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#150 - Chapter 36 Big Pocket

A tall and sturdy young man walked onto the central corridor and addressed Liu Yuan at the main table, "Southerner, I heard you performed great deeds on the Iron Islands and even received praise from the King. At the hunt a few days ago, you killed a bear with a single blow. We in the North respect warriors the most, let's have a match."

The hall fell silent instantly, everyone's eyes turned to him, "Roar, roar, roar... Roar, roar, roar..." Immediately, people started to jeer and egg him on.

Liu Yuan smiled, walked down, and sized him up. He knew this man was the eldest son of Count Amber, Jon Amber, also known as Small Jon. But he was not small at all, standing at a height of two meters and thirty centimeters, only slightly shorter than Gregor. "How do you want to compete?"

Small Jon: "Good, you have guts. Real men should compete with their fists." Then he tore off his leather coat, revealing his solid muscles.

Liu Yuan: "Alright, but don't cry for your daddy when you get beaten up later."

"Hahaha~ Haha~"

Small Jon was embarrassed and annoyed: "I'm going to smash your pretty boy face!" As he said that, he pounced forward, raising his fist as big as a casserole to strike.

Liu Yuan pressed down on his fist with both palms, then delivered a backhand slap with his right hand. The slap made Small Jon dizzy, and he stumbled onto the table beside him. He had no intention of being polite to those who provoked him. He adopted the San Ti stance, also known as Xing Yi Quan's San Ti Posture or Zi Wu Posture, which combined offense and defense and was the most basic practice of Xing Yi Quan.

Small Jon was indeed strong. He wiped his swollen right cheek and roared as he pounced forward, throwing a series of punches. His massive body was surprisingly agile.

Right straight punch, left jab feint, Liu Yuan slapped and pushed away the punch. Small Jon stepped forward with a knee strike, fierce and powerful. Liu Yuan blocked with both palms, suppressed the knee strike, pushed his chest with his left palm to break his balance, and swung his right hand for a slap.

For a teenager of eighteen or nineteen years old, a slap on the face carried psychological damage. Small Jon ignored the burning pain on his face and charged up again, left swing, right swing. Liu Yuan simply took half a step back, using cloud hands to block and pull his wrist. Small Jon's straight punch was too fierce, and Liu Yuan dodged it, then slapped him on the back of his neck. In Hua country, this was called a 'big neck smack,' usually used by elders to teach younger ones when they didn't want to hit them directly in the face.

Small Jon, his face either red with shame or swelling, ignored the rules of the competition, pushed over a bystander, and picked up a wooden stool to smash at Liu Yuan.

Liu Yuan raised his hand to grab his wrist, swept his right elbow across his abdomen, and then snatched the wooden stool, placing it on the ground and stepping on it. He then delivered another slap from above, as the height difference between the two was more than forty centimeters, making it difficult to slap smoothly on the ground.

"Bastard!"

"Smack~"

"I'm going to kill you~"

"You..."

"Smack~"

"I..."

"Smack~"

"........."

"Smack~"

"Ah!"

"Smack~"

"Smack~"

"Smack~"

"Smack~" After more than twenty slaps, Small Jon couldn't fight back anymore. Seeing Liu Yuan raise his hand, he covered his head and squatted down. His entire face was much rounder, his eyes narrowed into slits, and his lips were swollen like two sausages, resembling the Amber's sigil.

Liu Yuan spread his hands, indicating that he would not fight anymore. Small Jon was too ashamed to stay any longer, and ran out of the hall covering his face.

Liu Yuan: "Is there anyone else who wants to challenge me? If not, I'm going to eat."

Everyone present was silent. The young people could accept defeat, but they could never accept such humiliating beating. Some of the older lords and knights might be able to defeat Small Jon on the battlefield with their rich combat experience. But in such a one-on-one environment, they were definitely not his opponent, let alone someone like Liu Yuan who could easily slap Small Jon into a pig's head.

The Northern nobles didn't like Liu Yuan, thinking that he didn't care about the Northern nobles' face. But the clan chiefs admired him very much. They liked such outstanding warriors in their clans. They came forward to offer wine, and some clan chiefs even planned to promote their daughters to him.

The Northern Harvest Festival lasted for two days. After the banquet, the lords returned to their territories.

Liu Yuan also bid farewell to Duke Eddard, as he would follow Yoren's team to the Black Castle. The "Raven"'s team still had to recruit new soldiers along the way, so they were moving slowly, their journey being twenty days later.

King's Gate was the outer gate of Winterfell's east gate, named after the King's Road leading to the outside of the city. Many people gathered outside the city gate. At this time, Duke Eddard was seeing Liu Yuan off, not because Liu Yuan had a big face. Count Manderly of White Harbor and Count Mormont of Bear Island were also leaving today.

Liu Yuan knew Jorah Mormont. Compared to a year ago, it was obvious that Jorah was a little haggard, lacking his previous spirit. Looking at his wife Lynesse, she was still radiant. Liu Yuan understood what was going on. It was indeed hard for him. The luxuriousness of House Hightower was famous in the Seven Kingdoms. Bear Island was a poor place, and the Mormont family probably didn't have much money. It was difficult to maintain such a lifestyle!

Jon Snow was a little reluctant to part, and so was Robb. Because Liu Yuan had promised Duke Eddard that he would teach the Stark family children martial arts, but only after his travels were over. After saying goodbye to everyone, Liu Yuan joined the "Raven"'s team. Traveling with the Night's Watch could avoid a lot of trouble.

The journey north was very boring. Although the Northerners had developed this place for thousands of years, the North was still quite backward due to environmental and population constraints. Especially when winter was approaching, the three villages along the King's Road had moved to the winter towns, leaving only empty wooden houses. From Winterfell to near Long Lake, no one could be seen for six or seven consecutive days.

The "Raven"'s team moved much faster. The previous prison wagon had been dismantled and used as a baggage vehicle. The exiled criminals had now resigned themselves to their fate. In the desolate North, with the cold wind howling, they had no way to survive even if they escaped. Even if they didn't starve to death, they would freeze to death. If they wanted to live, they had to follow the team closely to reach the Wall.

Including the six clan bandits captured by Liu Yuan, everyone consciously accepted Yoren's command and worked very actively. Derif was left in Winterfell to wait for a batch of aid supplies collected by Duke Eddard.

From Winterfell to the Black Castle, the total length was about 154 leagues, or about 460 kilometers. Traveling along the King's Road, the west side was a continuous mountain range. For thousands of years, it did not have a clear name and was collectively called the Northern Mountains. There were about forty mountain clans, living in high valleys and grasslands, with varying sizes, so they were called the Mountain Clans.