A Sword Thrust That Nearly Tore Open His Belly

Doctor Mo glanced at his left hand with a hint of surprise before turning his gaze to Han Li. He spoke contemptuously:

"Interesting. It seems you really haven't been idle this past year, to have mastered such a bizarre skill. But do you really think a few half-baked tricks make you a match for me?"

"It seems I haven't fought in quite a while myself. It wouldn't hurt to step in and stretch my limbs. I'll let you make the first move!"

Han Li ignored the verbal jabs. He had already decided to strike first and seize the initiative.

He held the short sword in his left hand across his body, drawing Doctor Mo's gaze, while a white paper packet slipped silently from his right sleeve into his right palm. He raised his hand and flung it, scattering a great cloud of white powder from the packet. In the blink of an eye, it turned into thick white smoke that enveloped Han Li, making his figure hazy and indistinct, now visible and now not. The smoke quickly spread throughout the room, turning it into a sea of white so thick that one could not see the fingers of an outstretched hand. Han Li, too, vanished eerily into the haze.

Doctor Mo frowned. Han Li's move had caught him somewhat off guard, but inwardly he thought little of it. With his extensive experience, he had plenty of ways to counter such a third-rate trick. Still, for fear that the smoke had been tampered with, he held his breath. With his profound cultivation, going three to five quarters of an hour without breathing was no problem at all.

"Hmph, a petty trick, and you dare show it off before me!" Doctor Mo snorted coldly and abruptly struck the smoke with a palm from his right hand. The white haze before him churned at once, as though stirred by a giant cudgel, revealing a large, clear hole.

Seeing no sign of Han Li, Doctor Mo did not stop. He struck all around him with both hands, unleashing more than a dozen Air-Splitting Palms in succession and driving every last wisp of smoke out through the main door. The room returned to normal, except that Han Li was nowhere to be found.

"Strange. This brat really does have a few tricks up his sleeve, to make himself vanish into thin air right in front of me." Doctor Mo was a little surprised, but not at all flustered. After all, he had stayed near the doorway the whole time; even a bedbug flying past could not have escaped his notice.

He carefully swept his gaze over the entire room. The many bookshelves around the walls, a desk, and a grand armchair were all as usual, with nothing out of place. But how had a living, breathing person like Han Li vanished in such a confined space?

Doctor Mo's expression did not change, though doubts began to stir in his mind. But his skill gave him courage. He coughed a few times, then walked unsteadily toward the corner where Han Li had disappeared, intending to examine it closely and get to the bottom of things.

When he was one zhang from the corner, he stopped and narrowed his eyes. He had sensed a faint, elusive trace of murderous intent lingering nearby, directed at him and poised to strike.

A sharp light flashed in Doctor Mo's eyes. He carefully scanned left and right again and again, but still found nothing amiss. He began to grow irritated. There was no one around; had Han Li flown into the heavens or burrowed into the earth?

Flown into the heavens or burrowed into the earth. Something stirred in his mind. He felt as though he had grasped a crucial point and was about to think it through when he suddenly heard a clang above his head.

"Not good!" Doctor Mo finally understood: his opponent was hiding above the eaves. Without taking time to look up, he swept his hand upward with a whoosh, sending a fierce Air-Splitting Palm at the fellow hiding above and plotting against him, hoping to knock him senseless and bring him down with a single strike.

A rumbling followed the force of his palm, mixed with several crisp clanging sounds.

Puzzled, Doctor Mo hurriedly raised his head for a closer look, only to freeze. There was nothing above him, not so much as a ghost of a figure. Only a black iron bell hung from a roof beam, swaying wildly after being struck by the wind of his palm. The clanging had come from it. There was no sign of Han Li whatsoever!

Just as Doctor Mo looked up, a glimmer of cold light silently darted out from beneath his feet, striking swiftly at his lower abdomen. It was so fast that calling it a flash of lightning or a spark from flint would have been no exaggeration. Not until the light was about to touch his clothes did Doctor Mo notice it in shock.

Doctor Mo turned pale with fright. In his panic, he had a sudden flash of inspiration and abruptly performed an iron plank bridge. His whole body folded backward at the middle as though he had no spine, narrowly avoiding the sword. The short blade slipped past close against his belly, cutting a long, thin slit in the clothes over his abdomen and nearly slicing him wide open.

Even after evading the sword, Doctor Mo did not dare let down his guard. As if springs were fitted beneath his feet, he slid backward more than several zhang without moving his body. Only then did he dare straighten up and look toward the place where the sword light had risen, both shocked and furious.

A patch of floor near where he had just stood slowly bulged upward, rising higher and higher until it finally formed a yellow human figure. It was Han Li, who had used the Bone-Softening Art, the Breath-Concealing Art, and the Disguise and Concealment Technique together.

He had changed into an outfit of earthy yellow, exactly the same color as the floor. In his left hand he held the short sword that had nearly succeeded, and a look of frustration showed in his eyes. It seemed Han Li greatly regretted the outcome of that thrust.

Doctor Mo's formerly sallow face, meanwhile, had taken on a bluish tinge. The peril of that sword thrust still had his heart pounding, and lingering fear gripped him. He was no inexperienced newcomer to the martial world who had never faced danger, but in the first half of his life, he could count on one hand the times he had come so close to death-especially at the hands of Han Li, whom he had always looked down upon.

He took a deep breath, and his expression finally calmed. In a slightly hoarse voice, he said:

"It seems I really did underestimate you, my dear disciple! That move of yours was very well played. You're well worth taking seriously."

After this show of defiance, Doctor Mo slowly raised both hands and held them flat before his eyes. He gazed tenderly at them without a word, as absorbed as though he were looking at a lover in the throes of passion. He seemed to have forgotten Han Li entirely.

Han Li raised his eyebrows and sneered. Gripping the short sword tightly in one hand, he took small, measured steps and slowly approached Doctor Mo.