THAT’S Lubi?
The city dwellers who came to watch the fight were astonished.
Even the guards at the Gongjia’s gates were shocked.
The Linlu tribesmen fighting Black Bear and the rest were so scared their legs turned to jelly.
Initially, Luming had detected that something was off. However, he had to focus all his attention on Black Bear as they had to be careful with this man. That was why he could not see what happened to Lubi. However, he trusted that the plan would proceed as usual.
However, when they made the first impact, the sound was not what he imagined. Confusion flashed across his eyes but he did not think much of it. What happened next floored them.
If Lubi was not here, they might not have chosen Black Bear as an opponent. They believed that Lubi would settle the weakest guy quickly and then come to help them. However, Lubi was now the first on their team to go down. Their plan was ruined!
Didn’t they agree to kill the guy with one swing? What happened?
He couldn’t even settle the first guy, how was he going to help them with Black Bear?
As he was thinking, Luming was distracted from his own fight and was almost split in half by Black Bear’s broad and heavy knife. He quickly blocked with his sword but the force that came with it almost broke his arms. It was a terrifying amount of strength. Black Bear was a machine, slashing his knife heavily. He was a threat.
This is it!
Although he blocked the blade, Luming still suffered a kick to the chest. He flew back and spat blood. There was no strength in his legs so he collapsed immediately.
On the other side, there was another ‘thud’. Pebbles and soil fell like rain. Shao Xuan was holding the hammer, standing in the shower of pebbles and staring at Lubi, who rolled away to dodge.
Lubi ignored the pains in his body, shock still in his eyes as he stared at the young man. This was the first target. And yet, here he was. He never thought his own hammer would be taken away from him. And his opponent wielded it… more effortlessly than he did!
Lubi’s face twitched. The flying rubble had made many cuts on his face and his blood dripped unto the dust on the ground. His face was so dirty, he looked pathetic.
The rest were about to help Lubi but they were blocked off by Black Bear and the rest.
After seeing Luming kicked in the air, the rest of the Linlu tribesmen retreated immediately, grouping together with the injured Luming and Lubi. They had seen Lu family members around just now– probably gone off to get reinforcements here. While they were embarrassed, they were also relieved. With reinforcements, Black Bear would not be able to do much.
Guang Yi stood next to Shao Xuan with his dented sword. He was very satisfied with Shao Xuan’s performance. He was very happy, very proud. This is our Elder indeed! At least now the crowd knows what the consequences of offending the Flaming Horn are! Did they think we were pushovers?
When Black Bear saw that Shao Xuan was fine, he turned to look at the Linlu people.
Black Bear had already guessed what their strategy was. His rough face turned into a smirk as he looked at Luming and the rest. “How blind are you all, choosing to target this boy? A bunch of idiots!”
However, Shao Xuan had sort of helped Black Bear too. If it wasn’t for Shao Xuan, if he were someone else, this could have ended differently. When he thought of how Linlu treated them, he was infuriated once again. You dare use me as your stepping stone?!
It didn’t matter how many people were in the Linlu tribe, attacking the leader of the Black Bears was the same as insulting their tribe. If he had lost terribly here today, it did not matter if the fight was fair. The entire King City would treat them as a joke. Even if they returned in the future, it would still be a stain they could never wipe away in history. There was no fair or unfair in this world.
At least these people were dumb enough to pick on Shao Xuan. When he thought of the time Shao Xuan blocked the large Ding cauldron with one hand at Anba City, then looked at how he carried the hammer? Black Bear’s impression of Shao Xuan changed. The Flaming Horn Tribe was impressive.
With a solemn stare, his eyes swept across the people from Linlu. Black Bear took a large step forward, black totemic patterns appearing on his arms and face once again. The dense stubble that covered half his face stood like needles, tiny hairs appearing on parts of his face that were not covered by the stubble. Both his pupils were dilated and glimmered with cold violence. All his muscles swelled like they were pumped with air. His entire being expanded.
The Black Bear let out a long roar that sounded like a bear in the forest, so deafening many people covered their ears. His roar travelled far and wide like the tides rolling across the distance.
