The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 118 Arena Day

On the 23rd day of the third month of the first year of Jiading (1568), a White Tiger day, it signifies bloodshed and disaster. It also offends the Grand Duke Jupiter (Tai Sui), who sits on one's head, bringing misfortune if there is no joy.

Shi Changxuan's chosen day for the arena battle happened to be this day.

The news of the arena battle had been circulating and spread throughout Suzhou for many days. Coupled with numerous conspiracies, the restlessness and turmoil in Suzhou over the past few days finally reached its peak on this unusually ominous day of the year.

Ordinary people were completely unaware of the power struggles among the upper-class families and the schemes behind them. Instead, they had been eagerly anticipating this day and gathered around Deyue Tower like they were at a temple fair to watch the excitement. The scene was bustling with people, all looking at the arena in front of Deyue Tower.

The open space in front of Deyue Tower was quite large. The arena was round, with a diameter of three zhang (approximately 10 meters). The surrounding area was simply decorated. Apart from a banner that read "Martial Arts Competition for Friendships," there was a row of large drums, and several burly men wearing red headscarves and standing shirtless beside the drums.

Judging from the setup of the arena alone, the Shi family clearly didn't put much effort into it.

At this moment, all the families from Suzhou participating in the arena competition were in private rooms on the second floor of Deyuelou, including the three leaders of the Wu family and Wu Chengyu, who was preparing to fight.

Wu Chengyu was not concerned about the upcoming competition at all. He looked at the arena outside, but felt a little uneasy.

According to the information reported by the Wu family, Sister Niu and her group stayed in a house in the west of Suzhou last night. This house is usually owned by a small merchant and is rarely inhabited.

This morning, Wu Chengyu received news on his way to Deyue Tower that they had left their residence early in the morning and headed to the outskirts of Suzhou City. Moreover, there were far more than twenty people, with more and more joining the group along the way. By the time they reached the city gate, there were nearly a hundred people.

Yesterday, only those who had met Wu Chengyu before went to Wuweilou to meet him. In fact, this time, a considerable number of descendants of Yue Fei's army were mobilized.

Another piece of news is that half of the martial arts practitioners who appeared in Suzhou a few days ago have left the city, and many beggars have also been mixed in with them.

Since Hong Qigong appeared, the number of beggars in Suzhou has been increasing, and most of them have disappeared today. Hong Qigong himself has not shown up for two days.

Thinking of this, Wu Chengyu's heart stirred. He opened the three-dimensional map of the front and back of Deyue Tower constructed by his five senses. Sure enough, he did not find Hong Qigong's figure. He wondered if Hong Qigong was deliberately hiding. After all, a person of the Five Greats level would have a way to avoid Wu Chengyu's perception.

But Wu Chengyu was more inclined to believe that Hong Qigong should have already left the city by now. Was he really that stubborn?
That day, Hong Qigong had just caught up with Shi Tong when Shi Tong was killed by Wu Chengyu. After Shi Chang stirred things up for so many days, Wu Chengyu did not believe that Hong Qigong was completely unaware.

There were quite a few beggars at the scene, one of whom was carrying seven bags on his back. Seven bags would make him a high-ranking member of the Beggars' Guild.

In addition, there were still quite a few martial arts practitioners left at the scene. It was unclear whether they were righteous people who opposed the peace talks or simply subordinates of the historian.

As Wu Chengyu pondered the situation, he became even more worried about the safety of Sister Niu and the others. Just then, a drumbeat sounded in front of Deyue Tower, signaling the start of today's arena battle.

Shi Chang appeared on the arena with his five top fighters, two from internal martial arts schools and three from external martial arts schools, none of whom were ordinary masters.

However, the expert in light-body skills who had initially aroused Wu Chengyu's suspicion did not appear.

Shi Chang stood in front of the arena and gave a speech, which was nothing more than making friends through martial arts and the Shi family wanting to make friends with the various ethnic groups in Suzhou.

