Chapter 19 - Do You Dare to Fight?
Jiang Yi was clearly aware that Jiang Ruhu and himself would have a decisive battle one day. He had to find and settle accounts with Jiang Ruhu after all those years of torment and grievances. Once there was an opportunity, Jiang Ruhu would likewise take the initiative to find him, to defend his status and authority as the head amongst the second-tier descendants of the Jiang Clan.
After making a breakthrough and reaching the second stage of the Cast Tripod Realm the night before, Jiang Yi did not have any fear nor dread for Jiang Ruhu in his heart. He even swaggered up against the mountain, hoping that Jiang Ruhu would stop him. He hoped to take the opportunity to ruthlessly get his revenge.
At that moment, Jiang Ruhu had indeed arrived, but he did not have a shred of excitement deep in his heart. Rather, his face was filled with bitterness and agony. He muttered to himself that he was too careless.
Twenty people!
The weakest of the bunch had a power level at the second stage of the Cast Tripod Realm, with others like Jiang Bao and Jiang Song at ever-increasingly impressive power levels. With so many people there and then, even if he did have a power level in the fourth stage of the Cast Tripod Realm, it would still be difficult for him to leave the Western Hills completely safe and sound. Not to mention that he had only just made a breakthrough in achieving the second stage of the Cast Tripod Realm and that he only had six wisps of black essence force available within his dantian.
What could he possibly do with just six wisps of black essence forces? Perhaps he could inflict serious damage on some people. Once he ran out of black essence force, he would surely be severely beaten up by the crowd of people who would definitely be flying into a rage out of humiliation. If he were lucky, he would only have a few bones broken; if he were unlucky, it was not impossible that he would be beaten to death amidst the chaos. He knew too well that a bunch of wastrel playboys, once they got rash and impulsive, they would definitely not care about the consequences of their actions.
However… did he have any way to retreat or escape?
The twenty people had dispersed early on, leaving him surrounded in the center. The essence forces in all the people’s bodies were quietly being circulated. In whichever direction he thought of escaping, he would always remain trapped within. Thereafter, he would get stuck in the middle of a neverending barrage of attacks from all sides.
Calm down! Calm down!
Jiang Yi bent his back slightly and stared at Jiang Ruhu like a wild beast. He gazed at his surroundings through his peripheral vision, while both of his ears were constantly and attentively listening to all movements and sounds. His mind was spinning like crazy as he tried to find a way to break out of his current circumstances.
He must not wind up dead or severely injured; otherwise, he would end up lying in bed for half an entire month. Xiaonu would be in danger by then—should people from the Fengyue Brothel come to find them directly. As such, he had to win this day at all costs, or leave the Western Hills completely unscathed at least.
“What’s the matter? Are you scared?”
Upon seeing Jiang Yi become so nervous that his entire body started becoming taut, Jiang Ruhu felt an indescribable burst of elation in his heart. It was so interesting, akin to a pack of tigers playing with a monkey. He quietly circulated the essence forces in his dantian as he slowly walked toward Jiang Yi with a fierce expression on his trembling face and an aggressive spirit surrounding him. He exploded in a loud shout, “Don’t lay a finger on my men if you knew you were going to be frightened by the consequences! Now… it’s all too late! However, I, Master Hu, am in a good mood today so I’ll give you one chance—we will let you off today if you crawl between everyone’s legs, under all of our groins. How about that?”
“Brother Tiger!”
Jiang Bao and Jiang Song felt anxious upon hearing Jiang Ruhu’s offer. However, his eyes slightly swept across them. Seeing the ineffable meanings hidden in Jiang Ruhu’s gaze, the two people immediately understood his aim and started laughing mischievously. Was it not the best opportunity to launch a sneak attack whilst Jiang Yi was crawling between their legs? Jiang Ruhu had completely no intention of letting Jiang Yi off. Rather, he desired to humiliate Jiang Yi even further.
