Li Chengyue took a deep breath, which was so deep that it affected the wound on his chest. His brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, and then relaxed again.
The blood-stained navy blue cloth gown swayed slightly in the morning breeze.
But his back was still straight.
Holding the "Hidden Dragon Spear" in his left hand, the tip of the gun dragged on the green brick floor, drawing an intermittent, dark red mark.
He just walked step by step in the direction of the Xingyi Martial Arts Bureau.
The steps were very slow, and each step was extremely heavy, making a muffled "dong, dong" sound on the street, like a knock on the heart.
Su Derong's eyes were still red and he opened his mouth, but in the end he said nothing and just silently followed him half a step to the left.
Chen Jianghe was walking on the right side, and the light was low, falling on the tip of the gun dragged by the master and the pair of cloth shoes stained with mud and blood.
Outer City's long street is empty and rundown.
But it's not empty.
Behind the closed door panels on both sides, in the gaps between the window lattice covered with torn paper, and even in the shadow of the alleyway in the distance, countless eyes were staring at these three slowly moving figures.
Fear, awe, disbelief, and a hint of irrepressible excitement—all kinds of emotions flowed silently in the dead silence.
"Go, go----Zhao Family Ancestor, they----really retreated?" Someone lowered his voice and his breath trembled.
"Back! Five of them hit one. Zhou Family Ancestor's chest was collapsed and he was carried back! Zhao Wuji That old guy's face looked like he had eaten shit!" The voice of the person who answered was filled with the excitement of a survivor, and more of a trembling feeling of witnessing the birth of a legend.
"Nonsense! He received a full-strength palm from Zhao Wuji! But look at the way he walks! Can you stand firm if it's you?"
"Half a step of strength----it turns out that Xingyi Martial Arts Hall is a rotten drunkard----it's really half a step of strength----"
"Zhao Wuji of the Zhao Family, Qian Shouyi of the Qian Family, Sun Hanshan of the Sun Family, Li Family's Li Changfeng, and Zhou Family's Zhou Kun—five of them were at the peak of their energy, one of them was crippled by him, and four of them were repelled—"
Whispers were like gnats, drifting intermittently into the ears of the three people along the wind.
An old man who guards a dilapidated martial arts hall and spends all his time with wine gourds is actually a half-strength strongman?
That Inner City Five Great Families, who has been entrenched in Yilin County for decades, is deeply rooted, but today he suffered a big loss in front of a Outer City martial arts master?
Chen Jianghe followed the master and scanned the faces on the street.
He saw shock, saw fear, and also saw some kind of excitement that was about to start.
In troubled times, the strong are respected.
In today's battle, Master not only slapped Zhao Family in the face, but also smashed the four words "Xingyi Martial Arts Hall" into the hearts of everyone at Yilin County.
From now on, anyone who wants to touch Xingyi Martial Arts Hall must first consider whether he can catch the pole "Hidden Dragon Spear"
In this world, if you show weakness, you may be attacked by others.
He was still walking by himself, and although his steps were heavy, he never stopped.
After walking another half street, ahead is the narrow alley where Xingyi Martial Arts Hall is located.
At the entrance of the alley squatted a few half-grown children in ragged clothes. They were beggars from the neighborhood, and they usually avoided the warriors when they saw them.
At this moment, his eyes were wide open, staring at the gun in Li Chengyue's hand, with an almost fanatical light shining in his eyes.
One of them, who was more daring, suddenly stood up and shouted at Li Chengyue's back, "Master Li----Mighty!"
The voice was childish but sharp, piercing the silence of the long street.
Li Chengyue paused in his steps.
He didn't look back, he only raised his left hand that could still move and waved it back.
Then keep going forward.
But the child seemed to have received a huge reward, his face turned red, he clenched his fists, and stood there, watching the three figures disappear at the entrance of the alley.
Xingyi Martial Arts Hall In the backyard, the old locust tree is still standing.
Li Chengyue walked to the stone table and finally let go of the "Hidden Dragon Spear" pole that had been supporting him.
The spear left his hand and fell to the green brick floor with a clang, rolled half a circle and stopped moving.
He himself seemed to have been stripped of his last trace of support, and staggered backwards.
"Master!"
Su Derong and Chen Jianghe grabbed him at the same time, supported him on the left and right, and carefully helped him sit down on the stone bench.
As soon as he sat down, Li Chengyue spurted out a mouthful of blood.
His whole body slumped instantly, and the strong hard shell on his face shattered, revealing his pale face and sunken eye sockets.
"I'm going to get the medicine! I'm going to call the doctor!" Su Derong's voice changed, and he turned around and rushed out.
"Stop." Li Chengyue said, his voice weak, but still carrying an irresistible power.
Su Derong's footsteps froze at the door.
"Come back!" Li Chengyue spat out another mouthful of bloody saliva, wiped the corners of his mouth with his sleeve, raised his sharp eyes and looked at Su Derong, "Why are you panicking? You can't die."
Su Derong's eye circles were red again. He walked back slowly and squatted in front of Li Chengyue, his voice choked with sobs. "Master, please don't hold on——"
"Hold on?" Li Chengyue twitched the corner of his mouth, with a fierce smile, "I'm not trying to hold on, I'm teaching you."
He turned from the light to Chen Jianghe.
Chen Jianghe was tearing off a piece of his clean undershirt and carefully wiping the blood from the corners of his master's mouth and chest, and paused after hearing this.
Li Chengyue looked at him and said in a low voice, "Jiang He, do you see the battle clearly today?"
"See clearly." Chen Jianghe nodded.
"What do you see clearly?"
"I see clearly----" Chen Jianghe pondered for a moment, then said slowly, "The truth is to have a hard fist. But I also see clearly that a hard fist is not enough. If Master just fights to the death today, even if he can kill one or two, he will inevitably be exhausted in the end. You show weakness, lure the enemy, and seize the gaps where they have their own agenda to fight back--it is both strength and scheming."
Li Chengyue's eyes flashed with a trace of imperceptible approval.
He took a breath and continued, "You're right, but not entirely right. You need to have scheming, but the foundation is still strength. If I don't have half a step of strength today, and don't have the remaining power of the past - no matter how much scheming I have, it will be in vain. Which of those five old guys is not a human spirit? Why did I retreat in the end?"
He asked himself and answered, "It's because they are afraid. They are afraid that I will work hard, that they will suffer too much loss, and that if I replace one or two, their position in Inner City will not be guaranteed. But the premise of this "fear" is that I have the capital to make them "fear"."
Chen Jianghe was silent, holding the blood-stained strip of cloth in his palms.
"After today," Li Chengyue glanced at the two apprentices and spoke solemnly, "Zhao Family will never give up. Chen Wanglong's arm was trampled by you in public, and Zhao Mingyuan and Li Tian were destroyed by me - this is a deadly feud.
"Five Great Families has lost such a big face today. If Zhou Family Ancestor is broken, it will not be exposed easily. They are retreating now because they are not sure and because they are suspicious of each other. After they have calmed down, they can get back together——"
He paused and did not continue, but the meaning was already clear.
Su Derong gritted his teeth. "Master, then let's----"
"We?" Li Chengyue interrupted him and suddenly started coughing violently. It took him a long time to calm down, and his face became a little paler. "I won't be able to use force in a short time. If I fight with others again, I'm courting death."
1
He raised his left hand, pointed to his chest, and then to his right arm. "Zhao Wuji That palm, the Gang Jin backfired, hurting the lungs. The bones of his right arm were broken in three parts, and the tendons were also damaged. Don't even think about recovering within a year and a half. Even if you recover - it's hard to say whether you can keep this half step of Gang Jin cultivation."