Book 18 Chapter 10 – Repaying Enmity With Kindness
Within Lao Ai’s faction, there are some differences between those personally recruited by Lao Ai and those who are under the banner of the Weinan Martial Arts School.
They had existed before Lao Ai and have been a reputable organization within Qin.
Qiu Risheng has to work with Lao Ai because he had offended Lu Buwei. With the downfall of Lord Yangquan, they have to close down and stay hidden for some time. In actual fact, they are a force worth reckoning with and they maintain close ties with the Qin military.
In an agreement with mutual benefits, they relied on Lao Ai’s backing to reopen their martial arts school and Lao Ai’s influence grew tremendously because of their connections.
This is only a win-win partnership without a dominant party.
They have long planned for Guoxin to come out and fight to regain the former glory of the martial arts school but even Lao Ai has been kept in the dark until the last moment.
Xiang Shaolong managed to deduce all these just by observing the different expressions of Lao Ai and Qiu Risheng.
Lu Buwei saw that Guoxin is so insistent on fighting somebody and a.s.sumed that it will be against another member of his family warriors. He was secretly glad and no matter what, he will send out Xu Shang whose sword skill is almost as good as Guan Zhongxie. Xu Shang will definitely emerge victorious and at the same time, put down the arrogance of Lao Ai and Qiu Risheng.
Full of enthusiasm, he forgot to seek Zhu Ji and Xiao Pan’s advice. Lu Buwei laughed: “Mister Guo is a worthy hero indeed. May I know who do you want to challenge?” Guoxin bowed again and his eyes swept over the different faces of the guests. His gaze finally resting on Jing Jun’s face, he coldly mentioned: “I wish to seek pointers from a.s.sistant Commander Jing.”
The moment he said these words, the crowd erupted into an uproar.
Jing Jun was initially surprised followed by extreme delight. He was about to answer the challenge when an angelic voice called out: “No way, this fight is mine!” Everyone including Guoxin looked at the speaker and was swept off their feet.
The speaker is none other Ji Yanran who beauty is mentioned in the same breath as Qin Qing.
All the guests acknowledged that Ji Yanran is highly skilled but knowledge is just knowledge. It is hard to imagine such a fine and delicate lady can match up to a man in terms of rough fighting.
Guoxin is one of the most prominent swordsmen under Headmaster Qiu Risheng and his fame is quite widespread too. But regardless of Talented Lady’s ability, her stamina and strength would be inferior to Guoxin, causing everyone to be concerned for her.
Jing Jun naturally cannot let his sister in law take this risk. Just as he was about to protest, Teng Yi restrained him.
Guoxin is feeling awkward too and stared blankly at Ji Yanran for some time before commenting with some difficulty: “Ai, Talented Lady Ji is of royal birth and status. I dared not offend you. Hei!”
Xiang Shaolong is not surprised at all with Ji Yanran’s intervention. Two days ago, she had learnt about Guoxin slandering Xiang Shaolong and blew her top, promising to teach Guoxin a lesson. She will definitely not let such an opportunity slip by.
Concurrently, he noticed Zhu Ji staring at Ji Yanran with hatred and jealousy.
All the guests kept quiet and awaited further developments.
Still maintaining her charming and leisurely appearance unlike someone who is preparing for a fight; Ji Yanran smiled sweetly at Xiang Shaolong first and slowly stood up from her seat, taking her time to walk to the centre of the hall.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, people will try to avoid looking straight at her because it is considered rude. Now, everyone is spending every second scrutinizing her and relishing her peerless beauty.
Ji Yanran first paid her respects to the hosts Xiao Pan, Zhu Ji and Lu Buwei and took off her exquisite outer robe and discarded it on the floor. Beneath her robe is her ultimate voluptuous figure in a body-hugging white warrior suit.
The crowd went wild.
Xiang Shaolong recalled the time when they were pursued by Du Bi. Du Bi had given strict orders for the live capture of Ji Yanran and Xiang Shaolong took this chance to peep at him. Like all others, Du Bi is totally fixated on Ji Yanran. Beside him, Po Hu is looking so hard that his eyeb.a.l.l.s are nearly dropping out of their sockets. In fact, he was salivating.
