Chapter 311 (1/2)

Chapter 311: Another Man Falls from the Sky

It wasn't until the fist stopped that wind started roaring in the path, disturbing the Qi of Heaven and Earth and dispersing all the fog. The smooth surface of the steep cliff started peeling like forgotten pastry, leaving behind a rain of crumbs as thin as paper.

The fist was incredibly firm without even a hint of a tremble. The joints of his fingers were a faint white, looking like st.u.r.dy bamboos amid the wind or even the spherical handle of a steel knife. It was proof of how strong the man was to be able to halt his punch abruptly at the peak of a great momentum while maintaining such stability.

However, the Eldest Brother of the Academy was still stronger.

Eldest Brother looked at the fist calmly without a word.

The middle-aged man gradually bent his elbow, partially withdrawing his fist.

Eldest Brother's gentle eyes fell on the middle-aged man's face.

The latter lowered his head and took a step back in silence.

Eldest Brother's gaze rested on a chipped rock under the man's feet.

The man furrowed his brows and took another step back.

Eldest Brother calmly looked at his shoulder.

The man retreated for the third time.

Eldest Brother continued to stare at him.

The man continued to retreat until he was about to step off the path.

He suddenly stopped just then, raising his thick eyebrows. He looked peacefully into Eldest Brother's gentle eyes and his crimson lips moved ever so slightly. In a voice that sounded like the humming of hard objects, he said, ”I apologize.”

When the words emerged from his mouth, he suddenly loosened his half-lifted fist and his five fingers unfolded like the blooming of an old bamboo before suddenly contracting!

A gust of powerful and dominant aura came from the middle-aged man, billowing out his clothes and causing whistling sounds. His fingers, unfolding and then closing, released an invisible

power that hit Ning Que's chest and abdomen across the air!

The man was, after all, a powerful one at the Peak state of Martial Arts. Though he feared the Eldest Brother of the Academy, it was impossible for him to be a total coward in front of him and lose the courage to fight him.

When Eldest Brother showed up, the man showed his weakness and continued to retreat. Just as he was about to reach the edge of the path, he took advantage of everyone's false sense of security that he wouldn't be able to threaten Ning Que and made his move.

With a loud splitting sound, the woven belt in front of Ning Que's broke apart.

The iron box fastened with the woven belt suddenly flew out, falling into the hand of the middle-aged man.

The man had displayed his deep understanding of Martial Arts from the transfer of his killing intent into his fist to his dexterity with his fingers. He had grasped the best opportunity to take action and showed his immense decisiveness, proving that he could use military strategies and tactics in a martial art confrontation. He could be considered as having directed a military operation with miraculous skill.

It was incredibly rare to see a man whose use of Martial Arts and military strategies was this impressive.

Even in the Tang Empire, only the four great generals were capable of this.

Now that the iron box was in his hand, the middle-aged man had completed his task. He looked at Eldest Brother without speaking and continued to retreat slowly out of the valley. Though he didn't seem as if he was quickening his pace, he traveled backward over 100 feet in an instant.

Eldest Brother stiffened as he stared at the middle-aged man, surprised that the man would take action at the last minute despite planning to retreat. He sighed and said, ”Why bother?”

He didn't say it too slowly but his tone was soft. Moreover, there was an odd pause before each word, giving off the impression that the two words were uttered slowly.

Even he failed to foresee the middle-aged man's action, thus having no time to react. Never mind Ning Que, who naturally had no response at all and didn't realize what had happened until the man had fled some distance away with his iron box.

Besides, Ning Que had received such a shock that he didn't have the mental energy to spare on other issues.

Based on the description he had recounted for many years, the middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and crimson lips seemed to be Xia Hou. Was it the man who killed everyone in the General's Mansion and turned his happy life into a cultivation in h.e.l.l? The man who slaughtered through so many villages at the fortress and killed Darkie's entire family?

But who was this scholar wearing a torn cotton-padded jacket and straw sandals beside him? Ning Que remembered seeing this man the first day he entered the Academy. It was the same clean and trustworthy-looking man who somehow knocked fear into his heart. He remembered the man wanting to exchange the water ladle now tied at his waist for his big black umbrella. Naturally, he had already guessed the man to be his Eldest Brother.

Eldest Brother turned his attention to Ning Que. ”Is the box important? Should we retrieve it?”

Ning Que didn't understand why the man who might be Xia Hou would steal his iron box or why this scholar who might be Eldest Brother would ask this question so leisurely either. The box contained Master Lotus' ashes and wasn't worth a thing. It wasn't necessary to take the risk of retrieving it, of course. To ask if they should steal the box back after it had been stolen for some time, wasn't that a bit slow of Eldest Brother?