IDWBE -Chapter 33 One-on-One Duel

Lin Yi peeled an orange, tossed a segment into his mouth, and muttered, “So… you’re a grandmaster too?”

Hong Ying, standing not far away, immediately pricked up his ears.

Song Cheng, Luo Han, Shen Chu, and the others all fell silent, scarcely daring to breathe.

Except for Hong Ying, none of them knew the background of this suddenly appearing woman, but her martial arts clearly seemed unfathomably deep.

Wen Zhaoyi merely looked down at the sleeping child in her arms and said listlessly, “I already was… thirty years ago.”

Thirty years ago!

Aside from Lin Yi and Hong Ying, everyone present was shocked.

A grandmaster!

So she truly was a grandmaster!

Even though they had already suspected it, hearing it confirmed was an entirely different feeling.

And they also noticed that she had changed the way she referred to herself, calling herself “this old woman.”

Yet from her appearance, her age was impossible to guess!

No wonder their prince sometimes called her elder sister and sometimes grandmother.

“Can a grandmaster live forever?” Lin Yi asked, studying her delicate, flawless face.

“Do you think we’re immortals?” Wen Zhaoyi replied.

“Can a grandmaster raise a hand and overturn mountains and seas, swallow the sun and moon?” Lin Yi continued.

“Of course not. Crossing mountains and rivers is merely easier than for ordinary people,” Wen Zhaoyi said, her expression growing displeased.

“Can one fight ten thousand alone, invincible against all?” Lin Yi finished the last piece of orange casually.

“What do you think a grandmaster is? Do you think this is a fantasy novel?” Wen Zhaoyi snapped, grinding her teeth in irritation.

“So that’s all? Just physically stronger than ordinary people, with higher martial ability?”

Lin Yi finally felt relieved. A grandmaster wasn’t some immortal with boundless magical power, not some cultivator transcending the mortal world, not someone who could fight ten thousand alone.

That meant they could still be killed.

If anyone dared provoke him in the future and couldn’t gather ten thousand men—he’d just improve his cannons!

Blast them to death!

Let’s see whether their martial arts were stronger, or his artillery louder!

“Ignorant brat!”

Wen Zhaoyi flicked her sleeve and walked away.

Everyone watched her retreating figure, then looked back at Prince He.

A sense of admiration rose spontaneously in their hearts.

In this world, the only person who would dare speak to a grandmaster like that was probably their prince.

Only Hong Ying smiled and cupped his hands. “Your Highness is wise.”

“Your Highness is wise!” Luo Han hurriedly echoed.

Lin Yi smugly climbed back into the carriage, and the group resumed their journey.

He quickly forgot about the earlier incident.

Inside the jolting carriage, though he kept yawning, Lin Yi couldn’t fall asleep. He lifted the curtain and said to Mingyue, who was riding alongside:

“I didn’t notice before—you’ve been pretty irritable lately. Hitting people whenever you feel like it.”

Was menopause coming early?

Mingyue replied, “Disrespect toward Your Highness is a capital crime. Your Highness showed mercy—that wretch was fortunate.”

Lin Yi smiled. “Don’t insult people. It’s not good.”

“This servant knows her fault,” Mingyue said.

Lin Yi sighed and withdrew his head back into the carriage.

The two maidservants beside him had a talent for killing any conversation the moment they opened their mouths.

Zixia climbed into the carriage and handed him a cup of hot tea. After drinking, he lay down to rest with his eyes closed.

As the sun set and the glow of the evening clouds faded into twilight, the air grew cooler the higher they climbed into the mountains.

Lin Yi came out of the carriage and rode his donkey, enjoying the rare cool breeze.

Suddenly, birds in the forest were startled into flight.

While Lin Yi was still wondering, a burly man wrapped in a tiger pelt jumped out of the woods and shouted loudly: “This road was opened by me, this tree—”

He shook his head dramatically, but before he could finish, he suddenly realized that before him stretched a long caravan—at least seven or eight hundred people!

Everyone else was also stunned.

Where had this fool come from?

