Chapter 776 - 776 Give an Explanation
The few men following behind Old Wang Ba were all subordinates from Ye Qing's side.
Ye Qing had rushed here directly from Tian Sheng, and these subordinates, worried about him, had brought people over to help. However, they were delayed on the way and arrived quite late. In fact, when they entered the courtyard, Xiang Yunpeng and that man were nearly finished fighting. Everyone's attention was focused on the center of the duel arena, so no one noticed them. Of course, Ye Qing had seen them long ago!
They were all pleased to see Xiang Yunpeng cleverly win the match. Just then, Black Bear also arrived at the entrance, only to see that man unable to accept defeat and attempt to deliver a deadly blow. Black Bear, without any hesitation—as he was quite familiar with Xiang Yunpeng—obviously wouldn't let Xiang Yunpeng be at a disadvantage. So with one step, he picked that man up and resolved the crisis for Xiang Yunpeng.
"Let go of my Senior Brother!" The people from the Northern Xingyi School clamored, with a few even charging forward to strike at Black Bear.
At this moment, Ye Qing certainly couldn't stand by idly. He stepped forward, took a deep breath, and executed a Stick to the Mountain move, sending two men flying simultaneously. At the same time, he grabbed the arm of a third person and twisted forcefully. A cracking sound was heard as that man's arm was instantly broken, causing him to scream in pain.
The other two, yet to approach, were frightened by Ye Qing's ferocious action, shuddering and immediately retreating. Meanwhile, Ye Qing showed no intention of pursuing them, simply standing in front of Black Bear, quietly watching the Northern Xingyi School members with a demeanor that suggested he alone could hold off a thousand foes.
"What ferocious methods!" Du Yongwu gritted his teeth as he looked at Ye Qing and said in a deep voice, "You said you were just here to watch and wouldn't intervene, didn't you? What is the meaning of this now?"
"I said I came to watch, and I indeed haven't interfered with your duel," Ye Qing looked at Xiang Yunpeng and replied, "Hasn't the fight concluded? Senior Brother Xiang has won, hasn't he? Since it's over, what's the meaning of your disciple's actions? Still trying to take a life?"
With a change in expression, Du Yongwu clenched his teeth and said, "This is our affair, it's not your place to interfere!"
"Your affairs, of course, I won't interfere. But, Senior Brother Xiang is my good friend, and his affairs are my business," Ye Qing said: "If you were dueling honorably, even if Senior Brother Xiang died on the ring, that would be his honor and Mr. Ye certainly can't interfere. However, since the fight is over, it doesn't count as a duel. Using such despicable sneak attack tactics now that it's done, Mr. Ye must intervene!"
As he spoke, Ye Qing turned and walked over to Black Bear, giving him a pat on the shoulder. Black Bear understood and threw the man onto the ground.
The man was now completely dazed, thrown out and falling to the ground without regaining his senses. Ye Qing, without any courtesy, reached out to pick him up and said coldly, "Du Yongwu, I don't know how the people from the Northern Xingyi School view these matters. But to me, such behavior is a great taboo for a martial artist. So, I hope the Northern Xingyi School can adequately deal with this. If you can't handle it, then Mr. Ye is willing to take on the task!"
After saying this, Ye Qing extended his hands, grabbed the man, and threw him towards Du Yongwu's side, showing no regard for the faces of these people.
Members of the Northern Xingyi School were fuming with anger, but, as angry as they were, what could they do? Ye Qing was so strong, and beside him, there stood Black Bear, strong as a tower—who would dare to challenge them?
Du Yongwu, looking at his disciple under his feet, was filled with both anger and resentment. Losing the match was one thing, but his disciple's attempt to sneak attack and kill someone after losing, that kind of behavior was a disgrace for him too.
"Take him down and watch him closely, we'll deal with him when we get back!" Du Yongwu said through gritted teeth.
A few from the Northern Xingyi School moved to carry the man away, but Ye Qing suddenly stepped forward and said, "Wait a moment, just wait a moment!"
"What now?" Du Yongwu said indignantly, looking at Ye Qing: "I will definitely handle this according to our school's rules, you don't intend to meddle in the Northern Xingyi School's internal affairs, do you?"
"I have no interest in the Northern Xingyi School's internal affairs. But, this matter involves my friend. And since my friend was injured, doesn't the Northern Xingyi School need to give an explanation?" Ye Qing looked at Xiang Yunpeng beside him and continued: "The involved party is right here, is it sufficient to simply take him back for discipline to consider the matter closed? My friend took several blows for nothing? Fortunately, my brother managed to save him in time, or perhaps Senior Brother Xiang would be dead by now. What then? Are you planning to take your disciple back to pay with his life?"
"This is an internal matter of the Northern Xingyi School, I said I would handle it and I will, do you not trust my word?" Du Yongwu said with anger in his voice.
"Of course, I don't distrust you, but why can't it be handled here?" Ye Qing said with a smile, "How about this? I find someone to injure your disciple as well, then I take care of the matter when I get back, do you think that would be acceptable?"
