Chapter 95. Four, Five.

That's right.

Ku Hwan nodded inwardly.

The image of the young disciples that the leaders of the Thousand Dragon Tournament had expected was right before his eyes. They must have hoped that the young disciples would handle the situation like the Grand Prince of the Heavenly Flower Pavilion, even without any information given to them.

To discern the hidden intentions,

to secretly track,

to subdue the opponent and uncover their identity and purpose,

and to prepare the next move accordingly.

But the one who actually achieved this was not the young disciples of a prestigious family, but a young scholar who smelled of ink.

"Come in if you're not afraid."

He had regained his composure.

Elder Ku Hwan deliberately put on a stern voice.

Naturally, Hou Gong, who had never been afraid, entered the room calmly. As he stepped in, he spoke.

"I don't like wasting time."

"……?"

"Let's get it over with. What are you guys up to?"

"Oh ho……. My, my……. Hehehe……."

Ku Hwan first tilted his head in confusion, then marveled and laughed heartily. He was momentarily annoyed by the young man's abrupt informal speech, despite his youth.

But the words that followed.

He clearly called them "you" in plural, not singular. This meant that the young man had found at least two people.

'Truly, a remarkable talent has emerged in the world.'

At this thought, Ku Hwan changed his plan.

He decided to hide his identity first.

He now wanted to gauge the martial arts level of the Grand Prince of the Heavenly Flower Pavilion.

Would he be as impressive in martial arts as he was in footwork and agility? And he was looking forward to the results.

Ku Hwan asked.

"Did you come alone?"

"The opportunity just passed."

Elder Ku Hwan was pleased with this and chuckled.

"Your audacity pleases this old man. Yes, youth should have this kind of spirit. You must have many questions for me, right?"

Ku Hwan raised one corner of his mouth.

While doing so, he put one hand behind his back and extended the other gently, assuming a martial posture.

His appearance exuded the charm of the martial world,

and the demeanor of a master was evident.

"I will give you thirty seconds."

"……."

"I will use only one hand. Give it your all. If you can touch my collar in thirty seconds, I will answer any question you have. Of course, the first three seconds will be a concession from this old man……"

Suddenly, Hou Gong moved.

Whoosh.

*Crash!

The third-floor window shattered.

Ku Hwan, thrown out with the shards, flew into the sky.

He flew without wings.

He just saw something flash before his eyes, and before he knew it, he was flying outside the window.

'Shit, what the hell is going on……'

He cursed.

What exactly happened?

How did he get hit?

Was it a kick, a punch? What was the final blow?

The left palm that stabbed into his side was a feint. While his body was disoriented, the Grand Prince of the Heavenly Flower Pavilion rotated strangely in mid-air, and his face felt hot. When he came to his senses, he was outside the window.

Or rather, something caught his eye.

In extreme situations, does everything slow down?

He saw one of his teeth, mixed with blood, slowly moving away. Where is it going? And from inside the inn, he could clearly see the Grand Prince of the Heavenly Flower Pavilion looking at him disdainfully. They say time stops when you're about to die; is this what it means?

As his vision blurred with tears.

Boom!

He hit the ground.

Passersby were shocked by the sight of an old man falling through a window, and chaos ensued.

Naturally, Nangong Xiaoye and Yeg Yingshan, who were in the opposite inn, witnessed this scene.

"Sister, sister! Someone fell from the sky!"

"What? What's going on!"

"It's the third floor, the third floor. Oh, someone is at the window!"

"What's happening? With the main house so close, how dare someone cause such a ruckus."

It was even during the Thousand Dragon Tournament.

Nangong Xiaoye frowned and turned her head. Her bodyguard, Jian Huo, bowed and waited for orders.

"Jian Huo, go after that person……"

"Sister, wait a moment!"

"Huh? Why?"

"That person, that person."

"Who, who…… Oh?"

Nangong Xiaoye's eyes widened as she turned her gaze to the opposite third-floor window. She couldn't believe what she saw. She rubbed her eyes, but nothing changed.

"Why is the Grand Prince of the Heavenly Flower Pavilion standing there?"

She wasn't mistaken.

The Grand Prince was standing at the window, one foot on the sill, looking down.

"When did he get here?"

"Rather, what is he doing, hitting people and running around!"

"Ah…… jump down."

Yeg Yingshan and Nangong Xiaoye stretched their necks to watch.

The Grand Prince, with his clothes fluttering, leaped from the third floor, his movements incredibly light. He then grabbed the old man by the back of the neck and soared up.

He leaped to a height almost as high as the fourth floor, stepped on the roof, and then leaped again, landing on the roofs of other buildings in quick succession before disappearing from sight.

Surprised by the agility of his footwork, Nangong Xiaoye and Yeg Yingshan forgot to complain and their eyes widened.

