Leng Yuqiu shifted his gaze to the source of the voice.

"Who are you?" Leng Yuqiu rarely took the initiative to ask someone's name, but upon seeing the speaker, a martial artist's instinct stirred his curiosity.

"Cheng Yong," Cheng Yong replied in an even tone.

He and Leng Yuqiu had many things in common—both possessed immense martial skill, their limits unknown to most in the jianghu (martial world), and neither was particularly talkative unless they were killing.

"Are you Wang Qiong's bodyguard?" Leng Yuqiu asked after a moment of consideration.

"Indeed." Cheng Yong replied.

"Hmm…" Leng Yuqiu nodded. "Your name precedes you. Seeing you today…" He said, his sword already leaving Feng Bujue's neck, "…You truly live up to the reputation."

"I haven't even made a move, and you already know I live up to my reputation?" Cheng Yong countered.

"Of course…" Leng Yuqiu said. "Judging by your footwork, your aura, and…" His gaze slowly shifted to the pair of weapons in the other man's hands, "…the Jade Hooks you wield…I can already tell your martial skills are no less than those of Duan Keyi or the Cotton Taoist."

"Then…" Cheng Yong continued, "you should understand our purpose here."

"Heh…" Leng Yuqiu smiled slightly. "I understand, but I think…you won't achieve your purpose."

"You think you can defeat me?" Cheng Yong asked.

"I can." Leng Yuqiu shook his head.

"Even if my martial skills are about the same as Duan Keyi and the Cotton Taoist, you can still defeat me?" Cheng Yong asked.

"I can." Leng Yuqiu repeated.

"Even if 'hooks' are the bane of 'swords,' and I'm wielding Jade Hooks, you can still defeat me?" Cheng Yong pressed.

"I can." Leng Yuqiu stated with confidence, repeating the words "I can" three times in a row.

"Ah…" Cheng Yong sighed, his expression suggesting he conceded the point. "Very well."

After saying those two words, he did something astonishing—he ran.

Even Leng Yuqiu hadn't anticipated such a turn of events. He stood there dumbfounded, watching Cheng Yong use his qinggong (light body skill) to flee back towards Linlu Town.

"A bit strange, isn't it?" Feng Bujue saw through the other man's thoughts and chuckled.

"What is the meaning of this?" Leng Yuqiu asked, turning to Feng Bujue after snapping out of his surprise.

"It's simple." Feng Bujue said. "We have two plans…" He shrugged, explaining in a rather relaxed tone, "As you've probably guessed, we prearranged a location. He was to ambush you here, while I was responsible for luring you over; however…after luring you over, there were two possibilities." He paused. "The first situation is—after observing and testing you at close range, if Cheng Yong felt he could defeat you, or at least fight you to a standstill, then I would be the one to run, and he would stay behind to stall you. If possible…it would be best to kill you."

"So…" Leng Yuqiu picked up, "what's happening now is 'the second situation' of your plan?"

"Indeed." Feng Bujue said bluntly. "Without a doubt…Cheng Yong admitted he was not confident in defeating you, or even fighting you to a draw. Therefore, I'm responsible for things here, while he…has other tasks."

"Hmph…" Leng Yuqiu scoffed upon hearing this.

"What's wrong? Is something funny?" Feng Bujue asked.

"I'm naturally laughing at your plan," Leng Yuqiu said.

"What's wrong with my plan?" Feng Bujue still looked quite confident.

"Putting aside whether the current you, who is stuck here, is my match." Leng Yuqiu said, "even if you really can keep me busy for a while, what's the point?" He paused for half a second. "Taking a step back, if you really wanted to kill me, why run so far? If you just lured me away from my master, and then the two of you ganged up on me, wouldn't the chances of success be much higher than they are now?"

"Hmm." Feng Bujue nodded. "It seems…you understand the logic." He smugly continued, "Then I'll give you another chance. Think carefully again. Is my plan really that funny?"

As soon as he said that, Leng Yuqiu's smile froze, because he belatedly realized something…

Then, Leng Yuqiu really did as Jue-Ge said…he re-examined his previous analysis, and realized what the problem was.

"Tch…" The frustration of miscalculation, and the previous presumptuous deduction, quickly turned into a rage that surged to Leng Yuqiu's head. He spat and stared at Jue-Ge's face. "You're really an infuriating guy…"

"Figured it out, have you?" Feng Bujue responded with a teasing smile. "That's right, the focus of my plan…isn't on 'killing you,' but on 'luring you a certain distance away, and making your companions worry about your safety for a certain period of time.'" He paused for a second, then added, "To be honest, if you and 'Yue' insisted on hiding in the shadows, it would have been more difficult for me. Fortunately, you chose to come into the open and join your master, which saved me a lot of trouble…"

When he said these words, Jue-Ge appeared organized and at ease. Clearly, he had already thought of many foolproof strategies for today's situation, and had corresponding solutions no matter what actually happened.

"You're so sure…'Yue' will come looking for me?" Leng Yuqiu asked after a few seconds.

"I don't need to be sure. I only need to be more than 50% certain." Feng Bujue tilted his head. "Besides…what do you think Cheng Yong's 'mission' is after he returns?"

Leng Yuqiu didn't know what Cheng Yong's mission was…the latter might be going to inform them, might be going to call for reinforcements, or might be going to spread news like "Leng Yuqiu is dead" or "Leng Yuqiu is seriously injured."

These were just the things that Leng Yuqiu could think of in a short time. As for what he couldn't think of…although he couldn't think of it himself, he also knew very well that the obnoxious brat in front of him had definitely thought of everything.

