Chapter 27: And Him
“Senior Brother Chen, did something big happen again today?”
After the routine sparring session ended, one bold student asked Chen Ming this question.
Every time something significant occurred, Hong Mingquan and Zhang Mingyu would be absent.
The last time was when Huo Qianqian rejected the marriage proposal from Wen Zehao.
Something major must have happened today.
These students had already started whispering among themselves in private.
Chen Ming saw the gossipy looks on their faces, as if all of them were hoping for some drama to spice up their otherwise dull training life.
No one seemed to think it was a bad thing. He said, “It’s nothing. Just that an important guest has arrived at the residence. Alright, all of you, go back.”
The students grew even more curious and pressed him about who the important guest was.
Chen Ming ignored them and walked off.
He didn’t know either.
Just as he was about to pass through the courtyard gate, he saw a man with a dogtail grass stalk in his mouth, a long sword in his arms, leaning against the moon gate.
Huh, wasn’t this one of the five people who arrived today?
Chen Ming recognized him at a glance, gave a slight nod, and proceeded to pass through the moon gate.
The man extended his sword, blocking his path.
Chen Ming asked, “Why are you blocking my way, brother?”
The man looked him up and down with interest and asked, “Which disciple of Master Huo are you?”
He shook his head. “I’m not a disciple of Master Huo.”
“You’ve trained the Three Talents Fist quite well. It’s rare to see someone so patient, willing to feed moves to those younger kids. If I’d had a senior brother like you when I first started learning martial arts, I would’ve mastered Three Talents Fist much faster.”
“You flatter me.”
Chen Ming responded modestly.
This man referred to Huo Chengkun as ‘Shibo’, which meant he was a fellow disciple of Huo.
Seeing that the man had no intention of letting him pass, Chen Ming asked directly, “May I ask why you’re blocking my path, senior brother?”
The man spat out the dogtail grass and smiled. “You can’t leave yet. You need to come with me.”
“What if I refuse?”
The smile on the man’s face faded. “Don’t force me to use force.”
“…Where to?”
Chen Ming had always been reasonable.
He didn’t know this man’s background, so he naturally wouldn’t act rashly.
Besides, the situation was unclear.
This man dared to behave so boldly in someone else’s home, clearly disregarding the host. What was he relying on?
The man couldn’t help but laugh. “You really know how to read the room, brother. Come with me.”
…
Chen Ming followed the man all the way to the front courtyard, still wondering what these people had come to the Huo Residence for.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw two people engaged in combat.
One of them was the usually reclusive Senior Brother Zhao An, wielding a long saber.
His opponent was one of the five riders they had seen that morning, using a longsword.
In the courtyard, saber energy slashed violently while sword energy loomed with chilling precision.
Chen Ming was instantly captivated.
Both of them were at least of the Eighth Grade cultivation. Fights of this level weren’t easy to come by.
Besides the two combatants, several others were in the courtyard.
Zhang Mingyu, Hong Mingquan, Wen Zehao, Huo Qianqian, and even the married Second Senior Sister Du Juan were all present.
Among Huo Chengkun’s disciples, all were present except for the Fourth and Sixth Disciples.
However, they all looked disheveled, their clothes torn in several places.
Zhang Mingyu even had visible injuries.
It seemed they had just gone through a battle—and had suffered quite a loss.
In contrast, the man and woman on the other side appeared calm and composed.
The woman in blue even complained, “Second Senior Brother, what took you so long?”
The man who brought Chen Ming smiled. “This Huo Residence is huge. I almost got lost.”
“Is he one of Huo Chengkun’s disciples too?”
“No.”
“Then why’d you bring him?”
“I feel he must be closely connected to Master Huo.”
…
Chen Ming didn’t pay attention to their conversation, his focus entirely on the two fighting in the courtyard.
He imagined himself in that battle and realized he wouldn’t last even three moves against either of them.
After all, the difference in cultivation was too great.
