ack down to the ground gently.

“Young Master Linghu!” a man walked into the shack quietly and called out in a whisper.

With a quick glance, Linghu Chong recognized him immediately. It was Zu Qianqiu.

“Senior master Zu! Doctor Ping has just passed away,” he murmured in a mournful voice. But Zu Qianqiu didn’t seem to care much about it, and only whispered to him again.

“Young Master Linghu, I’ve come to ask you for a favor. If anyone asks you about me, would you mind saying that you’ve never met Zu Qianqiu before?”

“Why’s that?” Quite taken aback, Linghu Chong asked.

“It’s really nothing. Only that…only that…er…I’ll see you,” Zu Qianqiu replied.

As soon as Zu Qianqiu walked out of the shack, another man entered. It was Sima Big this time.

“Young Master Linghu, I have this really embarrassing…er…embarrassing favor…well…if anyone asks you who have gathered on top of the Five-Tyrant Ridge, would you please don’t mention my name? I’d really, really appreciate that.”

“Sure, but what for?” Linghu Chong replied.

Sima Big’s face suddenly turned bashful, as if he were a kid who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “That…er…that…,” he murmured haltingly.

“If Linghu Chong is not worthy to be your friend, I certainly dare not to claim kinship,” Linghu Chong said coldly.

At those words, Sima Big’s face turned scarlet, and in the next minute, he was already on his knees, bowing down deeply.

“Young Master Linghu, that’s not how I feel at all. I was only asking you to not mention about my coming to the Five-Tyrant Ridge so I don’t make someone angry. If Young Master is still doubtful, then just forget about what I said. I was just breaking wind.”

“You are been too courteous,” Linghu Chong prodded Sima Big up and said hurriedly. “May I ask you a question, Chieftain? Why is it that your coming to the Five-Tyrant Ridge to see me would make someone angry? If this someone detests Linghu Chong so utterly, he can feel free to come after me, and me only….”

Sima Big shoot his hands disapprovingly at once. “What are you talking about, Young Master?” He grinned. “This someone couldn’t have been more fond of you. Why would there be any ill feelings? Alas, I am so crude, putting my foot in my mouth again. Goodbye, Young Master. Well, in a word, Sima Big likes you very much! If there’s anything you ever need me for, anything at all, just give me a howl, and even if I have to step through water or fire to get there, I’ll be there. If I even show a slight frown, I am a stinking, rotten turtle egg!” He gave a hard smack to his own chest and then strode out of the shack, leaving a very confused Linghu Chong inside, alone.

“It’s unquestionable that he was all sincere about what he said to me,” Linghu Chong thought to himself, “but why is it that his coming to the Five-Tyrant Ridge would make someone angry? Yet, the one who is angry about it not only has no ill feelings about me, but also cared for me very much. This is really weird! If that someone is truly fond of me, he should have been very pleased that I’ve made so many friends.” Suddenly an idea came upon him. “Oh, I got it. This someone must have been a senior master from an orthodox school, that’s why he was very fond of me, yet did not want me to befriend people from the unorthodox sects. Could he be Grand Uncle-Master Feng? But people like that Chieftain Sima are simple and frank. What’s wrong about making friends with them?”

“Young Master Linghu?” Someone cleared his throat and called out in a low voice.

“Chief Huang, come in please,” Linghu Chong replied, recognizing Huang Boliu’s voice.

“Young Master Linghu, several friends wanted me to take a message to you. They had to run in light of some urgent matters that just suddenly arose and didn’t have any time to spare for a proper farewell. They ask for your pardon,” Huang Boliu said after entering the shack.

“That’s no problem,” Linghu Chong replied. And sure enough, the noises from outside had become barely auditable and most of the people probably have already left.

“Well,” Huang Boliu continued hesitantly, “this time, we’ve really rushed our fences. First of all, everybody was a bit curious; and secondly, all just wanted to make up to the…Who would have thought…well, of course, a thin-skinned one naturally wouldn’t want to make this widely known. But we are just a bunch of boors and none had a clue. Besides, Chief Blue is a Miao girl, that….”

Huang Boliu just kept uttering words that did not even hang together, and Linghu Chong found himself bewildered.

“Chief Huang, are you trying to ask me to not mention what happened here on the Five-Tyrant Ridge to anyone?” he finally asked.

