Contest
There was a large s.p.a.ce in the middle of the crowd, these spectators had seen such matches many times so they had left an appropriate s.p.a.ce for the spar to take place. If they stood too far apart, they would not be able to spot the details, but if they stood too close, they would be susceptible to injury. Hence, the amount of s.p.a.ce was the ideal size after many experiences of blood and tears.
Within the empty s.p.a.ce, Yu Deyi was happily greeting the people he recognized and when Zhang Xiaohu entered, he immediately retracted his smile and put on a serious expression.
Zhang Xiaohu looked at the surroundings and said to Zhang Xiaohua, “Xiaohua, stand slightly further away. While fighting, I will not be able to look after you so you might get injured.”
Zhang Xiaohua smiled and replied, “Alright second brother, I will stand with the rests.”
Yu Deyi and Zhang Xiaohu exchanged glances as they cupped their fists in unison and said, “Please.”
The two then adjusted their posture to the same opening stance.
Zhang Xiaohua has learnt the sixth fist before although he only remembered a few stances, he found their stances familiar. His heart shuddered as he thought, could Yu Deyi be using the sixth fist as well to counter Zhang Xiaohu?
Zhang Xiaohua was proven right when the fight began, the arrogant Yu Deyi wanted to prove his superiority in the fight by using his own sixth fist stance to place victory over Zhang Xiaohu’s sixth fist stance, and thus, the movements both used looked similar to each other, and it looked more like a performance than a fight to the spectators.
The spectators were dazzled and yelling out praises, there was even someone who said, “These two’s performance is really good, it looked like they have trained together for many years.”
These words which sounded like praises were attacks to Yu Deyi’s pride. Zhang Xiaohu had trained for slightly more than a month so it would be praise to him, but Yu Deyi had submerged himself in martial arts for many years and to produce this kind of result with an opponent like Zhang Xiaohu was out of the former’s expectation. Hence, he did not continue to treat his opponent lightly, and his punches and kicks increased in frequency and fell upon Zhang Xiaohu’s body like the pitter patter of rain.
Since the tempo of his opponent had increased, Zhang Xiaohu was naturally unable to cope and would every so often reveal a weak spot. Fortunately, he was familiar with this martial art and was able to defend against Yu Deyi’s attacks while improving his own understanding. Thus, Zhang Xiaohu was like a lotus leaf in the rain, he would be constantly pounded by the rain drops but would never submerge into the water.
Seeing that he had almost completed one cycle of the sixth fist stance but was still unable to bend Zhang Xiaohu down to his will, Yu Deyi eyes squinted, his left hand went up and right hand face the ground, while his legs switched their position. Yu Deyi had given up using the sixth fist, and had changed his stance to the eight trigram palm as his body swam around Zhang Xiaohu’s body. However, Zhang Xiaohu was not to be taken lightly, seeing that his opponent had changed his stance, he maintained his horse stance and continued to use the sixth fist to defend against Yu Deyi’s attack.
Zhang Xiaohua had not seen the eight trigrams fist before so he was initially worried for his brother. However, seeing Zhang Xiaohu’s unchanged composure as he maintained his defense, Zhang Xiaohua became partially relieved. After a short while, Zhang Xiaohu actually turned the tides around and began to attack whenever an opportunity arises while maintaining his air-tight defense. Zhang Xiaohua then turned his attention onto the eight trigrams fist to study this new martial art.
Unfortunately, after seeing it for quite some time, Yu Deyi switched to another stance again and Zhang Xiaohua still could not remember any of the stances from the eight trigrams fist. He felt even more depressed, it seemed that his apt.i.tude was not just ordinarily poor, fortunately Yu Lun who was at a side did not know his thoughts or the latter would laughed at him being a country b.u.mpkin, and said how could martial arts be so easily trained? If not, who would dare to display his martial arts while fighting with another opponent while risking the other party to steal his moves?
