Chapter 14 He is Enduring

At this moment, even if Atobe could avoid it consciously, his body couldn't.

The paper fan whistled through the air, arriving in an instant. He barely had time to raise his arms to block it.

With a *chi* sound, the fan blade struck Atobe's arm. In that second, Atobe felt a jolt of force in his forearm, pushing him back a step.

As mentioned earlier, the armor Atobe wore was quite good, with high defense. Even Shi Yanran's darts could be blocked. Tang Shize's sweep was of similar power. However, Atobe was attacked from behind by the darts, while this time he blocked it head-on. Therefore, he didn't feel this blow was very strong, and the loss of survival points was not as high as before.

"How is this possible?" Tang Shize was shocked. When that strike made contact, he didn't sense any internal energy from the other party. Logically speaking, without using internal energy to receive such a blow, a person's arm should have been broken. But this Jin only took a slight step back, his arms intact, seemingly unharmed.

"Impossible!" Tang Shize didn't believe it and attacked again.

This young master of the Tang family had been quick-witted and clear-headed since childhood. In his twenties, he had mastered the "Nianhua Hand" (Flower Plucking Hand) technique. His Thirteen Nianhua Hand had thirty-nine variations, emphasizing speed, accuracy, agility, dexterity, and danger. Combined with the Tang Sect's unique internal energy and poison techniques, it was like adding wings to a tiger. Although its direct power was far less imposing than the Shaolin Dragon Claw Hand, the Nianhua Hand's speed, unpredictability, hidden power, and the poisonous wind it could carry in close combat were unparalleled in the martial world. Everyone was wary of him.

But... Atobe knew nothing about these things.

When Murong Ying told him about the martial world, if she mentioned martial artists, she would only say their name, nickname, identity, and what kind of skills they were good at. She couldn't possibly tell him the details of their martial arts, characteristics, and even methods to break them. If she explained all that, she wouldn't be finished even after ten afternoons. Moreover, this kind of information was no longer within the scope of "common martial world knowledge" and could involve someone's safety.

Therefore, facing Tang Shize's next attack, Atobe responded as usual. In his opinion, this young master Tang's strength was average, seemingly not as strong as Shi Yanran. The attack power was completely within his tolerance range.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of moves were exchanged. Tang Shize's hands moved faster and faster, but he was increasingly shocked: What was Jin's trick? Barehanded against my fan, only defending and not attacking, and without showing any internal energy. The attack on his body seemed to be hitting some kind of armor... Even the highest level of the Golden Bell Cover (a defensive technique), doesn't allow one to use it without circulating internal energy, right? Could this kid be made of copper and iron?

Suddenly, a figure interjected, delivering three moves in succession, then a feint, followed by a swift arm movement that grabbed Tang Shize's wrist.

"Young Master Tang." It was Gongsun Li who had made the move. He had been watching for a while, and he seemed to have figured something out, so he jumped out and stopped the fight, "Enough, isn't it? Haven't you realized that this Young Hero Jin is trying his best to endure? If you continue to press him like this, and Young Hero Jin really makes a move... Humph, I, Gongsun, am afraid I won't be able to stop him then."

Upon hearing this, Tang Shize's mind buzzed. He seemed to understand the situation as well, and suddenly turned his head to look at Atobe: "You..." He recalled the moves he had made and the other party's responses. From beginning to end, Atobe had only stood in place, hardly dodging his attacks, and not moving much. When blocking, he didn't use any martial arts routines, just extending his arms and bending his legs, "Good... Good, Po Jian Tea House, Tang is impressed!"

Tang Shize glared at Gongsun Li, then甩开 (shuai kai, flung off) the latter's restraint. He walked a few steps to Atobe, took out a small, square paper packet from his belt, "This is the antidote to my Fan Wind Poison, please accept it, Young Hero Jin."

Atobe woodenly took the paper packet. In fact, when he heard those words, he had just noticed that his status in the menu had become [Poisoned].

"Um... thank you." Atobe instinctively thanked him. He was the only one of the four who didn't understand what was going on. In his opinion, this Tang NPC... had inexplicably changed from neutral to hostile, and then from hostile to friendly.

"I am Tang Shize, known as Quick Hands Plucking Flowers." Tang Shize cupped his fist in salute, "May I ask Young Hero Jin's name?"