“Well, others can deny it, but I am stuck. That’s what you get for being the host. I simply have no choice but to admit that the Heavenly River Faction had entertained Young Master on the Five-Tyrant Ridge.” Huang Boliu let out a few hollow laughs, looking very much embarrassed.

“It’s not like that entertaining me with wine is a crime guilty beyond forgiveness. Be a true man, what’s this denying nonsense?” Linghu Chong grunted.

“Young Master, it’s not like that,” Huang Boliu smiled apologetically. “Alas, I’ve always been a blockhead. If I had asked my daughter-in-law first, or even my granddaughter, we wouldn’t have offended others and still haven’t gotten a clue. Alas, I married my wife when I was seventeen years old. If it weren’t because my wife was so short-lived and died young, I wouldn’t have been so ignorant of a girl’s concern.”

“No wonder Master always says that these people are heterodox,” Linghu Chong thought. “This man is so incoherent. Just to entertain me with wine, he had to talk to his daughter-in-law and his granddaughter first, then he blames his wife for being too short-lived.”

“Well, what’s done is done. I guess there’s only one way out of this. Young Master, would it be all right if you just say that you knew the Old Huang from before and we have been acquaintances for decades? Wait, that’s not right. Would you please just say that our acquaintance can be traced back to eight or nine years back and that you started drinking and gambling with the Old Huang since you were fifteen or sixteen years old?” Huang Boliu continued.

“Didn’t I gamble and drink with you the year I was six? How could you have forgotten? That’s a total of twenty years of acquaintance,” Linghu Chong grinned.

Huang Boliu was taken by surprise, but it didn’t take him long to realize that Linghu Chong was just been sarcastic.

“That’s of course great if Young Master will say so, but…but twenty years ago I was in the business of raiding homes and plundering houses, things one wouldn’t be very proud of. How could Young Master have made fiends with me? Well…that….” Huang Boliu squeezed out a wry smile.

“Chief Huang, your frankness about it just shows that you are as open as the day. I simply must have made you a friends of mine twenty years ago!” Linghu Chong exclaimed.

“Excellent, excellent! Twenty-year long friends we are!” Huang Boliu was ecstatic. After throwing a quick glance back over his shoulder, he whispered, “Please take care, Young Master. You have a very kind heart. Even though you are not feeling well at the moment, I am sure your illness can be cured eventually. Besides, the Holy…Holy…is infinitely resourceful…ouch!” With a loud cry, he suddenly turned on his heels and walked off in big strides.

“What holy…holy…infinitely resourceful? This is so bizarre!” Linghu Chong couldn’t help but think.

Sounds of hoof beats became further and further away, and in the end all the noises died down. After staring blankly at the corpse of Ping One-Finger for some moments, Linghu Chong walked out of the shack and immediately found himself thunderstruck. The ridge was entirely deserted by now; there wasn’t even a shadow anywhere, and all it was left was the utter silence that had swept across everything. He had thought that even though the many people had stopped drinking and some were leaving the ridge, they wouldn’t have all left so abruptly.

“Master! Master-Wife!” he called out, raising his voice, but no one answered. “Second apprentice brother! Third apprentice brother! Little apprentice sister!” he called out again, but still no one answered. Other than the crescent moon shining sideways from a corner of the sky, he was the only one atop the spacious, yet breezeless Five-Tyrant Ridge.

Wine kettles, bowls, and plates scattered all over the ground, moreover, many kinds of hats, cloaks, and capes were littered everywhere. Apparently everyone had left so hastily that they didn’t even have a spare moment to collect their belongings.

Feeling completely bewildered, Linghu Chong thought to himself, “They have left in such a hurry, as though some kind of great scourges were coming this way and they had to flee right away. When I first met them, these people all looked as though they feared nothing in this world at all. Why have they suddenly all turned timid? This is so bizarre! And where on earth have Master, Master-Wife, little apprentice sister and the others gone to? If danger is really coming this way, why didn’t anyone warn me?”

Suddenly, a sensation of dreariness and loneliness rolled over him as he moaned at the thought that even though it was a big world he lived in, yet no one really cared about him or his safety. Just moments ago, there had been crowds of people who lined up to make up to him, but now, even the Master and Master-Wife, who had always been on intimate terms with him, had abandoned him, just the same.

A cold, plunging sensation in his stomach soared, which subsequently triggered the energy streams inside him to suddenly surge up. He swayed, and then collapsed to the ground. A few groans escaped him as he struggled to get back onto his feet vainly, feeling completely feeble in all his limbs. Closing his eyes, he rested for a few moments, and then struggled again to try to get up, but this time he tried too hard – everything seemed to have suddenly faded into a complete darkness as a buzzing sound ringed loudly in his ears. Before he knew it, he had fallen unconscious.

