ragginovel Chapter 567 Performance (Part 1)
Chapter 567 Performance (Part 1)
Chapter 567 Performance (Part 1)
Kunduli's every move was undoubtedly being observed by Sun Yixie.
But Brother Sun wasn't in a hurry. He knew that in situations like this, it was better to stay calm, because you couldn't tell whether the other person was just angry and wanted to chop you up, or if they were so ashamed and indignant that they wanted to commit suicide... So it was better to observe the situation carefully first.
If it's suicide, that's easy. Just wait until the knife is about to slit his neck, then step forward and stop him, and then pretend to be a hero showing respect for another hero. That way, the other person can save face.
If the opponent is in a hurry and wants to attack, then you have to hold back a bit... at least let the opponent have two or three moves before you can counterattack.
That way, no matter how badly the other person gets beaten up afterwards, you can say that you were "forced to take action," thus avoiding giving others grounds for criticism.
As expected, Kunduli panicked. He drew his sword, turned around, and without thinking, slashed at Sun Yixie.
From Kunduli's perspective, he didn't need to consider as many things as Sun Yixie did.
After all, he was Yibula's favorite general. Even if he impulsively killed one of his soldiers for reasons completely unreasonable, such as indulging in wine, women, money, and anger, Yibula would most likely only give him a symbolic punishment and say a few polite words like "let him live for now" or "atone for his crime through meritorious service." Then no one would mention the matter again.
As for Sun Yixie, an "outsider" whom Yibula felt it didn't matter if he escaped, and who wasn't even a soldier but just a servant, he would definitely have no recourse if he were killed.
"General, this is embarrassing." Facing the blade swinging towards him, Sun Yixie strolled leisurely, dodging while continuing to mock, "It's just a wrestling match. Losing is no big deal, but being unable to accept defeat is shameful."
"Ah—" Meanwhile, Kunduli had basically lost his mind after being humiliated by Sun Yixie's repeated insults.
Of course, even if he still had his senses, he was in the wrong and couldn't argue back, so at this moment he only had one thought in his mind: to quickly kill this kid and shut him up.
Sun Yixie was also quite shrewd, giving his opponent a full ten moves before launching his counterattack.
Kunduli was also in a bloodthirsty frenzy. After ten moves, he hadn't even managed to injure his opponent. He hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation yet. When he made his eleventh move, Sun Yixie easily dodged it and then stomped hard on Kunduli's toes.
The next second, Kunduli let out a scream of pain, stumbled, dropped his single-edged sword, and fell to his knees.
Seizing the opportunity, Sun Yixie once again circled around from behind and slapped the other person across the back.
As we mentioned earlier... Kunduli is shirtless right now.
Originally, what he did had nothing to do with the rules of wrestling; it was purely to show off (although it was only early winter, the temperature in the Badaling area was already quite low), so that his men could see his strong physique, which allowed him to withstand the cold even after drinking a little alcohol.
But right now, this move has landed him in serious trouble.
The slap Sun Yixie delivered at this moment was neither a push nor a shove, but a "whipping" attack similar to a whip. Unlike common palm techniques that aim to "injure the opponent's muscles, bones, and internal organs," this attack targeted... the opponent's skin, and its purpose was clear: to cause pain.
So just how painful is it?
To put it simply, this slap knocked out Kunduli, a man of superhuman strength and bear-like build, on the spot.
You might ask how serious the injury is, but it's not serious at all. It's just a big red mark on my back with some subcutaneous bleeding. It will heal in a while and isn't a permanent injury.
The excruciating pain that exploded from the skin the moment it was hit was truly indescribable; even a whip dipped in chili water might not be able to deliver the pain of Sun Yixie's slap.
"General! General!"
"You bastard! You're incredibly audacious, you handyman!"
"Brothers, let's all charge in and take him down!"
As soon as Kunduli fainted, the scene immediately erupted in chaos. Those who had been wrestling with Kunduli and watching the commotion were his closest soldiers. Seeing that their boss had been humiliated and then knocked down by Sun Yixie, how could they let this errand boy off the hook?
A moment later, the soldiers around the earthen circle, their emotions running high, swarmed forward, ready to use their numerical advantage to pin Sun Yixie down and give him a good beating first.
Please note, everyone, they only want to "capture" and "beat" them, but they have no intention of "killing" them.
These veterans all understood that countless eyes had witnessed the entire incident, and Kunduli was completely in the wrong. Therefore, even their tendency to "support their own side regardless of the truth" had to be tempered.
After all, these rank-and-file soldiers are no match for Kundul. If they kill someone in the military camp, even if it's just a menial servant, they will be dealt with according to military law.
Therefore, all these soldiers tacitly chose to rush towards Sun Yixie with their bare hands, and no one used a knife or gun.
But this is clearly not enough to deal with Brother Sun...
