Da Tang Shuang Long Zhuan Volume 6 Chapter 9 part2

Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, "Thank you for your trouble and your concern; unless I see that brother of mine's dead body lying on the ground, I will not believe that anybody would have the ability to …”

Lian Chu had a fiery temper, plus he did not see that extremely touching smile, so how could he bear it? Flicking his strong wrist, the long whip in his hand struck like a viper toward the vital acupoint behind Xu Ziling's ear. If Xu Ziling were really hit, even if he had the divine skill protecting his body, the whip would have made him lose consciousness for sure.

The reason Qishan Pai's whip technique could dominate the Jianghu was precisely this unique skill ‘whip acupoint'. It should be noted that this amazing whip movement could be launched at any angle to attack the opponent, so that it was very difficult to guard against.

Lian Fan and his brother Lian Chu had telepathic connection between them, seeing his younger brother made his move, his whip also moved. His whip suddenly bent in half, making it half as long as the original, but it still had the eight-chi long whip handle that shot forward from his left rear side toward the middle of Xu Ziling's back.

Shen Faxing's Right Vanguard General Li Changheng also made his move; the sword in his hand created a dozen or so sword patterns, blurring the vision of the opponent, and then one pattern suddenly shot out toward Xu Ziling's throat, with incomparable viciousness and ruthlessness, without the slightest bit of reservation.

The Left Vanguard General Tu Li let out a low ‘whoo hoo' roar from deep within his throat, while his pair of huge hatchets was moving up and down. Although he did not make any move, he created a great threat that at least Xu Ziling would not dare to evade on his direction.

Although Shen Fazheng also did not make any move, he exuded an unfathomable-mystery feeling in other people's heart.

And then there was also the threat from Xie Yujing who was standing behind him. Nobody could predict whether she would make her move or not. And if she did, when would it be?

It was the first time for Xu Ziling to face so many opponents of martial art masters with similar skill level; however, amidst the opponents' fierce offensive and seamless coordination, there was one big weakness: they wanted to capture him alive. Therefore, the real threat to him was Lian Chu's whip striking the acupoint behind his ear; the rest of the attacks were only to distract his attention.

If not for the enemies were having this intention, they would have enough power to kill him; however, they would also have to pay a very heavy price.

Xu Ziling's mind entered the ‘still water in the well' realms; it clearly reflected the surrounding environment without the least bit distortion, accurately grasped the opponents' movements, the technique and timing of each attack.

The sensing ability of his eyes, ears, and nose was elevated to its limit, even the skin underneath his clothes could generate the response he needed to attain the martial art master's ‘knowing the enemy' phase.

With a low groan, with nobody able to see what style he was executing, Xu Ziling's legs suddenly pushed hard, like an arrow he flew vertically straight into the air.

This move was really outside everybody's expectation.

It should be noted that when one was flying into the air, as soon as one's true qi was depleted, one would immediately fall back down. Moreover, when one was in the air, one's ability to change a move, as well as one's flexibility to defend oneself from the enemy suffered a huge setback, so that one would become the most obvious attack target. Under heavy besiege, even less people would dare to try this stunt. Therefore, Shen Fazheng and the others were all taken by surprise.

As if Lian Chu's whip had an eye of its own, it also rose up to chase Xu Ziling. It was due to Lian Chu was still under the effect of his forward momentum, so that momentarily it was difficult for him to pull back, so he might as well continued his whip to chase after the sole of Xu Ziling's feet, relying on his a zhang and a half long whip, trying to attack this young adversary.

Both Li Changheng's sword and Lian Fan's ‘whip stick' struck empty air.

From behind, the ‘Flying Fairy' Xie Yujing let out a peal of tender laughter, while like a wisp of smoke she also flew diagonally up into the air, chasing after Xu Ziling, whose speed kept increasing. The pair of daggers in her hand swiped toward Xu Ziling's neck and waist; it was vicious and merciless to the extreme.

Just now, when Xu Ziling threw a glance to look at the enemy's situation, he only saw five people; she was the only one missing. Therefore, it could be clearly seen how superior her lightness skill was. Afterwards, he also sniffed her bodily scent carried away by the breeze, so he knew that she was closing in on him fast. Clearly she obtained her ‘Flying Fairy' nickname not by a fluke at all.

It looked like Lian Chu's long whip was about to hit the yongquan [lit. gushing spring] acupoint at the sole of Xu Ziling's foot, so he was ready to send his energy via the whip. Who would have imagined that using a very simple footwork, Xu Ziling used the tip of his toes to meet the tip of the whip?

‘Whap!' Two streams of energy slammed into each other.

Lian Fan [sic] felt a burst of extremely hot true qi flowed along the whip and penetrated his hand. The true qi turned into a strand of such a powerful force that his own true qi protecting his body did not seem to have the least bit of effectiveness. With a stifled grunt he was shaken so severely that he nearly fell to the ground.

On the other hand, Xu Ziling borrowed the reaction force from the tip of the whip to give him the opportunity to draw another mouthful of true qi while his body was still flying midair, which enabling him to traverse sideways and fly outside the siege. Xie Yujing's famous ‘Flying Fairy's Short Blade' completely failed.

