On the direction where Xu Ziling was rolling away, there were Chen Changlin and six, seven other martial art masters. They did not know that Wang Shichong had been substituted by Xu Ziling; they thought it was Wang Shichong who was rolling away from the bottom of the carriage. Seeing the assassin breaking the wall to pursue and attack, they leaped off their horses and charged forward to meet the enemy.
Who would have thought that when the man was charging forward, he intentionally diffuse the wood fragments and splashed the pieces over at them like a shower, each piece carried powerful qi, no different than shooting secret projectiles.
Because the lanterns were extinguished, and the night sky was dark without the stars, all the could see was that the enemy was a man wearing black tight-fitting warrior outfit; as for what he looked like, no one could see it clearly, hence increasing his mysterious, unfathomable and terrifying impression.
Meanwhile Kou Zhong, Ouyang Xiyi, Linglong Jiao, Wang Xuanying, Wang Xuanshu, and the other martial art masters were soaring near, but they were still a bit behind. By the time Chen Changlin and the others were blocking the raining wood fragments, the assassin already flew toward the rolling-around-on-the-ground Xu Ziling, with both palms striking down.
Violent qi power, like a storm, pressed down on Xu Ziling. He felt as if a wall was falling down on him. The momentum was extremely shocking.
In the blink of an eye, Xu Ziling, who was under heavy attack, was able to detect from the enemy's speed, attacking power, and other aspects that he was still at least a level below the opponent.
Right now, the only counteroffensive he could think of was to face danger with danger, using strange method to control the enemy.
With a cold shout he flipped half of his body, relying on high-speed true qi rotation, and reversing the direction of his falling down momentum, while fast as lightning both his palms struck out, to meet the enemy's palms head on.
He was finally able to see the opponent's appearance and body shape.
This black assassin was tall and sturdy, bordering to fat; his belly slightly bulging, his head bald, his chin thick, his palms and fingers appeared thicker and more solid than ordinary men. But his supposedly murderous-looking fierce and harsh eyes were weakened by his snow-white, beautiful beard, and his long, grizzled eyebrows drooping down to the corners of his eyes. Were it not for his icy-cold eyes, which were so narrow that they looked like the blade of a knife, this man could be mistaken as an elderly immortal descending to the mortal world.
'Bang!'
Qi power collided.
Xu Ziling did not use his spiraling qi. He appeared to be using all the natural qi power from the 'Secret to Long Life' and the Jade Annulus of He Clan; however, he actually retained half of his strength in dealing with this senior martial art master of grand master level, whose name shook the southern seas.
'Wah!'
Xu Ziling spurted out a mouthful of fresh blood; he was jolted so hard that the back of his head bumped against the bluestone under his body.
Huang Gongcuo was also jarred by his reaction force, and was thrown backward. For the first time his face showed an amazed expression.
But his hands did not stay idle; his left hand repeatedly sent out long distance chops, so that Chen Changlin and the others, who were coming to help, were forced to step back; two of them were even hit and fell down, unable to crawl back up. He indeed possessed an insufferably arrogant attitude due to his overbearing prowess.
This moment Kou Zhong, Ouyang Xiyi, Ke Feng, Linglong Jiao, Wang Xuanying, Wang Xuanshu, and the group of other martial art masters were leaping above the destroyed carriage. But when they were pouncing down, whistling noise was heard overhead, followed by hundreds of leaves, like sharp blades filling the air, shooting down at them, so that all they could do was evading with sigh.
Faintly they saw four, five dark shadows followed the raining leaves, dropping down from the sky.
Those with comparably weaker skill had no choice but to form saber net and sword shield to block the attack with everything they had.
Only Kou Zhong, Ouyang Xiyi, Ke Feng and Linglong Jiao, four people were able to use their true qi to protect their bodies, while increasing their speed to charge toward Huang Gongcuo, well before he had a chance to use his killer hands to intercept them.
'Bang!'
The blue stone shattered.
Xu Ziling's back landed on the ground, and spurted another mouthful of blood.
Most of his injuries were fake.
Although Huang Gongcuo's palm power was fierce and severe, Xu Ziling was not a weakling at all. When the opponent's qi power invaded his meridians and burst in, he used his own true qi to carry the opponent's qi power from his elbow, and transmitted it into the bluestone crashing against his back. Not only he neutralized the capable-of-severing-the-meridians, destroying-the-spirit palm power, he also used it to prop his weight so that he would not suffer the calamity of crashing against the stone.
It was an ingenious, as well as a profound mystery, technique, guaranteed that even Huang Gongcuo would find it hard to understand. Only he and Kou Zhong, who knew the 'Secret to Long Life' had this marvelous skill.
Huang Gongcuo suddenly floated toward Xu Ziling again.
The battle occurred in the dark. Under this kind of circumstance, they could not rely on their eyes very well, and was forced to rely on their senses, which, in their status as martial art masters, were keener than those of ordinary people; the level of danger need not be mentioned.
