Soaring Swallows Startle Dragons

Chapter 3

Jianghu Tempest

Part 2 (13)

Li Yaohong looked back and saw Qiu Yuan blocking the way behind her with his snakehead staff held out crosswise. Eight Armed Divine Codger and Snakeman Qiu Yuan had went all out against each other for a long time, then because Yang Menghuan had taken that chance to slip away, their hostility toward each other evaporated and they were now blocking Li Yaohong in front and behind.

Shadowless Girl knew she wasn’t going to be able to escape and calmed herself and said plainly, “I was also after the Kunlun disciples. I saw you two engaged in an exciting fight and stopped to watch. Now you’re not fighting, so I ought to get going.” With that, she strolled forward.

Wen Gongtai was a sect grandmaster, so when he saw Li Yaohong being so disrespectful by casually saying a few words and walking away, he was enraged. He sneered, “Such an unmannerly little girl, you think you can leave?” He thrust his right palm out and a gust of forcewind blasted out. Li Yaohong dodged to the side to avoid it. She had grown up under the doting love of Sky and Sea Elder Li Canglan and had always been spoiled, she couldn’t take someone bullying her, but she knew she was no match for him, yet still was recalcitrant. She flipped her wrist and drew her sword, a willowy brow cocked as she said in a stern voice, “What’s the meaning of blocking my way? If you don’t give way, I’ll bust through!”

Eight Armed Divine Codger laughed loudly. “Such big talk. Then why don’t you try and see if you can bust through?”

Li Yaohong shouted, sword sweeping across, and Wen Gongtai’s left palm shot out rapidly with Hand Strums the Pipa and to flick against and jolt her sword. Li Yaohong had already seen the power of his palm chops striking nothing but air and knew that if her sword was flicked by his internal force than she would drop her sword if not injury her wrist, so she immediately sank her wrist and changed to Armored Cavalry Charges Out, sword forcewind sweeping down at an angle to chop at his legs.

Wen Gongtai whisked his sleeve, knees unbending, feet unmoving, and there was a slight rustle of a breeze and he had closed in on Shadowless Girl’ side, the bamboo staff in his right hand not moving all this time, his left hand concentrating a steely strength and whisked toward her sword with Brandish the Fly-Whisk and Hold Forth. Eight Armed Divine Codger has his status as a sectmaster to maintain and didn’t want to have to counterattack against Li Yaohong, he just wanted to use his internal force to knock the the weapon out of her hand.

In this sense, Shadowless Girl had the upper hand, her sword unfolding with Li Canglan’s superlative techniques, and in the twinkling of an eye her cold awn of light launched over twenty or more strokes like lightning.

Wen Gongtai had thought he could send the weapon flying from her hand with three to five moves. He didn’t expect that over twenty moves later he would still not be able to knock the sword out of her hands. Li Yaohong’s swordsmanship had reached about seven to eighth-tenths that of Sky and Sea Elder’s. Aside from her level of mastery, her sword strokes were marvelous beyond compare.

Eight Armed Divine Codger saw that the girl’s sword strokes were varying and changing unpredictably and couldn’t tell which school she was from, and he found that really odd. The schools that excelled in swordsmanship were Wudang, Kunlun, and Emei, but this girl’s sword sequences were not from those three schools. For someone of his stature to let a twenty-year-old girl take over twenty moves from him without defeat was really a loss of face, all the more so with Snakeman Qiu Yuan watching off to the side. Annoyed, he lashed out three palm strikes swish swish swish.

How could Li Yaohong endure Wen Gongtai’s immense strength? Those three ferocious palm strikes were like churning waves or surging breakers forcing Shadowless Girl back more than a stave. But she has been so pampered it was second nature and she wasn’t about to admit defeat. She gritted her teeth and charged forward with with the sword stroke Embrace the Mountain, Vault Over the Sea. Wen Gongtai was furious at how stubborn she was. He thought, If I don’t make her suffer a little she won’t stop. He concentrated his qi in his left arm and forced it through his left palm, waiting for the tip of her sword to arrive before suddenly striking out.

