Chapter 37: 36

Huaxin County at night was much quieter than during the day.

The streets were silent, with the wind rolling fallen leaves constantly sliding by. Only a few special places like taverns and wine shops still had lights on.

Most of the residential houses had already turned off their lights.

A night watchman carrying a copper gong strolled slowly, occasionally striking it and shouting a few times.

Zhang Rongfang quickly entered a small alley. Before long, he changed into a grey robe and put on a grey cap.

Following the path from the daytime, he headed straight towards his sister-in-law Yang Hongyan’s house.

Along the way, he kept his head down, his face smudged with charcoal, making him look dirty and unrecognizable.

Soon, as he was about to arrive, he pulled a prepared piece of black cloth from his pocket and covered his face, tying it at the back of his head.

Taking advantage of the empty street, with only a few passing carriages occasionally.

Zhang Rongfang returned to the spot where he had met Chen He and his group during the day.

Yang Hongyan’s house in Huaxin County was considered quite affluent. Her father ran a small shop selling paintings and calligraphy, and her mother sewed small items like leather bags to sell.

The family had only one daughter, Yang Hongyan.

At this moment, Zhang Rongfang arrived in front of the Yang family’s door, vaguely hearing voices from inside.

The Yang family home was a rectangular bungalow with three rooms connected together, one room facing the street used as a kitchen.

At this time, smoke was constantly coming out of the kitchen chimney, indicating that firewood was burning inside.

Zhang Rongfang circled around and soon spotted something suspicious.

Behind the Yang family’s house were several shacks, inside which sat a few men warming themselves by burning firewood.

As soon as Zhang Rongfang showed his face, the men saw him.

Before he could make a move, the men quickly stood up and walked towards him.

“Sneaking around here, what are you doing?” a man suddenly shouted.

Zhang Rongfang didn’t leave but instead retreated into a narrow path between houses.

He was also just looking for someone to inquire about the situation here.

When those men approached, cursing.

He suddenly stepped forward, delivering a punch to one man’s stomach.

A muffled bang sounded.

The man in front bent over, completely caught off guard by the sudden attack.

This punch was heavier than expected; the man, about 1.7 meters tall, with solid muscles, fell to the ground and struggled but didn’t get up.

Three men in total had come, and the remaining two shouted angrily and charged into the alley.

One in front and one behind, raising their right palms in a seemingly practiced manner.

Power flowed from the waist through the arms, creating a whooshing sound, showing significant strength.

In the dim moonlight, Zhang Rongfang stepped back, striking both men’s elbow joints with precise finger strikes.

Now already at the second rank, his speed and strength, as well as vision, surpassed these men significantly.

Upon contact, he felt these three were merely unranked ordinary people.

Only one among them was slightly stronger, possibly training in Muscle Forging.

Repelling their attacks, Zhang Rongfang advanced, ramming his shoulder into one man’s chest.

The man fell back, struggling to breathe, unable to get up.

The last man roared, reaching with both hands toward Zhang Rongfang’s shoulders.

Zhang Rongfang stepped back, raised his palm, and struck the chin, knocking them unconscious.

After taking down three men, Zhang Rongfang was about to grab one to ask about the situation.

Suddenly, two more men rushed into the alley.

“How daring!”

The footsteps and momentum of these two were distinctly different. Even before they got close, they exuded an inexorable force like galloping horses.

Zhang Rongfang’s pupils contracted as he noticed the palm of these two subtly darkened under the moonlight.

He had just broken through and was eager to test his strength, so he didn’t dodge but instead stepped forward with a punch.

The Mountain-shaped Talisman’s Mountain Moon Gazing was perfectly suited for such a direct confrontation.

In an instant, the man in front raised his arm slightly, turning it towards Zhang Rongfang with a palm strike.

Boom!

In the alley, fist and palm clashed. Zhang Rongfang swayed slightly but didn’t move his feet.

The opponent, however, stepped back two steps, losing the power exchange.

However, besides the force, Zhang Rongfang’s expression slightly changed, feeling a slight sting on his fist, surprisingly at a slight disadvantage in the exchange.

“Hands turning black, skin like iron, this is Mi Gang’s Profound Sand Palm!”

He recalled the basic characteristics of several major forces his senior brother Zhang Xintai had pointed out before descending the mountain.

Immediately, he stopped confronting head-on, employing Dragon and Snake Movement, his body like a huge python, suddenly sliding past under their arms, striking towards the back of the first person.

Unfortunately, the move was blocked by the second person behind.

Both were slightly shocked; they were both top elites of Mi Gang, having trained Profound Sand Palm to the first rank.

Now out patrolling and guarding, they unexpectedly encountered someone with such fierce skills.

At once, they concentrated and responded. Their four iron palms clashed and fought fiercely with Zhang Rongfang.

In a matter of seconds in the alley, amidst their exchanges, danger loomed constantly.

None of them had any hard skills for defense. If hit, injury was certain.

So no one dared to get harmed easily.

Before long, Zhang Rongfang suddenly retreated.

He roughly gauged the two’s strength. Their speed and power were much less than his own, though they had good coordination.

Moreover, the man in the back constantly seemed to reach for a small bag at his back, possibly planning some underhanded move.

In such a cramped alley, a sneak attack would be hard to avoid.

“That’s enough.”

At once, Zhang Rongfang held his breath, suddenly initiating Dragon and Snake Movement underfoot, charging full force forward.

The speed was entirely different from before. This time he fully utilized his movement technique, his arms assisting in attack.

Poof, poof, two muffled sounds.

One top-rank expert was slammed against the wall, slowly sliding down.

The other was struck on the forehead, falling to the ground, their fate unknown.

