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Chapter 436: Ghost Clap

The attack was bloodthirsty, efficient, and ruthless exactly like a military officer who had seen countless battles. It betrayed just how angry he was at Zhuo Henshui.

Yu Yuanshan had married Chen Wuchou’s younger sister. He wasn’t just Chen Wuchou’s relative, their interests were closely aligned to each other. One of the biggest reasons Chen Wuchou and the Flying Dragon Stronghold dared to act as they pleased was because of him.

The reason Chen Wuchou sent his son to attend the Hidden Dragon Meet was to grow his son’s fame and improve his prospects when he entered the Hengshan Army in the future. He believed it would greatly benefit Flying Dragon Stronghold, his son, and his own standings.

Besides that, Chen Wuchou wished to whitewash Flying Dragon Stronghold completely through Chen Shaoyu. It was why he had very high hopes for him.

But now, Chen Shaoyu was dead. How on earth was he going to justify this to Chen Wuchou? He could only pray that killing his son’s murderer, Zhuo Heshui would be enough to placate the man.

“You dare!”

Suddenly, a furious roar that sounded like it came from a dragon itself shattered the saber force and bloodthirst. Yu Yuanshan himself was struck by a powerful wave of dizziness.

“Does my warning mean nothing to you?!”

A cold, furious voice rang beside Yu Yuanshan’s ear and snapped out of his daze. Blanching, he was just about to defend himself when a massive palm hit him so hard that he collapsed on the floor, and a leg stepped on his back so hard that he couldn’t push free.

“Lord Hong, what are you doing?! Let Commandant Yu go!”

Some of Yu Yuanshan’s subordinates raced forward to save their superior, but a golden dragon flew out of Hong Jianglong’s body, roared, and swung its tail at the incoming group. They were immediately sent flying through the air.

“Pwack!”

Bright red blood burst out of their throats as soon as they hit the floor. They couldn’t help but stare at Hong Jianglong with shock and fear in their eyes.

“Did I not just mention that I wouldn’t forgive anyone who disrupts the Hidden Dragon Meet again?” Hong Jianglong uttered icily while injecting more strength into his foot. Yu Yuanshan immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

“You… You did…” Yu Yuanshan forced through the pain and answered.

Hong Jianlong looked down on Yu Yuanshan. “Then why did you ignore my words?”

“I…” Yu Yuanshan tried to push himself to his feet, but Hong Jianglong’s strength proved to be indomitable. “She… She killed Shaoyu!”

“This is a no-holds-barred tournament where killing your opponent is allowed. It’s his fault for being too weak to protect his own life,” Hong Jianglong uttered coldly. “If you wanted him to live, then you shouldn’t send him to this tournament in the first place.”

“But… Zhuo Henshui killed him even though Shaoyu was already out of the fight. This is murder!” Yu Yuanshan argued through gritted teeth.

Hong Jianglong snorted. “That is the consequences of his own actions. Did Zhuo Henshui not offer him surrender at the beginning? Did he not spurn her goodwill and even threatened to kill her whole family? I would’ve killed him if I was her.”

“You…” Yu Yuanshan couldn’t say anything for a while. “Our general was going to promote Chen Shaoyu after this Hidden Dragon Meet. How are we going to justify this to him when he learns about this?”

“Did you just try to threaten me with Zhou Hengshan?” Hong Jianglong raised his eyebrows. His aura grew to the point where even the surrounding people felt suffocated, much less Yu Yuanshan. “I don’t know what delusions you’re toiling under, but I assure you that that threat will not work.”

Zhou Hengshan was the general of the Hengshan Army. People called him General Hengshan.

“Now roll.”

Hong Jianglong meant it literally. He kicked Yu Yuanshan in the ribs and caused him to roll all the way to a staircase leading up to a kiosk. A jet of blood escaped the military officer’s throat before his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he fell unconscious.

One of Yu Yuanshan’s subordinates stammered out, “Lord Hong! Commandant Yu is an imperial official! Do you think that the imperial court when they learn that you’ve beaten up a valued member of Chu?”