Li Yaohong suddenly felt her sword being sucked in by an invisible force like it wanted to fly out of her hand. This was bad, if she didn’t drop the sword her wrist would be injured, so all she could do was let go, and her three-span sword flew off seven or eight staves away like a kite with a broken string and fell once its momentum was exhausted.

Shadowless Girl let go of her sword and immediately took out a Soul-Seeking Swallow Dart from her dart bag, and raising her jade wrist, sent it flying toward Eight Armed Divine Codger with an odd whizzing sound.

This Soul-Seeking Swallow Dart, just like its name implied, was shaped like a swallow with pure steel swallow wings on the left and right sides. Its edges were sharp as a blade and it was much smaller than a real swallow. There was a spring mechanism in its belly that contained a poisoned needle, and when it was hit by a weapon the mechanism was jolted and the poisoned needle inside would shoot out. The technique for this hidden weapon was also different from other hidden weapons. When it was thrown it didn’t go in a straight line but arced around toward the enemy, swooping down from the top in a curved descent and wound around left and right attacking the enemy, all according to how the thrower controlled it. Li Yaohong flew into a fit of anger when Wen Gongtai knocked her sword out of her hand and she threw the Soul-Seeking Swallow Dart. Loosed from her hand it was like as nimble as a flitting swallow, and it made a strange sound as it dropped toward the top of Eight Armed Divine Codger’s head.

As experienced and knowledgeable as Wen Gongtai was, he couldn’t tell what sect this strange hidden weapon was from. It looked to be moving slowly, spiraling down from above. When it was around seven spans away from the top of his head it suddenly dropped in a straight line, faster than anything. Under the moonlight its cold awn of light dazzled him, quicker than lightning. Wen Gongtai was ready for it, raising his left palm and shooting out a gust of forcewind. The Soul-Seeking Swallow Dart was jolted by his internal force and skewed toward his right side, but the spring mechanism in its belly had been jolted by his internal force as well and the poisoned needle inside shot out, a silver thread as fine as a strand of hair flashing toward him. Wen Gongtai’s internal skill was refined and superb, and his vision was exceptional. He could see that something was amiss and immediately adapted, leaping up and landing beside Li Yaohong. “Lousy girl, actually using a vicious hidden weapon like that. I’m going to punish you good today.” With that he chopped with his left hand.

Before Li Yaohong could throw her second Soul-Seeking Swallow Dart, Wen Gongtai’s ferocious palm forcewind arrived. Eight Armed Divine Codger was unforgiving with this attack. Shadowless Girl knew there was a huge discrepancy in strength between them and didn’t dare meet it head on. She reared back with Golden Carp Plunges into the Waves and drew back more than a stave, but Wen Gongtai stuck close like a shadow. Li Yaohong was not flustered and did not wait to leap up but used her momentum to roll twice to the left, but before she had gotten to her feet she heard Wen Gongtai sneer from behind, “Is that all you’ve got?” and chopped down at an angle toward her shoulder.

Li Yaohong followed along the path of the coming palm and darted forward suddenly, and though the palm didn’t land true, some spare forcewind swept into her and slammed into her graceful body, nearly knocking her down. Wen Gongtai’s feet paused, then flew behind her like a bird and put his index and middle fingers together and pressed toward her Wind Mansion acupoint. Li Yaohong had absorbed his palm, setting her blood and qi roiling, so she couldn’t dodge out of the way. Just as Eight Armed Divine Codger’s fingers were about to press Shadowless Girl’ Wind Mansion acupoint, two figures suddenly burst through the air and down, landed and shot out their palms in unison, forcewind soughing with incredibly ferocious force. Eight Armed Divine Codger Wen Gongtai didn’t bother with hurting his foe but instead leapt out of the way of the palm forcewinds, collected himself, and saw two people standing about seven spans away. They were both in their fifties and wearing all black tightfit clothes. One of them had a Three Powers rope hammer around his waist, and the other one was shouldering a pair of bluesteel sun & moon wheels. They were both extremely famous among the jianghu. The one shouldering the wheels was Hundred-Step Flying Cymbals Qi Yuantong, Red Banner Altarman of the Heavenly Dragon Gang. The with the Three Powers rope hammer around his waist was the Black Banner Altarman, Stele-Breaking Hands Cui Wenqi.

