Li Shimin's eyes flickered with cold light. With a sharp-as-a-blade expression he stared at Fu Qian unyieldingly so that people's heartstrings were pulled tight. Half a day later he laughed involuntarily and said, "Wangzi is indeed heroic and overbearing. Since that is the case, there is no harm in Wangzi and I play a round first, lest someone says that I, Li Shimin, am using a tag-team tactic.”
Even Kou Zhong had no choice but to admire greatly Li Shimin's guts and poise.
This was a real hero.
It should be noted that no one had ever seen Fu Qian fighting, but just from the fact that he dared to challenge Qu Ao, and the ‘Dauntless Lion' Mu Tiexiong was still lying on the stairs, people knew that this man was not someone to be trifled with. Li Shimin dared to personally take the risk to fight hand to hand with this enigmatic Fu Qian, he was definitely not a coward.
The crowd began to applause; obviously they also admired Li Shimin from the heart.
Tuli, who was an expert in playing with words, did not interrupt; he vaguely adopted the ‘sitting on the mountain and watch the tigers fight' stance.
From Li Shimin's side, Yuchi Jingde and the others did not show the slightest hint of uneasiness; apparently they all had full confidence in Li Shimin's skill.
Fu Qian nodded his head approvingly. With his hands behind his back, he spoke calmly, "Qin Wang need not have any misgivings. I created the ‘Fu Yang Qigong[1]', a special technique to bring out the hidden-beneath-the-surface breathing potential. One person or ten, there won't be much difference. If by luck I win a round against Pang Xiong, it would give me the chance to warm up. The one taking unfair advantage is Xiaodi, not Shimin Xiong at all.”
As soon as he said that, the crowd was in uproar again. On the surface he was extremely modest, but beneath the surface there was an air of arrogance and insulting insinuation, hidden inside the heroic spirit that consider himself unexcelled in the world.
Pang Yu laughed aloud, and took three steps forward, so that he was only about a zhang away from Fu Qian. Cupping his fist in salute, he said, "Since Wangzi already uttered such a heroic words, please forgive Pang Yu for his brazen offense. Wangzi, please bestow your enlightenment.”
This martial art master of the Heavenly Policy Mansion looked like a jade tree standing against the wind; his sharp aura radiated all around, giving the crowd a good impression.
Li Shimin laughed and said, "Since that is the case, Shimin can only stand on the side happily enjoying the show!”
And so it was decided that the fight of Fu Qian versus Pang Yu was inevitable.
This moment Tuli suddenly let out a long laugh and said, "If there is indeed the opportunity, for the next round, would Qin Wang let me experience this Wangzi, whom I have admired for a long time?”
This move was Tuli's attempt to redeem his face from his subordinate suffering disgrace under Fu Qian's hands.
Nobody had ever imagined that the House of Dong Restaurant stairwell area would suddenly become the arena were leaders of all parties contending for hegemony of the world to score victory.
If either Fu Qian or Tuli's side was defeated, their momentum would suffer great damage, it might even be difficult for them to escape unscathed.
The moment Li Shimin and Fu Qian have yet to respond, Kou Zhong suddenly laughed aloud and said, "Really interesting. Things have come to this, would either Wangzi or Qin Wang give Xiaodi the opportunity to have a round as well?”
Inwardly Xu Ziling was severely shaken, realizing that Kou Zhong has made up his mind not to let Li Shimin leave this place alive.
And it was difficult for Li Shimin to decline Kou Zhong's challenge.
On Li Shimin's side, all the martial art masters had their countenance slightly changed. All their eyes were turned toward Kou Zhong, evidently they were quite apprehensive toward him.
Song Yuzhi's fragrant heart was shaken as well. It was precisely Kou Zhong's heroic spirit, which fear nothing in Heaven or Earth that made her love and hate him at the same time; she was quite out of her wits.
Ever since the assassination of ‘Green Dragon' Ren Shaoming, up to the stealing of the Jade Annulus of He Clan from the tiger's head, he had always displayed this kind of fearless spirit.
"Huh?”
A woman's surprised exclaim came from below, followed by her voice, "Who sealed General Mu's six meridians using innate qi power that he lies down in here?”
Actually, the lower floor was also packed with spectators, it's just that nobody dared to approach the stairs. And this woman took this precise moment to walk over toward Mu Tiexiong, and cut off whatever response Li Shimin was going to give to Kou Zhong. Everything was in direct agreement with the Art of War: not only she acted as the buffer between Kou Zhong's challenge and Li Shimin, but Kou Zhong's momentum was weakened as well.