Moreover, the saber and sword techniques they used were far more advanced than the Eight Trigrams Saber Technique.
After watching for a while, he suddenly felt something was off. “Strange, why do their moves look so similar?”
Though one used a saber and the other a sword, their techniques were almost identical, only differing slightly in style.
Zhao An’s technique should be Huo Chengkun’s most famous one, the Five Elements Saber Technique, passed down only to direct disciples.
As for the man wielding the sword—even if he was from the same sect—using sword techniques that mirrored saber techniques… could it be that the founder of this sect was just lazy?
At this point, the fight had reached a fever pitch.
Chen Ming could feel Zhao An going all out. His saber danced like a blur of light, so fast it was nearly invisible.
His opponent, however, countered complexity with simplicity, thrusting forward with a single strike.
Clang!
A resounding clash.
Chen Ming’s eardrums rang painfully. He saw a long saber flying into the air, spinning several times before embedding itself into the ground with a metallic thud.
Zhao An stood there dazed, the skin between his thumb and index finger torn, his hand trembling uncontrollably. He seemed unable to accept the fact that he had been defeated.
“Good.”
“What a brilliant move—‘Golden Crow Falls to Earth’!”
“Haha, all of you lost!”
The two men and one woman nearby clapped and cheered.
The expressions on the faces of those from the Huo Residence grew even uglier. Huo Qianqian bit her lip tightly, her eyes turning red, and she almost drew blood from her lips.
…
In the courtyard, the man with the sword sheathed it and said flatly, “Your strength is not bad. Unfortunately, turning sword techniques into saber techniques meant you strayed from the right path from the start. Naturally, you’re not my match.”
At these words, Zhao An abruptly looked up, his eyes filled with sorrow and rage. He shouted, “Guo, I lost because my skills are inferior. Don’t you dare slander my sect’s saber techniques.”
The man didn’t argue with him. He simply said, “Whether that’s true or not, ask your master yourself. Now then, since all of you have been defeated by my fellow disciples, as agreed beforehand, you should be at our mercy.”
At this, the faces of Zhang Mingyu, Hong Mingquan, and the others changed dramatically.
Zhao An, however, stood tall and said boldly, “Since I lost, I have nothing more to say. Kill me or torture me, do as you please!”
The man surnamed Guo turned around and shouted toward the main hall, “Master Huo, you heard all of that, didn’t you? As long as you listen to my master and hand over the item, your nephew won’t trouble your disciples. But if you refuse, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
A moment later, Huo Chengkun’s voice came from the hall. “Junior Sister, why must you do this? I’ve already told you—the item is not with me…”
Then came a sharp voice from an old woman. “Senior Brother, do you still not understand? You’ve been here for over a decade, devoted to teaching disciples, and you’ve reshaped our sect’s sword techniques into saber techniques to pass on to them. But what’s the use? They can’t even defeat my disciple.
“Senior Brother, you want to pass on our sect’s legacy through these means, but doing so will only weaken it further. Among these disciples of yours, is there even one worth grooming?
“Do you intend to let the sect’s ultimate techniques die out? When the time comes for you to face our ancestors in the afterlife, what face will you have to meet them?”
“…”
The information in the conversation from the hall was so shocking that those outside were left dumbfounded.
Especially Chen Ming, who was just an outsider.
As he listened, a sense of unease crept into his heart.
He’d accidentally stumbled upon such a secret. Would Huo Chengkun silence him afterward to keep it hidden?
After that, no more sound came from the main hall.
Those outside waited anxiously.
“Hold it!”
Suddenly, Huo Qianqian shouted loudly, “We haven’t all lost yet!”
The woman in blue mocked her. “Oh? Is this little sister trying to go back on your word?”
“Who’s going back on anything?” Huo Qianqian said. “We agreed from the beginning—you have to defeat every single one of us for it to count. As long as even one person can defeat you, it’s our win. We’ve lost, yes—but there’s still him!”
As she spoke, she pointed at Chen Ming. “He hasn’t lost yet!”