Martial King's Retired Life

Whack!

“What was that for?”! cried Li Zizi.

“Do you really think you have a chance? I’d like to see you try. I guess provocations don’t tire you out when you’re such an idiot.” While he was chiding Li Zizi, Bu switched places with Li Zizi, taking up the vanguard post. “Do you people really think I have a taboo against killing?”

“What goes around comes around. It’s fair,” answered Night Sparrow.

“You make it sound like you’d dare to kill me.”

“What do you think?” rhetorically asked Night Sparrow.

Since their leader made her intention to pursue violence loud and clear, her nineteen subordinates narrowed the encirclement. Maybe she did give a command that only her subordinates were aware of. In any case, they barely moved in terms of positioning, yet it felt as though they had tripled their numbers. Since Bu knew they leveraged height differences and positioning to create the visual illusion, Bu, unlike his amazed friend, knew an assault was incoming.

“Careful. They’re going to sneak attack us.”

“Argh!”

Before Bu even finished, one of the nineteen members had dropped after attempting to catch them off guard. Bu looked over to see his friend at the end pose of a punch, except he had an expression that screamed, “What just happened?!” There was no time to enlighten his friend, unfortunately, as the next attack was already imminent.

Nine members wielding nine different weapons encroached upon Li Zizi from all sides; nobody paid any heed to Bu. Bu regretted his decision to attempt slipping away because it gave away the fact that he cared about Li Zizi, which the team didn’t hesitate to capitalise on. Their strategy was to subdue Li Zizi as fast as possible, which would’ve then given them time to decide if they were going to use Li Zizi or go with another option.

Night Sparrow locked her piercing gaze onto Bu, ready to strike him down if he dared to make a move. There weren’t many people who could’ve zipped past nineteen others without him being able to get out of the way. In saying that, what made her most dangerous wasn’t her combat prowess but the difficulty of tracking her. If she closed the gap and “marked” her target, it would’ve been extremely difficult to shake her team off down the road. Considering his own circumstances, he couldn’t afford to fall prey to her. Thankfully, Li Zizi performed satisfactorily.

To be candid, Li Zizi didn’t know what happened either. His fighting spirit surged after making up his mind to fight his way out with Bu, which triggered a surge in his true qi that he had to blast out, so he uncorked the punch on the person who tried to sneak up on him. By the time he snapped out of his daze, he was amidst a barrage of attacks.

Although Bu was in the wrong, theft wasn’t a crime severe enough to warrant the death penalty, not to mention that Bu was younger, and they outnumbered him. Hence, as an individual who hated injustice, Li Zizi was mad. Little did he know that they feared Bu many folds more than they feared him. It was impossible to identify all the weapons, let alone dodge that many, so he winged it and did what he could to evade, unknowingly doing exactly what his discipline needed him to do.

As soon as he slipped to a left head slot, Li Zizi grabbed a broadsword whilst landing a kick to one man’s gut. Next, he pushed the flat side of a broadsword away, then vaulted out of the encirclement. It was then that the group deemed Li Zizi no less of a threat than Bu.

Meanwhile, Li Zizi was perplexed over what he did as it felt as though it all occurred without conscious effort. Unfortunately, he was unable to come up with a plausible answer.

Ming Feizhen’s “Mindless Twenty-five Techniques” included his own fundamentals, so in addition to requiring incredible internal energy, it required intellect and fast reactions. Most importantly, though, was the ability to not be mentally rigid. On top of the three big sects’ techniques, the techniques included numerous techniques from League of Assassins and Divine Moon Cults’ syllabuses, equipping Li Zizi with an assortment of skills to get himself out of almost any pickle. The hard part was being flexible while under duress since it went against the grain of having to focus. It was precisely because Li Zizi didn’t know what he was doing, however, that brought out the flow he needed. The technique he used to escape the encirclement was the first technique “Point East. Strike West.” Of course, he only managed to execute it thanks to his Pure Yang True Qi roiling.

Despite not understanding the mechanics, just knowing that his shifu didn’t fool him was enough to motivate Li Zizi after escaping. Instead of running away, he sped back toward the group, unleashing “Summer Plant” fist in his left hand and “Autumn Harvest” palm technique in his right hand. Even though they were heavy strikes, he had to pull them. It went against the grain in martial arts, yet when he entered their formation, he switched the techniques between his hands. The quick switch and change in technique resulted in a halberd wielder absorbing all the damage on his chest. Those who tried to rush to their comrade’s aid couldn’t form an attack due to “Autumn Harvest”.

“Summer Plant” and “Autumn Harvest” contradicted each other, so Li Zizi didn’t have the foggiest idea how to use them in the past. As he was performing them before, he felt that switching them just felt right, and he surprised himself when it was successful.

Li Zizi was always under the assumption that he was naturally strong, ignorant to how much his mother invested in his physical capacity so that he could master any discipline faster and recover from injuries faster than average. Ming Feizhen then fed him unknown pills and trained him in Pure Yang True Qi for a few months, as well as imparted “Mindless Twenty-five Techniques,” so he improved by leaps and bounds since.

After another win, Li Zizi’s fighting spirit rose to new heights, speeding up his Pure Yang True Qi recovery. Charging back into the group, he used “Round” and then “Moist Winter”, going from flexible to a chilly series of palm techniques, allowing him to have a built-in defence to his offence.

Although Li Zizi’s creativity had them astonished, it didn’t turn the tides of the war because whether or not the duo could escape depended on the outcome between Bu and Night Sparrow. Bu knew the strengths and weaknesses between them, so he tried to avoid engagement, lest she figured out his flaws. He had even less reason to rush since his friend had seized the upper hand.

“Your lapdogs don’t impress,” insulted Bu.

Night Sparrow showed no signs of losing her temper.

“You can drop the act. You’re losing a subordinate every moment, while my chances of escape are increasing inversely. I know you’re not as confident as you make it seem.”

“Same goes for you.”

Bu inwardly cursed for he knew that she perceived him to be nothing more than a roaming warrior. It was true that a protracted fight didn’t do him any favours.

After losing another three subordinates, Night Sparrow drew a big black spear befitting of her physique.

“That’s Night Sparrow, the spear that spares none who see it. Watch out.”

Though he deliberately provoked her into striking, Bu didn’t expect her to swing with so much power that it was as if she spawned a wind wall all around. Watching the spear tip closely as his hair billowed in the wind, Bu suddenly shouted, “Show yourself, you cowardly rat!”

Notwithstanding him using very little internal energy, Bu was able to precisely project his voice in a particular direction.

Night Sparrow stopped her thrust five metres away from Bu and then slowly retreated, pulled her spear back, then looked to the roof in the northeast.

“Hahaha, you’re pretty good with ‘Invisible Sword’, kid.” The man had a voice akin to wooden tires grinding on concrete.

Night Sparrow pulled her brows together. “Ghost Cart.”

Ghost Cart didn’t even need three steps to land from the roof. While he wasn’t as physically tall as Night Sparrow, he gave the impression that he was huge due to his hands and feet being almost twice as large as the average human – a sign that he was adept in external martial arts.

“What are you here for?” questioned Night Sparrow.

“Hehehe, I’m here for the same reason you are.”

“I’m honoured.” Bu crossed his arms. “Two of Yingfeng’s four members here at once. I’m truly curious how much Feng Clan paid you to have you wag your tails for them. I’ll offer double their offer, deal?”

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