Chapter 171: Severe Injuries

The elderly man was hard-pressed to cope with He Zhixing's ferocious and rapid onslaught. His Tai Chi was derived from Ba Gua Zhang, and his fighting style was far more profound than standard, simplified Tai Chi. Those flashy, superficial routines seen on the streets were simply not in the same league as the Tai Chi he was currently executing.

The Tai Chi movements born from Ba Gua Zhang were all the more astonishing. The old man clearly fought at the level of a grandmaster, possessing a formidable internal cultivation. He Zhixing's Thirty-Six Forms of the Hanyang Eight Methods were fiercely innovative and lethal, yet every single time his miraculous arc sliced in from a different angle to strike the old man, the latter managed to deflect it by a hair's breadth.

As He Zhixing pressed the attack, the essence of the old man's Tai Chi—using a quarter-ounce to deflect a thousand pounds—was fully manifested. When comparing a high-level martial artist to a low-level one, the high practitioner naturally brings out the true essence of the techniques rather than mechanically following rigid routines. Instead, they harmonize with heaven, earth, and the shifting dynamics around them to seize the initiative, ensuring they never fall into a losing position.

At that moment, several other members of the Dragon Unit made their move. Over a dozen of them closed in on He Zhixing and his companion. Seeing that the old man had been unable to subdue He Zhixing after such a long engagement, did they expect to wait until dawn? Impossible. If dawn broke, their mission would be compromised and left unfulfilled...

Watching so many enemies close in, Jiang Ni prepared herself to strike at any second. As those men advanced in chillingly uniform steps, Jiang Ni didn't bother choosing a target; regardless of who they were, she would take them all on together at once.

What kind of concept was it for two people to face over a dozen elite experts? Fortunately, He Zhixing had been through countless battles; otherwise, he would have long since cowed or lost his confidence before the fight even began. Yet, they displayed an unprecedented ferocity, as if possessed by a collective conviction to fight to the bitter end, come life or death!

Just a few dozen moves later, a piercing cry of agony suddenly rang out from Jiang Ni. Her left shoulder was struck by the weapon of a Dragon Unit member, tearing open a deep gash from which fresh blood surged, staining her clothes. Seeing her stumble and nearly lose her footing in distress, He Zhixing hurriedly pulled her to his side to shield her. While continuing to fend off their attackers, he asked anxiously, "Nizi, are you badly hurt? Are you alright?"

Refusing to let him lose focus, Jiang Ni gritted her teeth through the pain, wrenched herself free from his grip, and panted, "I'm fine, don't worry about me!"

He Zhixing knew very well that Jiang Ni could not possibly be fine. In truth, his own situation was equally dire, and he was barely holding on by a thread. He knew that within a few dozen more moves, he would end up just like Jiang Ni—wounded and defeated. Desperate to buy a moment of breathing room for himself and his woman, to reverse the tide and turn defeat into victory, he let out a piercing howl and shouted at the top of his lungs, "A-Zi, Spirit Turtles... come quickly!"

As it turned out, the house they had rented for convenience was located not far from the courtyard belonging to Zou Ning and Boss Li. When He Zhixing let out that powerful, piercing cry, the purple sable and the spirit turtles back at their rental dwelling heard the call and immediately resonated with it. The purple sable was the first to shoot out from the window, hurtling like an arrow toward the courtyard of Zou Ning's family home...

The six spirit turtles were relatively slower, but they too channeled their spiritual energy to swiftly leap from the window, rushing toward the location of He Zhixing and the others. A flash of purple lightning streaked into Zou Ning's courtyard, spotting their master and all the combatants locked in battle. Without missing a beat, it darted forward with blinding speed, lunging and biting at the Dragon Unit members surrounding He Zhixing.

Those Dragon Unit members instantly felt an impending threat closing in on them. The poison carried by the purple sable was something they deeply feared. With the sable's intervention, the situation suddenly improved somewhat, and the pressure on He Zhixing and Jiang Ni eased considerably compared to their previous desperate struggle. Before long, two Dragon Unit members had been scratched by the sable. Once scratched, their fate was sealed; the venom would slowly seep into the capillaries of the deep tissue, and prolonged exposure would cause numbness in the limbs, eventually manifesting as dark, toxic blood.

Panic gripped them. Exchanging a few fleeting, meaningful glances, they rapidly shifted into precise tactical positions. Besides drawing out unexpected handguns, they also readied various concealed weapons no larger than embroidery needles, unleashing them all in a massive wave. Having grown impatient with a protracted war of attrition against the pair, they were prepared to resort to lethal, poisoned methods to strike them down once and for all.