When the guards on patrol heard the roar, they sprinted towards the sound only to realise, hey, that was just a bunch of people fighting. They thought it was a beast loose in the city.
Usually, if there were a fight, as long as the damage was not too severe, the city guards would not interfere. Not ‘severe’ meant not harming the great six’s aristocrats. As for the life or death of other people, that depended. If they were unimportant people, the guards could care less. After the fight, these people had to pay for the damage caused anyway.
That was why the guards stopped when they saw that it was not an animal
“Let’s go, it’s the Black Bear and the Lu family fighting. None of our business.” The guard took a look and left.
“Hey, wait. Didn’t they say Lubi from the Lu family was a very strong guy? From what I’m seeing, that’s not right.”
“Probably some lie made up by the Lu family. There are many impressive people in King City. Anyone who’s strong within their family might not be much compared to the ones here. They must’ve picked Black Bear to test their strength since they just arrived. Too bad Black Bear isn’t a person you should pick a fight with. Let’s not interfere, they’ll sort it out themselves,” said an older guard, indifferent. “Plus, this is the Gongjia family’s territory. They have their own guards so us city guards don’t have to do anything. Let’s patrol somewhere else. That mammoth we killed today was delicious, I wonder what animal will go on a rampage next.”
Other guards did not think much of this too. The crowds here loved fights and the guards had seen too many of them. If they stayed, they might even be dragged into it. Why should they stay?
That was why the guards left as quickly as they came.
The Linlu reinforcements were rushing over, while the Black Bears who heard their leader’s roar immediately ran out of their doors and sprinted over.
When both sides met, the tension was thick in the air. It looked as if a battle was going to happen.
Everyone watching stepped back but did not leave. This was a rare opportunity to witness this themselves, this was so much better than listening to rumours!
The guards at the gates gave each other a look. The orders they received was that, as long as those people did not enter nor damage their gate, it was fine. They can fight all they want outside. There were so many people here to do the test, fights were unavoidable. Get them to pay for the damage caused. However, as matters escalated, although there was still space between the gates and the fight, they still decided to report to the masters.
Within the Gongjia Residence, there was a round metal table in a yard. There was a well-dressed young man at the table. Although he was not speaking, he radiated solemn wisdom.
When the guard ran in, he saw the young man and took a small bow. Then he continued.
The young man looked up, brows furrowed. Although he did not show any signs of anger, the guard could feel that the man was annoyed. His heart clenched.
“What’s the matter?” asked the young man.
The guard thought for a moment. “There’s an incident outside. Someone from the Black Bears came for the sword testing and they’re now fighting the people from the Lu family. There are more and more people outside, we’re afraid things will escalate.”
The young man frowned even more, obviously very irritated. He had heard the noise outside just now too but he was engrossed in crafting so he had filtered all of it out.
“The city guards?”
“Uh… they came and then left.” The guard hung his head.
While he had contempt for their attitude, the young man knew that the city guards operated like that. “Tell them to fight outside the city.”
“There are too many of them…” The city guard’s head hung even lower. He was here to report and also get more guards to standby at the gates.
“Then…” The young man wanted to say something but stopped when he heard movement coming from the forging room. He quickly got up to greet the other man. “Master Heng, how is it?”
Gongjia Heng was exhausted as he walked out of the forging room. He wiped the sweat off his face and shook his head dejectedly.
The anticipation in the young man’s eyes dissipated into calmness, then determination. “If that’s the case, I’ll continue to search! Until we succeed! If we still can’t find it, then we’ll have to…”
Gongjia Heng sighed. “What for? Why do you have to suffer just for a sword?”
Coming to the table, he picked up a pot of warm water and poured it directly into his mouth. He guzzled half a pot of water before looking at the guard. “What happened now?”
The guard’s presence meant something happened outside. Gongjia Heng had received several reports like this these few days. However, most of the time he was in the forging room and could not hear the commotion outside.
The guard repeated what he said.
“Tell them to get the hell out!” Gongjia Heng said without a shred of mercy.