Arriving in front of Xu Ziling, two of the men stood behind him, while two others stopped right in front of him, pulled the chairs, and sat down on the table to his left and right. In short, he was surrounded.
The last one, a man who looked like he was in his forties, wearing two slanting moustache above his lips, without any trace of politeness sat down across the table from Xu Ziling. With ominous glint in his eyes, he said, "Xiaodi Chen Lang, the Xiangzhu [fragrant master] of the Xuanwu Hall [Black Tortoise, one of the seven mansions of the north sky (in Daoism)] of Luoyang Bang. I hear that the friend here is inquiring about us. May I ask what is friend's affiliation?”
Xu Ziling leisurely sniffed the fragrant steam rising up from his cup of tea, glanced nonchalantly at the man, and then said with a smile, "I wonder if Chen Xiong is merely making a big fuss over a minor issue. I was just noticing the particular look of your honorable Bangzhu's mansion house, and thus I was asking out of curiosity. Is there any crime committed? Are we going to fight just because of this?”
Seeing his calm demeanor, Chen Lang was taken aback. Frowning, he said, "This is not about asking too much, surely friend knows it, right? Currently Luoyang is in an unusual time, if friend does not harbor any evil intention, just report your school or sect, your name and surname. If this is just a misunderstanding, we certainly won't make things difficult for you.”
This kind of talk came from a Luoyang Bang man, who was used to go on the rampage around Luoyang region, it could be considered very polite. It was simply because Chen Lang noticed that Xu Ziling was carrying himself in the manner of a martial art master of major sect that he spoke those words, to make it easier for both sides to step down.
If Xu Ziling was indeed what he appeared to be, he would definitely take this opportunity to beat the gong to recall the troop, so as not to arouse his suspicions and thus ‘beat the grass to scare the snake'. But now, of course, was another matter.
Xu Ziling's gaze fell onto the long saber hanging on Chen Lang's back. Smiling unhurriedly, he said, "My mood today is not too good, I was wondering if Chen Xiong would be willing to lend me your saber, so that I can borrow it to break my vow against killing.”
While Chen Lang and his four men's countenance changed abruptly, Xu Ziling had already stretched out his hand slowly toward Chen Lang's throat.
The two big men on his left and right pounced on him angrily. Who would have thought that the table suddenly snapped, and split into two halves, separately knocking against them.
The two men from behind drew their sabers and ferociously hacked down on the back of Xu Ziling's head. Xu Ziling only smiled. Suddenly the chair he was sitting on shot back like a bullet and crashed against the two men's legs; knocking them down in a crushing defeat.
Now there was no barrier between Xu Ziling and Chen Lang. The teapot and teacups have been falling to the floor. Using the tip of his toes fast as lightning Xu Ziling kicked, sending the pot and cups safely onto the adjacent table, as if the waiter had carefully set them down on the table in front of the guest. The way he control his power was very ingenious that others could only gasp in amazement.
By this time Chen Lang was miserable.
On the surface there was nothing special in the way Xu Ziling was reaching out to grab him, but the fact was that the opponent's finger technique was exquisite, carrying with it five strands of swift and severe finger winds, completely sealing off Chen Lang's escape path.
The most formidable thing was that the opponent's body emitted a stream of impossible-to-withstand deep, cold murderous aura, making it difficult for him to breathe, increasing his heartbeat, and making the blood in his entire body seemed to freeze, so that his body was unable to move the slightest bit.
In that instant, Xu Ziling suddenly understood that after going through perilous situations for the last several months, he had made an all-around breakthrough in the martial way.
Even Wanwan, while she momentarily lost her spirit and was caught off guard, he had, step-by-step, managed to gain the upper hand.
And his progress could be divided into two aspects.
The first aspect was mental/spiritual.
After undergoing unceasing danger and fierce battle, he had cultivated iron will and steel confidence, and could face anything without any fear.
But more importantly, he had developed the fantastic skill of having foresight.
Every time he was battling the enemy, oftentimes he was able to be one step ahead by grasping the changes of the moves the enemy was using to advance and attack or retreat and defend.
It was an inexplicable thing; he could only give credit to the magical effect of the Secret to Long Life.
The other aspect was the martial way.
Because Kou Zhong's and his martial art moves basically did not follow any method, they also did not suffer the limitation of a particular set of method.
Each time they were facing the enemy for the first time, their martial skill would progress one layer up. Until now, each move and every style was uniquely directed at the situation at hand, as the moves came out freely, following their hearts' desire. Even a martial art master of Wanwan's caliber would find it hard to fathom, causing them to struggle to cope with the two boys.
But the biggest breakthrough was that he was able to control both the speed and the intensity of the spiraling energy.
This has given him the confidence in the ingenious use of this fantastic qi power, so that others were unable to make any sense of logic behind the changes of his spiraling power.
This has been highly beneficial to him whenever he wanted to hide his identity.
Rescuing people are like fighting fire. He did not have the patience to wait until tonight.
"Ah!”
Chen Lang let out a miserable grunt as his throat was grabbed by Xu Ziling, and his entire body was lifted up that his feet were dangling about half a chi above the floor.
Xu Ziling laughed aloud, and then, still carrying Chen Lang by the throat, he went out the back door.
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