Trying to rob a road alone?

Lin Yi pushed aside Shen Chu, who was shielding him, and rode his donkey forward a few steps.

“Brother, where are you from?”

“None of your business!” The big man sheathed his blade behind his back. “Farewell!”

“Don’t be in such a hurry to leave.” The journey had been unbearably dull; now that he’d finally found something amusing, Lin Yi naturally wouldn’t let him go so easily.

“What else do you want? I’m just lost!”

The big man wasn’t stupid. Alone against so many people, he would definitely suffer.

Lin Yi cleared his throat and pointed at the tiger pelt. “Isn’t that hot, wrapped around yourself like that?”

The big man froze, not expecting such a question. He said disdainfully, “Are you stupid? Of course it’s hot wearing something this thick!”

His tone didn’t anger Lin Yi; instead, Lin Yi became even more curious.

“Then why are you wearing it?”

“Don’t bandits all dress like this?” the big man blurted out without thinking.

Only afterward did he realize his mistake. He hurriedly added, “I’m just passing through.”

Without waiting for Lin Yi to speak, he turned to slip back into the forest.

“Hold this brother here. I wish to have a candlelit conversation with him tonight,” Lin Yi ordered.

After finally finding someone entertaining, how could he let him go?

“I’ll do it!”

Luo Han jumped down from his horse excitedly.

Along the way, with constant guidance from Hong Ying, Shen Chu, and Song Cheng, his martial skill had improved greatly. He already felt he was on the verge of breaking into the third rank.

Much stronger than before—and he hadn’t yet had a chance to show it before the prince.

This was an opportunity not to be missed.

Carrying his blade, he stepped forward and shouted:

“Stop, thief! Come taste your grandpa’s blade! I won’t bully you by fighting on horseback—we’ll fight on level ground!”

He was at the peak of the second rank; dealing with a bandit who had only barely entered the second rank should be easy.

“Who are you calling grandpa?!”

The big man, who had already climbed up a slope, was displeased. He leapt back down with his blade. “Let me show you grandpa’s strength!”

“Come on, grandson!”

Luo Han struck first with a downward slash. The two blades collided with a loud clang.

Luo Han moved left and right, sometimes spinning in midair. His single blade flashed up and down in a dazzling, airtight flurry.

“Good!”

Lin Yi couldn’t help cheering. Turning to Song Cheng and the others, he said, “See? This is exciting to watch! Much more entertaining!”

“Your Highness is perceptive,” Song Cheng said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

“Luo Han, capture him alive for me!” Lin Yi shouted.

Hearing the prince’s praise, Luo Han grew even more excited and fought harder, though he couldn’t respond aloud for fear of losing his breath.

But after twenty moves, Luo Han began to feel something was wrong.

Why was this fellow so hard to beat?

And no matter what technique Luo Han used, the man only repeated three moves over and over: a forward stance horizontal slash, a knee-lift guard, and a sweeping wraparound strike.

Luo Han grew impatient. Forgetting the prince’s order to capture him alive, he began to fight fiercely.

He used everything he had learned, attacking boldly and growing more ferocious.

Another hundred moves passed.

The man still used only those three moves.

Luo Han was completely exasperated.

Another hundred moves passed—still no result.

Jumping back, Luo Han pointed his blade and cursed, “Damn it, can’t you use a different move? You keep repeating the same three!”

“I only know these three!”

The big man lifted his chin proudly. “Grandson, if you’ve got the skill, come at me!”

“How long has it been? Half an hour?”

Lin Yi yawned, already bored. He called to the big man: “Hey, I don’t have the patience to drag this out. Let’s have a one-on-one duel.”

As soon as he finished speaking, four guards rode out at once, each swinging a rope. The more the big man struggled, the tighter the ropes bound him.

At last he gave up resisting and shouted angrily, “Didn’t you say one-on-one?!”

Lin Yi lazily pointed at the four guards. “It is one-on-one. It’s you, one person, against the four of them.”

“…”

The big man was dumbfounded.

He had never seen anyone so shameless.