In the Blade

The night covered up all the sins, and the sun still rose the next day.

Just like people in the town get up early in the morning to wash up and work, the free fighting competition is also being staged in the backyard of the inn as usual - this is a four-in-two battle, and only the winner can get the qualification to grind.

At the beginning, the two sides were obviously divided into two teams. Wang Tonggong and Hu Sanbian, who came first, were in one team, and Beidou and Su Youfang, who came later, were in one team. It was precisely because of the comparison. It was late and failed to pull the grind. It was difficult for the latecomer team to beat the first comer team in daily free combat, which also made it more difficult for the two latecomers to compete for the right to grind.

Just like the world itself, the weak will only become weaker and weaker, while the strong will become stronger and stronger.

However, in the past two days, things suddenly happened and some changes occurred.

"Wang Tonggong! You beast!"

The old liar Hu Sanbian jumped on his feet and cursed on the street.

"You actually rebelled!"

"What is rebellion? I'm just helping the weak."

Wang Tonggong scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Brother Beidou, how long have you been looking at it? Let him hold on for a while...what? You mean the sword manual of the Seven Star Sword of the Big Dipper? I've been so kind, so what's the matter with a little reward?"

Seeing that Hu Sanbian actually accused him of accepting bribes, Wang Tonggong immediately became anxious.

"It's you, you still have the nerve to talk about me? Do you think I didn't hear the two of you chatting in the middle of the night?"

"...We are exchanging knowledge in the world."

Hu San's expression remained unchanged after being called out on his private matter.

"You don't have to look at me like that. I am also a kind person. This good brother Su Youfang doesn't even care about his image, so I have to let him experience it no matter what... I am also a good person, and I also want to be rewarded."

"That's good. If you don't work hard, nothing will happen."

Wang Tonggong sneered.

"How dare you use my qualification as a grinder as a favor?"

"Isn't it the same for you?"

Hu Sanbian sneered.

"You have the nerve to accuse me of exchanging my qualifications for grinding for sword manuals?"

At this point, there is no need to talk about it. Both sides have their own interests, and no one is willing to give in. As the saying goes, it is not enough to talk about speculation. If a few sentences fail to hit the point, the two sides will take action as a matter of course, but it is less favorable than the previous one. In terms of the battle, this time the two teams were evenly matched.

But before they could throw a few punches, their bodies froze in place.

Just because they all felt that there was a line of sight in the direction of the inn's back kitchen, staring at them.

"What are you looking at me doing?"

Seeing that these people stopped fighting, Du Chengfeng, who was cutting meat in the kitchen, immediately slapped his kitchen knife.

"Keep fighting! Don't stop!"

"..."

After a moment of silence, the backyard free fighting competition resumed its schedule once again.

"What did I say! You can really learn skills here!"

While grabbing Hu Sanbian's beard and slapping him, Wang Tonggong shouted excitedly.

"Look! This is the actual combat stage!"

"You beast!"

Hu Sanbian also grabbed it, but his hand was empty.

Young Wang Tonggong didn't have a beard, which was now a huge advantage.

Su Youfang and Beidou have also been fighting together, but their fighting style is more regular - although they are both masters of evil spirits, their own techniques do not come from evil spirits, so even if they are defeated Even if they surrendered their weapons, it would not prevent them from using their original techniques to fight.

"One focuses on defensive counterattacks, tripping up opponents and then sneak attacks, while the other is more... deflection-oriented?"

In the back kitchen of the inn, Du Chengfeng watched the battle between Beidou and Su Youfang with great interest. He had always fought with others by himself. It was relatively rare to watch other people's battles like this.

And if he looked closely, he really gained something. For example, the two people fighting in front of him, although they are still a little immature in terms of strength, they are not lacking in the delicacy of their techniques, and their combat ideas are extremely clear. Even compared to Du Chengfeng himself, he has to be more understanding.

"After all, my combat ideas...are basically the same as having no ideas at all?"

Du Chengfeng scratched his head.

