A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Guangzhou is home to numerous martial arts schools, and in recent years it has become a hub for martial arts masters from the south. For Wang Xiongjie, a northerner, to open a martial arts school there, he must have genuine skills.

He initially chose a street lined with martial arts schools. According to the rules, each school had to set up a long bench, and the benches were connected to form a long bridge on the street. Each school would send its best disciple to guard the bench. Only by fighting across the entire bridge and knocking all the martial artists off the bench could one be considered qualified to open a martial arts school there.

Even after Wang Xiongjie fought from beginning to end, the locals were still not convinced. On the day he opened his museum, they arranged to provoke him with a lion dance, and Wang Xiongjie responded with a lion dance in return.

Eight lions, one from the south and one from the north, were locked in a fierce battle. Wang Xiongjie arranged for hot coals to be laid out on the ground, with red-hot iron plows inside. After defeating the lions from the other families outside the hot coals, they walked barefoot across the coals.

The apprentice in charge of the lion's tail couldn't hold on any longer and ran away. He danced the lion alone, with flames burning up from the lion's tail, like a fire dragon coiling around his body.

After picking the green leaves, Wang Xiongjie was unharmed despite being barefoot, thus earning him the nickname "Iron-Toed Fire Dragon".

Unfortunately, although his reputation soared, his martial arts school was not doing well. The locals were still xenophobic, and many businesses did not include him. No one introduced wealthy customers to him, and they even secretly suppressed him.

This time, the General of Guangzhou approached him, first paying him a large sum of money, and then promising that he would receive five out of ten percent of the profits from the opium trade in the three cities and seven villages, which is one-twentieth.

That's at least three thousand taels of silver a year!

In the early years of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, one tael of silver could be exchanged for one string of cash, which was equivalent to one thousand copper coins. However, after the twentieth year of Daoguang's reign, due to a battle with foreigners, one tael of silver could be exchanged for one thousand six or seven hundred copper coins.

In recent years, the price of silver has risen considerably.

Based on this year's grain prices in Guangzhou, one tael of silver could buy 170 catties of grain at this time, which was equivalent to the wages of a shop assistant working himself to the bone for three months.

Three thousand taels of silver is enough for those ordinary people at the bottom of society to work for nine thousand months, or seven hundred and fifty years.

Wang Xiongjie, who was initially hesitant due to concerns about his reputation, became quite excited upon hearing the offer: three thousand taels a year, and that was a long-term benefit.

Wealth is a powerful motivator. Don't talk about the risks of people dying for money or birds dying for food. Many people spend their entire lives looking for an opportunity to risk their lives for such a large sum of money.

But fighting desperately at least means having a chance of success, and that blue-faced demon was far stronger than they had predicted according to the dossier; he even killed Zhu Changshou, who had mastered the Tendon Refining Technique.

Wang Xiongjie already had a broken hand and had lost too much blood. If he rushed forward again, it wouldn't be fighting desperately, it would be courting death.

He could only flee, desperately flee, fleeing to save his life.

Since the Eight-Nation Alliance breached the Forbidden City, Wong Fei-hung, who had just won the gold medal at the Lion King Competition in the Forbidden City, was greatly affected and disheartened. In recent years, he has gradually instructed his disciples to shift the focus of their business to Southeast Asia.

After Huang Feihong left, Wang Xiongjie became the undisputed master of leg techniques in all of Guangdong, and his leg skills were even more astonishing when he was escaping.

Many Southern boxing styles emphasize the technique of moving with the heel as soon as it touches the ground. This means that when running, the ball of the foot lands first, and the elasticity of the foot pulls on the muscles and tendons of the calf, moving from the leg to the buttocks, and up the back to the shoulders.

When you run like this, waving your arms can move your whole body, making you feel lighter and faster as you run, with only a very small part of the force from your heels pressing on the ground.

Wang Xiongjie's Northern style is different. Every time his foot lands, he slams down with the entire sole of his foot, with the ball of his foot and the heel touching the ground at the same time. He relies on the bones of his ankle, knee, and hip as important pivots to propel his body's center of gravity.

Compared to the agility of Southern boxing, Wang Xiongjie's running style is more rigid and fierce, with a large distance between each step.

Guan Luoyang relentlessly pursued them, but he was never able to shorten the distance between them.

This situation only changed when they ran out of Diancheng and began heading into increasingly remote mountains and forests.

In general, the soil in the north is thick and solid, with more wind and sand, and is dry, while the soil in the south is moist and soft, with more rainfall and is slippery.

When Wang Xiongjie ran on the wet mud outside the city, he had to expend extra effort with each step, which naturally wasted more time.

The distance between Guan Luoyang and him began to shorten.

Even more deadly, when Wang Xiongjie climbed over a gentle slope, a group of men armed with short knives were lying in ambush in the low-lying wasteland ahead.