Still in a state of wooziness and completely unaware of how long he had been out cold, Linghu Chong heard the soft strokes of a zither echoing in his ears indistinctly. Little by little, he regained his senses, and the elegant and soothing sounds of the zither play also became clearer and clearer, which put his mind at complete ease. The song was none other than the “Song of Peace and Serenity,” which the granny at Luoyang had played for him before. As soon as Linghu Chong recognized the music, he felt as though he had been drifting in the boundless ocean for days and had suddenly taken in the glimpse of an island in the near distance. Feeling utterly cheerful, he got back onto his feet.

The sound of the music seemed to have come from within the shack made of straws, so Linghu Chong staggered his way toward the shack. The shack door had been shut, and Linghu Chong stopped about six or seven paces from it, thinking, “The sound of the zither could only mean one thing – the granny from the Bamboo-Green Alley in the Luoyang City must have come. Even back in the Luoyang City, she didn’t want me to see her face, how could I just push open the door and enter without her permission?” At that thought, he said with a bow, “Linghu Chong is here to show his respects to the senior master.”

The zither made a few tinkling sounds, as though replying to Linghu Chong, and then resumed playing the song. Linghu Chong felt as though the song had carried much comforting and consoling meanings, which gave him ineffable ease. Realizing that after all, there was at least one person who still cared for him, he found himself washed over by the sentiment of gratitude.

“Someone is playing the zither! Those heterodoxy, evil scoundrels haven’t all left, yet,” a voice suddenly rose from a distance.

“How dare these evil, lewd devils to come to Henan Province and act unruly? Are they stupid enough to think nothing of us?” a resonant voice replied, and after saying these word, he snarled, raising his voice even higher, “What kind of scumbags and slimeballs are you, huh, running wild on the Five-Tyrant Ridge? Give me your names, all of you!” With resourceful inner energy, these words exploded like thunders.

“No wonder Sima Big, Huang Boliu, Zu Qianqiu and the others were scared off at once. There are really master hands from the orthodox schools coming to challenge them,” Linghu Chong thought. But deep in his heart, he couldn’t help thinking that running away like this was not something a true man would have done. “But if the people coming could have scared away so many people, they had to be senior masters with extraordinary martial arts skills. What if they ask me about it? How would I answer? It’s probably better if I don’t let them see me.”

At that thought, he walked hurriedly behind the shack.

“And in regard of the old granny inside the shack, they probably won’t trouble her,” he thought to himself.

By then, the zither inside the shack had stopped playing. Sounds of footsteps rose as three men walked onto the ridge. As soon as they arrived at the top of the ridge, all three uttered a cry of surprise. Obviously none of them had expected to see such a silent and empty scene atop the ridge.

“Where did the scoundrels go?” the man with the thunderous voice asked.

“Obviously, after hearing that the two master hands from the Shaolin School were coming to rid evil, they had all fled, tails between their hind legs,” a man in a soft voice answered.

“Don’t mention it! I say mostly it had something to do with the prestige of brother Tan of the Kunlun School,[2]” another man said with a big smile, and all three broke into loud laughter.

“I see. So two of them are from the Shaolin School, and the third one is from the Kunlun School,” Linghu Chong thought. “The Shaolin School has always been the most reputable school in the Martial World even since the early Tang Dynasty. Just the Shaolin School alone already enjoys a much more renowned name than the entire alliance of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance, and their strength perhaps was stronger as well. And furthermore, the Head Master of the Shaolin School, Abbot Fang-Zheng, is well respected by the entire Martial World. As regard to the Kunlun School, Master mentioned many times before that the sword arts of the Kunlun School fly its own colors and have qualities of both power and speed. When these two schools have joined forces, the combined power can be devastating. Most probably they are only vanguards, and more reinforcement are just on their way. But why did Master and Master-Wife have to avoid them?” Then he thought better of it, “I got it. Master is the Head Master of a reputable orthodox school. It would be embarrassing for him to be seen mixed up with people like Huang Boliu who don’t have a good reputation.”

“Didn’t we just hear someone playing the zither a moment ago? Where is that one hiding then? Brother Xin and Brother Yi, there’s something odd here,” the man named Tan from the Kunlun School spoke again.

