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Chapter Two: Qingxuan Sect
Morning.
The air in the mountains carried a faint chill. Dew clung to the edges of the leaves, occasionally dripping down and landing softly on the bluestone path.
Inside the courtyard of Qingxuan Sect, people were already practicing.
Feet struck the ground. Breaths sank low. Fists pushed through the cold morning air again and again. Beside the wooden dummy, dull impacts sounded at steady intervals. Farther away, several disciples were stretching their legs, turning their waists, and practicing footwork. Everything looked no different from any ordinary morning.
But Lin Hao stood at the edge of the courtyard and did not move for a long time.
His brows were slightly furrowed.
The feeling from last night still lingered in his chest. It was not a sound, nor an image, but a vague unease that was difficult to describe. It felt as if something were pressing in from far away. It had not truly arrived yet, but his skin had already sensed it first.
It was not an illusion.
Tap.
A small stone suddenly flew over and struck his shoulder.
Lin Hao snapped back to himself and turned his head.
Liu Yeqing stood not far away, her expression calm. Her hand had already lowered, as if she had done nothing at all.
“You’re still the same.”
She spoke lightly.
“The moment you space out, you’re full of openings.”
Lin Hao rubbed his shoulder and gave a soft snort.
“Throwing stones first thing in the morning. You haven’t changed either.”
Aji, standing nearby, could not help laughing.
“You two are starting again? You’ve been fighting since you were kids. Aren’t you tired of it yet?”
Liu Yeqing ignored him and simply looked at Lin Hao.
“Yesterday’s level still wasn’t enough.”
Lin Hao smiled, straightened his body, and rolled his shoulders.
“Then let’s do it again.”
On the other side of the courtyard, Gu Chengyuan leaned against the wall with both hands in his pockets, quietly watching the scene.
He did not speak right away. He simply observed the distance between Lin Hao and Liu Yeqing, the kind of distance that needed no explanation, and the corner of his mouth moved slightly.
“So that’s what their relationship is.”
The moment his words fell, Lin Hao moved first.
His front foot stepped out. His rear foot drove into the ground. His whole body shot into range like a short cannon. Once the frame of Bajiquan unfolded, it was not some light, floating probe. It directly pressed the centerline, forced toward the chest, and seized space.
Liu Yeqing did not meet it head-on.
Her left foot lightly hooked inward, and her body turned along the outside of Lin Hao’s punching line. Her palm touched his forearm.
That motion was not a block.
It was a guide.
Lin Hao’s fist was clearly driving forward, yet she followed the outside of his arm and led it half a step off course. His fist brushed past her shoulder and struck empty air.
The moment Lin Hao’s punch missed, he immediately followed with an elbow.
His shoulder line pushed forward. His elbow drove out from in front of his chest, trying to trap Yeqing at close range.
Liu Yeqing turned her foot again. Her whole body slipped along his side, and her palm pressed against the tip of his elbow, preventing that strike from fully unfolding.
Aji’s eyes lit up.
“Baguazhang.”
This was not merely fast evasion.
Every time Lin Hao pressed forward in a straight line, Liu Yeqing happened to stand exactly where his force could not reach. She did not clash with his hardest line. Instead, with her palms, footwork, and body angle, she drew that line away.
Lin Hao did not stop.
He first used his lead fist to press toward Liu Yeqing’s chest centerline, forcing her to give up standing square in front of him. The moment his fist was guided aside, he immediately retracted and closed in, driving his elbow upward from below toward her shoulder hollow, trying to smash her guard open.
Liu Yeqing turned her steps and placed her palm against the outside of his forearm, redirecting the elbow to the side.
Lin Hao used the momentum to step in again. His shoulder sank, and his whole body drove forward with the close-body force of Bajiquan, crashing toward her chest.
This was not a swinging punch.
His entire body was pressing in.
Liu Yeqing still did not take it head-on. Her heel hooked. Her body angled half a step aside. The edge of her palm touched his shoulder line and led the impact away.
Lin Hao’s shoulder charge brushed past her side. His weight dropped, and he was almost pulled out by his own force.
It was in that instant—
Liu Yeqing caught it.
She did not pursue with a palm strike, nor did she retreat. Instead, she stayed close to Lin Hao’s outside line and circled in with a hooking step. One hand pressed down on his wrist. The other touched the back of his shoulder.
She was not pushing.
She was guiding.
Lin Hao had just tried to steady his footing when he realized his center of gravity had already been drawn to the outside. His feet were clearly still on the ground, but his body no longer obeyed him.
“Damn—”
Before he could finish, Liu Yeqing’s foot had already blocked the space beside his landing point.
Baguazhang — Turning Body Drop.
Her body turned, and her palm followed Lin Hao’s forward momentum, drawing it outward.
Lin Hao’s whole body seemed to be dragged away by his own shoulder charge. His support was cut open, and he directly lost the right to remain standing, flipping sideways and falling hard.
Bang!
His back smashed onto the bluestone floor.
Even the wooden dummy nearby trembled slightly from the impact.
Aji let out an impressed “oh” and could not help laughing.
