Vengeance!

Chilly moonlight spilled across the training ground, carpeting the flagstones like liquid quicksilver. Several figures stood atop the eaves of the martial hall. Yang Dongxiong stood on the foremost roofline, watching the roaring youth below. He saw the boy clenching his jaw with a ferocious grimace, yet made no move to stop the spectacle. Beside them, the apprentice dragged in to explain the backstory was drenched in cold sweat, trembling with dread. "I'm going over!" With a sudden wrench, Liang Qu shook free of their hold and strode back into the center of the grounds amid their desperate shouts. Moonlight struck Liang Qu's sharp features from an angle, weaving light and shadow across his face. The high bridge of his nose cast a dark veil over one eye, while the other remained cool and expressionless. Ten paces apart, the two sides squared off. One person on one side, seven on the other. Moonlight and lantern light cut through the gloom of the night. Liang Qu stood ramrod straight, like an unsheathed blade, drawing every pair of eyes in the yard. *This bastard sure knows how to fucking pose.* Lu Tingcai's irritation flared even hotter. Catching sight of the female apprentices looking on, fury consumed him entirely. He reached out and snatched a wooden staff from a nearby weapon rack. Sparring was not forbidden in the martial hall, and weapon racks were provided, but to prevent the hotheaded youths from turning deadly, there were only wooden staves—no bladed weapons. Lu Tingcai glanced back. "Just a newcomer. I can handle this myself. Time to teach him some respect." The others nodded in agreement. With so many onlookers, all seven of them ganging up at once would only be an embarrassment. Staff swinging in his hand, Lu Tingcai sneered and stepped forward at a deliberate pace, looming like a small mountain. Standing a full meter ninety, he easily looked down on Liang Qu, who had yet to fully grow into his frame. As the distance closed, his imposing presence became all the more overbearing. Behind Liang Qu, Li Libo and Chen Jiechang swallowed hard, but no matter how they called after him, Liang Qu acted as though he had heard nothing. Lu Tingcai advanced step by step. When he closed within three meters, he let out a savage grin, kicked off the ground, and lunged forward like an arrow. Power rose from the earth. Lu Tingcai tightened every muscle in his body, coiling and transferring force in a spiraling motion from the sole of his left foot through his torso, into his right hand, and straight into the wooden staff. He raised the egg-thick wooden staff high and brought it crashing down toward Liang Qu's crown, slicing through the air with a bone-chilling howl. Lu Tingcai could hardly wait to see Liang Qu's skull split open and bleed. Driven by fury, the speed and angle of his strike were near perfection, far exceeding his usual standard. Seeing his opponent frozen like a block of wood, seemingly terrified out of his wits, a rush of violent exhilaration surged in his chest. Liang Qu remained calm. Only when the blur of the staff was right before his eyes did he step forward, snatching Lu Tingcai's wrist with one hand. With a downward twist of immense strength, he cleanly wrenched the wooden staff from his grasp, and with his other hand delivered a backhand slap that sent him sprawling to the ground. Dead silence fell, so quiet one could hear the wind in the distant sky. Pupils dilated across the yard. In a single heartbeat of an exchange, the outcome had already been decided. It was so fast and ruthless that no one had even caught Liang Qu's movement. Behind Liang Qu, Li Libo and Chen Jiechang gaped, as if something were lodged in their throats. The crickets resumed their chirping. Moonlight washed over the crown of Lu Tingcai's head, chilling as ice. Clutching his face, his wrist swollen, his skin went pale; he had no idea what had just occurred. *What happened? Did I... did I just get slapped?* In an instant, veins bulged at Lu Tingcai's temples, throbbing violently. He pushed off the ground, sprang to his feet, and threw a punch straight at him. Liang Qu whipped the staff across Lu Tingcai's forearm, knocking the fist aside, and followed through with another crisp slap across his face—*smack!* Everyone saw it clearly this time, and everyone was struck dumb. Lu Tingcai sat frozen on the ground in utter disbelief. A wave of humiliation and rage choked him. Panting heavily like a wounded beast, he tried to scramble back up. But Liang Qu gave him no opening to retaliate. Stepping in, he swung the staff horizontally. Lu Tingcai saw only an afterimage of wood before it struck his cheek with crushing force. A mouthful of sweet, metallic blood sprayed into the air as he tumbled across the dirt, half of his face entirely numb, unsure whether an entire row of teeth had just been knocked loose. Liang Qu lowered his gaze, glanced at the few shattered teeth on the ground, and took another step forward. "Stay back!" Lu Tingcai screamed in terror, clutching his bloody face. "Hurry, get him together!" Only then did the stunned six on the other side snap out of their daze, shouting as they surged forward. Liang Qu took another step, raising the staff to knock out the teeth on the other side of Lu Tingcai's face, but deafening roars were already closing in. Stepping into a low lunge, Liang Qu drove force through his left knee bent at ninety degrees. Twisting his waist, he