Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Wang Hui, owner of Hongluo Martial Arts School looked at Jiang Guosheng and Pan Chengyun. While the former came back with a sad face and an injured left arm, the latter was still in the arena, rooted to the spot. Wang Hui gave a deep sigh.
Maybe losing the competition could benefit him as a frustration coping training. They have been staying in the small group of martial arts clubs in Songcheng, which is easy for them to become bumptious.
Besides, in the forthcoming six competitions, they’re still able to repair the school’s image and gain fame.
Losing only one game doesn’t mean losing the qualification.
Inviting a reporter to write an article about this competition and illustrating it with some photos showing the cracks and footprints on the stony ground. Then the public will realize what a fierce battle it is, and thus know Hongluo Martial Arts School is worthy of its reputation though it has lost the first game.
...
In Songcheng TV station, Fang Juexiao, the professional commentator and Gan Le, the special guest of Professional Seventh Pin were looking at each other and at a loss for words. They had never expected that this competition should end so quickly.
Fortunately, this was not the first time for low-level professional competition to see such a case, so the TV station had already made some emergency plans such as showing some game highlights to fill the gap between two competitions.
Receiving the director’s instruction, Fang Juexiao prepared himself and then smiled at the camera.
“The third competition ended too quickly, even quicker than Lou Cheng and Fang Tong’s. Considering it was a fight between Professional Ninth Pin and Amateur First Pin, this kind of seckill was quite normal and not worth a playback. Let’s switch the screen to the competition site, where we’ll conduct a post-match interview.”
“Today, we are fortunate to know Lou Cheng, a talented fighter. He was purely a green hand half a year ago, but he had just defeated a Professional-Ninth-Pin opponent with his fierce fighting style, showing bravery and self-confidence as a warrior.”
“Given another half or one year, what level will Lou Cheng reach? I can’t imagine it since even Danqi State is not impossible. Maybe the young fighter will soon make his mark in martial arts in the foreseeable future.”
“To be honest, I heartily sympathize with Jiang Guosheng. He’s quite famous in the martial arts group of Songcheng with recognized reputation and strength, and is about to take the last step to Dan stage. However, the reality is harsh, and the new generation will soon replace the old ones, which is particularly obvious in the martial arts field. Jiang Guosheng is over thirty but still stays outside the door of Dan stage, so naturally he is in a weak position when facing someone young and vigorous. Ah, it reminds me of mid-life crisis as middle-aged men like him.”
“Both Lou Cheng and Lin Que are gifted 19-year-old fighters come from Songcheng University Martial Arts Club. This young club will surely create a storm in the upcoming preliminaries. Though the two talents have just reached body refining state, they’ll grow rapidly within one or two years. I’m afraid Songcheng University Martial Arts Club will receive piles of applications after the match.”
“I think we’ve spoken enough for the competition, so let’s sum it up and wait for the next match of Songcheng University Martial Arts Club. Well, they’ll go to Yimo and fight against Fearless Squad, a self-organized team of several local fighters. Fearless Squad is also one of the pre-qualification favorites with Wei Shengtian as their key player. Wei Shengtian is of Professional-Eighth-Pin, Danqi State!”
“Okay. Let’s turn to the next competition and look forward to the post-match interview of Songcheng University Martial Arts Club and Hongluo Martial Arts School.”
...
Still looking at the increasing number of fans, Yan Xiaoling pinched herself to prove that it wasn’t all a dream.
Being broadcast live on television and the internet could bring a Martial Arts Competition a lot more audiences. When watching the game on the Internet, many people liked looking up related information and might incidentally click to follow a certain fighter. Considering the gigantic audience base, no wonder Lou Cheng’s fans had been increasing rapidly.
Not to mention that it was just a small video website with relatively few hits on its Internet pages!
However, different voices would naturally be emerged along with the increasing number of visitors. Yan Xiaoling soon saw a post entitled
“Lou Cheng is quite ill-mannered as fighting like a hooligan. His style is vicious, ugly and disgusting!”
Humph! Being angry as hell, Yan Xiaoling clicked on the post and was ready to call the poster’s name... no, to reason with the poster. As Lou Cheng’s fan, she should be polite and well mannered!
The poster’s name was “Despise You,” who had written a lot in the post.
