113 Feud (1/2)
Without warning Zhi Ruo sprung forwardlike a kangaroo launching itself froma springboard. The first guard in her way was unwittingly slapped down and rolled groaning leaving a line through the snow before anyonecould register what was going on.
Another shriek of pain and another guard lost hold of his shiny sword which flew one direction and his body the other, he tumbled over the uneven snow-covered surface of the frozen ground and crashed into another guard who was slow to react. Both of them slithered away with horrific screams and the sounds of breaking bones.
Zhi Ruo's ghost-like figure weaved through the shocked guards bare-handed, her feet hidden under her long dress produced white circularripples on the top of the friction-less frozen ground. With every step the air whistled and whined.
To the untrained eyes she seemed to disappear and reappear somewhere else in the blink of an eye with snow flakes twirling and flickeringaround her body without ever touching her skin.
The hapless guards who tried to confront her were sent flying with every nonchalant attack. Even two hundred guards on this level wouldn't be a factor if Zhi Ruo wanted to get to Hong Zang.
All onlookers stared at the scene in silent amazement, especially the females who were just scrambling away to get their children to safety. They all stopped and watched the red hair first-lady of House Hartley elegance and violence in equal measure.
Never would they have thought they would one day see the lady-like Zhi Ruo flogging the guards of a noble in public. The former bandits had the best view from behind, they heard and saw the bone-breaking hits being delivered from a closer vantage point than anyone else.
In their eyes Zhi Ruo was now the most powerful and majestic woman they had ever seen.
Theresidual screams of the battered guards seemed to be carriedoff in the distance with the wind, elongating their painful shrieks as it echoed out in the western hills.
After seeing a half dozen men scattered across the ground beaten to a pulp and wailing miserably in pain, the others didn't dare to impede or attempt toblock her path to Hong Zang, they quickly fled to the side leaving the fat man unguarded.
The fat on Hong Zang's face jiggled in fright and his eyes bulged as if he was suffocatingon a piece of meat stuck in his throat. His guards parted like the red sea and hesaw the woman dressed in blue who he had just insulted moving in his direction with a trail of injured and bloody guards laying behind her.
Her graceful balletic steps on the tip of her toes seemed to mesmerize the fat man for a moment before he was brought back to reality by her voice.
”Trash, say it again” Zhi Ruo's voice was cold andwhisper-like but everyone present heard her loud and clear.
Before the startled fat man could apologize or start begging for mercy..
Pa! a slap stung across his face sending him flying six to seven meters. Tap. tap, tap. before he could crash against the floor like the others before him, Zhi Ruo stepped across the ice like a phantom and caught up to the flying man, she stretched out her dainty left hand and the fat man was once again within her grasp gripped by the collar.
Hong Zang wailed in misery and spat out a few teeth, the blood from his bleeding mouth gushed out and stained the lapel of his white outfit.
”Trash, say it again.” When Hong Zang heard the phrase a second time, he quickly tried to say something with his swollen jaw.
Pa! another slap landed on the side of his jaw before words could emerge from his throat.
Even in the cold conditions, half ofhis face swelled up to the double its normal size. Again he was sent flying backwards with the red hair phantom-like figure giving chase...
”You owe me five gold coins.”
”What? That's half a month's wages, you are not seriously going to collect, are you?”
”A bet is a bet.”Qin Li said to Fu Qian with a dignified look.
They were both on the second floor of the manor looking out a window through the swirling downpour of snow flakes and watching Zhi Ruo's performance.
”How was i supposed to know that she could actually slap that fat slob over five meters.”
”Hahaha,” Qin Li laughed, ”If you weren't sure you shouldn't have bet, now pay up.”
Fu Qian was livid as he retrieved five cold coins and gingerly passed them to Qin Li as if he was giving away his family's heirloom.
”Trash, say it again.”Pa! The phrase was repeated again and followed by another ear-ringing slap connecting with the face of the fat noble.
OutsideZhi Ruo had begun to work on the other side of the man's face, his body wobbled like jello with each assault he endured, but he wasn't allowed to hit the floor after being sent flying by every singlehit delivered.
His remaining guards shuddered every time they witnessed him receiving another merciless face-slap,just the sound of the beating alone reverberated through their very bones.
Soon he was unrecognizable, his head was the size of a giant bore and his skin-tone was as pink as a flamingo basking in the summer sun.
The only silver lining for Hong Zang was that he still had one good tooth left in his mouth. The others were all lost in the snow or swallowed into his belly.
Finally the man could take no more and fainted, Zhi Ruo now let him hit the ground for the first time since the beating began thenturned and gave the death stare to the remaining guards, they trembled and buckled almost falling to their knees.
”Take this trash out of my sight and off my property, if any one of you trash dares to return.” She shook her petite fist at the guards sending shivers down their spines.