In the blink of an eye, Sun Yixie suddenly sprang up, leaping and darting about in the crowd like a mad monkey, emitting sharp and strange cries.
While the surrounding soldiers were stunned by this unprecedented action, Sun Yixie had already knocked down two people with three punches on the east side and kicked three people with two kicks on the west side... He broke through the encirclement with a series of extremely efficient striking techniques (mainly attacking people's throats and knees).
"That handyman's gone mad!"
"Don't let him get away!"
Now, the commotion spread to a wider area, even attracting the attention of soldiers who hadn't been paying attention to the wrestling.
Just as things were about to escalate, a loud shout came at the opportune moment.
"Stop everyone!"
Everyone could tell that it was the voice of the commander-in-chief of this military camp—Yibula.
As soon as these words were spoken, the Yuan soldiers fell silent. They stopped chasing and shouting, and all of them stood at attention obediently. Even those who had been injured and fallen to the ground tried their best to get up and stand at attention.
Since that was the case, Sun Yixie no longer needed to run away, and he stopped and stood still.
Before long, Yibula appeared with several guards. He didn't even glance at Sun Yixie before passing by him and heading straight for the earthen circle not far away.
"How is he? Is he still alive?" Yibula asked a soldier as he approached the earthen enclosure.
The soldier understood that the commander was asking about Kunduli's condition, so he immediately bowed his head and reported, "Commander, the general was just knocked unconscious, but... he is still breathing."
Upon hearing this, Yibula also took a closer look. After confirming that Kunduli's body was indeed still heaving, he first sighed, and then ordered the soldiers next to him, "You guys, carry him back to the camp and take care of him."
"Yes, Commander." Upon receiving the order, the soldiers quickly carried Kunduli away.
Then, Yibula slowly turned around and shouted again, "What are you all still standing there looking at? Don't you have anything to do? Want to practice more?"
As soon as he said this, the soldiers around him felt as if they had been granted a pardon. They knew that the commander-in-chief had shown mercy and would not pursue the matter, so they quickly scattered like birds and beasts.
Only Sun Yixie remained; he still hadn't left.
“General, I…” When Yibula passed by him again, Sun Yixie clasped his hands in a fist and opened his mouth to speak.
But Yibula interrupted him directly, saying, "Do you know... that once you've incurred the wrath of the masses, it's very difficult to gain a foothold in the military?" He paused, "Even if you're very capable, it's very difficult for me to promote someone who has defied orders, do you understand?"
Upon hearing this, Sun Yixie thought it made sense, so he immediately put on a very sincere expression: "General! I was too impatient. I am not willing to be just a lowly soldier doing odd jobs. I hope you will give me another chance. I will definitely do my best!"
"Hmph..." Upon hearing this, Yibula snorted coldly, turned around with a half-smile, and left with only one sentence before leaving: "Then I'll wait and see what your 'performance' is."
…………
On the other hand, the Ming army camp.
These past two days, Huang Donglai has been treated much better than Sun Yixie.
Although Feng Manlou did not send troops to raid the camp at his instigation, he did not mistreat him. He was only nominally kept as a guest, but in reality, he was placed under house arrest.
Huang Donglai did not express any dissatisfaction with this, because he understood that someone like Feng Manlou would never act rashly based on just a few words from a stranger unless absolutely necessary.
Therefore, regardless of what Huang Donglai said the night before last, and regardless of whether Feng Manlou's first impression of him was credible or not, Feng Manlou would definitely have to investigate and verify it through a third party before taking any further action.
Fortunately, the matter didn't drag on for too long. That afternoon, Feng Manlou sent someone to summon Huang Dong again.
A moment later, Huang Donglai arrived at Feng Manlou's tent once again, but this time, there was another person there besides Feng Manlou.
"Eh? You are..."
"It is you……"
After Huang Donglai entered the tent, he and Fa Ning, who was sitting next to Feng Manlou, exchanged glances and recognized each other. Both of them blurted out the same few words.
This scene, witnessed by Feng Manlou, reassured him considerably.
"Oh? So we know each other?" Feng Manlou said this to Faning.
The way he looked at Faning and the tone of his voice when he said those words showed that he and Faning were old acquaintances.
So how did they meet?
It's actually quite simple—Fa Ning was arrested by Feng Manlou many years ago.
As we mentioned in the previous article, Faning is a well-known broker in both the legitimate and criminal worlds. Whether it's weapons, martial arts, intelligence, or anything else you want to do, he can "get a run for you" and his success rate is not low.
It's quite normal for someone like him to occasionally travel outside the Great Wall, which is why he had a record of being arrested by Feng Manlou for "smuggling" many years ago.
Of course, Feng Manlou didn't make things difficult for him: firstly, Fa Ning basically only did business with people from the Jianghu and the Green Forest, and his business didn't rise to the level of endangering national stability; secondly, Feng Manlou himself wanted to make good use of this capable broker.
