That evening, Han Changsheng and An Yuan stabilized their internal power, and then quickly fell asleep.
Early in the morning, Han Changsheng woke to a knock at the door.
Rubbing his eyes, he put on his clothes and opened the door. None other than Lu Wenlin stood outside.
After a night"s rest, Lu Wenlin"s face was much better than it had been last night. He had certainly recovered. Looking cold and proud, he held a knife in his hand. "Hammer!" (Let"s fight!)
Han Changsheng looked at him, expressionless. "Hammer your head!"
Slamming the door, Han Changsheng narrowly missed Lu Wenlin"s nose.
Before Han Changsheng could reach the bedside, another knock came at the door. "Young-heroic Hua, young-heroic Hua, fight haha, fight haha!"
Lu Wenlin was a martial arts maniac. The so-called martial arts maniac had a spirit of endless compet.i.tion, never giving up and never turning back. Now that he"d locked onto Han Changsheng and wanted to fight him, he would never give up.
The noises annoyed Han Changsheng to no end. Even An Yuan rose and put on his clothes, saying, "Since he wants to fight so badly, why don"t you just do it?"
Han Changsheng rolled his eyes. "What do you know?"
He had been identified as An Yuan"s guard, thus his purpose would only be to serve An Yuan. If only Lu Wenlin was not Lu Honghua"s son, it wouldn"t be a big deal for him to teach him a lesson. But, because of his new ident.i.ty, he couldn"t fight as he wished.
If he won, Hua Xiaosa would have a good reputation. What new consequences would he have if he got tangled up with others again? He couldn"t even lose on purpose, or he would lose a lot more than face. Not to mention the face of Tianning"s leader.
If he lost, those people would make things difficult for An Yuan. It would cause a lot of trouble.
If he didn"t fight, the people of the Wulin wouldn"t have any justifiable cause to dare make any moves against him and An Yuan.
Outside, Lu Wenlin called for him nonstop. Opening the door again, Han Changsheng said coldly, "I"m hungry. I can"t fight without breakfast."
Lu Wenlin"s eyes brightened. "Just wait!"
With a gust of wind, he disappeared.
Han Changsheng and An Yuan finished washing and went downstairs, only to freeze in their tracks. In the lobby, a table overflowed with food like , soy milk, fried dough sticks, , noodles, and . It was plentiful.
Standing at the table, Lu Wenlin waved his hand. "Young-heroic Hua, and what"s his face, please enjoy."
What"s his face, An Yuan: "…"
Han Changsheng and An Yuan sat at the table. Now that Lu Wenlin had prepared the meal for them, they shouldn"t let it go to waste. They immediately started eating. After a full meal, Lu Wenlin said, "Young-heroic Hua, you…"
Picking his teeth, Han Changsheng said, "We"ll be on our way soon. The clothes haven"t been washed yet. We should hurry and do the laundry. I"m afraid we won"t have time…"
Lu Wenlin took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and said, "Where are your clothes? I"ll wash them!"
An Yuan looked at Han Changsheng in silence. Han Changsheng showed his hands, looking helpless.
Lu Wenlin rushed upstairs to wash his clothes. An Yuan said, "Your heart is black."
"Does the soy milk taste good?" Han Changsheng asked, ignoring his comment.
An Yuan lifted the veil and wiped his mouth. "Not bad."
Before the veil fell, he stared at Han Changsheng. Their eyes met. He shivered, feeling a bad premonition.
When Lu Wenlin finished washing his clothes, it was almost noon. He went downstairs to find Han Changsheng and An Yuan. By then, the two were sitting in the yard in the sun.
Lu Wenlin said, "Let"s…"
Han Changsheng ignored him. Turning to An Yuan, he said, "App…… Young master An, it seems our horses need to be changed. I"ll go prepare them for you."
Lu Wenlin almost fainted. He stood with his fist clenched and wiped soap from his face. "Wait! I"ll go!"
The young master Lu was sure to handle the affairs for them. Before one incense could finish burning, he brought two good horses to Han Changsheng and An Yuan. The cult leader"s eyes brightened as he circled the horse. It was a precious, thousand li horse, with slippery fur and hooves. The young master Lu spat out a lot of hard-earned capital to fight with him.
"All right?" Lu Wenlin was getting impatient. He grabbed the knife in his hand, ready to move.
Han Changsheng felt his chin and thought. What else could he do? It was rare to have such a silly guy around. If he didn"t put him into good use, it would surely be a waste.
Lu Wenlin wasn"t stupid, either. Seeing Han Changsheng"s eyes rolling around, he knew the man didn"t have any good intentions for him. For fear he"d find more trouble for himself, he simply drew out a knife and shouted–
"Here I come! Eat this!"
Han Changsheng"s eyebrows rose. "Young-heroic Lu, are you trying to start a fight? You"re the son of the martial arts alliance leader, yet you bully people with your strength. Is it good to let people spread those words about you?"
Lu Wenlin"s face was red with shame. The hand holding the blade was frozen in the air, hesitating as he decided whether he should or shouldn"t use it.
Just then, Yun Conghu of the Yunxiao Sect ran down from upstairs and saw Lu Wenlin, Han Changsheng, and An Yuan together. His face was hideous. "Young-heroic Lu, why are you here? I was looking everywhere for you. Where have you been all morning?"
Lu Wenlin wiped his face with the soap, leaving behind greasy marks. "Washing clothes…"
Yun Conghu glared. "Washing clothes?"
Seeing the two horses next to the men, his eyes grew even bigger.
"Young-heroic Lu, how could you bring your horses here? Are you leaving?"
"It"s for them," Lu said.
Yun Conghu"s eyes almost fell off his face. "Young-heroic Lu, you"re crazy! Ah, no, how could you give your own horse to those two unknown guys?"