Xiang Shaolong had a revelation. Regardless of their gender, everyone present is absolutely overwhelmed by Ji Yanran’s grandeur.
In her melodious voice, Ji Yanran warned: “Mister Guo should not underestimate me because of my gender or you will live to regret it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you beforehand. Bring me my spear.”
Wu Guang who is in charge of safeguarding the Flying Dragon Spear hurriedly untied the bundle holding the spear.
After his eyes feasted on Ji Yanran’s beauty, Guoxin is mesmerized too and his body became soft. He sighed: “Consider this match to be my loss. There is no way I can bring myself to attack you.”
Catching the Flying Dragon Spear thrown to her by Wu Guang, Ji Yanran ignored Guoxin’s remark and began twirling the spear around, creating a trail of spear shadows. She followed up with a series of spear strokes that sent spear flashes everywhere around her ever moving body. After her demonstration, she finally stopped in an attacking pose with the spear horizontally across her chest.
Thunderous cheers erupted from the crowd and even Xiao Pan and Lu Buwei are clapping hard for her.
Guoxin’s face instantly turned serious.
Seeing is believing.
He finally acknowledged that Ji Yanran’s reputation is not undeserved.
The members of the Weinan Martial Arts School including Qiu Risheng exchanged looks of amazement. They had to admit that they would be in a difficult position if they are in the shoes of Guoxin. None of them has any idea on how to overcome such a potent spear skill.
Letting out a long laugh and gaining everyone’s attention in the process, Po Hu addressed: “No matter who is fighting against her, this person will lose for sure. Who in this room will harden his heart to attack Talented Lady Ji with all his might!?” Many people clapped in response, supporting Po Hu’s reasoning.
Without even looking at the conceited Po Hu, Ji Yanran smiled lightly: “If this is the case, I will invite Mister Guo to block ten spear attacks from me. If I failed to defeat you by then, then you are considered the winner.”
No one among the guests would want to see her injured but at the same time, everyone wanted to see her formidable skills. The hall began to cheer upon hearing her suggestion.
Teng Yi softly laughed: “Guoxin is in trouble!” Xiang Shaolong nodded in agreement. If he was Guoxin and can only defend without attacking, he will be easily defeated in three strokes.
Before Guoxin has the chance to reply, Xiao Pan icily indicated: “Mister Guo is the one who ask to fight, now that a challenger has appeared, Mister Guo should not shy away. If Mister Guo cannot block the ten spear attacks, you shall be banned for life from holding any official appointments. Mister Guo should know what to do.”
Hearing this, Qiu Risheng and his men’s faces changed colour.
People join the Weinan Martial Arts School to be trained and eventually hope to be talent-spotted and promoted to a military post. If Guoxin is banned for life, his future is as good as gone.
Everyone immediately understood that Xiao Pan is angry over Guoxin’s challenge towards Xiang Shaolong’s men. At the same time, they can feel the insufferable dominance of this future Qin Shi Huang.
Lao Ai and Zhu Ji exchanged a look and detect each other’s shock and resentment.
Because of Lao Ai, Zhu Ji and Xiao Pan are drifting further and further apart.
This time round, Lao Ai has suffered a big setback. His biggest issue now is neither Lu Buwei nor Xiang Shaolong. If he says he is not bothered by Qiu Risheng and his men, he is lying with his eyes wide open.
All these information and a.n.a.lysis are secretly observed and a.s.similated by Xiang Shaolong who is eyeing them all these time. In the future, he can use this data to create a wedge between Weinan Martial Arts School and Lao Ai.
Guoxin bowed and drew his sword with a loud JIANG! Facing Ji Yanran, he respectfully invited: “Miss Yanran, please give me some pointers.”
Ji Yanran plainly state: “My ten spear attacks will only attack your sword and not any part of your body. Mister can do your best to defend without any reservations.”
