The next day, Zhao Fan formally invited Liu Qi to a banquet, and all officials of all ranks in the county attended.
Liu Qi encouraged all the officials and they greeted each other and toasted each other. Most of the social interactions in officialdom were similar, with all words of flattery.
All the officials were convinced when they saw that Liu Qi had an extraordinary bearing and was friendly to others, and that he had first defeated Cao Cao and then wiped out the pirates who had been lingering in Dongting Lake for more than ten years.
When the wine was half drunk, Chen Ying suddenly stood up and said, "There is nothing to do during the banquet. Today I would like to dance with a sword as a joke to help with the wine."
Zhao Fan's face changed slightly, and he shouted solemnly: "Captain Chen, the general has important matters to discuss today, so don't mess around."
Chen Ying said loudly: "General, you watched the singing and dancing yesterday, which made me seem lazy and inactive. Today, we will meet with you in martial arts to help you laugh."
After saying this, he ignored Zhao Fan's order, got up from his seat, drew his sword, and started dancing in the hall. The sword shone brightly, and a faint whistling sound was heard as his body turned.
Although Liu Qi was not a military general, he also learned swordsmanship since he was a child. He could see that Chen Ying's swordsmanship was mediocre, even improvised. To an outsider, it might look intimidating, but in fact, his moves were messy and his lower body was unstable. It was obvious that he was a latecomer.
Chen Ying shouted and jumped, like a tiger rushing down the mountain. The sword flashed, and the officials in Guiyang were so frightened that they all dodged backwards. Only Liu Qi watched coldly, without saying a word.
Huang Zhong stood quietly behind Liu Qi with his hands behind his back, a cold light flashing under his white eyebrows, his left hand pressing on the sword, and his right hand holding a broken arrow behind his back. If Chen Ying had any ill intentions, he could subdue him with a single arrow.
Zhao Fan glanced at Liu Qi and saw that he was smiling calmly, as if he was oblivious to the sharp sword light. He was still sipping wine and enjoying it, which made him feel more and more uneasy.
At this time, Chen Ying gradually approached Liu Qi and vaguely heard the sound of sword breaking through the wind. It seemed that he was about to attack Liu Qi. Thinking of what happened yesterday, Zhao Fan finally couldn't bear it anymore and suddenly slammed the table and stood up.
Pointing at Chen Ying, he shouted, "Today I am receiving General Liu to report on the county's affairs. Each official is expressing his achievements and the people's sentiments. This is not a meeting at Hongmen, so why are you dancing with swords? Why don't you retreat!"
"Since there is no need for sword dancing to liven up the atmosphere, I have an unwelcome request!" Chen Ying turned around with a look of hatred and clasped his fists towards Liu Qi, saying, "I have heard that the general has many talented people under his command. I dare to ask for your advice and have a sword fight to liven up the atmosphere. How about that?"
Zhao Fan was very dissatisfied with Chen Ying's open disobedience and said sternly: "Captain Chen, General Liu's inspection of Jingnan is to govern the country and keep the people safe, not to resort to violence. Why do we have to resort to force?"
Liu Qi also realized that Chen Ying had evil intentions. If he was not subdued today, it would be difficult for the Guiyang soldiers to survive.
Bao Long has not shown up since then. I'm afraid the two of them really have some conspiracy.
His mind raced as he instructed Gan Ning who was guarding the door, "General Gan, since Captain Chen is interested in a duel, you can learn a thing or two from him. However, swords and spears are blind, so be careful and stop when you are done."
Gan Ning strode over, waited for Chen Ying, clasped his fists and said, "Gan Xingba, I appreciate your advice."
"Are you the Jinfan bandit Gan Ning?" Chen Ying looked at Gan Ning with a squinting eye and sneered, "I heard that the Jinfan bandits are rampant in the waterways, just like the Dongting bandits. I will not fight with them."
"You..." Gan Ning was furious and was about to draw his sword.
Liu Qi laughed and said, "I heard that Commandant Chen was born a hunter and did a lot of sneaky things! Confucius said: There is no greater virtue than to admit one's mistakes and correct them. Now that you can serve in Guiyang, isn't that a great virtue? I have appointed Gan Ning as the commander of the navy of Jingzhou and the general of Henghai. If you can defeat him, I will also give you the title of general. What do you think?"