After this analysis of the situation, Leng Yuqiu immediately made what was currently the most reasonable decision—break the other party's hands and feet first, and quickly take him back to Linlu Town.

This would not only violate his master's order to bring him back alive, but would also effectively prevent his companions from falling into some kind of trap.

Once he had decided what to do, he took action without another word…

Whoosh—

Just as Jue-Ge had finished speaking, Leng Yuqiu suddenly struck.

Logically speaking, people like Leng Yuqiu would basically never suddenly attack someone without a sound, but when he thought of Jue-Ge's qinggong and his cunning personality…he decided: "In order to ensure a successful strike, I'll slightly abandon the dignity and style of a master."

However, what Leng Yuqiu didn't expect was…his opponent was someone who, from the beginning, had stood at "the end of the lower limit," overlooking…no…looking up at all living beings; attempting a "surprise attack" in front of Feng Bujue was an understatement.

If Leng Yuqiu's strength was more than twice that of Feng Bujue's, and he had cleverly concealed himself before the sneak attack, so that he was not discovered until the moment he struck, then he would still have a chance…

But the actual situation…

"Oh~ Your palm techniques aren't bad." Feng Bujue said mockingly as he leisurely dodged the other party's continuous attacks, "Your grappling techniques are also quite impressive…It seems your master has quite a bit of research into martial arts of the Central Plains."

In the time it took to say these words, Leng Yuqiu had already made ten moves, but all of them had been deflected by Jue-Ge using strange postures and footwork.

Faced with an opponent who "didn't dare to kill" and was limited to close-quarters combat, Feng Bujue could toy with him at will using his zero-time difference calculations.

"Hmph…" Leng Yuqiu wasn't stupid either. After ten moves, he understood that he would never be able to defeat the other party in this way. "My master never taught me martial arts from the Central Plains…" He said, stopping his attacks. "These…are all things I learned from the masters of the Central Plains that I defeated."

"Oh?" Feng Bujue raised an eyebrow. "Could it be…you also know 'Jing's' skill?"

"You know quite a bit…" Leng Yuqiu also guessed the source of Jue-Ge's information. "Did Wang Qiong tell you?"

"He did mention a lot of things, but he didn't mention…that you, 'Shui'…can also imitate other people's skills." Feng Bujue continued.

"Heh…Although there are reflections in 'Jing,' and there are also reflections in 'Shui,' the two…are different." Leng Yuqiu said, removing the sword from his waist and sticking it into the ground. "My elder brother practices the unique internal energy technique taught by our master. This skill allows him to 'imitate' ten thousand different people's skills, but no matter what the appearance, in essence…he is still using his own martial arts; but me…I'm not 'imitating,' I'm simply 'learning' the things I've seen."

There was a bit of boasting in his words, but it was indeed the truth.

Leng Yuqiu's talent was the highest among "Mirror Flower, Water Moon." Most martial arts that conformed to martial arts principles and were not too complicated (especially external martial arts), he could learn seven or eight out of ten just by looking at them once; if he then sparred with a master who practiced this kind of martial arts, and saw the way the other party circulated their energy and breathed…then he would have a great chance of fully mastering it.

"However…to be honest." Leng Yuqiu's words weren't finished yet, "Even though it's easy to learn, there aren't many martial arts from the Central Plains that I would actually practice. Because…so far, all the fist and palm techniques I've experienced in the Central Plains are very different from what my master taught me."

At this point, he had already tied up the hem of his white robe and wrapped it around his waist, and adopted a stance with a low center of gravity, facing the enemy sideways.

"Ho~" Feng Bujue still looked unfazed when he saw this. "So your master not only knows how to use a sword, but is also good at boxing and kicking?"

"Speaking of which…I haven't asked your name yet." Leng Yuqiu ignored Jue-Ge's probing and asked a question in return.

"Hmm…" Feng Bujue thought for a moment. "Since you're about to die, I'll tell you…" He said, also adopting a stance—standing upright, feet slightly apart, arms raised high, fingers together, head slightly raised, eyes staring at the sky; after adopting this strange posture, he replied in a serious and somewhat self-intoxicated tone, "I…am the legendary…Poker Man."

"Nonsense!" Leng Yuqiu gave a very objective evaluation, followed by a "shrinking ground" arrow step, taking a straight punch straight towards Jue-Ge's torso.

At the moment he charged forward, Feng Bujue's feet…also left the ground.

Leng Yuqiu thought that the other party was simply "jumping up to dodge," so he also changed his move accordingly, jumping upwards to prepare to pursue.

Unexpectedly…Jue-Ge maintained that upright posture and rose in a straight line…flying higher and higher…

Soon, Leng Yuqiu's ascending speed began to slow down, and then he began to fall, but Feng Bujue…maintained a constant speed and went to heaven.

"How is this possible…" Leng Yuqiu murmured softly as he landed, unable to help but look up at the sky. "Could it be that he can fly?"

No, Jue-Ge couldn't fly, and he wasn't using Moonwalk at the moment either.

He had simply taken something out of his knapsack before striking that posture – the Poker Man Hero ID Card.

Originally, this card was useless after he left the Universal Superhero League, but Toad Man and Tinfoil Man, to thank Jue-Ge for his contributions to their universe, joined forces to make a set of Combat Armor as a thank you gift, and used their black technology to store it in this card.

At the moment, Jue-Ge had activated the "transformation" effect of this card and transformed…