Chapter 47: The Two Young Men Tease Niu Gao

  Yue Fei and his brother listened to the narration of the Supreme Master, and couldn't help but sigh. Yue Fei pondered in his heart, whether the forest that the Supreme Master mentioned before his death was Shaolin or not, and whether Wang Ziyun was practicing martial arts at Shaolin Temple or not. Although he didn't dare to confirm it, at least he had a 50% certainty.

  "Master, I'm disturbing you. My brother and I still have things to attend to, so we'll take our leave." Yue Fei respectfully bid farewell to the master with a bow.

  "Big brother, Niú Gāo is gone, what if something unexpected happened?" Zhang Xian said in a panic.

  Yue Fei looked around and indeed did not see Niu Gao's shadow.

  "This rascal, who knows what will happen if he is alone outside. Brothers, let's hurry up and go find him." Yue Fei said, then led Zhang Xian, Tang Huai, and Wang Gui to hastily leave the Temple of the Prime Minister.

  Niu Gao had been following the two young men since he saw them chatting and laughing on their way, finding it novel. Seeing that they were dressed as martial artists, he wondered if they were here to compete for the title of Martial Arts Champion in the capital. To test his hypothesis, he quietly tailed them from behind.

  "Brother, let's go back to the inn, saddle up our horses and head to the school field for a trial competition. If we win, we'll stay behind to contend for the top scholar; if we lose, we'll return home and take the exam again next year. What do you think?"

  "Alright! Let's compare then, who's afraid of whom?" The red-clothed youth said.

  The two young men parted and returned to their respective lodgings.

  Niu Gao listened to their conversation and thought to himself, "Fortunately, I overheard them talking. Otherwise, the champion would have been snatched away by those two. I wonder what kind of skills they possess? I'll substitute for my brother and try them out once, even if I lose, it's good to remember their martial arts moves." Niu Gao made up his mind, returned to his lodging, went upstairs, grabbed a pair of gauntlets and hid them under his armpits. He smiled slyly at Jiang Zhen and left the inn.

  "Uncle Niu, where are you going?" Jiang Zhenzi asked.

  "The school grounds." Niu Gao said and rode his horse away quickly.

  After walking for a while, they arrived at a place where two old men were sitting on a bench at the door chatting.

  Niu Gao walked over and asked: "Hey, old man, where does the road to Xiao Xiaochang go?"

  Those two old men glanced at Ni Gao and ignored him, continuing to speak their dialect.

  "Old fellow, I'm asking you why you're not responding? Are you deaf?" Niu Gao asked loudly.

  "What's with the howling of wolves? No discipline at all." an old man said.

  "A black wolf has come, be careful it eats you." another old man said.

  Niu Gao was so angry that smoke came out of his seven apertures.

  "If it weren't for the sake of my elder brother, I would have to teach you two old men a lesson today. Old man, how do we get to Xiaoxiao Campus?" Niu Gao asked, suppressing his anger.

  "Young man, this is the capital city, not some small town where you can do as you please. How dare you be so reckless under the emperor's feet? Luckily for you, we two old men happened to be here today. If it were those young whippersnappers, how would you have gotten out of this? Let me tell you, from here, walk one mile east and then turn south for half a mile, and you'll arrive at Xiaoxiao School." said the old man with the long mustache.

  Niu Gao listened and bowed his head in thanks on horseback, then rode off at a gallop.

  "This careless fellow is really silly." The two old men smiled helplessly and continued their conversation.

  Niu Gao rode his horse to the school field gate, and as he entered, he heard the sound of fighting inside. He saw two young men, one wearing red and the other white, competing in a shooting match on horseback. Both sides were evenly matched, and it was difficult to distinguish between them.

  "You two can stop fighting now, the champion is my brother's, no one else should think of taking it away. If you want to contend for the champion, first get past me." Niu Gao said and swung his twin hammers at the red-clothed youth.

  The young man in red raised his gun slightly and felt that the newcomer had some skills. He asked, "Who are you? Why can't we get along?"

  Niu Gao said: "Grandpa, I'm Niu Gao. I've come to fight for the title of Number One Scholar on behalf of my elder brother."

