Chapter 10
At that moment, the Taoist’s facial expression changed when he noticed how powerful and unyielding Xiang Yang’s palm strike was. Hence, he cursed loudly, “Little thief!” Subsequently, with a wave of his right sleeves, he performed the Seven-Stars Steps with what’s left of his sword, but his posture remained as firm as a rock. When he saw this, Xiang Yang dared not take lower his guard and thought to himself. The swordsmanship of this Taoist is truly impeccable and I was only able to shatter his blade because of the forceful characteristic of Thunder Palm Strike. However, that’s not the case now.
Without warning, the Taoist began to sway sideways as he paced onward aggressively with the Seven-Stars Steps. The damaged sword gleamed in an emerald glow that pierced through the air and astonishingly, the intensity of his moves was not compromised by the broken blade. At the same time, Xiang Yang dodged and resolved his attacks while counterattacking occasionally with Thunder Palm Strike. In the heated exchange, their constant flashing silhouettes dazzled the four onlookers.
On the contrary, Zhao Wanyan was worried about Xiang Yang getting hurt, so she quickly interfered. “Taoist Master Lu, Big Brother Xiang over here is a good man, stop fighting!” The Taoist named Lu was in a heated battle when he heard her and curiosity got a hold of him. Immediately, he withdrew his sword and retreated a few feet away before carefully scrutinizing Xiang Yang.
Meanwhile, Xiang Yang walked toward the three men and patted them on their shoulders and chuckled, “My bad, my bad!” Initially, the three men felt heavy in their chest and they could hardly even stand up. Peculiarly, when they were tapped on the shoulder, they felt a gust of unknown energy surge through their bones. Then, they instantly felt better as they rapidly leaped to their feet.
Taoist Lu sheathed his sword and said, “Miss, I was occupied by battling their chief when White Tiger Camp hijacked your carriage and had made you go through a traumatizing ordeal, I deserve to die for committing such a grave mistake.” As he said this, he knelt down before her with the other three men. Shortly, Zhao Wanyan blushed and replied, “Forget it, please get up! I… I’m fine.” As she said this, she stole a glance at Xiang Yang.
The four men stood up and Taoist Lu spoke, “Miss, thank goodness you’re well and unhurt. I have arranged for a carriage in the town ahead, so please continue the trip.” “Hmm,” Zhao Wanyan paused before continuing, “No need for that... You guys can head to Capital first and Big Brother Xiang will send me there.”
Promptly, the four men exchanged looks of confusion as they could not believe their ears. They knew that the young lady was extremely shy and could hardly even speak to a male stranger, so why would she travel with this man? Nevertheless, Taoist Lu responded, “Miss, we have orders to escort you to Capital, so please don’t make things difficult for us.” To their surprise, Zhao Wanyan merely replied with a smile, “Taoist Master Lu, don’t you worry because I’ll clarify with my father, so he wouldn’t blame it on you all. Besides, I’d also like to introduce Elder Brother Xiang to my father.”
After all, Taoist Lu was experienced and he had swiftly figured out what this was about. He had noticed the intimate looks that were exchanged between Zhao Yanyan and Xiang Yang, and what she said confirmed his speculation. Additionally, considering the fact that Zhao Wanyan was wearing a man’s robe, she might have secretly entrusted her lifelong happiness to this man. Then, he snorted and questioned Xiang Yang, “This Nine Consecutive Thunder Palms of yours is truly formidable. Is your master’s surname Long or Hua?” “My late master’s surname was Hua,” Xiang Yang replied.
Taoist Lu let out an ‘oh’ and said, “Hua Xuanqing had passed away? What a pity, the world lost another legendary figure again.” Then, he continued, “Hua Xuanqing’s descendant must be someone of a great character. Oh well, since the young lady had given us her orders, I dare not disobey them. However, I expect the young lady to arrive in Capital soon or else…” At that moment, Zhao Wanyan interrupted him hurriedly, “Ah, don’t say it!” Taoist Lu was startled but played along and said, “Yes, or else Old Master will get worried.” He then turned to speak to the three men. “Pass the items to Young Lady.” One of them untied a cloth package from his back and handed it to Zhao Wanyan. Following that, The four of them bowed to her respectfully and left together.
Thereafter, Xiang Yang said, “Wanyan, you have so many masters in your family. No doubt, the power of Taoist Lu is overwhelming.” Zhao Wanyan replied with a smile, “Yes, he is my father’s most trusted right-hand man.” As she spoke, she unwrapped the package to reveal some clothes and accessories. While searching for Zhao Wanyan, Taoist Lu’s team of four was worried that she might be humiliated by the bandits, hence they brought along two sets of clothing to avoid undue embarrassment when they found her.
Xiang Yang snickered, “Great, you have clothes to wear now. Come on, take my robes off and return it to me.” Zhao Wanyan grinned and retorted, “I want to wear this robe, so Elder Brother Xiang, you can wear these.” Xiang Yang rummaged through the package and could only find nothing but women's clothing and laughed, “Are you messing around with me? I’m going to get that robe back even if I need to strip that robe off you.” As he said this he embraced Zhao Wanyan in his arms. Zhao Wanyan giggled in response, “Okay, I’ll change!”