Snake-Traveling Tiny Steps

"Let go of me, damn you!" Liu Gui roared, putting more strength into his arms. Yet Huang Xiao's hands still held them in a firm grip.

Humiliation turned to anger. Liu Gui considered himself only a little weaker than Liu Qiang; he had never feared anyone else, much less the scholar before him. A month ago, he could have taken his life with the twitch of a finger. Yet a month later, the scholar could seize both his arms so tightly that he could not immediately break free. He could not quite understand such a change.

Liu Gui's thinking was not wrong. Although his original strength had fallen short of Liu Qiang's, the gap had not been large. But Liu Qiang had not been idle over the past month either. Although Coiling Snake Hand did not suit him, he had gained considerable benefits from studying it, and his strength had improved greatly. As he was now, Liu Gui was no match at all for Liu Qiang.

And even Liu Qiang admitted that Huang Xiao now possessed eighty percent of his strength. That meant Huang Xiao was at least no weaker than Liu Gui. If he fell short in anything, it was merely his lack of combat experience.

Liu Gui's face flushed crimson. Fortunately, no one else nearby had seen this; otherwise, where could he have hidden his old face? With an angry roar, he kicked at Huang Xiao's lower body.

Huang Xiao released his grip and swiftly retreated several steps, avoiding Liu Gui's kick. Caught by that sudden release, Liu Gui staggered backward several steps and only stopped when his back slammed heavily into the cliff face. He had been pulling backward with all his might to break free of Huang Xiao's hold, never expecting Huang Xiao to let go so suddenly that he could not react.

Still, he was lucky: behind him lay the cliff face rather than the bottomless abyss a few steps away.

Liu Gui glared at Huang Xiao, his face twisted with fury. That heavy collision had left his back burning with pain. Although the injury was not severe, it was enough to enrage him.

While Huang Xiao and Liu Gui were locked in fierce combat, Liu Qiang's situation was perilous in the extreme.

In just those few exchanges, Liu Qiang was already spattered with blood.

"Weak. Far too weak. You call that a punch? It's light as a feather. Are these some woman's flowery fists and embroidered kicks?" Zhang Ma caught Liu Qiang's fist in one hand, then exerted a little force. Liu Qiang screamed as he was sent flying once again.

"Heh, heh. If I, Liu Qiang, die today at the hands of an expert with internal power like you, I can die without regrets. But with those hundreds of lives in the stronghold, I won't be able to close my eyes in death!" Laughing as though he had gone a little mad, Liu Qiang struggled to his feet and charged at Zhang Ma again.

"An expert? I've only just grasped internal power. Of course, to the likes of you, who don't even make the grade, I'm naturally an expert. I haven't got time to waste on you. I'll finish you now," Zhang Ma said flatly.

"Hm?" Zhang Ma had intended to strike Liu Qiang in the chest with another palm blow. But Liu Qiang gave his body a slight twist and actually dodged the strike, then surged right up to him, leaving Zhang Ma's chest wide open.

"Die!" Liu Qiang naturally would not miss such a fine opportunity. Summoning all his strength, he drove his right fist hard toward Zhang Ma's chest.

"You're courting death!" Although Liu Qiang's evasion had surprised Zhang Ma somewhat, he had internal power to aid him, after all. Someone like Liu Qiang, who relied purely on brute strength, could not compare.

Zhang Ma swiftly drew both hands back and crossed them over his chest to block Liu Qiang's punch. Then, in an instant, he changed his hands from palms to claws and reached to seize Liu Qiang's wrist.

But once again, Liu Qiang baffled Zhang Ma. Just as he was about to catch his wrist, Liu Qiang's hands slipped away in a strange motion. As they slipped free, his fist rose slightly and swung sideways toward Zhang Ma's temple.

"Don't push your luck!" Having missed twice, Zhang Ma was growing angry. Dealing with someone who had no internal power was actually proving this troublesome; it dealt his pride a severe blow.

Zhang Ma abruptly clenched his left fist and swung his arm up beside his left temple. Liu Qiang's fierce punch struck his left forearm.

At the moment of impact, Zhang Ma pressed his left arm down hard and stepped forward, closing in on Liu Qiang. Then he bent his right arm and slammed his right elbow into Liu Qiang's chest.