While Zhang Xiaohua was still feeling depressed, Yu Deyi had already switched into several more martial arts but they were unable to pose any danger to Zhang Xiaohu. Hence, he rolled his eyes and hardened his heart, then pretended to leave an opening. Zhang Xiaohu seemed not to notice the trap the other party set up and he used his right fist to punch towards Yu Deyi’s left rib. Seeing the oncoming punch, Yu Deyi became excited and his left hand caught Zhang Xiaohu’s wrist while his right hand grabbed onto his shirt. Upon seeing the change of events, Zhang Xiaohua almost shouted out, was this not the deflection move little second Nie used on him? Zhang Xiaohu clenched his fists as he watched on worriedly.
When Zhang Xiaohu’s wrist was caught and shirt was grabbed, he naturally knew that he had to avoid being caught. Thus, his left fist turned into a palm and it pushed towards Yu Deyi’s right hand, and when the latter noticed the counter, he changed his claw into a fist to defend against Zhang Xiaohu’s palm. Yu Deyi’s left hand continued its attack with even greater force and when it reached his target, Zhang Xiaohu was blown back and fell towards the ground.
Seeing his second brother having experienced the same setback, Zhang Xiaohu involuntarily cried out but before his voice could reached his brother, the situation changed. Zhang Xiaohu’s body flipped in mid-air and changed its direction towards Yu Deyi, and even returned some of the momentum back as he kicked towards Yu Deyi’s shoulder.
Yu Deyi quickly used his hands to defend but he failed and was kicked several steps back.
Upon seeing the exciting scene, the audience cried out in praise and when it reached Yu Deyi’s ears, he grew even more irritated as if a needle had poked his temper. Yu Deyi’s left leg pushed off the ground as he activated his qinggong and appeared beside Zhang Xiaohu who just landed from the air, took a deep breath and pulled energy from his dantian into his palm. The palm turned from its original white color into a light shade of purple as it thrusted towards Zhang Xiaohu. Upon seeing the light shade of purple, Shangguan Yun’s face turned as he shouted out, “Purple sand palm?!” It appeared that Yu Deyi had used his inner energy in a moment of distress.
When Zhang Xiaohua heard the three words “Purple sand palm”, he had a bad premonition and quickly rushed into the ring despite not knowing what he could do.
Zhang Xiaohu was already surprised when he saw the palm closing onto him just as he landed onto the ground, and upon noticing the irregularity in color, he did not dare to use his own arms to receive the palm thrust and immediately used his feet to slide away. The purple colored palm did not hit its target squarely, but Zhang Xiaohu’s arm did brush across Yu Deyi’s arm. In front of an opponent who activated his inner energy, Zhang Xiaohu could still maintain his composure and he staggered in the direction of Zhang Xiaohua, but before Zhang Xiaohu could steady himself, Yu Deyi threw another palm thrust right in front of his eyes.
At that moment, Shangguan Yun shouted, “Yu Deyi, stop using the purple sand fist right now.” While he also ran towards the fight.
When Yu Deyi heard Shangguan Yun’s shout, his mind was cleared again, this was only an exchange of fist martial arts, and his opponent could not use inner energy and even only knew one type of fist martial art. If his purple sand palm had struck onto Zhang Xiaohu, the latter’s would suffer serious injuries that could even lead to his death. Even though he wanted to stop himself, it was too late to pull back his attack, so… so what could he do then? The expression on Yu Deyi’s face turned from one of smugness into worry.
Upon seeing that the purple colored palm was about to land on his chest while his own fists were still raised in the air, Zhang Xiaohu’s mind became exceptionally calm as he looked on while waiting for the pain to arrive.
However, a small fist suddenly appeared before his eyes, yes, a small and white fist appeared from below his left ribs and came up to block the attack so just as the purple colored palm was about to reach his own chest, it met the little fist head on.
The purple colored palm collided together with the small white fist.
Yu Deyi thought that he was in deep trouble but he did not expect this fist to appear right at the critical moment. He was joyful as he retracted seventy percent of his inner energy when his palm collided with the fist, and even though retracting one’s inner energy could cause serious internal injuries to his meridians, he could not care less during that moment.
