Martial King's Retired Life

Inside the Golden Shrine – Episode 2

Tang Ye underestimated Hong Jiu’s talent at bringing misfortune wherever he went. This was the reason Hong Jiu managed to mess up every intelligence collection task he ever went on, whether it was due to someone looking up and spotting him or a venomous snake biting his hand at a critical moment. One could say he had to set fire to the enemy camp in order to flee from every fiasco he managed to get involved in. It probably would have been easier to mount a frontal assault on an enemy camp than to have Hong Jiu scout out the camp first.

As someone who embodied an undying spirit, though, Hong Jiu never quit seeking ways to overcome the challenge. Thanks to his rigorous efforts, he was able to master a unique set of concealment strategies – dig into the ground where there was ground, wrap around a pole where there was a pole and so forth. In short, maintain concealment under unfortunate circumstances and then emerge.

Hong Jiu initially planned to scare the two from the hole he dug, only to discover that there was another hole in the ground connected to the hole that he dug. He almost tripped into it when he missed his footing, but he was quick enough to save himself. Unfortunately, they still overheard him, so he decided it was time to switch to improvisation while under duress.

If one does not know where one is about to strike, the enemy knows not where one will strike, either. By extension, he who struck first among two opponents in a rush seized the advantage. Thus far, Hong Jiu had gone undefeated utilising the strategy. After all, few people ever got into anywhere near as many accidents as he did. Alas, he ran into competition this time.

The two visitors were unfazed when they felt the force of Hong Jiu’s strike billow their clothing. The man in grey depressed his left hand whilst raising his right hand, then moved them in a circular motion to intercept Hong Jiu’s palm strike head on. Hong Jiu’s palm strike blew apart the ground and came up roaring, yet it landed without as much as a sound.

In contrast, a loud gust of wind blew beside Hong Jiu. Hong Jiu twisted side on to avoid the would-have-been-fatal finger thrust that contained some form of chill qi delivering numbing properties without contact. Then, he redirected his assailant’s fingers away from him whilst backing off two steps. The tall man knew that Hong Jiu barely dodged it based on the latter’s response, so he also knew Hong Jiu was not in position to counter, not to mention the nature of his energy erasing his opponent’s energy – Frosty Heaven Pillars. Hence, he planned to advance, only for Hong Jiu to suddenly uncork a palm strike that slammed straight into his chest before he even realised it. The sound of ribs breaking did not sound less scary than the sound of him reeling through the air.

The shorter man stood his ground and scanned Hong Jiu with curiosity. It did not take long for his tall companion to get to his feet. Though he needed to recalibrate his breathing and even spat out black blood, he was able to clearly enunciate, “Dragon Subduing Palms? What’s your relationship with the Beggars’ Sect?”

Upon exiting his stance, Hong Jiu stretched his arms overhead and laughed. “Your grandpa here is a third-generation disciple of Sage Sha Wujing who went to recover the scriptures from the East. The surname is Kill, first name Yourfamily.”

The tall man stopped to scour his memory for someone with that name until he realised he was being fooled. “I’ll kill your fam-”

The tall man gasped a mouthful of blood due to his temper. He needed a lot of breaths this time to recover enough to tell his ally, “Hey… can’t you identify him?”

The shorter man chuckled. “What a pity. It’s such a pity I can’t have a fight against such a worthy opponent.”

“You recognise him?”

The shorter man drew a circle in the air with his right hand and then palmed his tall companion on the back. White smoke whisked from the tall man’s dome to the ether. Hong Jiu wanted to finish the job, but he could tell that he had missed his best opportunity. As expected, the shorter man voiced, “Since you recognise it’s Dragon Subduing Palms, you should know it’s the mightiest set of palm techniques. Do you want to have a dance with death, speaking like that after getting hit with it?”

Once his companion removed his hand, the taller man used his “Frosty Heaven Pillars” discipline to digest the true qi siphoned into him and, by extension, the immense energy Hong Jiu left behind. While his external injuries were still serious, the internal injuries were healed enough for him to be nimble again.

Based on the fact that it only required a brief intervention to dissipate Hong Jiu’s energy, the shorter man was evidently superior to Hong Jiu in the realm of internal cultivation.

“There aren’t many capable of performing Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms,” the shorter man cast his gaze of pity towards Hong Jiu, “yet he is capable of even more. Didn’t you notice him cancel out your finger thrust with his free hand when he struck you?”

The taller man was inferior to Hong Jiu, but he was not ignorant in martial arts. He only got caught because he thought Hong Jiu would not be able to counter whilst moving backwards in a sideways posture. Now that he reflected on the exchange, he forgot about the fact that Hong Jiu somehow redirected his finger thrust. Had Hong Jiu not erased the force of the finger strike, he would not have been able to maintain a posture that enabled him to counter in that situation. So, what discipline did the beggar who did not resemble a beggar use to cancel out the finger thrust?

“What else could it have been besides Mount Daluo’s Empty Palms?”

“Mount Daluo’s Empty Palms? And Subduing Dragon Palms… He’s Night Fortress’ Hong Jiu?”

Hong Jiu folded his arms. “Not so ignorant, huh? So, which scumbag are you?” asked Hong Jiu, only looking at the shorter man.

“Who the scumbag here is, is still up for debate. What brings you here to eavesdrop on us, Hero Hong?”

“I was just sleeping here when somebody started talking overhead, and now I’m the bad guy?” Hong Jiu faked a yawn and then, upon lowering his head again, frigidly questioned, “Where do you think you’re going after running into me here? You think you’re qualified to cause trouble in Hangzhou?”