Chapter 24, Neck and Neck

  He raised his hand, and with a sudden loud shout, he pounced on Zu Chao like lightning.

  Zu Zhaoben thought there was still room for confrontation, and they both looked for each other's weaknesses, but he didn't expect to start fighting immediately after exchanging greetings. He instinctively took a step back, but unfortunately, he couldn't get out of Han Dang's attack range. The opponent's hands, like iron pliers, grasped his shoulders, making his shoulder bones ache. He quickly withdrew his hands and tried to block Han Dang's arms, but the latter suddenly let out a loud roar, gathered his strength, and lifted him up with brute force.

  Han's arm strength was extraordinary, and Zu Chao wasn't an ordinary young man. After so many years of persistent training, his physical quality had a solid foundation, but in the end, he was still easily broken through by him.

  His body left the ground and flew backwards over Han's shoulder. This was a classic over-the-shoulder throw, commonly seen in wrestling!

  Although Zuo Zhao was only lending a hand to ease the atmosphere, winning or losing wasn't important. But he also couldn't bear to be knocked down by Han Dang in just an instant, rendering his hard-earned martial skills useless, and what's more, he would likely be looked down upon by others from now on.

  With this concern, he tightened his waist strength, gathered all his energy, and twisted in the direction that Han Dang had swung out.

  Just as Han Tuo's hand was about to let go, Zu Chao borrowed strength from mid-air and successfully controlled his lower body shape. Although he was flung out a distance by Han Tuo, fortunately at the last moment he could still barely stand on his feet, not becoming a "big" character paralyzed on the ground. The first round can be considered a successful defense.

  The onlookers around initially held their breath, thinking that Zu Chao would definitely not escape unscathed after being caught so easily. They couldn't imagine that he could still stand firm after landing, and those who were familiar with wrestling couldn't help but be amazed, knowing that it was no easy feat to tighten his waist in such a short time while airborne, requiring not only quick reflexes but also flexible explosive power. Explosive power is already not flexible, let alone flexible explosive power, which can be imagined to be even more difficult.

  "This move of Da Gongzi is really amazing."

  "Of course, my young master is no ordinary person."

  Some people started whispering among themselves in private.

  Han turned around to see that Zu Chao was still standing, first with a look of doubt, then a smile of approval. Without any hesitation, he strode towards Zu Chao again like a strong wind.

  Zu Zhao hadn't even had time to catch his breath before he quickly steadied himself and prepared for the next move.

  The two quickly entwined again, Handong's speed was extremely fast, trying to grab Zhaoyang once more. Zhaoyang had experienced Handong's strength before and knew that even if he stabilized his lower body, he couldn't withstand the opponent's monstrous power, so he could only try to block with his hands, not giving him a chance to land a hit.

  One attack, one block, Han and Zu exchanged blows, but saw four hands frequently intersecting, chaos with gaps, gaps with chaos. The onlookers were dazzled, unable to distinguish the strengths and weaknesses. Although in the overall situation, every time Han advanced a step, Zu retreated a step, as if Zu had lost the initiative. However, the moves in their hands were flawless, attacking accurately and forcefully, defending quickly and calmly, neither could find any flaws.

  A moment later, Han Dang suddenly changed his move and flew out with one leg to hook Zu Zhao's lower body. This leg came out just in time, coincidentally when Zu Zhao was moving backwards for a moment. Zu Zhao's center of gravity had already shifted, and there was no possibility of stopping, so he was tripped up hard, and his body involuntarily leaned back. In the nick of time, Zu Zhao's hands suddenly grasped Han Dang's arm, using this to steady his body and not fall over.

  Han had anticipated this and took advantage of Zu Chao's momentary pause to pry open his opponent's hands, reverse their grip on each other's wrists, and with a burst of strength, he lifted Zu Chao off the ground once more and hurled him backward.

  A burst of exclamations rose from the onlookers as Han's two moves connected seamlessly, swift and deadly. It was truly a beautiful sight to behold. Of course, precisely because of this, everyone also assumed that Zu Chao would undoubtedly be thrown to the ground this time.

  For Zu Chao, the momentum of being tripped by Han Dang hadn't fully stabilized yet, and he was immediately thrown up again. The two consecutive shifts in center of gravity were really exhausting. However, while still in mid-air, he made a bold attempt to shake off his right hand that was being held down. Before Han Dang let go of his left hand, Zu Chao grabbed Han Dang's other hand with his right hand. This move required great effort, not only did he need to grasp the timing perfectly, but also ensure that he could quickly counter-grab his opponent. If there was even a slight mistake, it wouldn't be Han Dang who would throw him off, but rather Zu Chao himself would fly out first.

  Han Dang felt Zu Chao's strength as he struggled free from his wrist, so he simply let go of both hands and allowed Zu Chao to fall out.

  Just as he loosened his grip, Zu Chao not only managed to free his right hand but also grabbed the other's arm in a swift counterattack.

  Zu Zhao didn't intentionally control his body shape after barely landing, but instead used the strong force he had thrown out to rotate 180 degrees around himself as the center, intending to use the two forces to throw Han Dang away.

  Although Han was tall and strong, with a robust physique, he found himself completely unable to grasp his center of gravity when faced with such a powerful force. He was unexpectedly pulled off the ground by Zu Chao and sent flying backward.

  "Ah!"

