Chapter 698: Qin Qicheng, the Great Divine Ape
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Wushang was cut off from the outside world and the villagers were extremely united. In the army, these qualities would make for very loyal and obedient subordinates, and on the battlefield, they would be soldiers who could silently work together and cooperate.
Five thousand Wushang Cavalry had come and gone like the wind, and they were fierce in battle, their strength far surpassing the strength of any other soldiers, including the Turkic armored cavalry and the Tibetan highland steeds. Moreover, they worked together as a cohesive whole. If one added to their abilities Wang Chong’s attainments in the art of war, one could easily imagine the might they could display on the battlefield.
What Wang Chong wanted the most was to obtain this kind of strength.
The calamity had still not arrived, so he still had this chance.
While Wang Chong was occupied with his thoughts, the girl up ahead suddenly spoke. “We’re here! The village is just up ahead! I still need to give the wujian grass to Uncle Shisan, so I can only bring you here.”
With these words, she turned back around and charged forward. A group of Wushang villagers had gathered there, and a young man who appeared to be their leader was currently speaking with them.
The girl walked over and began to speak to that leader youth while pointing at Wang Chong’s group. The youth turned to glance at Wang Chong, a harsh light in his eyes, but he quickly turned his head back around and nodded, apparently agreeing with the girl over something.
“Haha, Brother Qi, then I’ll leave everything to you. I’m going first!”
With an excited shout, the girl waved at Wang Chong’s group and then turned in another direction and charged off with the large chest. In a few moments, she had vanished amongst the rocks.
“Get ready. We might have to fight soon!” Wang Chong suddenly said.
“Eh?!”
“But didn’t that girl say that she had finished delivering us?”
Gao Feng and Nie Yan were both flabbergasted. On the way here, they had grown used to the girl opening the path for them, blocking all the potential interceptors. How was it that the moment she left, they immediately had to get ready for combat?
“Don’t worry so much. Just do as I say,” Wang Chong lightly said. With a wave of his sleeve and a faint smile, he began to walk toward the plaza paved with square stones, toward the group of Wushang youths. The journey to Wushang could be considered to have reached its destination.
Wang Chong also knew that the excuse he had given the girl and his chest full of wujian grass had also lost their effectiveness. Moreover, he had run into that particularly observant fellow.
On the other side, the youth that the girl had called Brother Qi walked over.
In contrast to when he was speaking to the girl, Brother Qi now had a much harsher and colder expression.
“Surround them!”
The first thing Brother Qi did was wave his hand and have Wang Chong’s group surrounded. Whoosh! The group of youths at his side suddenly leaped into the air. In an instant, they had completely encircled Wang Chong, Gao Feng, Nie Yan, and the other ten-some guards Wang Chong had brought from the capital.
“Careful!”
Clangclangclang! With a flash of cold steel, Gao Feng, Nie Yan and the other guards quickly surrounded Wang Chong.
‘Brother Qi’ glanced at the weapons in the hands of Gao Feng and the others, his eyes filled with contempt.
“Uncle Jiu and the others said there were outsiders. They were probably talking about you! The chief’s friends… hmph, this excuse can only fool Xiaoyan! We’ve captured a few outsiders recently, so you probably came because of them.”
Brother Qi’s gaze was extremely sharp, and in a glance, he had seen into the hearts of Wang Chong’s group. His words immediately made Gao Feng and Nie Yan pale.
“Hmph, as expected, I’m right. Put down your weapons and wait to be captured, and I might still let you survive. Otherwise, kill them all!”
These last words were spoken to his fellow Wushang villagers.
“You would dare!”
“Do you know not know who our young master is?”
“To dare attack an appointed official of the Imperial Court, this is a capital crime!”
……
Before Wang Chong could say anything, Gao Feng and Nie Yan had already reached their breaking point, with the other guards also showing expressions of rage. Wang Chong was the descendant of ministers and generals, the Young Marquis whose title had been personally conferred by the Sage Emperor. Everyone in the world knew that he was the Son of Heaven’s disciple, his status most revered.
That these people would dare try and kill a noble of the court with barely a word was a naked contempt for the laws of the land.
“Hmph, I don’t know anything about some Imperial Court. I only know that this is our Wushang Village and you’re intruders. You even brought in weapons, so you must be killed!”
As Brother Qi spoke, his eyes turned even colder. He waved his hand, and then with a gust of wind, those bare-chested villagers who had been training on the nearby cliffs began to rush toward the plaza.
They moved with such speed that it took them only a blink of an eye to add to the numbers surrounding Wang Chong’s group.
The faces of Gao Feng and the others went cold while their hearts fumed. With this array of forces, it seemed like the villagers really were intent on attacking. If they had not seen it with their own eyes, they would have never dared to believe that there was any faction in the Central Plains that was so brash and untamed that it would completely disregard the laws and majesty of the Imperial Court.
