285 Hard Fight 2

But the handsome fellow was falling back from his panicked defence, apparently struck by his riposte. And he gave out a scream too, as though he had just suffered a dehabilitating injury! That was suspicious enough that Qin Feng turned away from the handsome man, and kept his attention on the fat fellow.

Who gave out an irritated roar as he avoided the flailing Lin Liushui, to continue to press Qin Feng!

"F*ck you, you idiot! Go away and stop spoiling this granddaddy's fun!"

And side-stepped the falling gallant, to strike at Qin Feng again! Who grunted as he threw up another of his White Jade Palms to counter the attack. Then the young man's eyes grew wide as another surprise unveiled itself right in front of his face!

Lin Liushui's wild, flailing fall on his back was just a diversion, it seemed. He simply rolled and jumped up immediately, the moment that the obese fellow passed. And struck at his rather large back, catching him on the back of his head! A sneak attack! Even as the fat man was charging at Qin Feng!

Something that the fat man had not been expecting, or prepared for.

And Lin Liushui's capabilities were well beyond what Qin Feng could match too!

The fat man barely had the time to give out a soft cry, before he collapsed onto the churned up dirt of the town thoroughfare. Leaving the pair of friends to stare at each other over his now quivering body.

"What was that about? You caught me by surprise back there!"

Qin Feng blurted that out, before Lin Liushui could even begin to explain. Which had the handsome fellow dipping his head at him.

"Ah! My apologies. I had thought that you could tell that it was all a ploy, so that I could lull him into a sense of superiority, and hit him unawares. The fight would have taken much longer, I am sure, if I had not made that move. If I had hurt you, I shall make amends," said the handsome fellow as he gave Qin Feng a deep bow. Which was probably all the apology that the younger man knew that he was going to get.

So Qin Feng grunted as he nodded back at the handsome fellow. "Next time you feel the need to do this, give me some secret signal, so that I'll know what to expect. I almost sliced your head off earlier!"

Li Liushui laughed as he bowed at the younger man. "Certainly. Certainly. I suppose I am lucky that you were so cautious, otherwise the plan might have failed. If ever I feel the need to do something like this, I will start quoting poetry, I suppose. With the moon as the main subject?"

Qin Feng grunted again. "As if I would be able to tell the difference? You should know how much poetry I am aware of! I only know one verse about the moon, and that is something that starts with the 'moon shines bright on floor at the foot of my bed*'. I don't even remember the rest of it, to tell the truth."

"Ah! In that case, we shall have to figure out some other sort of signal then," laughed the handsome fellow, as he waved his fan at something at Qin Feng's back, "But I think our Second Ducal Prince is impatient for us to get on with our interrogation. Or, at least, the rest of the women from the Snow Swallow Palace are."

Then he pointed a finger at the man whom they had just killed, and continued in a very soft voice. "But in case you are wondering, I was not lying when I told him that I had seen him before. He is one of the Outbond Elders of our Lin Family, and he should be one of those who are guiding the younger members of the same.

"Which is why I had intended to take him alive at first. But, as you can tell, it would have been too dangerous. So that is why I decided to kill him with that last strike earlier."

Qin Feng agreed with Lin Liushui's last statement, for all that he didn't think too much of the handsome fellow's plan. Was he an idiot? This fellow was somewhere beyond the Profound Realm! And he wanted to take him alive? Did he really think that he could talk the fellow into surrendering just now?

Still, Qin Feng had to say that he was rather lucky. To have met someone who was at least two Realms higher than himself, and had actually had a chance to try out his Four Seasons Sword against the same. He was lucky to be able to walk away with his four limbs still intact!

But it also warned him that there were likely to be more dangerous enemies around now. And that he would have to be careful. It would be a real waste for him to die now, wouldn't it? After he had gotten so far with his White Jade Orchid Flower Sutra? After all his suffering?

By then, the armoured and helmed Li Changhai had caught up with the pair, and did not look the least hurt by that tumble that Lin Liushui had sent him on earlier. "Well, I see that our plan had worked," the Second Ducal Prince said, as he pointed at the latter, "I think you should get out of that robe though. Otherwise, you are going to be confusing our allies. They might think you to be really an agent of the Purple Serpent Sect. Then where would we be?"

Lin Liushui chuckled as he shrugged off the badly torn, purplish uniform robe, and dusted his undershirt off, before he withdrew another beautiful robe from his ring, and draped it over his body. "I think the women may be more likely to mob me, once they see me in this. Are you forgetting how I had warned them that I would be doing this, when I tore that awful-looking garment off the body of its original wearer?"

Qin Feng snorted when he heard that. What was point of telling all the women, and leaving him out of the loop? He had almost hacked the handsome fellow's head off earlier!

But Lin Liushui was already searching the dead fat man, and that reminded him about what he had said earlier, regarding the rotund fellow being one of the Outbond Elders of the Lin Family. Was this all a ploy then, involving Lin Liushui's people? Here in the Yang Kingdom?

What were the chances of them running into something like that? And having the Snow Swallow Mountain Palace involved as well?

A rather loud, and uncharacteristic curse from the Gentleman of the Flowing Water told him that it was probably true. Since it was unlikely that Lin Liushui would give out such a blistering oath, if he was not truly incensed.

Li Changhai, apparently, had been warned about the matter as well. Or else, he had recognised the fat man as well, from their earlier sighting of the group at the harbour.

"The Lin Family, of the Yang Kingdom, are involved? Are you sure about that? It would be embarrassing if this turned out to be some sort of mix-up?" the Second Ducal Prince asked the handsome fellow as he stepped forward.

But Lin Liushui sighed and yanked out one of the insignia from the waist pouch of their prisoner. It looked a good bit like the one that the gallant had used, to intimidate that Ferry Port Marshal a few days back, Qin Feng realised. Not to mention the fact that it had a rather obvious 'Lin' character carved into one side of it.

Then Qin Feng looked closer, and saw that Lin Liushui was holding onto a whole handful of the same badges, and that they had all come from their prisoner's Qiankun Pouch!

"Either my family is involved, or good number of them have been taken prisoner. I am not sure which, but I am certain that my uncles would very much like to find out!"

* * *

*床前明月光