The Legend of the Condor Heroes: Starting from the Bodyguard

Chapter 41 To catch a thief, first catch the king; a skillful judge will find the wicked.

Hou Tonghai felt deeply humiliated that the young man in blue was going to challenge him in the water.

His weapon was a steel fork, which was inconvenient for underwater combat, so he abandoned the fork, reached down and pulled out a pair of water-splitting spikes from his waist, and jumped into the river.

Nicknamed "Three-Headed Dragon," he was an excellent swimmer; he plunged into the water without causing a splash.

Beneath the Yellow River, two figures, one blue and one gray, rapidly approached each other, circling around incessantly.

Zhou Yan was a little worried about Huang Rong.

He knew that his opponent had honed her swimming skills on Peach Blossom Island, but Hou Tonghai specialized in murder and robbery on the water. Crucially, winter was approaching, and the river water was icy cold, making the Three-Headed Flood Dragon far more adaptable than Huang Rong. Huang Rong was alert, but underwater combat offered little room for wits.

But he remained rational.

Even if Huang Rong is no match for Hou Tonghai, she will not be in any immediate danger. Furthermore, given Huang Rong's intelligence, protecting herself is not difficult, as her opponent is certainly wearing soft armor.

First, repel the enemy, then rush to their aid.

Zhou Yan drew his bow again.

Within a radius of thirty feet, the enemy was within range. Because of his sudden attack, most of the water ghosts were entangled by the boatmen and bodyguards and could not enter the Yellow River.

One after another, long arrows flew out with a series of "thump-thump" sounds in the air, hitting the target every time. Even when the two sides were fighting on the ferry, he could always find a fatal angle to shoot. His bow was like thunder and the string was like lightning. Ten long arrows killed an equal number of water ghosts and Yellow River Gang disciples on the ship and the shore.

Only then did he row closer to the fishing boat.

Zhang Wangyue had already reached the riverbank, a distance of four or five zhang, far exceeding the limit of his leap. Moreover, he was not a swimmer. Suddenly, the镖头 (bodyguard) stomped his right foot on the ground, and with a crack, the blue bricks on the ground shattered.

He grabbed a brick and threw it.

Sha Tongtian's disciple, "Iron-Armed Arhat," rushed out of the cabin, creating a sudden whooshing sound as bricks came flying at him. Confident that his arms were as strong as iron and copper, he swung them out.

With a loud bang, the brick shattered, and the Iron-Armed Arhat stumbled and fell onto the bow of the boat, his arm burning with pain.

The sound of air being cut was incessant as bricks were thrown one after another. At this moment, a surge of sword light flew out from the cabin. "Rolling Tiger" wielded his twin swords as if water could not penetrate them, and the bricks that came flying through the air were knocked away.

In just over ten breaths, the fishing boat, rowed by the water ghost, drifted five or six zhang downstream. The bricks that Zhang Wangyue threw could no longer land on the fishing boat, instead creating jets of water in the water.

Zhou Yan's ferryboat came close by.

He first glanced at the underwater area.

But Hou Tonghai seemed like a short-tailed crocodile, stirring up the river water, while Huang Rong's figure was like a piranha, rapidly circling the three-headed dragon.

He let out a slight sigh, and Huang Rong was not at a disadvantage.

As he braced himself, Zhou Yan pulled a bag of lime from his pocket and shouted, "Catch another brick from me!"

With a "whoosh," a heavy bag of lime was thrown at the "earth-sweeping tiger."

The dwarf wielding two swords was so propelled by Zhang Wangyue's attack that without a word, he lashed out with his swords, which then landed on a bag of lime.

The moment the "hissing" sound of breaking rang out, lime powder filled the air.

"You're cheating!"

"Rolling Tiger" and "Iron-Armed Arhat" retreated together, letting out an angry roar.

The severing blade flashed from the ferry to the fishing boat. The moment Zhou Yan landed, the straight blade slashed down from the side of his neck, splitting half of the boat-manipulating water ghost's body apart, sending thick blood and flesh flying everywhere.

Before he could even draw his sword, the burly "Iron-Armed Arhat" pounced out from his field of vision, unleashing a powerful "Wind-Piercing Ears" punch that fell like a drumbeat.

The other person was a full half a head taller than Zhou Yan.

He suddenly ducked, his elbow slashing like a knife, striking the "Iron-Armed Arhat" in the thigh. As he sprang up, he raised his knee like a spear, striking the opponent in the abdomen.

These are all techniques from the Yue Family Boxing Manual.

Iron-Armed Arhat was thrown into the air by the force of the impact. Zhou Yan's hands shot forward from his chest, and with a "snap," he grabbed the opponent's elbows, pulling and lifting him into the Yellow River. "Rolling Tiger" was shocked and threw down his twin swords, grabbing his junior brother's ankles with both hands and pulling him back with all his might.

