Landslide

"Huh?" Zhang Ma had intended to stomp Liu Qiang to death as he lay on the ground, but suddenly discovered that Liu Gui had actually been killed by that boy-and the boy was charging at him as well.

"Interesting. Liu Gui told me you were originally a scholar, and you've only trained for a month. Killing Liu Gui was no mean feat." Zhang Ma did not bring his foot down. Instead, he stood beside Liu Qiang, watching Huang Xiao as he spoke.

Seeing Huang Xiao merely stare at him without speaking, Zhang Ma smiled. "It must be thanks to that Coiling Snake Hand manual. How about this? Hand the secret manual over to me, and I can spare your life."

"Really?" Huang Xiao asked with a cold laugh.

"Of course. You aren't one of the stronghold's men. Letting you leave is no great matter," Zhang Ma said with a smile. Liu Gui had mentioned Coiling Snake Hand to him before, but he had not thought much of it. After all, how good could an external martial art be if even Liu Qiang could obtain it? Though his Fierce Tiger Sect was of little standing in the martial world, it still possessed quite a few external martial arts, including fist, leg, and palm techniques. Of course, it truly had only one internal cultivation method, and the sect master taught disciples a few levels of it according to their strength. Zhang Hu naturally could not possibly teach his disciples the entire method. That much was certain.

Now he had discovered that Huang Xiao, after only a month of practice, had actually used Coiling Snake Hand to kill Liu Gui, who had trained for decades. Although Liu Gui's carelessness and the cliff here had played a part, it still showed that there was something unusual about Coiling Snake Hand.

"Let Brother Liu leave, and I'll tell you the method," Huang Xiao said.

"No. Liu Qiang's head is worth two thousand taels of silver. I can't let him go. Besides, he's the reason I came this time," Zhang Ma said, shaking his head.

"Brother Huang, don't worry about me. Hurry and run!" Liu Qiang struggled to his feet as he spoke.

Zhang Ma paid no attention to Liu Qiang getting up. Never mind Liu Qiang in his current, badly wounded state-he would not have taken him seriously even if he had been completely unhurt.

"Brother Liu, do you think I can get away?" Huang Xiao said with a somewhat bitter smile. He did not believe Zhang Ma would let him go. Even if he really revealed the method, he would probably only die sooner.

"A scholar indeed. Your mind works well. That's right, I never intended to let either of you survive this. Oh, right, after dealing with you two, I was going to dispose of Liu Gui as well. But now that he's dead, you've saved me some trouble," Zhang Ma said with a smile.

Huang Xiao signaled to Liu Qiang with his eyes, then charged at Zhang Ma. At the same time, Liu Qiang, who was already beside Zhang Ma, suddenly rammed into him. At this point, joining forces might be their only hope.

Zhang Ma was not at all surprised that the two had joined forces. Of course, he did not care about either of them. What difference would two of them make?

"Let go!" Liu Qiang did not attack Zhang Ma, merely locking both arms tightly around him. Zhang Ma hammered his fists viciously into Liu Qiang's back.

"Brother Huang, run! Run!" Liu Qiang had no intention of joining forces with Huang Xiao. He knew the two of them could not defeat Zhang Ma. "If you ever get the chance, please avenge us!"

Liu Qiang was already badly wounded, and now, under Zhang Ma's ferocious attacks, blood gushed wildly from his mouth.

Huang Xiao had considered running, but even if he wanted to escape, Liu Qiang could not possibly hold Zhang Ma back in his condition. So he did not flee, instead trying to seize Zhang Ma's arm with Coiling Snake Hand.

But Zhang Ma was not Liu Gui, after all. Huang Xiao's grappling techniques were utterly ineffective against him.

"You think you can hold me with that little strength?" Zhang Ma said with a laugh. "How naive."

With a sudden burst of strength, Zhang Ma flung Liu Qiang away, while Huang Xiao seized the opportunity to try to grapple the vital points all over Zhang Ma's body.

"There's something to it. But a grappling technique still depends on who's using it." Zhang Ma could tell that Coiling Snake Hand truly had some ingenious aspects. Learning it would greatly help improve his strength.

"Tell me the method for Coiling Snake Hand, and I'll let you leave. I'm not lying this time!" Zhang Ma barked.

"Dream on!" Huang Xiao knew few moves. Apart from Coiling Snake Hand, he only had the few fist routines he had learned from Liu Qiang, but those were clearly of no use now.

"Forget it. Once I finish this job and get the silver, I can find some way to obtain martial arts methods," Zhang Ma said. "Then this time, I really am sending you both to the Western Paradise."

Just as Huang Xiao and Liu Qiang were waiting to die, a rumbling came from the cliff above their heads.

Huang Xiao did not know what was happening, but Liu Qiang's expression changed drastically, and he shouted, "Oh no! A landslide!"

Not only Liu Qiang-even Zhang Ma's face showed panic. Landslides occurred frequently on Yama Ridge, mainly because its cliffs were extremely steep, with many exposed, cracked rocks. No one knew when those rocks might break apart and tumble down. It could be said that anyone caught in a landslide on Yama Ridge faced a ninety-nine-percent chance of death.

Zhang Ma struggled inwardly. He wanted to take Liu Qiang's head himself so he could collect the Wang Family's reward, but he knew that if he hesitated any longer, the Boulder tumbling down the mountain would probably crush him to pulp.

Once Huang Xiao understood what was happening, he began to panic a little. But then he thought that he had been about to die at Zhang Ma's hands anyway. Death was death; how he died made no difference at all.

He saw the panic on Zhang Ma's face, and without another thought, Huang Xiao charged at him.

"Brother Huang, get against the rock wall! Come back!" Seeing Huang Xiao rush out, Liu Qiang shouted urgently. The best way to stay alive now was to press close to the rock wall. If there was a recess in it, they could more or less escape this calamity.

Just as Zhang Ma was preparing to flee, he suddenly noticed the boy lunging at him. He wanted to dodge, but Boulders were falling everywhere around him, and he could be crushed to death at any moment.

In that moment of hesitation, Huang Xiao had already closed in and begun grappling with him.

"Get away! Are you trying to die?" Zhang Ma had no thought of killing Huang Xiao now.

"Die? Didn't you want to kill us? Then let's die together!" Huang Xiao said with a cold laugh.

"You lunatic!" Even though Zhang Ma's martial arts were far superior to Huang Xiao's, his skills had become insignificant in these circumstances.

"Let's die together!" Huang Xiao clamped both hands tightly onto Zhang Ma, then pushed him backward.

Zhang Ma ignored Huang Xiao, focusing all his attention on dodging the endless falling rocks overhead. After all, Huang Xiao could not take his life, but those Boulders could leave him dead without a place to be buried.

But when Zhang Ma suddenly stepped backward into empty air, he finally realized that Huang Xiao had pushed him off the narrow path without his noticing.

"Aah!"

"No!" Liu Qiang wanted to rush out, but the Boulder before him left him no way through. And even if he got out, he could not save Huang Xiao, who had vanished over the cliff together with Zhang Ma.