At that moment, an old man suddenly shouted with malicious glee,"Boy, why don't you piss on the ground and take a good look at yourself? A toad dreaming of eating swan meat!"
The crowd burst into laughter.Thunder Hand Ge Long, however, hurried over to help his precious son up. Ge Tian had already fallen so badly that his face was bruised and swollen, puffed up like a pig's head.
The old man was none other than 'West Madman' Situ Kong. His mouth started up again at once:
"Look at this girl—so beautiful! And look at that brat—what a sorry sight! How could he ever be worthy of such a lovely lady!"
He turned around, pointed at Ge Tian, and went on:
"You wretched boy, what right do you have to be mentioned in the same breath as Wu Tong, Hall Master of the Loyalty and Righteousness Hall? You're not even fit to carry Wu Tong's shoes!"
Hearing this, the people in the square looked again at Wu Tong and Liu Yun. At a glance, everyone silently applauded:
What a heavenly couple!
Wu Tong's face was as refined as polished jade, his bearing upright and heroic; Liu Yun was graceful and beautiful, pure and elegant beyond the ordinary.
Thunder Hand Ge Long hauled Ge Tian to his feet. Ge Tian had always relied on his father's reputation, throwing his weight around, spoiled into an arrogant young master who barked orders at will. Today's humiliation was entirely of his own making.
Upon hearing that Liu Yun had married Wu Tong, his temper flared. In a rash sneak attack, he had tried to kill Wu Tong with a single palm—without ever considering his own meager abilities. Before he could even last one move, Wu Tong had kicked him flying. Now his face was grotesquely swollen.
As the saying goes, "Even a mangy child is precious in his father's eyes."No matter how much Ge Tian deserved it, as a father, Thunder Hand Ge Long could not endure others humiliating his son so mercilessly.
Suppressing his fury, he glared angrily and barked,
"Old bastard—watch your mouth!"
If Wu Tong had not been present, he would have already leapt forward to kill Situ Kong.
Situ Kong, however, looked genuinely startled.
"You mean me?"
He glanced left and right, then pointed at himself.Ge Long said coldly,
"Yes—you!"
Situ Kong exclaimed,
"Me? What did I say wrong? Everyone has eyes—look how beautiful that girl is! And that brat—no talent, no skill, yet he lashes out in jealousy and ambushes Wu Tong. Wu Tong is broad-minded and magnanimous; he won't stoop to the level of such trash. Otherwise, one palm would've sent him straight to the Western Paradise!"
The more Situ Kong spoke, the more worthless Ge Tian sounded. Ge Long's face turned iron-blue. He swept his gaze across the crowd and growled,
"Heaven-Cripple, Earth-Defect—deal with this old bastard!"
Situ Kong remained relaxed, not angry but amused.
"A real man dares to act and dares to bear the consequences. You think I'd be afraid of you? Come on—bring it!"
The contempt in his tone was absolute.
Furious beyond measure, Ge Long could no longer restrain himself, even with Wu Tong present. At his command, Heaven-Cripple and Earth-Defect moved at once.
"Old bastard—take this!"
As the shout rang out, Heaven-Cripple lunged forward first, chopping out with his left palm. The strike hissed through the air, ferocious and heavy.
Situ Kong flashed aside instantly. Without pause, Earth-Defect struck as well. The two advanced together, one before and one behind, one left and one right, their footwork swift as shadows.
Situ Kong's robe sleeves fluttered as he dodged with exquisite precision. His cloud-hands flowed, his movements light and nimble. These few masterful techniques immediately drew thunderous applause from the crowd.
Situ Kong laughed.
"You two are awfully hot-headed. I wasn't even talking about you—why so angry?"
Heaven-Cripple and Earth-Defect did not respond. After several exchanges, Situ Kong said again,
"I'm talking to you—why won't you answer?"
Dodging Heaven-Cripple's palm and Earth-Defect's sweeping kick, Situ Kong suddenly realized the truth.
"So that's it—one of you is blind, and the other is deaf."
Indeed, Heaven-Cripple, named Deng Guang, was blind; Earth-Defect, named Zhou Yi, was deaf. In the martial world, they were known collectively as Heaven-Cripple and Earth-Defect.
At that moment, two powerful gusts of force surged toward him. Situ Kong did not evade. He met them head-on with both palms.
Bang!
The impact thundered. Heaven-Cripple and Earth-Defect were hurled backward, landing unsteadily and retreating four or five more steps before they could stop.
Situ Kong sighed.
"You two—one blind, one deaf. I won't lower myself to fight you. Let's stop here."
Heaven-Cripple and Earth-Defect chattered urgently to each other, seeming hesitant to continue. Though deaf, Earth-Defect could read lips.
Seeing this, Ge Long mocked them:
"Heaven-Cripple and Earth-Defect can't even handle an old man? If this spreads through the jianghu, won't we become a laughingstock?"
Heaven-Cripple retorted,
"Thunder Hand Ge Long, this old man's kung fu is anything but ordinary. He's not to be underestimated. Why don't you go fight him?"
Situ Kong snapped,
"Enough nonsense! If you want to fight, I'll oblige. I'm just warming up anyway. How about all three of you come at me together!"
At this point, Ge Tian, his face swollen like a pig's head, snarled bitterly,
"Father, that old bastard humiliated me like this—avenge me!"
Ge Long had already been seething from Situ Kong's insults toward his son. Now, his rage finally exploded.
"Heaven-Cripple, Earth-Defect—the three of us attack together! Teach this old fool a lesson he won't forget!"
Situ Kong, amused, glanced at Wei Fu, deputy leader of the Flying Sand Sect.
"Hey—you want to join the fun too?"
Wei Fu froze. His heart wavered.
Just who is this old man?Heaven-Cripple, Earth-Defect, and Thunder Hand Ge Long were all first-rate figures of the jianghu. One man daring to face three was already outrageous—four would be unthinkable.
A chill crept into Wei Fu's heart. Something felt deeply wrong.
"Who… exactly are you?" he asked.
Ge Long sensed something amiss as well, but his fury was already at full draw—the arrow on the bowstring.
"Deputy Leader Wei, stop wasting words! With the four of us together, could we possibly fail to kill him?"
Ordinarily, jianghu fights never became one-against-four. Even villainous factions avoided such shameless bullying—unless it was a vendetta or a mortal enemy.
Wei Fu's gaze settled on the old man.
"Fine. Ge Long, you strike first. We'll follow!"
An old man facing four top-tier martial artists—astonishment rippled through the crowd. The square fell deathly silent.
Suddenly—
a furious shout erupted,and a figure shot out like lightning.
The entire crowd gasped in shock…