107: Chapter 107 Here I come!

Xiao Niao said in disbelief, "Didn't it look like he had it in the bag just a moment ago? How did it suddenly turn out like this?"

Tang Yao was also completely bewildered, "I don't know either. It was clearly Gualing who launched the surprise attack first, so how did he end up losing health instead? Is Auntie Miao really that strong?"

Xiao Niao thought for a moment, "That shouldn't be it. It's just a challenge to leave the village; it makes no sense for the difficulty to be set this high."

Due to the presence of the transparent protective barrier, Tang Yao and Xiao Niao could only stand outside the challenge area, a little far from the center of the battle.

However, the entire challenge area was less than twenty square meters, so it wasn't really that far away. Besides, Tang Yao had even put down the Sharp-toothed Piglet in her arms and was clinging to the transparent protective barrier to watch, so there was no way she couldn't see what was happening in the arena.

Precisely because of this, it made it even more baffling for them, as they had clearly seen Hu Gualing seize the initiative and gain the upper hand, only for the situation to take a drastic turn in the blink of an eye.

As for the person involved, Hu Gualing, his sneak attack failed, and instead, his right hand was firmly seized by Miao Cuihua, who squeezed it until his knuckles were creaking, causing him to shriek in pain, "Ahhh!"

This miserable sight made Xiao Niao cover his eyes, unable to bear watching.

However, for Tang Yao, this was nothing; she had seen Hu Gualing in much more miserable and bloody states than this, so she kept her eyes wide open, clinging to the protective light barrier.

Just at this moment, Hu Gualing stopped wailing and suddenly launched an attack on Miao Cuihua with his left hand.

He didn't use any skills for this punch; he simply struck hard towards Miao Cuihua's face.

Because his right hand was being gripped by Miao Cuihua, he couldn't exert force properly due to the pain, so this punch was limp and loose, and Miao Cuihua avoided it by just slightly turning to the side.

However, Hu Gualing hadn't intended for this punch to cause any damage to Miao Cuihua anyway. Instead, taking advantage of her side-stepping to dodge, he pulled his right hand back with all his might, endured the pain, forcibly yanked his fist out of Miao Cuihua's grip, and retreated to the edge of the arena, rubbing his hand while warily eyeing Miao Cuihua.

Tang Yao clapped, "Good! Go Gualing!"

Miao Cuihua didn't react much to this; in fact, if she hadn't voluntarily loosened the force in her grip, Hu Gualing wouldn't have been able to pull his fist back so easily.

Miao Cuihua smiled naively and said, "Those brass knuckles of yours are quite nice, but your boxing technique is still too easy to see through when you're facing me."

"Hmph." Hu Gualing let out a muffled grunt, unsure if it was due to dissatisfaction with Miao Cuihua's words or because his hand hurt too much, though Miao Cuihua's remark about it being "too easy to see through" did give him pause for thought.

Hu Gualing stared at Miao Cuihua with some trepidation, recalling what had just happened...

As the person involved, and having been focused with undivided attention without even blinking, he naturally knew what had just happened.

Just a moment ago, he saw his fist about to strike Miao Cuihua's palm, but her hand suddenly moved, and then he found his fist being gripped by her...

At the time, it happened so suddenly that his mind went blank, making him completely bewildered. But now, having calmed down, he quickly figured out exactly what had happened—actually, the movement Miao Cuihua made was very simple; she just arched her hand towards the back of her hand, causing her palm to curve inward with her five fingers extended, turning her entire hand into the shape of a bowl.

His punch struck the empty space within Miao Cuihua's palm, and then, with perfect timing, Miao Cuihua exerted force with her five fingers, catching his fist just like catching a river snail.

This sounds simple, but in reality, it was not simple at all. Most crucially, there were two indispensable factors required.

The first point is that the palm must be large enough so that when it curves inward, there is enough internal space for Hu Gualing's fist to miss.

Anyone without a palm as broad as Miao Cuihua's, even if they performed the exact same movement, would not have enough space inside the palm to fully accommodate Hu Gualing's fist, resulting in being hit by it. And with the brass knuckles Hu Gualing was wearing, even if it just grazed her skin, it would inevitably cause an immediate abrasion, thereby affecting subsequent actions.

The second point is that when Miao Cuihua exerted force with her five fingers to catch the fist, whether it was the timing of the force, the direction of the force, or the subtle points of where the fingers applied pressure, everything had to be absolutely, perfectly precise.

Looking at Miao Cuihua, Hu Gualing didn't think she was the type of technical player. Thinking about what Miao Cuihua had just said, "Your boxing technique is too easy to see through," the truth of the matter quickly emerged.

That was, Miao Cuihua's proficiency with [Farmers Three Punches] was too high; she understood every aspect of this boxing style like the back of her hand. What appeared to be a sneak attack by him was actually completely transparent to Miao Cuihua—the direction of his force, his attack intentions, and even the trajectory of his fist were all crystal clear to her. That was how she was able to flick her palm and block right in front of his fist, then clench her five fingers to perfectly seize him and lock him down...

Looking at it this way, not only was it difficult for [Farmers Three Punches] to be effective in front of Miao Cuihua, but it might even have the opposite effect.

After figuring this out, Hu Gualing didn't become more confident; instead, he became even more confused... because he had no other means of attack besides this skill. If he just threw punches wildly, the results wouldn't necessarily be better than using [Farmers Three Punches].

Hu Gualing suddenly felt lost. Even though he was wearing blue brass knuckles that could be called a Divine Artifact in the Novice Village, he felt a sense of helplessness, as if he were unarmed, and had no idea how to deal with this challenge.

Miao Cuihua reminded him, "Although there is no time limit for the challenge, I won't let you drag it out like this. If you're not going to make a move, then I'm coming for you."

After saying this, Miao Cuihua walked towards Hu Gualing with a naive smile on her face.

The distance between them wasn't far; if measured in large strides, it was only two or three steps away.

Even with Miao Cuihua walking in small, short steps now, she would be able to reach him in just five or six steps.

Watching Miao Cuihua approach step by step with a naive smile, looking seemingly harmless, but in reality, being more ruthless than anyone... Hu Gualing's heart tightened, and he retreated with a guilty conscience. As a result, he only took one step back before his back hit the protective barrier, causing his body to stumble. Although he didn't fall down, he felt even more panicked inside.

"Ah, don't come over here!" Hu Gualing shouted silently in his heart.

Miao Cuihua couldn't hear Hu Gualing's inner thoughts. She had already approached him and squeezed her sandbag-sized fist, "Are you really not going to attack? Then I'm coming first?"

Attack, how am I supposed to attack...

With Miao Cuihua in front and the transparent protective barrier behind, Hu Gualing was caught in a pincer move, looking at his action bar with tears in his eyes.

It displayed only a single attack skill, lonely and isolated: [Farmers Three Punches].

This thing was quite useful against other opponents, but now he was facing the creator of this boxing style; using it was just handing the win to her!

It seems this official challenge is destined to end in failure, then?