But he didn"t have too much time to worry about that! Zhou Jinhu was almost out of range!So he s.n.a.t.c.hed up the hilt portion of his broken sword, and leaped forward, sending a quick lunge at the fellow"s back.
Only to have Zhou Jinhu spin about and dodge the same, with a practiced ease! This was a trap, he cursed to himself the moment that he saw it, and tried to pull his sword back in defense! But Fatty Zhou"s move was too quick, and Qin Feng could barely bring both of his arms up in front of his chest, to take the swift kick that was headed for his heart!
[White Jade Hands: Weeping at Her Own Reflection!]
The move was as effective as it had always been, and Qin Feng had bothered to use both his hands this time. He parted his arms the moment that he felt the power of the strike rush up his forearms, sending the same out and away to either side of himself, and dissipating the violently roiling foreign qi away from his body. This was the wholly defensive method of using the White Jade Hands. Something that he doubted that Zhou Jinhu knew about.
Indeed, that seemed to surprise the black-garbed a.s.sa.s.sin, and there was a momentarily pause as the masked man staggered backwards, as though unsure of himself. Qin Feng gritted his teeth in a feral grin as he ignored the pain in his arms and charged forwards. This was a repeat performance, wasn"t it? Of his reaction to the same stance days ago, in the Ducal Palace?
But it could be another of his ploys, the younger man reminded himself, another of his schemes. And he threw out his least practiced sword form, and the most suitable one for such a deception, at the enemy:
[Return of Spring Wind!]
Only to sense the confident smile that appeared under the black cloth masking the a.s.sa.s.sin"s face, as the man"s left palm twisted and flashed towards his head, ignoring the broken sword blade that had just thrust past that same wrist! So it was a trap!
But Qin Feng had set one of his own!
His wrist twisted even as the true attack of his sword stance showed itself. The foot-long sc.r.a.p of a weapon in his hand whirled in a circular motion, flashing to form a ring of sword qi that cut across his opponent"s extended arm!
Zhou Jinhu roared as the sword qi slashed through his left upper arm, and pulled himself back immediately. But it was already too late! Despite the fact that Qin Feng"s sword was already broken, the edge of the same was sharp enough to tear through his flesh, and severe his left forearm from his body!
Yet, his reaction was a little faster than what Qin Feng had prepared for, and the man in black"s left leg flashed up to catch him in the face, despite his desperate attempt to interpose his right arm. Qin Feng only felt a sharp pain there on his cheek, as he pushed himself off with his feet, hurling himself backwards.
But that was only a temporary relief, he realized as soon as he landed. His knees had already gone weak, and everything was whirling about. While it was not that powerful a kick, it was enough to put him out of the fight altogether! It was all that he could do, to try to stay awake!
Hence, Qin Feng barely caught a glimpse of two figures flitting over his body to engage the black-garbed a.s.sailant. And almost missed his chance of watching Lin Liushui and Du Yan in action together.
Even as he faded out of consciousness, he caught a glimpse of the pair of them grabbing onto the black-garbed a.s.sailant, and wrestling him to the ground. Although that should not be that much of a surprise, he told himself, as he let his head fall back. After all, he had hacked the idiot"s left arm off, hadn"t he?
*
The Second Ducal Prince gave out a blistering curse the moment that he saw Qin Feng fall. And would have jumped out to catch the younger pract.i.tioner, if he had been a little closer. But he had been pushed to the rear by Du Yan earlier, and only was only able to get there after Qin Feng had already slammed into the street.
Still, Li Changhai was the first to reach Qin Feng"s side, and hurried to inspect the latter"s injuries. Fortunately, apart from the swelling in his forearms and the red mark on his left cheek, the younger man did not seem to have taken any serious damage. But they would have to bring him to a proper physician, and have him examined to be certain.
Only after he had made sure that Qin Feng was comfortable, more or less, on the ground that he turned to look at his other two companions. The two of them had already overpowered the now-crippled Zhou Jinhu, and had him pinned. As he watched Lin Liushui worked his acupoint sealing art on the man in black, rendering him unconscious as well.
It was good that they had dealt with the a.s.sa.s.sin that had been hiding among his sister"s people, Li Changhai told himself then. At least, they had managed to survive this wholly unexpected attack. But his expression was an ugly one, as he tried to figure out who had been behind the attempt. Was it his sister or the Zhao Family? Or did he have to look deeper?
He started for the prisoner at once. But Du Yan held the Second Ducal Prince back, even as his companion dealt with the now unconscious a.s.sailant. "You should not get close to Fatty Zhou, regardless of whether you were the target or not. Who can say if he is working for your sister, or if someone else has hired him to do their dirty work," he warned in a quiet voice.
"You should beware of others making the attempt now that one of our number is down."
Li Sanlang frowned when he heard that, but jerked his arm out of Du Yan"s grasp nonetheless. And rushed back to where Qin Feng was lying down in the street. Everyone had seen how the youngest in his group had thrown himself at Zhou Jinhu, and taken those two blows for him. Regardless of the danger, how could he not take care of the unconscious young fellow now?
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But Du Yan"s concerns did not materialize, and Lin Liushui stepped back to join the duo as they lingered over Qin Feng"s body. The a.s.sailant had been unmasked, and confirmed to be indeed Zhou Jinhu. That discovery had raised a good number of questions in the Second Ducal Prince"s head, even as he inspected Qin Feng"s injuries.
Lin Liushui seemed to sense his distraction, and took over the task adroitly. And Li Changhai gladly let him. The scholarly man was obviously more than competent when dealing with wounds and injuries, as he knew. Besides, the Prince was distracted by the a.s.sault. Everyone could see that, even though no one gave voice to that observation.
"He is just unconscious, but that last attack from Fatty Zhou might have hit him a bit harder than we had expected. It would be best if we bring him back to the Palace, so that I can tend to him in a secure place," Lin Liushui announced, softly as he looked up at Li Changhai after he was done with his initial observation.
Then he nodded at the end of the street, and at the half-troop of men, clad in armor and a uniform that was unfamiliar in Yanyun City, who were stamping into sight. Something that earned Du Yan"s nod of approval:
"It seems someone has responded to that signal your guards threw out earlier. They would have been too late to do much, but the response is good, nevertheless. They are the ones that your maternal grandmother sent along with you? From Changqing City?"
* * *