The Beauty CEO's Personal Expert
Chapter 177 - 174: Mysterious Woman

Chapter 177: Chapter 174: Mysterious Woman

Immediately, a belt whipped out from his hand, wrapping around the Soft Sword, and then he yanked it back, trying to pull Song Qing down the steep slope.

Song Qing didn’t expect Ling Chen to pull such a move, and caught off guard, his body immediately lost its balance, tipping forward and plunging headfirst down the slope. But before Ling Chen could rejoice, his expression suddenly changed drastically.

While falling, Song Qing grabbed at his pants, dragging him down together.

For a moment, both men involuntarily tumbled down the steep slope.

Reaching the bottom, Ling Chen shook his head, groggily getting to his feet. Rubbing his somewhat swollen forehead, he silently rejoiced that the steep slope was covered with weeds and few stones; he wasn’t battered, and apart from feeling a bit dizzy, everything else seemed fine.

Catching his breath, he looked around and saw Song Qing lying about ten meters away, still conscious. However, during the fall, his Soft Sword had been lost.

Seeing Song Qing preparing to stand up, Ling Chen didn’t hesitate for a moment and immediately charged at him, hoping to take the opportunity to subdue him.

Hearing the rapidly approaching footsteps, Song Qing quickly got to his feet and swung his fist at Ling Chen. As the fist approached, Ling Chen dodged his head and locked onto the opponent’s arms, then, with the momentum, performed an over-the-shoulder throw, slamming his opponent’s body harshly onto the ground.

However, the ground was covered with weeds and the soil was soft, which didn’t cause much damage to Song Qing. The latter performed a kip-up and stood back up, his right leg sending a flying kick in Ling Chen’s direction.

Seeing this, Ling Chen didn’t dodge, lifting his leg to meet the kick head-on. In terms of legwork, he had never feared anyone.

Bang!

Their legs collided, and both men executed moves swiftly, one after another, in a straightforward, hard-hitting combat style. However, Ling Chen soon realized that the strength he relied upon was no advantage against Song Qing.

Ling Chen’s strength stemmed from physical training, while Song Qing’s came from the power of his Inner Strength. Although Ling Chen had also trained in Inner Strength, he was only half-trained, a beginner; he couldn’t compare with a master of the Inner like Song Qing.

If his external martial arts hadn’t reached the peak, he would have had no confidence in this battle.

It is often said that martial arts evolve from the external to the internal: first, train the external arts to lay a solid foundation, then cultivate the Inner Strength, which is the essence of martial arts. Indeed, this saying is true.

Several minutes passed, and the two closely entangled figures finally separated.

Ling Chen bent over, hands on knees, gasping for breath, with sweat pouring from his forehead. Song Qing didn’t seem much better; both were severely depleted of stamina.

In those short few minutes, both had exerted all their strength, but unfortunately, neither had gained the upper hand.

"Again!"

Ling Chen straightened up, panting heavily.

Song Qing frowned slightly, watching him, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. Suddenly, he turned around and ran straight towards the nearby thicket.

"Thinking of escaping?"

Without a second word, Ling Chen followed close behind, rushing into the thicket.

However, upon entering, he found that Song Qing had disappeared from sight. The surroundings were filled with dense branches and underbrush; it was unclear where he had hidden.

After a moment of thought, Ling Chen took out his cellphone from his pocket, called Tang Yuan, explained the situation, and asked him to bring people over quickly.

After giving instructions, he continued to move deeper into the forest, searching for the whereabouts of Song Qing.

Song Qing was skilled in martial arts; he must be a big fish, and perhaps he could pry a lot of information about that mysterious organization from him. Ling Chen didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

Not far into his search, Ling Chen suddenly stopped in his tracks, his gaze sweeping slowly over the surroundings. Just then, he had the sensation of a thorn in his back, as if someone was watching him.

He trusted his intuition very much; Song Qing must be nearby, secretly following him. Thinking of this, he withdrew his gaze, quickened his pace, and walked straight toward the bushes in front of him.

Entering the bushes, he fell forward, lying prone in the dense shrubbery, camouflaging his body. At the same time, he pricked up his ears, listening silently to the sounds around him.

Before long, the sound of light footsteps grew from afar and approached his direction.

As expected!

Ling Chen’s mouth curled into a slight smile, his judgement was correct.

Hearing the footsteps drawing nearer, Ling Chen tensed his whole body, ready to spring into action, prepared to launch a surprise attack on the other party. As the footsteps passed by in front of him, he suddenly leapt up from the bushes, pouncing on the person beside him to the ground, then raised his fist high, and powerfully smashed it down towards the other party.

However, before his fist could land, Ling Chen froze, staring dumbfounded at the person before him, his mind not quite catching up.

At this moment, the person he had pinned down was actually a woman, and a very attractive beauty at that.

Simply using ’attractive’ to describe her seemed somewhat insufficient, but Ling Chen couldn’t think of any other adjectives at the moment.

The woman in front of him was about twenty-something years old, with brows like paintings, lips painted red, a face as delicate as an egg and a slender yet voluptuous figure, like a celestial fairy descended from heaven, ethereal and otherworldly.

Despite being dressed in simple coarse cloth, it couldn’t conceal her temperament.

Unexpectedly, in such a desolate mountain, there was such a stunning beauty.

While Ling Chen was still startled, the woman under him suddenly swung out a palm, hitting him hard in the chest. Instantly, Ling Chen’s body arched backward and he fell to the ground.

Feeling the pain in his chest, he was shocked and struggled to sit up, staring straight at the beauty in front of him.

"So skilled!"

A seemingly light palm, but full of force, he considered himself physically strong, not feeling pain even when clashing directly with Song Qing earlier, but that palm just now was agonizingly painful.

This proved that the woman before him was not just any woman, but also a master.

Seeing the other party looking at him warily, ready to strike at any moment, Ling Chen quickly raised his hands, indicating his intentions.

"I’m not a bad person, it was just a misunderstanding just now. I thought you were the bad one chasing after me."

The other party watched him with a mix of belief and skepticism, seemingly judging the truth of his words.

"Beautiful lady, what is your name?"

"I... don’t... have a... name."

The woman slowly started to speak, her speech not very fluent, as if every word she uttered was extremely difficult.

"No name?" Ling Chen found it hard to believe, even cats and dogs have names, let alone people, "Then where do you live?"

"Mountain..."

"You live in the mountains?"

Hearing her answer, Ling Chen began to understand why it was difficult for her to speak. Someone living alone for years without interaction or conversation would easily develop communication barriers over time.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the woman before him. So beautiful, yet living alone in the mountains, he wondered what reasons she had for staying in such a desolate place.