Chapter 277: Qi Deterrence
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The young man, who was like a farmer, was shocked first, then he shouted with pain and anger,
“My younger brother!”
Since he cut off the escape route and his outstanding momentum seemed to blend with the surroundings, it was impossible for Meng Qi to escape unless he forced his way out. But facing this man who was suffering, Meng Qi felt sympathy for him making him hesitate to wield his blade against him.
At this moment, Meng Qi certainly knew that he had been caught in the trap.“Sending the coffin was designed to lead me to trace the source; Killing the coffin tavernkeeper and his workers was planned to cover up the true clue; The note in the mouth was deliberately arranged by the murderer which aimed to lure me into looking for Jiang Tabo so that I will be regarded as the murderer then be caught directly by Jiang Tabo!”
The whole plan was interlocked, and the”cue” was designed in a logical way. Unfortunately, he was not aware that something could go wrong because he was in a hurry.
“But how would they know that I’ll be investigating this matter tonight after seeing the coffin? Tomorrow, the corpses of the tavernkeeper and his employees will be found and the note will be sent to the Six Fan School, then no one can hook me!”
“Could it be that they had known my personality and habits so well that they know all my routine?”
“Otherwise, at that moment, was there some master following me and when he saw me find the coffin shop, he killed them at leisure? He saw me get the note and arrived at the Gentle Breeze Villa ahead of me. While I was asking the worker, he killed them and intended to frame me?”
“Whatever the reason, it was terrible. Who would like to have an enemy who knows his character well? Who would be willing to be stalked at?”
Upon thinking about it, he felt a burst of chill in his heart!
After this matter, Meng Qi held a different view of the a.s.sa.s.sin in the gambling house. Maybe he had nothing to do with Qiu Fei.
“It seems that I’ve been spied on by someone or some sect…”
“Did it begin since I intentionally exposed my ident.i.ty at the Hero Tower or could I’ve acted rashly and alerted the enemies?”
“Or do they have some rancor with me? Or are they worried about something that they have to frame me? But I haven’t done anything to them!”
These ideas burst out in a flash. Meng Qi cleared his doubts and said, “Excuse me, this brother…”
His manner, appearance and character were familiar with Meng Qi, who had read a lot of information of the Six Fan School.
The young man, who was like a farmer, looked back to Meng Qi. His expression was somehow miserable. There were no ripples in his eyes and his momentum rose up to blend in with the heaven and earth.
Meng Qi’s soul reflected the flow of his genuine Qi and the situation of the parts of his muscles, but now he lost this sense and it seemed that he had become a part of the courtyard and the heaven and earth. How could he spy on the heaven?
“It’s you!” He ground his teeth and said, “I know why you did such a thing, but you have no right to hurt my family. Why didn’t you come to me directly?”
“What on earth is that thing… Don’t just say half of it like Qing Yu did…” Thinking about this, Meng Qi immediately recognized who the young farmer was.
It was “The Astounding” Jiang Hengchuan who ranked top ten on the Ranking List of Young Masters!
He did not know why he deliberately stayed separate from his third younger brother Jiang Tabo in the Flower-viewing Garden. Besides, both of them should have used the pseudonyms. Otherwise, he could have thought of Jiang Tabo’s background…
“Brother Jiang, you’ve misunderstood me…” Meng Qi began to explain. “No matter how similar the murderer’s method was to mine, there’re some distinctions between them if you closely inspected, except that the Exterior Medicine Sc.u.mbag had done it with the Seven Blades of Purple Thunder Bladesmans.h.i.+p . But if it was indeed him, he could have killed me easily. Why did he set a trap for me?”
Jiang Hengchuan seemed to be filled with anger and coldly hummed. He did not wait for Meng Qi’s explanation but rather immediately reached out his palm to attack him.
He held Meng Qi’s right wrist with his left hand, as if he had nipped a snake or a dragon. With the right palm stretched out, his whole body reacted to it, making a mystical trajectory of a flying dragon formed by his body, right arm, left hand and spine.
