“You cheated?” Zhang Dabiao glared at the bearded man in front of him.
His right hand, which had attacked the bearded man, was trembling uncontrollably. It was a bloody mess, and blood was dripping down.
“Don’t you understand the principle that all’s fair in war? I never said you couldn’t use a weapon; you just chose not to.” The bearded man sneered. As soon as he finished speaking, he attacked again with his fists.
Although the bearded man’s physique appeared clumsy, the speed of his punches was exceptionally swift. After Zhang Dabiao suffered a disadvantage, he simply exchanged a few words and then lunged forward again. If this punch landed squarely, he would either die or suffer a severe concussion.
Just as I was hesitating whether to secretly help Zhang Dabiao by casting a Sky Speed Seal on him, I heard him roar.
“Good timing…”
Clang—
A crisp sound of a weapon being drawn echoed, followed by a flash of cold light. The bearded man stumbled back several steps, his face filled with terror. He pointed at Zhang Dabiao, unable to speak.
Everything happened too quickly, completely exceeding everyone’s expectations.
My heart sank. Would Brother Zhang kill someone? If he really killed someone, things would become difficult. Killing someone in broad daylight, even in the deep mountains, would eventually lead to endless trouble, as one had to make a living in the outside world.
“Oh no, Old Zhang, you’ve gotten yourself into trouble… What am I supposed to say!” Wang Defa’s face turned pale. After spending some time together, their bond had grown beyond that of ordinary friends, so seeing this scene, he was anxiously stomping his feet.
The men who were with the bearded man’s expression immediately turned grim upon seeing him injured. One of them even drew a pistol and pointed it directly at Zhang Dabiao.
“Kid, I advise you not to point a gun at me, or you’ll never be able to handle a gun again.” Zhang Dabiao said with half-closed eyes, his tone casual.
“It was just a spar, and you actually drew a blade to kill someone. Don’t you know that murder is punishable by death?”
“You’re finished. How dare you kill our man? Just wait and see how our captain deals with you.”
“I’m going to report to the captain…”
The men around the bearded man were clamoring, some suggesting Zhang Dabiao be executed on the spot, others proposing he be captured and interrogated. In short, there were all sorts of voices, but no one cared whether the bearded man was dead or injured.
“I’m not dead yet, why are you all making such a racket?” The bearded man’s roar stunned everyone around him. They had only heard the sound of the weapon being drawn and him retreating step by step, assuming he was already dead. To their surprise, he was still alive.
The bearded man tore off his clothes. He was wearing a vest similar to ancient armor, covered with iron studs of various sizes. From his chest to his abdomen, there was a long cut on the armor. The cut was smooth but showed no blood.
“Thank you for showing mercy. May I ask for your name?” The bearded man clasped his hands in a traditional bow.
“Zhang Dabiao!”
“Northeastern Monster Hunter Zhang Dabiao?” The bearded man’s eyes widened, and he said excitedly, “No wonder your blade speed is so fast, and it could cut through the steel armor I forged from refined steel. I’m impressed…” He paused and then asked, “May I have a look at your blade?”
Zhang Dabiao hesitated for a moment, then nodded and handed over his blade. The bearded man wiped his hands on his pants before taking the blade with both hands.
As soon as the blade was in his grasp, the bearded man’s body lowered slightly, and he took a step forward, as if what he held was not a blade but a pair of barbells weighing over a hundred pounds.
“So heavy.”
The bearded man swung the blade a couple of times, declared it a good blade, and returned it to Zhang Dabiao, introducing himself.
“My name is Wang Tie, and people call me Fatty Tie. We’ve become acquainted through this fight. Let’s chat later and discuss how your blade managed to cut through my refined steel armor.” As he mentioned the armor, the bearded man’s face twitched, seeming somewhat pained.
“No need for discussion. I don’t like others getting close to my belongings without my permission…”
“This was an accident. My subordinates said the area had a heavy yin energy, so we prepared to investigate for safety. Now that the misunderstanding is cleared, we won’t be going there.” Wang Tie said with a smile, completely devoid of his previous aggressive demeanor, as if he wasn’t the one who had been arrogant and overbearing earlier.
Zhang Dabiao nodded in agreement and turned to leave without saying another word, leaving a cool silhouette behind.
Ignoring the bearded man’s drastic change in expression, I quickly caught up with Zhang Dabiao. Before I could get close, he said, “Younger brother, give me a hand.”
I was stunned for a moment and quickly moved to his side, slinging my right arm over my shoulder. From behind, it looked like two brothers chatting arm in arm.
I felt Zhang Dabiao’s body sink, and most of his weight pressed down on me.
“Injured?”
“Yes! Just a minor injury. I didn’t expect his iron turtle shell to be so tough. I was injured by the recoil force to my internal organs. I’ll be fine after a night’s rest.”
Zhang Dabiao said it lightly, but I could feel his body trembling, unsure of the pain he was enduring. After entering the tent, Zhang Dabiao could no longer hold back and spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Brother Zhang, you…”
“It’s nothing. I was suppressing it earlier, and I feel much better after spitting it out.” Zhang Dabiao waved his hand, signaling me not to worry.
Seeing that his complexion hadn’t changed much and seemed even better than before, I finally relaxed the tension in my heart and asked what had happened during the spar. I had clearly had the upper hand, so how did I suddenly seem to have suffered a disadvantage?
“It’s because I was too eager. I suffered a loss with my fists, so I wanted to regain the advantage with my blade. Who knew this guy was wearing refined steel armor? I originally intended to just scratch his skin, but I ended up hitting a large rock…”
As soon as he explained, I understood what had happened. Simply put, you think a stone is heavy, so you subconsciously use great force to pick it up. But if the stone turns out to be lighter than an egg, using too much force will cause you to fall.
Zhang Dabiao was the same. He didn’t intend to kill, only to injure his opponent and force him to concede. However, he didn’t injure the other person and was instead injured by the recoil force. In the end, he had to use all his strength to break through the armor.
Knowing the cause and effect, I began to blame Zhang Dabiao, “Brother Zhang, what can I say about you! You’re not young anymore, and you’re still so impulsive? If you’re really injured, how will I explain it to your wife when I get back?”
“Heh heh… I didn’t think that far ahead at the time, did I?” Zhang Dabiao scratched his head awkwardly.
“You… forget it, I won’t say anything more. I’ll go check on her. It’s been a whole day, and there’s been no movement. You rest well.”
“Okay, go ahead!”
After leaving the tent, I headed straight for the SUV. Before I could get close, I felt something was wrong.
I had set up a Yin Gathering Array around the car. Logically, there should have been a strong yin energy. Now, not only was there no yin energy, but there was also a considerable amount of yang energy.
“Bad, something has happened…”