bookcurios Chapter 202 Pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger
Chapter 202 Pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger
Lu Youjiao watched Duan Zhengchun's departing figure, clasped his hands in a salute, swallowed the pill, and immediately returned to Xiangyang.
That pill was a gift from the Indian monk when I left Butterfly Valley. It was originally a remedy to suppress the poison of the Love Flower, but since it could cure the Love Flower poison, snake venom would naturally be no problem either.
...
Two days later.
Duan Zhengchun disguised himself as a middle-aged man with a full beard and slowly entered Kublai Khan's personal army camp.
Despite undergoing a thorough check, he did not reveal any flaws and successfully infiltrated the area.
Since Kublai Khan intended to capture all the extraordinary people in the world to deal with the Quanzhen Sect, he also wanted to see for himself what kind of people from the martial arts world who came to serve him were, and which sects they came from!
When he returned to the Imperial Guard camp, his feelings had completely changed. Last time he came to rescue people, but this time he came to cause trouble.
At this time, the camp had gathered a lot of people from all walks of life, but they were all unorthodox and heretical, and there were no people from legitimate martial arts sects.
The arena was heavily guarded, making it impregnable, almost as if it were specifically designed to prevent anyone from causing trouble.
Duan Zhengchun found the most inconspicuous spot to sit down, then took out a copper pot from his waist, tilted his head back and took a sip.
To conceal his identity, he didn't bring his sword case or even his wine gourd this time.
At this moment, he looked like a down-on-his-luck江湖人 (jianghu person, a person who wanders the martial arts world), completely unremarkable.
Several hours later, the so-called martial arts tournament finally began, and Kublai Khan also appeared at the tournament, sitting on a high platform to watch the battle in person.
However, looking at the martial arts figures present, he seemed to have a hint of disappointment on their faces.
Since witnessing Duan Zhengchun's strength, no one has been able to catch his eye.
Duan Zhengchun also saw an old acquaintance, namely the Golden Wheel Monk. This was the first time they had met since the Golden Wheel Monk escaped from the Valley of Heartbreak.
As the competition began, one extraordinary person after another took the stage, but almost no one could last more than three rounds of challenges.
Duan Zhengchun sat in the corner, holding a cane, silently drinking his wine, a faint, cold smile always playing on his lips.
In his eyes, those who went on stage were indeed "strange" and "weird," because they were all monsters and demons.
After an unknown amount of time, Duan Zhengchun, who had been dozing off in a corner, was suddenly awakened by a burst of loud cheers.
"Is this the person with the highest martial arts skills among those who have appeared so far?!"
"That's right, we've already lasted more than three rounds!"
"I never expected this young man to be so skilled!"
Hearing the murmurs around him, Duan Zhengchun looked up at the dueling platform and saw a young man in white standing in the center of the platform, holding a snake-head knife. His face was expressionless.
Upon seeing this person, Duan Zhengchun narrowed his eyes instantly and regained his focus.
The person he was waiting for finally appeared!
The young man had won three consecutive rounds, but some people were still not convinced and wanted to compete for the position of martial arts alliance leader, so people kept coming up to challenge him.
But no matter how many people went up on stage, none of them could defeat that young man!
Over time, no one remembered how many matches he had won; they simply cheered loudly every time the young man won a match.
In the end, the young man indeed became the final winner, and no one could defeat him!
However, Duan Zhengchun couldn't help but sneer, because he had already seen that the young man was someone Kublai Khan had arranged long ago. He claimed that he was holding a martial arts conference to elect a martial arts leader and promised him a high-ranking official position and generous salary, but in fact, the candidate had already been decided in advance!
Kublai Khan's move was simply to recruit more martial arts practitioners to fight against the Central Plains martial arts world. However, since he couldn't win over the righteous people, he was left with only the heretics and evil sects who had always been despised by the righteous!
From the very beginning, this was a setup!
"What are you laughing at?! Why don't you go up there and try it yourself?!"
"Judging from his terminal illness, he'd probably have a hard time even getting onto the dueling platform!"
Duan Zhengchun's laughter was accidentally heard by the two people next to him, so they turned around and looked at Duan Zhengchun at the same time, mocking him with disdain.
