Book 8 Chapter 10 - Siren[1] or Saint?
Kou Zhong's Moon in the Well was like a storm filling the sky; when he warded off the two broadswords from his left and right, Qu Ao's third disciple Genggehu'er stepped over in large stride, thrusting the sword in his hand straight toward Kou Zhong's face. Before the sword even arrived, cold air already shrouded the entire area in front of Kou Zhong.
Kou Zhong knew that this one sword strike carried Genggehu'er's entire strength, taking advantage while he was blocking his two subordinates' attack, he watched for a gap in Kou Zhong's defense and went straight in; it was an unusually formidable attack. However, Kou Zhong felt immense delight instead; his saber swiftly moved to parry the sword.
Yellow light flashed everywhere, carrying with it an ear-splitting noise.
Kou Zhong concentrated his strength as he stood still like a mountain, while Genggehu'er subsequently took two steps back.
Two sabers attacked again, making it difficult for Kou Zhong to pursue and attack.
Although these two Tiele martial art masters' skill was exquisite, Kou Zhong knew that if fighting one-on-one, he would be able to subdue any of them within three moves. However, when the two men joined hands and fought together, in terms of timing and angle of attack, they prevented him from dealing with just one of them with all his strength; therefore, he was feeling that he had the power but could not carry out his attack. Also, obviously the two men were using some kind of mysterious fighting technique, so that by fighting together, the two of them would be able to deal with a much stronger opponent.
However, Kou Zhong remained calm without any sign of fear; his heroic spirit was swelling. Weaving left and right, his shenfa was as fantastic as swimming fish, as he dodged the enemy's sabers.
‘Whoosh!'
Genggehu'er's sword pierced; just like before, the sword went straight toward Kou Zhong's head.
Although it was an incomparably simple sword strike, Kou Zhong felt helpless to evade, hence he sent his Moon in the Well to strike back.
‘Dang!'
The yellow light from Kou Zhong's Moon in the Well intensified as he blocked the enemy's sword once again.
This time Genggehu'er was shaken and had to take three steps back, but Kou Zhong was also forced to take half a step back.
Both men were shocked.
Kou Zhong's shock was because he felt that for no reason at all Genggehu'er's power suddenly increased; it was far stronger than the first one, so that his own qi and blood was churning. If the power behind the next sword strike increased proportionately, it would be strange indeed if Kou Zhong were not defeated.
Genggehu'er's shock was because of Kou Zhong's resilience. It should be noted that his so-called ‘Seven-Turn of Violent Wave' was his school's unique skill, one of the Three Amazing Skills created by Qu Ao himself. Each strike was capable of absorbing a little of the opponent's power, and turned it to enhance the power of his own sword; it was an extremely strange and crafty skill. Who would have thought that not only Kou Zhong's power was well stored-up and did not leak at all, it was also incomparably cold? Although he barely managed to suck in a bit of breath, he was actually feeling incomparable discomfort, so that the second time he exchanged blows, he was forced to take one step more than the first.
It was only then did he realize why with his ability, Qu Te, who assumed the name Ren Shaoming, still had to succumb under the opponent's saber.
This moment Kou Zhong heard the sound of saber blade splitting the air behind him. His mind was churning at the speed of light, he knew that if this situation continued, he would be stuck in a completely passive situation where he was at the enemy's mercy; so he cooked up an action plan.
Following his body, the saber in Kou Zhong's hand also spun around, seemingly blocking the saber attacking from his left. But suddenly he crabbed sideways to face the saber chopping down from his right. Exuding a strong qi, the Moon in the Well sliced diagonally at the enemy.
The Tiele master felt the yellow glow from the opponent's strange saber suddenly flared up, the saber qi rushed down directly at him with a ‘magnificent army with thousands of men and horses' power. Scared out of his wits, he stopped right on his track, not knowing whether to advance or to retreat.
The originally invulnerable fighting formation immediately revealed a gap, which ought not to be revealed.
With a long laugh Kou Zhong suddenly straightened up his waist and back, his bearing became even more intimidating without equal; his confidence soared. Like a thunderbolt the Moon in the Well struck down on the Tiele master.
‘Dang!'
The man raised his saber to block. Who would have thought that with a yellow flash, Kou Zhong's saber chopped down on both the saber and the man, throwing him outward, that he breathed his last even before his body touched the ground?
By this time, Genggehu'er had just managed to regulate his qi, indicating the intensity and the swiftness of the fight between these four men. Upon seeing this, he was greatly alarmed. Immediately he stepped forward and hacked down his earth-shattering third surge of violent wave.
Meanwhile, the situation at the battlefield intensified, the fighting was concentrated around the elevated platform. There was continuous flow of people splashing their blood and falling to the ground, it was an extremely bitter fight.
Another sword attacked from the left side.
Kou Zhong struck a pose as if he was going to block; the Moon in the Well feigned a strike, but when the enemy's sword was about to arrive, he shifted half a step sideways. The enemy's sword flit across right in front of his nose; a hairsbreadth closer and his body would be cut open.
Effortlessly the Moon in the Well swiped horizontally sideways.
‘Dang!'
The martial art master was jolted by him that he spurted a mouthful of blood. He staggered back, and momentarily had no more power to attack.
Having the pressure on him reduced, Kou Zhong let out a long laugh and took a stride forward. The Moon in the Well shook, like raging wave crashing onto the shore it attacked Genggehu'er.
For Genggehu'er, it was the very first time that he encountered someone who was able to overcome his ‘Seven-Turn of Violent Wave' by receiving it head-on. His courage was shaken, unexpectedly he did not dare to take the saber, but flew back instead.
Kou Zhong laughed aloud. He did not pursue, but went toward Xu Ziling to provide support.
Xu Ziling had just landed on the edge of the elevated platform. Over a dozen Tiele people guarding the platform divided themselves into two groups. One group swarmed forward to intercept, the other group positioned themselves around the post where the woman in yellow was held captive, tightly defending this ultimate target.
Xu Ziling knew that if he failed to use lightning fast trick to knock down the Tiele people guarding this last defensive line, if that Tiele beauty had time to rush over, forget about saving people, there would be no guarantee that he could save his own life.
Not to mention that the Tiele people currently attacking him obviously had significantly superior martial art skill compared to the Tiele warriors he encountered in the battlefield a moment ago, especially the huge man in the middle wielding a spear. Before the spear even arrived, the spear qi was already pressing down on him, powerful and harsh to the extreme.
Not daring to underestimate the enemy, he soared to the air. As he reached approximately three-zhang altitude, unexpectedly he was able to apply his qi to make a somersault toward the wooden pole in the middle of the platform.
The Tiele people underneath had never expected that Xu Ziling would be as nimble as an eagle in the air, and was able to flip over and fly. Momentarily they were caught off-guard and their formation became chaotic. The worst thing was that Xu Ziling was able to borrow the reaction force as he made contact with the post, and would be able to land anywhere he wished, so that they were unable to anticipate how to guard against him, and thus were at a loss on what to do.
[1] Chapter title: Siren, orig. 妖女 [yaonu] - female demon, can also mean ‘beautiful woman'.