“Beautiful. That was a throw using borrowed force.”
Lin Hao lay on the ground, staring at the sky for half a second before gritting his teeth and sitting up.
“You weren’t just dodging?”
Liu Yeqing withdrew her hand. Her tone remained calm.
“Dodging is only the first step.”
She looked at Lin Hao.
“When you overcommit, that is when your opening is largest.”
Lin Hao fell silent for a moment.
He finally understood. Liu Yeqing had not been running away.
She had been waiting.
Waiting for his fist to rush too far.
Waiting for his shoulder charge to lose balance.
Waiting for his own power to become the thing that threw him down.
He stood up again and patted the dust from his clothes.
This time, Lin Hao did not charge all the way in at once.
His front foot first occupied the centerline. His shoulder pulled in slightly. His fist did not rush to strike. Instead, he used his body to block the direction Yeqing could move next.
Liu Yeqing’s eyes shifted slightly.
That was exactly what Lin Hao had been waiting for.
His rear foot drove into the ground. His body closed in, and his shoulder crashed straight forward.
Bang.
This time, it did not miss.
Liu Yeqing was knocked half a step back, the sole of her shoe scraping lightly against the bluestone.
For an instant, the courtyard fell quiet.
She raised her head and looked at Lin Hao. Something in her eyes had changed.
“Not bad.”
The next moment, she took the initiative and moved in.
Liu Yeqing hooked her step, turning to Lin Hao’s front side. Her palm rose from below and stuck to his arm. Just as Lin Hao was about to lift his elbow, her other palm had already cut across the outside of his forearm. Her wrist sank, directly pressing his punching line downward.
Lin Hao tried to raise his elbow and recover the centerline.
But Liu Yeqing’s second palm had already driven into his shoulder hollow, interrupting his shoulder power and forcing his upper body to sink.
Then she stepped in half a pace. Her third palm pierced in from the side, the heel of her palm stopping just in front of Lin Hao’s chest.
The palm did not truly land.
But the position was exactly where his breath would be hardest to reconnect.
If it moved even a little farther forward, Lin Hao’s chest would be struck numb.
The rhythm reversed in an instant.
Lin Hao had been suppressed.
The wind passed between them.
Lin Hao did not retreat. Instead, he smiled.
“So that’s how it works.”
He raised his stance again.
This time, he no longer treated Bajiquan as a single straight line. He first used his lead hand to test Yeqing’s palm, while his footwork slowly pressed outward, forcing the space she could circle through to shrink.
If Yeqing tried to turn, he used his shoulder line to block her.
If Yeqing tried to retreat, he used his front foot to cut off her landing point.
Gu Chengyuan, watching from the side, nodded slightly.
“He’s starting to understand.”
Lin Hao caught an opening. His rear foot suddenly drove into the ground, and his whole body pressed up the centerline.
Bajiquan — Heaven-Piercing Cannon.
The fist drilled upward into Yeqing’s defense. It was not wide or flashy. It squeezed in hard along the inside of her arm.
Liu Yeqing raised her palm to neutralize it, but Lin Hao had already connected the second stage.
His footwork nailed the centerline in place. His shoulder pushed forward, force rising from the ground through his waist and hips, then driving along the shoulder line into his elbow.
This was not merely striking with the arm.
His entire body was pressing in.
Xiangmen Rising Elbow.
The elbow point fired from an extremely short distance, driving straight toward the defensive line in front of Liu Yeqing’s chest.
The distance closed completely.
Liu Yeqing’s eyes changed slightly.
She did not retreat.
Her hand was already rising from the side, ready to counterstrike Lin Hao’s ribs.
At that very instant—
“That’s enough.”
The voice was not loud.
But the entire courtyard fell silent.
Near the courtyard gate, a figure had appeared at some point.
Liu Hainan stood to the side, his gaze resting on Lin Hao for a long time.
That was not the footwork of an ordinary disciple.
At first, it had still been rough, still too urgent, still like a young man using too much force. But in those last few steps, there had already been a familiar shadow.
Liu Hainan’s eyes sank slightly.
Lin Deshan’s grandson.
Lin Hao lowered his stance, but before he could speak, Gu Chengyuan’s gaze had already shifted away.
He looked toward the distant mountain forest.
His brows furrowed faintly.
Within the trees, several black shadows stood silently.
No one stepped on a branch. No one made a sound of breathing. Those figures seemed to have already blended into the tree shadows, watching everything in the Qingxuan Sect courtyard with only their eyes.
One of them spoke in a low voice.
“Target confirmed.”
“The one in white.”
A pause.
Then another voice, even lower.
“The one from last night is nearby too.”
Inside the courtyard, Lin Hao suddenly raised his head.
He looked in the same direction.
His eyes changed.
“Come out.”
The moment his words fell, several black shadows dropped from the mountain forest.
Short blades slid from their sheaths, their cold light flashing through the morning air.
In an instant, the courtyard was surrounded.
Liu Yeqing did not speak. She had already stepped to Lin Hao’s side. Her footwork opened slightly—not an ordinary stance, but Baguazhang steps that could turn, circle, and cut into the flank at any moment.
