17 A Stripping Strategy (2/2)
”Your grandfather's not touching your toes, your grandfather's touching your pig head.”
Meng Fuyao shot out like a bolt of electricity, her black-iron dagger spreading an arc even darker than the night sky and reaching his throat, all within a split second.
The dagger on his skin felt like a spear on the surface of the water, under which oblivious fishes swam. Except, the man had sensed it and made a weird turn to escape being held at knifepoint.
Meng Fuyao wasted no time pondering. She jumped onto him, aiming straight for his elbow, palm, hip, and shoulder. The series of speedy close-range punches left him gasping for air. While he had escaped once with his seemingly oil-coated body, her storm-like attacks were causing him a few wounds at that moment. With him striking the lottery once in every three draws and recoiling and crying in pain, it was apparent that the power and speed Meng Fu Yao had been drilling for in her iron-blood training had paid off.
'Sh*t, you bastard. Hiding and peeking from behind the trees? You've seen everything, haven't you?'
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became and the harder she punched. Her eyes sparkled as the punches stacked on like waves.
Yuan Zhaoxu simply watched from the side, his clasped fingers under his sleeves gradually loosening.
That one-sided battle was nearing its end. Meng Fuyao threw a final punch, which the unlucky man instinctively attempted to block. Unexpectedly, she retracted her fist the next moment.
The man was in shock, his hand still dangling in the air.
'Thud.'
Meng Fuyao lashed out the instant his hand dropped to his side.
A stifled groan sounded. ”Des...picable...”
The man stared vacantly before collapsing onto the ground.
Suavely slapping the dust off her hands, she grinned. ”For the despicable, baseness paves a path; for the foolish, stupidity inspire his epitaph.”
She then tied the man in gray to a tree, looked him up and down before shaking her head.
”Look at this stickman. He looks like he's been flattened by two doors.”
Yuan Zhaoxu narrowed his eyes and broke into uncontrollable laughter. The man had a strange appearance indeed – freakishly lanky, his face almost as narrow as an eel's. Meng Fuyao had long been curious about his extremely slippery body, and after a long time, she decided that there was nothing odd save for his excessively pale skin.
Turning around and sensing pity in Yuan Zhaoxu's expression, she asked, ”You know him?”
”No, but I recognize his race,” he answered. ”Clan of the Masked Sharks from the border of Fufeng coast.”
”Masked Sharks?”
Yuan Zhaoxu nodded. ”E Ocean in Fufeng Nation has the most dangerous and most reef-packed seawater in Demon Island. Legend has it that there is an ancient nation, along with piles of treasures. Because of the density of the reef and the narrowness of the marine trench, there's simply no available access route for seafarers. Only those born into the Masked Shark clan are able to move underwater. Children will be taken to sea at the age of 3 and trained to move through the narrow passages until they are as good as fishes. Having been taught these skills and having spent a long time underwater, these children start to develop skin abnormalities. They will also be trained to conceal their body and breath to avoid sea beasts, hence the name Masked Sharks. With their techniques, they're also the best thieves and killers around.”
”Oh, no wonder I couldn't see through his ambush,” Meng Fuyao exclaimed in realization. She laughed. ”I'll interrogate him later. Let's deal with this jerk first.” At that, she walked to the guy whom she had more or less flattened and rewarded him with two loud slaps.
That moment the man opened his eyes, and he heard her pelt.
”What's your father's name?”
”Mother's surname?”
”How many older sisters?”
”How many younger brothers?”
”How old were you when you first wet the bed?”
”Do you wear your clothes when showering?”
”Do you like washing your face with honey locust or soap?”
”Who are you working for?”
A string of mindless questions rained down on him, causing him to feel faint. He answered them one by one without much thought, nevertheless, and let slip when it came to the last question.
”Sir Fang, an honor guard of Qi Mansion...”
Immediately after blurting it out he breathed in and opened his eyes wide. Meng Fuyao patted his face and smirked in satisfaction. ”Good boy.”
”How should we deal with this guy?” Meng Fuyao turned to consult Yuan Zhaoxu after throwing another slap onto his face and knocking him out. ”Is Qi Xunyi suspecting me already? Hence sending these two to get rid of me?”
An unusual look flashed across his eyes. He knew that her identity had been exposed from that incident by the stream, and judging from Qi Xunyi's character, it was only natural that he had wanted to investigate and seek answers.