Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain (1) / Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain (2)

"Tch, so young, and he's never even crawled through a hole, yet he acts like he knows everything."

Because she had to go to other tables to offer toasts, Yao Bilian didn't chat for too long. After saying goodbye to Hongdou, Murong Qing, Yu Shuying, and others at her table, she left.

Looking at her retreating figure, Hongdou exclaimed wistfully, "She's so beautiful! Women are definitely most beautiful in wedding dresses."

If the person sitting next to you is an ordinary girl, you would probably nod in agreement. Unfortunately, even if the other people at the table aren't weirdos, they are still quite different from ordinary people.

Murong Qing commented earnestly, "It's a pity that wearing these clothes is inconvenient for movement. They would be a hindrance in the event of a sneak attack. Perhaps they could be modified slightly to make them more form-fitting."

Yu Shuying said impatiently, "Boring, what a waste of life. Can I go back now?"

Liu Qingqing hummed in agreement, but no one paid any attention.

Si Ming was speechless and was about to bury his head in his food when he suddenly heard Yu Shuying say, "That man who offered the toast had murderous intent."

Si Ming quickly looked up and saw Yao Bilian being surrounded by a group of people toasting her, all in a cheerful mood, and he couldn't see anything wrong with her.

If this were a movie or TV show, Si Ming might have stupidly replied, "You must have seen wrong" or "It's your imagination." However, he wasn't forced to lower his IQ by the screenwriter, so he slammed his hand on the table, leaped over it, and pounced on the crowd.

Yu Shuying's Mind-Reading Technique was indeed exposed as fake, but she still possessed the ability to see other people's emotions. Therefore, Si Ming chose to believe her—even if it was later proven that she was wrong, he could at least sincerely apologize, which was better than watching an accident happen!

Chapter 268 Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain (Part 1)

Just as Si Ming was halfway through his attack, the treacherous individual lurking in the crowd noticed him and immediately drew a short blade, aiming to stab Yao Bilian.

Normally, Yao Bilian would have easily dodged the knife, but she had drunk quite a bit. Although she wasn't drunk, her mind was much slower than usual, and her alertness was greatly reduced. Plus, with a group of people surrounding her, it was even more difficult for her to guard against the attack.

Seeing that there was no time to stop the assassin, Si Ming put his five fingers together and slashed through the air, unleashing a blazing sun-like blade of energy—the True Yang Vermilion Blaze Saber.

The blade of energy didn't strike the short blade or the assassin's arm, but instead aimed directly at his head. This caused the assassin to curse inwardly. He also had a weapon hidden in the sleeve of his other arm, so if Si Ming's goal was to stop his sneak attack, he could immediately switch to his other hand to complete the task.

A person has two arms but only one head. Helpless, the assassin could only turn around to block. With a metallic clang, the short blade in his hand was immediately knocked away, and a scorching energy rushed along the meridians of his arm and attacked his internal organs. Fortunately, it was not strong, and he quickly activated his Internal Cultivation to neutralize it.

At this moment, Si Ming had already pounced in front of his opponent, and immediately swung his left hand, unleashing a strike from mid-air with the Drought God Palm.

The assassin flipped his wrist, revealing another hidden weapon—a short hook—that reached out to the side to avoid a direct confrontation with the Drought God Palm, while simultaneously locking onto Si Ming's wrist.

If Si Ming had been using his right hand at this moment, he would have had to retract his palm and shrink his body, and instead use the Ethereal Cloud and Mist Palm to fight back. However, he was using his left hand, which was not invaded by the Metal Cells, so he ignored it and let his opponent hook his wrist. The force surged and the palm strike was undiminished and went straight for the heart of the Yellow Dragon.

Seeing that he had successfully locked the wrist, the assassin was overjoyed and immediately tried to hook and twist, but he failed to hook it open or break it. Instead, his weapon was dulled and worn down. Surprised, he had no choice but to parry the attack. Suddenly, an overwhelming force surged through him, and his body jolted as he flew out like a bowling ball, crashing through many tables and getting soaked in soup. But he rolled away and rushed out of the venue.

"Oh, he's actually a master."

Si Ming originally intended to take down his enemy in one fell swoop, but he did not expect that his opponent would still have the strength to move after taking his palm strike, while his Qi and Blood were churning violently within him. This was because his opponent's cultivation level was far beyond his expectations, with at least Internal Cultivation Level Eleven. Although he was much inferior in strength, his Internal Cultivation completely overwhelmed his Blazing Yang Dou Qi. Both sides had their own strengths, and the first exchange was evenly matched.

"With such high cultivation, taking the civil service exam in a government agency is far more promising than being an assassin... Even if you were to become an assassin, you should target those important figures."

A hint of doubt flashed through Si Ming's mind. Although Yao Bilian was certainly an upper-class person compared to ordinary people, she was ultimately just the daughter of a group's CEO. She had neither power nor wealth and didn't quite reach that level. It would be more appropriate to target her parents instead.

However, the current situation did not allow for further investigation. Si Ming immediately gave chase, using his lightness skill, Carefree Wandering Kunpeng, to move like a roc spreading its wings, borrowing the power of the wind to travel at a speed faster than a car, as if a hurricane had swept across the ground. However, the speed of the other party was not slow either, and the distance between the two was only slowly shortening. At this rate, it would take at least twenty minutes to catch up with the other party.

Seeing this, Si Ming casually picked up a maple leaf as he passed by the maple trees planted on both sides of the road, infused it with fire energy, and shot it at the assassin using the technique of the Fire Talisman Jade Subtle Needle!

