CH 15

Chapter 15: The 4th rank Bugeng

“Mister Qi, this “a wise man looks after his own hide” magic phrase, why didn’t you give it to me?” 

Shen Tang almost vomited blood. 

She had memorized this passage not long ago.

It could condense Qi into a strong wind to protect the whole body! 

To put it in simple terms, it could create a shield.

She didn’t have a problem with Qi Shan protecting himself, but he unexpectedly quietly retreated behind her—a weak 11-12 year old female nerd to let her face this terrible killer alone!

It really made one’s hair stand up in anger!

Qi Shan stayed calm: “I'm weak and not good at fighting”.

Shen Tang “…”

She suddenly recalled what she said about Qi Shan after looking at the scroll with magic words last night—the LYB, who uses offense as defense and squats with his head down in the grass—now it seems this evaluation wasn’t that accurate. She needed to add one more line. It's also quite easy for this guy to sell his teammates.

“No matter how bad you are at fighting, you are still a young man around 20 years old”.

Hide behind her?

Is it an action of a manly man?

She fell silent and kicked at the middle-age man's chest. 

Looking at the man who didn’t have time to react, before being sent flying, Qi Shan said: “People around 20 years old can't kick people so far”. 

Shen Tang “…”

The middle-aged man fell to the ground while covering his chest. He seemed overwhelmed with shock. He never thought that one tiny kid could be this strong. He slapped the ground and jumped up, shouting loudly: “You’re a nuisance, so don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

From nowhere, he took out a red hatchet.

Then, he slashed at Shen Tang!

Boom!

The man used his wudan on the hatchet, so it could cut iron like mud. It split the knife in Shen Tang’s hand in half. The man was overjoyed. Then, he used brute force to slash horizontally, aiming at Shen Tang’s neck. The man was smiling, and he seemed to already see the tragic scene of Shen Tang's head flying away from her body.

Unexpectedly, she leaned back, avoiding the successive strikes. Her every step was taken calmly.

The middle-aged man didn’t have any special style of fighting, he just used brute force coupled with his red hatchet.

One strike after another.

He only needed to hit once to disable or kill his opponent.

After noticing the split he made on the ground, Shen Tang’s expression turned cold. Qi Shan timely said: “2nd rank, Shangzao”. 

Nevertheless, a 2nd-rank Shangzao who only used brute force.

Shen Tang seized the opportunity to get closer to him and store the strength in her fist, aiming at his wrist.

The middle-aged man screamed in pain. The hatchet in his hands fell down. She used this opportunity to give him a hard kick three inches below the navel. It was a dead loss for the man, and even Qi Shan gasped subconsciously.

He covered his face with his sleeves and couldn't bear to look directly.

There is no man that can withstand that kind of pain.

The middle-aged man wasn’t an exception. 

He screamed and bent over towards Shen Tang’s chest. He was caught by his ears and his hair fell down. Then, he bumped into her bent-up knee.

Boom!

Qi Shan subconsciously rubbed his nose.

He seemed to feel the pain of this man.

Just at this time, out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed the silhouette swaying outside the paper window. He acted without thinking and read- 

“Standing together through storms and dangers!” 

When he said the word “standing together”, A grey glow broke through the window and with unrivaled momentum shot towards Shen Tang. At the same time, Chinese characters suddenly appeared all over Shen Tang’s body.

The two powers collided, creating the air wave that exploded with a bang.

Shen Tang avoided it early. She looked at the blade that sunk several inches into the ground, then raised her head to look outside—there was an enemy in the dark!

Qi Shan said: “His colleague, he should be a 3rd-rank Zanniao”. 

With his rich experience, he was able to deduce roughly the strength of this man’s colleague, on the basis of only this one strike.

But his next words were - 

“Young, master Shen, you should be able to deal with him”. 

Shen Tang “…”

The meaning hidden behind his words, he still wants to be just an audience.

Unlike the middle-aged man who fought disorderly, the one who came was obviously a practitioner. He rushed in, and in his palm appeared some power that forced the spear inserted into the ground to fly back into his hand.

His target wasn’t Shen Tang. He feinted to approach Qi Shan.

The comer wore black clothes, nearly 9 feet tall with a massive back and a muscular body. Solely standing, he gave others enormous pressure, making the originally spacious house feel narrow and stifling.

