Not long after the two Mo Family leaders arrived, hoofbeats sounded on the street again.
This time, four Bo County officials arrived on horseback together: the county magistrate, He Zhixu; the deputy magistrate, Tan Zheng; the registrar, Tang Jiusi; and the county commandant, Xu Jing.
With the four of them there, only the banquet's two principal guests, Hong Fan and Wu Shuangren, had yet to arrive.
"Laohei still isn't back?"
Hong Fan frowned, deeply displeased.
Si Congjian stood beside him and ventured cautiously, "Could something have happened to him?"
"How could it?"
Hong Fan raised an eyebrow. "Who could possibly do anything to him? The Mo Family? With Laohei's abilities, even if he'd walked into an ambush, he wouldn't have gone down without a sound. At the very least, he could have gotten word out."
Wei Laohei and Luo You had once been lay disciples of Mist Hidden Temple, and later became enforcers the temple trained to operate outside its walls.
The two had followed Hong Fan for quite some time, and he knew their strength well.
If they took the martial examination, both could be ranked as Fourth Rank martial artists!
Of course, strength could not be judged by rank alone. In the real jianghu, actual combat was what mattered, and Wei Laohei and Luo You had plenty of experience. They had killed quite a few Fourth Rank martial artists.
Both were only a hair's breadth away from being first-rate experts!
Hong Fan simply didn't believe anyone in little Bo County could threaten either of them.
"Didn't you post lookouts to keep watch on the Mo Family? Have they made any unusual moves?"
Hong Fan asked.
Si Congjian shook his head. "None."
Hong Fan said, "Then that settles it. Laohei may have gotten carried away having fun. Send someone to find him and tell him to bring Wu Shuangren to Moxian Tower at once. He'd better not delay my business!"
After giving his orders, he left the residence with Luo You and several attendants and headed for Moxian Tower.
A little earlier.
Wei Laohei carried his long saber over his shoulder as he sauntered into Butcher Zhang's home.
Dressed in a new set of clothes, Wu Shuangren sat sprawled on the same bench Wei Laohei had occupied, his saber resting beside him.
Their eyes met.
Wei Laohei glanced around, then looked Wu Shuangren up and down. Smiling, he said, "You're alone? That makes things convenient."
Wu Shuangren wore the hint of a smile. "You came alone?"
Wei Laohei snorted. "Weren't you the one who asked to see me alone?"
Wu Shuangren nodded and echoed his words. "That makes things convenient."
Wei Laohei lowered the long saber from his shoulder and stood it on the ground, steadying it with one hand. "Well? What did you want me for?"
Wu Shuangren rose from the chair and picked up his saber. "You crippled Hou Huai right here, didn't you?"
Wei Laohei said, "Hou Huai? You mean that meddlesome constable? Yeah, this is where I dealt with him."
He looked mockingly at Wu Shuangren as he picked up the saber. "What, are you going to stand up for him?"
Saber in hand, Wu Shuangren walked toward him, his expression so calm it was eerie:
"Yes."
At that simple answer, Wei Laohei froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Hahahahahaha-"
Wei Laohei looked as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world. "Hey, kid, you just got lucky and killed Peng Tianlang. Do you really think that makes you an expert?"
Wu Shuangren stopped seven paces away from him.
It was a delicate distance. One step closer, and Wei Laohei would have trouble drawing his long saber.
"Actually, I'm curious too."
Wu Shuangren looked at him in a way that made Wei Laohei distinctly uncomfortable. "A character like you wouldn't even make it onto the stage in the wider world. Where do you get the confidence to run wild here like this?"
Wei Laohei stared at him in a daze. Then anger surged in his heart, and his expression turned vicious.
He finally understood the look Wu Shuangren was giving him-
It was the look he himself always gave the weak!
"A character like me? You're nothing but a mongrel from some little backwater. What gives you the right to talk about the wider world?"
Wei Laohei rolled his neck, his bones cracking. Qi and blood surged through his body, leaving him eager to unleash his violence:
"The strong have the right to do as they please! At least here, I have that right!"
Wu Shuangren nodded. "Yes, the strong have the right to do as they please..."
As he spoke, a nearly wild grin spread across his face.
"...That's something I only came to understand today myself."
As the last word fell, he stepped forward and drew his saber!
Sunlight fell upon the little courtyard.
The truly strong revealed his edge!
36 Return in Kind
Morning light fell from the sky as Wu Shuangren's less-than-tall figure stirred a rush of wind.
The seven paces might as well not have existed. Raising his saber in both hands, he chopped down, charging in for the kill like a fierce tiger.
Wind Follows the Tiger's Roar!
Wei Laohei should have retreated to open the distance and drawn his saber as he did, but he refused to retreat.
He turned his wrist and swept the saber across, scabbard and all.
Bang!
An explosive report rang out. Despite using two hands against one, Wu Shuangren gained little advantage in strength.
"So you're his disciple?"
Wei Laohei sneered. From Wu Shuangren's opening move, he recognized the saber technique Hou Huai had used that day.
"The master's trash, so how could the disciple-"
Screech-
A piercing scrape cut him off.
Wei Laohei had intended to leap left and draw his long saber with a backhand motion, but Wu Shuangren saw through him. He pressed against the scabbard and slid his blade to the right first, sending a string of sparks flying.