“Look at his dark deeds, Lou Cheng liked attacking opponent’s crotch. Is it a manner befitting to a martial arts expert? He even blew toward the opponent’s face regardless of his bad breath!”
Rolling down the web page, Yan Xiaoling found Unparalleled Dragon King had already replied the poster with a picture showing a dragon king spouting flames at its enemies.
“Dragon King is guilty of it as well.” He wrote.
Following a new fan named Nie Qiqi, who also posted a picture showing Qian Donglou, the Warrior Sage whipping his opponent’s crotch. “Warrior Sage gave a thumbs-up.” She wrote.
Next was Vampire Cat: “Dong Baxian curses you as an idiot.”
Followed by a photo showing Dong Baxian, the leader of Yanzhao League making Crotch-grasping Movement when he was young.
...
Looking at the replies one by one, Yan Xiaoling gradually calmed down and was finally amused. How clever her forum mates were!
Yan Xiaoling found it dumb to reason with the poster seriously. So she clicked off the post and set another post for registering the fans’ attendance at the top of the forum, in which she made a new reply:
“Come one, everybody registers your attendance here!”
Seeing the forum’s first improvement under the attention of Brahman and her, Yan Xiaoling had a sense of achievement and fulfillment. The two of them were growing up with Lou Cheng in such a special way.
She kept laughing a silly laugh at the increasing number of Lou Cheng’s fans.
...
Seeing Lin Que defeat Pan Chengyun within seconds, Shu Rui was speechless.
Today’s match was great but quite shot!
In general, a preliminary involved three fighters would at least last half an hour, as long as the two sides were approximately matched in strength. But for now... She took a glance at the wrist watch and found the needles stopped at 3:11 p.m.
The match began at three o’clock!
Within the 11 minutes, the fighters had chatted with each other, cleaned the arena and done something else. So what a short time had the preliminary actually taken?
Not to mention that it was Lou Cheng and Jiang Guosheng’s competition that had taken up most of the time.
“All the ad guys must be cursing me...” Shu Rui self-deprecatingly smiled, picked up her microphone and walked towards Lin Que, who had just left the arena. Meanwhile, she was rapidly making mental notes for the interview.
Defeating an Amateur-First-Pin fighter meant nothing to Lin Que, and it was not newsworthy, either. So she had to find something special to report...
Blocking Lin Que’s path, Shu Rui gave him the microphone while smiling with only eight teeth exposed. “Hi, Lin Que. I’m a reporter from Songcheng TV station. I have some questions for you. Your fighting style just now seemed kind of different from before?”
As a martial-arts-oriented reporter, she also had good taste in it.
Lin answered coldly,
“Shouldn’t I go all out it from the beginning?”
“Er, of course, you should, but I’ve never seen you do it in this way before. Besides, your opponent was just of Amateur First Pin.” Shu Rui felt a bit embarrassed.
Standing on the arena, Pan Chengyun looked at them and heard the conversation, which distressed him. “Actually, I’m of Professional Ninth Pin!” He thought.
On the other side, Lin Que answered without hesitation,
“People always change with time.”
“What he’s said is reasonable. I’m convinced...” Shu Rui forced smiled and changed the topic. “What do you think about Lou Cheng’s performance? Does it surprise you that he’s defeated the leading opposing player?”
After thinking for a while, Lin Que said,
“I have some ideas here, but I don’t want to share them with others.”
“...” Shu Rui was stunned. Then she saw Lin Que nod to finish the conversation and brush past her, walking towards Songcheng University Martial Arts Club’s tatami.
She had interviewed quite a lot of fighters in Songcheng, among which some were also eccentric. But she had never seen anyone like Lin Que before!
Is it a character flaw of him, or just because he’s good at telling a cold joke?
Comparing with Lin Que, Lou Cheng is indeed a nice interviewee!
Turning to look at Songcheng Martial Arts Club’s position, she intended to interview Lou Cheng to comfort herself.
But where is Lou Cheng?
He isn’t in the celebrating crowd. Where is he?
Shu Rui stood helplessly, feeling that these guys from Songcheng University Martial Arts Club were quite wayward!
Couldn’t they cooperate with me just for a while?
Hadn’t I suggested to hold this competition, I would try my best to slander you!