Thud! Liu Qiang's sturdy body was instantly sent flying and crashed heavily to the ground.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Liu Qiang struggled to his feet, but he could barely stand steady now. As he coughed, he spat out several mouthfuls of fresh blood.

"You're still not dead?" Zhang Ma paused in surprise, then laughed loudly. "Now I can give you a word or two of praise. With your attainment in external martial arts, you could count as a capable fighter in your corner of the martial world. A pity you ran into me, Zhang Ma, today."

"Brother Liu!" Seeing Liu Qiang's condition, Huang Xiao grew deeply anxious. But Liu Gui still blocked his way. Even without Liu Gui, he himself was probably no match for Zhang Ma. After all, even someone of Liu Qiang's skill had no chance to put up a struggle against him.

"You still have the leisure to worry about someone else?" Liu Gui barked. By now, he too had discovered that the scholar before him was very different from the one in his mind. At the very least, his opponent was no weaker than he was.

"Get out of my way!" Huang Xiao said through gritted teeth.

"Ha! Ridiculous!" Liu Gui sneered.

Huang Xiao drew a deep breath, and his gaze turned somewhat ferocious. He knew Liu Qiang could not afford any delay, and neither could he. He had to finish Liu Gui as quickly as possible, then join Liu Qiang against Zhang Ma. Perhaps then they would have a tiny sliver of hope.

"You little brat, who do you think you're scaring?" Seeing the fierce look on Huang Xiao's face, Liu Gui felt a little unnerved, but naturally, he would not let his words show weakness.

"Scaring you? I'm taking your life!" Huang Xiao said sharply.

"Ha, ha! Come on, then, if you've got what it takes!" Hearing Huang Xiao's words, Liu Gui burst out laughing. They sounded utterly ridiculous to him. Even if he had made a mistake and underestimated Huang Xiao's strength, he did not believe Huang Xiao could kill him. At most, they were evenly matched.

Huang Xiao said nothing. While Liu Gui laughed, he suddenly moved his feet in a strange pattern. Odd though those steps were, they brought him right before Liu Gui in the blink of an eye.

Liu Gui's laughter abruptly stopped. He had never expected Huang Xiao to appear before him so suddenly and strangely. He had been completely unable to see through that peculiar footwork.

"Too late!" Huang Xiao had used a move from Coiling Snake Hand-or rather, not entirely a move from it, but a form of footwork he had developed himself by studying and pondering its moves: Snake-Traveling Tiny Steps. Strange though Snake-Traveling Tiny Steps was, its advantage lay in increasing his speed, like a fleeing snake vanishing without a trace in an instant. Of course, Huang Xiao had not reached that level, but greatly increasing his speed was no problem.

Huang Xiao struck swiftly, seizing Liu Gui's arms at the joints. Then, with a loud shout, his face instantly flushed crimson as he gathered all his strength into his hands.

"Aaah!" Liu Gui could not understand how Huang Xiao's hands could possess such tremendous strength. Now he could not resist even if he wanted to. Huang Xiao had already locked both his hands with a grappling technique he had never encountered; his arms were twisted, leaving him unable to exert any strength at all. Only now did he realize that this was probably a move from Coiling Snake Hand. He regretted not studying it himself. Perhaps he could have practiced it too.

But now he could only think about it. Huang Xiao sharply twisted both hands. Several cracks rang out from Liu Gui's arms, only to be immediately drowned out by his agonized screams.

"You-you crippled both my arms! I-I'll kill you!" The pain of his broken arms robbed Liu Gui of some of his reason. Roaring, he hurled his whole body at Huang Xiao.

But Huang Xiao merely turned slightly to one side. At the same time, he thrust his right foot across Liu Gui's path. Tripped as he charged, Liu Gui lost his balance completely. With both his arms already broken, he found it even harder to steady himself and stumbled headlong forward.

"Aaah!" When Liu Gui saw what lay ahead, terror rose in him.

"Die!" Huang Xiao lashed out with a kick, driving his foot hard into Liu Gui's back.

"No!" Liu Gui's shrill scream rang out over the cliff, but soon faded into silence as his body hurtled straight off the narrow path and plunged into the bottomless abyss.

With Liu Gui dealt with, Huang Xiao spared no time to catch his breath and hurried toward Liu Qiang.