Lian Fan had deep emotional ties with his brother; forgetting Xu Ziling, he rushed over to hold Lian Chu up and asked, "How are you feeling?”

Lian Chu's entire face was flushed with abnormal redness; with acute shortness of breath, he gasped, "Quickly help me circulating my energy!”

Seeing that in just one move Lian Chu had suffered great loss, everybody was overwhelmed with shock; however, they did not have time to think too much. Shen Fazheng, Tu Li, and Li Changheng, three men immediately gave chase.

Again, Xu Ziling changed direction midair. But by the time he landed on the slope of a small hill, Xie Yujing was soaring right behind him.

Xu Ziling let out a smile brimming with masculine charm; stretching both hands out, suddenly the hands turned into hundreds and thousands finger shadows, palm shadows, to meet her ‘Flying Fairy's Short Blade' head-on.

For the first time the two combatants had the opportunity to meet face-to-face. Xu Ziling noticed than Xie Yujing was about twenty years old, her hair was rolled up in a bun on top of her head, the clothes she was wearing were of palace style colored painted-on design, her overall dress style resembled Yang Guang's imperial concubines. Her jade countenance was as pretty as a flower, her figure was graceful, brimming with extreme female charms. In terms of beauty, she was not inferior to Yun Yuzhen.

Xie Yujing also noticed Xu Ziling's good looks; her pretty eyes brightened, but her hands were not slacking at all. Borrowing the momentum of her falling down from above, the two blades protecting each other, suddenly advanced suddenly retreated, the blades changed several times in the blink of an eye, in a chain attack toward Xu Ziling.

‘Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!'

Like a divine treasure Xu Ziling's hands jabbed, swept and plucked, blocking Xie Yujing's fierce offensive moves completely. The most formidable thing was that each finger, each palm also sent out incomparably scorching innate qi, forcing this beauty to constantly bounce back, so that she was unable to fall to the ground, and had to continuously engage him in hard fighting in the air.

By this time Shen Fazheng's sword attack arrived first. Letting out a long whistle Xu Ziling unleashed the ‘Meridian Severing Technique' Tu Shufang taught him, taking advantage while Xie Yujing's blood and qi were churning after being shaken by him, he scratched the vein on her left wrist, while the middle finger of his right hand poked the tip of the other short blade.

Xie Yujing screamed involuntarily, both hands went numb, the short blade in her left hand suddenly moved to Xu Ziling's hand, followed by a burst of hot qi penetrated her right hand blade and entered her body. Naturally she could show off by meeting the attack head-on, but it would not be much different than she was trying to kill herself. Therefore, she had no choice but to raise her qi and somersaulted backward, to fly away as far as she could, to neutralize the opponent's fierce true power.

For that reason, when Shen Fazheng's attack arrived, Tu Li and Li Changheng were still seven, eight zhang away, the situation became one-on-one confrontation between Shen Fazheng and Xu Ziling.

Xu Ziling's eyes shone with cold rays. With a cold humph he charged directly into the core of Shen Fazheng's sword net, unexpectedly applying the dangerous tactics of burying himself in close combat.

When Tu Li and Li Changheng arrived, they did not know where to start.

All they saw was two figures chasing each other on the slope of the hill, entangling each other into a ball, while the sound of clashing blades was ringing continuously.

It was only now that Shen Fazheng came to understanding as why Xu Ziling was able to drive Yuwen Wudi away in defeat, anger Li Zitong that he retreated, and escape the imperial city under the besiege of Yuwen Huaji's rebel troops. It was because this young martial art master's most formidable moves were all without predetermined pattern, the moves were entirely instant creation like a heavenly steed soaring across the skies.

The figures suddenly separated.

Shen Fazheng staggered and fell back.

In their shock, Tu Li and Li Changheng attacked together from left and right.

Xu Ziling waved his right hand, the ‘Flying Fairy's Short Blade' flew to meet Li Changheng's face, while he himself flew toward Tu Li.

‘Bang! Bang!'

No matter how Tu Li changed the angle, Xu Ziling seemed to already anticipate the changes of his two hatchets, using the edge of his palm he ferociously cut onto the hatchet's body.

Tu Li let out a miserable grunt; the tremendous hacking force pushed him back. Momentarily forgetting that he was on a sloping hill, he nearly rolled down in an extremely awkward condition.

Li Changheng evaded the short blade thrown at him. He was about to charge upward when Shen Fazheng, with his hand pressing against his right flank, where blood was gushing out from an open wound, shouted, "Changheng, back off!”

Li CHangheng stopped grudgingly; he cast an angry look toward Xu Ziling, who was standing at the top of the hill.

The others have also come over, but not in surrounding formation like before.

Xu Ziling looked at the enemy with his cold eyes and aloof demeanor, as if he considered himself unexcelled in the world.

Shen Fazheng said, "Let's drop this matter today, I am sure we will meet again someday.”

Just as they appeared suddenly, they disappearance was even more sudden.

Naturally Xu Ziling knew that this was just the beginning. Collecting his terrified mind, he darted down toward the dock.

Chapter end