Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling immediately soared into the air, their fists and feet worked together, diverting the stones that looked like they might hit the boat away.
Before the enemy's ships had the chance to launch the second round of stones, the thick smoke was blown by the wind so that they were trapped inside the smoke.
Black smoke was continuously blown from the bellows operated by Bao Zhifu and Shi Jie, two persons. In the blink of an eye the air behind the boat was covered in thick, dark smoke.
On the deck, Ma Gui, Duan Yucheng, along with Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, four people, who, after all, were still young at heart, cheered excitedly.
Suddenly there was a loud gust of wind; someone was breaking the smokescreen, like a big bird swooping toward Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, with the vigor of a gigantic hawk catching a rabbit, as a ball of saber ray pounced on them.
Kou Zhong stayed calm without the slightest sign of fear; he shouted, "Good move!”
Lightning fast he drew his long saber and turned it into cold light. ‘Ding!' it hacked onto the saber ray protecting the opponent's body.
The man and Kou Zhong exchanged an all-out saber attack; in horror he found out that Kou Zhong's saber not only carried an incomparably amazing cold true qi, which broke through his own saber qi and even forced it back, but also the cold qi continued to seal his saber momentum so tight that he was unable to continue his attack. In his great shock, he borrowed the opponent's force to catapult himself back, made a somersault in the air, with the intention to land on the platform on top of the cabin.
On the other hand, Kou Zhong was also jolted by the opponent that his qi and blood surged up in his chest. While he was secretly shocked by the opponent's formidability, Xu Ziling already soared into the air like an angry eagle, to intercept the dreadful opponent by one step, so that the two of them exchanged several moves in the air.
Xu Ziling's weapon was his body.
In addition to his hands and feet, no part of his body could not be used as an offensive weapon against the enemy. Obviously that person has never encountered such moves; three times in succession his saber attack were neutralized by Xu Ziling's saber-breaking technique, so that his leap could not continue and he was forced to alter direction toward the side of the boat.
Xu Ziling also felt his strength was exhausted, so he safely landed on the platform to take a breather.
Only then did he see clearly that this person was precisely Wang Bao's son, Wang Kuijie.
Meanwhile, Kou Zhong had anticipated the point where the opponent would land, hence he already flashed over and waited with the saber held horizontally across his chest. Laughing aloud, he said, "This time it is indeed a good move!”
Wang Kuijie groaned inwardly; he saw Kou Zhong was waiting down there with tight defense, while he himself was still unable to dissolve completely Xu Ziling's qi invading his body. Falling rapidly like this would not be any different than suicide.
‘Swish!'
Nobody knew where the arrow came from, but it swiftly flew toward his back.
Wang Kuijie was also an outstanding talent; abruptly raising his qi, he miraculously rose up by a chi or so to evade the powerful arrow, and then with a flip he leaped over Kou Zhong and plunged into the water.
Carrying his big bow Ma Gui rushed over to the edge of the boat and ferociously shot an arrow to the spot where Wang Kuijie disappeared into the water.
By this time the surface of the river behind the boat was completely shrouded in black smoke. Kou Zhong breathed a sigh of relief.
Xu Ziling leaped down beside him and said, "That guy's saber technique was swift and fierce, I was nearly fooled.”
Kou Zhong nodded, "His qinggong is not bad either,” he said.
Fixing his gaze at the black fog behind the boat, Xu Ziling said heavily, "If you have to fight him fair and square, how confident you are in scoring a victory?”
Kou Zhong smiled wryly and replied, "At most only fity-fifty.”
Both were feeling heavy; they no longer had the same confidence as when they first started.
The days ahead would not be easy.
The morning sun was rising, a new day has begun.
Avoiding the Yangtze River, the salt boat entered a tributary and cast anchor in a river bend hidden underneath thick lush trees.
After rushing all night long, Duan Yucheng and the others, four men, needed a good rest. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, two boys were on guard duty.
Xu Ziling noticed that Kou Zhong was looking for a small sharp chisel, and when he found it, he diligently carved something on the blade of his saber. Squatting next to him, Xu Ziling asked, "What are you doing?”
"I want to give my treasured saber a proper name,” Kou Zhong replied proudly.
Xu Ziling burst out laughing; he said, "If you consider this saber a treasured saber, then all sabers under the heavens, with the exception of some especially inferior quality goods, can also be considered treasured sabers.”
Kou Zhong solemnly said, "That is precisely the reason it can display my, Kou Zhong's prowess. This is originally an ordinary saber, but because of me it will become world-famous tool, this is the saber that will let me strike everywhere all over the world. Ha!”