Seeing Liu Qi reveal his life story to his face, Chen Ying was so angry that his face turned blue. He clasped his fists and said, "General, you have defeated the Dongting bandits. I also have the ability to defeat them. I am just waiting to learn from you."
Then he ordered the waiter to bring two flying forks, the small one stuck behind his back and the big one in his hand, staring at Gan Ning: "Please teach me."
Gan Ning was so angry at Chen Ying that his eyes turned slightly red. He snorted and took a step forward, raised his knife and looked over. Chen Ying hurriedly raised his fork to block it, but there was a loud bang and he was shocked back several steps.
Chen Ying was secretly shocked. The Jinfan thief was indeed as famous as his reputation said. However, he was confident in his martial arts skills. The flying fork in his hand was two feet longer than the opponent's sword, so he raised the fork and stabbed again.
Gan Ning dodged sideways, held up the flying fork with the back of his knife, raised his leg and kicked Chen Ying right on the round belly. With a puff, Chen Ying flew backwards and hit a pillar not far away, smashing the table into a mess.
The officials around were so frightened that they screamed and stood up to hide. Chen Ying felt unbearable pain in his abdomen and vomited out all the wine and meat he had just eaten, making the ground filthy.
"You... you cheated!" Chen Ying's face was distorted. He stood up while wiping his mouth, pointed at Gan Ning and growled, "How dare you cheat?"
"Who said that only weapons can be used in a duel?" Gan Ning smiled coldly, tightly gripping the hilt of the knife, already ready to kill.
It was obvious at this point that Chen Ying did not have much ability other than his great strength. His ability to find faults was only developed through hunting. He was extremely ignorant to look down on Liu Qi with this little ability.
Chen Ying lost face in front of all the officials and knew that he had no way out. If he didn't kill Liu Qi, even if he didn't pursue the matter, he would no longer be able to gain a foothold in Guiyang.
He took a deep breath, let out a low roar, raised the flying fork and rushed towards Gan Ning again. At the same time, he reached back with one hand, took out the flying fork behind him, and prepared to give Gan Ning a fatal blow.
Gan Ning held the iron fork with his sword and kicked again. At this moment, Chen Ying threw out a flying fork with his left hand, heading straight for Gan Ning's face.
This was his ultimate skill. No matter he was dealing with wild beasts or suppressing bandits, his flying fork would always hit the target and never fail.
"careful!"
"mean!"
There was a sudden cry of surprise in the hall. No one expected Chen Ying to kill someone. Huang Zhong had already drawn his sword and was about to rush out, but the flying fork was already in front of him, leaving him no time to support.
"Humph, a mere trifle!"
But Gan Ning sneered, and kicked the ground with his outstretched leg, and fell to the ground. He held the knife with his backhand to support his body, and it turned out that he was practicing the Iron Bridge Kung Fu.
Seeing Gan Ning lying in front of him with his arms wide open, Chen Ying couldn't help but glare at him. He raised his iron fork and stabbed him fiercely, shouting, "Jinfan thief, you're dead this time... Ah—"
Before he finished speaking, a shrill scream suddenly rang out. Chen Ying trembled all over and fell backwards on his back.
Everyone was shocked and looked down, only to see that between Chen Ying's eyebrows was stuck his flying fork. The three-pronged fork, about a foot long, was completely embedded in his forehead. He opened his eyes wide, with fear and disbelief in his eyes.
Only then did Gan Ning lean on his sword, do a beautiful somersault and spin up, look at Chen Ying coldly, and say in a deep voice: "You don't know whether to live or die."
He has been in the martial arts world for many years and has seen all kinds of opponents and hidden weapons. Chen Ying is just a hunter and is nothing compared to those people.
What's more, he knew that Chen Ying was famous for his flying fork and had been prepared for it. This move of catching the moon from the bottom of the sea caught Chen Ying off guard.
Just as everyone was panicking, there was a commotion at the door, and a black bear-like general led his troops in, shouting, "Who is so bold as to attack..."
The man was halfway through shouting when he saw Chen Ying lying on the ground, dead in a very miserable state. He was immediately shocked: "What, what is this, Fei Si?"