KSM V4C5

Please read my post on the previous chapter before reading this. Tl;dr. I translated this on a whim. Unfortunately, I am not officially picking up the series, as it is not something I can commit to with my current time and resources, though I will finish V4 to the best of my ability. I would be willing to share the Glossary I have to anyone that would like to pick up the series.

This is honestly my favorite chapter in the entire volume, and I mostly translated V4C4 just so that I could post this one.

You can read all the older chapters on GiraffeCorps (linked below).

Disclaimer: I do not own 沉月之鑰 nor do I make profit off of it. All rights for this novel belong to the original author, 水泉. The only thing that I own are my translations. Please do not re-post this content anywhere, and if possible, support the author by buying her books!

Translated by: TaffyGirl13

Previous             Index              Next

---

Chapter 5 – Martial Arts Competition; this time it’s an actual martial arts competition, not one competing over a marriage partner

“….Has he really done a martial arts competition to win over someone’s hand before?”  – Luo Shi

“Ah, yeah, of course. Didn’t we just do one?” – Yin Shi

“So, since you beat Wei Shi, you can bring him home as your marriage partner now. Congrats.” – Ling Shi

---

Watching a demonstration match was fine, Fan Tong would obviously feel relaxed doing that. But the reality before him now was that he’d most definitely been registered for the upcoming grand martial arts competition, which was impossible to run away from.

Because many people had signed up for it, there were still a few days before it would be their turn. After competing, they’d have to wait another few days for the next round, which could be seen as some time to struggle while on death’s door. But as the competition progressed, the rounds would increase in number as the number of participants decreased.

This was what Fan Tong had inwardly struggled and hesitated about after he had learned that it was knock-out competition.

I wonder if I can concede defeat the moment I jump onto the stage? That should be a proper way to drop out of the competition, right?

If this looks too unseemly, then technically losing the fight would be fine; with Yue Tui there, we should at least be able to withdraw the competition with our lives intact.

But if I think about it more closely, if killing a person results in ten strings, isn’t this a rare opportunity to get money?

If we just kill ten people, the debt can be fully repaid, with extra profit leftover! And if we keep winning after, we’d have other benefits!

As Fan Tong thought of human lives as money, he inwardly imagined the great riches that could be earned and started to drool.

However, it was naturally impossible for him to kill someone. Such a task was more suited for Yue Tui, or even Zhu Sha, if the latter was willing.

 “Yue Tui, since each life is worth ten strings, please help me kill a bunch so that I can settle my debt…” These kinds of words are honestly to shameful to say. Even someone as thick-skinned as Fan Tong couldn’t bring himself to voice such a thing after much hesitation.

However, just because he was unable to do it did not mean others couldn’t.

“Killing someone gives ten strings of earnings! Should we think about how we should spend this money?” As soon as Zhu Sha finished reading the competition’s rules, he brought this topic up without the slightest hint of hesitation.

Fan Tong didn’t think that Zhu Sha would actually be thinking the same thing as him. He wasn’t sure if he should be feeling happy or depressed about this.

“…Using this kind of method to earn money isn’t very good, right…?”

Yue Tui was still an obedient child, and clearly hesitated at this proposal.

“This method seems pretty effective. I think everyone would feel the same, so even if we don’t kill them, they will definitely kill us.” Simply put, Zhu Sha was advocating the method of striking first to gain the advantage. He probably didn’t have any issues with personal morals. From what Fan Tong could tell, Zhu Sha was actually pretty self-centered.

“That’s…”

Yue Tui stood by the principle of not harming others if others did not harm him. Asking him to suddenly change this principle seemed to be a bit difficult.

Fan Tong began to do some mental calculations. If they agreed to divide evenly, then he would only be able to win ten strings after killing three people. This was a lot lower than his original thoughts. That would mean earning enough to settle his debt would result in a literal river of blood on stage…I wonder how many people drew the fortune of “bloody calamity” this year?