The rest of Yu Yuanshan’s cohort was glaring at Hong Jianglong as well. They didn’t think that Hong Jianglong would dare to deal Yu Yuanshan a serious blow.

“So what if I did? What can you do about it?” Hong Jianglong scoffed. “Might I remind you that it’s a death sentence to disrupt the Hidden Dragon Meet? He should be thanking his lucky stars that I haven’t killed him outright.”

“Oh, I get it. You think I didn’t punish him hard enough, is it? You want me to kill him and you lot so that justice can be fully restored, right? If that is what you wish…”

Yu Yuanshan’s subordinates could hardly believe what they were hearing, but no one dared to say another word. They could tell from Hong Jianglong’s aura that he wasn’t just making empty threats. He would actually kill them if they dared to prod him again.

“Before I forget, tell Zhou Hengshan that Zhuo Henshui is a member of the Pacification Bureau. If something happens to her in the future, I will personally pay him a visit and hang him for it. Understand?” A pair of golden dragons swam behind Hong Jianglong’s eyes. “Now get lost!”

“... We will bring your message to the general word for word, Lord Hong.”

Yu Yuanshan’s cohort gritted their teeth in anger, but they ultimately didn’t dare to challenge Hong Jianglong. They quickly lifted the unconscious Yu Yuanshan over their shoulders before leaving the peak.

When they were gone, Hong Jianglong looked at Zhuo Henshui and declared, “Don’t worry. So long as I’m still around, no one would dare to lay a hand on you. Just continue your journey in the Hidden Dragon Meet as you do.”

“Thank you, Lord Hong,” Zhuo Henshui said with a salute, though her face remained as impassive as ever.

Hong Jianglong nodded and raised his voice, “It looks like some of you people are deaf, so I’m going to repeat myself one more time. Disrupt the Hidden Dragon Meet, and you will be treated as an enemy of the imperial court and the Pacification Bureau. I shouldn’t need to tell you what the consequences were, should I?”

The silence stretched for a few seconds, and Hong Jianglong finally turned at Fang Muyun and Chu Wangsun and apologized, “My apologies for the unsightly behavior, Mister Farseeing, Mister Nine.”

Fang Muyun smiled. “It’s fine. Your impartiality and decisiveness are most impressive.”

Chu Wangsun didn’t say anything. He hadn’t even raised his head.

Hong Jianglong saluted them again before returning to his kiosk. As he passed by Lei Xiaodan, he shot the man a strange look. The Hengshan Army was subordinate to the Intelligence Department, so he was surprised that Lei Xiaodan hadn’t tried to defend them.

His look didn’t escape the Judicial Commissioner’s notice, of course. He returned a smile and said, “Why are you looking at me like that? They made a mistake, so they should pay for it.”

“Right…” Hong Jianglong replied in a clearly unconvinced tone but didn’t say anything else.

“Lord Hong is a tyrant alright.” Ye Qing sighed. He could see why he and Gu Suitang were friends. He could even believe that they were blood brothers if they shared the same surname.

Gao Ningan said wistfully, “Haha. It’s not like he wants to be a tyrant, you know? It’s just that some bastards would happily piss on your head if you give them an inch. Such is life.”

While they were conversing with each other, Wen Xiaonuan and Flower Butterfly’s battle had finally come to an end. As expected, Wen Xiaonuan was the victor.

Now, there was only one match left. It was the match between Zhao Lan and Lin Yuhuai.

“Say Joyless, what the fuck is that Zhao Lan doing? Is he really dragging this out just to toy with Yuhuai?” Chu Nianjiu asked with a deep frown.

Ye Qing shook his head. “I’m not sure either.”

He was certain that Zhao Lan wasn’t just toying with Yuhuai, however.

“It looks like your friend is in big trouble.” They were still trying to figure out the truth when Zhao Bu’er’s voice suddenly entered their ears. They turned and saw the warrior walking up to them and greeting them with a wave of his hand.

“Hello, Brother Zhao.” Ye Qing returned the greeting before asking, “What do you mean by that?”

Zhao Bu’er replied frankly, “Did you notice? Every once in a while, Zhao Lan would clap Lin Yuhuai here and there.”