Only this moment did Wang Shichong, who was dressed as 'Qin Jieyuan', start to flee while keeping his body close to the ground, as he quietly tiptoed toward the back of Huang Gongcuo. It was only then did he remember his original intention in coming here.
Dang!'
The flying disc, which had been the main controller of this whole situation, finally fell to the ground.
'Ding!'
Kou Zhong's Moon in the Well block a sword stabbing down from above; immediately he groaned inwardly, because the enemy's power application was extremely ingenious, there was a twisting and pulling force hidden within the stab, so that he was pulled sideways, but it appeared that he wanted to change direction on his own accord, and thus missed the opportunity to intercept Huang Gongcuo.
This kind of sword technique was simply too sensational.
And then he heard loud sword wind; unexpectedly the enemy was able to change momentum high in the air and used the remainder to pursue him.
Dugu Feng's [phoenix] tender voice rang in his ears, "Pay back my Er Shu's [second uncle] life!"
Kou Zhong thundered, "Dugu Ba's killer is Shen Luoyan. Watch the saber!"
Without even looking back, the Moon in the Well struck backhandedly, to hit the back of Dugu Feng's sword stabbing at him. 'Dang! The impact shook Dugu Feng, sent her floating backward, while he borrowed the same reaction force to accelerate his speed as he shot toward the Imperial Road.
Xu Ziling had already accomplished his goal in taking Wang Shichong's place to 'receive the injury'. Right now his only target was to protect his own life, in order to prevent the pretense from turning into reality.
The enemy's assassination plan was very thorough. Huang Gongcuo was extremely formidable; although it was not totally unexpected, it has caused them to fall into passive situation and could only react to the enemy's movement, even though they had already giving everything had.
And now, as long as Kou Zhong was able to hold Huang Gongcuo for a moment, to give their side the opportunity to regroup, it could be said that their mission was accomplished.
Thinking about it, Kou Zhong swung his arm to throw the Moon in the Well that it flew like a streak of lightning toward Huang Gongcuo.
The moment Dugu Feng [phoenix] intercepted Kou Zhong, Wang Bodang's double-pointed flexible spear and You Chuhong's jasper staff separately intercepted Linglong Jiao and Ouyang Xiyi coming down from the air.
Everybody knew that if they could kill Xu Ziling, who was impersonating Wang Shichong, then they could put a stop to this melee.
The Twin-Malevolent of Changbai, Fu Zhen and Fu Yan, two brothers, were charging toward Chen Changlin, so that Huang Gongcuo could focus all his attention to kill Xu Ziling, whom they believed to be Wang Shichong.
For a period of time, the sound of weapons clashing and battle cry shook the Imperial Road.
As soon as the guards recovered from shock, one after another they charged courageously with no thought of personal safety in the direction of Huang Gongcuo and Xu Ziling.
'Thud!'
With a muffled explosion-like sound, Ouyang Xiyi, who was always a level below You Chuhong, was swept by her staff and fell backward. And then this number one martial art master of the Dugu Clan flashed around like a ghost or a demon, charging toward the front of the carriage like a shooting star, and each time her jasper staff swept by, one bodyguard had his flesh and blood flying. There was a continuous stream of people flying or falling down.
Linglong Jiao was unable to withstand Wang Bodang's double-pointed flexible spear, which he moved in perfection; relying on her outstanding qinggong, she turned around and fled far away, giving Wang Bodang the opportunity to leisurely deal with the bodyguards charging at him from the rear of the carriage.
Ke Feng was the only one with no one giving him any trouble; he easily went over to Xu Ziling, who had just sprung up from the ground.
In this kind of darkness and chaotic situation, even he could not see clearly that this 'Wang Shichong' was a fake.
Huang Gongcuo was pressing in to within ten paces from Xu Ziling; his white beard perked up, both his hands turned into palm shadows filling the air, like howling wind and torrential rain attacking Xu Ziling.
'Ding!'
Huang Gongcuo flashed; it was unclear what technique he was using, but the lightning fast Moon in the Well shooting at him not only changed direction, it continued shooting toward the real Wang Shichong's chest, who was trying to ambush him from behind. There was no reduction in the momentum; he was worthy to be acclaimed as one of the top grandmasters of martial art in the world.
Xu Ziling groaned inwardly. Although currently his side had more men and the enemy had just a few, but he could only fight alone, since no one would be able to help him. To his side was the carriage with the destroyed top, to his other side were the big trees separating the horse path with the Imperial Road, while in front and behind him were enemies blocking his escape route, so that for the time being it was difficult for people from his side to come to his aid.
Huang Gongcuo's violent and powerful palm wind, as cold as ice and snow, was completely enveloping him, practically rendering him unable to evade, thus the only way out was to fight with everything he had.
If the enemy was only Huang Gongcuo, one person, he would be able to hold his ground for some time; but the worst part was that Ke Feng was waiting on the side. Even if he had enough power, Xu Ziling simply could not strike first and gain the upper hand, because by doing so, he would ruin the enterprise for the sake of one
Instead of surprised, Xu Ziling was delighted. He swiftly backed off.