But…Yue Tui’s portion can probably be counted as mine as well, right? In any case, Yue Tui doesn’t really need any money, so I can at least borrow it from him. Plus, the number of lives taken under my name would decrease a bit, and the burden on my heart would’t be as heavy.

“Yue Tui, are you against killing others?”

Zhu Sha simply decided to confirm this point. When Yue Tui heard this question, he froze momentarily before shaking his head.

“No…”

Yue Tui’s response nearly mad Fan Tong’s eyes pop out of their sockets.

After all, he had always believed Yue Tui to be kindhearted, and had never seen Yue Tui kill someone before. For him to so straightforwardly say that he was not against kill it was somewhat outside of Fan Tong’s expectations.

“Then isn’t it fine? Just kill them off like chickens; either way, they’ll be resurrected.”

Zhu Sha’s words were simple, but Yue Tui only bitterly smiled. 

“That will just incur hatred, Zhu Sha.”

“That only matters if they have the ability to get revenge.”

Fan Tong really had no idea where Zhu Sha’s confidence came from. Was it that Zhu Sha was truly super strong? Or was it that Zhu Sha also felt that Yue Tui alone was enough?

Lord Yin Shi, Lord Ling Shi, and Luo Shi won’t possibly be able to support us from behind, so we definitely need to consider the issue of suffering any retaliations.

“I won’t take the initiative to kill anyone on stage. If you guys want to do it, I just won’t try to stop you.”

Yue Tui conceded slightly, basically planning to not meddle with Zhu Sha’s actions. As for Fan Tong, he would just go on stage to enjoy the cool air, a fact that all of them knew. 

Although Zhu Sha didn’t seem very satisfied with this answer, he didn’t press any further. Tomorrow would be their first fight. In order to ensure they were in their best conditions, they decided to go to bed early.

***

The grand martial arts competition had both group and solo battles being held. They weren’t separated in any way, there were just special rules for soloists going up against groups.

Eastern City had three arts: Shufa, Fuzhou, and Wushu. In 1 vs 1 battles and 3 vs 3 battles, they were allowed to use any art they wanted. Even additional personal skills could be brought into the fight. But in 1 vs 3 battles, they would have to draw lots beforehand to determine which art would be the subject for the battle. 

The teams could choose a representative to go up and engage in battle. Thus, there was a disadvantage for the soloist side: if they drew an art that was not the soloist’s strong point, there was a high chance that one of three people in the team would have one person excelling in the art. There was very little chance the soloist could win.

It was precisely because of this rule that most of the teams would have people with different strengths selected as members, while soloists were normally not fighting on luck, and typically had extreme confidence in their ability with all the arts. Or…it was because they didn’t have any good relationships and couldn’t find any others to register together with them.

This rule was also the reason why most groups participating in the competition would choose one person excelling in each art to be companions. Individuals that took part in the competition alone were usually either testing their luck, or very self-confident in their skills for all three arts. Or…people with poor personal relations that could not find anyone to join the competition with them.

The first opponent for Fan Tong’s team today was a soloist.

According to the competition rules, they had to draw lots to choose on the competition subject. The opponent extremely generously allowed them to draw the lot. Since neither Yue Tui nor Zhu Sha had any interest in drawing the lot, Fan Tong was the representative chosen to do it.

The selected bamboo stick was to be directly given to the staff to openly announce. Fan Tong randomly chose one of the three sticks and handed it over, and they soon heard through the broadcast announcement.

“The subject of this competition is—Fuzhou!”

When the words “Fuzhou” were loudly broadcasted, Fan Tong didn’t think much of it at first. But when he turned around, he saw Zhu Sha looking at him with an expression of reproach. Yue Tui seemed like he was struggling to say something but didn’t know how to. Fan Tong was momentarily confused.

