The inner courtyard of Qiyi Studio was in complete disarray, with a group of black-clothed men surrounding a teenager and continuously moving around, occasionally attacking to try to bring him down. The teenager was carrying a small girl on his back and kept changing positions, waving the wooden staff with one hand to fend off the approaching black-clothed men.
Yue Fan had no experience being surrounded before, when he encountered a pack of hungry wolves and managed to break out... but the current situation was different. Xiaoyaer needed to be protected, which restricted his movements and greatly affected his flexibility. Moreover, they were human beings, not wild animals, and he couldn't use lethal force against them. After all, Yue Fan was just an ordinary hunter, not someone from the martial arts world.
Zhao Tianhua sat comfortably in the main hall, watching the scene with interest, occasionally sipping from his teacup. Qian Zhangjie, on the other hand, was extremely anxious. Seeing the injured bodyguards on the ground, he was even more upset. Of course, Qian Zhangjie wasn't upset for their sake; he was upset about the money. Not only did he have to pay for the broken items, but he also had to pay for the medical treatment for his injured men.
"Damn it, I didn't expect this brat to be so resilient. This is really going to cost me. Ugh! Watch where you're aiming, my flowerbed... Ahh..." Qian Zhangjie's face turned white and he inwardly moaned.
Seeing Qian Zhangjie's expression, Zhao Tianhua knew what he was thinking. He said nonchalantly, "Old Qian, as long as we get the item, there will be no shortage of benefits for you."
Hearing the promise from the second master, Qian Zhangjie immediately smiled and shouted to the group of bodyguards, "Whoever brings this brat down, there will be a reward of one hundred silver coins. Put some effort into it."
With such a high reward, there were bound to be brave men. Qian Zhangjie's words did have an effect. Over a dozen bodyguards heard the promise and, despite their pain, charged towards Yue Fan en masse.
Yue Fan felt the pressure increase and his body twisted constantly as he swung the wooden staff faster and faster, creating an impenetrable wall of wood that kept the attackers at bay. But this intense attack quickly drained his strength. After a while, he felt his arms and legs becoming heavier, his chest heaving, his breathing speeding up, and sweat pouring down like raindrops.
"No!" Yue Fan inwardly panicked. "I can't keep this up much longer. I must end this quickly... kill the leader to kill the pack!" Suddenly, he changed his attack style. Instead of using the wooden staff defensively and creating an impenetrable wall of wood, he simply swung it in attack mode. Although the attacks were simple, they were incredibly fast, with each swing being several times faster than before.
Without using the wooden staff for defense, in order to keep Xiaoyaer safe, Yue Fan had to rely solely on his hands and body to protect her.
He received several blows shortly thereafter; his head was struck and blood ran down his cheek, staining his chest and making him look somewhat fierce. Xiaoyaer's eyes widened in horror as she looked around, but all she could do was cling tightly to Yue Fan's back so he wouldn't worry about her.
Yue Fan may have been injured, but the effect of his attack was evident. Since most of the bodyguards were afraid they would escape, they were blocking the exit of the inner courtyard while only three or four were surrounding him. Yue Fan focused his attack on these few men. Before they could react, he had knocked them all down one by one.
The gap in their formation had opened up, and before they could close in on him again, Yue Fan took a powerful kick with his left foot and leaped out of their encirclement, holding the wooden staff in his hand as he charged towards the main hall where Zhao Tianhua was sitting.
This sudden change made Zhao Tianhua and the shopkeeper Qian panic and want to run away. The shopkeeper Qian kept backing away. However, Zhao Tianhua seemed to suddenly think of something and regained his previous demeanor, and his eyes were filled with mocking laughter.
Seeing the change of Zhao Tianhua's expression, Yue Fan suddenly felt alert, as if he was being watched by wild animals.
"No good!"
When he was only one step away from Zhao Tianhua, a strong sense of anxiety made Yue Fan change his decision. He stretched his right foot forward and stepped hard, turned his body sharply, and suddenly rushed towards the money shopkeeper, almost throwing Xiao Ya'er out. Even so, Yue Fan was still uneasy, and he habitually turned his head to look back. To his surprise, a long white vapor came rushing towards him, and in the blink of an eye, it was right in front of him, and the target was Xiao Ya'er.
The sudden change made Yue Fan's hair stand on end. With his hunter's instinct, he was sure that if he was hit by this slender white gas, Xiaoya would surely die.
"Yow-hoo!"
The roar echoed throughout the hall, and Yue Fan grabbed the bearskin on his right shoulder and pushed hard against the long white vapor.
"Pong..."
With a loud bang, the bearskin was instantly shattered into pieces, which scattered in all directions. At the same time, Yue Fan was also thrown out, landing right in front of the money shopkeeper, spitting out blood and with his left hand bloody.
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At this moment, Yue Fan knew that the meridians in his left hand had been broken, and his internal organs had also been injured, but... he couldn't fall down now, not now!
Yue Fan endured the pain in his body and rolled over and climbed up. Xiao Ya also groaned in pain, but her hands and feet still clung to Yue Fan's body, not letting go.
Seeing the blood-covered and ferocious appearance of Yue Fan in front of him, the money shopkeeper was terrified. He wanted to run, but his entire body felt drained of energy, and his legs kept trembling.
Taking this opportunity, Yue Fan instantly slid behind the money shopkeeper, dropped the wooden stick, and raised his right hand to firmly squeeze the money shopkeeper's throat and said, "Don't any of you come up, or I'll snap his neck."
Sure enough, the inner courtyard became extremely quiet, and all that could be heard was the sound of blood dripping from Yue Fan's left hand onto the ground.
