Chapter 37: Crouching Tiger Manor And Moon Embracing Garden, Hero’s Arena!
“Moon Embracing Garden?”
“Hero’s Arena?”
In Stone Slab Alley, Hong Yuan muttered softly to himself. He exerted a little force under his foot, and the knife-scarred man struggled desperately, mumbling from his mouth, his face buried in the muddy stone slab road. But with a crisp ‘crack’, his whole body straightened, then fell silent.
Looking around, twenty or so ferocious thugs lay on the ground, sleeping very peacefully.
These thugs had all been recruited by Wei Zhenzhu with power and money, and under threat of death, they could not be expected to keep their mouths very tight.
With just a little interrogation from Hong Yuan, they spilled everything at once.
As the leader, the knife-scarred man knew the most. After all, Wei Zhenzhu had given orders to take him alive, so if they really captured Hong Yuan, they were to bring him over.
According to the knife-scarred man, judging by the time, Wei Zhenzhu was now heading to Moon Embracing Garden.
Though Moon Embracing Garden had an elegant name, the events happening there were quite bloody.
That Moon Embracing Garden was located thirty miles east of Linjiang Prefecture City, originally a private garden built by a high official decades ago, vast in area and luxurious inside.
After the high official died, the garden gradually fell into disuse until more than ten years ago when more than ten noble clans jointly bought it from his descendants and extensively renovated it, turning it into a huge dueling arena.
Namely—
Hero’s Arena!
Those noble clans used various means, either luring or forcing, to gather many Jianghu experts inside to ascend the stage for arena combat and rank them.
For over ten years, every deep autumn, Hero’s Arena opened without interruption.
Experts under various noble clans took the stage one after another to compete in martial arts with others for fame, attracting many scholars, nobles, and great families to watch, place bets, and wager thousands or tens of thousands of gold!
And this Hero’s Arena lasted a whole month, gradually becoming the grand event in Linjiang Prefecture second only to Qionghua Festival.
“A month, no need to rush too much!”
On this trip out, Hong Yuan had already told Yang Erhu that he planned to travel around before returning to the martial arts school.
Yang Erhu had seen Hong Yuan’s martial arts and trusted him greatly.
Wei Zhenzhu…
Hong Yuan was definitely going to kill her, especially since she dared to ambush people at his ‘home’ and try to capture him alive, which made him feel like a fishbone stuck in his throat, nauseous and irritated.
Not killing her would make it impossible to even sleep soundly.
But since Moon Embracing Garden gathered numerous noble clans, scholars, and nobles, its defensive strength was undoubtedly far superior to Biwu Immortal Realm.
Even if Hong Yuan only wanted to infiltrate and kill Wei Zhenzhu, he had to prepare for the possibility of accidental exposure.
Therefore, he did not plan to rush over hastily; he still needed to use the time to raise his own combat power to another level.
Studying Spiral Force was one direction for breakthrough.
Stepping into the tiled house, Hong Yuan scanned this ‘home’ with his gaze and could not help shaking his head.
He did not know how many days that group of thugs had stayed here, but anyway, the two tiled houses had been trashed beyond recognition, with bowls and plates shattered all over the ground, the floor filthy, and furniture chopped up for firewood and burned.
Even the few books originally placed on the bookshelf, which the original owner cherished, had been thrown into the fire basin, where embers still remained, rising and falling with the dust as cool wind blew in from the window.
Hong Yuan’s expression was indifferent, without any attachment or anger, and he walked straight out of the room, casually closing the door behind him.
Hong Yuan had thought about whether to go to a ‘familiar’ neighbor’s house to leave a few words for his second uncle, but after a brief thought, he gave up the idea.
Today he had beaten and killed the Huang Mansion people, cut off County Lieutenant Zhang’s one ear, and crushed all the men Wei Zhenzhu sent. Contacting so-called neighbors now would purely bring disaster to them.
The people in Stone Slab Alley already had a very hard time surviving, so there was no need to cause them more trouble.
Moreover, with his actions today, news would soon spread in Stone Slab Alley. If second uncle came back, a little inquiry would tell him everything, no need to add superfluous details.
Shaking his head, Hong Yuan’s figure gradually disappeared at the end of the alley, leaving only fearful eyes peering through the windows in the cramped houses.
At the same time.
On the official road a hundred miles away—
Bang!
A human figure spat blood from his mouth, cried out in pain, and tumbled out flying from the dilapidated tea stall built with thatch by the roadside, his head smashing heavily onto a sharp-edged green stone, instantly killing him.
A huge footprint was visible on his chest, clearly from being kicked flying by someone.
Clang!
Amid the sharp sound of swords being drawn, a stern shout rang out: “Sneaky bastards, I knew you had problems long ago. Wanting to harm me, Wu? You lot are worthy?”