“Fan Tong, you really have such bad luck. How can even your ability to draw lots be so horrible?” Zhu Sha rebuked with furrowed brows. Yue Tui also helplessly patted his shoulders.

“I’m powerless. It seems like you’ll have to go up yourself…”

Wha-wha-wha-whaaaaaaaaat?!

Fan Tong finally understood the situation. No matter what, it seemed like he was in an extremely unfavorable situation. He hadn’t imagined that drawing Fuzhou would lead to him having to personally go up.

Yue Tui! Aaaaaaaaah, Yue Tui! We always went to Fuzhou Xuan class together, yet I completely forgot that he can’t learn Fuzhou—there’s no way he can read out any charm. The Heavens are surely punishing me—

But what about Zhu Sha? Zhu Sha is pretty hardworking, don’t tell me he can’t use Fuzhou either?

“Zhu Sha, can you use Fuzhou?”

Please say you can, I beg of you!

“I dropped out of Fuzhou Xuan class after going once. I’ve been using the spare time to increase my Wushu and Shufa class time.”

Noooooo!

How could this be? How could such a thing happen? Why would you stop going after a single class? Is Fuzhou that unattractive to you? It’s not like the Fuzhou Xuan’s teacher would do what the Shufa Xuan’s teacher does, saying that you have no future with the art upon their first glance—

“You’re the only one able to use Fuzhou, so you should go up.” Zhu Sha pointed towards the stage in a bored manner, his tone also expressing his disinterest.

“Fan Tong, it’s fine even if you lose. Just try your best, we’ll wait for you to return.”

Yue Tui could only say this because he still didn’t understand Fan Tong’s speech issues. In reality, there was no way Fan Tong could succeed even if he tried his best.

Anyways, the group had already decided for him to be the representative. Even if he was unwilling, it was 2 vs 1; his opinion made no difference.

Before the competition began, they were given fifteen minutes to prepare, and could grab Fuzhou paper to draw the charms as they pleased. The fifteen minutes were spent as a struggle to survive. It was neither too long nor too short of a time. In order to not distract him, Yue Tui and Zhu Sha left Fan Tong in the resting room alone so that he could clear his mind. His opponent was in another newly built resting area. Just thinking about what his opponent was doing to prepare made Fan Tong extremely restless.

“Phew…Good morning. I slept really well today.”

While Fan Tong was distraught with anxiety, Puhahaha’s voice suddenly floated out to greet him. This made it impossible for him to reply cordially.

“What ‘good morning’! Its clearly evening! I’m about to die, and you’re still in the mood to say ‘good morning’!”

“Ah? Liar, it’s still bright outside, how could it be evening?”

I meant to say afternoon but my curse reversed it! And why did you only take notice of the word ‘evening’? There were much more important words following that—

Fan Tong truly felt that it was too difficult for him to form a spiritual connection with this lazy and ruthless mop. It was probably impossible in this lifetime.

Damn it! Once this matter is over with, I’m definitely going to properly train Yue Tui and force him to learn the Eastern City language! Yue Tui, just you wait; within a month, I will make sure you are able to take a brush and smoothly write any words! You must learn Fuzhou—

“Didn’t you say you were about to die? But my horsetail whisk senses don’t seem to detect any danger.”

So you did hear it after all, that’s great…

“I’m about to go up stage to fight a battle with Fuzhou. The chance of the audience dying is very high!”

“The chance of the audience dying is very high? What, you think your Fuzhou skills are so powerful that if you tossed one out, you would wipe out the entire audience….”

Your comprehension is going in the direction of a mistake, Puhahaha. I’m not laughing because I’ve given up in despair, I’m just saying your name, you mop. I definitely have to clear this up, even though my attempts are always so exhausting.

“I’ll be killed!”

“This horsetail whisk cannot help you.”

Don’t push me to curse at you. I was able to properly say something for once, yet you chose to ignore it!

“I really need your help!”

