in order to prove their own abilities and to amass wealth, whenever they take on disciples, they appoint the disciples as bound children, granting them the qualification to invoke spirits via child-body, without regard to whether the disciple's body and mind can keep up. Over time, this bad practice spreads, and everyone who takes on disciples grants them child-body. In the long run, if there is a master present, it's still okay; if not… then the disciple is prone to become schizophrenic or suffer from hysteria.

Furthermore, great attention is paid to the disciple's moral character; if the person harbors ill intentions, when invoking the child-body they cannot achieve a mind free of distractions, then what they summon is certainly not the Grandmaster, but some unnamed evil spirits and ghouls; even if they manage to summon them, they may not be able to dispel them.

For example, the curling-method youth leaping and dancing before us now is one who has been summoned but cannot be dismissed; his body and spiritual intellect are both controlled by the so-called Grandmaster, causing him to do strange and bizarre things, and in severe cases he may even hurt others and himself, or recklessly lose his life.

Seeing that the youth's fist was about to smash into an old man nearby, I hastily shifted my stance, slightly bent my arms, and managed to block that fierce strike.

Numb... this is the only sensation coming from my arms; the curly-haired youth's fist is extremely hard, like two pieces of hard iron, shaking my arm into numbness.

"Huh..." Pangzi let out a low grunt, threw a heavy punch that drove back the curly-haired youth, then immediately shook out his aching fist, gritting his teeth and cursing: "Damn it, is this an iron plate or a person? How did it get this hard?"

This is one of the effects of the child-body method: after entering child-body, it is as if one has trained the Shaolin Golden Bell Shield; the body becomes like a piece of hard iron, blades cannot harm it, nor can scalding water hurt it, differing from the borrowed strike in martial arts; the child-body method, besides making the body hard, also produces techniques that are punch-like yet not a punch, without any set pattern, yet they are extremely difficult to deal with.

Seeing the curly-haired youth's lawless fist technique injure many onlookers, Pangzi immediately had no hesitation, slightly bending his knees and curving his hands, drawing up his breath and letting out a roar from his throat, gripping his tiger fist as he prepared to charge forward.

Just then, a figure flashed from ahead, a lovely figure leapt into the arena, raised both fists in a martial stance, and glared fiercely at the curly-haired youth.

"Hmph, Miss wants to see just whose chaotic, messy fist technique this is."

That lofty bearing, queen-like in its grace, instantly made both me and Pangzi widen our eyes, our legs like withered tree roots, unable to move even a bit.

That pretty figure turned out to be Yao Yirong……

How can I keep running into her everywhere! I weakly rubbed my forehead and let out a long sigh. Although the incident during the Anwei trip and what happened at Taozi Company has eased our relationship considerably, this girl's violence has deeply affected my fragile spirit; as the old saying goes now, it's a shadow—an incredibly heavy shadow.

However, before I could come to my senses, a familiar figure appeared again in the arena: an oval face, delicate eyebrows, a light yellow long dress that complemented her tall figure, giving her an air of British elegance.

That pretty figure turned out to be Pangzi's dream lover—Silijing. Seeing Yao Yirong rush into the arena, she hurriedly shouted at her: "Yirong, don't cause trouble, come back quickly."

What on earth is going on? How did they both come to Aomen together? Judging by their tone, it's obvious they're in cahoots.

Just as I was holding my head and sighing, the situation inside changed again: a young man who had clenched his fists and charged at the curly-haired guy was rebounded and fell to the ground. At that moment, the curly-haired guy staggered, and in the blink of an eye he appeared beside Silijing; his bright fist looked about to strike her.

The onlookers all covered their eyes, unable to bear watching this cruel scene.

"I fuck your sister"

At the critical moment, Pangzi let out a loud curse, then unleashed unprecedented potential—he stepped forward like a gust of wind, in the blink of an eye appearing beside Silijing, and launched a flying kick that sent the curly-haired youth flying.

"Pa, pa, pa……" the onlookers broke into enthusiastic applause. A heavyset Pangzi actually displayed such explosive speed—from a lifelong leap to a flying kick, then a steady landing, the whole process was seamless, without a hitch.