When the inner energy was returned into his meridians, Yu Deyi felt a great sense of relief and just as he was about to control the flow of inner energy in his body, the situation changed again. After thirty percent of Yu Deyi’s inner energy was transmitted into the little fist, he heard continuous cracking sounds followed by a loud yelp of pain. The voice was high and it sounded like it was in terrible pain, and Yu Deyi realized that the voice was slightly familiar, and even though he could not recall the person, he still felt grateful towards him. Just as Yu Deyi thought that the situation as under control again, he felt a sharp pain in his palm, and it as not inner energy but pure physical force. Under this physical force, Yu Deyi was unable to maintain his balance and when he fell onto the floor, the remaining seventy percent of his inner energy flowed in the reverse direction through his meridians. Yu Deyi lost all the blood in his face as he tried to focus in the inner energy cultivation method and force the inner energy back to its normal flow.
Fortunately, the force was only pure physical force and not inner energy which could transmit itself into Yu Deyi’s own meridians, so he did not suffer any serious injuries. After a short while later, he would be to stand up again although there was still some damage done to his meridians. Before Yu Deyi could maintain his posture, he opened his mouth and spat out some fresh blood, apparently his organs had also suffered some damage.
The owner of the fist was in a worse situation. After the yelp, there was no more sound from him. Under the remaining inner energy from Yu Deyi, his body flew into the sky and formed a beautiful curved line before landing on the floor without any further movement.
Zhang Xiaohu could see the fist and palm when they came into contact, he could hear the cracking sounds of bones when they collided, and he also heard the familiar voice when it yelped in pain. His heart thumped, could it be Zhang Xiaohua? However, his own body has lost its stability and by the time he picked himself up from the ground after falling down, the small skinny body was sprawled on the ground at a distance from him, and it did not have any movement at all.
Zhang Xiaohu hurriedly got up and yelled, “Xiaohua” as he lunged over.
By the time he went over to Zhang Xiaohua’s side, Shangguan Yun had already ran over and picked the boy up without hesitation. He put his finger under Zhang Xiaohua’s nose before heaving a sigh of relief, then said to Zhang Xiaohu who was rushing over, “Zhang Xiaohu, it’s alright, Zhang Xiaohua has only fainted.”
Zhang Xiaohu was still not comforted and he carefully took Zhang Xiaohua’s body from Shangguan Yun, bent forward and placed his ear on Zhang Xiaohua’s body, and after personally hearing Zhang Xiaohua’s breathing, his heart slowly calmed down. As long as he was still alive, the other problems can be settled later on.
Zhang Xiaohu’s gaze fell on Zhang Xiaohua’s broken hand and his heart ached deeply. The hand was bleeding profusely and large bruises were swelling on it, the whole hand looked like a giant bun. Zhang Xiaohu turned his head hatefully towards the culprit who made Zhang Xiaohua end up in his predicament.
However, Zhang Xiaohu could not preserve his hatred.
When he turned to see Yu Deyi, the latter’s face was pale and yellow, a line of blood dribbled from the side of his mouth, and a blot of fresh bloodstain was on the front of his chest. Yu Deyi’s internal injuries were probably more severe than Zhang Xiaohua’s.
Within that moment, Zhang Xiaohu let go of his hatred, perhaps this was the bloodiness that comes with Jianghu. A simple friendly spar could lead to such injuries from a moment of slip-up, what if there was a fatal injury instead? Zhang Xiaohu’s heart shivered at the thought.
Yu Deyi walked over to Zhang Xiaohu and looked at Zhang Xiaohua, the former’s heart was fully or guilt and regret as he said to Zhang Xiaohu, “Brother Zhang, I have lost in this match. Sigh, I am really sorry, I was caught up in the moment and forgot that this was a friendly spar and used inner energy in my strikes. I will be accountable for all of your losses, all of the responsibilities of Zhang Xiaohua’s injuries will be borne by me, so please relax.”
Zhang Xiaohu looked at the opposite party who was sincere in making amends, he did not know whether to laugh or cry, and he said, “Young master Yu, let’s not talk about the victor or loser in this match, please find a physician for Zhang Xiaohua immediately, treating his injuries is the top priority. Since your own injuries are not light either, I suggest that you consult a physician as well.”
