Chapter 157: The Fight Begins

At night, Zijin Mountain is far from the hustle and bustle of the city; the sky appears exceptionally clear, dotted with stars that feel as if they could be touched. The Milky Way is clearly visible, making one feel the vastness and mystery of the universe.

Chen Che sits in a pavilion at the mountain peak, quietly waiting for the various characters to make their entrance.

One hour later, Ma Yishan and his disciple Long Jiang arrive on time.

Chen Che examines Ma Yishan carefully and asks first, "Which member of the Ma Family are you?"

"Hah!"

Ma Yishan sneers and says, "You don't even know who I am, yet you dare to meddle in the Ma Family's private affairs? I think you truly have a death wish!"

"It doesn't matter if I don't know you, as long as Ma Zijun knows you."

Chen Che smiles.

Ma Yishan's expression sinks; he walks into the pavilion and sits opposite the stone table, while Long Jiang and Shan Hu stand to the left and right behind Ma Yishan, staring at Chen Che with faces full of vigilance and anger.

Ma Yishan speaks up: "Speak, what do you want?"

"Why do you want to kill Ma Menghan?" Chen Che asks in return.

"That is none of your business."

Ma Yishan narrows his eyes, "Curiosity killed the cat. And since you have already meddled, don't go looking for your own death."

"Didn't you ask what I wanted? What I want to know is why you want to kill Ma Menghan?"

Chen Che glances at Long Jiang and Shan Hu, his expression calm, and continues: "Or let me rephrase the question: who are you?"

Ma Yishan looks surprised, scrutinizing Chen Che, unable to believe it: "The reason you called me here is just to know who I am?"

Chen Che remains noncommittal.

Ma Yishan ponders for a moment, then realizes: "You want to know my identity so you can go to Ma Yiren and Ma Zijun to claim credit, don't you? You are certainly bold!"

Ma Yishan has guessed half of it; Chen Che's goal from beginning to end has been only one: to find the person behind the scenes and make him pay the punishment he deserves.

The death of his parents back then has always been an irreparable pain for Chen Che; Ma Menghan is his friend and can be considered one of his own, so he will never allow anyone close to him to suffer the slightest harm!

Anyone who harms those close to me must pay the price!

"I'll give you five seconds. Tell me who you are."

Chen Che loses patience and issues an ultimatum.

Upon hearing this, not only Ma Yishan, but even Long Jiang and Shan Hu are stunned, then burst into loud laughter, as if they had heard some grand joke.

"Kid, who do you think you are? I won't tell you, what can you do? Kill me? Or make me kneel and beg for mercy?"

Ma Yishan sneers, "You think that just because you have some talent in martial arts, you can be arrogant? So what if you are the Divine Doctor's junior brother? Even if it were Li Qingyan today, if she dared to meddle in the Ma Family's affairs, she would still have to die!"

"You've run out of time."

Chen Che narrows his eyes, and the True Qi in his body surges abruptly.

Long Jiang and Shan Hu, who have been vigilant, also take action at this moment.

Long Jiang grabs Ma Yishan and leaps backward out of the pavilion. Shan Hu, who had long been unable to restrain himself, swings his arm and flips the stone table over.

"Bang!"

Chen Che and Shan Hu throw punches simultaneously across the stone table.

The stone table shatters into pieces, their fists collide, and a True Qi Shockwave spreads outward, causing all four stone pillars supporting the pavilion to crumble.

The pavilion roof crashes down vertically; Chen Che and Shan Hu retreat simultaneously, leaving the pavilion in opposite directions.

"Boom!"

The roof hits the ground, dust fills the air, and debris flies everywhere.

"Not bad, kid, you've got some strength."

Shan Hu flexes his wrists, his face playful, "But that's all. You think that because you're stronger than Lin Su, you can look down on other martial artists of the Ma Family? Then you are sorely mistaken!"

Chen Che frowns slightly, extracting information from the words of Ma Yishan and Shan Hu, and begins to form theories in his mind.

"Lin Su is an Innate Master, and I am at the Acquired Master Realm. Although there is only one realm difference between Innate and Acquired, the amount of True Qi is vastly different, and my combat experience is not something that someone like Lin Su, who has spent years in the business world, can compare to!"

Shan Hu takes a step forward, arriving in front of Chen Che in the blink of an eye, leaving a pair of footprints and cracked ground behind.

