Book 11.5: Chapter 64

“Nothing.” Lord Miguo was the first to recover from the freaky bloodlust, and he sounded as calm as ever. “You would’ve escaped already if it was within your means. Why bother bluffing?” Seemingly ignoring Ming Feizhen’s grin, he continued, “No doubt, you possess immense power. Perhaps you are one of the strongest people alive. I’ve never underestimated its threat. Even without it, your martial prowess is admirable. I’m sure you have means of making up for lack of power, but that’s not something I can accurately predict. I’m not good at drawn-out fights. Even against you, my advantage won’t last for long.”Ming Feizhen’s expression read, “Glad you don’t lack self-awareness.”“Regardless, you’re helpless. Continuing in a very deep voice, Lord Miguo asserted, “You’re afraid of your power because you can’t control it. As a result, you’re in the middle of nowhere. If you would allow your power to run free, perhaps you could stop me. Otherwise, you don’t have a chance. Maybe you have some past trauma that makes you think you can’t drown in your power, just like you think resisting it will make a difference. Allow me to enlighten you: your fear will eventually release that power, and it’ll devour you before you know it. It is inevitable.” Lord Miguo’s eyes conveyed hostility for the first time. “Just as you can’t do anything but watch as I kill your friends one by one right before your eyes.”Miguo suddenly launched a punch in a direction where nobody was in sight, snapping a tree in the path. Someone rolled out from behind the tree to escape the blast radius. Zhuo Fengru made no effort to hide again, saluting the three factions properly.“Zhuo Fengru, your appearance here indicates you have made a decision. I thought you’d eventually betray me.”“That’s rich, coming from the person who sent men to kidnap my wife and son,” Zhuo Fengru scoffed. “I was never your ally, not to mention the vengeance of killing my brother’s family. What betrayal do you speak of?”“Vengeance?” Lord Miguo tugged up a corner of his lips. “You want to avenge Xu Clan? Don’t say I never gave you a chance. My disciples shall stand down so that you can have a fair chance. If you don’t take the offer today, you won’t have the same offer a second time.”“Simple trick a kid can learn on their first try,” Ming Feizhen opined.Miguo glanced over to Ming Feizhen. “You have something to say?”“You’re afraid of his qinggong. You know your slow tail can’t catch up, so you’re trying to deter him from running.”“Why run if you want revenge? What’s wrong with a fair fight?”“Fair? On your home ground is fair? If you want fair, go fight at Liu Shan Men’s office, where there are officers to officiate. Bet you’re scared of prison.”Miguo couldn’t dispute Ming Feizhen’s points.Zhuo Fengru had yet to recover from his match against Ming Feizhen, was forced to deal with his domestic issues and then rush to Shennong. He couldn’t beat Miguo when in tip-top form, so what were his chances against an improved Miguo while he wasn’t in his best form? If he wanted to flee, however, not many people present – at least not Ming Feizhen and Miguo – could stop him. Therefore, Zhuo Fengru was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Should he run away, he’d never have another chance to avenge Xu Clan because, even if he had time, the vexation of running would become a mental barrier that he’d never be able to overcome.Understanding Zhuo Fengru’s conundrum, Zhuxing Wuchang voiced, “How come I’m not invited to the fight? Since Brother Zhuo isn’t feeling 100%, how about sparring me, Lord Miguo?” He rubbed his hands together as he smiled from cheek to cheek. Since Miguo didn’t spare him a glance, he rolled up his sleeves.“You will not need to bother.” Zhuo Fengru patted his belly while laughing. “Once a member of the pugilistic world, always a member of the pugilistic world. I may be old, but I’m still a member of the pugilistic world. You want some? Come get some. That said, I do have a request for you, Great Guardian.”Zhuxing Wuchang knew as well as Zhuo Fengru did that Zhuo Fengru was driving himself into a corner. As a man entrusted with another man’s last will, Zhuxing Wuchang couldn’t refuse a final request. “Whatever it is, I swear to see that it’s done.”“It’s nothing difficult.” Zhuo Fengru pulled his signature cunning face, then chuckled. “I would just like to borrow a sword.”Zhuxing Wuchang: … Oh, I get it.“Hahaha, easy.”Zhuo Fengru swung the sword in the air to test it out. Unlike other swordsmen, he didn’t generate loud booms or any sounds. Nobody could identify the discipline, but they sure could appreciate the incredible control he exhibited.