Qi Yuantong ran forward two steps and helped steady Li Yaohong’s tottering body, while Stele-Breaking Hands Cui Wenqi said coldly, “How imposing! How ferocious! A sect grandmaster, violently attacking a weak, young girl. Eight Armed Divine Codger, how are you going to faces the heroes of the world now?”

Wen Gongtai’s face got hot. “I asked her several times for her name, but she wouldn’t say, just viciously attacked me. I only used my left hand to deal with her, if you don’t believe me that just ask Qiu Yuan over there, he was watching the fight. Cui with your hurtful remarks, could it be that I’m afraid of you?”

Cui Wenqi sneered, “You’re too kind, you’re too kind. Neither of us has to fear the other, the Heavenly Dragons sooner or later will fight you masters of the Nine Major Schools of the martial world.” With that, he threw his head back and laugh uproariously.

Qi Yuantong helped Li Yaohong walk a few steps and asked in a low voice, “Circulate your qi a bit and see if you’ve got any internal injuries.”

Shadowless Girl did as he said and circulated her qi, then shook her head. “It’s alright, my internal organs weren’t harmed.”

Qi Yuantong relaxed and saw Wen Gongtai with an angry look on his face, looking at Cui Wenqi and secretly concentrating his internal power. Stele-Breaking Hands was also concentrating on gathering his qi, standing with his feet in a 丁-shaped stance. Hundred-Step Flying Cymbals knew that they were both secretly gathering their power, readying to fight it out, and he knew that once they unleashed all that power they were amassing, it would be difficult to stop them till one of them was dead. He was a treacherous and calculating schemer and didn’t want to get into a pointless fight at such an important time. He stepped up and stood between them and said, “You two wait a minute before you fight, won’t you listen to what I have to say first?”

Wen Gongtai and Cui Wenqi were just at the point of loosing all that amassed power, but when they heard that they restrained themselves and fixed their eyes on Hundred-Step Flying Cymbals.

Qi Yuantong said to Cui Wenqi, “Brother Wen hurt Miss Li, but he didn’t know she was the Heavenly Dragon chief’s beloved daughter. Fortunately, Miss Li wasn’t really hurt. Given the circumstance, this is not the time to fight.”

Then he laughed loudly and said to Eight Armed Divine Codger, “Brother Wen’s Finger-Snapping Golden Pellet is unrivaled in the martial world, Brother Cui and I have long respected your great name. Luckily our Chief Li plans to invite the Nine Major Schools of the martial world to a martial arts contest. This grand martial world gathering is not far off from now, when the time comes, not only can we ask to see each of the superb skills of Brother Wen’s Mount Hua School, the masters of the other eight major schools will be displaying their skills as well. We’ll be able to duel later, why the rush? I think the both of you should refrain from fighting tonight.”

Eight Armed Divine Codger held the green staff in his right hand out, and said, “If your honorable chief has such aspirations then nothing could be better. Our Mount Hua School will do everything we can to make this grand gathering a reality as soon as possible. As for tonight’s accidentally injuring your honorable chief’s daughter, this old rotter definitely didn’t know who she was. When you two see your honorable chief, please extend him my apologies.” With that, he uttered a long cry and sped off.

Once Wen Gongtai was gone, Hundred-Step Flying Cymbals Qi Yuantong turned to Snakeman Qiu Yuan. “Old man who plays with snakes, you really put on some nauseating airs. Our Chief Li has sent people looking for you three times, but you always avoided them. Tonight, now that you’ve run into Brother Cui and I, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Qiu Yuan laughed. “If you want me to join your honorable gang, that’s not a problem, but you first have to give me some face. Since Chief Li has been able to make you two bow to him, he certainly has some extraordinary means, but I, Qiu, am a person who won’t stop till he reaches the Yellow River. Wait till I see your Chief Li in person, then we’ll talk. Anyhow, I won’t die for another three to five years, what’s the rush?”