Huff… Huff…

Zhang Rongfang kept panting heavily, and even though he took on so many people at once, he couldn’t help but feel a bit exhausted.

Clap… Clap…

Suddenly, a slim tall shadow appeared at the alley entrance near the people lying on the ground, nobody knew when he showed up.

This person was dressed in black, and his face couldn’t be clearly seen against the backlight.

All that could be seen was him clapping his hands lightly, seemingly very admiring the fight just now.

“Friend, you have good skills. But daring to make a move against my Mi Gang in Huaxin County… Is that not putting us in your eyes?”

Just as he finished speaking, this person suddenly dashed forward; his body technique speed far surpassed the few people from before.

In the blink of an eye, he covered a distance of five meters.

As the person raised his hand for a palm strike, his right palm was like a black fang, cutting through the air and causing a sharp whistle, aiming at Zhang Rongfang’s chest.

The palm came too fast and urgent, Zhang Rongfang hurriedly raised his hand to block, trying to fend it off.

Bang!

As the two collided in a move, Zhang Rongfang stepped back, face reddening, his palms filled with intense blood rush, turning bright red.

’Such strong power!’

In the darkness, he looked carefully at his opponent, and with the moonlight shedding down, he barely made out the face.

It turned out to be Chen He, whom he encountered during the day.

This guy was still here?

Zhang Rongfang’s mind spun rapidly, intending to retreat. Unexpectedly, Chen He pressed forward, unforgiving.

In the alley, within just a few seconds, the two exchanged seven or eight moves.

For each move, Zhang Rongfang had to fully block to avoid being overwhelmed.

Chen He’s strength and the speed of his strikes were much too fast. Almost every move carried power similar to when he used the Mountain Crashing move.

If not for his footwork using the Dragon and Snake Ascension Skill to dodge, he likely would have already been wounded by the opponent.

After more than ten moves, Zhang Rongfang started to consider retreating.

Immediately, he suddenly moved the muscles of his arms, making a Mountain Crashing strike forward.

Under the moonlight, his arms seemed like two wings, swinging down to slash.

This strike was sudden, with a speed and force much greater than before. Bang, bang, it surprisingly caught Chen He off guard.

Chen He had no choice but to take two steps back, casually deflecting the Mountain Crashing, as his pair of black hands seemed like made of metal, ready to continue capturing forward.

But unexpectedly, his opponent slipped his foot and darted towards the depths of the alley.

Chen He intended to pursue, but after a few steps, a black object flew at him face-on.

Pop.

Afraid it might be some hidden weapon, Chen He used his hard black hands to swat it away, only to find it was light to the touch.

Looking closely, that black object was just a piece of black cloth.

He raised his head again only to realize the attacker’s shadow was nowhere to be seen.

“That move just now… interesting…” The final move the attacker used just now gave him a vague sense of familiarity.

“The Rejuvenation Purification Talisman Manual of Qinghe Palace, and the Dragon and Snake Ascension Skill of the Zhenyi Sect… this person…”

Chen He felt there might be considerable trouble hidden behind this person.

Qinghe Palace is part of the Great Dao Teaching, not much of a problem, as the difficulty level of talismanic martial arts isn’t too high, but the Zhenyi Sect is the key.

That’s a colossal entity.

Being able to practice the Dragon and Snake Ascension Skill of the Zhenyi Sect to such a proficient level would take at least three or four years of effort, don’t even think about it.

If this person were actually from the Zhenyi Sect…

Chen He suddenly felt at a loss on how to deal with the situation.

His hesitation to pursue might have had something to do with this.

*

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*

Huff… Huff…..

On another street.

Zhang Rongfang briskly moved through the alleyways.

The perilous fight with Chen He just now had exceeded his expectations.

The small sense of satisfaction and pride he felt from his recent breakthrough was instantly shattered.

’That person is definitely more than second-tier, possibly third-tier, or even higher,’ Zhang Rongfang estimated in his heart.

From the beginning of the fight, he was entirely at a disadvantage; if it weren’t for the darkness of the night, making Chen He hesitant and not attacking with full strength.

He feared that within ten seconds, he would have been thoroughly overwhelmed.

Now, his arms and palms felt an intense, burning pain, with the edges of his palms slightly dark red and a bit swollen.

The fact that his calluses, tough enough to barehandedly strike stone surfaces, were swollen, appallingly demonstrated the power of Chen He’s palms.

’If I were to endure a few more seconds, within five moves, my hands could very well be crippled. This Huaxin County indeed turns out to be much more dangerous than Qinghe Palace. Just out here and I meet such skilled opponents.’

Zhang Rongfang jogged back while recalling the exchange just now.

The full force of his Mountain Crashing was easily brushed off by his opponent.

It showed that the power and speed gap between them were somewhat excessive.

’Second-tier… still not enough… The key is why is Chen He lurking around Yang Hongyan’s sister-in-law’s house?’

Zhang Rongfang vaguely sensed there might be a deeper, special reason involved.

’Logically speaking, now that the sister-in-law is about to get engaged to senior brother, backed by Qinghe Palace, no one should dare offend them. Could these people be here to protect her?’

But if it were for protection, it didn’t feel like it.

Senior brother has offended no one, so why would he need such skilled people for protection?

Moreover, that person claimed to be from Mi Gang…

Thinking it over, Zhang Rongfang quickly took a few turns, using a preprepared wet towel to wipe the soot off his face, then headed back to the Daoist temple.

Tonight’s encounter made him realize his own strength was still too weak, compared to those martial artists who have practiced for decades or more, any random encounter could be dangerous.

Therefore, the little remaining medicinal herbs must be consumed as soon as possible to enhance his attributes.

Moreover, with the engagement approaching and both senior brother and master coming, it would be the perfect time to mention tonight’s events and see what was really happening.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep