Zhao Ying nodded after hearing this.
She had heard Zhao Dehua recount tales of the pugilistic world since childhood, so she was well aware of these tricks, but she lacked experience and discernment. With Zhao Dehua's explanation, she naturally understood.
"Then, what about the older one?"
Zhao Ying was most curious about Li Miao, whom Zhao Dehua didn't even bother to be polite to. She eagerly continued to ask.
"Him? I can't see him clearly. But he's the most formidable," Zhao Dehua said.
"You see his breathing is natural, no different from an ordinary person's. It's as if he's a regular person who can't use martial arts."
"However, his leaning posture, which compresses his chest, usually causes shortness of breath for most people, making their breathing more rapid than when sitting naturally. But listen carefully to his breathing."
Zhao Ying closed her eyes upon hearing this, carefully distinguishing Li Miao's breathing.
After a while, she opened her eyes and said in surprise, "Why is his breathing so light? It's even lighter than that young girl's, I almost couldn't hear it!"
"Exactly. For ordinary pugilists, the higher their martial arts, the longer and steadier their breath. But his breathing is light and short, you, who have practiced ear training since childhood, have to listen carefully to hear it. If he were to hold his breath and concentrate in the dark of night, you wouldn't even be able to find his location."
"To achieve this, either he has practiced an inner cultivation method I've never heard of, or his inner cultivation is extraordinary, already beyond the scope of ordinary pugilists."
"Now, look at his hands."
Zhao Ying had also put aside her small thoughts at this point, treating it as a test. She focused intently, observing Li Miao's hands with her peripheral vision.
"No calluses and no deformities. He's not someone who uses weapons or practices hard qigong."
"His nails are neat and blunt, his fingertips are long, and his middle finger is longer than his index finger. He's not someone who practices finger techniques either."
Zhao Dehua heard Zhao Ying's murmuring and shook his head: "Don't learn my way of looking at that young man. You need to learn to find the most unusual things, not analyze these useless details."
"What is he doing now?"
Zhao Ying replied strangely, "He's shelling peanuts, what's wrong, Dad?"
Zhao Dehua said, "Silly girl, you only know he's shelling peanuts, but you don't look at how he's shelling them."
"He's shelling roasted peanuts, the shells are crisp. He's been shelling for a while, have you seen any crumbs on his hands? With one flick of his hand, the peanut skins fall off, but the two halves of the peanut don't separate. How could his hand skill be simple?"
Zhao Ying chuckled upon hearing this: "Dad, you said his breathing was unusual, and I believed it. But why are you making such a big deal out of shelling peanuts? Maybe he's just exceptionally good at it?"
Zhao Dehua also chuckled: "Yes, I might be overthinking it a bit, being a bit mysterious."
"But those three dared to share a room with us. That young man with good martial arts got up to greet us, yet he lay there motionless, not even getting up when he saw so many of us enter. He must have something special about him."
"In the pugilistic world, harmony is the best policy. Disputes of pride are the lowest form. He just didn't look at me, but he did return the courtesy, so don't hold any grudges against him."
"Understood, Dad," Zhao Ying replied with a smile.
After their conversation, the warmth from the fire made them feel comfortable, and their mood gradually relaxed.
The group had been escorting the Dart, constantly on edge and rushing, so they were already quite tired. As they relaxed, Zhao Ying's head began to nod, and her eyes struggled to stay open.
Zhao Dehua gave instructions, assigning a few people to stand guard with him, while the rest, not caring about the dust on the ground, found a spot and rested, lying haphazardly.
Li Miao and his two companions also rested individually.
After the first half of the night passed, Zhao Dehua also felt some fatigue. Estimating the time, he woke a few people to change shifts for the night watch.
He himself yawned, wrapped his outer garment tighter, and leaned against the escort box, closing his eyes.
After a while, Wang Hai, who was lying down, twitched his nose and opened his eyes in the darkness.
He didn't move, subtly extended his tongue, tasted the air, and pondered for a moment.
"There's sleeping gas. Someone is going to attack the escort group," he silently concluded.
Because the quality of this sleeping gas was neither good nor bad, it wasn't enough to deal with a Jinyiwei Commander. If they were targeting Li Miao and his two companions, the villains, no matter how reckless, would at least use a Gu from Miao Jiang or a high-grade sleeping gas from the Tang Sect.
Using this level of sleeping gas against a Jinyiwei Commander was no different from sending an invitation before making a move.
There were only a few people in the room right now. If they weren't targeting them, they must be targeting the Tiger Might Escort Agency.
"It's late now, the Commander must be extremely tired and should have fallen asleep already."
"Not knowing the background of the intruders, rashly attacking would be unwise. I won't move yet, I'll observe how the situation develops before making a plan."
As Wang Hai thought this, he glanced towards Li Miao and was startled.
He saw Li Miao secretly open one eye, watching the Tiger Might Escort Agency with keen interest.
Li Miao was amused when Wang Hai was startled by him.
