Chapter 399: Qionglong Stone Shadow: Getting Down to Business

It took me a second to understand, and almost at the same time, I saw Xiuxiu's expression suddenly change, staring coldly at Fatty. I thought she would deny it, but unexpectedly she suddenly shouted, "Grab!" Her voice was actually a man's. I had no time to be surprised, and in a flash, the three people had already lunged over. Not at us, but toward the place where we had put our bedding.

I immediately realized their goal—that place held the jade seal. I shouted at once, but Poker-face over there had already reacted, kicking the seal out from among them. I caught it, and the three immediately turned and lunged at me. The room was too small, the distance too close, there was no way to dodge. I was bowled over in an instant, but in the last moment I tossed the seal back toward Fatty.

Fatty was ready. He caught it. But those people were extremely agile; before I even hit the ground they had stepped over me and charged at Fatty. I tried to grab a leg but couldn't hold any. Seeing that Fatty had his back to the wall with no way to retreat, I immediately said to him, "Quick, throw it to me!"

Fatty cursed, "Throw my ass!" and swung the jade seal, smashing the nearest man to the ground. The other two lunged to tackle him, and Fatty went rolling with them. They crashed into the wall, and only then did Fatty toss the seal out. Poker-face caught it.

The three realized this wasn't working. Two held Fatty down, while that 'Xiuxiu' stood up and charged at Poker-face again. I got up and grabbed him from behind, but he was so soft it felt like he had no bones; he slipped right out of my grip, turned, and punched me in the bridge of my nose. I was bleeding instantly, but as I fell I managed to trip him with a sliding tackle.

He stumbled but didn't fall. At the same time, I saw him pull a strange dagger from his sleeve—it looked like an antique. He held it in a reverse grip and quickly dashed toward Poker-face. I immediately yelled a warning, but I saw that Poker-face was no longer in his original spot. Like a flash, a shadow dropped from midair, and with his knee he sent that punk flying.

Fatty was being held tight on the other side, but they were trading blows and he wasn't losing. I knew the real tough one was this kid, so I didn't go help. Instead, Poker-face and I surrounded him, planning to subdue him first.

That 'Xiuxiu' got up from the ground and suddenly stretched his whole body into a strange posture. His entire form grew larger, his shoulders widened, his height increased, and at the same time he tore off the mask from his face.

I took a look and recognized him immediately—it was that pink-shirt guy. He was breathing heavily and laughing: "Getting hit while shrunk hurts several times more—so that wasn't a lie."

Watching his bizarre condition, cold sweat ran down my back. I'd seen something like this before—this was bone shrinking. Last time, Poker-face had done the same when he pretended to be a bald man. At the same time, we heard a lot of footsteps on the stairs and immediately turned around.

"Damn, there are reinforcements outside!" I thought, alarmed. Fatty immediately shouted, "You guys go first! Don't let all of us get trapped in here together."

I glared fiercely at Pink Shirt, while quickly backing up and thinking about how to retreat—should we climb out the skylight? But then I saw him put his dagger away and gesture to the other two. The men holding Fatty also let go. All three, bloody-nosed, pushed each other as they got up. The door was pushed open. We turned warily to look. Old Mrs. Huo and Huo Xiuxiu walked in one after the other, with no surprise at all on their faces. That damned girl was even sticking out her tongue at us.

Pink Shirt rubbed his joints, walked over with a smile, and patted my shoulder. He turned to Old Mrs. Huo and nodded: "Qualified. You've got good eyes." Then he pointed at Poker-face. "This one's mine."