Chapter 170 The Battle of Wits

Xiao Bing was urgently in need of a breakthrough. Though he would always survive the danger after the strength in his body was sealed, he destroyed the Xie family because they were weak. And the reason why he was able to kill the Peony Fairy was that she overestimated her power and also because of some luck.

Xiao Bing once was able to solve any problem with his power, and now this was the first time he felt helpless. Hence, the only thing he could do before the power in him was unsealed was keep training himself.

Fortunately, he had been through it once already. He knew the process very well, so he advanced faster than ever. If he was determined to seek greater power, he needed to fight and learn on the edge between life and death. By doing so, the power inside him could be stimulated and enhanced.

He stepped into Long Xiaofei’s attacking area. He was able to dodge Long Xiaofei’s strike, but Xiao Bing was seeking his match. He wanted to practice with him. Hence, he chose to put himself in Long Xiaofei’s attacking range, instead of running away from it.

Long Xiaofei struck with his fierce palms and found that Xiao Bing seemed to take the blow voluntarily. He felt disparaged and was afire with anger. “What a brave man. Die under my palms then!”

The intention to kill was conspicuous in his eyes and his attack became fiercer. Even the crowd had a feeling that this blood-thirsty man was very eager to kill Xiao Bing with a single blow.

But Xiao Bing seemed to be a little boat floating on the surging waves. The bystanders all tensed as he shuttled through the edges of Long Xiaofei’s attacks. It seemed that Long Xiaofei could not lay his palms on Xiao Bing after he tried every means.

One thing a mighty man can do is fool around with his enemy, just like how cats play with their prey. Long Xiaofei felt like he was the mouse that was being chased by Xiao Bing. This feeling greatly irritated him.

Long Xiaofei suddenly roared as he struck again with all his strength and focused his speed on his palms. However, he missed the target once more and spat out blood.

Xiao Bing appeared on Long Xiaofei’s left side and gently placed his hand on Long Xiaofei’s wrist and pushed him toward the direction he was heading. Long Xiaofei instantly dashed a few more meters forward uncontrollably, and finally, he fell on the ground.

“Complicated matters were handled with ease. What a smart, gifted man he is,” Zhuge Jiangnan murmured to himself.

Then he slowly walked downstairs with the cane in his hand. Long Xiaofei growled angrily after he restored his footing. “You’re not his match now. Let’s go,” said Zhuge Jiangnan indifferently.

Long Xiaofei seemed unconvinced, but he still walked to the car with Zhuge Jiangnan. He opened the door and gestured for Zhuge Jiangnan to get in. Then he whirled around and took a glance at Xiao Bing before he got in the car.

Then the car was started. “His power is beyond my expectation. We mustn’t let him live!”

“We will talk about it when we return,” said Zhuge Jiangnan. “He is a powerful man, as is his intelligence. You have learnt the Thunder Palm Swat from you adoptive father. It is fierce and as dominant as thunder, yet he exposed himself in front of your attack. What do you think of that?”

Seeming abashed, Long Xiaofei clenched his fists tightly and gnashed his teeth. “He was definitely fooling around with me.”

“No, I don’t think so. I believe that he was training himself by exposing himself to danger. Only when a man is standing between life and death can he make a giant leap.”

Long Xiaofei frowned. He contemplated the old man’s words for a while and found them reasonable.

“A man of wisdom often appears to be a half-wit,” said Zhuge Jiangnan. “Obviously, he can handle complicated things with ease. Let’s go now. We need to return to the provincial capital before the next dawn.”

Long Xiaofei gasped. “Before dawn?”

“Before dawn,” Zhuge Jiangnan said in a faint voice. “Men like him will strike at the most unexpected time. Perhaps we can never leave this place if we postpone our return.”

“Old man, you have been traveling all this afternoon. The way back will take 3 to 4 hours. Are you sure that your body…”

“I’ll be just fine.”

“All right.” Long Xiaofei stared at the driver and said, “We should be on our way back to the provincial capital tonight.”

Applause descended after Long Xiaofei left with Zhuge Jiangnan. Then Xiao Bing returned to the noodle house with his staff. He was silent, thinking of that fearsome hint of light shimmering in the eyes of the old man. Then he took out his phone and walked into a room and called Master Hou. He asked directly after Master Hou picked up, “Master Hou, do you know a man called Zhuge Jiangnan?”

Even the tranquil Master Hou sounded startled upon hearing that name. “How do you know this man?”