Han Changsheng clung tightly to the horse"s reins and made a face at Yuan Conghu. "Those clothes the young-heroic Lu washed this morning were mine, what about it?"
Lu Wenlin didn"t mind. He scratched his head. "I forgot to say that because I"m terrible at washing clothes, I made holes in a lot of them. Your underwear are now crotchless."
Han Changsheng: "…"
Lu Wenlin hurriedly said, "If you beat me in a fight, I"ll give you a carriage and those two horses, and pay for your underwear."
Once Yun Conghu heard that this was for Lu Wenlin to compete with Han Changsheng again, he became so angry that his nose turned crooked.
He wanted to fight Lu Wenlin! He lost his face by begging with a smile. He had been sneered at by members of other sects for two days after he was rejected by Lu Wenlin. How could these two unknown guys catch the maniac"s attention? He even rushed to help them wash their clothes and send them away with top-grade horses! Why!
Though Lu Wenlin was called a wise man, he was clearly a fool!
Yun Conghu didn"t know that Lu Wenlin was a master at judging strength. He knew whether someone was a master or mediocre just by looking at people"s breath, bones, and gestures. He didn"t care to fight with Yun Conghu because he didn"t have to fight to know who would win.
However, Han Changsheng and An Yuan were different.
Both of them were made of a good material with strange bones. If they practiced properly, they had to be experts. Also, he"d seen Han Changsheng do it. Both his internal and external skills were excellent. The only thing that puzzled him was that Han Changsheng claimed that An Yuan was his young master.
When he checked the man"s Qi and breath, it was obvious that Han Changsheng"s internal skill was deeper than An Yuan"s.
Yun Conghu couldn"t bear it anymore. He drew his sword and shouted, "Young-heroic Lu, you can"t let these two thieves play with you anymore! I"ll teach them a lesson for you!"
With a fierce sword, Yun Conghu stabbed at Han Changsheng"s chest.
Han Changsheng sneered, and he handed the horse to An Yuan without hesitation. His other hand held a sword——
A "ping" echoed through the air, and Yun Conghu"s blade was propped on Han Changsheng"s scabbard, blocked at the last minute.
Han Changsheng didn"t retreat, but his powerful internal force shocked Yun Conghu"s sword. Yun Conghu didn"t flinch but added a little more fighting spirit.
The Yunxiao Sect was the leader of the top ten sword sects in the Jianghu. Some would even say that the Yunxiao Sect"s sword technique was the best in the Jianghu. All of its disciples were good at fighting alone and were very aggressive.
When he saw Han Changsheng and An Yuan using swords, Yun Conghu had a plan to take them down. If Lu Wenlin hadn"t stopped him, he would"ve challenged and fought Han Changsheng the night before.
Yun Conghu attacked Han Changsheng like crazy. Meanwhile, Han Changsheng only parried. After two or three months of stabilizing his internal power, the old man Xuanji"s internal power had been neutralized. As his internal power improved, so did his senses.
Yun Conghu"s attacks were like a child"s fight, his movements slow and full of flaws. Any parry could be stopped. He didn"t rush to make a move, just because he didn"t want Lu Wenlin to see his strength.
Not a moment had pa.s.sed, and all the righteous people from the Wulin ran down to watch the fighting. Some were in a hurry, some were gloating. The ones who traded hands with Han Changsheng knew his martial arts were excellent.
Yun Conghu wasn"t really his opponent, so they wanted to see him make a fool of himself. Some of them wanted to see Yun Conghu beaten since he had robbed them of their opportunities.
Since Lu Wenlin took a fancy to Han Changsheng, they could beat Han Changsheng and get another chance at Lu Wenlin. Yun Conghu robbed such a good opportunity.
Lu Wenlin stood and looked coldly at them. In the beginning, he tried to stop Yun Conghu, but the impulsive Yun Conghu didn"t listen to him. He warned that if he wanted to fight with Han Changsheng, he would rot.
"Lady." Lu Wenlin clicked his tongue, disdain was written on his face. "It"s like I"ve been talking with wood, what can I do?"
People nearby saw that Yun Conghu was far inferior to Han Changsheng. Though he was the only one who was attacking, Han Changsheng had disrupted his rhythm.
Even those who didn"t know martial arts could see he had exposed too many flaws. When Han Changsheng saw that everyone was coming to watch, he grew more relaxed. Yun Conghu just wanted the opportunity to show off. How could he misunderstand?
When the guy wanted to be in the limelight, he did so without preamble. What kind of fight had he started? Anyone could see it. If they were smart, they"d stop watching and go back. Yun Conghu, however, was blinded.
He was more and more eager. He wanted to let Han Changsheng suffer the sting of loss. His moves were disorderly, like a seven-year-old who refused to stop fighting.
Han Changsheng was impatient. With a whoosh, a cold flash of light flitted through the air. The Longyin sword rested at the base of Yun Conghu"s neck, yet he still tried to come forward. Feeling pain, blood flowed from where the blade sliced through his skin.
Han Changsheng said, "The best sword sect in the Jianghu? As if."
Yun Conghu"s face was as white as paper. After fighting for so long, Han Changsheng didn"t even bother removing his sword from the sheath. At the last moment, he didn"t even see when the man finally did it. He had already lost.
He had to admit defeat and go back. Yet in the face of so many colleagues from the Wulin, he couldn"t afford to lose. If he wiped his neck on the sword, he wouldn"t have the courage to actually die.
The two were at a standstill when they heard a loud shout. "The Longyin sword!"
An old man stepped out of the crowd and pointed at Han Changsheng. "Quick, take it from him! He"s the one who murdered old man Xuanji and the elder Lan Fang of the Yuehua Sect!"