Tactics

"The three of you, we've never crossed paths. Why make things difficult for a poor couple like us?"

Zhao Baolong spoke each word slowly, his face dark. With his massive body standing over six and a half feet tall, he looked savage and menacing.

It was the air of someone who had spent years fighting and killing. Even nearly ten meters away, Chen Shaojie and He Chunping felt their skin crawl.

"Then who's going to take pity on the family you killed?"

Chen Yiming met Zhao Baolong's gaze without flinching and shot back.

His composure gave Zhao Baolong and Dong Fen pause. They couldn't tell whether Chen Yiming was truly confident or merely pretending to be calm.

"You've got quite a mouth on you, young man. Let's see if you're still so bold in a moment."

Dong Fen shifted her attention from Chen Shaojie and He Chunping to Chen Yiming. She still made no move, testing him with words alone.

Chen Yiming turned fully to face Zhao Baolong.

"You two talk too much. If you don't make your move soon, you won't get another chance."

He deliberately left his back exposed to Dong Fen, hoping to lure her into a sneak attack.

The confidence his Third Body Metamorphosis gave him meant Chen Yiming was certain he could counterattack in time. If he knocked Dong Fen down in an instant, Zhao Baolong wouldn't even have a chance to run.

The atmosphere froze. The longer they waited, the worse it was for Zhao Baolong and Dong Fen. Who knew whether Chen Yiming had help nearby?

"You seem awfully confident in your strength, young man."

Years in the Wilderness Zone had taught Zhao Baolong to adapt. When his first probe failed, he pressed on in an aggressive tone.

As he spoke, he walked forward slowly, gathering strength in secret. His eyes stayed fixed on Chen Yiming's, using his imposing presence to probe him again.

Then something changed.

Thud!

Chen Shaojie's legs gave way, and he dropped to the ground.

At nearly ten meters away, he had only been frightened. With Chen Yiming beside him, he had just managed to hold on.

But as Zhao Baolong drew closer, Chen Shaojie could no longer contain his fear. He was terrified that Chen Yiming might not protect him in time and that they would kill him first as the easy target.

"Advisor Chen."

Without realizing it, He Chunping had grabbed the hem of Chen Yiming's shirt.

If not for the last shred of reason she retained, she would have thrown her arms around him like a drowning person clutching a lifeline.

"Don't be afraid."

Chen Yiming pulled He Chunping's hand from his shirt with his right hand and held it to reassure her.

He wasn't taking advantage of a frightened woman. He was worried Zhao Baolong might attack without warning, and he needed to be free to counter immediately.

He Chunping weighed around ninety pounds. To Chen Yiming now, her weight offered no resistance at all. A sudden burst of his strength, however, could injure her.

While everyone's attention was on Zhao Baolong, Dong Fen, who had been hanging back, launched a sneak attack from behind.

She drove her foot against the ground.

Crack!

Pebbles shattered beneath her shoe. The force sent her hurtling into the air like an arrow, her dagger aimed straight at Chen Yiming's heart from behind.

The village's narrow alleys gave Zhao Baolong and Dong Fen a tremendous advantage. Though Chen Yiming's side had three people, only one could actually fight.

Whether Zhao Baolong or Dong Fen attacked, Chen Yiming could only cover one direction.

From the moment Zhao Baolong and Dong Fen appeared, they had no intention of letting the three of them go. Their earlier probing had only been meant to break down their resistance and minimize the risk of injury to themselves.

They never imagined they would be unlucky enough to encounter a Third Body Metamorphosis expert disguised as someone at the First Body Metamorphosis. Normally, no expert of that level would bother with the reward for a task as lowly as checking household registrations.

The distance of less than ten meters vanished in an instant.

Streams of air curled around Dong Fen's dagger, a visible sign of the spiraling force she had unleashed.

It was a common dagger technique. Its spiraling force greatly increased the dagger's penetrating power, making it almost impossible for someone at the same level to defend against.

The instant Dong Fen moved, Chen Yiming reacted. He gently pushed He Chunping aside, spun to face Dong Fen, and gathered strength in his legs, ready to knock her down with one punch.

He chose his fist not because he lacked time to draw his sword.

Sword techniques were known for their killing power, and it was difficult to control how hard he struck. One misjudgment could cripple or kill her, greatly reducing her value.

The instant Chen Yiming turned, Zhao Baolong smiled. He suddenly accelerated, leaped into the air, and threw a straight punch, joining Dong Fen in a pincer attack.

It was a tactic Zhao Baolong and Dong Fen used often. Their seamless coordination made it impossible for anyone below the Third Body Metamorphosis to tell which of them would truly strike and which was merely feinting to mislead their opponent.

In their minds, Chen Yiming was already dead. Everything was unfolding according to plan.

Boom!

A violent burst of force struck Zhao Baolong square in the stomach with a deafening impact.

Both men had thrown straight punches. At the last moment, Zhao Baolong saw Chen Yiming spin back toward him in an instant. Chen Yiming had correctly judged that Zhao Baolong was the one truly attacking.

By then, Zhao Baolong could no longer change course. He could only hope his fist landed first, but his punch struck nothing but air.

A figure flew backward and slammed into the courtyard wall, tearing a gap through half of it.

Zhao Baolong struggled a few times but could not get up. Agony tore through his stomach, and the world spun before his eyes.

"Baolong!"

Dong Fen's cry was heart-wrenching.

As the one feinting, she had pushed off again when they were a meter away, deftly changing direction to prevent them from accidentally striking each other.

The couple's trust in each other and flexible use of tactics had never failed them.

At worst, a lucky opponent would guess correctly. Even then, Zhao Baolong could tie them up with his fists, giving her a chance to circle back and land a killing blow.

"A Third Body Metamorphosis expert!"

Dong Fen instantly understood why their attack had failed.

Only someone at the Third Body Metamorphosis, with its enormous leap in strength over the Second Body Metamorphosis, could seize the opening in their joint attack and turn the tables so quickly.

Their luck had been abysmal. They had run into someone hiding his true strength.

Dong Fen stood rooted to the spot, her eyes vacant. She neither tried to fight Chen Yiming to the death nor attempted to flee.

As a former member of a bandit gang in the Wilderness Zone, she knew exactly how powerful their leader at the Third Body Metamorphosis had been.

Their only chance had been to split up and run from the start, using the village's tightly packed houses to let one of them escape. It was far too late now.

She could already imagine the miserable life awaiting her.

Rather than waste her strength on an escape with no chance of success, she would surrender and preserve it, then look for another chance to get away.