Whoa, wait a minute. I wasn’t saying that I need your help. You’ve already turned me down so many times, and I have my own pride. Why were my words reversed to sound like begging again?!

“Mm…if you’re saying it like that, then you must really need me. I’ll have to seriously consider it then. So you understand the mightiness of this horsetail whisk now?”

…No way, didn’t your attitude change too quickly? Look at how you’ve changed, you clearly just like being on the receiving end of others’ requests!

“I’ve always believed that you were an affectionate and kindhearted horsetail whisk, so I’m very happy.”

“Mm, if it weren’t for your foresight, I wouldn’t have intentionally let you buy me either.”

Don’t act smug so quickly. I originally wanted to say that “I’ve always felt you were an a heartless, black-hearted mop, so I’m speechless.” Heaven knows how that turned into a sentence of overflowing praise.

“Just hold me in your hand. That will boost the effects of Fuzhou, which I think is good enough in your case.” 

The method that Puhahaha was suggesting sounded simple but was actually hard to do.

Or rather, while it was a fairly simple action, it was still something that Fan Tong mentally couldn’t accept.

I…do I have to really hold onto this mop to appear in a public competition…

Do I not have any other choice? No alternatives at all? I was originally planning to hide it; I really don’t want everyone to see it!

If I end up actually winning, wouldn’t that be the first step to becoming the Mop Warrior? Can I refuse? Can I refuse???

As he continued his internal battle, the competition’s start time drew closer. Compared to bringing Puhahaha out in public, figuring out how to use Fuzhou was a bigger problem. 

With gritted teeth, Fan Tong finally thought of a compromise.

Thus, he picked up both his brush and charm paper, and spent the remaining time furiously drawing Fuzhou.

***

Even up until the break time ended and he had to go up on stage to formally start the competition, Fan Tong was unable to truly accept this was reality.

With the written charms in hand, he got up on the stage, his mind still off in another world. The only point worth rejoicing was that since this was the very beginning of the knock-out tournament, their tassel colors weren’t worth looking at. Therefore, there were not many spectators watching, which slightly lessened the pressure he was under.

Intellectuals don’t fight at close quarters, businessmen don’t have the courage to participate in fierce battles. I’m clearly just an honest person that did fortune-telling as a business, so why am I standing here now—bloody acts like murder have nothing to do with me! I like peace…

Even though Fan Tong was inwardly crying this with all his heart, the competition still had to start.

Competing with Fuzhou and Shufa skills was different from doing so with Wushu. One could choose to compete by either choosing turn-based attacks or directly engaging in combat. Alternating turns to attack meant that each person had a set time limit they could attack. During this period, the other party would only be able to defend or evade. Once time was up, it would be the other party’s turn to attack. This continued until a victor was decided. On the other hand, direct combat didn’t have any rules; one could fight as they pleased. Since Fan Tong had chosen the competition subject, the opponent would be able to decide the battle method. 

Fan Tong didn’t actually know whether he preferred turn-based, or free combat. Even with Puhahaha’s boost, he was uncertain of how many attacks would really have any effect… 

However, the turn-based attack method needed to have lots drawn again to determine which side would start…Fan Tong felt that with his luck, he would surely choose himself as the one that started second. In that case, there was no way he’d be able to last past the first round of attacks, right?

Fortunately, his male opponent chose the free combat option without any hesitation. He most likely did not like the roundabout turn-based method. Before the battle officially began, the two sides shook hands. The male opponent had an expression of self-confidence, and clearly didn’t see Fan Tong as an opponent. After all, Fan Tong was just a panic-stricken grass green tassel. No matter what angle one looked at the situation, Fan Tong was clearly an easy opponent to deal with.

Moreover, the male opponent’s gaze at Fan Tong during the handshake was enough for him to feel his stomach tighten.

That’s clearly the look one would have when looking at ten strings!