He had stayed in Yanjing for the past twenty years, and Wang Hai had been by his side since joining him, so his habit of an "eight-hour workday" routine was deeply ingrained.
Little did he know, in feudal times, there were few holidays. For these twenty years, except for festivals, it was almost always a workday, so he had lived almost twenty years of workdays.
During these twenty years, he used his "eight-hour workday" to strengthen himself every day, and he was also limited in energy by his "eight-hour workday" every day, which made him always tired as soon as the sun set.
That's right, his golden finger was called "Eight-Hour Workday." Li Miao named it himself, and it was very apt.
But, now was his first business trip in twenty years.
As everyone knows, travel time does not count as working hours.
Without work, he was naturally not limited by energy. Li Miao was now circulating his inner cultivation, full of spirit and energy, wide awake.
He couldn't wait to see his first true journey in the pugilistic world, his first true encounter with a pugilistic vendetta!
Li Miao and Wang Hai remained silent, quietly waiting for the disturbance.
After a long while, Zhao Dehua's arms, which were folded across his chest, slowly slid down, and his previously orderly breathing became erratic, clearly indicating that he had lost consciousness.
Due to the long journey, the Tiger Might Escort Agency was already exhausted. Zhao Dehua's fatigue had reached its peak after guarding the first half of the night. The relief guards had just woken up from their sleep, which was also their least conscious moment.
Choosing this time to release the sleeping gas clearly indicated that the perpetrator had been observing nearby and chose the most opportune moment to act.
After another long while, a person quietly walked in from outside the door.
This person walked a few steps towards Zhao Dehua, and just as they were about to reach him, they suddenly stopped and retreated quickly.
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No movement.
Seeing Zhao Dehua completely unresponsive, she did not step forward but took out a small pouch from her Pregnant and threw it towards Zhao Dehua's side.
The small pouch floated through the air.
Clap.
A large hand reached out, caught the small pouch, and tucked it into his Pregnant.
"Hmph! Old fool, I knew you wouldn't be so easily caught!" The person said with hatred, her voice clear and pleasant, revealing her to be a young woman.
However, a black cloth covered her face, obscuring her appearance.
"I've been escorting for over ten years, how could I not know when the night is most dangerous? You underestimate me too much, young lady."
Zhao Dehua stood up, his eyes shining brightly, showing no signs of unconsciousness whatsoever.
The other escorts had indeed fallen victim to the Masked Woman's sleeping gas, but Zhao Dehua was an experienced pugilist, sleeping with one eye half-open. He had noticed something amiss the moment the sleeping gas was released into the room.
However, as the old saying goes, there are a thousand days to be a thief, but never a thousand days to guard against one.
Zhao Dehua could certainly have woken the other escorts before the sleeping gas fully took effect, but then the perpetrator would have escaped. With such a person lurking, he wouldn't be able to eat or sleep peacefully.
Confident in his formidable martial arts, he chose to remain silent, feigning unconsciousness, hoping to lure the attacker closer.
If the opponent had rushed in, he might have been able to subdue her with a sudden burst of action, thus eliminating future troubles.
But the Masked Woman was not reckless. She stopped at the maximum distance Zhao Dehua could strike and suddenly retreated, almost provoking Zhao Dehua to rise and attack.
Zhao Dehua had intended to continue feigning, but the form of the small pouch the Masked Woman threw clearly indicated it was a hidden weapon that would explode into a cloud of poison upon hitting the ground.
Zhao Dehua dared not gamble whether his inner cultivation could withstand the poison, so he had no choice but to catch the small pouch.
But it also exposed the fact that he was not poisoned.
Now, it had become a one-on-one, open confrontation.
Zhao Dehua scrutinized the Masked Woman, unable to recall anyone with a similar build.
So he frowned and said, "May I ask what grievance you have with me, young lady? Is there any room for reconciliation?"
He didn't ask if the Masked Woman was after the valuables they were escorting.
Although Wang Hai looked down on the sleeping gas this Masked Woman used, it was still a high-quality item in the pugilistic world, inaccessible to ordinary pugilists and quite valuable. Zhao Dehua had almost fallen for it. If it were for money, there would be no need to use such a good item to deal with him.
And the Masked Woman's words suggested she knew him, calling him an old fool and saying she knew he wouldn't fall for it.
This was clearly not a bandit driven by greed, but an enemy targeting him!
The Masked Woman also made no attempt to conceal her objective, sneering, "Old fool, are you senile?"
"If a grievance could be resolved with a few empty words, would I bother to attack you?"
"If we don't fight, will you let me, your masked enemy, leave?"
"If I really left, would you be able to sleep?"
Zhao Dehua sighed.
"Alas—what the young lady says is true. The older one gets in the pugilistic world, the more timid one becomes, the passion worn away, only wishing for peace."
"You make me laugh, young lady."
"Let's—let's settle this with our hands!"
Before his words finished, Zhao Dehua crossed a distance of ten feet in one step, lunging forward!
His fingers curled into claws, slicing through the air, heading straight for the Masked Woman's eyes and crown of her head!