“That’s right! Brother Tan, you are so attentive. Let’s search around and ferret him out,” the man with the thunderous voice suggested.

“Senior apprentice brother Xin, I’ll check out that shack over there,” another voice replied.

From these words, Linghu Chong could tell that the man’s surname was Yi, and the man with the thunderous voice had a surname of Xin and was the man’s senior apprentice brother. Then he heard the man named Yin walking toward the shack.

“I am alone by myself. It’s already late at night; it would not have been appropriate manners for a female to greet male visitors,” a clear voice of a female rose from inside the shack.

“She’s a woman,” Xin uttered.

“Was it you who played the zither earlier?” the man named Yi asked.

“That’s right,” the granny answered.

“Why don’t you play a few notes for us?” Yi proposed.

“I did not know you before; how could I play the zither for you, sir?” the granny replied.

“Who cares,” Xin let out a disgruntled snort. “So many excuses. I bet there’s something odd inside the shack. Let’s get in there and find out.”

“What is a woman, alone, doing on the Five-Tyrant Ridge so late at night? Most likely you are of the same kind as those heterodoxy devils. We are coming in for a search,” Yi exclaimed and walked toward the shack door.

“Hold it!” Linghu Chong stepped out from his hiding place and yelled, blocking the entrance to the shack.

Having not expected this at all, the three men were slightly taken aback. But when they saw that it was only a young man, they didn’t care much.

“Who are you, young man? What are you doing hiding so sneakily in the dark?” Xin yelled loudly.

“I am Linghu Chong, an apprentice of the Huashan School. I am here to pay my respects to senior masters of the Shaolin School and the Kunlun School,” Linghu Chong replied, bowing deeply toward the three.

“Oh, you are from the Huashan School. What are you doing here?” Yi let out a snort and inquired.

Linghu Chong glanced at the three men. The man named Xin was not particularly tall, but his chest protruded out like a drum; no wonder he had such a thunderous voice. Another middle-aged man wore the same type of dark reddish brown long robe; then he had to be the one named Yi from the same school. The man named Tan from the Kunlun School carried a sword on his back. With a loose robe with long sleeves, he dressed with negligent grace.

Instead of waiting for Linghu Chong to answer, Yi asked again, “If you say you are an apprentice of an orthodox school, why are you on top of the Five-Tyrant Ridge?”

Ever since Linghu Chong had heard them cursing wildly without a qualm, he had been greatly annoyed. Now when he heard the incivility in the man’s tone, he rebuffed, “The three senior masters are also members of the orthodox schools. Aren’t you on top of the Five-Tyrant Ridge as well?”

“Well said,” the man named Tan laughed. “About this zither playing woman in the shack, do you know who she is?”

“She is an elderly granny with eminent virtues who stands aloof from the worldly affairs,” Linghu Chong replied.

“Nonsense!” Yi reproved. “Listen to her voice. How can she be that old. What granny rubbish!”

“So this granny has a melodious voice. That’s nothing strange! Even her nephew is twenty or thirty years older than you, not mentioning granny herself.” Linghu Chong grinned.

“Move aside! We’ll go in and take a look, ourselves,” Yi demanded, but Linghu Chong stretched his arms and blocked the way.

“Granny has already said it. It’s already late at night, and it would not have been appropriate manners for a female to greet male visitors. She doesn’t know any of you. Why would she want to see you for no reasons?”

Yi suddenly whisked his sleeve, which sent a stream of force sweeping toward Linghu Chong. Having lost all of his inner strength, Linghu Chong had no way of withstanding the strike. Thump, he collapsed down.

Yi did not expect him to have no inner strength at all, and was taken by quite a surprise. “You say you are an apprentice of the Huashan School? I am afraid you are just blowing your own horn!” he sneered and then walked toward the shack, again.

Linghu Chong stood back up, a scratch mark on his face – apparently from the sharp rocks on the ground.

“Granny does not want to see you. How can you be so insolent? Back in the city of Luoyang, I talked with granny for many days and still didn’t get to see her.”

“Hey chap, watch out for your manners. You’d better move aside, or you’ll only end up with another big fall,” Yi said with a menacing grin.

“The Shaolin School is the most reputable orthodox school in the entire Martial World. The two of you must have been elite laymen masters of the Shaolin School. And this one must have been a renowned master of the Kunlun School. But bullying an elderly granny late at night? Aren’t you afraid to become the laughing stock for the entire Martial World?” Linghu Chong asked.

