Chapter 104: 104
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A brown-robed old man with a goatee checked their pulses one by one . He would shake his head at times and nod at others . Sometimes his eyes would shine, and at others, he would inspect the child before him . To his left was the master of the Iron Fist school, Liu Hong, and behind him was Li Long, who constantly refilled the old man’s tea cup .
The disciples of the Iron Fist school formed a human wall, blocking many people outside who seemed to be the relatives of these children . They all looked at their children nervously . If they saw the old man nod, they would light up with pleasure, but if the old man shook his head, they would become dejected .
This was an important figure who had come from the Clear River prefecture from over five hundred kilometers away, a mighty protector of the Iron Fist school who possessed extraordinary martial arts . If they could gain his recognition, their children would truly skyrocket to greatness .
Li Qingshan saw the old man with his first glance . The old man’s aura was heavy and condensed, slightly stronger than Feng Zhang’s . He was truly an innate master, but he was not anyone dangerous . If he daemonified, he was confident about killing the old man in a single strike . Even if he maintained his human form, there would not be too much trouble . It would just take some effort .
He was just curious as to what this was all about .
Liu Hong sat beside the old man . Both of them were elderly, but even the naive children could tell who was more imposing . Liu Hong sighed inside . Recently, a lot of impressive figures have come to Qingyang city .
Ever since he came to Qingyang city for retirement, it had been many years since he last saw protector Yan Song . But speaking of which, with his status as a second-rate master, he never saw protector Yan much in the past either . The last time he saw him was during the birthday banquet of the leader of the main branch . Back then, he was still in his prime, and protector Yan was already like this . Now, he had already become an old man, but protector Yan seemed like he had never changed .
Liu Hong said, “Protector Yan, you should take a break!”
“Please try the tea!” Li Long filled up the cup with tea in a hurry . Although the hall chief had died to unnatural causes, and his plan to leave Qingyang city was cancelled, he felt happy inside . He never liked that hall chief Wu . He was rude to his master . Now that he was dead, it only served him right . In the blink of an eye, another one, protector Yan, had come . Not only were his martial arts even greater, but he was much more level-headed as well . He was proud, but he never showed it, and he could directly take Li Long to the Clear River prefecture .
Yan Song stopped and took a sip of tea leisurely . “I’m old . My body is failing . ” He just let the children stand beneath the sun .
Liu Hong asked, “What about the leader of the main branch?”
Liu Hong was overjoyed . “Then thank you, protector . What do you think about these children?”
Yan Song said, “There are a few promising ones among these children . Although I don’t know if they can practise qi, they’re at least more than enough for practising martial arts . If this was the prefectural city of Clear River, the children with better talent would have all been scooped away already . Even just a single promising kid would take some fighting to obtain . You’ll never be able to just pick them leisurely like this . ”
Liu Hong said, “It’s all due to the main branch leader’s wisdom . ”
“Hmm?”
At this moment, Yan Song raised his head and saw a hole in the wall formed from the disciples of the Iron Fist school . A teenager walked towards him . However, after glancing at him, Yan Song said, “Send him out . He’s too old . ” Moreover, he was too ordinary . He had nothing worth noticing .
However, the disciples of the Iron Fist school did not try to block the teenager as ordered . Instead, they parted to the sides in fear . Yan Song was rather confused . All he saw was Li Long and even Liu Hong’s eyes widening . “Li Qingshan!”
The crowd burst into discussion . “Isn’t that Li Qingshan?” “The Black Tiger, Li Qingshan!” “I heard he’s dead, isn’t he?” “How’d he return?” Li Qingshan could be regarded as famous in Qingyang city now .
Li Qingshan walked up and waved his hand with a smile . “School master Liu, long time no see . And this protector something, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you!”
Yan Song raised an eyebrow . He remembered the other reason for his trip . Wasn’t it exactly for this teenager?
Liu Hong said awkwardly, “Y- you’ve returned!”
Li Qingshan got straight to the point . “Yeah . I’ll have to play the role of an unruly guest this time . School master Liu, please return a few items to me, or just exchange it into silver notes . I’d rather you do that actually . After all, it wasn’t easy for you to excavate it all . ” The current Li Qingshan seemed very gentle, without any sort of imposing or vicious bearing . Liu Hong looked at Yan Song . Yan Song said nonchalantly as he sipped his tea, “You’re Li Qingshan? You’re still bold enough to return? Right now, I’m going to ask you questions, and for every question, I expect a reply . If you don’t reply, I’ll smack you across the face once . How did hall chief Wu die?”
He did not even stand up . This was not a person worthy of standing up for, and Li Qingshan’s ‘rudeness’ had irritated him slightly . He was out of his mind for trying to ask for items from him . And, there were various traces that proved that hall chief Wu’s death was clearly linked to this person . Obviously, he had no reason to be polite to his enemy .
Li Qingshan is hiding his strength? Maybe! But even if Li Qingshan is a first-rate master, or even an innate master, having become a Qi Practitioner, what can he do? With his strength as a second layer Qi Practitioner, there were not a lot of people he had to take seriously .