“Sure, but so what?” Gao Ningan interrupted. “It’s so weak it can’t even kill a mosquito.”

“Stop interrupting and listen to what Brother Zhao has to say,” Ye Qing chided him.

Zhao Bu’er explained, “It looks like it couldn’t kill a mosquito, sure, but it’s actually an extremely insidious martial art. It is called the Ghost Clap.”

“Is that the signature move of the fiftieth warrior on the Black List, Lingling the Invisible Killer?” Luo Zhan asked.

“You’ve heard of it? Then I guess my warning is unnecessary after all,” Zhao Bu’er replied with a friendly smile.

“Tell me more about this Ghost Clap,” Ye Qing urged.

He was aware of the Black List. Just like the Heaven, Earth and Human Champions Ranking, the Black List was also a ranking list announced by the White Jade Capital. But while the former rankings ranked the warriors by their strength, the Black List listed only heretics, notorious villains and the like. The people on the list might not necessarily be bad people per se, but they definitely were not good people either.

On a related note, the counterpart of the Black List was the White List. It listed righteous and heroic warriors who were famous for their good deeds or subjugated a lot of demons, heretics and the like. When mentioned in the same line, people usually called the two lists the Black and White Lists.

As the Black and White Lists didn’t necessarily rank their candidates based on strength and so was not as reliable as the Heaven, Earth and Human Champions Ranking in that regard, they were still something to watch out for. It was generally believed that those in the top fifty of the Black and White Lists were, at the minimum, a Grandmaster and a named warrior on the Earth Champions Ranking.

For example, Lingling the Invisible Killer was the fiftieth warrior on the Black List and the ninety-eighth warrior on the Earth Champions Ranking. He might be the third last warrior on the ranking, but a Grandmaster was a Grandmaster.

Ye Qing had heard of the Lingling the Invisible Killer, a Grandmaster who was famous for his invisible killing methods. However, Ye Qing had never heard of the Ghost Clap.

The ‘Ghost Clap’ is Shi Lingling’s signature martial art. It earned its name for being so light, soundless and undetectable it was as if the clap was done by a ghost.”

Zhao Bu’er explained, “The ‘Ghost Clap’ looks useless on the surface, but in reality it allows the practitioner to secretly inject their force into a victim’s body without being detected. When the amount of accrued force exceeds a certain threshold, it would detonate and destroy the victim’s internal organs and blood vessels, killing them.”

“On the surface, it looks like the victim is completely fine. In reality, their insides are completely ruined. That is why he is called the Invisible Killer.”

“You are sure that Zhao Lan is using the Ghost Clap?” Ye Qing asked with a deep frown on his face.

“I’m certain. I’ve met Shi Lingling in person when I was adventuring with my master in the past,” Zhao Bu’er confirmed.

On a related note, Shi Lingling was a man even though his name sounded like a woman’s.

“Zhao Lan isn’t plotting to kill Yuhuai, is he?” Chu Nianjiu blanched. “They don’t even know each other until recently! Why on earth would Zhao Lan do such a thing?!”

Ye Qing uttered with an ugly expression, “It’s probably because of me.”

“What do you—” The answer came to Chu Nianjiu before he could finish. “You’re saying it’s because you wounded Zhao Lu earlier?”

“I think so,” Ye Qing answered. He could see no other reason why Zhao Lan would want to target Lin Yuhuai.

“What a repulsive bastard!” Chu Nianjiu swore. “What do we do?”

“Nothing. It’s not like we can interfere with the match. There is a silver lining though. Zhao Lan wouldn’t dare to kill Brother Lin,” Ye Qing declared.

Technically, Zhao Lan could kill Lin Yuhuai, but he wouldn’t. After all, Lin Yuhuai was a member of the Pacification Bureau. He would be signing his and his brother’s death sentence if he did so.

That didn’t mean he could make Lin Yuhuai’s life hell, however.

On the platform, Lin Yuhuai still had no idea what Zhao Lan had done to him, but he realized that something was amiss as well. Lin Yuhuai was a smart and decisive man, and he was satisfied with being able to make it to the Top 16. So, he surrendered immediately.