The poor "Iron-Armed Arhat" was dangling in the air like a leather strap, pulled by the two men.

Zhou Yan delivered a groin kick.

With a loud thud, "Iron-Armed Arhat" landed on the deck with a hysterical scream.
He stepped on the opponent's back and sprang up, bending his right arm inward and drawing a circle with his right palm before pushing it outward with a whoosh.

"Rolling Tiger" was slightly better than Su, the镖师 (bodyguard) of the Four Seas Escort Agency. Zhou Yan had been practicing diligently all the way while escorting goods, and his cultivation had been steadily improving. Now that the opponent had lost his weapon, how could he possibly withstand him? There was not much room to maneuver on the fishing boat, and the dwarf was directly blasted into the cabin and knocked unconscious.

Zhou Yan felt that using "The Dragon Regrets" to bully the dwarf was a bit like playing whack-a-mole.

He kicked "Iron-Armed Arhat" unconscious, grabbed the oars, and stared intently at the water. Just then, he saw the water splashing, and Hou Tonghai, blood seeping from his arm, tried to break the surface.

He raised the oars high in his hand.

Hou Tonghai's swimming skills were truly no less than Huang Rong's, and his internal strength and physical strength were superior to hers, so he actually had the upper hand. He was at a disadvantage because of Huang Rong's soft armor. During the fierce battle underwater, the water-splitting daggers hit Huang Rong's body, but she was not injured at all. Instead, she was stabbed in the arm with a hairpin. He couldn't understand how she could carry women's items with her like a fake man.

Hou Tonghai, unaware of the situation on the boat, tried to wade ashore, when he suddenly saw Zhou Yan standing on the gunwale holding a boat oar. Due to the light, he could not make out Zhou Yan's face clearly in his haste. He felt bitter and quickly dived to the bottom of the river.

The ship crashed down with a bang.

The water, gushing down like bricks, slammed against his body. Hou Tonghai gulped down several mouthfuls of murky water and desperately fled from the water.

Huang Rong was about to surface, but then she remembered that she was soaking wet and it was rather unseemly. She was also angry that Hou Tonghai had insulted her mother and father. Being a stubborn person, she chased after Hou Tonghai in the direction he had fled.

In Zhou Yan's line of sight, two straight water lines disappeared into the distance, one in front and one behind.

……

Shoot people first, shoot horses, and capture thieves first.

Hou Tonghai fled underwater like a dog with its tail between its legs. Juan Di Hu and Tie Bi Luo Han were captured, while the Yellow River Gang disciples and Peng Lian Hu's men, who had already been killed in droves, retreated in panic on the shore.

Those water ghosts who had fallen into the Yellow River and miraculously survived dared not stir up trouble, and swam ashore to escape into the mountains and wilderness.

Zhou Yan rowed towards the riverbank, and Zhang Wangyue leaped over. The bodyguard Wang Kui also rowed to Zhou Yan's side, jumped onto the bow, and said, "That man just now was Hou Tonghai from the Yellow River Gang. I recognize him."

Zhou Yan knew Hou Tonghai, but he thought the man should be in Zhongdu, so why was he robbing this shipment on the Yellow River? There was something fishy about it. So he said, "Interrogate him."

"Okay!" Zhang Wangyue nodded.

Zhou Yan walked over to the dwarf "Curling Tiger" and gave him a blood-circulating massage.

……

The light wasn't very strong, and the image of being blasted into the cabin by a palm strike still lingered in his mind. "Rolling Tiger" suddenly sat up, and when his vision cleared, Zhou Yan, Wang Kui, and Zhang Wangyue appeared before him.

Zhou Yan spoke up: "Tell me, who ordered it?"

"Rolling Tiger" cursed loudly, "Kill me or torture me as you please, if I utter a word, you're a son of a bitch."

Zhou Yan believed the other party was just being stubborn. Martial artists are trained by external physical conditioning and internal energy cultivation, so they are not afraid of hardship and being able to endure beatings.

"I'll beat him to death." Wang Kui had a grudge against the Yellow River Gang, and he said angrily.

"I have a solution!"

Zhou Yan rowed the boat to the shore and asked the porter to bring some bamboo paper. The porter, who now regarded him as the backbone of the escort team, quickly found some bamboo paper and brought it over.

Zhou Yan said, "I'll trouble the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) to control this person."

"That's easy!" Zhang Wangyue pressed the pressure points on the other party, rendering him unable to move.

Zhou Yan soaked bamboo paper in water and covered it with the face of "Rolling Tiger".

(End of this chapter)