Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Six (Part V)

Chapter Six: Crane Rushing to the Sky (Part V)

One only heard Zhan Rifei letting out a snort, and he did not pick up the conversation.
 
That person continued: "As of now, the 'Yijianrugu' within Guard Zhan's body, if without the antidote of the Shura Cult, I am afraid even a deity would find it difficult to bring things back. If Guard Zhan could hand over that thing, at the Prince's place, I will naturally undertake it with full strength, and offer the antidote with both hands."
 
Within the silence, one only heard Zhan Zhao saying slowly: "Since this item dropped into Zhan Zhao's hand, how can it easily change hands and be given to someone? Long looked up to Chief Zhong as a generation of heroic talent whose martial arts crown the age; if Chief Zhong wants to let go his hand for a full fight, Zhan Zhao will definitely accompany you with full strength."
 
That Chief Zhong laughed loudly and said: "Zhong Xiong lives in seclusion in Junshan, yet day after day I also hear that Hero Zhan is a heroic youth whose name fills the world; seeing you today, unexpectedly you have so little self-knowledge. Your Excellency right now harbors heavy injuries upon your body, the arrow at the end of its flight; even if you want to show the courage of a common fellow, I wonder how many moves you can block of Zhong Xiong's?"
 
Only now did Little Brother Huo know that this Chief Zhong was no other person, but precisely that famously grand Flying-Fork Taibao Zhong Xiong beneath the Xiangyang Prince's hand. No wonder those soldiers met on a narrow path within the gorges neither resembled the soldiers of the Great Song, nor resembled the imperial guards of the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion; it turned out they unexpectedly were the Iron-Blood Guards of Junshan under the jurisdiction of the Xiangyang Prince!
 
Only, he did not know, what item exactly did Zhan Zhao take from inside the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion, to unexpectedly make the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion not hesitate to dispatch Shao Jizu and the men and horses of the Jinshi Hall, pursuing and killing along the way, and right now even drawing over the number one general beneath the Xiangyang Prince's hand!
 
Thinking up to here, that piece of yellow silk fabric stuffed within his own bosom seemed to suddenly become burning hot.
 
——Upon this yellow silk fabric, what kind of secret exactly is there?
 
The moment his thoughts touched upon the two words 'the secret,' his heart-mind suddenly gave a stir: "Five days ago, five days ago, five days ago could it be that he was also in Xiangyang? Could it be——"
 
A blurry and indistinct notion had already risen up for some inexplicable reason; although for a time he could not think it through thoroughly anyway, it brought him a kind of unspeakable fear for no reason at all.
 
His train of thought flashed and vanished in an instant, and was immediately cut off by the dialogue of the two people underneath.
 
Yet one heard Zhan Zhao saying: "Why does Chief Zhong not try it himself to find out?"
 
Hearing this sentence of his, before Little Brother Huo's eyes, that calm and self-possessed countenance of his emerged yet again, and he could unexpectedly appear as if seeing the smile upon his face when he said these words.
 
His own heart could not help but ache——with him in this kind of state right now, how could he still move his hands against another person?
 
Thinking up to here, he followed up by cursing secretly in his mind: "He launched a sneak attack against you like this, yet you still worry on his behalf!"
 
But for what had a single heart of his already become confused into a tangle of hemp?
 
After Zhan Zhao finished speaking, it was just as if he closed his mouth.
 
When principles do not plan together, it is the end of words.
 
At the end of words, there is only the sword!
 
Within the embarrassing silence, Zhong Xiong said without even turning his head: "You all retreat out, and guard outside the barn."
 
His subordinates responded in unison with a sound. This was not only because the military orders of Junshan were strict and severe, and Zhong Xiong had methods in governing the army, but even more so because they had been by Zhong Xiong's side for a long time, going through birth and dying into death, and had long since been thoroughly familiar with the power of the steel fork within his hand. No matter how large this barn was, once his Sky-Flying Fork unfolded and was executed, whether it was a person or an object, they would all, he was afraid, be unable to avoid the possibility of their bodies being smashed to pieces and bones ground to powder.
 
The footsteps sounds gradually went far away, and inside the vast and empty barn, it had already restored to peace.
 
Zhong Xiong unexpectedly did not immediately strike. He unexpectedly let out a sigh: "I, Zhong Xiong, consider myself a hero, and had long since hoped to be able to have today's battle with Guard Zhan. Only, right now Guard Zhan harbors heavy injuries upon your body; even if Zhong Xiong wins, it would be winning an unmartial victory."
 
Zhan Zhao said: "Why must Chief Zhong be too modest."
 
Zhong Xiong continued: "However, Zhong Xiong received the great grace of the Prince, and has no means to plan a repayment; my own reputation, compared to the Prince's grace of recognizing and treating me well, what does it count for! Therefore, this battle between you and me today is not a contest of martial arts to exchange blows, but rather Zhong Xiong receiving the Prince's strict orders, and must absolutely take back the item Guard Zhan carried away from the Chongxiao Tower. The outcome of this battle, regardless of victory or defeat, will only be known by the two of us."
 