“Where do you find so much rubbish?” Yi bellowed. Suddenly, he shot his left hand out and with a loud smack, slapped Linghu Chong heavily in the left cheek.

Although Linghu Chong had lost all of his inner strength, seeing Yi lowing his right shoulder slightly, he knew immediately that Yi was going to strike him with his left hand. He wanted to dodge out of the way hurriedly, except that his body did not comply, and the strike landed on his face, solid and square. The force sent his body spinning and he fell down once again.

“Junior apprentice brother Yi, this man doesn’t know martial arts. There’s no need to lower yourself to the same level as him. Those evil devils have all ran away. Let’s go!” the man named Xin proposed.

“All the heterodoxy evil devils in the Shandong Province and the Henan Province congregated on top of the Five-Tyrant Ridge all of a sudden, and then dispersed into nowhere so abruptly. The congregation was strange, and the dispersion was also peculiar. We must get to the bottom of it. I think there’s a good chance we’ll be able to find some clues inside that shack,” Yi replied.

Linghu Chong stood up again, a sword now emerging in his grip.

“Senior master Yi, I owe this granny in the shack great favor. As long as I am still breathing, I won’t let you offend her,” he declared firmly.

“With what? Just with the sword in your hand?” Yi burst into loud laughter sarcastically.

“I am a junior with only insignificant skills. How can I ever be a match for an elite fighter of the Shaolin School? However, nothing can weigh more than righteous reasons. If you want to enter the shack, you’ll have to kill me first,” Linghu Chong replied with dignity.

“Junior apprentice brother Yi, this chap certainly has moral integrity. Why don’t we have it his way and just let it go?” Xin urged.

‘I heard that the sword arts of your Huashan School are rather original, and there’s also the break up of the Sword-Branch and the Qi-Branch. Now, do you belong to the Sword-Branch, or the Qi-Branch, or, rather, the Fart-Branch? Ha-ha! Ha-ha!” Yi grinned an evil grin and then broke into a loud laughter. At the sound of his laughter, Xin and Tan also joined him and laughed out loud.

“Use one’s strength to bully the weak, what kind of reputable orthodox schools are you? Did you say that you were members of the Shaolin School? You probably are only boasting!” Linghu Chong spoke again, loud and clear.

Exasperated, Yi raised his right hand and was ready to strike it toward Linghu Chong’s chest. If this strike got launched, for sure Linghu Chong would be killed on the spot.

“Hold it!” Xin stopped Yi from striking out. “Linghu Chong, are you saying that apprentices of a reputable orthodox school can not fight the others?”

“Apprentices of a reputable orthodox school always have legit reasons behind each fight,” Linghu Chong answered.

Yi stretched his palm out slowly. “I’ll count one, two, three. By the time I count to three, if you still don’t move aside, I’ll break three ribs of yours. One!”

“Breaking three ribs of mine? That’s nothing!” Linghu Chong let out a slight smile.

“Two!” Yi counted loudly.

“Little friend, this junior apprentice of mine really put words into deeds. I think you’d better move aside quickly,” Xin suggested.

“But words coming out of my mouth also count. Linghu Chong is not dead, yet. How can I let you insult the granny?” Linghu Chong replied with a smile.

After these words, Linghu Chong knew that Yi’s palm strike would be soon coming. Taking a deep breath secretly, he put all his strength onto his right arm. But the effort immediately brought a violent pain to his chest as thousands of imaginary golden stars started flickering wildly in front of his eyes.

“Three!” Yi snarled and took a step forward with his left foot. Seeing that Linghu Chong had his back leaning against the door plank of the shack, a sneer brewing on the corner of his mouth, having no intention to move aside, Yi struck out with his right palm.

Linghu Chong almost suffocated when the force carried by the strike reached him. He pushed his long sword out, the tip of his sword pointing at the middle of Yi’s palm. The positioning and the timing of the push were simply brilliant! Yi’s palm strike was already fully executed and it was already too late for him to withdraw the strike. A light dull sound and a loud cry of pain echoed as the tip of the long sword penetrated the middle of Yi’s palm. Pulling his palm backward hastily, with another dull sound, he had drawn his hand off the sword tip, but the damage was done. He had inflicted a severe injury. Leaping back dozens of feet, he drew his long sword by his waist with a mixed feeling of shock and fury.

