Chapter 102: Clash of Tigers and Wolves (Part VII)

The weather truly changes in an instant. Earlier at noon, the temperature had slightly risen during the tide-watching, yet who would have expected that after just one night, the frost would envelop the grass, trees, and rocks, and the sea breeze would turn biting cold? Looking up, the leaden clouds began to gather, a concentrated mixture of clouds, rain, mist, and frost.

“Could it really be snowing?” Jiang Shuiyuan muttered, glancing at the sky.

Before Kou Li left, his boxing skills had only just reached the level of standing firm like a solid stake, mastering only basic fist techniques. Fortunately, this meant that during great battles, he could always lurk in the background unnoticed.

Even so, his body bore two knife scars, radiating a rugged and robust aura from deep within his bones.

Beside him, Tan Yuer and the big, foolish Wang Shennu were similarly battered. Wang was covered with more than a dozen wounds, some nearly fatal, yet he was still alive, his entire body wrapped in bandages, smiling foolishly.

None of this was particularly strange. Zheng Xiaobao was the truly peculiar one. He knew well that Senior Brother Kou, in the end, had barely had time to watch over him for the sake of the greater cause. Yet, despite this, Zheng bore not a single wound, as if all blades and fists instinctively overlooked him.

“Truly strange,” Jiang Shuiyuan whispered to himself. Suddenly, a cold wind blew, causing him to shiver involuntarily. He hurriedly wrapped tighter the blood-stained cloth around him.

“Junior Brother, we must hasten. If we don’t leave soon, I fear the river surface will freeze,” Luo Dunzi said with a frown.

Rarely did Kou Li show hesitation, but now he glanced up at the sky, scanned the nearby ravines and hills, and after a long pause, said, “We cannot just leave like this.”

“Junior Brother?”

“Further downstream lies the wide and flat expanse of Guangcheng Shui Kou, without any natural defenses. The Wolf Soldiers are definitely faster than we imagine. If the Water Dragon Gang arrives early, the Guangcheng Dragon Guild might not be willing to ferry us across,” Kou Li explained.

He never liked placing hope in the heavens. Perhaps the heavens bore no ill will toward him, but judging by the fate of his former self, they certainly held no kindness.

It was more reliable to depend on oneself.

Kou Li conveyed to Luo Dunzi what the one-armed man had told him, omitting the part about the Young Master Huang. Luo Dunzi, an honest man, was equally perplexed by the current situation.

“What then? We’re only a dozen or so—there’s no way we can face the Water Dragon Gang reinforcements.”

“I do know two enemies of the Water Dragon Gang, but they probably can’t arrive in time. Wait!” Suddenly, Kou Li’s ears twitched. He heard the crackle of a match nearby.

“You all find somewhere to hide. I’ll scout ahead.”

With that, Kou Li’s fingers flexed lightly. In a flash, he vanished into the depths of the forest with the grace of a tiger and dragon.

“We should... also find a place to hide,” Luo Dunzi said.

Only Zheng Xiaobao looked toward the direction Kou Li had disappeared, his face tinged with sadness. “It’s finally time. Brother Kou, I hope you can walk this path too.”

---

Following the sound, Kou Li soon came upon two stone houses. The crackling fire’s noise came from one of them.

He pushed open the door and saw a cluttered interior: stacks of firewood, a dozen or so wine jars, and a stove built from mountain stone, with water boiling atop it.

“A storage room.”

Suddenly, Kou Li whipped around. Behind him, the space was empty—no signs of anyone. Even with his enhanced hearing, no footsteps could be detected.

“Come out!”

His gaze sharp and fierce, Kou Li took a great stride, moving like a dragon or tiger, appearing instantly outside the door, his spirited energy settling instantly.

The dragon can be great or small, ascending or hiding; great dragons summon clouds and mist, smaller ones conceal their form.

In an instant, the wind howled, the ground sank slightly, and Kou Li reappeared behind the two houses—still no one in sight.

Closing his eyes, his bones creaked and rubbed together. Using a mysterious technique blending yin and yang with six layers of bamboo-joint strength, his form vanished from sight. Then, like a dragon or serpent, tiger or leopard, like a cannonball or a deep-sea whirlpool, he rolled and flashed chaotically in every direction.

Finally, Kou Li’s figure appeared in various spots around the two wooden houses, then vanished again. At last, a dark shadow was forced to leap down from the eaves, but looking around, no trace of the opponent remained.