Zhan Zhao said flatly: "Chief Zhong's words from the bottom of his lungs, Zhan Zhao feels the same in his body."
 
Zhong Xiong said: "Since it is so, offended you!"
 
The moment the sound of this sentence fell, his Sky-Flying Fork had already struck out!
 
This Sky-Flying steel fork weighed seventy or eighty jin at the very least; such a heavy steel fork, unfolding and executed within Zhong Xiong's hand, unexpectedly became as light as a wild goose feather, and as soft as a spring breeze, unable to hear a single trace of wind sound. The lightness, agility, subtleness, and ingenuity of the stances were just as if they were a weaving maid of Jiangnan, weaving and embroidering the finest brocade satin; yet within every single move, it was covertly filled with continuously unbroken, treacherously changing killing moves.
 
A boundless pressure, along with the striking out of this every single move, gradually diffused inside the barn. Just as if within that weaving maid's hand, at the same time as weaving and embroidering this brocade satin, she also readily wove out a net, an invisible net.
 
Little Brother Huo's heart sank.
 
Only now did he realize that this Zhong Xiong whose nickname was Flying-Fork Taibao was unexpectedly a master who hid himself so deeply without revealing it. The outside rumors said his military books and battle strategies were already of the first-class talent; it seemed his martial arts, he was afraid, were still far above his military strategy!
 
But why could he not hear Zhan Zhao moving?
 
The only thing he could hear was Zhan Zhao's sword within his hand, inside this boundless and boundless net, suddenly emitting a "chi" flowing ring; the sound of breaking the wind demonstrated the hardness, fierceness, sharpness, and keenness of this move.
 
——With his current condition, how could he still execute such swift, fast, and fierce moves?
 
What was even more strange was, within this "chi" sound, it seemed to be covertly mixed with a single breath of wheezing from him.
 
Little Brother Huo harbored the supreme cultivation of Linglong Villa's "A Night in the Small Tower Listening to the Flower Whispers"; even if his entire body was immobilized, he could hear any minute sound around him. He suddenly felt within this wheezing there seemed to be an extremely weak breathing.
 
——This breathing sound he had heard just now, a while long, a while short, a while sparse, a while dense. Could it be that Zhan Zhao's internal breath is already in disorder?
 
——If his internal breath is already in disorder, how could he be able to withstand this boundless power of Zhong Xiong's flying fork?
 
Little Brother Huo could not restrain his anxiety from burning like fire!
 
If it were not for his entire body being immobilized, unable to budge, and moreover his mouth unable to speak words, he would have long since brandished his sword down, and gone forward to sandwich and attack together.
 
Only the moment he thought up to here, instantly a flash of insight struck, and a notion was like a flood, swiftly filling his entire brain. The terror of this notion unexpectedly caused his entire body to be as if struck by lightning. For a time, within his heart there seemed to be thousands upon thousands of voices, repeating over and over, emitting a deafening sound.
 
——"He tapped my acupoints, making my entire body unable to budge, and again tapped my mute acupoint, making me unable to emit a sound; could it be that he had long since expected and decided that if he did not immobilize me, I would have long since been unable to endure, and would join inside the battle arena?"
 
——"Could it be that he did this unexpectedly for me?!"
 
As long as he thought up to here, his brain had already become a burst of unspeakable dizziness and discomfort, his mind disordered with ups and downs, crowding and trampling in; he unexpectedly did not perceive for a very long time that in this battle beneath the beam, Zhong Xiong's moves had already changed!
 
Suddenly, the wind sound abruptly arose, and Zhong Xiong's moves had already become swift, rapid, fierce, hard, strong, and powerful.
 
The wind sound, in a split second, then swelled fully inside the entire barn.
 
——Could it be that this is the true face of the Sky-Flying Fork?
 
That sharp and fierce metallic sound of the steel fork breaking the empty air, and the clashing sounds of the fork and sword meeting each other, shook so that the barn was almost on the verge of collapsing.
 
Beneath this wild-gale-and-torrential-rain-like pressure, beneath the shrouding of these sharp and fierce moves, Zhan Zhao was just like a small boat within alarming waves and furious billows, jolting and fragile.
 
Zhan Zhao, who just now could not even stand up, how could he be able to support?
 
Only now did Little Brother Huo suddenly awaken to the shock!
 
His body could not move, and his neck could not lift, so he could not see the moves of the two people; but upon his forehead, a layer of sweat had already densely popped out.
 
During a sideways glance, he suddenly glimpsed two human silhouettes, projected upon the wall. It turned out that at the time when the two people beneath the beam fought each other, their footsteps temporarily moved to the entrance of the barn, and they were precisely being projected by the sunlight that shot in, casting the shadows onto the opposite wall.
 
Little Brother Huo was already dumbfounded: Zhan Zhao's silhouette, his movement technique was fast as if a shooting star and a flash of lightning, not resembling a state of heavy injury even a single bit!
 
——How could this be possible again?
 
Wanting to look minutely, along with the movement of the two people's movement techniques, the shadows upon the wall had already abruptly vanished.
 