Jiang Yi did not utter a word, remaining completely silent instead. Jiang Ruhu grew impatient and was ready to wave his hand to allow his men to launch their attack. It was only when Jiang Yi suddenly opened his mouth and responded, “Very well! I’ll crawl. I just hope that… Brother Hu, you will keep your promise.”
“Huh?”
One after another, many people took a glance at each other’s faces, giving an expression of astonishment. Out of the twenty people at the scene, over half of them had bullied Jiang Yi before. Beating up Jiang Yi was a small affair with a light sentence, and he had been beaten up to the point of vomiting blood several times before. However, none of them had ever seen Jiang Yi beg for forgiveness, to say nothing… directly admitting defeat and agreeing to crawl between their legs.
Jiang Ruhu was no idiot—otherwise, how could he have possibly become the leader of this group of men? From the corner of his mouth came a faint smile filled with profound hidden meanings and intentions. He quickly turned to exchange glances with the collateral descendant Jiang Ruying, whose power level was at the third stage of the Cast Tripod Realm. Only after giving Jiang Ruying a hidden signal with his eyes did Jiang Ruhu turn his head and nodded at Jiang Yi, replying, “Naturally, I, Jiang Ruhu, speak words of enormous weight. So long as you crawl between all of our legs and under our groins, I will guarantee that the next time we cross paths, I will let you pass unharmed. Ruying, position yourself in the horse stance!”
That collateral descendant Jiang Ruying, with a power level at the third stage of the Cast Tripod Realm, immediately took two steps forward and squatted down in a horse stance position. With a look of desire to make fun of Jiang Yi, he pointed towards the bottom of his groin and said, “Come on! Crawl through it!”
“Hahaha!”
“Crawl! Crawl through it!”
The sounds of mockery and laughter immediately rang from all four corners. All were observing Jiang Yi with much excitement as they waited to see the entertaining sight of Jiang Yi bearing the humiliation of crawling underneath people’s groins.
“Alright! I will crawl… ”
Jiang Yi gritted his teeth and shouted loudly as he strode with wide paces towards Jiang Ruying. His entire face revealed expressions of indignation and humiliation, as his body trembled uncontrollably from his intense rage. However, he did not show any indication that he would use essence force on his body; he was also staggering forward and stumbling as he walked. It looked as though he did not have a shred of desire to resist.
“Haha—”
Some of the familial descendants silently let their guard down and started laughing uncontrollably. In their eyes, how could a useless good-for-nothing like Jiang Yi ever dare to resist? Even if he chose to resist, on what basis could he rely on to fight back? Could he just rely on his power level alone, being only at the first stage of the Cast Tripod Realm? Regarding the events in which Jiang Bao and Jiang Song were injured by Jiang Yi—everyone had initially disbelieved the stories. At the moment, they were even more so in complete disbelief that such events even happened.
One step, two steps, three steps!
With his head lowered and his teeth gritted, Jiang Yi walked towards Jiang Ruying step by step. When he was just a meter away from Jiang Ruying, he slowly bent down his body as he got ready to squat on the ground and crawl in the direction of the area underneath Jiang Ruying’s groin.
“Gulp!”
Just at that moment, an unexpected change suddenly happened!
A glimmer of coldness flashed past Jiang Ruying’s eyes. Originally squatting in a horse stance, he bent both of his legs downwards as his body suddenly leaped forward. The yellow essence force revolving around his right leg produced a brilliant windy sound as the leg cut down ruthlessly onto the kneeling Jiang Yi’s back like a sharp ax.
This was the man-tier superior-grade martial arts technique, Mountain-Splitting Leg.
Some of the Jiang family descendants were shocked. Surely, one did not need such high-grade martial arts skills to deal with a trivial character like Jiang Yi. Being a martial artist with a power level at the third stage of the Cast Tripod Realm and applying all this power in a single attack, was Jiang Ruying certain he would not simply chop and split Jiang Yi into two? Both having very little courage, two of the descendants even closed their eyes, avoiding the sight and the spectacle of bodily mutilation resulting in a bloody splatter.