“Your footwork, your silencing of steps and concealment of light—somehow it resembles the methods of the Wano people,” the dark shadow said, looking up. Kou Li had already climbed to the rooftop, smiling down at him.

“Back when I was cornered by enemies in the Central Plains, I had no choice but to cross the sea. In Wano, I studied secret forbidden techniques under Master Kukai for three years. It was during that time that I perfected the Ghost Shadow style of movement.”

The Ghost Shadow’s face was still covered in scars of varying depths. His hollow nose and upper lip made him look like a skeletal demon, his pale teeth cracked as though venomous snakes might slither out of them.

“But your footwork—you never formally trained in footwork. The techniques you used to force me out are unique energy transformations, and your body—so strong!”

The Ghost Shadow’s pupils narrowed. After mastering his footwork, he had once boasted of these unique skills, sneaking through thousands of homes near Luoyang Pass, stealing from hundreds—the notorious ghost thief’s fame was born thus.

But just as he reached the height of arrogance, believing nothing in the world could stop him, he was pursued by an elderly master with unfathomable boxing skills, using the simplest chain horse technique to catch him. Yet the old man did not kill him; instead, he spoke meaningfully:

“Boxing has its crude and skillful, its technical distinctions. My skills are deep—moving like a swimming dragon, turning like a monkey, poised like a tiger, settled like an eagle. I can catch you walking normally. No matter how graceful your footwork, what use is it?”

Because of this, he gradually restrained himself. If not for the allure of the great treasure under the sea, the Golden Sea, he would never have involved himself in the Water Dragon Gang’s conflict with coastal pirates. He was ambushed and captured, nearly losing half his strength.

But in Kou Li’s movements, he saw the forms of both dragon and tiger, much like the mysterious elder who had once captured him.

“How did you come to be here?”

“I dislike crowds, so the Crocodile Head Clan built me a hideout here,” he said.

“The Crocodile Head Clan,” Kou Li murmured, feeling a touch of emotion. Even an outsider like the Ghost Shadow called them that. It seemed his standing among the Guangcheng Dragon Guild was secure.

This was both good and bad news for him.

“Hmm? Someone’s coming!” Kou Li’s expression tightened. Were the Water Dragon Gang’s pursuers already here?

The Ghost Shadow, recalling his night infiltration of the naval camp, said, “If it’s just one person’s footsteps, it’s Chu San. He said he was coming today to drink with me.”

Kou Li closed his eyes briefly and nodded slowly. Indeed, it was a single set of footsteps, unhidden and straightforward.

“The Water Dragon Gang is sending Wolf Soldiers after us. Are you willing to take revenge?”

After Kou Li summarized the situation, the Ghost Shadow’s brows knitted deeply, hatred plainly flashing in his eyes. Yet he hesitated before finally asking, “Do you know what the Water Dragon Gang’s Wolf Soldiers are?”

Kou Li shook his head, puzzled.

“Have you heard of the Wolf People?”

Kou Li’s heart stirred. He recalled seeing that name once in folklore and local gazetteers when he first arrived in Guangdong, searching for immortal traces. In a small county’s records, there was mention of the Wolf People—

“In eastern Guangdong, only Luoding, Dong’an, and Xining have Wolf People, said to have come from western Guangdong. During the founding years, descendants of Wolf Soldiers who fought against Yao bandits were relocated here. The tribe numbers tens of thousands, fierce by nature, practicing human skin sacrifice; the county appoints a Wolf Chief overseeing 126 Wolf Soldiers, residing in Jiudong.”

In the wild southern borderlands, tribes mixed freely, but such Wolf People were rare. Kou Li had noted that they had vanished over ten years ago.

Now, reflecting on it, this coincided with the rise of the Water Dragon Gang.

Seeing Kou Li deep in thought, the Ghost Shadow said grimly, “During the imperial campaigns in the Western Regions and the pacification of the northern deserts, Wolf Soldiers were vanguards, their combat prowess unmatched even by seasoned troops. They razed cities and nations countless times. Because they were so formidable and foreign, the authorities grew wary and frequently relocated them to disperse their power. Even with the deepest boxing skills, we could scarcely break through their Wolf formations.”

“What if I have a way to counter them?” Kou Li’s eyes gleamed as he prepared to speak further, but suddenly his expression changed.

“Damn, they’re fast!”