It can't be said that he has no ideas at all. His style of play is actually more inclined to adapt to changes. After all, he doesn't know what kind of enemies he will encounter. Naturally, he has to see the enemy before launching targeted special attacks - of course, as the As his power gradually grew stronger, his original flexible adaptability gradually turned into overwhelming him with absolute force. But how can I say this...

"It still lacks a bit of a personal touch."

Du Chengfeng blushed and felt a little ashamed.

Thanks to him fighting for so long, he could only use the most primitive strength to suppress, without summarizing any fighting style. This is really embarrassing.

Thinking like this, Du Chengfeng turned his head and looked at the battle on the other side.

Compared to the traditional fighting styles of Su Youfang and Beidou, the fighting styles of Hu Sanbian and Wang Tonggong were even more different. The two of them were going back and forth, and they were actually going around in circles facing each other. After walking around for a long time, no one could hit anyone.

Of course, Hu Sanbian and Wang Tonggong were both very aware, and they quickly realized that continuing like this was not an option - if they wanted to hit each other, they had to change the rhythm of the circle.

If one person changes the rhythm, the two people will indeed collide.

But the problem is that the two men changed their rhythm at the same time.

So, after the two men changed directions at the same time, the battle once again became a two-person show.

"What are you doing! I'm going to vomit!"

Du Chengfeng was almost dizzy. What did these two people mean by spiraling in circles?

"Switch! You guys switch!"

"This..."

The four people who were fighting stopped.

Facing the creepy look in the kitchen, the four evil masters had to change their opponents and returned to the familiar configuration of veterans fighting novices.

And Du Chengfeng finally saw some clues.

Su Youfang, who is good at defensive counterattacks, beat Wang Tonggong. This was a sure thing for Du Chengfeng. After all, Wang Tonggong had fought against him. He was sure that this kid's combat thinking was not so clear and was inferior to Su Youfang.

But what Du Chengfeng didn't expect was that Wang Tonggong was suppressing Su Youfang the whole time in front of him.

Su Youfang's idea was really good. He deliberately exposed the gap as a trap to lure the opponent to attack, so as to launch a fierce counterattack. However, this routine did not work at all for Wang Tonggong. Wang Tonggong twisted his feet and turned steadily like a millstone. He did not look at the opportunities Su Youfang had set. He emphasized that you fight yours and I fight mine.

This style directly made Su Youfang flustered. After just a moment, he was knocked to the ground and could not stand up again.

"I always feel that something is missing..."

Du Chengfeng turned his eyes to another game.

Hu Sanbian vs. Beidou, Du Chengfeng had no judgment on this. After all, he had never fought with these two people. Perhaps he should have fought with Hu Sanbian, but that was simply because he knocked the old man down with one punch, and the other party had no chance to show his talents.

"In theory, the old man should lose."

Du Chengfeng made a rough prediction.

As the saying goes, a fist is afraid of a young man, and a stick is afraid of an old man. If both sides use weapons, Hu Sanbian may be able to take advantage of his experience, but now both sides are fighting with bare hands. Hu Sanbian's old arms and legs may not be able to beat Beidou, who looks young and strong.

But in Du Chengfeng's sight, the old Hu Sanbian actually played with amazing explosive power.

This is not even like explosive power, but a more delicate logic of force. The fist that Beidou hit was twisted in a spiral, like a spear, or even an electric drill. But such a fierce fist, when it hit Hu Sanbian's shoulder, Hu Sanbian twisted his body and actually removed more than 50% of the force.

The removed force will not disappear out of thin air, and Hu Sanbian, who was beaten, will not not fight back, so Hu Sanbian, who was beaten on the left shoulder, just turned around and hit Beidou's head with his right elbow horizontally.

In just this moment, the battle was decided. Beidou, who was hit hard on the head, fainted on the spot and recovered after a long rest.

"So that's how it is..."

Du Chengfeng, who retracted his gaze, nodded secretly.

He didn't care who was pulling the mill in the backyard. What really concerned him was the martial arts displayed by these people.