You probably just see me as some fatty meat already at the tip of your mouth—

There’s no way I’d let you eat me up so easily! Even if I’m a fatty piece of meat, I’m a piece of meat that will struggle to keep my life even after you eat me—no wait, why must I be a fatty piece of meat? I should have some more ambition…

“Competition, start!”

Amidst Fan Tong’s nonsensical thoughts, the opening announcement for the competition was made. Fan Tong’s expression twisted as if he had just been sentenced to a death penalty.

“Driven Fire!”

Although the Driven Fire spell was the most foundational of the beginner’s level Fuzhou, it was also easy to use and a basic attack spell. When his opponent used this spell, Fan Tong couldn’t help but recall the painful memory of when he’d been killed by Luo Shi’s Driven Fire spell just after arriving in this world, which had wiped his hopes in having a fresh start. Since he hadn’t written any defensive-type charms earlier, Fan Tong could only turn and run.

With his lack of physical ability, wanting to run away and safely dodge the Fuzhou attack could be said to be impossible. He did flee, but his clothes were burning slightly from the flames, and the scorching feeling on his back nearly made him curse out loud.

Damn it! It’s so hot!

I can’t say anything out loud, or else I might end up starting with some along the lines of ‘oh what a pleasurable and comfortable feeling’…the main point is, how do I extinguish the flames?

Fan Tong clumsily reached back in attempt to pat down his clothes, but the opponent’s next attack soon followed.

“Solidified Ice!”

The Solidified Ice spell was also a simple Fuzhou. It was mostly used to hinder an opponent’s movements and prevent them from escaping by blocking their path. Fan Tong had originally been running around while trying to take the flames out and was immediately tripped by the ice that had suddenly formed in front of him. He then crashed extremely inelegantly onto the ground.

If one had to comment on Fan Tong’s current status, it would probably be summed up to two words: tragic sight.

“Coiling Fire!” 

Watching his prey that was currently wide open, the male opponent immediately used a slightly higher tiered Fuzhou. As he activated the spell, a blaze even larger than those from the Driven Fire spell earlier immediately burst out towards Fan Tong’s direction. This was clearly an attempt at taking his life, which made him turn pale with fright.

“Driven Fire!”

Fan Tong had originally wanted to activate a water spell to fight the flames, but he recited the incorrect words as he threw the charm out. It was truly impossible to rely on that mouth of his during such a critical moment. As the flames began to strike his face, he no longer cared about trying to save his reputation, and he immediately rolled to the side to dodge. Fortunately, the opponent didn’t have very good control over their Fuzhou and it went slightly crooked, enough for Fan Tong to preserve his life.

He had already been beaten up so miserably. Although Fan Tong had known from the beginning that his innate condition was bad and made it impossible for him to win, Fan Tong still felt extremely angry and unwilling to give up. Thus, he finally pulled out his Fuzhou, with Puhahaha tightly grasped in his hand.

It was just that, unlike a typical person that only pulled out one Fuzhou at a time, he had pulled out a huge wad.

In order to ensure he would be able to attack at least once, he quickly started tossing the charm papers in his hands before his opponent could activate another of their Fuzhou.

“Driven Water, Driven Water, Driven Water, Driven Water, Driven Water, Driven Water…Driven Fire!”

He didn’t bother keeping track of how many charms he threw. Either way, he continuously tossed the same charm and recited the same thing over and over. There was bound to eventually be a point where he’d be able to properly activate the spell before using up all his charms. This kind of extremely wasteful method of using Fuzhou was probably something that only he would do. Moreover, it was only because the competition supplied the charm paper that he could bear to act this way.

The spectator crowd and his opponent had no idea why he kept reciting the wrong Fuzhou, resulting in a string of failed attack attempts. However, if they were stunned by the consecutive calls of “Driven Water”, the successful activation of Driven Fire at the end was what made them pale in terror.