With an expression of “as expected”, Qi Shan unhurriedly mouthed one magic phrase. The light surged under his feet, and his body swayed slightly, as he retreated more than ten feet away. The man in black wanted to pursue him, but was stopped by Shen Tang with her killing “Mother Sword” magic phrase. He was unable to escape.

Clang! Dong!

A spear and a sword clashed.

Qi Shan dodged to the comparatively safe open space. He unhurriedly said: “When I am in danger, it’ll be inflicted on others, so—when I am in danger, others are in danger. If people want to be safe, they need to help solve my difficulties”.

The magic phrase took effect, but the light unexpectedly shined under Shen Tang’s feet.

Shen Tang after hearing this magic phrase: “…???”

While blocking the enemy's spear that was stabbing at her like a violent storm, she shouted angrily: “Qi Yuanliang! Are you a human?!”

Qi Shan was truly a dog!

This magic phrase at first didn’t seem so wrong, but after interpreting it in fact it meant—If I’m in danger, then I will pass the danger to the other person. If I endanger others, I will be in danger, so if that person wants to be safe, he has to help me solve the danger.

It was equivalent to mandatory risk sharing. 

“Young master Shen, the big picture is the most important”. Qi Shan heard what she said and unexpectedly thickened his skin, smiling saying, “As the saying goes—‘Wenxin is not eliminated, wudan is not extinguished’. This practitioner cannot be ignorant of this truth. I am weak, so I will entrust my life to young master Shen”.

Shen Tang “…”

Brother Qi Yuanliang, do you still remember the phrase “Guess whether this saber is a decoration or a handy weapon” that you said last night?

Only one night passed, and you already managed to pick up a frail scholar character? 

Bang!

The roof was pierced thoroughly by the sword’s gray tip.

The man’s strength was extraordinary, at least he was stronger than the 3rd rank Zanniao official she met before. Shen Tang retreated a few steps to unload the pressure. She looked at her slightly numb web between her thumb and forefinger, and her expression turned heavy. 

“Qi Yuanliang, are you certain that he is a 3rd rank Zanniao?”

Qi Shan was about to say “yes”, but through the unextinguished oil lamp, he saw the man's thick lips slightly parting. He started muttering something silently.

Immediately after, there was a change in his momentum. Hundreds of spears danced in an instant, and his spear wrapped around Shen Tang's long sword like a snake.

Qi Shan carefully identified it. 

[Soldiers changeable power, water changeable shape…]

This is…

Qi Shan comprehended in an instant. 

“Be careful. He’s a 4th rank Bugeng!”

Almost after his words, an imaginary shadow quietly appeared in Shen Tang’s blind spot. The black clothes man that was entangled with Shen Tang formed a pincer attack. The spear came, but Shen Tang seemed to have eyes on her back, and she grabbed the hanging curtain, then leaped vertically onto the broken hanging beam, avoiding the attack that could hit her heart.

“WTF, unexpectedly, he can split the [body]!”

She just stood firmly, when she heard Qi Shan’s voice in her ears.

He said: “Scatter about like stars in the sky or chess pieces on a board!” 

Buzz - 

The crisscross characters stretched out from under his feet. At first glance, it looked like a huge chessboard. When the chessboard appeared, the man’s in black feet sank and his knees trembled slightly, as if a huge stone was pressing on his shoulders. His legs started sinking into an invisible quagmire. He shouted loudly and his energy burst out from his body. The gray blade collided with wenxin’s light and made a harsh impact sound.

Shen Tang looked at this, not knowing what to do. 

This exceeded her scope of understanding. 

Qi Shan noticed her worry and coldly said: “You just have to fight, leave the rest to me. Catch him alive!” 

The threshold for being Gongshi and Shangzao was extremely low, any warrior could reach it. The 3rd rank Zanniao was a dividing range. From the 4th rank Bugeng, the practitioners could use ‘The art of war’ magic phrases and could become the commander in the army.

If he was willing to become stronger and become part of the army, he wouldn’t have to worry about eating and drinking. Why did he become a bandit to make a living by robbing and killing people?

不更 - bugeng, the 4th rank—created since the reform of Shangyang in the Qin dynasty to reward military merits. It’s divided into 20 ranks.