Shangguan Yun who was standing at a side said, “These two brothers should calm down first, Zhang Xiaohua’s injuries are severe so we should avoid moving him, and young master Yu should also sit down to recuperate. I have already instructed Yu Lun to find a physician from the west martial arts hall, and they will come here soon.”
At that moment, the spectators who were watching the match had all disperse, leaving behind a few concerned people who stayed behind to see if they could help in any way.
The physician had not arrived, and a voice sounded, “Yu Deyi, why have you caused trouble again? Did you injure Zhang Xiaohu this time?”
When Yu Deyi heard these words, he stood up timidly like a mouse and answered honestly, “Uncle Song, you have arrived.” His honest looking expression was just like a new student who met a teacher in school, there was no trace of arrogance and anyone who seen him would praise his obedience.
Everyone turned around to look, and it was Lotus escort’s third master Qu. From his anxious and angry appearance, he must have ran over immediately upon noticing the trouble.
When third master Qu got nearer, he looked at Yu Deyi and immediately frowned, saying, “Why do you have internal injuries? Weren’t you exchanging fist stances with Zhang Xiaohu?”
He then looked at Zhang Xiaohu who was standing behind Yu Deyi and asked, “Zhang Xiaohu is not injured? What has happened?”
Yu Deyi quickly moved aside to reveal the unconscious Zhang Xiaohua and said sheepishly, “Uncle Song, you should look at Zhang Xiaohua first.”
When third master Qu saw Zhang Xiaohua’s appearance, he flew into a rage and yelled, “Yu Deyi! You dare to use purple sand fist!”
He then pushed Yu Deyi aside and grabbed Zhang Xiaohua’s hands to feel the latter’s pulse, he said, “Furthermore, you used it on a small innocent boy like him, how could your heart be so evil, why have I not seen it before? Were you trying to kill this boy?”
Yu Deyi lowered his head and traces of embarra.s.sment appeared on his pale face.
After third master Qu used his inner energy to inspect Zhang Xiaohua, he heaved a sigh of relief and said warmly to Zhang Xiaohu, “This boy is fine, he just fainted and will wake up later.”
He then raise Zhang Xiaohua’s injured hand and inspected it carefully, even bringing it up to his nose to sniff before sighing again and asked, “Zhang Xiaohu, who is this child?”
Zhang Xiaohu replied respectfully, “Third master Qu, this is my younger brother Zhang Xiaohua, he was with me when I pa.s.sed the test to become a delivery hand a month ago, haven’t you seen him then too?”
When he heard Zhang Xiaohu’s reply, he glanced at Zhang Xiaohua and sighed again, saying, “Now that I remember, wasn’t he the boy who lifted that five hundred jin weight? Didn’t he go to Huanxi mountain villa with Qiu Tong, why is he here again?”
Zhang Xiaohu replied, “Xiaohua is orking in the mountain villa, but he came down today to the escort station to visit me for the first time when something like this happened. Oh right, third master Qu, how are my younger brother’s injuries?”
Third master Qu said, “As for Zhang Xiaohua’s injuries, we can wait for a physician to diagnose him properly. However, Zhang Xiaohu, you must make some mental preparation, when I saw, how to say this, Zhang Xiaohua’s hand seemed to be completely cripples. The bones in his right hand have been completely shattered, and even the rarest medicine may not heal his injuries completely. If it is treated well, perhaps he can still move his hand and it won’t affect his life too much. However, working in Huanxi mountain villa will be impossible, and all other types of hard labor will not be possible as well. Come over, Yu Deyi.”
Yu Deyi lowered his head as he walked over. Third master Qu said, “Yu Deyi, you should be aware of Zhang Xiaohua’s injuries, there will be problems for the rest of his life which you must properly compensate for to at least make sure he won’t starve of having nothing to wear.”
Yu Deyi did not dare to say otherwise and agreed immediately, “Uncle Song, don’t worry. I promise that I will do at least this so that Zhang Xiaohua would still be able to live on comfortably in the future.”