Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Five (Part I)

Chapter Five: Resentment Comes Late (Part I)

Listening closely, Little Brother Huo's expression softened slightly, and he said, "The one coming is not Little Shao."
 
Zhan Rifei said, "And how do you know that?"
 
Little Brother Huo said, "Little Shao's subordinates are all imperial guards from the Prince of Xiangyang’s mansion. As for the horses of the Prince of Xiangyang’s mansion, they are all well-trained military steeds; the rhythm of their galloping and maneuvering has always been different from ordinary horses. Listen to this sound of horse hooves—although it is powerful, it lacks the specific rhythm of advancing and retreating that military steeds have when charging. The ones coming, naturally, are not people from the Prince of Xiangyang's mansion."
 
——This yellow-jacketed youth, at this moment, finally revealed the extraordinary skill and sharp, excellent judgment of Linglong Villa's "Listening to Flower Whispers in a Small Tower Overnight." In Zhan Rifei's eyes, a look of appreciation already surfaced.
 
Little Brother Huo pondered again, saying, "Why did those night-travelers several miles away suddenly become silent? Could it be that they disappeared?"
 
Zhan Rifei said, "Perhaps they did not disappear, but have already stopped, which is why we cannot hear their movements."
 
Little Brother Huo's eyes lit up, and he said, "Correct!" Then, he quickly furrowed his brows again, saying, "Huh, why are they retreating now? This is truly strange."
 
Zhan Rifei glanced at him and smiled faintly, "Do you actually hope that these two paths of men and horses arrive at the same time?"
 
Little Brother Huo said with total indifference, "As long as it is not Little Shao or the people from the Prince of Xiangyang’s mansion, anyone is fine." It was as if he was unyielding toward Shao Jizu, whom he called Little Shao, yet also feared him terribly.
 
Zhan Rifei's gaze, however, suddenly became distant. One could only hear him murmuring, "Perhaps this time, we were all wrong."
 
Following the sound of his voice, the sound of horse hooves on the mountain path grew closer and closer.
 
Chang Hongbi's face had already turned deathly pale. One moment he looked at Zhan Rifei, and the next moment he looked at Little Brother Huo; his lips moved, but he did not know what to do.
 
——Of the two people in front of him, neither surprisingly showed any emotion. Zhan Rifei's only movement was to slowly put on his black outer cloak. This black outer cloak instantly covered the wound left by Changxiangsi, and also concealed his back.
 
Little Brother Huo said, "In a short while, you protect Chang Hongbi and take advantage of the chaos to leave first, I will deal with them."
 
His large, pitch-black eyes took another deep look at Zhan Rifei and said, "Don't you play any bad tricks, thinking of taking the opportunity to abduct Chang Hongbi and slip away. Otherwise, I will catch up with you sooner or later!"
 
The corner of Zhan Rifei's mouth also curled into a faint smile, and he said, "I was originally wondering, not long ago you still wanted to kill me, so how did you suddenly become at ease with me now."
 
Just as his voice fell, the rapid sound of horse hooves arrived outside the temple doors.
 
With a loud "bang," the dilapidated temple doors, long out of repair, were sent flying straight inward by a single palm strike. The sky-covering dust splashed up, dancing like ghosts under the torches held by the riders outside the door.
 
Just as the dust rose, Little Brother Huo was already outside the door.
 
——Since a battle was unavoidable, the space outside the temple was always much wider and more flexible than inside the temple. The training of Linglong Villa was, after all, extraordinary. Even if Little Brother Huo did not have much experience in the martial world, he knew how to leave room for advance and retreat, which was always beneficial to the lightness skill of Linglong Villa.
 
The flying temple doors, however, carried a fierce wind and flew straight into the temple; the first to bear the brunt was unexpectedly Chang Hongbi! This huge door plank, flying swiftly like thunder, had already frightened his frail self into freezing instantly on the spot; his two feet were as if nailed to the ground, unable to move a single step!
 
At this instant, Chang Hongbi already felt the fierce wind within the dust, scraping his face like a knife cut. The huge and heavy oncoming momentum already pressed upon him so much that he could not breathe.
 
Right at this moment, a hand, swift as a lightning flash, struck the spinning door plank; borrowing the force of this strike, the other hand followed with a move and a push, unexpectedly causing Chang Hongbi's small and thin body to fly out several paces and fall to the ground at this critical, hair-breadth moment!
 
With a "bang," Chang Hongbi only felt that his internal organs were turned upside down from the fall. Following that, with a "clink," a long sword also flew and landed in front of him.
 
Chang Hongbi's head shrank instantly. The cold air of the long sword already made him unable to resist sneezing. However, the moment he saw this long sword, his breathing suddenly stopped——this was Zhan Rifei's long sword!
 
When he raised his head to look, Zhan Rifei was already tottering, and a mouthful of blood was finally unable to be held back, spurting out. Within the blood, there was already a faint black color.
 
The "Yijianrugu" poison on his body had just flared up, and just now he had forcefully resisted the flying door plank; he had not expected that the internal strength of the person who struck the door plank with his palm was truly extraordinary. Under the shock, it actually agitated him so much that the long sword in his hand could no longer be held tightly, flying straight out.
 
Under his heavy injury, he had originally forced the reversal of his internal breath, using the "Tielianhuan" technique to resist the toxicity of "Yijianrugu"; at this moment, however, shocked by this powerful external force, his internal breath scattered instantly, the toxic gas could no longer be suppressed, golden stars flashed before his eyes, his two legs softened, and he knelt to the ground, struggling several times, yet unable to climb up no matter what.
 
Chang Hongbi rushed to his side, seeing that the fresh blood he spat out seemed to shimmer with a black fluorescence, clearly indicating that "Yijianrugu" had been triggered again. For a moment, he was at a loss; he wanted to cry out, yet did not dare to.