As Xiao Bing had expected, the old man had to hold great power in the Long family, otherwise Master Hou wouldn’t have been so shocked.

Xiao Bing briefly told him what happened this evening. Master Hou pondered for a moment after Xiao Bing had finished. “I know now, thank you for telling me this. Xiao Bing, I should go now,” he said with all haste.

There was a faint smile on Xiao Bing’s face as he hung up. Sometimes, others would do the killing for him. Master Hou’s reaction was within Xiao Bing’s expectation.

After hanging up, Master Hou summoned several his men to his room. “I need you to find out the hotel in which there is an old man called Zhuge Jiangnan. You can use all of my resources and I want to know in an hour. Now go!”

After his men had left, Master Hou slapped the handle of the chair. “Zhuge Jiangnan, since you have the guts to come here, you will die in Jiang City!”

Master Hou just knew too well about this man. Zhuge Jiangnan was the Long family brain power, just as Mu Tingchuan was to Master Hou. Master did not care much because he had already declared war on the Long family. To accomplish greatness, courage is needed. If Zhuge Jiangnan died, then the family he served would suffer a great loss.

It was a golden opportunity for Xiao Bing!

But he did not know that Zhuge Jiangnan had already seen it coming and had left. He was probably on the highway to the provincial capital now. When two wise men were having a contest of intelligence, a single mistake would lead to defeat.

The next morning, Xiao Bing heard from Master Hou that Zhuge Jiangnan had already returned to the provincial capital. But he was not disappointed. Though Zhuge Jiangnan’s death might make this less complicated for him, Xiao Bing did not fear that there was one more powerful enemy. It was not fear that made Xiao Bing what he was today.

Xiao Bing even wanted there to be a powerful rival to stimulate his potential. Zhuge Jiangnan and Lord Long were both qualified for that. One could give him the inspiration of wisdom, and the other could release his potential of martial arts. The reasons why Xiao Bing agreed with the alignment with Master Hou so quickly were that he needed to eliminate the Long family for Yezi, and he had already offended them and he needed a plight to break through.

Before the traitor was found out, all Xiao Bing needed to do was to keep growing stronger.

“Brother Bing, what are you thinking of?”

“Nothing.” Xiao Bing put these thoughts aside and hugged Ye Xiaoxi, who was only covered by her underwear. “I just thought of something interesting and someone intriguing,” said Xiao Bing, smiling.

“Someone intriguing? Who?” Blinking, Ye Xiaoxi pouted, “You’re thinking of someone else while lying in my bed?”

Xiao Bing put on a wry smile. “I’m here just to cuddle you while you’re asleep. I didn’t do anything…”

Seemingly angry, Ye Xiaoxi asked, “Then what else do you want to do?”

“Ugh, nothing really. Well, have you ever heard of Zhuge Jiangnan?”

“Zhuge Jiangnan?” Ye Xiaoxi shook her head. “No.”

“All right. He’s from the Long family and he holds great power in this family. He’s probably their adviser. He came to me last night and he tried to find out my strength. It seems that the Long family regards me as a pain in their ass.”

Upon hearing what Xiao Bing just said, Ye Xiaoxi tensed at first, then she sighed. “It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, Brother Xiao wouldn’t have so many issues with the Long family.”

“Silly girl, I have already told you about this. If I did nothing while watching my woman getting bullied, then what kind of a man would I be? Besides, actually it’s not a bad thing for me. You know what? I fought Lord Long’s adoptive son last night.”

“Really? Who won?”

“I won. But it’s not something to be proud of. His adoptive son is at least six or seven years younger than me and yet he’s already reached the early stage of Transforming Strength. He is truly a talent of martial arts. But what interests me most is not his strength. It’s his martial arts of palm. It is the most dominant and fierce palm movement I have ever seen. The style of his martial arts must resemble Lord Long’s, since it’s highly possible that he learned it from his adoptive father.”

Ye Xiaoxi pondered for a moment and said, “One’s personality can be seen from the martial arts he is cultivating. We all can deem Lord Long to be a very arbitrary man from his history. And arbitrariness can lead to arrogance. The Long family is powerful. Their arrogance might be our only chance to defeat them.”

Xiao Bing put Ye Xiaoxi in her arms and kissed her forehead and guffawed. “Little Yezi, sometimes I really feel that you are my female version of Zhuge Jiangnan.”

“Stop this!”

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