Chapter 269 Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain (Part Two)

The assassin heard a whooshing sound behind him, but mistaking it for a hidden weapon, he struck out with a backhand palm, the wind from which roared like a fierce tiger, awe-inspiring and powerful.

If it were any other hidden weapon, it would probably have been knocked back by this palm strike. However, the Fire Talisman Jade Subtle Needle was a gunpowder bomb. When it was struck by the palm force, it immediately exploded, turning into a stream of flames that caused the assassin to sway and slow down involuntarily.

Si Ming seized the opportunity, took a step forward to close the distance between them, and then unleashed a powerful attack, the Drought God Palm, with fiery energy radiating outwards. He wanted to finish the fight quickly, so he used a move like the Drought God Palm that required a lot of Internal Cultivation.

The assassin recognized the power of the palm strike, stomped his foot hard, and retreated more than three feet like an arrow. He didn't try to avoid the attack, but only to buy time to build up his strength. As he retreated, he took a deep breath, and his bones immediately made a series of cracking sounds, like popping beans.

Before the sound had even stopped, he sat down on his horse and thrust out his left hand with what appeared to be a slow but actually swift motion, meeting Si Ming's palm head-on.

With a loud "bang," a surge of scorching, magma-like true True Qi rose along the Laogong acupoint in his palm, causing him to let out a muffled groan of pain. He stumbled back several steps, his arm that had been struck by the palm turning completely black, emitting a foul odor like burnt hair, and showing signs of burns on its surface.

Si Ming also failed to gain the upper hand. He felt that the opponent's palm contained two opposing forces, one positive and one negative, as if someone was grabbing his arm and twisting it in one direction. An ordinary martial artist would probably have his entire arm twisted into a pretzel after receiving this palm strike. However, even with the suppression of his Internal Cultivation, his Jade-Clad Dharma Body could not completely neutralize the opposing force and suffered a strain, causing him to feel a dull pain.

"The Forward and Reverse Heaven-Surging Palm! You're from the Tiger and Wolf Death School, and you've cultivated this palm technique to such a level; you must hold a high position within the clan."

The founder of the Tiger and Wolf Death School had a fortuitous encounter during a shipwreck, obtaining this palm technique and a matching Internal Cultivation method. His strength increased by leaps and bounds, elevating his originally third-rate mercenary organization to a first-rate one.

Si Ming had been cramming on martial arts knowledge recently and had memorized the characteristics of many martial arts techniques. In addition, the characteristics of the "Forward and Reverse Heaven-Surging Palm" were too obvious, so he recognized it in one move.

The assassin snorted and quickly took out a medicine bottle from his pocket. Knowing that he wouldn't have time to open the bottle while his opponent was watching him closely, he crushed the bottle and poured out a large amount of powder, which he then applied to his burned arm.

Dealing with this kind of guy, Si Ming didn't care about sportsmanship and wasn't going to foolishly wait for him to finish. He immediately pounced on him again.

At that moment, a sword light reflected the moonlight, like a frost piercing towards Si Ming's throat. Before the sword even arrived, the killing intent on the sword already made Si Ming's throat feel cold.

There was an ambush!

Si Ming was startled but not flustered. He joined his five fingers together, held them upright like a knife, and swung out the True Yang Dan Lie sword diagonally. With a soft metallic clang, his fingers accurately struck the unsharp part of the opponent's sword spine, deflecting the incoming sword along with a burst of sparks.

The ambush was incredibly fast. After Si Ming parried the attack, the attacker immediately switched to a rapid series of sword strikes. With a flick of his arm, he created a blur of afterimages, and countless sword lights burst forth, covering all the vital points of Si Ming's upper body. The sword in his hand gleamed coldly, clearly a weapon capable of severing a hair with a single blow.

At the same time, the initial assassin turned around and launched a counterattack, waving his palms and using opposing forces to stir up the surrounding air currents. This made Si Ming feel as if he were in the deep sea, not only having to endure enormous pressure, but also being attacked by chaotic and complex undercurrents, making it impossible for him to defend against them.

Caught between two attacks, Si Ming responded instantly, ignoring the sword light that was hurtling towards him, and focused all his efforts on dealing with the opposing palm strikes. He activated the Ethereal Cloud and Mist Palm with both hands, which was like painting the changing clouds in the sky. It was like the Grasp the Sparrow's Tail move in Taiji Fist, gathering all the opposing palm strikes and eliminating the other superfluous palm shadows as if returning to simplicity. Finally, only one palm shadow remained. Then, he pulled out a finger and struck the palm with the Blood-Burning Finger!

"Die!"

The second assassin let out a deep shout, and his sword struck twenty-seven acupoints on Si Ming's upper body. Because it was almost at the same moment, there was only one "clang." One Sword strike brought back a recoil force. A single recoil force was nothing, at most like a small wave on the beach, but when the twenty-seven recoil forces came together, they instantly transformed into a raging storm, actually shattering the sword in his hand!

The initial assassin was struck in the vital point by the Blood-Burning Finger, and then attacked his meridians again by the Fiery Force. The injuries he had accumulated earlier were triggered at the same time. His body trembled, and he could no longer resist. His Qi and Blood surged like boiling water, and he retreated several steps, with high-temperature steam emanating from all seven of his orifices.

Seeing that Si Ming was about to press his advantage, he quickly stopped him, saying, "You've fallen for our trap! Our goal is to lure you away; attacking the matchmaker is just to create chaos."