These men were all dressed in dark brown clothes, their heads completely covered, leaving only their eyes and nostrils exposed. They had iron chains with hooks on their left hands and short knives with dark coatings on their right hands, making them inconspicuous at night. Their hands were also tightly bound with strips of cloth.

The moment the two met, the one closest to the other immediately stabbed Wang Xiongjie in the liver with ruthless skill.

If that knife had actually pierced a person's body, there wouldn't even have been time for a scream; the person would have only managed a soft "uh" before dying on the spot. Clearly, this was a ruthless character who was used to killing people.

But Wang Xiongjie's kick, delivered after the initial strike, landed an inch below the assassin's knee, dislocating his shinbone and breaking his knee. The entire leg bent backward, and the body involuntarily fell forward.

Wang Xiongjie raised his knee and struck the assassin's chin, interrupting any potential screams and breaking his neck.

Although he took down one of them in one go, Wang Xiongjie was extremely anxious. If he delayed here, the killer behind him would catch up.

"Get out of my way!!!!"

The deadly move from the Chuojiao School, the Nine-Turn Linked Mandarin Duck Kick, was unleashed by Wang Xiongjie.

Nine turns in a row, like mandarin ducks in pairs. This is a deadly move that combines footwork and leg techniques. The feet rotate and turn, attacking the opponent's legs forward, crushing the soles of their feet from the side, and the most powerful strike is when kicking backward, specifically targeting the lower back and groin.

Wang Xiongjie twisted and turned, his body swaying, kicking left and right in all directions with unparalleled precision, leaving the assassins with lifelong disabilities in their lower bodies.

But these assassins were fearless and, even when seriously wounded, they still swung the hooked iron chain at Wang Xiongjie.

Wang Xiongjie, who originally only wanted to get through this place and continue to escape, had to kick to death all the dozen or so assassins who had gathered nearby. He also suffered several knife wounds on his legs and two iron hooks that got caught on his side waist and left shoulder.

Wang Xiongjie pulled out the iron hook, stepped on a corpse and jumped out to continue running away, but after only a few steps, he felt dizzy and collapsed to his knees.

"The knife was poisoned... Damn it, if I hadn't lost an arm and bled so much..."

His mind was hazy as he thought about this, and a double image appeared before his eyes.

Guan Luoyang swung his left hand and delivered a final blow to Wang Xiongjie's throat.

After Wang Xiongjie fell, Guan Luoyang looked at the corpses of the assassins, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Wang Xiongjie's escape route was random; it was impossible for anyone to have anticipated these events and sent people to ambush him.

Moreover, after Wang Xiongjie shouted that, there were other noises in the woods, indicating that there were more than just this group of assassins lying in ambush.

But the other assassins haven't arrived yet, which means they've likely encountered their real target.

Guan Luoyang tore off a piece of cloth, covered his face, and crept towards the direction from which the fighting sounds were coming.

After walking less than thirty steps, they encountered the corpses of other assassins under an old tree.

They seemed to be fighting and retreating from their ambushed targets, leaving behind corpses along the way, all belonging to the assassins.

Some used iron hooks, some used short knives, some carried muskets, and some even held barbed wire in their hands.

One of the assassins was still alive, lying on the corpse of his colleague, emitting intermittent groans of pain.

Guan Luoyang's eyes darted around, then he suddenly collapsed beside the man, covering his face with a cloth and, mimicking a local accent, cried out in terror, "You, who are you people? What are you doing in the mountains in the middle of the night?"

The seriously injured man turned his head, his consciousness seemingly fading, and said weakly, "There...there are people. Quick, quick, find something to bandage my chest wound. We are officials here to arrest a wanted criminal..."

Guan Luoyang said, "Where would you find an official dressed like that?"

The man, panting heavily, managed to say, "I have a tag; I have a tag inside my belt."

Guan Luoyang reached in and felt around; there was indeed a hard object in his belt, but it was a token the size of a copper coin. If he hadn't told him about it, it would have been very difficult to find.

The small token was painted entirely black, with white marks engraved on the characters. One side read "Imperial Household Department," and the other side read "Sticky Pole Pays Respects to Tang."

"So you really are government officials. What's the background of the wanted criminal you're looking for?"

"They're rebels, important figures within the rebels..."

The man seemed to sense something was wrong and suddenly stopped talking. Before he could question him, Guan Luoyang swung the token forward, hitting him squarely in the throat.

After getting up, Guan Luoyang sped up and chased after the assassins to the place where they were fighting. He then used his right hand to slash two assassins from behind, killing them.

The assassin ahead became alert and turned to slash with his blade.

Guan Luoyang blocked with his sword, and in a flash, he pulled the hilt of his sword back and tilted it extremely quickly, causing the opponent's dagger to slide off his blade and strike the oval handguard.