Li Qingshan was familiar with this kind of behaviour . It came from possessing absolute confidence in personal strength . They believed they could hold their ground, and that everyone had to listen to and follow their arrangements, allowing them to do whatever they wanted .
However, when Li Qingshan compared Yan Song to the figures he had seen soaring through the skies, he found it absolutely hilarious . He was like a toad croaking loudly, ordering a group of flies around while believing that he was a king .
As a result, Li Qingshan laughed . At least I’m a frog, not a toad, and a very strong one at that .
The corner of Liu Hong’s mouth twitched . After several months of not seeing him, having returned from a trip, Liu Hong had thought he would become a little more reserved, but he never expected him to remain exactly the same . He seemed amiable on the surface, but he was as arrogant as he could get inside .
Yan Song’s expression became frosty . “What are you laughing about?”
Li Qingshan said, “When I see something funny, I’ll obviously laugh!”
Yan Song slowly stood up . “Why don’t you try to laugh again?”
Li Qingshan said, “Let’s get to the point . You gobbled up all of my things . I want you to spit it all out now . ”Without any prior signs, Yan Song crossed several meters with a single step to arrive before Li Qingshan . He raised a hand and swung it viciously . He wanted to slap Li Qingshan to the point where he would not be able to laugh again for the rest of his life . He wanted Li Qingshan to know the price of provoking the Iron Fist school .
Smack! There was a clear slap .
Yan Song’s head turned to one side . A ripple flowed through his cheeks as his eyes were wide open . A tooth fell out . He felt disbelief . He clearly did not sense any inner force or true qi within Li Qingshan, yet his movements were swift and violent . Was he a Body Practitioner? However, he did not possess the special characteristics of a Body Practitioner at all .
Li Qingshan saw how Yan Song had tried to slap him . He did not feel irritated at all inside . Instead, it was mostly weariness . The swift movements now actually seemed so slow in his eyes, to a point where he suspected his evaluation of Yan Song might have been wrong .
As Yan Song had underestimated his opponent, he revealed many openings . Li Qingshan obviously would not let the opportunity slip, and he smacked Yan Song across the face . He continued to smile . “If you’re not going to spit it out, I’ll beat you until you spit it out . ”
“Protector Yan!” Liu Hong was dumbfounded . The indomitable protector Yan had actually been slapped across the face before so many people . He was even more surprised by how powerful Li Qingshan had become . His rate of growth was simply far too terrifying .
The crowd gasped as well . The reason why they had brought their children today was because Yan Song had demonstrated real martial arts . He had destroyed a log of over three meters wide with a single punch, which was basically divine in their eyes .
Li Long could not help but rub his eyes . Was this really the young cowherd from the Crouching Ox village? He felt like he knew less and less about this fellow villager .
Yan Song was furious inside . He took a step back and adjusted his posture . His true qi surged into his fists .
Smack!
As soon as Li Qingshan saw his stance, he decided to give him no chance to strike out at all . He walked up and slapped him across the face again . Li Qingshan’s strength was tremendous . Yan Song felt the world spin around him after being smacked, and the true qi he had just gathered collapsed again . He gathered it once again as he was unwilling to just accept this . He wanted to kill Li Qingshan .
Smach! A third slap landed . This was how bare-handed close combat was like . It was very difficult to turn the situation around after losing the upper hand from a single move .
Smach! Smack! Smack! The slaps were loud and clear, resounding through the martial arts platform . Aside from the sounds of slaps, there was nothing else .
Whenever Yan Song showed signs of counterattacking, Li Qingshan would slap him mercilessly . The reason why he chose to slap was not just to return the favour . It was also because he had no interest in killing him, so he could not use too much strength . However, he still needed to ensure he maintained the upper hand . As a result, hitting the head was the best choice . Slaps were not fatal, but they could shake up the head of his opponent, interrupting Yan Song’s actions . This was the optimal way to approach the situation .
Yan Song staggered backwards as Li Qingshan advanced .
Thud! Yan Song sat back down on his armed chair, shielding his face and calling out, “Stop hitting me!” After being slapped a few consecutive times, he finally recovered from his anger . It turned into fear . Li Qingshan could kill him . As people grew older, they valued their lives more and more .
As expected, Li Qingshan stopped . “Return my things!”
Yan Song’s complexion fluctuated between paleness and redness . He roared, “Liu Hong, what are you standing there for?” As he said that, he secretly reached into his bosom . He also had a talisman that he treated as a trump card . He had been humiliated so much in front of so many people, so if he did not get revenge, he would never be able to redeem himself .
Li Qingshan said, “I’d advise you not to use it!”
Yan Song’s hand trembled .
Li Qingshan said, “You wanted to slap me, so I slapped you . If you want to kill me, then I can only kill you . ”
Li Qingshan’s voice was calm and composed . He did not even stop Yan Song from fishing out the talisman . Yan Song held the corner of the talisman as his expression fluctuated violently . He was unable to make up his mind .