“The damn chap was only acting dumb. So you actually have outstanding Kung Fu. I…I’ll fight you to the end!” he growled.

Xin, Yi, and Tan, all three of them, were experts in sword arts. Seeing that when Linghu Chong pushed his sword put, he wasn’t using any move, and only with his control of the positioning and timing of his sword, he had managed to have his opponent sending his palm onto the tip of the sword of his own accord. His attainments in sword arts had truly reached the highest stage of the realm.

Although Yi was infuriated, he dared not to underestimate Linghu Chong. Holding the long sword in his left hands, he shot out three quick thrusts, all of which were fake attacks to test the opponent. Each of the thrusts only went half way before he drew the sword back.

That night when Linghu Chong had blinded fifteen elite fighters outside of the Buddha of Herb Monastery, even though he had already lost all his inner strength by then, he had still been in a much better shape compared to now. The several ordeals since then had really done him in. By now he almost felt incapable of raising his sword. Seeing the three fake attacks from Yi and how the sword tip vibrated continuously, he knew those must have been superior sword moves of the Shaolin School, which only made him more reluctant of making Yi an enemy.

“I intend absolutely no offense to three senior masters. If the three of you would walk away, I…I will apologize most sincerely.”

“It’s too late to beg for mercy now!” Yi grunted. Thrusting his sword forward in lightning speed, he shot the sword tip toward Linghu Chong’s throat.

Linghu Chong knew too well that with his current weak physical condition, there was not a chance that he would be able to dodge out of this attack. Having no alternatives, he also thrust his sword forward. Even though his thrust was launched after Yi’s thrust, it reached the target earlier. With a thud, the tip of his sword struck Yi on the vital acupoint on his left wrist. Yi opened his palm in pain, and his long sword fell to the ground.

By then, the light of dawn had already appeared from the east. Staring at the drops of blood rolling down his left wrist and then dripping down to the ground, Yi couldn’t even believe his eyes. After a long while, he heaved a deep sigh, turned around, and strode away. The man named Xin never wanted to become enemies of the Huashan School to start with. Now after he witnessed this brilliant and unsurpassed thrust Linghu Chong had just put on display, he knew he wouldn’t even stand a chance fighting Linghu Chong. Concerned about his apprentice brother’s injury, he called out, “Apprentice brother Yi,” and then ran after Yi.

“Are you really an apprentice of the Huashan Sword School?” the man named Tan finally asked after gazing at Linghu Chong for a good while.

“Yes, I am!” Linghu Chong answered as he struggled to maintain his balance on the verge of a total collapse.

Tan could tell that Linghu Chong was suffering from very serious internal injuries. Even though Linghu Chong had showed outstanding sword skills, all he had to do was to wait a few moments more. He didn’t even have to attach, and Linghu Chong would just collapse on his own.

“One injured and one scared away, both elite fighters from the Shaolin School suffered setbacks because of this young man from the Huashan School. If I can knock him down and then seize him, bringing him to the Shaolin Temple, not only would I have done the Shaolin School a great favor, our Kunlun School would also look real good in the central region of the Martial World,” Tan thought inwardly as he took a step forward and then said with a smile.

“Young man, you sword skills are not too shabby at all. How about a contest in the realm of palm and hand techniques between the two of us? What do you say?”

Just a glance at Tan’s face had given Linghu Chong enough idea about what Tan had in his mind. “This man is so deceitful. He is even more detestable than that Yi from the Shaolin School,” he couldn’t help but think. Raising his sword, he stabbed it out toward Tan’s shoulder, but his strength drained out of him so quickly that the stab only traveled halfway before he lost the grip of the sword. “Clank!” His sword fell to the ground.

Tan was almost ecstatic. Wasting no time, he struck out with a powerful palm strike, and the strike landed heavily on Linghu Chong’s chest. Linghu Chong’s body jerked back violently as blood spurted out from mouth. There was only a short space between the two, and the spurt of blood splashed all over Tan’s face, leaving even a few drops inside his mouth. Tan felt the taste of blood inside his mouth, but he didn’t pay much attention to it, and raised his right palm, ready for another palm strike, deeply afraid that Linghu Chong might pick up his sword and launch a counterattack. But suddenly he felt great dizziness, and before he knew it, he had dropped to the ground.

Seeing that Tan had suddenly fainted when he, himself, was at his last gasp, Linghu Chong was taken by total surprise. But at the meanwhile, he couldn’t help feeling very lucky. Tan’s face now showed a sh