Lin Hao said in a low voice,
“Three on the left.”
Liu Yeqing answered lightly,
“I know.”
Gu Chengyuan slowly straightened, rolled his neck, and gave a faint cold smile.
“Now this is more like it.”
The first black-clad attacker moved.
He did not test. He did not shout. His short blade came down directly from a diagonal angle toward the side of Lin Hao’s neck. Lin Hao sank his feet and shifted half a step outside the blade path, letting the edge brush past his clothes and miss.
He did not retreat far.
Instead, he entered.
Bajiquan feared being kept at long range, so the moment Lin Hao avoided the blade, he immediately ate the distance back. His forearm stuck to the opponent’s weapon arm, and his shoulder crashed inward.
Bang!
The black-clad attacker took a heavy impact to the chest. His whole body flew backward and struck the courtyard wall before falling to the ground.
But the three on the left had already filled the gap at the same time.
The three blades did not slash randomly. One sealed Lin Hao’s front. One cut toward his side waist. One blocked his retreat. Just as Lin Hao was about to force his way through, he realized the space beneath his feet had already been cut away.
He clenched his teeth.
These people were far faster than the small fry from last night.
And far more ruthless.
On the other side, Liu Yeqing had already exchanged blows with two black-clad attackers.
The first blade stabbed toward her chest. She did not block. Her steps circled outward, and her palm followed the attacker’s wrist, guiding it aside. The blade point veered off, brushing past her side.
The second attacker cut in from behind.
Liu Yeqing turned her body, as if taking a step around an invisible circle, just enough to make the two attackers’ blade paths cross past each other.
Her palm first hooked the outside of the first attacker’s elbow, following the momentum of the blade and pressing inward, forcing his own blade path to fold back toward his chest.
The attacker’s arm was jammed. Before he could pull his blade back, Liu Yeqing’s second palm had already pushed against the side of his shoulder, driving his body off angle.
The third palm followed into the centerline.
The heel of her palm struck his chest.
That black-clad attacker’s breath was cut off on the spot. He retreated three steps in a row, and the tip of his blade dropped.
Chain Palms.
Liu Yeqing spoke calmly.
“Do not underestimate Qingxuan Sect.”
On Lin Hao’s side, the three blades pressed in again.
He was forced toward the center of the courtyard. One blade pressed toward his brow, another cut toward his left waist, and someone on his right rear had sealed his retreat. Lin Hao wanted to break through the front with a shoulder charge, but the blade on the right had just happened to cut off the space where his shoulder needed to rise.
At that instant, a hand reached in from the side and directly seized one of the black-clad attacker’s wrists.
The grip was precise.
It did not grab flesh.
It locked the point where the wrist turned.
Every movement paused for a split second.
Lin Hao did not look back.
A cold voice came from beside him.
“Too slow.”
Gu Chengyuan had made his move.
He twisted his wrist, and the attacker’s blade path immediately warped. The man tried to pull free, but the moment his shoulder moved, Gu Chengyuan had already followed his arm in, closing the distance. His elbow struck into the man’s chest.
Bang.
The attacker’s entire body bounced backward.
Another black-clad attacker immediately turned his blade and slashed horizontally. Gu Chengyuan did not evade with any large motion. His upper body only drew back slightly, letting the blade cut through empty air, while his foot had already stepped into the opponent’s inside line.
His fist shot out from a very short distance and struck the man squarely on the chin.
Clean.
Direct.
The opponent’s eyes scattered, and his body fell backward.
The third man tried to retreat.
But Gu Chengyuan was already standing in front of him.
In that instant, the distance seemed to have been devoured.
The black-clad attacker’s eyes finally changed.
Gu Chengyuan said nothing more. His knee had already driven upward from below, smashing into the man’s abdomen.
The man bent forward, all strength leaving his body, and dropped to his knees.
For a moment, the courtyard became silent.
Lin Hao looked at Gu Chengyuan.
“…What was that just now?”
Gu Chengyuan shook out his hand.
“Habit.”
Liu Yeqing did not speak. She only glanced at him.
That speed, and that way of entering distance, did not resemble an ordinary student.
Nor did it resemble someone who merely knew how to fight.
But it was not over yet.
On the rooftop, the taller shadow finally moved.
He did not use the wall or trees like the others. He did not deliberately hide his form. He simply leapt down from the roof ridge.
Bang!
A dull impact spread through the courtyard, as if the bluestone floor had sunk beneath his landing. Thin lines of dust shook loose from the gaps between the stones.
At the center of the courtyard, another person now stood.
He slowly straightened. He did not rush to attack, nor did he look at his fallen companions. He merely raised his eyes and looked from Lin Hao to Liu Yeqing, then to Gu Chengyuan.
The wind had not changed.
But the atmosphere had.
Lin Hao’s expression settled.
Liu Yeqing’s steps stopped.
For the first time, Gu Chengyuan did not smile.
All three of them were still standing.
Yet none of them moved first.
It was not that they would not move.
They could not.
That man simply stood there, like a black boulder pressed into the center of the courtyard.
The wind began to move again.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7igfonoePN
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