"Tick-tock... Tick-tock..."
Upon hearing Yue Fan's blood dripping, Xiao Ya'er immediately jumped off Yue Fan's body, bit into a piece of her own cloth with her teeth, ripped it off, and skillfully wrapped it around Yue Fan's left hand wound.
Zhao Tianhua looked at the shredded pieces of black bear skin on the ground in a daze, feeling a surge of anger in his heart: "I went through so much trouble, but ended up with nothing. If it weren't for the wind master's intervention just now, the person who might have ended up in trouble would be me." As he watched Xiao Ya'er wrap up Yue Fan's wound, he became increasingly angry and shouted, "What are you all gawking at? Go up there and take him down."
"Don't come closer," Yue Fan clenched his hand tightly and choked Qian Zong.
Seeing their shopkeeper in someone else's hands, these guards didn't dare to act rashly for fear of any harm coming to their boss, but they were even more afraid of incurring the wrath of the second young master. So they all looked at each other, feeling conflicted and unsure of what to do.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Tianhua became even more enraged: "You all go up there! Whatever happens... I'll take the blame." Just as he was about to shout again, he was interrupted by a strong and aged voice: "Tianhua, forget it. Don't make things difficult for them. Let me handle this." With these words, a man in a red robe emerged from the back hall.
This old man was one of the four elders of the Zhao family, Feng Changwan. He had been raised at a Shaolin Temple and had practiced iron head Kung Fu, giving him a distinctive appearance with a prominent forehead compared to ordinary people.
After killing too many people while wandering the martial arts world and being expelled from Shaolin, he had become a top martial arts expert in his thirties. However, due to being pursued by enemies and on the brink of death, he was saved by Zhao Jin'er, who was not yet the head of the Zhao family at that time. In order to repay Zhao Jin'er's life-saving favor, and also tired of leading a nomadic life, Feng Changwan decided to stay and help Zhao Jin'er.
Feng Changwan had been with Zhao Jin'er for over thirty years. With the support of Zhao family's vast wealth and resources, Feng Changwan had already taken one step towards the threshold of the transcendent realm and was loyal to the Zhao family. Plus, he had watched over Zhao Tianhua since he was young, so the task of protecting him had been entrusted to him.
Upon seeing Feng Changwan emerge, Zhao Tianhua lost his previous arrogance and became more humble, saying respectfully, "Please have a seat, Master Feng. This will be handled by you." With that, he stepped aside.
After finishing wrapping up Yue Fan's wound, Xiao Ya'er hid behind him again. Upon hearing someone emerge, she peeked out with her small head and sparkling eyes to take a look.
After sitting down, Feng Changwan took a look at Yue Fan and then at the little girl behind him with a smile on his face and said, "The young man is quite good; he has courage and strategy. And look at you; you haven't practiced any internal martial arts before, but you were able to evade my sword energy. That's rare." After a pause, he added with a tinge of regret, "Unfortunately, actually you completely evaded my sword energy just now, but you used your bare hands to block it in order to save that little girl. Although your current injury isn't as severe as I imagined, I think your left meridians have already been damaged. In the future, you won't be able to hold anything..."
Hum! Yue Fan said coldly, "What do you want?"
Feng Changang said lightly, "Actually, with your injuries, even if I didn't attack, it would be impossible for you to lead this little guy out of here.
Looking at Yue Fan's resolute expression, Feng Changyuan continued, "Although you have a hostage, you are not a member of the Jianghu, and it is impossible for you to kill someone just because you want to.
Yes, Yue Fan hasn't killed anyone and doesn't want to kill anyone, after all, he's just an ordinary hunter. But now...
Yue Fan's face showed no emotion, and his voice remained cold: "I have never thought of killing anyone, so don't force me... I still want to live a good life, and for that, I can kill!"
Wind Irregularity was surprised that a person who was seriously injured and surrounded could be so calm. He nodded and said, "Young man, you are not a member of the Jianghu, so I can give you a chance. You can use any weapon you want, as long as you can force me to leave this chair within ten strokes. If you win, you can naturally leave here. " He stroked the chair handle and continued, "If you lose, you have to promise to do three things for me. How about it? Of course, for the sake of fairness, I will only defend myself and not attack. Whether you can force me to retreat depends on your ability.
Its...
Actually, this battle is not fair at all. After all, Feng Changyang has already stepped into the threshold of the congenital realm, and there are not many people who can compete with him, let alone ordinary hunters like Li Yuefan.
What is the innate state? The innate state represents the peak of martial arts, which is the realm that many people in the martial arts world dream of reaching. Few martial artists can reach the innate state. Those who can are all respected in the Jianghu, whether they are leaders of a sect, senior advisors, or famous martial artists.
People in the Jianghu are often divided into five levels, with the lowest being non-elite, followed by second-rate martial arts, and only the first-rate ones can be called experts. The next level up are first-rate experts and innate experts. Although there is only one level difference between the first-rate experts and the innate experts, it is a difficult gap to overcome, and there are also different levels of innate experts.
Of course, Yue Fan didn't know these common knowledge in the Jianghu. However, even if he knew the power of the old man, he wouldn't be afraid of him. So he coldly said, "Let's fight." He released the money shopkeeper, rolled up the wooden stick on the ground with his feet, and rushed towards Feng Wuchang.
Yue Fan held a stick in one hand and suddenly swung it towards Feng Changyuan, sending a loud "hoo-hoo" sound through the air.
However, Feng Changyang's expression remained calm, and without even looking at the wooden stick that Yue Fan was swinging, he raised his left hand and gently blocked it. With a loud bang, Yue Fan was thrown back a few steps, but Feng Changyang remained seated, unmoved.