Chapter 109: Chapter 104: Mighty on All Sides (Part 2)

At first, he hadn’t even gotten a clear look at his attacker. Only now, with a sideways glance, did he recognize Zhao Lin.

As he shouted, his uninjured hand fished something out from his robes—a bright red, fragrant object that he tossed toward Zhao Lin.

Thinking it was a poisoned hidden weapon, Zhao Lin covered his nose and mouth and sidestepped away. But the object drifted limply, fluttering slowly to the ground.

A closer look revealed it was just a red bodice.

"What the—"

Seizing the opportunity, Yin Hu kicked hard against the ground, scrambled to his feet, and broke into a run toward his quarters.

He knew his sworn brothers were all in the Gold-Splitting Hall, but he was even more aware of Zhao Lin’s speed. He’d never make it there. Better to fall back to his room and defend the door.

Zhao Lin saw through his plan at a glance and had no intention of letting him succeed. With a flicker of movement, he shot forward, closing the distance in an instant.

Staring at the door to his room, now just out of reach, Yin Hu sighed. He halted, spun around, and threw a punch at Zhao Lin.

Zhao Lin swayed and thrust his iron ruler out from an oblique angle.

With one arm useless and the disadvantage of being unarmed, Yin Hu took a heavy blow to the shoulder after only three or five exchanges.

Another seven or eight rounds later, the iron ruler stabbed through his thigh, and blood began to gush out.

One had to admit, the man had a powerful physique and extraordinary fortitude; despite grievous injuries, he remained standing.

In Zhao Lin’s eyes, however, his opponent was a lamb to the slaughter. He could deliver the killing blow at any moment.

’I’ll keep him alive for now. He has another use.’

The bandits in the Gold-Splitting Hall heard the commotion outside. They exchanged glances, asking, "What’s going on out there?"

"Sounds like the Third Boss."

"What’s happened to him?"

"Heh, he’s probably having the time of his life..."

Drilling Mountain Leopard frowned. "Something’s not right about that sound. Everyone, go take a look."

The bandits rushed out of the hall, shocked to see Zhao Lin had beaten Yin Hu black and blue. He was swaying on his feet, clearly on his last legs.

They all thought they were seeing things. ’Isn’t this kid in the Power Realm? How could he do this to the Third Boss?’

Drilling Mountain Leopard, however, was secretly astonished. His train of thought was different from the others’. ’If Zhao Lin isn’t insane, why would he dare come to our mountain killing people?’

’Could he have backup? Did he bring an army?’

"Dammit, you’re asking to die!"

Wang Mazi roared, drew his massive refined steel blade, and led the charge down from above.

Zhao Lin brought his iron ruler crashing down on Yin Hu’s temple.

Yin Hu swayed, lost his footing, and pitched forward.

Zhao Lin launched a vicious flying kick, slamming his foot into the man’s gut and sending his body airborne, hurtling toward the charging Wang Mazi.

At the same moment, he drew a short axe from his belt and hurled it with all his might.

Wang Mazi was about to catch the body when a subconscious glance at Zhao Lin revealed a whistling axe flying right at him. Terrified, he dropped into a roll.

The axe pierced through Yin Hu’s chest with its momentum unchecked, grazed Wang Mazi’s ear, and struck Lu Shuixiang, who was right behind him, squarely in the groin.

"AARGH..."

Lu Shuixiang clutched his groin and fell to the ground, screaming in agony.

Wang Mazi was so enraged he looked fit to burst. He often used this exact tactic—throwing a body—against others. He never imagined Zhao Lin would turn it on him, and he had nearly been hit.

He snatched his refined steel blade from the ground and charged down again. Attacking from a higher elevation, he brought the blade down in a chop that radiated with powerful energy, filling the air with its light.

Judging by the man’s appearance and weapon, Zhao Lin guessed he must be Wang Mazi, Drilling Mountain Leopard’s top enforcer. With a quick shift of his feet, he dodged the blade and flicked his iron ruler upward in a move called "Needle at the Bottom of the Sea," sweeping it toward Wang Mazi’s shin.

Wang Mazi had assumed Zhao Lin only got the upper hand by ambushing Yin Hu during a... private moment. He hadn’t taken the kid seriously at all. Only now did he realize his own arrogance.

Seeing such a tricky move, he hastily threw his body to the side, toppling awkwardly onto one leg in a pathetic display.

Zhao Lin slid forward, sticking to him like a shadow. With a flick of his wrist, he aimed the tip of his iron ruler at Wang Mazi’s throat.

His moment of carelessness had put him in grave danger, and he was kicking himself for it. He barely managed to raise his blade horizontally to block.

CLANG! The weapons met in a shower of sparks.

Wang Mazi staggered back and fell, landing hard on his rear.

"Get him! All at once!"

Seeing this, the Second Boss, Xu Mabang, bellowed the order. He led Song Heiqi and Zheng Ma in a pincer attack from the left and right, swinging their iron clubs.

Zhao Lin felt an immense pressure bearing down on him, like Mount Tai itself. His body blurred. Propelled by a sudden burst of energy from the acupoints on his chest and back, he abruptly shifted three feet to the right and thrust his iron ruler at Zheng Ma.

Zheng Ma, still finding his footing, was terrified by the incoming ruler and instinctively raised his saber to block.

But Zhao Lin’s attack was a feint, meant only to force a defense. His real target was Song Heiqi. He reversed the motion of his iron ruler, flicking it upward straight toward Song Heiqi’s left eye.

Song Heiqi never expected Zhao Lin to bypass two men and appear before him in a single instant. In a moment of desperate inspiration, he executed an "Iron Plate Bridge," throwing his body backward with all his might to narrowly evade the strike.

With a tiger’s roar, Wang Mazi leaped up from the ground and rejoined the fray.

Cold light flashed as figures blurred. In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged a dozen blows.

The four bandits surrounded Zhao Lin, initially confident of their victory. But as the fight wore on, they discovered his movements were not only as fast and elusive as a ghost’s, but he also frequently moved in uncanny, logic-defying ways.

With a single iron ruler, Zhao Lin seemed to fence all four of them in. Each man felt as if he were fighting Zhao Lin one-on-one.

It wasn’t four men ganging up on Zhao Lin; it was Zhao Lin surrounding the four of them.

More and more bandits gathered on the summit. Limited by their perspective and failing to grasp the true situation, they only saw their four leaders surrounding Zhao Lin. Assuming their side had the advantage, they began to cheer and jeer. "You’re dead, kid!"

"To cause trouble on Seven Pillar Peak, you must have a death wish."

"Surrender now, and we’ll leave your body intact..."

The other bandit chieftains, however, saw the truth. But they could do nothing but watch anxiously.

The more powerful a warrior, the more space they needed to fight. The terraced terrain of Black Wind Gap could only accommodate five or six people at once. Any more would just lead to them getting in each other’s way and causing friendly casualties.

A dark look flickered in Drilling Mountain Leopard’s eyes. The four men fighting were, aside from himself, the strongest fighters in the stronghold. And yet, they couldn’t handle Zhao Lin.

’This kid has only been training for half a year... how did he break through to the Qi Realm?’

Intense regret welled up inside him. ’If I had known, I would have killed him back then, no matter the cost.’

’He’d already checked; there was no army at the base of the mountain. That being the case, the boy had to die here today. If he were allowed to keep growing stronger, the stronghold would never know peace.’

"Chieftain, the crossbowmen are ready!"

Yang Dan hurried over and whispered in his ear.

"Good. Tell them to stay hidden and wait for my signal."

Drilling Mountain Leopard gave the instruction, then called over a few other chieftains. Using coded hand signals, he had them disperse the crowd of onlookers to clear a space for the crossbowmen.

Dozens of bandits in black emerged from the crowd, hands hidden behind their backs, and slowly closed in on the fight.

By now, the tide of battle had turned.

Zhao Lin already had the advantage in strength and speed, and with his echolocation ability, he wasn’t afraid of being surrounded.

Now that he had unlocked twenty-four of his acupoints, his Body Technique had gained countless new variations. He moved like lightning, his iron ruler a blur, sending Xu Mabang and the others into a panicked, flailing defense as they cried out in frustration.

By this point, even the amateur bandits in the crowd could see what was happening. Their leaders were on the ropes, their spirits willing but their flesh weak. The cheering gradually died down.

"Now! Fall back!"

Seeing he couldn’t delay any longer, Drilling Mountain Leopard glanced at Yang Dan. Yang Dan nodded, and Drilling Mountain Leopard let out a loud shout.

The moment they heard the cry, Xu Mabang and the other three, as if on cue, all feinted an attack before retreating.

Zhao Lin had been tracking Drilling Mountain Leopard with a constant stream of ultrasonic waves. The moment he heard the shout, he knew the four were about to flee. Ignoring the other three, he pressed his attack relentlessly on the weakest of them, Zheng Ma.

Now facing Zhao Lin alone, the pressure on Zheng Ma intensified immensely. Within two or three exchanges, Zhao Lin’s iron ruler sent his Ghost Head Saber flying from his grasp. Terrified, Zheng Ma dropped, covering his head as he rolled on the ground and screamed, "Help me!"

"First squad, aim! Second and third, get ready!"

Yang Dan barked a command. With a great rustle of movement, more than thirty crossbowmen surged forward. Half knelt and half stood, raising their crossbows and taking aim at Zhao Lin.