Therefore, Feng Manlou not only secretly released Faning, but also entrusted him with the task of acquiring several fine horses and some intelligence.
Over time, the two gradually developed a friendship.
It's quite a coincidence that Feng Manlou sent one of his men back to the interior to find an intelligence dealer in order to investigate Huang Donglai. It just so happens that Fa Ning has been active in the surrounding area these past few days, so he was invited here.
You could say that Fan Ning knows Huang Donglai... well, you could say she does.
Last time, Faning met Yu Jianli at Xinghuilou to discuss business. By chance, he met Sun and Huang, and the three of them had a brief encounter and a meal together.
But... we're not that close.
Upon hearing Feng Manlou's tentative "So we know each other," Faning's mind immediately began to race, trying to figure out what was going on and which side he should "stand on."
"Ah...I know him...I do know him." This shrewd and calculating person always speaks so ambiguously. "But I wonder how this fellow ended up in Brother Feng's camp?"
Faning's words left room for maneuver. If Feng Manlou were to say something about fighting Huang Donglai to the death, Faning could immediately say that he was not familiar with the man.
"You're asking me that?" Feng Manlou retorted. "Aren't you two in the same line of work? What do you think he's doing here?"
Here, Feng Manlou was somewhat misled by himself. Two days ago, Huang Donglai claimed that he had come to the Northeast to smuggle horses, which overlapped with what Faning was doing. In addition, the two of them revealed that they knew each other as soon as they met, so Feng Manlou took the opportunity to conclude that Huang Donglai's words were true.
"Oh...oh~" To be honest, Fa Ning's mind is really quick. As soon as he heard Feng Manlou's tone and saw Huang Donglai's expression, he immediately guessed about 70-80% of the situation.
Faning was already calculating in his mind: As the saying goes, there is no greater merit than saving the emperor, and no more insidious scheme than cutting off food supplies. Both Young Master Huang and Young Master Sun have saved the emperor and are "meritorious ministers who have protected the country" appointed by the emperor. Their loyalty to Da Ming is beyond question. General Feng's patriotism is also evident to the sun and moon, and there is no doubt about it... However, Young Master Huang has obviously lied to General Feng about his identity or purpose for coming here. He must have his reasons or difficulties. Perhaps there is a problem with General Feng, or it may be for some other reason... In any case, I should help him smooth things over here so that everyone can save face. Other matters can be investigated separately with these two afterwards.
Thinking of this, Faning smiled and turned to Huang Donglai, saying, "Hehe... I understand now. You got caught by Brother Feng for messing around with things, didn't you?" As he spoke, he tilted his head and drawled, "I told you... things are different these days. There are frequent battles here. Aren't you just causing trouble for Brother Feng?"
"Sigh..." Huang Donglai saw that the other party was so cooperative, so he immediately took the opportunity to back down. "I was also hesitant at first, but Brother Sun insisted on coming, so I came with him. As expected, something happened... The night before last, we encountered the Yuan army. Brother Sun was captured on the spot, but I escaped because of my good lightness skills. So... I escaped to General Feng's place."
Huang Donglai briefly recounted some of the events that had occurred to Faning in a complaining tone, so that the other party could better continue to cover up his lie.
"Hey~ I knew it, that kid surnamed Sun is even crazier than you, like something he would do." Faning was indeed right.
"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Feng Manlou looked at Faning and interjected, "You know his good brother surnamed Sun too?"
“Yes, I know them,” Faning said without hesitation. “Don’t let their youth fool you, they’re both veterans in this line of work. This kid surnamed Huang, he’s known in the underworld as ‘The Mad Dog of the Scrap Dealers,’ his incredible agility is all from running errands for people; and his brother, Xiao Sun, he’s been faking accidents around the vegetable market area for ages, nicknamed ‘The Lying-Down Dragon,’ everyone avoids him…”
Ladies and gentlemen, this is how you lie: not only are the details plentiful, but you also make sure the other person can't understand it, so that they easily lose the patience to investigate further.
"Alright, alright, stop introducing yourself. I'm too lazy to listen to your sordid affairs." Feng Manlou was indeed impatient. "If I'm not mistaken, the so-called 'Hun Yuan Interstellar Gate' is just a small gang that the two of them set up themselves?"
"Hey! What sect or whatever, there are fewer than ten people in total." The next second, Faning immediately followed up on Feng Manlou's words, "If it were a real major sect, how could you not have heard of it?"
“That makes sense.” Feng Manlou nodded. “Alright, since Fa Ning can prove your identity, that makes things easier. Let’s start…”
As he finished speaking, a soldier suddenly rushed in from outside the tent to report: "Reporting—General, there are Yuan troops coming to challenge us outside the camp!"
(End of this chapter)