Xu Ziling sat down on the deck, close to the boat's railings. Taking a deep breath of early morning air, watching a flock of birds flying in the sky, he stretched and asked, "What ghost name are you carving there?”
Kou Zhong's thick face turned slightly red; he said softly, "Moon in the Well!”
At first Xu Ziling was startled, but then he could not stop smiling, "Good kid!” he said, "You have the cheek to enjoy this good name alone!”
Kou Zhong smiled apologetically and said, "How about yielding to me a little bit? One lifetime two brothers, why argue over such thing too much?”
Xu Ziling was lost in thought for half a day. He finally said, "Duan Yucheng, these four guys' natural talent is not bad. After checking out their channel and meridians, I designed a set of qi cultivation method for each of them. If they are successful, they are going to be your biggest help.”
Kou Zhong gratefully said, "Fortunately you had time to think about those kinds of thing, currently day in and day out my time is spent in thinking about future plan, I don't have time to think about that kind of water-mill effort.”
Xu Ziling said, "Speaking about intelligence, Duan Yucheng is at the top of the list. But in terms of martial art skill, Bao Zhifu will be the most accomplished in the future. Above all, this man is unbelievably dauntless, with firm and persistent fighting spirit; he is the most suitable candidate to practice a hard-bridge, hard-horse skill like Li Dage's saber technique.”
Kou Zhong nodded his agreement; he said, "Shi Jie excels in light, nimble skill. Just wait till I finish teaching him a set of saber technique I developed based on my comprehension of the swimming fish, I guarantee that his future accomplishment will not be inferior to the others.”
Xu Ziling said, "Ma Gui is most adept at archery and secret projectiles, only his internal energy is lacking. If we can make up for this deficiency, his future accomplishment will also be immeasurable.”
If these two boys' dialog fell into the ears of great scholars and grandmasters such as Bi Xuan or Ning Daoqi, those people would be so amazed that their jaw would drop. The reason was not only because of their brilliant and original insight, but also because of their ability in measuring talents and designing teaching materials accordingly, with suitable internal energy cultivation method for each one, demonstrating the fact that the two boys have reached the level of accomplished founder of a sect.
Their fantastic martial art skill, first inspired by Fu Junchuo and the ‘Secret to Long Life', enriched by Li Jing's ‘Bloody Battle Ten-Style', their Beautiful Gang Leader's ‘Bird-Crossing Technique' and Tu Shufang's ‘Meridian-Severing Technique', has by this time evolved into a unique, complete set of martial art skill, which was totally their own.
It was precisely because they had never received any rigid set of technique that they were relying on their own hard work and groping about, but the result was a more flexible change and variation, a set of technique of their own.
Kou Zhong suddenly had his heart filled with emotional stirring; he said, "Listening to the tone of your voice, it seems like you are ready to leave me anytime. Ay! I am so not used to not having you around.”
Xu Ziling smiled; he said, "The most important thing for a real man is to keep his words. You, Zhong Shao, have already promised that after we find the ‘Duke Yang Treasure', you will let me go freely; therefore, you can't casually renege on your promise.”
Kou Zhong sighed helplessly.
This moment they heard the sound of oars hitting the water, a group of five fishing boats that were strung together was sailing not too far from the river bend; it was such a calm, peaceful and relaxing scene that anybody would be hard-pressed to think that they were in the world that was all split up and in pieces, with war continuing everywhere.
Xu Ziling said, "Are we going to break through Li Zitong's Jianghu Army's barricade tonight?”
Kou Zhong mused, "Li Zitong can't totally close the Great River, so he will still have to send his warship to check all vessels going back and forth. As long as we can grasp the right moment, we definitely will have a chance of breaking through.
Xu Ziling was about to speak when suddenly the alarm went off in his heart.
Kou Zhong also reacted; both he and Xu Ziling turned their gaze toward the shore. But the shore remained dark and quiet with no human shadow in sight.
The two exchanged glances; they both felt very strange.
If it were only one of them felt it, they could dismiss it as mere misperception. But the current situation was simply too weird. Who could have hidden inside the two boys' perception range? Not only that, who could have beaten their vision by one step faster?
By dusk, the salt boat departed the river bend where they have been hiding.
Transporting the salt to Guanzhong had nothing to do with making profit; rather, it represented the two boys' cherished wish. It could be viewed as a severe test in their martial art cultivation. If they were able to complete this task successfully, it would confirm their ability to resist any enemy.