“That’s enough!”
Just when Gao Feng and Nie Yan were ready to strike, Wang Chong extended a palm and stopped them.
“Let me handle this matter.”
It was widely acknowledged in his last life that the Wushang were an unyielding and forthright people. A wild stallion would never be easy to tame, and this was even more true for the Wushang.
Although Gao Feng and Nie Yan found this hard to accept, for Wang Chong, this was the true appearance of the Wushang.
“Qin Qicheng, you really haven’t changed one bit!”
Wang Chong smiled, and his first words immediately caused the expression of ‘Brother Qi’ to shift.
“Just who are you? How do you know my name?”
Qin Qicheng’s pupils constricted, his face turning grim.
Wang Chong chuckled and said, “Haha, not only do I know that you’re called Qin Qicheng, I even know that you often break the rules of the village and sneak out into the outside world.”
“Speaking nonsense!”
Qin Qicheng instantly paled, the corners of his eyes beginning to twitch. It appeared as if his deepest secrets had been revealed.
“Brothers, seize them!”
Before anyone else could strike, Qin Qicheng pressed his body against the ground and began to shoot forward like a snake. Buzz! Metal began to clatter as a halo emerged from his body. In an instant, he was engulfed in a thick smoke that wrapped around his body and blocked Wang Chong’s vision.
Swishswishswish!
In a flash, a pitch-black palm thrust out of the smoke, dragging countless afterimages behind it. Although it was just a hand of flesh and blood, the five fingers gave off a metallic shriek as the palm thrust through the air, and it seemed like those slender fingers were disgorging a sword that was more than a foot long.
Wang Chong had no doubt that even steel would end up with five new holes if it were stabbed by these fingers.
The Halo of Mists!
The Gloom Hand!
At a glance, Wang Chong had recognized these as two high-class techniques of Wushang Village. The Halo of Mists could obscure the vision of opponents but had no effect on the user’s sight. On the contrary, it would make them faster and more agile.
Meanwhile, the Gloom Hand needed to be used with the Halo of Mists. When it was used, one’s entire hand would turn as black as ink and as sharp as a sword.
With the black mists obscuring the opponent’s vision, it would be easy to give a swift and fatal strike.
Many of Wushang Village’s would-be invaders ended up dying to this combination of techniques. But to Wang Chong, these moves were like the games of a child.
Bang!
With just one kick, Qin Qicheng was sent flying into the air. Boom! He smashed into the ground seven or eight zhang away, the impact sending debris flying.
Bzzt! For a moment, everything was quiet. All the Wushang stared at the domineering figure of Wang Chong with deep shock in their eyes.
Although Qin Qicheng wasn’t the strongest or most formidable person in Wushang Village, amongst his peers, he was definitely one of the more formidable experts. Moreover, it wasn’t like the combination of the Halo of Mists and the Gloom Hand never came away empty-handed, but it had never been like this, where someone had broken it with a single move.
The majority of people would end up being heavily injured or captured before even seeing through the flaws and strengths of this combination.
“Where did Xiaoyan find these people?”
“The Halo of Mists and the Gloom Hand aren’t that easily seen through. This boy is strange.”
“Everyone be careful! Don’t get careless!”
……
The Wushang surrounding Wang Chong’s group now looked at him with completely different eyes. This seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youth with that ever-present smile on his face might have seemed young, but he gave off the feeling that he could see through all their weaknesses.
All the Wushang found this absolutely absurd.
Boom!
Qin Qicheng jumped off the ground and stood up. His eyes were as sharp as a sword as they locked onto Wang Chong.
“Impossible! I don’t believe it! This is all a coincidence! Let’s go again!”
Qin Qicheng gritted his teeth. Wang Chong’s kick had inflamed his anger. With so many people watching, he could not accept such a disgrace.
You still don’t have your future composure.
Wang Chong inwardly smiled.
With a gap of twenty-some years, the current Qin Qicheng had still not obtained the maturity and extreme perception of his future self. He was also missing the calm air of command and ability to plan out strategies that he had obtained through his experiences.
But this Qicheng is more interesting, Wang Chong said to himself.
To see his old friend, who had always been so calm and composed, now young, rashly running around and taking risks, had its own particular flavor.
Boom!
Qin Qicheng had no idea what Wang Chong was thinking. In his eyes, this outsider’s smile only made him angrier and more filled with loathing.
“Divine Ape Art!”
Qin Qicheng stepped forward, and black smoke began to pour out of his acupuncture points. His energy suddenly began to rise, his body to crack. His strength climbed several levels, and he grew even more nimble, agile, swift, yet he also became as heavy as a mountain.
Roar!
With a bellow, Qin Qicheng gathered the smoke at his back, forming it into a black divine ape, more than one zhang tall.