"What, what……"

"Amazing footwork……"

Moreover, the Grand Prince was not alone.

He was carrying a person in one hand. Despite leaping and disappearing, the scene was so extraordinary that even though they saw it with their own eyes, they couldn't believe it.

**

A deserted alley.

Thud.

Ku Hwan was thrown down like a sack of goods.

Ku Hwan lay on his back, glaring resentfully at the Grand Prince.

It all stemmed from a misunderstanding.

And it was a tragedy born from his own carelessness and arrogance.

In this regard, the Grand Prince's actions seemed excessively harsh, which made Ku Hwan grind his teeth. The thought of his lost tooth made him even more furious.

But for Hou Gong, the misunderstanding was just the beginning.

"Alright, let's talk. Who are you?"

"Hey! Apologize first!"

"Ahem……"

Hou Gong cleared his throat.

They weren't friends, and in terms of actual age, this guy was much younger. His attitude was not appropriate for a conversation.

Hou Gong lifted his foot and firmly pressed it on Ku Hwan's chest.

"Aaaaaah!"

Due to the extreme pain point, Ku Hwan writhed like a worm and groaned.

"Talking carelessly is troublesome."

"Uuuuuuuu……. Stop, stop. I'm sorry. Please…… stop. Teacher, please!"

What kind of skill is this?

Ku Hwan felt as if he was stabbed by a needle, not a foot. It felt as if the needle was piercing and stirring his chest, and the pain was indescribable.

Moreover, the Grand Prince's voice was so cold that Ku Hwan had no choice but to beg for mercy, saying everything he could.

Only then did the foot lift,

and the cold voice continued.

"This is your last chance. If you say anything out of line from now on, I'll crush you."

"Yes, yes! Of course."

Ku Hwan answered hurriedly.

For some reason, Ku Hwan no longer thought the Grand Prince was young. Whether it was because he was sent flying in one blow, the cold voice, or the calm and composed eyes, his body just shrank.

He might die. That thought crossed his mind.

Being stubborn wouldn't help, and the threat of being crushed didn't seem like an empty threat.

"Alright, so?"

The conversation was properly prepared,

and Hou Gong asked.

"I, I…… I am an elder of the Yin Ying Sect. The reason I used disguise…… was actually due to the request of the Nangong family head……."

"Yin Ying Sect?"

"Do you know it? Have you heard of it?"

"Ahem……. I see."

"Really?"

Hou Gong had heard of it.

And he immediately understood the situation, nodding.

"So that's why. Tsk tsk……. That's why you were so mediocre."

Ku Hwan looked dejected,

but Hou Gong finally understood the gap he felt.

Why his martial arts level was so low compared to his disguise skills, why he panicked, and how he managed to move around the Nangong family with such skills.

Yes, he had heard of the Yin Ying Sect.

The Yin Ying Sect was known for this.

He also recalled what Xiaoxiang Ke, one of the Ten Guests of the Alliance, had said.

The Yin Ying Sect, which deals with information in the martial world, focuses all its efforts on disguise and other miscellaneous skills, so their martial arts are poor. "Master, aren't they very strange?" he had said.

At the time, when he told Xiaoxiang Ke that he was stranger, Xiaoxiang Ke had pouted and closed his mouth.

"What do you mean by the request of the Nangong family head?"

"That is, to evaluate the young disciples in this Thousand Dragon Tournament……"

Ku Hwan finished his explanation respectfully.

Naturally, Hou Gong had to speak.

'Such……. They just wanted to evaluate the children…….'

Of course, not knowing the details, he made the best choice, but in the end, he had disrupted the plan.

Hou Gong's serious and contemplative appearance made Ku Hwan misunderstand. He became anxious.

"Um, um……."

It didn't seem proper to speak while lying down, and he didn't think his sincerity would come across, so Ku Hwan groaned and got up, kneeling painfully.

"Why are you doing this? I'm telling the truth. Everything I said is true. There are no other plots. You have to believe me."

"Ahem……."

Hou Gong, who had already lost interest, said casually.

"I believe you. But I have one question."

"Yes."

"I found five, but how many of you were deployed in total?"

"Huh?"

Ku Hwan blinked repeatedly, confused.

Hou Gong was also confused.

Ku Hwan seemed to be thinking, biting his lip.

"Why?"

"Well, there are four of us."

"Huh?"

"Maybe you mistook one of them."

"……."

Suddenly, Hou Gong's eyes flashed intensely, and Ku Hwan, startled, quickly said.

"Why…… why are you doing this? Why would I lie here? Anyway, you will go to the Nangong family with me……"

Whoosh.

In an instant, only an afterimage remained before his eyes.

Ku Hwan looked