Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 489: Flawed Sword Technique

“What is a nurse?” The two women were puzzled by this strange term.

“Uh…” Song Qingshu finally snapped out of his fantasy about nurse uniforms. “I’ll explain that later. Zhiruo, what about the other sects?”

“The Red Flower Society and the Sun Moon Holy Cult clearly won’t help, so I didn’t bother asking them. As for the Mount Song Sect and Shaolin Temple, they talk a good game but haven’t committed to anything substantial. I suspect they’ll be more likely to kick us while we’re down. The most frustrating is the Quanzhen Sect. They pride themselves on being defenders against foreign invaders, but when I approached them, their responses were mostly perfunctory. They probably won’t put in any real effort.” Zhou Zhiruo said, her chest heaving with anger.

“Zhiruo, you must have endured a lot dealing with these sects,” Song Qingshu said sympathetically, holding her hand.

“It’s not that bad,” Zhou Zhiruo blushed and pulled her hand back after a glance at Ah Jiu. “By the way, there’s also the Beggar Gang. In Jiangnan…”

Zhou Zhiruo paused before continuing, “Qingshu, you know, during the Lion Slaying Assembly, we injured some of their elders. Seeing their ally, the Dragon Roaming Gang, agree to your participation in the Golden Serpent Assembly, I thought the animosity was resolved. But when I approached them, I was almost surrounded and attacked. It’s really confusing.”

Song Qingshu chuckled awkwardly. The reason was simple: the Dragon Roaming Gang was controlled by Zhao Min, so they naturally agreed. As for the Jiangnan Beggar Gang, they were likely unaware of Zhao Min’s manipulation.

Given the delicate relationship between Zhou Zhiruo and Zhao Min, Song Qingshu decided it was best not to mention this.

Zhou Zhiruo quickly set aside the Jiangnan Beggar Gang issue. “Although we can’t win over the Jiangnan Beggar Gang, we can still try to win over the Xiangyang Beggar Gang.”

Sensing his confusion, Zhou Zhiruo quickly explained, “The Xiangyang Beggar Gang may be few in number, but Huang Rong’s prestige is high. If she agrees to help, the Jiangnan Beggar Gang might temporarily set aside their personal grudges to resist foreign invaders together. Moreover, Huang Rong is a brilliant strategist, a female Zhuge. She alone is worth thousands of troops.”

“But she may not be willing to help us,” Song Qingshu said hesitantly.

“She wouldn’t dare refuse!” Zhou Zhiruo’s eyes flashed angrily. “Let’s not forget who rescued her. If she is ungrateful, I won’t hesitate to reveal her disheveled, weak state from when she was rescued.”

Ah Jiu smiled faintly. “No need to go that far. As long as Brother Song sweet-talks her, she will certainly help.”

Seeing the two women united, Song Qingshu wisely kept quiet, letting them continue their discussion.

The designated rest period quickly passed, and Huang Rong announced the official start of the final battle for the Golden Serpent King.

Watching the man and woman standing on the stage, the heroes present had mixed feelings. The leaders of the Golden Serpent Camp were especially conflicted. On one hand, they hoped Ah Qing would win because her naive and innocent nature would make her an easily controlled puppet. On the other hand, with the Qing army pressing in, they desperately needed a capable leader to guide them through the crisis. In that sense, Song Qingshu seemed like the better choice.

Standing on the stage, Song Qingshu’s first thought was admiration for the efficiency of the Golden Serpent Camp under Qingqing’s organization. They had rebuilt the stage so quickly. His second thought was concern as he looked at Ah Qing, “Ah Qing, has your injury healed?”

“Not completely,” Ah Qing pouted and touched her still-aching chest. “But it doesn’t affect my strength much. Big brother, don’t underestimate me.”

Hearing Ah Qing’s words, the Red Flower Society members turned pale. Yuan Ziyi instinctively covered her face, frustrated that Ah Qing had ignored their advice to feign weakness and catch Song Qingshu off guard.

Song Qingshu, equally serious, reminded her, “Ah Qing, be careful. Because you are so strong, I may not be able to hold back.”

“Got it,” Ah Qing said nonchalantly, waving her green bamboo rod. “Big brother, you are the best swordsman I’ve seen in the Central Plains. I’ve long wanted to have a match with you.”

Looking at the bamboo staff in Ah Qing’s hand, Song Qingshu couldn’t help but feel puzzled. 

‘How did she always have so many identical green bamboo staffs? Was it like an auto-repairing weapon in a video game?’

“By the way, where’s your weapon?” Seeing Song Qingshu distracted, Ah Qing did not attack but kindly reminded him.

Appreciating her goodwill, Song Qingshu smiled slightly and suddenly produced a wooden sword. He hadn’t used a weapon in a while due to his rapid progress in martial arts, but facing Ah Qing, he didn’t dare be complacent.

Seeing the wooden sword, Ah Qing’s eyes lit up. At her level, she naturally didn’t judge a weapon by its appearance, especially since she used a bamboo rod herself.

“Hehe, it looks like my bamboo staff won’t get damaged this time.” Recalling how her bamboo staff had been broken or shattered in the previous rounds, Ah Qing still felt some resentment.

“Ladies first, Ah Qing, you may make the first move.” Song Qingshu casually moved his wrist, and the wooden sword pointed diagonally at the ground.

“Huh?”

Surprised murmurs arose from the audience. Given the evident skills of Song Qingshu and Ah Qing, everyone watched intently, fearing they might miss any details of the duel.

Third-rate martial artists watched purely for entertainment; second-rate martial artists hoped to learn a trick or two to benefit them for a lifetime; first-rate martial artists sought to gain insights and find ways to counter the two’s techniques.

But Song Qingshu’s starting stance was…

Even third-rate martial artists could see that Song Qingshu was full of flaws, prompting gasps of surprise.

Only a few in the crowd remained calm, looking thoughtful.

“Good swordsmanship!” Ah Qing praised sincerely.

Her praise left the onlookers puzzled. How could such a flawed stance be considered good?

Guo Fu, evidently sharing the confusion, tugged on Huang Rong’s sleeve. “Mother, how is that flawed swordsmanship any good?”

“Since you think his swordsmanship is flawed, how many ways do you see to counter it?” Huang Rong responded with a question instead of answering directly.

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