As his palm flickered, a distance of 30 feet between them was immediately gone. His Palm Gust beating Meng Qi’s face was extremely strong and fierce. His strength, genuine Qi and force-aired ma.s.s formed a 10-foot-long gas dragon, making the ground suddenly shake. Meng Qi felt the houses behind him that were trembling terribly.
The power of Jiang Hengchuan’s move was surprisingly equal to that of the Half-step Exterior Scenery or the Exterior movement, which was much more superior to that of the normal nine Acupores. Furthermore, he did not depend on the Qi traction or a well-matched opponent’s activation, and he could reach the level of the Heaven-man Connection.
As long as he was willing, at any time he could break through the entrance to the Hidden Latch of life and death!
This was the power of the top ten on the Ranking List of Young Masters!
The violent gas dragon fiercely rushed into Meng Qi’s direction. Its genuine Qi had reached its peak and was highly concentrated without any weaknesses. There were a few flaws on its sides and tail, but they were out of Meng Qi’s reach, for it was impossible for him to escape the Palm Gust covering him and attack the side of the “dragon”.
With his superior force and momentum, even his obvious flaws made Meng Qi feel powerless and frustrated!
Meng Qi took a deep breath and calmed down in order to clear his hesitations. To save his own life, no matter whether the opponent had misunderstood him or not, he might as well do his best to fight him.
The long knife in his hand suddenly disappeared, as if it magically evaporated.
With a strange silver flash, his “Heaven Inflicted Pain” appeared over their heads. Meng Qi made nine blade attacks with full speed, and each strike was much fiercer than its former one. The layers of the blade’s force pressed together, making huge roars in the air.
“Boom!” Meng Qi spoke in Thundering scream and at the same time attacked the opponent tooth for tooth!
His Thundering scream not only made Jiang Hengchuan slightly shocked but also weakened his strength. Then the blade force and the Palm Gust crashed with a lot of noise.
“POW!”
The sound of the explosions spread and its power blew all the way, making the leaves fall down, the trees bend and dust fly in the air. It circled the Gentle Breeze Villa like the fog.
After he took three consecutive steps back and spat out a mouthful of blood, Meng Qi did not feel as depressed as before. After all, since his strength was inferior to that of his opponent, he could not be as fierce as Jiang Hengchuan. Luckily, his Thundering scream and the Immortal Pressing Art contributed a lot to weaken his opponent’s strength, so apart from the mouthful of the extravasated blood, he was not seriously injured.
The shaking of the ground made Meng Qi stand unsteadily, but he tiptoed his way to counterattack instead of escaping. His Long Knife cut through the void to cleave Jiang Hengchuan.
Actually, facing such an opponent, he had no way of escape!
As soon as his Long Knife swung out, Jiang Hengchuan pushed out his left palm as if he had expected it. Since the genuine Qi attached to the edge of his palm, Meng Qi could not borrow any force from him and his palm rushed exactly towards the Knife’s body. If the Knife was to be hit by his palm, Meng Qi’s “Heaven Inflicted Pain” might fly out of his hand because of the huge gap between their present realm and strength.
Meng Qi’s Long Knife changed from the down split to the transverse wave and marched towards Jiang Hengchuan’s wrist.
Jiang Hengchuan’s face was full of incisive hatred. As his left palm turned over, his right palm changed into a mesh to net Meng Qi’s Heaven Inflicted Pain. This move showed some natural interest and was close up to some truths in the heaven and earth.
Meng Qi had to change his move again but Jiang Hengchuan’s trick was still ahead of him. In a short period of time, the two sides fought against each other with dozens of strokes and there was no move that touched each other. It was Meng Qi who was obliged to change his move every time.
He knew very clearly what was going on. Jiang Hengchuan, who was almost in the Oneness of Heaven and Men, had mastered all the surroundings. He, at the level of Oneness of Heaven and Men, was sensitive to his own flow of the genuine Qi, the reaction of Meng Qi’s muscle and even the diastole of Meng Qi’s pores, so there weren’t any secret moves for Jiang Hengchuan?
This was the Qi deterrence!
“If I hadn’t succeeded in cultivating the Nine Strategies Beyond the Swords and the Outline of Heavenly Knife and I could predict Jiang Hengchuan’s actions through the invariable laws among his constant changing moves, I would have been forced to a desperate situation within three moves, let alone dozens of them!”