"Bang!"

The two collide with their fists once more, but this time, after only a moment of stalemate, they engage in a fierce struggle.

Shan Hu's moves are wide and open, focusing on brute force; his arms are taut, his muscles knotted, and every punch is incredibly fierce. Even when Chen Che dodges, the intense wind from the punches leaves small craters in the ground.

Chen Che does not counterattack, only dodging and defending.

He keeps Li Qingyan's words in mind; he cannot act recklessly now, lest he trigger the Great Red Sun Poison again.

Therefore, he intentionally stays on the defensive, partly to test Shan Hu's strength, and partly to wait for the audience to arrive.

Ma Yishan and Long Jiang watch the fight between the two with different expressions.

"How is Chen Che's strength?"

Ma Yishan is not a Martial Artist; the speed of the fight between Shan Hu and Chen Che is too fast, and he cannot tell who is stronger or weaker.

Long Jiang frowns, observing the fight with a serious expression, and says: "Don't worry, sir, Shan Hu has the upper hand."

"Then it seems this Chen Che is truly nothing to worry about," Ma Yishan laughs.

Long Jiang's brow does not unfurl, and he says: "Although Chen Che is on the defensive, he hasn't been forced into a passive state. He is also testing Shan Hu's strength.

However, in my opinion, there isn't much difference in strength between Chen Che and Shan Hu, so the final outcome will depend on who has more combat experience."

Ma Yishan nods: "It seems my sister-in-law was right; this Chen Che is indeed stronger than Lin Su, and his realm should be the same as Shan Hu's—both are Acquired Masters.

But it doesn't matter; Long Jiang, you are in the Grandmaster Realm, so even if Shan Hu is defeated, you can easily kill him."

Long Jiang's brow relaxes, and a haughty smile appears: "Sir, you can decide how you want Chen Che to die later."

Both master and servant wear triumphant smiles, both believing that Chen Che's life is already in their hands.

Little do they know, just as they think victory is assured, Ma Zijun has already quietly arrived at Zijin Mountain and is hiding to the side, watching this play.

On the other side, the fight between Chen Che and Shan Hu continues.

Seeing Chen Che being suppressed by him with no chance to fight back, Shan Hu grew more courageous with every strike, filled with confidence.

"Whoosh!"

Shan Hu threw a feint with his fist, and Chen Che spread his legs and crouched down.

Unexpectedly, Shan Hu retracted his fist and threw a kick; a low blow aimed straight at Chen Che's crotch, vicious to the extreme.

Chen Che's expression remained unchanged; he did not dodge, but instead turned his toes inward and bent his knees, easily blocking the ruthless strike.

Shan Hu's ferocious grin froze, and he raised his leg to strike again, swearing not to give up until he landed a hit on Chen Che!

However, it was at this moment that Chen Che launched his counterattack.

Chen Che stood firm, flicked his right arm, and three Ghost Gate Needles crawled from his sleeve toward his palm.

He clenched his five fingers into a fist, with the three Silver Needles wedged between his fingers.

"Back away!"

Long Jiang, who was watching the fight, sensed something was wrong and immediately shouted to warn Shan Hu to retreat.

Yet, Shan Hu, who had all along believed himself to be in the superior position, did not believe Chen Che could hit him, nor did he deign to dodge.

Shan Hu treated Long Jiang's words as wind past his ears; not only did he not dodge, he continued his attack instead!

Shan Hu retracted his leg, clasped his hands together tightly, raised them above his head, and swung them down like a meteor hammer.

"Bang!"

Dust filled the air, and a look of absolute certainty hung on Shan Hu's face.

However—

As the smoke dissipated, he realized that Chen Che's figure had vanished!

Shan Hu's body shuddered, and a chill shot from his back straight to his crown.

Chen Che's figure appeared behind Shan Hu like a ghost.

"Run!"

Long Jiang was shocked and shouted a warning once more.

However, it was already too late!

Chen Che's right fist struck Shan Hu's lower back, and the Ghost Gate Needles pierced into his flesh in an instant.

"Crack!"

"Boom!!"

The Ghost Gate Needles destroyed the spine first, and as the fist pressed against the flesh, the True Qi Shockwave pierced through Shan Hu's lower back.

A bloody hole appeared in Shan Hu's lower back and abdomen!