Chapter 204
Book 18 Chapter 10 – Repaying Enmity With Kindness
Within Lao Ai’s faction, there are some differences between those personally recruited by Lao Ai and those who are under the banner of the Weinan Martial Arts School.
They had existed before Lao Ai and have been a reputable organization within Qin.
Qiu Risheng has to work with Lao Ai because he had offended Lu Buwei. With the downfall of Lord Yangquan, they have to close down and stay hidden for some time. In actual fact, they are a force worth reckoning with and they maintain close ties with the Qin military.
In an agreement with mutual benefits, they relied on Lao Ai’s backing to reopen their martial arts school and Lao Ai’s influence grew tremendously because of their connections.
This is only a win-win partners.h.i.+p without a dominant party.
They have long planned for Guoxin to come out and fight to regain the former glory of the martial arts school but even Lao Ai has been kept in the dark until the last moment.
Xiang Shaolong managed to deduce all these just by observing the different expressions of Lao Ai and Qiu Risheng.
Lu Buwei saw that Guoxin is so insistent on fighting somebody and a.s.sumed that it will be against another member of his family warriors. He was secretly glad and no matter what, he will send out Xu Shang whose sword skill is almost as good as Guan Zhongxie. Xu Shang will definitely emerge victorious and at the same time, put down the arrogance of Lao Ai and Qiu Risheng.
Full of enthusiasm, he forgot to seek Zhu Ji and Xiao Pan’s advice. Lu Buwei laughed: "Mister Guo is a worthy hero indeed. May I know who do you want to challenge?" Guoxin bowed again and his eyes swept over the different faces of the guests. His gaze finally resting on Jing Jun’s face, he coldly mentioned: "I wish to seek pointers from a.s.sistant Commander Jing."
The moment he said these words, the crowd erupted into an uproar.
Jing Jun was initially surprised followed by extreme delight. He was about to answer the challenge when an angelic voice called out: "No way, this fight is mine!" Everyone including Guoxin looked at the speaker and was swept off their feet.
The speaker is none other Ji Yanran who beauty is mentioned in the same breath as Qin Qing.
All the guests acknowledged that Ji Yanran is highly skilled but knowledge is just knowledge. It is hard to imagine such a fine and delicate lady can match up to a man in terms of rough fighting.
Guoxin is one of the most prominent swordsmen under Headmaster Qiu Risheng and his fame is quite widespread too. But regardless of Talented Lady’s ability, her stamina and strength would be inferior to Guoxin, causing everyone to be concerned for her.
Jing Jun naturally cannot let his sister in law take this risk. Just as he was about to protest, Teng Yi restrained him.
Guoxin is feeling awkward too and stared blankly at Ji Yanran for some time before commenting with some difficulty: "Ai, Talented Lady Ji is of royal birth and status. I dared not offend you. Hei!"
Xiang Shaolong is not surprised at all with Ji Yanran’s intervention. Two days ago, she had learnt about Guoxin slandering Xiang Shaolong and blew her top, promising to teach Guoxin a lesson. She will definitely not let such an opportunity slip by.
Concurrently, he noticed Zhu Ji staring at Ji Yanran with hatred and jealousy.
All the guests kept quiet and awaited further developments.
Still maintaining her charming and leisurely appearance unlike someone who is preparing for a fight; Ji Yanran smiled sweetly at Xiang Shaolong first and slowly stood up from her seat, taking her time to walk to the centre of the hall.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, people will try to avoid looking straight at her because it is considered rude. Now, everyone is spending every second scrutinizing her and relis.h.i.+ng her peerless beauty.
Ji Yanran first paid her respects to the hosts Xiao Pan, Zhu Ji and Lu Buwei and took off her exquisite outer robe and discarded it on the floor. Beneath her robe is her ultimate voluptuous figure in a body-hugging white warrior suit.
The crowd went wild.
Xiang Shaolong recalled the time when they were pursued by Du Bi. Du Bi had given strict orders for the live capture of Ji Yanran and Xiang Shaolong took this chance to peep at him. Like all others, Du Bi is totally fixated on Ji Yanran. Beside him, Po Hu is looking so hard that his eyeb.a.l.l.s are nearly dropping out of their sockets. In fact, he was salivating.
Xiang Shaolong had a revelation. Regardless of their gender, everyone present is absolutely overwhelmed by Ji Yanran’s grandeur.
In her melodious voice, Ji Yanran warned: "Mister Guo should not underestimate me because of my gender or you will live to regret it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you beforehand. Bring me my spear."
Wu Guang who is in charge of safeguarding the Flying Dragon Spear hurriedly untied the bundle holding the spear.
After his eyes feasted on Ji Yanran’s beauty, Guoxin is mesmerized too and his body became soft. He sighed: "Consider this match to be my loss. There is no way I can bring myself to attack you."
Catching the Flying Dragon Spear thrown to her by Wu Guang, Ji Yanran ignored Guoxin’s remark and began twirling the spear around, creating a trail of spear shadows. She followed up with a series of spear strokes that sent spear flashes everywhere around her ever moving body. After her demonstration, she finally stopped in an attacking pose with the spear horizontally across her chest.
Thunderous cheers erupted from the crowd and even Xiao Pan and Lu Buwei are clapping hard for her.
Guoxin’s face instantly turned serious.
Seeing is believing.
He finally acknowledged that Ji Yanran’s reputation is not undeserved.
The members of the Weinan Martial Arts School including Qiu Risheng exchanged looks of amazement. They had to admit that they would be in a difficult position if they are in the shoes of Guoxin. None of them has any idea on how to overcome such a potent spear skill.
Letting out a long laugh and gaining everyone’s attention in the process, Po Hu addressed: "No matter who is fighting against her, this person will lose for sure. Who in this room will harden his heart to attack Talented Lady Ji with all his might!?" Many people clapped in response, supporting Po Hu’s reasoning.
Without even looking at the conceited Po Hu, Ji Yanran smiled lightly: "If this is the case, I will invite Mister Guo to block ten spear attacks from me. If I failed to defeat you by then, then you are considered the winner."
No one among the guests would want to see her injured but at the same time, everyone wanted to see her formidable skills. The hall began to cheer upon hearing her suggestion.
Teng Yi softly laughed: "Guoxin is in trouble!" Xiang Shaolong nodded in agreement. If he was Guoxin and can only defend without attacking, he will be easily defeated in three strokes.
Before Guoxin has the chance to reply, Xiao Pan icily indicated: "Mister Guo is the one who ask to fight, now that a challenger has appeared, Mister Guo should not shy away. If Mister Guo cannot block the ten spear attacks, you shall be banned for life from holding any official appointments. Mister Guo should know what to do."
Hearing this, Qiu Risheng and his men’s faces changed colour.
People join the Weinan Martial Arts School to be trained and eventually hope to be talent-spotted and promoted to a military post. If Guoxin is banned for life, his future is as good as gone.
Everyone immediately understood that Xiao Pan is angry over Guoxin’s challenge towards Xiang Shaolong’s men. At the same time, they can feel the insufferable dominance of this future Qin s.h.i.+ Huang.
Lao Ai and Zhu Ji exchanged a look and detect each other’s shock and resentment.
Because of Lao Ai, Zhu Ji and Xiao Pan are drifting further and further apart.
This time round, Lao Ai has suffered a big setback. His biggest issue now is neither Lu Buwei nor Xiang Shaolong. If he says he is not bothered by Qiu Risheng and his men, he is lying with his eyes wide open.
All these information and a.n.a.lysis are secretly observed and a.s.similated by Xiang Shaolong who is eyeing them all these time. In the future, he