Chapter 471: Blood In The Palm; People On The Bridge (1/2)

Xia Hou smiled and slowly walked out of his subordinate's umbrella and into the blizzard. Suddenly, his smile disappeared and he stared indifferently at Ning Que. He asked, ”Is this the choice of the Academy?”

Ning Que smiled and said, ”You don't have to be afraid. It's my own choice. It has nothing to do with the Academy.”

Xia Hou said indifferently, ”If you want to die, then you will.”

Ning Que said, ”I myself don't want to die, I just want you to die.”

Xia Hou looked at him. He remained silent for a long time, then said, ”You are lunatic.”

Ning Que replied, ”When I fled from Chang'an 15 years ago, I managed to survive with determination and perseverance to die. All I wanted to do was to be lunatic. Wasn't that worth it?”

Xia Hou was silent for a moment and said, ”That was indeed worth it.”

It was unpopular in Tang to return good for evil. Those born and bred on this land were used to be straightforward--if you hit one, he would hit you back; if you wanted to kill one, then he would definitely try to kill you in return; if you killed one's father, then he would kill both you and your father. That was the reason why people took for granted that Ning Que had sent Xia Hou an invitation for a fight to the death.

In order to prevent those complicated things in the past from affecting the development of the empire, the court promised to cut off relations with Xia Hou with the help of the Academy and allowed Xia Hou to retire. They did not want the Xiling Temple's power to extend into Chang'an city. No matter what Ning Que would do to Xia Hou, whether by conspiracies or justifiable means, he would inevitably affect the process of the old being superceded by the new. However, the simplest or the stupidest method that he chose today would not have any influence, since the fight must be fair when the environment was fair.

Fairness did not mean everything. Everyone thought that it amounted to seeking death for Ning Que to challenge General Xia Hou across the border. No one wanted to see Ning Que die because he was one of the Academy Headmaster's disciples. However, they could not stop the duel now and all they could do was to wish that Xia Hou would not accept the challenge.

It was a real humiliation for a martial arts leader to reject the challenge of a Seethrough Realm cultivator. Therefore, when gazing at Xia Hou, the Prince showed a look of appeal.

Xia Hou did not seem to have sensed the Prince's gaze. He squinted slightly, looked at Ning Que and said, ”Since you want me to kill you...”

At this moment, there were sounds of multiple footsteps at the gate of the palace. Several high-ranking eunuchs were running desperately towards the gate, with messy uniforms and an untidy look. In such a snowy and windy weather, they were all sweating profusely, indicating that they had run all the way from the palace.

Eunuch Lin, who was in front of the eunuch group, heard the voice of Xia Hou and appeared horrified. He shouted like a goose squeezing its throat. ”His Majesty has ordered that no one here should move.”

Upon hearing the shout, the bigwigs outside the palace suddenly felt relaxed. They thought that only the Emperor could stop this fight.

Xia Hou seemed to have not heard the shrill voice coming from behind, nor did he hear the order of His Majesty. He said indifferently, ”...I will follow your wish.”

After saying that, he took a knife in the hands of his bodyguard and swiftly used it to cut his left palm. Compared with Ning Que's slow cutting of his hand, his version of palm-cutting was extraordinarily powerful.

Without any expression on his face, Xia Hou slowly clenched his left hand into a fist, and a stream of thick blood spilled from his hand.

Eunuch Lin had never run so fast in his entire life. He ran to the place breathlessly. Suddenly, he inadvertently sat down in the snow, his face turning pale when seeing Xia Hou's bleeding palm.

Prince Li Peiyan's face was as pale as snow.

Xu s.h.i.+'s silver eyebrows were like the snow on the willow by the lakeside. He looked at Xia Hou emotionlessly and said, ”Cancel it.”

Xia Hou shook his head and indifferently replied, ”He can cancel it but I cannot. I have my pride.”

Listening to these words, Ning Que started to applaud.

His left palm was still bleeding. The blood scattered towards the surroundings as he applauded, which fell on his black uniform as well as the white snow on the ground, creating an extremely b.l.o.o.d.y picture.

The applause was b.l.o.o.d.y as well, with blood scattering around as if it was going to be condensed.

Ning Que said, ”You haven't disappointed me. You are still the arrogant and stupid general, and I hope you continue to be proud like this.”

Xia Hou ignored his sarcasm and asked with a poker face, ”When shall we start to fight?”

On the thin challenge doc.u.ment, the date column was blank.

Ning Que said, ”Before you leave Chang'an City.”

Xia Hou said, ”I am leaving today.”

Ning Que said, ”Then we shall fight today.”

Xia Hou said, ”Well, I wouldn't waste too much time killing you before I set off.”

Ning Que said, ”You might not be able to set off any more.”

Xia Hou's expressions did not change and he said indifferently, ”Since I have set the time, it's your turn to choose the location.”

”I have been preparing the location for a long time.”

Ning Que said, ”I have bought many houses on the bank of Yanming Lake. So don't worry about hurting the innocent when we fight. Besides, I made some preparations there. After all, I am a Talisman Master, and I know something about tactical arrays. Since I have a lower state than you, I want to take some advantages in this field.”

When the two talked, no one interjected. All of them were shocked and listened reluctantly. Their faces did not change until they heard of the fighting location that Ning Que had chosen.

In fact, many bigwigs in Chang'an City knew that Ning Que had bought houses on the bank of Yanming Lake. Bigwigs with military background like General Xu s.h.i.+ knew clearly what Ning Que had done, so they were not surprised at Ning Que's choice for the fighting location. What surprised them was that Ning Que had made it clear to Xia Hou.

Looking at Xia Hou, Ning Que asked, ”Would you mind that?”