“It feels much more comfortable to have a sword in hand,” Zhuo Fengru mumbled, blocking out the praise abound.According to what Miguo knew about Zhuo Fengru as a person, the latter would’ve accepted the challenge one way or another, but the laid-back attitude was odd. “You know the gap between us. You weren’t my match last time. Don’t mistake the mercy I showed to b-”“Shut your potty mouth. I’m here for a fight, not a debate. Even a teenager isn’t as wishy washy as you are.”Clang! Before anyone realised it, Zhuo Fengru already left a mark on the top of Miguo’s head.“You asked for it.” Miguo prepared a punch, but Zhuo Fengru struck both of Miguo’s shoulders faster than he could attack.Being impervious to blades and having higher resistance to damage was just that; it didn’t make up for lack of speed. To make matters worse, Zhuo Fengru’s speed was beyond just “fast”. As a result, Miguo could only count on Vajra Realm to stay afloat. Miguo made one potentially fatal assumption: he wasn’t the only one who had improved. Zhuo Fengru, too, had elevated his skills.While Ming Feizhen didn’t know enough swordplay to evaluate Zhuo Fengru’s swordplay, he gained some degree of insight into more than just swordplay from watching the sword’s movements. That was how he figured out some qi moulding ideas the last time they went at it. Watching it again, he started to pick up fragmented ideas, but he couldn’t form a skeleton of it.Zhuo Fengru said, “This old one’s swordplay was forged in the pugilistic world and refined through competing across the lands, not something he comprehended by sitting at home and ruminating. This attack uses one breath as its foundation. The attack pushes the boundaries of nature, amplifying until an overwhelming state is achieved.”Zhuo Fengru had no reason to speak so loudly – or even speak at all, for that matter – but he didn’t let it detract from his offence.“Lame!” Miguo emanated a circle of energy from his position, forcing Zhuo Fengru’s sword off target. “You claim to embody advanced swordplay. Let me show you something interesting.”As he cracked a smirk, Miguo glued two fingers together, then swung his arm as if it was a sword, intercepting the tip of Zhuo Fengru’s sword. Zhuo Fengru’s speed still proved too superior to defuse. Consequently, Miguo swung several times, intercepting each strike with absolute precision. Though he didn’t mount a counterattack, the fact that Miguo could keep up with Zhuo Fengru’s speed now would deal a blow to Zhuo Fengru’s confidence.Miguo wasn’t reading ahead nor did he gain so much insight that he could read Zhuo Fengru like a book. What he did was mirror Zhuo Fengru’s techniques and output.Bai Tianbin commented, “Damn, I didn’t think Karma could be used like that. He’s no combat expert, but he sure is a deep thinker. If only he could think of something light for a change.”Not only did Miguo absorb Zhuo Fengru’s energy from close to a hundred strikes but even his swordplay’s principles. Therefore, when he released them, they came back to Zhuo Fengru just as what he dished out. Once he exhausted that store, he had the ones he was absorbing in this match. For all anyone knew, the next move Zhuo Fengru had to deal with might’ve been his previous move. Regardless of how skilled one was, they would eventually burn through their fuel tank.Ming Feizhen was the only one analytically monitoring Zhuo Fengru as well as Miguo. The two followed the same thought in execution, but mayhap the end of their thoughts wasn’t in swordplay. Given they were human, no matter what sort of pace they could push, there would eventually come a time when one side would gain the upper hand.Soon enough, Miguo couldn’t follow Zhuo Fengru’s pace, and Zhuo Fengru’s sword could be heard clanging against Miguo’s body once again. Zhuo Fengru had pushed the pace even higher than before to overwhelm Miguo.Miguo’s blunder was not comprehending the nature of Zhuo Fengru’s swordplay. Each successive strike, Zhuo Fengru sped up a little. Even if Miguo could see the techniques to mirror, at a certain point, he couldn’t physically keep up with the pace. Beyond that, there was also the difference in work capacity; Zhuo Fengru had yet to take a second breath since they commenced.Miguo assumed they had reset, with Zhuo Fengru unable to inflict significant damage and himself unable to keep up. Once again, his assumption was erroneous. Only Zhuo Fengru truly knew what the limit of his swordplay was, and he wasn’t a one-trick pony with only speed.From the moment he gripped the sword and resolved to avenge his sworn brother, Zhuo Fengru recalled his match against Ming Feizhen. As soon as he saw the opening, Zhuo Fengru thrust straight for Miguo’s left pectoral. At long last, he managed to send his blade through Miguo’s body.Vajra Realm practitioners needed to condense qi before they could send it elsewhere. Hence, the moment their defence was broken, the qi would go into frenzy. Miguo gasped blood at the heavens, then crashed back onto the ground.Bai Tianbin grabbed his beard. “I… didn’t see that coming.”Zhuxing Wuchang: “Hahaha, so what? The strong rule.”Upon returning to his starting spot and losing the support of adrenaline, Zhuo Fengru wobbled, and his grip shook. “I’ve demonstrated my swordplay’s variations for you three times. How much do you remember?”Ming Feizhen: “Zero.”