Chapter 39: The Four Great Villains

Zhao Ti's peripheral vision caught the man on the bamboo pole — it was Cloud Zhonghe, one of the Four Great Villains.

He gave a faint smirk. Among the four, Cloud Zhonghe's Wu Gong was the weakest; only his lightness skill was the highest, but that was his sole strength at present.

Cloud Zhonghe's face showed surprise. He swept a glance across the field and said, "Laosan, who is this kid? Didn't you say you came to avenge your disciple? How did you end up facing him?"

South Sea Crocodile God roared angrily, "Cut the nonsense and come help me first."

Mu Wanqing had been standing at the back with mixed feelings. Now, suddenly seeing another of the Four Great Villains arrive, she grew anxious at once and, gripping her sword, wanted to rush forward.

Zhao Ti caught her movement and said coolly, "No need to come over and throw your life away."

Mu Wanqing felt guilty at the first few words, but the last two made her grit her teeth in hatred.

Cloud Zhonghe let out a strange laugh at the words. "So he's one of the little lady's family. I always did have a taste for this sort of thing — perfect. Once I kill him, the little lady is mine." So saying, he brandished a pair of steel claws on his hands and charged forward.

Zhao Ti had been hindered earlier because South Sea Crocodile God was backed against the wall, preventing him from using his full footwork. Seeing Cloud Zhonghe use his lightness skill to attack from the side, he smiled lightly. In an instant his feet shifted position — he stepped out "Ming Yi," then transitioned into "Ji Ji" — and in the blink of an eye he was behind and to the side of Cloud Zhonghe, slashing with his sword.

Cloud Zhonghe was greatly startled. He relied on his lightness skill and, precisely because of that, had let his guard down — he had not expected the other's footwork to be faster.

If that slash had landed, half his arm would have been gone. He let out a cry of alarm and desperately dodged to the side.

Zhao Ti's slash had been certain to hit, but South Sea Crocodile God had already charged over, wielding his crocodile-mouth scissors in a strange move to snip at him.

Zhao Ti shifted his body again. Cloud Zhonghe escaped the disaster and, still shaken, called out, "Laosan, this kid's footwork is strange — don't let him get too close!"

The three fought together. Zhao Ti, one against two, was not at a disadvantage; he even gradually forced both of them back against the wall.

The watching crowd was now utterly stunned. That Zhao Ti could fight South Sea Crocodile God alone was already beyond belief — but now he was single-handedly battling two of the Four Great Villains. It was simply inconceivable, beyond imagination.

Mu Wanqing's eyes showed worry; the hand gripping her sword trembled slightly. In her heart she thought, fighting South Sea Crocodile God alone was already extremely dangerous — now facing two of the Four Great Villains, wasn't the peril even greater? Though he seemed to have the upper hand, it was still one against two, with too many variables. If he truly couldn't hold on, even if it meant throwing her life away, she would step forward to help.

If both of them were to die, then let him die at her own hand — and then she would kill herself with her sword across her body. She could never let those two villains' blades touch him.

Back in Dongjing, Zhao Ti had always sparred with guards or Wang Fu martial instructors — but who among them would truly use vicious, life-risking moves?

That was why he had only struck once at Sword Lake Palace, hoping to accumulate some real combat experience. Unfortunately, Zuo Zimu's Wu Gong was too low to offer him any insight. Now, however, South Sea Crocodile God and Cloud Zhonghe could be considered opponents, from whom he could extract genuine combat experience.

The longer he fought, the more fluid his swordsmanship became, the faster his footwork turned, until in the end he was simply pressing the two of them, both of them already sweating from their brows.

Cloud Zhonghe suddenly fished an iron whistle from his bosom, shoved it in his mouth, and blew it desperately.

The whistle's tone was shrill and piercing, carrying far in an instant. Within only a few dozen breaths, a woman's mournful singing drifted from afar: "Rock, rock, rock to Grandma's bridge, Grandma calls me her good baby — a pack of sugar, a pack of fruit, eat one and save one…"

"Laoer, stop your ghost-howl and get over here to help!" Cloud Zhonghe shouted at the top of his lungs.

