Chapter 324 - Horse And Horse (1/2)

As the old Chinese saying went, “If one is destined to finish an important task, then he will be tested several times by the Heaven.” Qin Sheng now used this saying to comfort himself. But it was still impossible for him to give up. If he gave up, Qin Sheng wouldn’t have survived in the previous incidents. It was his perseverance that supported him to go so far. So this time, Qin Sheng would stick to struggling as before.

After all, he believed that he would finally soar to heights as long as he was still alive.

Qin Sheng and Gu Qingyang were now swimming in the freezing cold river, struggling to escape from those people following behind. Fortunately, this was a branch river, with relatively stable flow of water and was not deep for it was winter now. But if it was summer, one who was not very good at swimming might die in the river.

Feng He, leading Gu Xiaobo and other six capable underlings, followed Qin Sheng and Gu Qingyang. Qin Sheng was good at swimming. When he lived in Zhongnan Mountains in his childhood, his grandfather had often asked him to practice swimming in the pool there. His grandfather had said that what one learned now might save their life one day, which came true today.

Gu Qingyang was not so good at swimming. Fortunately, some of those people chasing behind were not either. As a result, only three people were still following after. After Gu Qingyang and Qin Sheng got on the riverbank, they rushed into the forest nearby right away, with the three people tracing. Feng He and Gu Xiaobo came later, with two underlings who were poor in swimming struggling to follow. When Feng He and Gu Xiaobo entered the forest, they finally got on the riverbank.

At this very moment, Zhuang Zhou and Nan Gong arrived. They looked at and nodded to each other to communicate. Then, they rushed forward in a second.

The two underlings of Feng He didn’t expect that there were other enemies behind. Adding that the two underlings were almost exhausted when swimming in the cold river, and they were much less observant now, Zhuang Zhou and Nan Gong got their chance.

When the two underlings realized that they were in danger, Zhuang Zhou and Nan Gong had appeared in front of them. Even Chu Sikong or Feng He, who were masters of martial arts, couldn’t beat Zhuang Zhou and Nan Gong. Let alone these two underlings. They were capable individuals but not as good as Chu Sikong and Feng He.

Zhuang Zhou approached with his back bending. He estimated the direction and angle, half-relying on his luck, and hit exactly the man’s jaw with an uppercut. The man, who was muddleheaded, lost two teeth and bled all over his mouth. Before the man realized what happened, Zhuang Zhou seized the moment, grabbing the man’s neck and giving another hit with his knee. The man fell unconscious with his whole face covering blood.

As a Chinese poem said, “A hero would tear when he was to die before he won in the war.” These two underlings were appointed to kill Qin Sheng, but they were stunned by Zhuang Zhou in a second before they started a fight with Qin Sheng. They had to reflect on their shortcoming of the ability to swim after they woke up later. If they hadn’t lagged behind, then they would not have run into Zhuang Zhou.

Compared with him, the other man was in a worse situation for his rival was a woman. Nan Gong, though a good-looking woman, was cold and cruel when killing. Others might misunderstand her as a delicate and weak person for her charming appearance, which was a camouflage to deceive. When others underestimated her, they would receive the strongest attack from her. That was the way Nan Gong operated.

She ran up to jump high, entangling the man’s neck with her legs. With inertia and her own weight, she trapped the man on the ground and threw two punches into the back side of his head. The man fainted before he was able to see who his enemy was.

“All right,” Nan Gong said with a naive smile of a maid.

Zhuang Zhou nodded to her. Of course, he trusted Nan Gong was capable enough to handle this. This woman was really tough. Zhuang Zhou didn’t want to waste any time, and he said in a low voice, “Let’s go.”

They rushed into the forest. This was the beginning of a Tom and Jerry play.

At the same time, on the other side of the riverbank, Chang Baji and Chu Sikong were fighting fiercely. It was hard to say whether they had tried their best. It was a horse and horse situation. No one could tell who would win this fight. They were both at the master level. This fight would never end unless one of them carelessly stuck his neck out.

When they began to fight, they were probing. Chu Sikong had learned the Southern China martial arts, which focused on speed and explosive force. In other words, it focused on the technique. He had totally mastered Wing Tsun Boxing and applied to a set of mysterious leg movements, giving Chang Baji great pressure in fighting. Chang Baji had suffered a lot in this fight, feeling an ache in his shoulder. Chang Baji, however, had learned the Northern China martial arts, which paid attention to power and large movement range. Its practice was like a tiger swooping down on its prey. Chu Sikong got this and never attacked face to face for the front side was Chang Baji’s advantage. But he still failed sometimes and received strong hits twice from Chang Baji.

“Chang Baji, you deserve others’ praise. I respect you.” Chu Sikong was always polite to any rivals, especially to Chang Baji, who was really excellent. He had been amazed by Chang’s skillful and tricky moves of turning back and punching from the side of the lower back.

At this moment, Chang Baji was far more stressed than Chu Sikong. Chu Sikong cared about nothing but this fight, but Chang Baji was worried about Qin Sheng’s situation. Since Chu Sikong had succeeded in hindering him here, Qin Sheng must be in trouble now. And he was deeply concerned about Qin Sheng’s safety. Was Qin Sheng still alive?

“Mr. Chu, you deserve to be my rival. Yangtze River Delta is an exactly wonderful place to cultivate masters like you,” Chang Baji answered with his eyes squinting. Chu Sikong’s downward attack just now had made him suffer hugely, and his arms continuously felt painful.

Compared with Chang’s concern and worry, Chu Sikong was calm and easy. He asked, “May I ask where did you learn the Eight Poles Boxing and Eight Diagrams Palm?”

“I’m not talented and also not a good learner. I never tell others my Master’s name for fear of embarrassing him one day,” Chang Baji answered casually. It was not a total lie. He and other disciples never told others the name of their Master, but for others might go to disturb their Master.