Duan Mingyu, who was ready to sit back and enjoy the show, was immediately shocked and stared at Zhong Shenxiu with a ’how could you be so shameless’ expression in his eyes.
Zhong Shenxiu, with his thick face, glared back at him, meaning to say—’Aren’t you someone I’ve defeated?’
Duan Mingyu felt like he was about to spurt out a mouthful of old blood.
"Alright, it’s a deal!"
Yu Xiaoshan agreed without hesitation.
Through the descriptions of two followers, he had long known that Duan Mingyu was that lad who’d made exaggerated claims outside the tavern.
But since the other party was from the Su Yin Sword Sect, he was destined not to seek revenge openly and honorably.
However, in a martial arts duel, giving him a slight lesson was not a problem at all.
Since he had stepped onto this path, he had also defeated disciples from the eight major forces; they were not necessarily that impressive.
As for the younger generation of the Su Yin Sword Sect, except for a few like the master of both the zither and the sword, he was truly not afraid of anyone!
Did they really think the strength that won him the hundred and eighth place on the Human Ranking was fake?
"I... alas, then I will make my move."
Duan Mingyu, with nowhere to channel his frustration, could only glower at Yu Xiaoshan.
"Of course, just make your move, I’ll let you have three..."
Yu Xiaoshan closed his folding fan; he practiced the Thousand Mountains Swordsmanship of the Thousand Mountains Swordsman, but to be unrestrained and elegant, he purposely integrated the sword techniques into his folding fan. As a result, he did not wear a sword, yet his power was not diminished in the least.
Suddenly, though, he felt a wave of coldness wash over him.
It seemed to him that he heard the sound of a zither. That solitary note seemed to carry with it an ancient chill, causing his hand holding the folding fan to slow down for an instant.
In that split second, a figure lunged from Duan Mingyu’s position, circled a bamboo chopstick around Yu Xiaoshan’s neck, and then returned to his seat.
The move was swift as a hare and fast as a falcon.
By the time everyone reacted, they saw a strand of hair clamped in Duan Mingyu’s chopsticks. He smiled and asked, "How about it? Shall we continue?"
Yu Xiaoshan touched his own neck and found his back drenched in cold sweat.
If that sword strike had aimed for his neck instead of his hair, what would have happened?
"The Su Yin Sword Sect’s Lingering Sword Technique is indeed well-deserved of its reputation! I concede..."
His face pale as death, he asked unwillingly, "May I know your esteemed name?"
A silence fell over the crowd, then it erupted.
A swordsman slammed the table and knocked the dishes and drinks to the ground, yet was still unaware of it: "What did I see? Jade Fan Sword Yu Xiaoshan defeated in a sword duel?"
"Could it be the Human Ranking is about to change?"
A group of people excitedly watched Duan Mingyu, with expressions of envy and jealousy, practically wishing they could replace him.
But Duan Mingyu felt as if he had swallowed something disgusting.
Was he, a Human Ranking Expert of the thirty-third place, really going to compete for the one hundred and eighth position?
At this point, he just wanted to cover his face with his sleeve, for with so many watching eyes, there would always be some who would recognize him.
And at this time, he felt utterly cursed with bad luck, afraid that whatever he feared would happen next.
"Eh? This young master, this old man feels you look somewhat familiar, could you be Duan Mingyu?!"
"The one from the Human Ranking known for mastery in both zither and sword?"
The tavern immediately erupted into a commotion.
It was someone he knew!
"Ah, ah, ah!" Duan Mingyu internally roared, but on his face, he could only express an awkward yet polite smile, fiercely glaring at the culprit beside him.
Yet he discovered that Zhong Shenxiu had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a line of words written with wine on the table—"Occasional encounter with an old friend, gone for a moment and will return."
"Don’t leave such a mess for me to clean up!"
Duan Mingyu despairingly found himself overwhelmed by a flood of people...
Zhong Shenxiu strolled out of the tavern at leisure.
He hadn’t lied, he truly did see a ’familiar face’!
Or rather, a person he wasn’t certain was familiar.
Since crossing into this world, he hadn’t met many people, most of whom were in Little Mountain City, that remote and backward place, with a few exceptions like those he met in the dilapidated temple.
Just now, inside the tavern, he felt the gaze of someone spying on him.
And then, he saw a young man wearing black with ordinary features.
Although the man’s face was unfamiliar to him, Shenxiu’s intuition told him he knew this person, and he even directly associated the encounter with the stormy night at Niu Shen Temple.
The man turned and left the tavern as soon as he saw Shenxiu looking his way; naturally, Shenxiu chose to abandon Duan Mingyu and followed.
One after the other, their pace suddenly quickened.
"This man’s Qinggong is not weak, he’s as strong as a Human Ranking Expert... hehe... now I’m even more certain."
Shenxiu felt increasingly confident, and when the two of them entered a dead-end alley, the youth in black turned and asked with a hoarse voice, "Why are you following me?"
"Because I saw an old acquaintance from Niu Shenjun Temple and wanted to check up..."
Shenxiu certainly couldn’t outright say he coveted the man’s treasure and wanted to try his luck stealing it, could he?
He possessed no Divine Skills to bewitch hearts; should he beat up Gu Qingying first and then see if fortune favored him, hoping the man was foolish enough to carry the treasure on his person?
"I do not know you!" the youth in black shook his head in denial: "I am just a nameless nobody in Jianghu, how could I know someone as distinguished as the wielder of the Five Elements Palm?"
The youth in black adamantly denied any recognition.
His appearance was completely different from Gu Qingying’s, his arms—clad in gloves—were intact, and he did not carry a blade; he didn’t look anything like the young Swordsman who had lost an arm.
"Is that so, Gu?" Shenxiu said, with a slight smile, pointing out the truth.
No matter what, he just felt that the person before him was Gu Qingying!
The youth in black choked on his words and suddenly turned, silently resuming his fast escape by employing his Qinggong.
Shenxiu naturally followed closely, and the chase between them quickly took them out of the city and into the wilderness.
Gu Qingying turned around, calmly removing his right glove.
Exposing his arm to sunlight, it astonishingly shone with a peculiar metallic luster—it was, in fact, a prosthetic limb, which displayed an amazing range of flexibility, much like that of a real hand.
And now, from within the palm, a stretch of a blade emerged.
"Damn... could this be the legendary Ninja Prosthetic Hand?"
Shenxiu rolled his eyes, muttering to himself in jest, then laughed, "Not pretending anymore?"
"I’ve narrowly escaped death several times, found the Undying Medical Immortal to attach this limb, undergone the hardship of bone grinding and face changing, how did you recognize me?"
Gu Qingying no longer hid his true identity and confessed.
"Only intuition." Shenxiu answered honestly.
In truth, although his current body did not possess the various abilities of the "Pastor" from the main world, it did have some subtle perceptions.
And Gu Qingying, despite undergoing plastic surgery, hadn’t changed his eyeballs, after all, and the eyes are the windows to the soul.
"Or perhaps... ’Brother Gu,’ such divine brilliance shining from your eyes, is unforgettable at first glance."
Gu Qingying was startled, then offered a bitter smile: "I was merely curious and took a glance; little did I expect that ’Brother Xun’ possessed such astonishing Spiritual Sense... Ah, if I had known, I would’ve had the Undying Medical Immortal give me a new pair of eyes as well..."