Having no idea where Lou Cheng was for the moment, Shu Rui went to interview Wang Hui, Jiang Guosheng and Fang Tong from Hongluo Martial Arts School.
Wang Hui sighed. “Sure enough they are talented and powerful, but it doesn’t mean we’re not their match. Had we known Lou Cheng had gained the Power of Blaze, we might perform better in the match and change the game result. Anyway, they did better than us in the competition. Congratulations.”
Jiang Guosheng gave a mirthless smile and answered, “It was my fault. Lou Cheng was a brave man of firmness of will, and he deserves the success. As for me, of course, I feel a sense of grievance, but there’s no excuse for my failure. Now I need to address the problems, resolve them and try to do better next time! I still need two weeks to recover from my broken joint, so I hope that Chengyun and Fang Tong could take the burden in my absence.”
“There’s nothing to say about the match. I’m looking forward to another chance to fight against them, and I won’t be so careless.” Fang Tong seemed to be refreshed. “Of course, I’ve also found my flaws through today’s match since a good opponent could be a mirror for you.”
Ending the conversation, Shu Rui went to interview some audiences at random.
Pan Chengyun looked at her back helplessly.
What about me? Why don’t you interview me?
I’m of Professional Ninth Pin, not Amateur First Pin!
Taking a glance at his last disciple, Wang Hui suddenly wanted to laugh. They had kept a secret to the end in another way...
...
The guys from Songcheng University Martial Arts Club flooded into the locker room and broke the romantic atmosphere. Yan Zheke hurried to put down the ointment and stood up with blushing cheeks. “Did we win? So fast!”
“Of course, it wouldn’t take Lin Que much time to defeat an Amateur-First-Pin guy.” Li Mao answered with a smile, and then turned to look at Lou Cheng. “You guys have stolen the treasure of our Martial Arts Club. How will you solve it? You must invite us to dinner!”
Immersing himself in Yan Zheke’s tenderness, Lou Cheng answered with shyness and happiness, “How about tonight? We can celebrate our success!”
He didn’t care about Lin Que’s opponent, who was just of Amateur First Pin. In fact, he had already forgotten the poor guy’s name...
He again looked at Yan Zheke when talking with his fellows. The girl was angry with embarrassment and soon turned around, but she didn’t refuse Lou Cheng’s invitation.
So he had gotten his girlfriend’s permission!
“We still have activities then, so it’ll be difficult to call us together tonight. What about tomorrow noon? We can go to the cafeteria together after the special training, so you can save money for something more important!” Sun Jian teased him mildly, and then his girlfriend Lin Hua gave him a pinch.
Canteen foods were quite cheaper than those in the outside restaurant.
Since Yan Zheke and the other fellows all agreed with him, Lou Cheng immediately made the decision. “Okay, that’s settled then!”
Then they separated to take a shower, changed clothes and packed their stuff. When stepping out of the bathroom, Lou Cheng saw Yan Zheke standing in front of Lin Que with a pleading gesture. Lin Que thought for a while and then nodded slightly.
When Lin Que left, Lou Cheng approached Yan Zheke and whispered, “What were you asking for just now?”
Yan Zheke smiled shyly. “I begged him not to talk our affairs to my family.”
“They don’t want you to get in a relationship at school?” Lou Cheng noticed something and hurried to ask.
Yan Zheke nodded. “Yeah, my parents want me to focus on study and delay other affairs until after graduation. Don’t worry about it, since my mother herself had broken my grandparents’ rule to marry my father!”
“So?” Lou Cheng asked quickly.
Yan Zheke turned her head away and snorted. “Like mother, like daughter!”
She was quite proud yet a little shy, which moved and warmed Lou Cheng. He felt an urge to hug the girl and kiss her, pouring his love into it.
Considering they were still in the crowd, and the girl hadn’t adapted to their relationship yet. Lou Cheng just stretched out his hand and grasp Yan Zheke’s palm, making eye contact with her.
After a few minutes, everyone had finished his or her preparation. Yan Zheke withdrew her hand and said, “I’ll go shopping with Qing. Will you go for dinner with me in the canteen tonight, just as a celebration party for you?”
“Okay.” Lou Cheng had intended to company Yan Zheke himself, but Guo Qing was so outgoing and they might both feel embarrassed.
He still had two pairs of martial arts shoes, so there was no need for him to go