A sturdy and burly figure stood tall, his eyes sharp as a hawk’s, and with a swing of his long saber, cold light blazed.
As the long saber slashed down, he simultaneously powered from his waist and hips, channeling all his strength into this strike. With just one saber, the tall and thin tea seller in front of him turned pale with terror, flustered, and his head flew into the sky.
As blood sprayed, a coarse-handed woman nearby screamed, and a short blade shot from her sleeve straight for the saber user’s glabella.
A long bench shot out from the side, carrying a fierce wind and smashing over, knocking the short blade flying and landing with a boom on the woman’s forehead.
Brains burst!
Amid the flying wood shards, Yang Lie leaped up and landed beside the saber user, back-to-back with him, his gaze equally sharp and fierce. He shouted: “Stop pretending! All who want our lives, come out!”
These two were Wu Duxiong and Yang Lie.
After leaving Yang Family Martial Arts School, the two followed Jade Belt River downstream, traveling and stopping, sometimes resting one or two days to hone martial arts techniques, or seeking nearby martial artists for advice. Thus, in over half a month, they had only passed through three counties.
This day, after leaving the county town for seven or eight miles, they encountered a tea stall on the official road and stopped to rest and drink water.
But soon after sitting down, three groups arrived one after another, three or four per group, faintly surrounding and blocking their retreat.
The ‘couple’ running the tea stall also had unnatural eyes, secretly making hand signals.
Wu Duxiong and Yang Lie both had rich Jianghu experience and immediately knew something was wrong, acting on the spot.
With the tea stall ‘couple’ dead, the three tables around them stood up at once, some holding clubs, others taking weapons from their carried packages, all murderous.
Besides these dozen or so in the tea stall, in the woods on both sides of the official road, grass and trees shook as another dozen or so rushed out with sharp weapons, fierce and ruthless.
Yang Lie’s face darkened: “Are you people of that dead fat pig Wei Zhenzhu?”
“Insolent! Daring to disrespect the matriarch!” A gray-clothed man holding a steel saber roared angrily: “Courting death…”
“Cut the crap!” Wu Duxiong saw another wave charging over, straightened his back, and pushed Yang Lie.
Yang Lie understood instantly, flipped his body, crashed through the thatch wall, and rolled out.
Wu Duxiong spun his long saber in his palm, severing the wooden pillars supporting the tea stall. With a ‘crash’, the thatch roof collapsed entirely, burying the dozen or so inside.
Wu Duxiong had already leaped out as he slashed the pillars, meeting up with Yang Lie with just a glance, no words exchanged.
Yang Lie had also drawn his weapon, and the two slashed wildly at the wriggling figures under the thatch, screams and wails rising loudly.
“Damn it!” The dozen or so from the woods saw their side being cut down so carelessly and turned red-eyed.
Three men up front charged first, their steel sabers bringing fierce winds as they slashed.
Wu Duxiong snorted coldly, stepped forward, met them at faster speed, and his fish scale saber flicked up from below, blade light flashing like cold lightning.
Clang!
Amid the clash of metal, the foremost man’s long saber flew out directly, and he was pushed back by a great force.
Wu Duxiong’s saber momentum unfinished, it smoothly sliced across his chest. The cold blade tore skin and flesh, a few drops of warm blood splattering on his face, making him even calmer.
Almost simultaneously, the two men on the sides attacked Wu Duxiong’s ribs. He twisted his body, shifted steps, dodged the assaults, saber following his body in a sharp half-arc.
Pfft pfft!
Blade light passing, the two men’s weapon-holding wrists were severed at the root, their screams drowned out as soon as they started.
On the other side, Yang Lie killed even more fiercely but still failed to kill all dozen under the thatch; three or four rolled out, faces terrified.
Yang Lie sneered coldly, stepped with swift paces, saber light swirling with force, and charged fiercely.
Even though Wu Duxiong and Yang Lie caught the opponents off guard, nearly twenty enemies remained, including two with extremely good skills, the kind requiring caution even one-on-one.
Weapons clashed, bangs resounding endlessly. Wu Duxiong and Yang Lie fought while retreating, luring the enemies toward the dense woods on the other side.
Both sides entered the dense woods, figures crossing, withered branches and fallen leaves flying up amid the fierce fight, obscuring vision.
Amid the metallic clashes, sharp screams occasionally rang out.
When both sides fought to exhaustion, panting, Wei Zhenzhu’s side suddenly jolted in horror: on the withered branches and fallen leaves lay their companions’ corpses, some not fully dead, gurgling from throats. Only four survivors remained.
“Run!”
The remaining four’s faces changed drastically, retreating in panic, but how could Wu Duxiong and Yang Lie let them go?
Though Wu Duxiong and Yang Lie also felt weary, they still had fight left.
“Leave this bastard to me!” Yang Lie targeted a green-clothed middle-aged man, short and nimble in steps, who had nearly tripped him up.