Everyone including Guoxin was initially shocked and the feeling is soon replaced by respect. Everyone can feel Ji Yanran’s compa.s.sion.
Anyone with eyes can tell that Ji Yanran’s spear skill is something out of this world. Moreover, the spear is a long weapon that can be used to attack the enemy from a distance. Due to the strong attacking nature of a spear, a purely-defending swordsman is at a serious disadvantage.
Guoxin may be Ji Yanran’s sworn enemy because he slandered Xiang Shaolong but because this fight concerns Guoxin’s future, Ji Yanran intentionally gave him some leeway. Guoxin can do his best to defend without guarding the vital areas of his body. Guoxin’s rate of success has greatly increased without this restriction.
From another point of view, Ji Yanran is going against Xiao Pan’s wishes and will not use this fight to make Guoxin lose his reputation and lifelong career. From this, one can conclude the independent mindset of this beauty. She will not allow anyone to violate her life principles.
At the end of the day, Guoxin and his men are not like Lu Buwei who has irreconcilable hatred with Xiang Shaolong.
Seated among the guests, Qiu Risheng’s face darkened. He gave a cold snort and does not appreciate Ji Yanran’s kindness.
On the other hand, Guoxin’s face is filled with appreciation. Bowing deeply to Ji Yanran, he struck a pose and invited: “I await Miss’s pointers.” The crowd turned silent in antic.i.p.ation of Talented Lady Ji’s first move.
Guests from the other two halls are all squeezing into the main hall to catch a glimpse of the fight. The main hall is fully crowded to the brim.
Tonight has been a night of many unexpected surprises and no one can predict what will happen next.
Ji Yanran may have ‘disobeyed’ Xiao Pan’s wishes but she is Xiang Shaolong’s wife and is one of the ladies Xiao Pan admired the most so this Crown Prince of Qin is not bothered by her leniency but is eagerly waiting for the battle to start too.
The jealousy in Zhu Ji’s eyes became more significant.
Birds of a feather flock together. After Zhu Ji got together with a despicable man like Lao Ai, she is beginning to turn to the dark side.
Lu Buwei’s hatred for Guoxin deepened.
Earlier, Guan Zhongxie had brilliantly salvaged the situation and put down Lao Ai’s arrogance and things are proceeding smoothly. After Guan Zhongxie kills Xiang Shaolong, tonight will be his best night ever.
With Guoxin appearing out of nowhere and instigating Talented Lady Ji into a fight, Xiang Shaolong and his men are now looking good whereas he and Lao Ai have disappeared into the shadows.
Sitting besides Guan Zhongxie, Lu Niang Rong is looking blankly at Ji Yanran and she felt an unexplained sense of loss. Under the table, Guan Zhongxie’s hand snaked over undetected and held onto her tender hand.
Lu Niang Rong was shaken. In her mind, she imagined that this will probably be the hand that will kill Xiang Shaolong and could not help but turned her head towards Xiang Shaolong. She could tell that he is staring at his attractive wife with deep love and is totally unconcerned about herself. Feeling even more despair, she wretched her hand from Guan Zhongxie’s grasp.
DANG! The sound of the sword and spear clashing resonated throughout the hall.
Talented Lady Ji had finally attacked.
Like a lightning bolt, the long spear shot out from Ji Yanran’s hand and it is flying in the direction of Guoxin’s face, albeit higher. The spearhead flew past Guoxin’s hair bun, indicating the beginning of the fight.
If Guoxin can make a guess about Ji Yanran’s first attack, he will think that based on her agile spear play, she will try to trick him with some false moves, forcing him to be unable to defend himself properly and retreat accordingly. When he retreats backwards, he will lose the strong support of his feet to meet the spear attack head on.
As a matter of fact, Ji Yanran’s earlier demonstration has left a strong impression in Guoxin’s mind, teaching him that a simple and straight spear can have many attacking variations.
