614 Bickering (2/2)
”Huh, that's easy then. Dragon King, it won't take long to kill this Shen Yongjiu. Like Old Immortal Dog Butcher, this guy uses a boning saber which seems unique. But actually, he's not good at saber techniques at all. Just watch out for his leg techniques. Keep an eye on his feet and you'll win for sure.
Even the people of the Central Plains had never heard of 'Old Immortal Dog Butcher.' At first, they had thought that Old Man Mu was deliberately humiliating the other side. When Shen Yongjiu admitted that 'Dog Butcher' was his Martial Uncle, they finally believed that the Kongdong Sect really had a master whose name was this strange.
Shen Yongjiu drew his short saber, and it was indeed a boning saber, which was about one or two times wider and longer than a boning knife but less than two feet long. It was still much shorter than a normal saber. ”Martial Uncle Dog Butcher was defeated by Your Excellency at the Great Border Pass. He has never forgotten it in the past decade and has devoted himself to improving his saber techniques. Sooner or later, Martial Uncle will challenge Old Man Mu again.”
The Great Border Pass was one of the passes at the border of the Central Plains. Few people knew that duel. Old Man Mu still remembered it but was shocked. ”Old Immortal Dog Butcher is still alive?”
”Fortunately, Martial Uncle is still alive.”
”And he still calls himself 'Old Immortal'?”
”Martial Uncle Dog Butcher has admitted his defeat and removed the words 'Old Immortal.'”
Old Man Mu nodded with satisfaction. ”He can just remove the word 'Old', and keep the word 'Immortal.' Immortal Dog Butcher, what a nice name.”
The listeners finally understood that they had had a fight because the two shared the same word 'old' in their names.
King Shengri, who was listening from the opposite side, became impatient. The officer under him immediately shouted, ”Cut the crap and start fighting now.”
”Well, then let's cut the crap.” Old Man Mu didn't have as much internal energy left and his only pleasure was bickering on the spur of a moment. So he wouldn't let the chance slip by easily. ”I wish the old Khan a hundred years of life. Oops! He's almost a hundred years old. I wish him a thousand years old. Wish the Khan a long long life! Follow me and chant along if you are loyal to the Khan, and please keep silent if you think it's crap.”
He said it again in the language of the Norland, and some of the Norland Cavalry really repeated what he said. Once someone responded, the others also followed. The voice grew louder and louder, until even King Shengri moved his lips. The officer around him looked embarrassed but did not dare say it was crap.
”Wish the Khan a long long life!” Some of those encircled kung fu practitioners also echoed, hoping that the kindness they were showing could help change their situation a bit.
While Old Man Mu was challenging the opponent with his mouth, his eyes had remained focused on the Dragon King, afraid that his wordiness would make his savior unhappy. When he realized that not only had the Dragon King not become angry but rather had taken two steps back to give him more space to speak, he finally understood that the Dragon King wanted to delay for time.
Gu Shenwei did need some time to allow his pulsating acupoints to subside, and he needed more time to change the Khan's mind or to wait for a miracle.
The cries gradually subsided. Knowing what to do now, Old Man Mu pointed at Shen Yongjiu and said, ”Why didn't you wish for the old Khan to live long? Do not think that you can cheat by having your back face King Shengri. There's something above you. You can't hide it.”
Shen Yongjiu knew he was no match in bickering so he simply refused to answer, and instead took a stance and looked at the Dragon King.
”Tut tut.” Old Man Mu wouldn't withdraw from the verbal fight so easily. He could keep on chattering for a while. This was the case when he had gone into seclusion alone to recover, not to mention the current situation where he had thousands of audiences. He continued loudly, saying, ”This is really odd. The Dragon King came in good faith to seek refuge with the Khan, but the son of the Khan has sent a very suspicious spy to join the kung fu competition. Was it because he feared that the Norland had a new ally or that the old fool had been deceived?”
Because of the matter of King Dari, the words 'old fool' had become taboo in the Royal Court. King Shengri, who hated it especially, snorted, his face livid. But as a king, he couldn't demean himself to speak back against Old Man Mu, so he merely shot a stern glance at the two disciples of the Kongdong Sect and the officers near him.
The life of the disciples of the Kongdong Sect depended on the contest, so Shen Yongjiu didn't want to start the fight too early. But he was also afraid of upsetting the lord, so he had no choice but to go out on the field.
”No more bullshit, Old Man Mu. King Shengri is wise and responsible and is also the Khan's most reliable right-hand man. Everyone can clearly see who is loyal and who harbors evil intentions. There's no need to say…”
”Haha.” Old Man Mu immediately caught onto the exposed loophole. ”All the kings of Norland are wise and responsible, and even the Khan himself finds it hard to make a choice. So you have appointed an heir for the Khan. Now, in front of everyone, will you tell us what you are colluding with King Shengri towards?
The heir of the Khan was an even more sensitive topic than 'old fool.'' The disciple of the Kongdong Sect didn't mean to mention it but it had been implicated by Old Man Mu. The disciple was speechless and could only say, ”I didn't mean it.”
”Shut up,” ordered King Shengri, grinding his teeth. Obviously, he was the one who had the Dragon King surrounded with cavalry, the one in an absolute advantage, so why did it look like he was on the losing side?
The officer immediately shouted, ”Let the tournament begin.”
Old Man Mu was still nagging, accusing the Kongdong Sect and King Shengri of being guilty, but no longer able to attract any attention.
Shen Yongjiu moved. Although his physical strength was no longer in peak condition, and the boning saber was also half step shorter than other sabers, he was more confident than he had been in his youth, and he was more steady than he had been in his prime.
Old Man Mu had said that Shen Yongjiu's strong point was not his saber techniques but rather his foot techniques and sure enough, Shen Yongjiu moved so fast that his whole body was a flash of a grey shadow, which advanced and retreated around the Dragon King like a giant, agile insect.
Shen Yongjiu also claimed that Martial Uncle Dog Butcher had improved his sabersmanship and he was telling the truth. The short saber was like the tooth of a venomous snake, lethal in every move.
In an instant, the two of them had exchanged more than ten moves, each faster than the other. The audience all had their hearts in their mouth and didn't even have time to shove it back down.
King Shengri slapped his thigh, ”This is really something. The Kongdong Sect knows their stuff.”
Gu Shenwei rarely clashed so many times with an opponent. His desire to defeat the enemy suddenly surged and he struck faster and faster with every blow no matter how hard his internal Qi circulated.
The two clashed again and when they brushed past, Shen Yongjiu said in a very low voice, ”Lord Wei sends his regards to the Dragon King.”