The singing stopped abruptly. The woman clearly had not expected Cloud Zhonghe to dare speak to her that way, and then without further ado she sped up — the sound of her cutting through the air drew near.

Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes. So Ye Erniang had arrived? Among the Four Great Villains, ranked by Wu Gong, Ye Erniang's Wu Gong was higher than South Sea Crocodile God's and Cloud Zhonghe's.

Even so, he was not worried. His short sword had not yet been revealed, and Yin-Yang Illusory Finger had not been used either — these were his hidden cards.

As for Duan Yanqing, the leader of the Four Great Villains, who possessed One Yang Finger force and profound Wu Gong — the other three combined were no match for him. He did not know whether he himself could withstand him, but at worst, if things looked bad, he could simply flee. With Lingbo Weibu at his command, he refused to believe they could hold him.

He watched as a woman darted into the courtyard — draped in a pale cyan long robe, hair flowing loose, around forty years old, fairly delicate in appearance, but with three crimson scars on each cheek running from beneath her eyes straight down to her jaw, as if freshly clawed by someone's fingers.

Her expression was puzzled, as if wondering at Cloud Zhonghe's disrespectful words, but one look at the scene in the yard startled her. South Sea Crocodile God and Cloud Zhonghe fighting together — even she could only lose against them — yet now the two of them were locked in combat with a youth, and were even faintly losing ground.

"Second Sister, stop staring and come help already!" South Sea Crocodile God shouted. "Did you finish torturing that baby in your arms to death?"

Ye Erniang said mournfully, "Just delivered it to a household, haven't had time to seek a new child yet."

South Sea Crocodile God said, "Then hurry over and help us surround this kid."

Ye Erniang observed Zhao Ti's swordsmanship and said, "Yue Laosan, this one's tough. Call me Second Sister again and I'll turn around and leave — you two can fight him yourselves."

"Fine, fine, fine — I'm Yue Laosan, all right?"

Ye Erniang's expression turned Serious at his words. She drew a pair of gleaming willow-leaf blades and joined the fight.

Zhao Ti immediately felt some pressure, but it was only a feeling. Relying on Lingbo Weibu to weave around the field, his sword Li Qiushui flickered like a wandering dragon — at times its light flared like the white sun at noon, at others it vanished without a sound like a hidden dragon in the abyss.

For a time the four darted back and forth, energy surging in all directions, and the surrounding crowd could not help but retreat again and again.

Those who had followed South Sea Crocodile God were already slack-jawed and numb, mouths hanging open, unable to close them for a long while.

Behind her veil, Mu Wanqing gently bit her lip. Her eyes flickered between bright and dim. In her heart she thought again: so his Wu Gong was actually even higher. All those times she said she would kill him — how laughable she had been. His abilities were actually this great, and she had never known…

In the blink of an eye, Zhao Ti had exchanged fifty or sixty moves with the three of them, when suddenly he frowned — he now felt his internal force beginning to run short.

His Illusory Yin true Qi was enduring and long-lasting, but he had truly practiced internal Cultivation Technique for far too short a time. That he had trained Yin-Yang Illusory Finger to the third layer was a matter of realm — it did not mean his internal force was already so abundant.

If it had been some other Cultivation Technique, he would almost certainly have run out of internal force by now. It was only because of Illusory Yin true Qi that he had held on until now.

He thought briefly, his feet stepping through the sixty-four hexagram positions in succession, and in a flash he shifted toward Cloud Zhonghe's side, then struck out with a "Clouds Spanning the Qinling Mountains" slash.

Cloud Zhonghe cried out in alarm. His lightness skill was considerable, and he hurriedly tucked in his waist to dodge — but he had not expected this move to be a feint. Zhao Ti's "Snow Piling at Languan" flashed out like lightning, and he could dodge no longer. A sword thrust ran beneath his ribs, carving out a long, bloody gash.

Ye Erniang and South Sea Crocodile God saw the situation turn bad, let out long howls, and desperately came to his defense.

Zhao Ti, however, shifted his body with the lightness of a breeze, and seizing the moment leapt out of the encirclement, his gaze falling coldly on the three of them.