Just then, the Golden Wheel Monk stepped onto the dueling platform, raised the young man's hand, and prepared to announce the choice of the martial arts alliance leader!
"Just try it."
Duan Zhengchun said with a smile, got up and stretched, and then walked towards the dueling platform.
But even though he only took one step, he was already several feet away!
The two men who had just been mocking him were stunned by what they saw, their eyes widening in disbelief.
"Since no one else is willing to challenge me, I hereby declare that the leader of the martial arts alliance is none other than myself..."
Before the Golden Wheel Monk could finish speaking, Duan Zhengchun, leaning on his cane in one hand and carrying a wine gourd in the other, stepped onto the dueling platform.
Everyone present was stunned by what they saw, especially the Golden Wheel Monk.
"He's a cripple?!"
"How dare he?!"
"These days, there are plenty of people who overestimate their abilities. Let's just watch how he loses!"
Amidst the clamor of discussion, no one had any confidence in Duan Zhengchun.
"The competition isn't over yet, why the rush?"
Duan Zhengchun tilted his head back and took a sip of wine, looking at the Golden Wheel Monk with great interest, and said with a smile.
To conceal his identity, he even changed his voice.
The young man wielding the snake-head knife looked Duan Zhengchun up and down, his face expressionless, his eyes filled with a chilling coldness, as if in his eyes Duan Zhengchun was already a corpse.
The Golden Wheel Monk glared at Duan Zhengchun with displeasure, then turned to look at the high platform not far away, seeking Kublai Khan's opinion, because the moment he stepped onto the dueling platform, it meant that the martial arts tournament should have ended.
Duan Zhengchun also turned his head, raised the wine pot in his hand, and smiled at Kublai Khan.
Kublai Khan gave Duan Zhengchun a solemn look and nodded silently.
"Be careful, sir, lest you die on this platform."
The Golden Wheel Monk said coldly, then turned and stepped off the dueling platform.
It seemed that everyone thought Duan Zhengchun would lose, including the young man with the knife.
Duan Zhengchun guessed that the person who injured Lu Youjiao must be the young swordsman in front of him.
"please."
Duan Zhengchun looked at the young swordsman with a smile, raised his hand to signal the young swordsman to make the first move.
"Since you're not using weapons, to be fair, I won't be using weapons in this match either!"
"Tell me how you want to compete, but you'd better make the first move, or you won't even have a chance to fight!"
The young swordsman looked coldly at Duan Zhengchun, already intending to put down the snake-head knife in his hand.
Upon hearing the young man's last words, Duan Zhengchun frowned, feeling as if he had heard those words somewhere before; they sounded very familiar.
"I have weapons, isn't this one?"
"Since you've stepped forward to challenge me, then naturally I'll challenge your swordsmanship."
Duan Zhengchun picked up his cane and said with a smile.
"Hahaha..."
As soon as he said this, the audience burst into laughter. Everyone began to look down on Duan Zhengchun even more, and many wanted to take the place of the young swordsman in the fight.
"Hurry up and make your move. I'm in a hurry to get back. My wife will be worried if I get back too late."
Duan Zhengchun looked at the young swordsman who hadn't made a move yet with some impatience and urged him on.
"court death!"
The young swordsman gritted his teeth and said coldly, then instantly drew his sword and attacked Duan Zhengchun with incredible speed!
Seeing the snake-headed knife approaching him in the blink of an eye, Duan Zhengchun curled his lips into a cold smile, took a step back, and easily dodged past the young swordsman.
The young man's knife was fast, but Duan Zhengchun dodged it even faster!
After one move, the audience suddenly fell silent. No one expected that Duan Zhengchun would dodge the young swordsman's attack so easily, and no one saw how he did it!
Even Kublai Khan and the Golden Wheel Monk on the high platform couldn't help but show surprise, and finally began to take Duan Zhengchun seriously on the dueling platform.
From this moment on, no one dared to underestimate Duan Zhengchun!
Those who had been mocking and sarcastically offering to challenge Duan Zhengchun all wisely shut their mouths.
The young swordsman, who had failed in his first move, was clearly embarrassed. He turned around abruptly to look at Duan Zhengchun, his eyes already filled with murderous intent!
Unlike the martial arts practitioners below the stage, he had already discerned Duan Zhengchun's movement technique, but he had no time to react!
...