  The boy in red listened, feeling both angry and amused, and said to the boy in white: "Brother, I don't know where such a wild man came from. You and I are brothers, why bother competing? Let's just use this guy to relieve our boredom."

  The young man in white listened, looked at Niu Gao's dark face, and smiled: "This black charcoal wants to rob the champion, we'll give the champion to him, see if he dares to want it." After saying that, he drew his gun and stabbed towards Niu Gao's chest. Niu Gao saw the young man in white suddenly attack, dodged to one side. The red-clothed youth also thrust a spear from this side. When Niu Gao saw himself being attacked from both front and back, he wielded his twin hammers with great force, desperately protecting his head and chest.

  Two young men intentionally teased the cow with a stick, and the cow fended them off for a while, getting tired and panting.

  Niú Gāo had never suffered such humiliation since he was born, but today he finally met his match.

  "The two of you indeed have some skills, but it's not impressive that the two of you are ganging up on me. If you're men, let's fight one-on-one." Niu Gao said unwilling to admit defeat.

  "Alright! I'll play a few tricks with you." The red-clothed youth said.

  "Grandfather has never bothered with nameless people. If you want to try, report your name first." Niu Gao deliberately used the provocative method.

  "It's okay, I'm not changing my name or surname. My name is Yang Zai Xing, and I am a descendant of the Yang Family Generals. How about that? Am I qualified?" Yang Zai Xing laughed in a tone similar to Niu Gao's.

  "You are a descendant of the Yang Family Generals, your kung fu is naturally good. I have always admired the Yang Family Generals in my life, so I won't fight you." Niu Gao said, taking advantage of the situation to back down.

  "You, come here, I'll have a showdown with you." Niu Gao said, pointing at the young man in white clothes.

  A young man in white rode over, saying disdainfully: "Are you worthy? I am Luo Yanqing, a descendant of Luo Cheng and the eldest grandson of General Luo Tong, who swept away the Northern Yuan Dynasty for the Great Tang. Is that enough?"

  Niu Gao was stunned and speechless.

  Yang Zai Xing was a hero without equal, his rusty silver spear as thick as a wine cup, and his moves were divine. Luo Yan Qing had boundless strength, wielding a golden spear that seemed like a heavenly god.

  The two of them held long guns and surrounded Niu Gao, teasing Niu Gao.

  "You two want to be arrogant? With your little skills, you think you can be a match for my brother? This champion must go to my brother." Niu Gao said.

  Yang Zai Xing listened and thought to himself, "This black charcoal keeps saying that the number one scholar is his older brother's, could it be that his older brother is incredibly powerful? I'd like to see for myself."

  Luo Yanqing was also pondering: "Is what Hei Tan said true or not? Maybe he's desperate and intentionally brought up this person to scare us, I'd like to see if he really has such a powerful big brother."

  Yang Zai-xing and Luo Yan-qing surrounded Niu Gao in the middle and refused to let go, Niu Gao was anxious like a fire.

  Both sides were at a stalemate for a while, and Yue Fei, Zhang Xian, Tang Huai, and Wang Gui rushed over hastily.

  Yue Fei saw the two young men surround Niu Gao, and Niu Gao was no match for them. He said to his brothers: "You wait here, I'll go rescue him." After saying that, he rode over, shouting loudly: "Two strong men, spare my brother, don't hurt him!"

  Yang Zai Xing and Luo Yan Qing met, dropped the cow fork, two guns rushed to Yue Fei together. Yue Fei threw his spear down, only to hear a loud noise, Yang Zai Xing and Luo Yan Qing's gun heads simultaneously fell to the ground, left hand opened, right hand grasped the gun and drilled into their heads. This move is called "Defeated Gun" with no way to escape.

  Yang Zai-xing and Luo Yan-qing were shocked. They looked at Yue Fei and said, "The top scholar this year must be this man, let's go."

  Then he rode his horse away.

  Yue Fei rushed up and shouted: "Two good men slow down, please leave your honorable surname and name."

  Yang Zai Xing turned back and shouted: "I am Yang Zai Xing from behind the mountain, this is Luo Yan Qing from Huguang, the top scholar of this year's imperial examination who yielded to you. We'll meet again next time." Having said that, he whipped his horse and galloped away.