And now, after observing the fighting styles of these four people, he finally saw some tricks.

"This is the power of rotation..."

Du Chengfeng gestured roughly.

There are probably several forms of rotational power. One is what Wang Tonggong showed, rotating himself without being disturbed by the outside world. Another is what Beidou showed, tightening the arm spiral to make the power more solid. The last is what Hu Sanbian showed, actively absorbing external attacks and turning them into part of his own power.

"It's interesting."

Du Chengfeng became interested. This is much more interesting than his simple power crushing.

Tightening the spiral makes the power more solid. If this idea is used to make the body smaller, it may be very helpful. Absorbing external attacks is a bit like using the power of others. As for rotating yourself... Du Chengfeng has not figured out how to use it, but this thing is somewhat useful.

"New power!"

Du Chengfeng was overjoyed.

He originally just wanted to learn how to cook. Who would have thought that the breakthrough direction problem that has troubled him for so long could be answered at this time?

But...

"Is this really a coincidence?"

Du Chengfeng sat back again.

Yes, just like he thought a few days ago, he originally thought that all this was just a coincidence, just his sudden whim to learn about the local cuisine, but the facts have proved that this may not be the case. He is more like being involved in something spirally twisted, or like being involved in a whirlpool on the seabed.

It is the attraction in the dark that keeps him here, and the suction force is even constantly increasing, binding him deeper and deeper to this place.

"Just like now, I should have left a long time ago."

Du Chengfeng slapped his head, waking up from a dream.

That was indeed the case. Even if he wanted to learn how to cook, how many dishes could an old man who managed the post station know? He had already learned all the old man's skills. The reason why he chose to stay now was, on the one hand, because of the inertia of life, and on the other hand, because if he left, there would only be an old man and a child left in the post station, and these two people would be helpless.

So it was nothing for him to stay here for two more days. It was just a trivial matter for him.

At least it looks like a trivial matter.

But now, it is no longer a trivial matter.

He has already felt that the spiraling gravity, the unconscious force is guiding him, as if to let him take root here - after all, this Sanshan Town seems so suitable for living, and this peaceful life is what he wants.

But, it's too deliberate.

This guidance is really too deliberate.

"It must be something bad."

Du Chengfeng subconsciously looked at his right palm.

He still remembered the two ink stains on his right palm yesterday.

Life here is indeed peaceful and peaceful, but the two ink stains make the tranquility more gloomy - since the swallows that symbolize good luck can be fake, then is there anything else in this town that is also fake?

"Are you fake?"

Seeing the boy with an iron whip trotting in, Du Chengfeng pulled the other's face casually.

"Come, let me see."

"Be gentle! Your neck will break!"

The boy was horrified, and he thought his head was about to be pulled off.

"I know I was wrong! I will never go to the mass grave again!"

"Ah? There is such a thing?"

Du Chengfeng did not expect that the boy would confess on his own initiative.

But he did not care too much about this little thing. After all, the boy was young, and he was a teenager, and his mind was full of dreams of being a hero. Naturally, he was willing to make more friends with some heroes. This was nothing to Du Chengfeng.

As long as he did not follow those people to do bad things, this was Du Chengfeng's only request.

"I'm not going, I really am not going."

The boy shook his head repeatedly.

"I just ran back to say this... You don't know, two people died in the mass grave today."

"Oh, hi, it's not a big deal."

Du Chengfeng still looked nonchalant.

"It's just two people who died. These people in the underworld fight each other every day. Isn't it normal for two people to die?"

"... Actually, it's not normal."

The corner of the boy's mouth twitched before he continued.

"You also know that there are ten shacks built over there, right? Every day, someone rents them and says they want to feel the evil spirit... In other words, people are not allowed to use force in the mass graves. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand."

Du Chengfeng nodded to show his understanding.

He still knew about the unspoken rules.

"But, in this kind of place, this morning, someone carried two dead people out of the shack."

At this point, the boy seemed to remember something horrible and sweated profusely.

"They were all skinned naked."