He didn't waste any time or go through the motions; he immediately announced the start of the duel.

The first to appear was the Ling family. They run a money exchange and have always kept many guards, but they don't have many real experts.

To win the competition, the Ling family gritted their teeth and chose the most renowned martial arts expert from those who had come to Suzhou as their son-in-law, betrothing the patriarch's illegitimate daughter to him. This man's reputation was far more famous than that of the Ruthless and Unpredictable; he was the Dragon Roar Swordsman, said to be a lone swordsman who once roamed the Taihang Mountains, wielding a long sword and fighting across hundreds of miles, defeating the Thirteen Bandits of Taihang. Among the martial arts practitioners who entered Suzhou, he was the most renowned.

He was facing a swordsman under the command of the Shi family, who wielded a goose-feather saber and had a calm and fearless expression.

The two fought on the arena. The swordsman, Dragon Roar, launched a fierce attack from the start, his long sword whistling through the air as he aimed for the knife-wielder's vital points. The knife-wielder, however, remained calm and focused, guarding the area three feet in front of him. No matter how fiercely his opponent attacked, he simply parried without launching a counterattack.

The Dragon Roar Swordsman's repeated attacks failed, and his offensive slowed down. The Knife-wielder immediately counterattacked, and for a time neither could gain the upper hand.

Wu Chengyu had no interest in the contest. Both of them were skilled fighters, their martial arts prowess roughly equivalent to Ke Zhen'e's, and they could already be considered masters in the martial arts world.

However, the Dragon Roar Swordsman was a bit too hasty at the beginning, and the Knife-wielding Swordsman gradually gained the upper hand.

Wu Chengyu's attention was entirely focused on the people watching the battle around him.

Before long, the martial arts practitioners who were watching the fight left the arena in groups of three or five, and the beggars also gradually disappeared.

However, Wu Chengyu immediately noticed that these martial arts figures who had gone ahead were clearly followed by tails, and their whereabouts had been exposed.

This was Shi Chang's purpose in organizing the martial arts tournament. Local bullies in Suzhou searched for experts to participate, and those martial arts practitioners from outside Suzhou had nowhere to hide from the moment they entered Suzhou, and were then completely monitored by the Shi family.

Not only those who came to watch the arena and then left, but also those martial arts practitioners who left the city early in the morning were inevitably followed. All their actions were observed by the Shi family.

Sister Niu and her ilk are definitely among them, after all, Sister Niu alone is conspicuous enough.

Wu Chengyu knew he couldn't stand idly by, so he walked over to Wu Zhengliang and asked, "Fourth Uncle, what number is our Wu family member competing today?"

Wu Zhengliang replied, "There are more than a dozen companies today, and we are the seventh."

"Fourth Uncle, I have urgent business to attend to. Could you please arrange for me to be in the next match? You can take care of what happens after that. I must leave immediately."

Wu Zhengliang looked Wu Chengyu up and down: "This matter is simple, but the atmosphere in Suzhou City today is strange. I feel that something big is about to happen. I don't know what you want to do. You have always been the most decisive, so all I can say is to be careful."

However, these two will probably fight for a while longer, so be patient.

Wu Chengyu shook his head: "This Dragon Roar Swordsman's swordsmanship is good, but his internal energy is weak and his foundation is not solid. His fierce attack just now failed, and now he is running out of energy and will lose soon. We will see the outcome within three moves."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Dragon Roar Swordsman's steps became disordered, and he retreated one after another under the fierce attack of the swordsman. Seeing the opportunity, the swordsman gripped his sword with both hands and cleaved Mount Hua with force.

The Dragon Roar Swordsman reacted slowly and couldn't dodge the blade, so he had no choice but to take it head-on.

After three consecutive strikes from the swordsman, the Dragon Roar Swordsman finally lost his strength, his longsword was knocked away, and then the swordsman kicked him off the stage.

"Shi Jiasheng won the first ring battle."

(End of this chapter)