Ji Yanran’s Flying Dragon Spear is different from other spears mainly because it is entirely made of best quality steel and does not have the spring effect of normal wooden spears. The spear is also heavier and cannot be easily cut into two. During a piercing attack, the speed can be incredibly fast with the support of its heavy weight. Since Guoxin is defending, he expected a devastating first attack. He did his best to defend himself and when he discovered that the blow wasn’t as strong as he expected, he was filled with fear and panic. In the split second, he steadied his horse stance and swung his sword up, clashing with the spear.
Guan Zhongxie is secretly overjoyed and he focused all his attention on this special spear skill.
It is well known that Xiang Shaolong is not well versed with the spear. If he is using the spear to fight Guan Zhongxie, it is natural that he will have to learn his spear skills from Talented Lady Ji. This is a rare opportunity for Guan Zhongxie to witness and understand her spear skill and it is as good as watching Xiang Shaolong in battle. When he finds a weakness in the spear skill, he can make use of it to gain victory.
Although Guoxin’s sword has flown up and made contact with the spear, he continued to feel helpless about his situation.
This is something totally illogical but logical too.
The long spear was deflected and it flew up a little.
Under such a situation, Guoxin should make use of Ji Yanran’s proximity to attack since the close distance between them has eroded the advantage of the long weapon. However, Guoxin can only defend so he can only let this opportunity slip by.
Under the gaze of over a thousand pairs of eyes, Ji Yanran employed a special footwork and twisted her waist, quickly retrieving the Flying Dragon Spear. When she held onto the spear again with both hands, she sent the spear flying out again using the strength from her horse stance.
Due to his wrong estimation of the earlier attack, Guoxin’s long sword is still suspended in mid air from the strong momentum. He became the slower person to fully control his weapon while the Flying Dragon Spear is shooting towards him like a poisonous snake, aiming for his sword sheath.
Finally comprehending the might of Ji Yanran’s spear skill, Guoxin was forced to step back and sideways to avoid losing.
The crowd went mad with cheers except for Lao Ai’s men and Weinan Martial Arts students who are sitting there in silence. All the guests are rooting for Ji Yanran. Jing Jun, Wu Yan Zhu, Lord Changping, Xiang Shaolong and all their followers are shouting themselves hoa.r.s.e.
Gazing at this attractive and enticing beauty, Xiang Shaolong felt exceedingly proud and satisfied to be her husband and he was utterly inebriated.
Even he did not expect Guoxin to falter as early as the second spear attack.
There was a lovely smile on Ji Yanran’s face which makes others feel at ease but the spear in her hands is certainly unfriendly. Under her quick steps, the piercing spear changed directions and is now attacking an empty spot on Guoxin’s right.
Everyone including Guoxin was taken aback, not understanding the reason behind such a bizarre attack.
Beyond comprehension, Ji Yanran took another two steps forward and placed the body of the spear tightly against her waist. Her body begin to spin around speedily and using the power of rotation, the piercing spear attack became a sweeping attack. Again, the target is Guoxin’s sword sheath.
If Guoxin is. .h.i.t by the sweeping attack, he will surely fall flat on his face but there will be no major injuries so Ji Yanran is not breaking her promise.
The crowd is simply mesmerized.
Every one of Ji Yanran’s spear attack is unpredicted yet pleasing to the eye.
The fluid movements of her body and her relentless energy captivated everyone.
Guoxin had lost out on the first two strokes and had wanted to fight Ji Yanran face on, relying on his manly strength to counter her feminine blow. This is the best way for him to match her ever-powerful spear attacks.
But faced with the overpowering rotation strength of her sweeping attack, Guoxin can only abandon this idea and react accordingly. His long sword sliced down from the top towards the Flying Dragon Spear. At the same time, he had to take another step back.
When the two weapons are about to make contact, the Flying Dragon spear abruptly bounced up and transformed into a mult.i.tude of several agile spear images. Like a tsunami, the spear images crushed down towards Guoxin’s face.