swept the short staff in a screaming arc through the air! The staff smashed square into Xue Dingyi's jaw. Blood burst from his mouth as his entire face contorted, sending him rolling onto the ground. Like boiling water poured over a snowball, the youths behind Xue Dingyi scrambled frantically to either side. On the other flank, a short, stocky brute let out a low roar and swung his staff toward Liang Qu's shoulder. But a sudden, terrifying tremor seized his chest; the blood in his heart seemed to reverse direction for a fraction of a second, throwing his movement into disarray. Liang Qu stepped in, snapping his staff against the stocky man's wrist. Before Liang Qu could recover, an overwhelming wave of force traveled up his arm. His body jolted. Forcing down the roiling qi and blood, he retracted the staff, flicked his wrist, and thrust the tip straight into the man's dantian. The man could not catch his breath; he swayed for a moment and collapsed to the earth. The remaining three charged with furious roars, raining down a barrage of strikes. The staves came too thick and fast; Liang Qu parried two, but one leapt up and cracked his staff right against Liang Qu's head. Liang Qu felt his entire skull reverberate like an iron bell struck full force. Blood leaked simultaneously from his nose and mouth. Then another who had scrambled back up from behind delivered a strike to his back. Liang Qu's eyes widened until the corners nearly tore. Holding his breath, the veins on his forearms twisting like snakes, he kicked the man in front flying, spun around, and swept his staff. The one getting up had no time to dodge before the strike shattered his floating ribs. There were too many opponents; those knocked down rose again. Four or five staves swung at once—he could deflect two, but three would still land on his body. The training ground dissolved into utter chaos in an instant. The fight had spiraled far beyond anyone's expectations, leaving the onlookers watching blankly, at a complete loss for words. Bloodstained staves, snarling faces, tearing muscle, the silvery full moon, flickering candlelight, cold and stern eyes, starlight winking across the vast night sky... Silhouette after silhouette lunged forward, staves battering against Liang Qu. Yet he seemed numb to pain. Relying on his sheer physical prowess, he swung his staff again and again, sending each charging figure flying. Lu Tingcai and his gang got up slower and slower, the strikes in their hands growing feebler. Yet Liang Qu's fury only burned hotter, his staff striking as if meant to cleave a man in two! Blood-slicked faces twisted in anguish; the cold night turned gruesome. Someone hurled away his staff and picked up a grey brick, but before he could strike, Liang Qu's staff shattered brick and boy alike. The wooden staff suddenly snapped. Liang Qu lunged forward, tackled one of them around the waist, and slammed him into the earth. The youth's eyes rolled back as he dropped his staff. Liang Qu seized him by the hair, hoisted his head, and smashed it ruthlessly against the ground. The hard-packed yellow earth was dented beneath the impact, reducing the face to a bloody pulp. Another staff crashed across his back. Ignoring the searing ache, Liang Qu drew a sharp breath, caught the staff, rolled over, and whipped it in a full arc. The attacker was thrown to the ground once more, several ribs snapping under the blow. Liang Qu swung the staff as he spun around, but the blow hit only empty air. Not a single person remained standing. He looked down at the ground littered with blood and broken teeth. Round beads of blood dripped from the tip of his staff. Liang Qu dropped to one knee. Behind him lay the youths, scattered and groaning in agony. His cheek bulged as he probed with his tongue before spitting out a clot of bloody froth, clearing his choked throat so he could breathe freely once more. "Whew." Liang Qu inhaled deeply. Propping the staff against the ground, his torn muscles trembled as they wrung out the last dregs of strength. Swaying unsteadily, he forced himself upright and stood straight in the dead center of the grounds. Li Libo and Chen Jiechang's jaws hung completely slack, only raspy gasps escaping their throats. The apprentices ringing the training ground fell into an eerie hush. Liang Qu exhaled a slow, long breath that failed to hide his bone-deep exhaustion and aches. One against seven had pushed him to his limits. And what was more... Liang Qu tilted his head back, looking toward the figures standing on the eaves in the moonlight. With his fusion nearing fifty percent, he was already capable of manipulating blood. Unfortunately, his control lacked precision; he could only affect the aorta, where blood was most concentrated, briefly reversing the flow. Yet Liang Qu had only used it once, on that stocky brute. When he twisted around to strike, he had caught sight of the figures on the roof and dared not use it again. "Lu Tingcai, Xue Dingyi, Yu Weilong, Xiang Quji... the seven of you needn't ever return to the martial hall!" With the dust settled, several silhouettes leapt down from the roof, a booming voice echoing across the entire training ground. The elderly man in the lead came up before Liang Qu, his tone giving away neither pleasure nor anger. "Your name is Liang Qu, isn't it?" "Yes." Liang Qu lowered his head and offered an exhausted smile. "Would you be willing to become my disciple?"