“Hmph!”
A deep and cold snort rang out. Jiang Yi suddenly raised up his head, despite having his waist bent, as though he had already anticipated the incoming attack. The fists he had hidden within his long robe sleeves had been circulating blue essence force. Without fear, he proudly smashed his fists onto Jiang Ruying’s incoming heavy leg.
“Bang!” “Crack!”
Alongside the sounds of bones breaking rang aloud the deep noise of essence forces exploding. The collision of essence forces caused a shockwave to reverberate across the surrounding air, blowing up smoke and dust from the room and blurring all the gang members’ visions. However, at that moment, all the members had forgotten to close their eyes. Instead, their eyes were bulging out and opened wide as they simply could not believe what they were seeing: the figure of Jiang Ruying being sent flying out in a faraway direction, akin to a kite with a broken string.
“Boom!”
Jiang Ruying’s body crashed heavily on the ground. The right leg of his pants had been completely torn to shreds in the explosion. The eerie pale white color of the bone could be vaguely seen on his lower right leg which was covered in fresh blood. His entire face was distorted in a grimace as an intensely acute pain radiating from his right leg left him cradling the leg and bawling ceaselessly.
“What’s going on?”
Everyone was left dumbstruck. Only Jiang Bao alone had a look of shock and fright revealed through his eyes. His experiences that day were completely similar to what just happened to Jiang Ruying—in that he was also sent flying by a punch from Jiang Yi.
“Jiang Ruhu, I knew you would not let me off so easily. Thankfully, this young master… has never had excessive hopes that you would ever be magnanimous.”
A cold voice roused the group of people from their shock as Jiang Yi’s figure shot up from the ground like a sharp arrow and rushed straight for Jiang Ruhu.
To catch bandits, one must first capture the bandit leader!
Jiang Yi’s aim was actually very clear-cut—since he had no way of escape, he had no choice but to fight his way out! On top of that, if he wanted to get away safely, there was no choice but to… take down Jiang Ruhu.
As such, he posed being pro-compromise right from the start, ensuring a large portion of his opponents would let their guard down. Subsequently, he would rely on his great power, expanded in strength by black essence force and send Jiang Ruying flying with one punch. At that moment, he would take advantage of all his opponents being in a state of shock and be ready to take Jiang Ruhu down in a single move.
“Hmph! What are you guys waiting for? Everyone, attack!”
Jiang Yi’s strategy was not bad, but he miscalculated one thing—Jiang Ruhu saw Jiang Yi rush towards him and chose to retreat backward in explosive haste, instead of being enraged and meeting him head-on. At the same time, he started shouting loudly to urge his gang members to attack in the direction of Jiang Yi from all sides.
“Attack!”
The three people standing next to Jiang Ruhu immediately roused from their stunned condition. They had always been used to obeying Jiang Ruhu’s orders; likewise this moment, they did not hesitate too much and rushed towards Jiang Yi with essence force being circulated like crazy on them.
Oh no, this Jiang Ruhu has actually inherited his father’s genes in combat prowess! He’s cautious like a mouse and treacherous like a snake! Sigh… looks like I can only stake my life in it all! Black essence force!
Jiang Yi cried to himself bitterly. He absolutely failed to consider how Jiang Ruhu would actually be so careful and cautious, in addition to his fourth-stage power level in the Cast Tripod Realm. Thinking about how Jiang Ruhu’s father, Jiang Yunshe, had the nickname ‘Green Bamboo Snake’ since youth and was infamous throughout Skyplume City for being treacherous and deceitful, Jiang Yi felt silently relieved. Jiang Yi also had no other choice but to circulate a wisp of black essence force into his eye and grit his teeth as he rushed forward.
“Psychedelic Steps!”
His two eyes were like electricity, firmly locking onto the three people who were sweeping towards him in a fan-shaped formation. Based on his opponents’ actions, he predicted the martial arts techniques to be taken by his opponents, their attack trajectories, and their attack speeds in advance. He then used a few fantastic foot movements beforehand, moving towards the left to bypass their attacks.