  "Can it be so?"

  "What, what kind of strange power is this?!"

  The young masters and the clan's juniors nearby were all shouting in surprise, as Zu Chao was already astonishing for turning danger into safety, but now he even managed to turn the tables and launch a counterattack, which made people even more incredulous.

  Han was equally astonished, his body shape being larger than Zu Chao's, but he did not expect to be shaken off by Zu Chao at this time. However, no matter what, his kung fu foundation was far deeper than Zu Chao's. Since the opponent could dodge his two attacks, how could he be knocked down so easily?

  Just as he was about to be thrown out, he used all his strength to steady himself and barely caught Zu Chao's throw.

  Compared with Zuxiao's evasive methods before, Handang had no skills at all and relied solely on his hard kung fu.

  Zu Chao was still somewhat pleased in his heart at the moment he threw Han Dang up, certain that this time he would be able to land a beautiful counterattack. But after Han Dang exerted himself fully, he suddenly felt that what he had grabbed onto with both hands wasn't a person, but rather a thousand-jin boulder. His hands were increasingly unable to control the opponent, and the force of his borrowed strength was rapidly weakening.

  In an instant, Han Dang was still falling from mid-air, his forehead bulging with veins, and he shouted with all his might: "Down!"

  Zu Zhaowen hadn't even reacted yet, only to feel his body lose weight again, and he was already being flipped over by Han Dang's sidestep. He fell to the ground with a thud. This time he couldn't avoid it, from physical quality to fighting experience, he was originally inferior to Han Dang. The dozen or so rounds of exchange just now were almost all his full strength plus internal energy.

  Han was quite heavy-handed this time, and Zu Chao fell hard, but he gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound, just lying on the ground panting heavily.

  The whole scene fell into a dead silence, with everyone staring in shock.

  Han's match with Zu Chao was indeed thrilling and unpredictable, always turning the tide at unexpected moments. No one dared to comment, a simple wrestling match, both sides exchanged blows 20 or 30 rounds, almost every round had something that others couldn't match.

  Especially Zhang Yuan and Zhang Yu, the two brothers, had to reevaluate their opinion of Zu Chao. Although Zu Chao ultimately lost to Han Dang again this time, there were times when they fought to a draw beforehand. Compared to being brutally beaten by Han Dang last time, they were actually at a disadvantage despite having more people on their side. Moreover, Zu Chao was young and didn't often venture into the mountains like Han Dang did, so for a pampered young master like him to have such skills was truly extraordinary.

  At this time, Han Dang was also panting, and after a brief rest, he asked Zu Zhao, who was lying on the ground: "Are you okay?"

  Zu Zhao's forehead was beaded with sweat, unable to respond immediately. After taking a moment to compose himself, he replied: "No... harm."

  "Hahaha," Han Dang burst into a hearty laugh, then said, "I, Han Dang, haven't met an opponent like you in a long time. It's truly exhilarating! Zǔ Gōngzǐ is indeed a young and talented hero, with such skills at such a young age, I must say that I'm deeply impressed."

  He finished speaking and reached out to pull Zu Chao over.

  Zu Zhao stood up with the help of Han Dang's arm, his waist and back aching as if cracked. He let out a long sigh, shaking his head and saying: "Brother Han is really joking, what young talent, what skills, isn't it just Brother Han's defeat?"

  Han said without hiding: "It's not that Han is arrogant, but Grandmaster Zou can exchange more than 30 moves with me, which is already very rare. When I was as old as Grandmaster Zou, I absolutely didn't have such good skills like him."

  Zu Zhaoshang was indeed a bit hurt and didn't have the heart to argue with Han at this moment, so he could only smile without speaking.

  At the same time, on a hill in the distance, Zhang Nan and several of his fellow clansmen did not leave. As soon as Han Dang appeared, one of the young men from the Zhang family who was accompanying Zhang Nan recognized him and told him about the fight between Han Dang and Zhang Yuan. Zhang Nan was very curious about Han Dang's skill in taking on multiple opponents at once, so he stopped to watch.

  "That kid with the surname Zu doesn't seem too great either."

  "Yes, several times almost got knocked over, really don't know if that day repelling the Hu bandits was bragging or not."

  "Hmm, can't be sure."

  Several Zhang family juniors on both sides were discussing and sneering without concealing their scorn.

  "Shut up." Zhang Nan's face turned cold, and he sternly rebuked, "This Han Dang is no ordinary roughneck. Zhang Wenyi had some reputation in Anyang Pavilion, but even he couldn't defeat Han Dang. Zu Zhao was young, yet he could exchange blows with Han Dang for over thirty rounds, which already surpassed Zhang Wenyi. Can the few of you compare to Zhang Wenyi?"

  Everyone's face turned red with shame and they fell silent.

  "It seems that this child is indeed extraordinary." Zhang Nan said with profound meaning after a pause.

  Zhang Nan, in the tenth year of Jian'an (205 AD), when Cao Cao attacked the Yuan army, he and Jiao Chu jointly attacked Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang, causing the two Yuans to flee to Liaoxi Wuhuan. Yuan Xi's general, along with Jiao Chu, surrendered to Cao Cao, was enfeoffed as a marquis, and was sent by Cao Cao to attack Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang. Later, when Cao Cao marched south, he clashed with Zhao Yun at Changban Slope.