"Damn! Do I have to say it again? Is it interesting?" Atobe was quite annoyed, but on the surface, he still weakly replied, "Jin Fugui..."

Tang Shize replied, "I was abrupt today. If I have offended you, please forgive me, Young Hero Jin." Saying this, he glanced at Gongsun Li and Shi Yanran, "If there is an opportunity in the future, Tang will ask Young Hero Jin for guidance. Farewell!" After saying that, he snorted coldly and left angrily.

After he left the room, Atobe breathed a sigh of relief, swallowed the antidote, and解除 (jiechu, removed) his abnormal status. Looking at his survival points, which had dropped to 30%, Atobe really had nothing to say.

"Hehe... Young Hero Jin's martial arts are indeed extraordinary." Gongsun Li said, "Facing Tang Shize's Nianhua Hand, you can use slowness to defeat speed, as immovable as a mountain. Without showing internal energy or using weapons, you endured all the blows.

The skill displayed by this forbearance... is enough to show that your external kung fu has reached its peak. With Tang Shize's internal energy cultivation, if he were hit by one of your punches, I'm afraid his bones and flesh would be shattered on the spot. Hmph... that ignorant child didn't know the depth of your strength, unaware that you were kindly sparing him."

"These people in the martial world have such wild imaginations... How did they see that I was letting him win... and they even imagined it to this extent..." Atobe complained repeatedly in his heart. So, practicing external kung fu to the limit means having the defense of a fine-grade armor without circulating internal energy or using moves? I wonder if someone at this level can block bullets with full defense...

"You flatter me... you flatter me..." Atobe replied, trying to maintain a calm expression. Judging from the current situation, Gongsun Li and Shi Yanran were unlikely to attack him, so he would pretend for now, "Oh, the poison in my body still needs... um... some adjustment, if you two have nothing else..."

"Oh, of course, of course." Gongsun Li winked at Shi Yanran, and then the two of them bid farewell and left together.

After the two left the door, they walked to a secluded place, and Shi Yanran said, "Is that Jin Fugui... really as powerful as you said?"

"If you had learned more kung fu from my Sect Leader Shixiong (senior brother), instead of hanging out with Wang Ao all day, you would have been able to see it too," Gongsun Li sarcastically said.

"Bah! It's not your turn to interfere with my affairs! Now that the person has already been killed, and you were also involved..." Shi Yanran replied with a fierce expression.

"Enough!" Gongsun Li said sternly, "It's only for the sake of Wanxia Tower's reputation that I'm cleaning up this mess for you, but now I've made a mess of myself." He said with a gloomy expression, "These five from Po Jian Tea House must be silenced sooner or later, but not in Cangling. Right now, we have to please them, try to stabilize these strange people, and after the duel is over, when the various forces return home, I will send people to track their movements, and then plan from there..."

"What if... they really don't intend to tell this secret?" Shi Yanran said.

"Keeping a secret is only temporary, not permanent," Gongsun Li said, "Don't you even understand this?"

Gongsun Li was naturally suspicious and wouldn't trust others. In his eyes, only dead people kept secrets. And the only living person he could trust was himself. At this moment, Gongsun Li was actually harboring murderous intentions towards Shi Yanran as well, because he felt that Shi Yanran herself was not without the possibility of leaking the secret.

In order to one day obtain the Wanxia Tower that belonged to him, for the sake of the sect's position and reputation in the martial world, Gongsun Li would spare no effort to eliminate every threat and clean up every stain.

"Then... since their martial arts are so high, how should we attack in the future?" Shi Yanran asked again, "Also, the origins of this Po Jian Tea House are probably not that simple, right? Do you really believe that Feng Liaozhu (Lodge Master) is self-established and new to the martial world?"

"That's why I said, we need to plan from there," Gongsun Li said, "If they have any origins or backers, then we will investigate their origins first. If what Feng Bujue said is true... hmph, all the better. Within half a month, I will show them what the dangers of the martial world are."

…………

"Achoo!" Feng Bujue sneezed hard, "No way... I'm wearing more clothes, but I'm still sneezing." He covered his mouth and nose and said, "Is someone thinking of me with malicious intent again..."

"Why do you know it's with malicious intent?" Siyu asked.

"Because the memories I leave for others are usually not associated with anything good," Feng Bujue replied, he suddenly thought of something, "Eh? Can you sneeze in the game? Will you also be able to burp or fart..."