Most importantly, this green-clothed middle-aged man had entered force. Though unarmed, he was as slippery as a poisonous snake, his moves extremely secret and vicious.
Earlier, while Yang Lie fought two opponents, this man lunged from behind a big tree, bursting force suddenly to lock his throat.
Just like a poisonous snake lurking long before striking prey.
The attack too venomous and swift, and Yang Lie distracted, he survived purely by luck—a hole under the fallen leaves made him step empty.
Though slashed on the chest and struck on the back with a club, he at least dodged the throat lock.
And though the green-clothed middle-aged man was not alone, he was far from balance of hardness and softness or freely control. After one strike, his breath lagged slightly, missing the chance for a follow-up.
“Come on, come on, let’s go a few more rounds!” Yang Lie dashed after, catching up to the green-clothed middle-aged man and slashing forward.
The green-clothed middle-aged man’s movement excelled in circling and circling combat, but slightly slower in speed, unable to shake free. He urgently said: “Young man, you win this round. Don’t press too hard.”
“Fight when you want, run when you want—did you ask my saber?” On the other side, as if responding, Wu Duxiong’s fish scale saber traced cold lights, encircling the other three’s escaping figures.
Yang Lie had no interest in chit-chat, channeling Seven Slashes of Bolang, each saber straight for the green-clothed middle-aged man’s vitals.
The green-clothed middle-aged man’s face darkened, using nimble movement for guerrilla strikes, occasionally thrusting, avoiding hard clashes with Yang Lie, just draining his strength.
But he panicked inwardly, for Wu Duxiong had already dealt with two!
Suddenly, the green-clothed middle-aged man’s eyes brightened, spotting a slight lag in Yang Lie’s blade technique. Delighted, he shifted, dodged a slash, and five fingers struck like a poisonous snake from its hole toward Yang Lie’s chest!
“Die, kid!”
But at that moment, Yang Lie suddenly laughed, his long saber dropping from his palm, breathing and exhalation rhythm changing. He leaped up fiercely, like a fierce tiger leaping from high mountain rock.
Dodging the strike while a fierce fist smashed down!
Bang!
Fist met green-clothed middle-aged man’s forehead head-on, with a crisp crack like a shattered eggshell. His forehead caved in deeply, body flying horizontally like a rag doll several meters away.
Yang Lie landed, staggering but standing, face drenched in cold sweat, pale as death.
But his eyes were clear, heart filled with joy, wanting to laugh heartily.
Entering force!
From today, he Yang Lie had finally stepped into true force. Henceforth, who dared say he was not a master?
Moments later, Wu Duxiong finished the last one and came to Yang Lie’s side, big hand patting his shoulder, laughing loudly: “Good kid, I Wu Duxiong didn’t misjudge you. You…”
Thud, Yang Lie half-knelt on the ground, looking at Wu Duxiong full of resentment.
A quarter-hour later, Wu Duxiong carried Yang Lie to a small stream a mile away to clean up, bandaged his wounds. Yang Lie recovered his strength, battle spirit surging, and proposed: “Uncle Wu, now that I’ve entered force too, why don’t we team up and go slaughter that fat pig Wei Zhenzhu.”
Wu Duxiong sneered: “Just entered force and you’re arrogant? Never mind finding Wei Zhenzhu’s location—even if you do, do you know how many guards she has? After one loss, won’t she hire masters to protect her?”
“Just against us, there was one who entered force. You think she has none around her?”
Yang Lie showed a trace of worry: “Then what about father and Brother Hong…”
Wu Duxiong waved: “That’s not for you to worry. We martial artists step into Jianghu with lives depending on our own hands. Believe in Old Yang and Hong kid. Even if misfortune strikes, all we can do is revenge for them.”
Yang Lie said: “In that case, Uncle Wu, shall we continue traveling Jianghu next?”
“No!” Wu Duxiong shook his head faintly: “You’ve entered force; fighting ordinary Jianghu folk is meaningless. To progress quickly next, you need a place with many masters.”
“Hm?” Yang Lie looked up in surprise.
Wu Duxiong gazed in one direction, eyes steady:
“I’ve heard southwest of Linjiang Prefecture there’s a hero named Song Yinglong, who built a manor backed by Mangcang Mountain called Crouching Tiger Manor. Not only does he invite guests from all directions, he befriends heroes everywhere. For his righteousness, generosity, and aid, many experts flock to him. Reportedly, just his manor hands number a thousand, with countless masters among them…”
At this, Wu Duxiong suddenly smiled: “It’s Crouching Tiger, we’re Tiger Subduing Sect—quite fateful. So this trip, we’ll go there—”
“Crouching Tiger Manor!”
“See if it’s truly worthy of the name, hiding dragons and crouching tigers!”
……