The crowd could not help pressing forward a few steps, wanting to look down. They saw a beautiful woman with unique personality traits, lightly kicking Mu Tiexiong, who was lying face down on the stairs. Mu Tiexiong's legs shook, he moaned lightly, and sat up with blank expression on his face.
Fu Qian's eyes flickered with strange flashes; he could not hide the astonished expression on his face. "Miss is able to see through Zaixia's technique, it is indeed out of the ordinary; is it possible for you to reveal your fragrant name?” he asked.
The beauty raised her pretty face to look up, while her right palm, rapid-wiyhout-equal, slapped Mu Tiexiong's back a dozen times in succession. The latter's eyes immediately regained their liveliness; he quickly closed his eyes and circulated his inner power.
The crowd was amazed. Only now did they realize that with her kick the woman did not completely unseal Mu Tiexiong's acupoints; she could only free half of his body and make him sit up, yet she already achieved the effect of gaining the upper hand by a show of strength.
Considering now she was looking up, but her right palm, as if it had an eye of its own, accurately struck the acupoints on Mu Tiexiong's back, merely this skill was enough to bowl the crowd over.
The beauty unyieldingly met Fu Qian's gaze face-to-face, aloof and remote, while replying coldly, but calmly, "Qie's [I, your servant; deprecatory self-reference used by women] former self has already died, and became a person without name and surname. Wangzi may address Qie as either Hong Funu [reminder: red brush lady], or Mrs. Li; either way let it be according to your esteemed opinion.”
Without waiting for Fu Qian to respond, she immediately scolded tenderly, "Kou Zhong, the battle between you and I just now has not yet reached final conclusion, you dare to challenge Qin Wang based on what?”
Kou Zhong looked at Li Shimin and said with a wry smile, "Xiaodi concedes; I take back the remark I made just now. Saozi [sister-in-law], please let Xiaodi off.”
The tone of his words seemed like a sign of weakness, but nobody had the impression that he was afraid of Hong Funu. Even those who did not know the background story could guess that for some reason he did not wish to fight with this beauty.
Xu Ziling sighed inwardly. Only he knew best Kou Zhong's sentiment. Despite the fact that they had reason to hate Li Jing, when all is said and done, their brotherhood could not be erased that easily, so how could they harm her by being ruthless to her? Besides, against such martial art master like Hong Funu, being lenient was not much different than committing suicide.
Fu Qian shook his head and said with a sigh, "A true hero among women, worthy of my admiration. Mrs. Li, please come up!”
Her countenance as calm as still water, Hong Funu walked slowly up the flight of steps.
By the time she reached the circle of Li Shimin's people, Fu Qian already took off his outer robe, revealing an intimidatingly magnificent upper body. Letting out a long laughter, he said, "I wonder what kind of weapon Pang Xiong is going to use.”
Pang Yu replied indifferently, "Weapons are inauspicious objects, not suitable to be used in here; why not let us play with our fist and feet? Wangzi, what do you think?”
This man was worthy to be the figure whose name shook Guanzhong; his words concealed a blade, he seized the key moment and grasped the initiative.
Fu Qian smiled and said, "Auspicious or not, it is only in one's mind. Since Pang Xiong already has this refined and elegant attitude of the mind, ol' Fu has another proposal.”
Everybody only felt strangely compelled to focus their attention and listen respectfully.
Kou Zhong whispered in Song Yuzhi's ear, "Above, the battle is over the heart; below, the battle is over power. Good Zhizhi, are you moved by this man because of this?”
"Ah!”
Song Yuzhi's elbow heavily struck Kou Zhong's flank, but she did not pay attention to him.
Because of the noise, Fu Qian's eyes momentarily flashed toward the two; there was a glimmer of laughter on his gaze. In return, Kou Zhong flashed him a bitter smile.
On the contrary, Pang Yu's eyes had never left Fu Qian; he said in heavy voice, "Wangzi, please bestow your advice.”
Everybody quickly bent their ears to listen respectfully.
[1] Fu Yang Qigong. This is kind of difficult to translate concisely. Fu - lie low/crouching or overcome/subdue, but also the same character of Fu Qian's surname. Yang - raise or bring up (children or animals) or support. Qigong - a system of deep breathing exercise.