“Thought so.” Zhuo Fengru smiled bitterly instead of brightly. “It’d take me a month to recite the complete swordplay. Demanding you to remember it in one go is being unreasonable. That said, I’ve given y-”“You think you won?”By the time he heard the voice, Zhuo Fengru had already felt the heavy punch and found himself immobile on the ground, blood uncontrollably coming out of his mouth.“You’re careless. If nothing else, you’ve forgotten what sort of person I am.”Whether by instinct or not, Zhuo Fengru leapt up and dashed into the forest, erasing all traces almost immediately upon entering.Miguo stopped his subordinate from giving chase. “It’s just terminal lucidity. His internal injuries are fatal. The faster he runs, the faster he burns out his candle. No need to chase him.”Though Miguo only had one subordinate still conscious, it didn’t bother him. Whilst bandaging his wound, he said to the three leaders, “The festivities end here. Did you enjoy the show? If there’s nothing else, I hope this is the last unprepared event.”Once the three leaders left, Miguo went back to Ming Feizhen with arrogance on his lips. “Feel like killing me even more?”“I can’t complain when you two fought fair and square? Can’t blame someone for hitting you if you square up with them.” Ming Feizhen gazed in the direction Zhuo Fengru fled. “Having said that, it’s only a matter of time before I end you.”Following the fiasco, Miguo rearranged their patrols, focusing almost all of his forces to the formation around Ming Feizhen. As a consequence, Er Laizi was the only sentry over at the moonlight boulder.***Hua Qing tip-toed back to the cave he hid in previously. His primary concern wasn’t Zhuo Fengru but Su Li and Kongkong’er, who were hiding in said cave. Neither Su Li nor Kongkong’er dared to leave the cave in search of food, so they had to be conservative with the rations they brought along.Although people may assume Su Li spent the last day and night conversing with Kongcang about irrelevant topics for the sake of making conversation with him, it was actually a questioning method she learnt from and honed in her business ventures. Be it people or goods, one couldn’t just take another’s word for it in business. Based on the places Kongcang went and the items he purchased, she worked out when he joined Miguo Branch in addition to their development log. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to understand why Miguo wanted to capture her.“Miss Su, Shifu.”Su Li jolted due to Hua Qing’s sudden appearance. “Y-you scared me.”“Sorry about that.”“Why do you… seem different?”Though Hua Qing’s appearance appeared more “toned” than yesterday, his appearance hadn’t changed considerably. He used to give off the vibe of someone who could think on their feet, but his aura now… demanded attention.Hua Qing scratched his head. “I… think I’ve grown a little stronger. I was taught some martial arts. I came back to check on you because I’m worried about you. I’m glad you’re safe and sound. Has Hero Zhuo come back at all?”“No, not since leaving with you.”“We don’t need to worry about him. He’s experienced enough to handle whatever is thrown his way.”It hadn’t even been a second after Hua Qing finished his assertion when Zhuo Fengru stumbled in, blood and sweat trickling down. Had Hua Qing not reacted fast, Su Li’s scream would’ve alerted the enemy.“Hero Zhuo?! What happened?!“… C-cover the entrance. Invisible powder…” Zhuo Fengru uttered.Su Li: “Erase the smell of blood, or they’ll find us!”Hua Qing thereupon restored the cave to its original state, then sprinkled a powder called “invisible powder” onto Zhuo Fengru. While it didn’t actually make anyone invisible, the strong stench of manure that it was made from would disguise their smell in forest areas.“Hero Zhuo, how are your injuries?” Hua Qing couldn’t replace a doctor. Nevertheless, he could sit Zhuo Fengru up and use his internal energy to slowly share some with the latter.It went without saying that Zhuo Fengru could sense the uncharacteristically potent energy. Thus, Hua Qing shared his fortuitous encounter.“I see… Mayhap his plan is correct. Sadly… I won’t be any help now.”Su Li: “Hero Zhuo… how did you get hurt so bad?”Zhuo Fengru smiled bitterly. “I definitely can’t escape death this time.”Be it Hua Qing or Su Li, neither of them had a solution. On the other hand, Kongkong’er asked, “Will the sarira work?”Hua Qing remembered Wugou’s experience.Zhuo Fengru instructed, “… Give it to me.” He stared at the object Hua Qing presented for a while, then voiced, “He’s right. You can become a hidden ace in the right scenario. Your progress, however, is too slow. Allow me to give you a hand.” Subsequently, Zhuo Fengru transferred his energy to the relic, which then flowed through to Hua Qing. “… I shall entrust my lifetime of work… to you.”