Gradually, the wind sound slowed down, and Zhong Xiong's panting sound also grew heavier and heavier.
 
But Little Brother Huo could by no means hear Zhan Zhao's voice.
 
Only that the wind sound had not ceased demonstrated that Zhan Zhao was unexpectedly still able to support.
 
After another long while, the wind finally stopped. Upon the wall, the shadows of the two people appeared once again.
 
——Static shadows.
 
After a long time, Zhong Xiong's voice rang out once more: "Admirable, admirable! The Southern Hero indeed has a reputation that is not spread in vain. Unexpectedly, you could actually receive so many moves of mine. If you were not heavily injured beforehand, I am not your match; but if you fight onward again, the injury and poison will stimulate each other, and the Prince's entrustment, I would then have no way to accomplish."
 
One only heard Zhan Zhao's calm voice saying: "How dare I. The Xiangyang Prince mostly wants to capture Zhan Zhao alive. To be highly regarded by the Prince like this, Zhan Zhao, a tiny fourth-rank Sword-Bearing Bodyguard, truly feels ashamed to be unworthy of it."
 
Zhong Xiong suddenly laughed loudly: "Who on the rivers and lakes does not know, although Hero Zhan's official rank aligns at the fourth-rank, yet the holy favor is precisely prosperous; whether it is the Nanqing Palace or the Kaifeng Mansion, both lean on Guard Zhan as an arm. For you to exhaust your strength to block the battle here like this, could it be to delay time for that friend of yours who fled away?"
 
Zhan Zhao smiled and said: "Officer Zhong's mind is meticulous, and naturally fathoms ten thousand li."
——At this crucial juncture, he unexpectedly still could laugh out!
 
Little Brother Huo's heart finally gave a "thump" leap. He had consistently felt ever since Zhong Xiong arrived, Zhan Zhao seemed to have something not right.
Along with this smile of his, his thoughts finally became clear:
——The voice of Zhan Zhao speaking words, how did it gradually become continuous and connected as usual?
 
He used force to look toward the blurry silhouettes upon the wall; he only saw Zhan Zhao's silhouette appeared as if leaning against the wall and standing. Zhong Xiong's long fork appeared as if pointing straight at his chest, while his long sword also pointed to Zhong Xiong's lower belly. But hearing the dialogue of the two people, it was clearly however that Zhong Xiong had won a move.
 
Zhong Xiong's long fork condensed without launching; his voice already possessed an unspeakable grimness: "But since you right now have already suffered my restriction, to want to extricate yourself is already as difficult as ascending to heaven. Why not right here trouble Your Excellency to follow Zhong to turn back to Xiangyang. As for that friend of yours, to tell you the truth without concealment, this matter is of great importance; even if he walks to the ends of the earth and corners of the sea, he will after all be unable to escape from the grasp of the Xiangyang Prince."
 
Although the Zhan Zhao beneath the beam was restricted by him, at this time his twin brows gave a tilt, and a trace of a smile had already floated onto his pale lips: "Only that since Chief Zhong is a generation of hero, you ought to know that worldly matters are difficult to expect, and heaven's will is inconstant——"
 
Speaking up to here, his words suddenly broke off.
 
His words were not finished, only because inside the barn there appeared to be a wind slightly moving.
──Is it that the wind moves, or the human heart moves?
 
How long does the human heart move?
 
Is it a single speck of dust within the desert of time and space? Is it a single grain of shifting sand within the dark and deep Ganges River?
 
Or is it the blue seas turning into mulberry fields in a flash of a second, the beautiful countenance turning into white hair in a snap of fingers, the corners of the sea and ends of the earth within a foot of distance?
 
Has time already congealed and frozen?
 
Because when time began to rush and flow again, everything had already changed!
 
Zhan Zhao's long sword was already at Zhong Xiong's throat and neck!
 
His person was already behind Zhong Xiong's body!
 
Zhong Xiong's Sky-Flying steel fork, however, had already flown to the outside of the barn!
 
Simultaneously, only then did Little Brother Huo see a strand of ice-colored sword light flash across inside the barn.
 
No one could describe the speed of this single sword thrust, and no one could describe the magical wonder of this single sword thrust. The speed of this single sword thrust was just like this sunlight outside. Only just pushing open the door, the sunlight outside the door had already arrived at every single corner of the barn.
 
The magical wonder of this single sword thrust was just as if from ancient times past, a masterpiece of heaven, already without half a bit of the smoke and fire of the human world.
 
The beauty of this single sword thrust was exactly like the raging fire at the time of the phoenix's nirvana, the high song at the time of the thorn bird's rebirth.
 
The shock within Little Brother Huo's heart had already caused him to be unable to breathe. He almost dared not believe his own eyes.
 
——What a move of 'Blood Flying Pair by Pair, Crane Rushing to the Sky'!
 
In an instant, everything was as clear and transparent as crystal.
 
Zhan Zhao's strange breathing just now, that strange breathing rhythm, and his sharp sword-howling and inscription-singing when he first fought Zhong Xiong——
——It turned out to unexpectedly be the Crane Rushing to the Sky!