Unlike the onlookers, at the moment the curly-haired youth fell to the ground I rushed up behind Pangzi; while Pangzi was holding Silijing's hand and asking questions, I instead pressed down on the curly-haired youth who was trying to get up.

He bit his middle finger, fiercely pressed it to the curly-haired youth's forehead, and shouted: "Please, ancestral master, return to the palace……"

This is how one sends away a possessing child-spirit: by using middle-finger blood to directly force the spirit out of a person's body. However, we insiders do not call the child-spirit a demon; even if it truly is a demon, we still refer to it as the ancestral master or ancestral forefather. The compulsion of middle-finger blood is intended to make them yield.

However, this time the effective method failed; after I dabbed my middle-finger blood and shouted, the curly-haired kid not only wasn't subdued, but instead planted his hands on the ground and pushed up hard, trying to break free from my hold.

"Pangzi, something's wrong, come over here……" I had my whole body pressing on the curly-haired kid, my hands locked tightly around his wrists, and I shouted at the Pangzi who was being earnest with Silijing off to the side.

"What's wrong? It's just a child-spirit." Pangzi gave me a look, reluctantly left Silijing's side, and came over.

Pangzi bit his middle finger in the same way, pressed the blood to the curly-haired kid's forehead, and then gave a loud shout. This time Pangzi was also surprised, because his middle finger was rebounded back at him in the same manner.

"Something's wrong!" Pangzi muttered to himself, staring at his middle finger.

"What's wrong with it!" Yao Yirong also came over, crouched to the side curiously looking at Pangzi, then she rolled up her sleeves and, full of arrogant vigor, ordered me: "Hai Sheng, release this bastard; I, the young lady, will fight him for three hundred bouts."

I: …… you can't even withstand one round, let alone three hundred—one hand could crush you.

"Yirong, don't cause trouble……" Silijing lightly tugged at his sleeve, stopping his uproar.

Yao Yirong pursed her lips, dissatisfied, and crouched to the side.

At this point, Pangzi carefully examined the curly-haired kid once more, then took a small box out of his backpack.

Pangzi ordered me: "Hai Sheng, turn him over."

That remark made me feel like vomiting old blood—let alone turning him over, just holding him down was already impressive. This guy's strength is outrageous; I used all my sucking-in strength plus my body weight to barely keep him locked down. If I let go now, I'm sure he'd cause an uproar again.

"How to turn……?" I rolled my eyes and threw the question back at him.

"Yirong, help me out!" Pangzi solemnly appealed to Yao Yirong, then told me: "When I count one-two-three later, you let go immediately, then I'll slam him to the ground, you lock his hands, Yirong locks his feet…… get ready."

Pangzi rolled up his sleeves, pushed Silijing to the side, then counted on his fingers: "1.2……3"

As soon as the "3" was spoken, I immediately released my hold on the curly-haired kid's hands and stepped back several paces.

No sooner said than done—just as the curly-haired kid planted his hands and began to rise, Pangzi slightly bent one arm, threw an elbow, flung himself onto the kid, and drove his elbow hard into the kid's neck.

At that moment, Yao Yirong executed a side sweep, scissoring her legs to lock his legs tightly, and I grabbed his wildly flailing arms and slammed them back to the ground.

Then Yao Yirong's body shifted on the ground, her left elbow pressing into the curly-haired kid's chest, taking Pangzi's place.

"What kind of martial art is this……" I stared at Yao Yirong in astonishment, blurting out my doubt. It was like a supple snake—her joints and limbs could flex so much as to perform an unimaginable twist.

"Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu" Yao Yirong, while holding the curly-haired kid, answered me proudly, then lifted her nose and said: "Later I want to fight this curly-haired kid; I don't believe I can't beat her." Her tone was full of unwillingness to lose.

I instantly felt like I was meddling in something as pointless as a dog catching mice; to keep this girl from causing more trouble, I sensibly shut my mouth.

At that moment, Pangzi snapped open the box with a pa, revealing a dozen or so silver needles of various sizes.

Pangzi casually picked one up and was about to stab it into the curly-haired kid.

"Pangzi, what are you doing……" I asked in shock.

The silver needle flashed with a cold light in the sun. Pangzi held it thus and softly uttered five words.

"Thirteen Needles of Ghost Gate……"