Chapter - 422 Long Flute, Short Lute, And Tan Clothing (9)

Zhang Wuji flicked his sleeve up and that inner robe floated slowly upward and landed on a forked branch of a ginkgo tree on that courtyard. As the robe fluttered in the wind, the picture of blood-sucking bat appeared to be alive.

"Zhang Bang Longtou," Zhang Wuji smiled and said, "My humble cult's Wei Fu Wang [bat king Wei] has shown you mercy; don't you understand? What if he decided to take your life?" As Zhang Bang Longtou thought about it, he could not help but shiver.

Chen Youliang realized that the longer he let this matter go on, the more disadvantageous it would be for them; the best plan would be to turn their attention someplace else. Thereupon he asked the lady in yellow, "May I ask Miss' honored surname? I wonder what relationship do you have with us?"

The lady in yellow laughed coldly and said, "What relationship do I have with you? I only have a relationship with this Dog Beating Stick." She pointed her finger to the dark green bamboo stick in the ugly girl's hand.

The crowd of beggars had early on recognized the stick to be the Dog Beating Stick [da gou bang], the symbol of authority of their own Clan's Clan Leader; however, they were not clear on how this stick could fall into someone else's hand. Everybody turned their attention toward Shi Huolong. They saw his face was deathly pale and looked desperate.

"Bangzhu," Chuan Gong Zhanglao asked, "Is the Dog Beating Stick in this girl's hand fake?"

"I … I …" Shi Huolong stammered, "I think it is a fake."

"Fine," the lady in yellow said, "Take the real Dog Beating Stick out so that we can compare the two sticks."

"The Dog Beating Stick is the Beggar Clan's most precious article, how can we casually show it to anybody?" Shi Huolong replied, "I don't have it with me, because if I lose it, won't it be terrible?"

As the crowd of beggars listened to him, they felt he did not make any sense; as the Clan Leader of the Beggar Clan, how could he be afraid to lose the Dog Beating Stick?

The little girl lifted high the bamboo stick and with a loud voice said, "Everybody, come and see. This Dog Beating Stick is our Clan's … our Clan's heritage, which was passed on from the first generation to the next. How can it be a fake?"

As the crowd of beggars heard her saying 'Our Clan', they were astonished; so they came near to examine the stick. They saw the stick was as crystal-clear and smooth as jade, and as hard as iron; without any doubt this was the real Clan Leader's symbol of authority. They looked at each other in confusion.

The lady in yellow said, "It is widely known that the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms and the Dog Beating Stick technique are two of the Bangzhu of the Beggar Clan's most famous divine skills. Xiao Hong, go and ask Shi Bangzhu for some advice in the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms first, and then Xiao Ling, after Xiao Hong Jiejie [elder sister] has won, ask Shi Bangzhu for some advice in the Dog Beating Stick technique." Two flute-player young girls responded and jumped out; they stood side by side in the courtyard.

Chen Youliang indignantly said, "By not willing to reveal your name, Miss has already despised the Beggar Clan; and now you ordered two little maids to fight our Bangzhu. How can there be such logic in the Jianghu? Shi Bangzhu, let disciple deal with these two maids first, and then we can ask this Miss to show her expertise. In the end we will see what kind of master has showed such contempt toward the Beggar Clan."

"Damn it! [orig. ta1 nai3 nai5 – his granny]" Shi Huolong said, "Very well, Chen Zhanglao, please take care of this matter for me."

'Swish!' Chen Youliang unsheathed his sword, and slowly walked to the courtyard.

Xiao Hong said, "Miss told me to ask some advice in the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms. Do you know this palm technique? Does the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms technique use a sword?"

"What kind of position do you think Shi Bangzhu holds?" Chen Youliang shouted in response, "How can he fight a lowly servant like you? The Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms is a divine skill, how can a lowly servant like you see it that easily?" While saying that, he took another step forward.

The lady in yellow turned toward Zhang Wuji and said, "Zhang Jiaozhu, please do me a favor."

"Just say it," Zhang Wuji replied.

The lady in yellow said, "Could you get rid of this fellow surnamed Chen for me? And then, unmask that big fraud who pretends to be Shi Bangzhu."

When Zhang Wuji was successful in capturing Shi Huolong with only one move, he had thought that his martial art skill was only mediocre. He also recalled when Han Lin'er spat some phlegm to him, surprisingly Shi Huolong was not able to evade. Doubt started to rise in Zhang Wuji's heart; especially after witnessing that in everything he had always listened to Chen Youliang without any ideas of his own. Based on his martial art skill, knowledge and experience, he was unfit to become the leader of the Beggar Clan. This time he heard the lady in yellow say that he was a 'big fraud who pretends to be Shi Bangzhu', his suspicion was confirmed and thus he understood 60, 70%. He nodded and immediately went toward Shi Huolong.

Shi Huolong launched the 'chong tian pao' [shattering the sky cannon]. 'Bang!' his fist hit Zhang Wuji's chest.

Zhang Wuji laughed out loud and said, "Is the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms this useless?" [again, the original word is 'nong bao', see above] Reaching out, he grabbed Shi Huolong's collar and lifted him up.

Chen Youliang realized he was not Zhang Wuji's match; he quietly withdrew into the crowd without waiting for Zhang Wuji to make his move.

The ugly girl suddenly wailed and pounced toward Shi Huolong, hitting and pulling his clothes like crazy, while crying out, "You killed my Father, killed my Father, wicked thief!"

The acupoints on Shi Huolong's back were grabbed by Zhang Wuji so he was not able to move. He was a burly man and the girl's little fists only reached his belly. Zhang Wuji bent his arm to push his head down. The girl grabbed and pulled his hair. Suddenly the entire hair on Shi Huolong's head fell off, revealing his shiny bald head. Turned out he was bald and was using a wig. The girl continued randomly grab, scratch and pull; and she pulled away his nose, but no blood gushing out. Everybody was astonished. They looked closely and saw that the fallen piece of nose was a fake; his high nose was also a fake.

The crowd of beggars broke into a commotion; they asked together, "Who are you?" "Why did you pretend to be Shi Bangzhu?"

Zhang Wuji raised him up and then with a jerk he tossed him to the ground. Shi Huolong was knocked out and was speechless for half a day. Zhang Wuji smiled faintly and withdrew; thinking that this man was masquerading Shi Huolong, and now that the fact was known, the crowd of beggars would certainly deal with him.

Zhang Bang Longtou was hot-tempered; he stepped forward and slapped that man left and right, 'Slap, slap, slap, slap' seven, eight times.

The fake Shi Huolong's cheeks were red and swollen. "It wasn't me, it wasn't me," he cried out loudly, "It was Chen … Chen Zhanglao who told me to do it."

Zhi Fa Zhanglao's heart was stirred, he shouted, "Where is Chen Youliang?" But Chen Youliang's shadow was nowhere to be seen. Apparently as Chen Youliang realized his plot was uncovered, he quickly escaped and was already gone for a long time.