“I can’t let it be any more !” For the time being, Meng Qi just a.s.sisted the running of the Golden Bell s.h.i.+eld and the Eight Nine Mysteries and deliberately changed the reaction of his outer muscle and the flow of his surface genuine Qi.
Only his Eight Nine Mysteries could tell this extremely precise control. n.o.body else could distinguish this finely!
Then, he brandished his Long Knife at full speed. The Knife Momentum was blended, including everything, which could hide all the possibilities. Before the Knife and the palm crashed, everything was possible. His Knife Momentum changed in accordance with the force and each opportunity. n.o.body could sense its transformations of the Yin and Yang unless he could inspect the movement of his core genuine Qi.
Trio Combination with the Yin and Yang, which is Yin and which is Yang?
This Knife move was created by Meng Qi’s understanding of the “Asking Heaven” and Meridian. Being a thorough master of the bladesmans.h.i.+p, his blade art was up to the top level of the enlightened Acupores movemnet just as the place of Jiang Zhiwei’s “Yama’s Invitation” in the sword art realm.
It was the first time that Jiang Hengchuan’s face had worn a dignified expression. His right palm turned into an arc, and his left palm changed with it. The trembling of the ground stopped, and so did the surrounding wind. The creaking houses finally settled down. All the airflow and vitality swarmed into both of his palms. It was a complete slience and was chilly.
Meng Qi could not track the origin of his kung fu because the young man had already merged all the movements of the Exterior kung fu and absorbed the essence of them. He used his own style to display it freely from the Void Tactics and Skillful Tactics.
With the air-driven traction and the winding of his genuine Qi, his Long Knife cut into Jiang Hengchuan’s palms.
The gas gathering coc.o.o.n there was empty. If some powerful force was poured into the coc.o.o.n, it would be absorbed. Meng Qi’s Long Knife was like a cotton, which put up with no force. Thus, both of them were not in contact with each other, and it was like they just greeted each other.
At this time, Meng Qi’s “Heaven Inflicted Pain” changed from Yin to Yang, gus.h.i.+ng out a streak of majestic force.
The transformation was so sudden that after his Knife entered the gas coc.o.o.n, the coc.o.o.n exploded immediately, putting an end to the force of the opponent’s palm. Jiang Hengchuan had to take a step back to avoid the cutting edge.
Opportunity! He yanked his “Heaven Inflicted Pain” between the palms and the knife energy was hazy like a sad rainy night.
With the heavy rain beating his heart, the streaks of the Thunder Light brought him indescribable sadness.
On such a rainy night with Thunder Light, who could keep peace?
Meng Qi seized this opportunity and used the Ananda Oath-breaking Bladesmans.h.i.+p to try cutting off the peace of Jiang Hengchuan, destroying his mental state. He wanted to buy some time to let himself escape with ease.
Never did he think about defeating a top-ten master on the Ranking List of Young Masters. Besides. They fought because of a misunderstanding, so it was hard for him to make up his mind to kill his opponent. Actually, he only hoped to create an opportunity to escape and then to find other clues and evidence to prove that he was innocent.
As the knife’s energy faded away, Meng Qi seemed to see the mountains, lakes, and fields. He also saw the lively mortal world, and felt the whole process of the grain growing: seeding–sprouting–growing–heading up–falling. He sensed each inch of the soil and the gra.s.s in the yard and each action of the insects hiding there.
With the moonlight s.h.i.+ning low, the courtyard was quiet. The sounds of the insects brought out the true beauty of nature, making Meng Qi feel very calm.
But this was not a normal counterattack of the Ananda Oath-breaking Bladesmans.h.i.+p!
As Meng Qi realized the cause, he saw Jiang Hengchuan who was hiding the pain on his face.
Jiang Hengchuan’s peace was cut off by the Ananda Oath-breaking Bladesmans.h.i.+p and Meng Qi himself was beaten back by the “Oneness of Heaven and Men”. Therefore, both of them fell into a subtle sensory realm, so they were slow in reacting at the same time.
Therefore, the move of the One Heart Affecting Another hurt both of them!