Even an expert like Guan Zhongxie has to concede that this spear skill is truly awesome. The others are cheering even louder for Ji Yanran. The whole hall is reverberating with the mad shouts and wild cheering of her supporters and the atmosphere has reached a feverish pitch.
DANG! Guoxin is considered skilful enough to pick out the real spear among all the spear images and flashes. However, he had to change his sword movement to block the spear and his strength is limited. After the clash, he was forced to take another step back and his arm is numb with pain.
By now, Ji Yanran has attacked four times and Guoxin has been at a disadvantage every time. Strictly speaking, he has failed to appropriately defend himself. He may have yet to lose the fight but all his reputation has gone down the drain.
Guoxin secretly thought that if this carries on, he will surely lose hold of his sword after another two blows. Gritting his teeth, he hurriedly retreated to a s.p.a.cious corner of the open area.
The crowd jeered noisily at his cowardice.
But this is the best way out for him.
Ji Yanran has the fight completely under her control and is toying around with Guoxin. The last resort for him is to retreat away from the attacking range of the spear and consolidate his strength and maintain his horse stance. Simultaneously, he can let his numb and tortured hand get a quick rest.
Letting out a shrill cry, Ji Yanran rolled forward and with her left hand holding tightly to the end of the Flying Dragon Spear, she used the force generated by the spear head against the floor to spring up, following the retreating Guoxin like a shadow and aiming for his sword sheath.
The top experts like Guan Zhongxie, Han Jie and Xu Shang were full of admiration. It was noteworthy that by using the strength of the spear against the floor, Ji Yanran managed to make the impossible possible.
This attack will not hurt Guoxin but once the sword sheath is. .h.i.t, he is considered to have lost the fight.
Guoxin is completely bowled over. At his wits’ end, he desperately made a back flip.
Everyone knew that he has already lost the fight. When Ji Yanran sprang up from the floor, the fumbling Guoxin can only hatefully await the next spear attack to end his livelihood.
Qiu Risheng and his men could not bear to watch any further.
The reputation of Weinan Martial Arts School has been eradicated. In the future, no one will trust them as the premier swordsmen training inst.i.tute of Qin. Just when Guoxin has given up resisting, Ji Yanran stood still with the spear behind her back, her aura changing from a strong attacker to a silent onlooker. Coupled with her calm and laid-back disposition, she had everyone infatuated.
After landing on the floor, Guoxin took another three steps back and held his sword at chest level. His chest is rising and falling very quickly as he stared at his gorgeous opponent with astonishment.
This unparallel beauty is still going strong and steady. She smiled: “I have attacked five times and Mister has defended five times. I have been gaining the upper hand as Mister has kept his word and did not counterattack at all. Why don’t we end our fight here and declare it a draw?”
Xiao Pan stood up clapping and laughed: “Talented Lady Ji indeed. I am fully convinced by your capabilities and from this day onwards, you will be my Grand Tutor.”
Turning to Guoxin, he proclaimed: “Mister Guo has followed my orders and defended himself well without attacking. This is not something easy to achieve. I hereby promote you to be the third a.s.sistant Imperial Cavalry Commander under Commander Xiang.”
A delighted Ji Yanran and a guilty-looking Guoxin kneeled down to give their thanks.
Xiang Shaolong is filled with wonder and comfort at the same time.
Xiao Pan has finally grown up. Not only has he been able to see through the gains-seeking partnership of Weinan Martial Arts School and Lao Ai, he can control his emotions and employ such a unique method to pull Guoxin to his side. This is not something any man can easily accomplish.
n.o.body expected the fight to have such a happy ending. Loud cheers are heard from all four corners of the hall and everyone is cheering for Ji Yanran.
The people were chanting “Talented Lady” without any rest.
Only Qiu Risheng still has an ugly expression on his face and ferociousness in his eyes. He remained silent.
Also full of hatred, Lu Buwei secretly thought that as long as Xiang Shaolong is killed, the rest don’t really matter. Standing up again, he loudly laughed: “I think it is time for the main dish.” The thousand over guests quietened down at once and turned their attention to this powerful Qin official.