Guan Luoyang's blade had already sliced ​​through the assassin's neck. He then pushed with his left hand, using the corpse to knock over the assassins in front of him. With flashes of light, he took the lives of these assassins.

He had just been punched by Zhu Changshou, and his ribs and internal organs were probably slightly injured. He had also been chasing Wang Xiongjie all the way, so his breathing was not very smooth. At this time, his attack was not as ruthless as when he assassinated Wang Xiongjie before, but rather more skillful and adaptable.

An ordinary knife, in Guan Luoyang's hands, became as agile as a fish covered in sharp blades; the blade, the guard, and even the hilt—every part could parry, and every part could kill.

He crouched low, rushing forward and charging, his long sword circling around him. Anyone who came within four feet of him was struck in a vital spot by his blade.

puff!

The blade sliced ​​open the assassin's chest and abdomen at an angle, and a hand struck the assassin's stomach, causing a large amount of blood to gush out from the long, narrow wound.

When the assassin's body fell, none of the other assassins in uniform were still standing.

Guan Luoyang flicked the blood off his left hand and saw the target they had ambushed a dozen steps away.

He was a somewhat disheveled man, probably in his forties, with a scruffy beard, but dressed rather fashionably.

She wore long trousers and leather boots on her lower body, a beige coat on her upper body, a long dark scarf around her neck, and a black beret on her head.

Guan Luoyang began, "You don't need to be nervous, I..."

"I recognize him!"

The man had strong features, but his expression was strange at the moment. A cautious smile seemed to emerge from his deep wounds and exhaustion. "I recognize your swordsmanship. That move of asking for directions and beheading the woodcutter just now was evolved from the Flying Phoenix Single Blade technique of the White Eyebrow Fist from Mount Emei. But if you've seen other practitioners of the White Eyebrow Fist, you'll know that your move is quite different from theirs."

Guan Luoyang glanced at the knife in his hand and said, "Oh?"

"Because I helped modify this move."

The man swung his short stick, first pulling the tip upwards and to the right, then quickly dragging it down and slashing diagonally to the lower left. At this moment, his left hand was at his waist, making a palm strike that resembled spitting out something.

Whether it's the external movements, or the subtle changes in power such as flicking the wrist and sinking the shoulder, or the hidden changes in strength stored in the elbow, they are all exactly the same as the moves Guan Luoyang used just now.

However, part of Guan Luoyang's movements were blocked by the assassin. Given the assassin's position, he shouldn't have been able to see the whole thing.

Unless, he is truly accustomed to this move to the core.

Guan Luoyang sheathed his sword, a series of thoughts forming in his mind.

After putting away his stick, the man pressed his chest and smiled, his face pale, "How is Lei Gong?"

………………

As dawn broke, a rooster crowed in the distance, signaling the end of a dark and windy night.

Tian Gongyu got up at the sound of the rooster, put on his clothes and shoes, opened the window to let in fresh air, went out to fetch a basin of water to wash his face, and then went into the kitchen.

The kitchen was neither too big nor too small, with an old table for storing vegetables and a cutting board, and several iron hooks hanging from the beam, from which cured meat and chili peppers were hung.

The stove was an earthen stove, and the person who made the stove was very skilled. Two iron pots were placed on it, and not a single wisp of smoke could seep out from the gaps around the iron pots; it all went into the chimney.

A picture of the Kitchen God was pasted on the stove, gradually becoming damp in the steam coming through the wooden pot lid.

I ate porridge for breakfast. The rice was soaked overnight, so it was easy to cook until it became thick.

Although he didn't know if Guan Luoyang would come back in the morning, Tian Gongyu still cooked a little extra.

Judging that the fire was almost done, Tian Gongyu put a few pieces of firewood in the earthen stove, then got up and went outside to exercise. Just then, he saw Guan Luoyang wading over from the stream downstream.

Going out to assassinate those heinous villains inevitably means getting blood on your hands.

To prevent anyone from finding this place with their hunting dogs, Guan Luoyang would wander around the woods after each assassination, randomly crushing some of the fresh, tender juices to disrupt the scent, before finally heading home.

However, the fact that someone would use a stream to wash themselves like today suggests that they've been stained with too much blood.

Tian Gongyu tossed him a towel and said, "Didn't yesterday go well?"

"I encountered a few tough challenges, but a genius like me will naturally succeed."

Guan Luoyang wiped his face, rubbed his hair with a towel, and smiled as he pulled a ring from his soaked clothes.

"By the way, Uncle Tian, ​​I met someone last night who claimed to be an acquaintance of yours. He was badly injured, but I didn't dare bring him back directly. This is a token he gave me. Take a look."

When Tian Gongyu first saw the ring, it looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. After taking it and turning it over, he finally noticed the two small characters engraved on the inside of the ring.

—The coach.