The members of the Southern Xingyi School immediately burst into laughter, seeing Du Yongwu ridiculed in such a manner by Ye Qing, everyone felt a satisfying relief from their pent-up frustrations. Previously, many had reservations about Ye Qing, but now, everyone's perspective of him had changed, and they all felt Ye Qing was indeed worth befriending!
With his face turning shades of purple and red, Du Yongwu gritted his teeth for a while, but in the end, he swallowed his pride. He had sparred with Ye Qing before and knew of Ye Qing's great strength, so he didn't want to provoke Ye Qing by any means. Moreover, since his disciple was in the wrong in this incident, he had no room to retort in front of so many people.
"Then what would you like to do?" Du Yongwu asked with a heavy tone.
"Since this is an internal affair of the Northern Xingyi School, how could I, an outsider, intervene?" Ye Qing shrugged and said, "I just think that since the person involved is right here, you should at least give him an explanation!"
Du Yongwu became even more angry, and, grinding his teeth while looking at Xiang Yunpeng, he said in a heavy voice, "What do you want to do?"
Before Xiang Yunpeng could speak, Tie Weihua, who was standing behind him, quickly came forward and said, "Uncle Du, you are an elder. Whatever you say is how we will resolve this, of course, we won't have any objections."
In these past few days, Tie Weihua had also become quite savvy. He knew that Xiang Yunpeng was actually very kind-hearted and probably wouldn't bear to suggest a severe punishment. Therefore, he threw the matter back to Du Yongwu, letting him figure out what to do. If Du Yongwu handled it too lightly, and word got out, it would be Du Yongwu who would lose face. People would definitely say that he didn't discipline his followers properly and couldn't distinguish right from wrong. Thus, this matter was certainly a dilemma for Du Yongwu!
Du Yongwu felt a headache coming on. At the beginning, he had been using seniority to pressure others. Now, seniority had become a burden, and he still had to resolve this matter.
After staring at his disciple for a long time, Du Yongwu suddenly gritted his teeth, bent down, grabbed the man's right arm, and twisted it with force. With a crack, the man's right arm was instantly dislocated, causing him to scream in agony as he rolled on the ground.
"Old Qi!"
"Junior brother Qi!"
The members of the Northern Xingyi School were all shocked and gathered around, only to be directly stopped by Du Yongwu.
"Lao Qi, this is your punishment for what you did today. Are you satisfied?" Du Yongwu asked sternly.
After enduring this punishment, the man also sobered up a bit and realized how grave his mistake was. He naturally didn't dare to retort and could only nod, trembling as he acknowledged it.
Seeing him like this, Du Yongwu also felt a twinge of compassion. He waved his hand and said, "Take him away!"
Several people immediately came over and carried him out. This time Ye Qing did not stop them because he was quite satisfied with this outcome. After all, Black Bear had arrived in time, and Xiang Yunpeng hadn't suffered serious injuries.
Now, with six bouts completed, the South and North Xingyi Gate each had three victories, resulting in a tie. The advantage that the Northern Xingyi School originally held had vanished in just a moment. Naturally, the people from the Southern Xingyi School were excited, while the Northern Xingyi School members were extremely irritated, causing the situation to turn on its head.
"Can we continue now?" Du Yongwu looked at Xiang Yunpeng in the field and said with a heavy voice, "Old Jiu, you go!"
"Wait!" Du Tianyi shouted as he stepped forward and said loudly, "Since Second Senior Brother has fought these three bouts, he should rest. I will personally take this next match!"
Seeing Du Tianyi step up, the Southern Xingyi School members were immensely excited. They all knew that Du Tianyi's strength was significantly stronger than Xiang Yunpeng's.
Observing the expressions of the Southern Xingyi School members, Du Yongwu frowned slightly. He could tell that Du Tianyi was definitely stronger than Xiang Yunpeng, and his ninth disciple would surely not be a match for Du Tianyi. He fell silent for a while, then turned his head and said heavily, "Li Si, you go!"
Li Si was Du Yongwu's second disciple and ranked second in strength among his disciples. The strongest was his eldest disciple. However, he didn't plan to send his oldest disciple to fight so soon; he sent the second disciple instead. On the one hand, it was to gauge Du Tianyi's capabilities, and on the other hand, it was to wear down Du Tianyi's strength, seeking to gain some advantage for those who would fight later on.
Li Si was tall, nearly reaching 1.9 meters, and in this crowd, he was only slightly shorter than Black Bear. Compared to Du Tianyi, who was not even 1.8 meters, he looked like a giant. Standing side by side, the difference in stature between them was already quite clear.
However, Du Tianyi had a calm smile on his face, not in the least bit intimidated by the difference in size. He slowly bent forward and with a smile on his face, cupped his fists and said, "Please enlighten me!"
Li Si also bent forward slightly and casually returned the gesture of cupped fists. Looking at Du Tianyi, who was so much younger and smaller than him, he didn't pay much attention. After all, he was in his thirties, at the peak of his life. Du Tianyi, only in his early twenties, had a decade less martial arts training than him. Even if he was strong, how strong could he really be?