"If you dare to experiment in front of me..." A trace of undisguised cold killing intent flashed in Siyu's eyes.

"Hehe, just kidding, just kidding," Feng Bujue laughed.

They were currently traveling between trees and rocks, and the surrounding shadows were as thick as ink. Feng Bujue's flashlight could only illuminate a few meters ahead, but Siyu's lantern could illuminate a larger area in this light-swallowing environment.

The note in [Constant Dim Lantern] reads, "It can only illuminate the surrounding five meters or so, and twisting the switch cannot control its brightness, nor can it be turned off." This characteristic was now an advantage, because the flashlight's cone-shaped beam couldn't reach far.

Since stepping onto the island, the two had been heading towards the center of the island. There were no traces of anyone or animals active in the surrounding forest, and the two were shrouded in desolation and silence.

However, as they walked among the surrounding rocks and trees, they would vaguely hear shouts, as if someone from another world far away, yet close at hand, was shouting and calling for help...

This section of the journey was extremely tormenting for Siyu. The dark and depressing atmosphere prevented her jump scare value from dropping to the bottom. Even though she still had a frosty expression on the surface, in such an environment, as long as one was human, one would be infected by the atmosphere of horror to some extent. At this time, as long as any strange thing flashed out from behind the dark trees, it could scare people.

Of course, it's not that Feng Bujue wasn't human, it's just that he was a person who was not very normal in body and mind.

For him, advancing in a dark and bleak forest was not much different from advancing in a sunny meadow. If he had a choice, he would rather choose the black forest...

You could say that he was a little dark in his bones, but he just didn't like things that were too harmonious and sunny.

Moreover, this "evil nature" of Feng Bujue was known to many people and was an open secret. There were countless legends about Jue-ge (Brother Jue) long before he went to high school.

One of the stories is...

I remember when Feng Bujue went to a summer camp in elementary school one year. He was randomly assigned to a group with six children, none of whom knew each other. Among them was a very sunny and healthy, pure and upward good child, who was simply the "other people's child" in the eyes of parents, the three-good student in the eyes of teachers, and the two-timer in the eyes of classmates...

This classmate was the first to take the initiative to introduce himself in the group, breaking the awkward silence, and greeting the strange小伙伴 (xiao huo ban, little partners) one by one. When he came to Feng Bujue, Jue-ge looked at him with a Schrödinger's cat-like gaze and said, "Um... you are very friendly and happy. Hehe... I have to stop this emotion from spreading before it spreads."

On that day, a good child left behind an indelible shadow...

There were many similar legends. After Jue-ge became an adult and a professional writer, he gradually became an urban legend, but let's talk about those things later...

Back to the script, let's say that Feng Bujue was calmly leading the way, when suddenly, he stopped and shined his flashlight at the base of a tree, saying, "Look there."

When Siyu saw him stop, her heart tightened. She thought there was going to be some terrifying scene, but when she looked in the direction of the flashlight, it turned out to be just an item hidden between the tree roots and rocks.

[Name: Spider Silk Gloves]

[Type: Armor]

[Quality: Fine]

[Defense: Medium]

[Attribute: None]

[Effect: Can stick to objects]

[Equipment Conditions: General Specialization d, Fighting Specialization d]

[Note: Do you want to use your palms to directly stick to objects weighing dozens of pounds? Do you want to stick to the wall with your bare hands and climb? Do you want to smear someone's face with spider silk? Don't dream! The adhesion of these gloves is not as good as transparent tape, about the same as an instant sticker!]

"Um... listing all the functions that it doesn't have..." Feng Bujue unhappily threw the gloves on the ground, "This is坑爹呢 (keng die ne, a rip-off)! It would be better not to mention it! After reading the first half, I was getting happy!"

Siyu looked at his back behind him, sighed softly, and then smiled knowingly, not knowing why her sense of humor had become so low.

Unexpectedly, at this moment when she relaxed. Suddenly, a little girl's hand reached out from the darkness, covering Siyu's mouth. Before she could make a sound, she was pulled back by a huge force and dragged into the darkness.

Although Feng Bujue didn't hear the scream, the flickering light and the sound of the lantern falling immediately caught his attention. He suddenly turned his head, only to see the lantern lying on the ground, and Siyu had disappeared.