The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 24 – Shocking and dreadful, Part 12

Zhou Botong laughed, “Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi’s eyes must be bad; none of their disciples are up to it. Just forget it, who wants kowtows from you?” He roared, “Onwards!” The four horses galloped forward.

Fawang leapt off his horse and blurred towards the horses’ path. He called out, “Wait!” Each of his palms was pressed onto one horse each. The horses were advancing forward at this time but this press by Fawang actually made them move two steps back.

Zhou Botong was furious and shouted, “Big monk, do you want a fight? The Old Urchin hasn’t found a worthy opponent for years; my fists are getting a bit itchy. Come now, let’s have a few rounds.” He loved martial arts and in recent years, his martial arts have been getting better and better; finding a worthy opponent was an extremely difficult task. He knew Fawang’s martial arts were of a high standard, someone worthy to exchange stances with, so he got off his horse ready to fight.

Fawang waved his hand and said, “I never fight with shameless scoundrels. Fight if you want, I won’t.”

Zhou Botong was angry and said, “You dare call me a shameless scoundrel?”

Fawang said, “You knew that I wasn’t at the camp so you went and stole the banner, wouldn’t you call that shameless? You knew that you weren’t a match for me so you waited until you were sure that I wasn’t there before you sneakily stole the flag. Ha-ha, Zhou Botong, looks like you don’t have any pride.”

Zhou Botong said, “Fine, we’ll know whether I’m a match for you after we’ve had a fight.”

Fawang shook his head and said, “I said I don’t fight with shameless scoundrels, you can’t force me to fight. My knuckles are very proud, once they hit any shameless scoundrels, the knuckles would be covered with a stench that’ll hang around for three years and six months.”

Zhou Botong shouted, “What do you want to do?”

Fawang said, “Hand the banner back to me and then come back later tonight to steal it again while I’ll guard it. No matter what method you use, if you are able to steal it again, I’ll give my respects to you as a great hero.”

Zhou Botong could never resist challenges and the harder it was, the greater the urge to do it. He immediately shot the flag back to Fawang and said, “Catch, I’ll be back for it tonight.”

Fawang stretched out his hand and caught the flag pole only to realize the great force behind the throw, he quickly circulated his internal energy to resist but in the end, he still had to take two steps back before he steadied himself.

The horses had been pressing forward but were held back by Fawang; now, Fawang’s hold on them loosened. All the horses suddenly leapt forward at least twenty feet and galloped ahead. Everyone watched as Zhou Botong and the horses raced away further and further into the distance until they were small dots.

Fawang’s mind was occupied for a while before he passed the flag over to Sa Duo and said, “Let’s make a move.”

Fawang knew that Zhou Botong’s actions were hard to fathom, how was he going to win? He thought for a while on the horseback but couldn’t come up with anything. By chance, he looked around and saw Zhen and Zhao were speaking quietly to each other and were constantly looking back at Xiao Longnu with fear on their faces. He thought, “Could it be that she has come for them?” So he decided to investigate and said, “Brother Zhen, do you know Miss Long?”

Zhen Zhibing’s face changed and he replied, “Hmm.” Fawang knew that there more to this so he continued, “You two have offended her and now she’s looking for you to get her own back, right? That girl is extremely powerful; to offend her is not a good idea.” He had no idea what was going on but from the fearful look on the two’s faces, he made a guess, tested the two, and managed to get the right answer straight away.

Zhao Zhijing took this opportunity to reply, “She has offended you as well; that day at the ‘Heroes’ gathering she beat you, you must avenge what she did to you.”

Fawang scoffed, “You know as well?”

Zhao Zhijing replied, “Everyone in the world of Wulin knows about this.”

Fawang thought, “This Taoist is not so simple. I want him to help me defeat my enemy yet he’s trying to use me to help him escape his predicament.” He continued, “These two men are not your average men, if I just leave it out in the open, things will go a lot easier.” So he said, “That Miss Long wants to kill you but you can’t beat her so you seek my protection, right?”

Zhao Zhijing replied furiously, “Do I look like someone who needs to rely on others to save myself? Besides, the good Reverend here may not be able to beat her.”

Fawang was shocked by his proud reply and thought, “Could my assumptions be wrong?” He could not tell what the two were thinking so he smiled, “Her twin swordplay with Yang Guo is indeed extremely powerful. But she’s alone right now; it would be extremely easy for me to kill her.”

Zhao Zhijing shook his head, “I’m afraid it’s not as easy as it sounds. Everyone in the Jianghu world says that Jinlun Fawang was defeated by Xiao Longnu.”

Fawang laughed, “I have meditated for years, so how could your words anger me?” From what Zhao Zhijing said, he knew that Zhao Zhijing was hoping that he would defeat Xiao Longnu for him. Before Zhou Botong arrived, he had planned on killing Xiao Longnu but, with the bet he made with Zhou Botong, he had a use for the two. If he killed Xiao Longnu, he no longer had any leverage over the two, so he cupped his hands and said, “Since it is so, I will make my way. After you’ve sorted out the matter with Xiao Longnu, please come and visit his Highness’ camp.” He pulled his reigns and rode forward.