937 Half a Move (1/2)
Shangguan Hong had never been a clever man who could easily understand other people's hints. When the Dragon King refused to demonstrate the sword move again, his first reaction was that he had been fooled again; he couldn't even help give the Dragon King a resentful look.
'But Master Commander…' Shangguan Hong was confused. Had he been abandoned again? Zhang Ji had at least bled him dry. But the Master Commander hadn't assigned him any important tasks so far. All he had done was merely pass a message to the Dragon King, which could have been done by anyone.
'I will not die.' Shangguan Hong suddenly became confident. He did not believe in the Dragon King; he didn't even believe in himself, but he did believe in Lotus. The Daoless Divine Power, the Seven Rotation Skill, the Waning Moon Swordsmanship, and those specially made pills. The Master Commander had paid too much for him and would definitely not let him die casually.
But he still didn't understand the Dragon King's move.
Shangguan Hong closed his eyes, trying to recall every motion of the Dragon King's.
Wild Horse didn't move. He wanted to see what new tricks Servant Huan would play.
Old Man Mu had almost died under Wild Horse's sword, but he still couldn't help but open his mouth, though he kept his voice down this time. ”You are such a fool. There are only twenty-one changes. Is it really that difficult to remember? And you don't have to use all of them when fighting the enemy either. You just have to be flexible. Block the left when the attack comes at your left. Block the right when the attack comes at your right. This move is used to save your life. Alas, Shangguan Hong, just forget about it. You might as well kill yourself. Your training method, the so-called Sword of Survival, doesn't sound reliable at all.”
When he was interrupted by Old Man Mu, Shangguan Hong forgot some more of it. He opened his eyes, looking a bit excited. He seemed to understand something, but also seemed frightened. ”Just one move. You won't make a second move?”
In the eyes of Wild Horse, Shangguan Hong was no different from the rest of the disciples in the hall and was perhaps even weaker. Like Old Man Mu, he also believed that the so-called Sword of Survival was a helpless invention by cowards and was wholly inferior to the Sword of Death, not to mention his Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship.
Wild Horse raised his head proudly. He would never make a promise to a worm.
The sword came, as slow as before, but still leaving the target no room to dodge. Shangguan Hong didn't have any advanced lightness skills like Old Man Mu's, not to mention the magical Amber Power. He was not afraid of bleeding, but Wild Horse didn't rely on bloodletting to kill. So he only had one choice left, and that might be what the Dragon King was trying to say.
Shangguan Hong really wished that the Dragon King could have said it more clearly.
The soft sword bent into a semicircle. Shangguan Hong stabbed himself.
Old Man Mu had been right. ”Block the left when the attack comes at his left and block the right when the attack comes at his right.” Wild Horse had thrust his sword at Shangguan Hong's heart, so Shangguan Hong had stabbed at the same spot but with a much faster speed. It was like a hungry baby wolf fighting with its siblings for food from its mother's mouth.
One should never underestimate a survival maniac's will to live in a desperate situation.
This move was completely out of Wild Horse's expectations. He had thought too highly of his own training method and hadn't carefully considered the characteristics of the other training methods, so he didn't expect that Shangguan Hong would make such a dangerous move.
Wild Horse's sword still hit the targeted spot accurately but what should have been flesh had instead turned into cold steel. His sword pushed a bit deeper under the resistance, but it stopped an inch or two shallower than the depth it was supposed to reach, and that was the difference between life and death.
Wild Horse felt the backlash effect for the first time. It was just a small force, but he had poured all of his internal Qi into the sword and his Dantian had become empty as a result; even this small force jolted him and made him involuntarily retreat by half a step.
Shangguan Hong stumbled back, all the while gnashing his teeth and moaning in pain. Then he steeled his heart and pulled the soft sword out of his chest. He was afraid of the wound, but he was more afraid of death. Thus, he would rather stab himself and seize the space that the enemy sword wanted to inhabit. The only change was that the soft sword had curved such that the tip had remained half an inch away from his heart.
Shangguan Hong covered his chest with his left hand and spat out a bloody patch of phlegm. After shooting a glance at the opposite Wild Horse, he turned to the nearby Dragon King, his eyes full of hatred and madness.
The Dragon King had pushed him to the brink of death and then saved him, but at the cost of injuring his own body. It was very hard for him to feel grateful. Even if his swordsmanship had improved as a result, he still felt angry. It was as if a miser had been forced to throw away a few pieces of gold and silver to keep most of his wealth. Even though he knew that it was necessary, he would still become annoyed at the person who had made the suggestion.
Shangguan Hong's move shocked the audience. Shangguan Fei was the one who felt the most surprised. He had been standing in the corner and holding his breath along with the guard of the Heavenly Mountain Sect for fear that the Dragon King would remember that he was there. But the perseverance and determination of his half-brother frightened him even more.
Shangguan Fei had castrated Shangguan Hong, but he had never considered him as an enemy. The most important reason was because there was a huge gap between the two's martial arts skills. He didn't feel the need to be afraid. Shangguan Hong was said to have killed the assassin who had killed the envoy of the Central Plains, but Shangguan Fei didn't put that in his mind. He thought that it had either been a coincidence or the assassin had been too careless. But after seeing Shangguan Hong's unusual sword techniques, he suddenly realized that the gap between the two didn't exist at all.
It was Shangguan Hong who had been stabbed, but Shangguan Fei seemed to have also felt the pain, and a voice echoed through his mind, saying, 'You have to be careful.'
No one in this hall cared about Shangguan Fei's reaction. All of their eyes were still focused on Wild Horse.
As the Dragon King had predicated, Wild Horse wasn't able to kill his target yet again. The disciples' reverence toward Wild Horse was, therefore, greatly reduced and placed onto the Dragon King instead.
The practitioner's belief in the Death Sutra Swordsmanship might sometimes turn into arrogance, which was what was happening to Shangguan Hong. He suddenly felt like he was omnipotent and that he was fully capable of killing Wild Horse and then challenging the Dragon King. Driven by this arrogance, he took a step forward but that was it. It was already a great achievement to put on an attitude of defiance in front of Wild Horse. The arrogance had fulfilled its task and then quickly disappeared. Shangguan Hong immediately changed directions and retreated to Old Man Mu's side.
Wild Horse adjusted his internal Qi. The backlash didn't have a huge impact on him. He could still move normally.