“Huh?”
The descendant rushing from the left had a power level in the third stage of the Cast Tripod Realm. He absolutely failed to consider how Jiang Yi actually rushed towards him directly, instead of trying to break through their attacks by going for the other two martial artists with power levels in the second stage of the Cast Tripod Realm. Connecting the dots and remembering how Jiang Ruying was sent flying with one of Jiang Yi’s punches, his heart started throbbing somewhat strongly and rapidly. He made the decision in his mind to stop himself in his tracks.
“Swish!”
Who knew that Jiang Yi’s figure would duck out of the way and turn to sweep towards the right in the midst of his run? How could the two people on the right predict that Jiang Yi would race straight towards them right now after seeing him rush towards the left? They even had started turning their bodies in the same direction. The two could only brandish their fists in a state of confused fury and smash them towards Jiang Yi.
“Silk Hand!”
Jiang Yi’s hands individually aimed to entangle each of the two opponents like two strands of seaweed, easily knotting both people’s arms amidst the confusion. As his body turned to his side and started rushing forward, both of his hands took advantage of the situation and pulled his two opponents into the same direction as he did, while one of his legs swept across to both their legs like a poisonous snake.
“BANG!”
As expected, the bodies of both his opponents staggered and crashed to the ground one by one. As for Jiang Yi, his body once again shot explosively forward, rushing towards Jiang Ruhu who was in front of him. With his eyes filled with a sense of coldness, he started shouting aloud, “Jiang Ruhu, do you dare to fight?”
“Take this! Shooting Star Punch!”
Jiang Yi had easily defeated two people, but did it seem as though he forgot one more person? Jiang Yi had flashed past that martial artist with a power level at the third stage of the Cast Tripod Realm. At that moment, he finally came to himself and immediately flew into a rage out of humiliation. He rushed towards Jiang Yi with wide steps and raised up his fists before ferociously smashing downwards onto Jiang Yi’s back.
“BANG!”
At that moment, Jiang Yi had mysteriously chosen not to avoid the incoming attack by far, but he rather continued rushing forward like before. The martial artist with a power level at the third stage of the Cast Tripod Realm easily hit his back. As a wave of great power rushed from behind him, his body flew up into the air in an instant.
“Haha! Jiang Yi, with power like yours, you still think of sparring with me?”
Jiang Ruhu, standing in the frontal direction of Jiang Yi’s movement, had initially thought of avoiding the incoming attack while continuing to direct his cronies to attack from all sides. He was trying to get a clear grasp of Jiang Yi’s actual level of power before deciding on his next plan of action. At that moment, however, he suddenly stopped his bodily movements and began bursting into loud laughter. With his eyes filled sharply with a strong ominous glint, the essence forces poured out in torrential waves from his body as his two fists smashed forward like metal hammers in the direction of the incoming Jiang Yi.
“Pop!”
While Jiang Yi was flying in mid-air, his facial expressions did not reveal any strand of frantic confusion; rather, his eyes revealed a mysterious look of glee. Right when his body was just two-thirds of a meter away from Jiang Ruhu, he suddenly opened his mouth wide and spit out a mouth full of fresh blood, drenching Jiang Ruhu’s head and face completely…
It was not long before Jiang Yi’s voice rang out, so cold that it sent a shiver down Jiang Ruhu’s spine, saying, “Jiang Ruhu, you fell for my trick! If I don’t break your four limbs today, I,too, will write my name ‘Jiang Yi’ in reverse…”
“Oh no!”
Jiang Ruhu was sprayed by a mouthful of fresh blood, and as such, he could not immediately open his eyes. His heart sank as he chose not to counterattack and just hold both his hands to protect his head. As he hurriedly retreated explosively backward, he hysterically shouted, “Are you guys all dead? Why don’t you hurry up and attack? Beat that bastard Jiang Yi to death for me!”