The edge slashed along the scabbard toward Wei Laohei's hand. Wei Laohei released the hilt, then swiftly caught the middle of the scabbard as the long saber dropped.
At the same time, his right leg silently kicked at Wu Shuangren's left shin.
The hidden kick made no sound.
Wu Shuangren turned sideways, just dodging the hidden kick. He turned his wrist, spun the saber in a flourish beneath the scabbard, and thrust the point forward while slashing upward.
Whirling Gale Shocks the Mountain!
The blade cut through Wei Laohei's outer robe, leaving a white mark on the leather armor across his chest!
Wei Laohei retreated sharply, his boot heels carving two marks into the flagstones as he knocked over a stone stool in the courtyard.
The stool, weighing over a hundred jin, rolled twice and struck the base of the wall with a muffled bang.
Wu Shuangren pursued with another Wind Follows the Tiger's Roar.
Wei Laohei put aside his contempt and gripped his saber with both hands, his right on the hilt and his left around the middle of the scabbard. Using the long saber like a staff, he met the slashing blade.
In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged thirteen blows, a rapid series of explosive reports erupting in the courtyard!
The howling wind from their sabers sent the fallen leaves in the courtyard flying again and again.
Each of Wei Laohei's blows was heavier than the last, while each of Wu Shuangren's was faster.
One man's saber surged like a raging tide, wave upon wave, each stronger than the last; the other's was like a violent wind, swift beyond compare and ever-changing.
Wei Laohei held the upper hand in Internal Skill cultivation and explosive strength, but each of his powerful, heavy blows seemed to strike a mass of wind. Wu Shuangren deflected his blade and used his footwork to deftly shed most of the force.
During the exchange, Wei Laohei tried repeatedly to draw his saber, but Wu Shuangren saw through him every time. Not only did he fail, he nearly got hurt.
The saber technique Wu Shuangren used did indeed come from the same school as Hou Huai's, but it was clearly more sophisticated, with many more subtle variations.
This "disciple" was far stronger than his "master"!
Was he really being beaten so badly that he couldn't even draw his saber?
Shocked and furious, Wei Laohei's veins bulged. His Qi and blood boiled, lending his tower-like frame terrifying strength!
Wu Shuangren's gaze remained unruffled. He feinted with his saber, drawing Wei Laohei into a horizontal block, then kicked hard off the ground with his left foot and drove into Wei Laohei's centerline. Pinning his opponent's scabbard with his blade, he raised his right knee and drove it toward his lower abdomen.
Wei Laohei seized the chance to leap right, dodging the attack while drawing his saber.
This time, Wu Shuangren was standing on one leg, his weight pitched forward. He could no longer stop him by sliding his blade along the scabbard.
Clang-
The long saber finally came free, and a vicious grin appeared on Wei Laohei's face.
"My turn-"
His roar was like thunder!
Wu Shuangren slashed the scabbard away and slammed his right foot down, crushing the flagstone beneath it. Using that force, he bent at the waist, lowered his head, bent his knees, and stepped left with his left foot. He lunged forward and swept his saber across at Wei Laohei's thigh, cutting his roar short as well.
Tiger Baleful Intent Severs the Soul!
Wei Laohei reacted with lightning speed. The long saber in his hand dipped like the head of a great spear and smashed down, thrusting toward Wu Shuangren's neck.
A wound in exchange for a life!
Slash-
Wu Shuangren's saber struck Wei Laohei's left thigh, cutting deep into the flesh and nearly reaching the bone! Then, just as the long saber was about to pierce the back of his neck, he suddenly changed direction. As though an invisible thread were tugging at his body, he was yanked back to his original position, evading the deadly blade.
Cloud Tide Returning Wave Steps!
Wei Laohei cried out in pain, blood streaming from his thigh as he stared at Wu Shuangren in disbelief.
Wu Shuangren steadied himself and looked at him coldly, as though looking at a dead man.
A powerful sense of danger washed over Wei Laohei. He had spent many years in the jianghu and had vast combat experience, and he had already realized that the last move was a "trap" his opponent had laid beforehand, intended to wound his leg first and keep him from escaping.
In other words, his opponent had been certain from the start that he was no match for him!
The thought sent a chill through Wei Laohei:
"You dare kill me? If you do, how are you going to explain it to Young Master Hong?"
Wu Shuangren did not answer. He stepped forward and charged again with another Wind Follows the Tiger's Roar!
With Wei Laohei's thigh wounded, both his footwork and his ability to exert force through his Internal Skill were affected. He shifted from attack to defense, talking all the while in an attempt to shake Wu Shuangren's resolve:
"If you kill me, Young Master Hong will never let you go!"
"We still have two hundred cavalry outside the city. You saw them with your own eyes!"
"Kill me, and your whole family will be buried with me!"
"..."
Wu Shuangren said nothing, fighting faster and faster.
After nine moves, he seized an opening, stepped forward, and flipped his broadsaber over, smashing its spine into Wei Laohei's wrist bone!
With a crack, the bone broke. Wei Laohei's long saber flew from his hand, spun twice in the air, and lodged point-first three inches into a seam between the bricks in the wall, its hilt humming and quivering.
Wu Shuangren pressed his blade against Wei Laohei's throat, forcing him not to move. Before Wei Laohei could speak, he suddenly kicked him in the left knee.