Chapter 209: Flaw
SHREEEAK!
An enemy from behind slashed across Zhou Fan's back. Though the wound wasn't deep, crimson blood began to flow!
Zhou Fan spun around and thrust his sword at the man who had just wounded him. But the man seemed to anticipate the move, retreating with measured steps to evade Zhou Fan's attack!
Just as before, the other men mirrored his movements, following in lockstep!
SHK!
Someone from behind struck Zhou Fan again. Thankfully, his reactions were fast enough that it was only another shallow wound!
But against this group, Zhou Fan had made only two moves. Not only were they completely ineffective, but he had ended up with two wounds to show for it!
Zhou Fan stopped, and the ten men stopped with him. It was as if they were observing him just as he was observing them!
"Is that all you've got? Weren't you so arrogant before? Come on, get me!" Li Shufen stood outside the ring of men. She must have just taken a medicinal pill, as the color was returning to her face. Seeing Zhou Fan get shut down twice in a row, she began to crow arrogantly.
This time, Zhou Fan ignored Li Shufen. With his longsword in hand, he carefully observed the ten men surrounding him.
The feeling was bizarre. It was as if he wasn't facing ten men, but a single person. No matter what move Zhou Fan made, they were able to anticipate it. They maintained a constant distance from him, using the one he targeted as bait while the other nine attacked.
Even though Zhou Fan's own strength and combat experience far surpassed theirs, he still couldn't stop the men at his back from wounding him.
The entire situation was incredibly frustrating for Zhou Fan.
It was a perfect demonstration of the saying, "pull one hair and the whole body moves."
Meanwhile, Fan could see that Zhou Fan was in trouble. He immediately stopped holding back, erupting with his full speed and power in an attempt to cut down his two opponents as quickly as possible.
However, his two opponents clearly sensed his intent. They switched entirely to defense, refusing to attack at all. Even when Fan deliberately left an opening, willing to trade an injury for a chance to counterattack, the two remained as steady as a rock and simply defended!
After standing still for nearly a minute, Zhou Fan suddenly moved. He erupted forward at his top speed, appearing instantly before one of the men. He raised his Li Hen Sword, but this time, instead of a downward chop, he slashed horizontally from right to left!
But, just as before, the men in the path of the blade instantly took two steps back. In one smooth motion, they increased their distance from Zhou Fan and narrowly dodged the attack!
Moreover, the others burst forward with explosive speed. The men at his back were on him in an instant, weapons raised to strike!
Fortunately, Zhou Fan was prepared this time. At the same moment he swung, he kicked hard off the ground. After leaping several feet into the air, he brought his sword around to slash at the men behind him!
But once again, something happened that took Zhou Fan by surprise. As if they knew what he was going to do, the men instantly dropped into a crouch, abandoning their attack. They then rolled backward, putting distance between them once more.
In a flash, all ten men were once again at a safe distance from Zhou Fan—a perfect range from which they could advance to attack or retreat to defend.
Never before had Zhou Fan felt such a strong urge to curse.
'Damn it, what the hell are these guys? Is this even a fight?'
'This is just fucking ridiculous!'
What bothered Zhou Fan most was the feeling that they were toying with him. Whichever man he attacked would retreat. If he attacked slowly, they retreated slowly. If he attacked with speed, they retreated just as quickly. It was like watching ten adults play with a child.
Frustrated, Zhou Fan began to secretly circulate his Inner Strength. He could now finally do what Vermilion Bird did and unleash a wave of Sword Qi. Although it lacked Vermilion Bird's power and range, it was still effective within five meters.
'The question is, will they have some trick for dealing with Sword Qi? After all, with my current reserves of Inner Strength, I can only manage to fire off one blast!'
That was why Zhou Fan was reluctant to use it recklessly. If it didn't have the desired effect, it would be a huge waste.
"Zhou Fan, their coordination isn't perfect!" Chen Yao suddenly shouted from under a nearby tree. "Every time you attack, the man directly behind you is the first one to react after your target! The others are all a fraction of a second slower! I think their perfect coordination is only between the men directly opposite each other. It must be the same for all the pairs!"
This was a tiny discrepancy Chen Yao had noticed after a long period of observation. She didn't know if it would be useful to Zhou Fan, but she shouted it out anyway, hoping it would at least give him something to go on.