As the burning paper flew out, it flew across the entire stage, leaving behind an imposing and incomparably fierce wall of flames. Once the Fuzhou was complete, the raging flames of the burning wall pounced towards his pitiful opponent. The flames passed, seeming like a mirage at first glance. But once the flaming wall disappeared, all that remained in the spot where the male opponent had stood was a scorched corpse.

The turn of events was so dramatic that nobody could even react. Even Fan Tong himself couldn’t register the fact. The person he’d wanted to kill had actually been killed. Theoretically, he should be excited that he had suddenly experienced this good luck and be cheering now that he had survived past the calamity. But even as the MC announced him as the victor of this battle, he continued to stare at Puhahaha with an expression like he was on the verge of a seizure, and soundlessly shouted in his mind at the weapon in his hands:

...Puhahaha, what the hell are youuuuuuuuuu—

How come every time you come in and take control, it ends with murder? Both last time and this time were the same! Ah, in any case, I didn’t use you to directly attack this time, so they should still be able to return to the rebirth pond right? If you used some kind of soul-purging technique again this time, I’ll end up dead for sure!

I guess I should say that there’s some profit from this disaster, since I earned ten strings? But I ended up killing another person…but it’s ten strings…but… 

“Hehe, look, did you see that? You won, didn’t you? With me here, it’s all very easy.”

Puhahaha was emitting a “praise me praise me praise me” aura. Whenever it showed its innocent and naive side, Fan Tong would feel that its profound and mysterious aura carried with its words from before were just an illusion.

“You did well…”

Ah, how great; every time I want to scold it, the words turn to praise. This is a well-tried fact that has never been proven wrong.

“Keep going, keep going.”

Do you really want to be scolded by me that much?

“You’re really a hard-to-come-by good companion, a gift dropped from the Heavens. To have encountered you is truly a great blessing. If you were not in my life, I really wouldn’t know what to do.”

I can no longer be bothered to explain what I intended to say, it’s just too tiring.

“R-really? Is that true? You like me that much?”

What is up with that pleasantly surprised yet bashful hint in your tone?

“Fan Tong, how much longer are you going to affectionately gaze at your mop on stage?” Zhu Sha shouted from off stage. This woke him from his reverie. Feeling that staying onstage and continuing to lose face like this wouldn’t be very smart, he hurriedly got off and began to walk towards Yue Tui and Zhu Sha to meet up with them.

“Fan Tong, you used your Fuzhou really well.”

As soon as the were face-to-face, Yue Tui told him these words with a very happy expression. However, Fan Tong’s signature Driven Fire move just now was clearly a result of cheating with Puhahaha, so he found it very difficult to face Yue Tui’s praise.

“I’ve always thought you were a good-for-nothing; I hadn’t expected you would actually have some tricks up your sleeve.”

It seemed that because Fan Tong had displayed a strength uncharacteristic of him, Zhu Sha’s opinion of him had changed a bit. Fan Tong probably counted as an expert worthy of respect now.

But I’ve never seen him express any form of respect towards Yin Shi before. Perhaps there are just some people that are naturally impossible to respect.

“Then you shouldn’t have any issues if Fuzhou is drawn from now on, Fan Tong,” Yue Tui said with a relieved expression. This immediately made Fan Tong’s eyes widen.

Ahhhhh!

Wait, wait a minute, isn’t this the only time…ah, right, I won, so we’ll advance into the following rounds…Whoa, wait! Does that mean every time we go up against a soloist and Fuzhou is drawn, I’ll be going up? That’s not right! I got you guys to come because I don’t want to fight!

That also means that if we go against a soloist and Shufa is pulled, Yue Tui would be up, and everyone else might as well just beat it and enjoy the breeze. Getting Wushu would probably end up with Yue Tui going up too…Zhu Sha, what exactly did you come here to do? In the end, you really are just a placeholder to make up for the shortage in number!

“Fan Tong, is that ok?”

“No problem.”

The curse was just short of adding a “leave it all to me” there.

“That’s great, you can temper your battle skills more. You were still very out of practice with combat in the fight just now, so evading was a bit difficult. I believe that if you keep fighting more, you’ll get more and more experienced.”

It’s not a question of being just “out of practice”, that was my normal condition…

Fan Tong was really starting to feel like neither the heavens nor earth would help him. Maybe asking Puhahaha to help would be a bit more useful? But if he always did that, not only would he become the ultimate Mop Warrior, he’d also end up advancing towards the path to become a Bloodthirsty Mop Warrior…

***

With regards to their victory in the preliminary round, Luo Shi didn’t specially run over to celebrate with them. All he did was deliver a letter to Fan Tong and congratulate him. Most likely, he still hadn’t figured out any outline for the topic of Hui Shi’s notes that they had discussed last time, so he couldn’t really face them. However, the contents of the letter were enough to stun Fan Tong speechless.

In the beginning, there were a bunch of proper greetings and such, but the contents’ actual subject followed. After polite words of commendation, the true nature of the letter showed itself:

I watched your competition. You really are abnormally unlucky. Your 1/10 chance didn’t appear at all in the first few times, resulting in a correct recitation only after throwing away nine Fuzhou. Did you actually do something horrible in this lifetime to get that kind of karma…

Why can’t you hold back even when writing a letter? Do you think I wanted to waste nine charms? Can’t you just frankly congratulate me even through writing…

However, where did you learn that Driven Fire spell? That power doesn’t seem very normal. I didn’t even know that the power of a Fuzhou could transform a Driven Fire spell like that. You didn’t purchase some kind of amplification device or anything, did you…

I did, I am holding an amplification device, a mop that you bought for me. But a typical person would just look at this mop and think a person bringing a mop into battle must’ve rushed to leave while cleaning something, not that it’s an amplification device.

I’ll watch the next round too, you guys should keep up the effort.

Actually, Fan Tong hadn’t noticed Luo Shi at the competition site at all. Where exactly had he been secretly watching from?

“What did Luo Shi write?” Yue Tui asked in concern, since he probably couldn’t recognize more than a third of the characters in the letter.

“…I’ll teach you word by word. Starting from tomorrow, I’ll properly teach you how to read, so you can read it yourself!”

I meant starting from today! Starting from today!

Although with my speaking issues, learning the characters from me might be a bit of an issue. But I will definitely overcome this extreme difficulty to teach you, you’ll see!

Yue Tui seemed a bit unaccustomed to the sudden imposing air towards him and was stunned for a few seconds.

“Fan Tong…you seem a bit fierce today, it feels different from usual.”

Then how am I usually, very gentle?

“Hurry up and put your brush in, let’s practice.”

I said take your brush out! Take it out…

“Put it in? Put it in where?”

Fan Tong could only groan in response to Yue Tui’s serious question, and he collapsed on the bed, giving up on trying to communicate.

As for the extremely horrible misunderstanding, Fan Tong felt that he really had no energy to face it. Education was really a heavy burden, and a long path to take. Perhaps it would be better to rest first and start tomorrow.

***

The next round of the martial arts competition would be held in three days. Logically speaking, the start of the second round meant the opponent should be stronger, as it was after one elimination round. However, they heard that their opponent this time was also a team, so Fan Tong didn’t worry at all. If the three of them went up together, all he had to do was stand on one side and shout some support. In addition, he believed that with Yue Tui present, there was no way his life would ever be in danger.

“Yue Tui! Kill them in a flash!”

Fan Tong cheered, glad that these words hadn’t been reversed. If it had become something like “Get killed in a flash”, it would be too disastrous.

“I think this should be a chance to practice combat, Fan Tong. Don’t slack off.”

Yue Tui chuckled dryly instead of agreeing to the request to instantly wipe out the opponent.

Are you kidding? I’m sticking to my plan on hiding in the back and enjoying the cool air. No matter what, don’t ask me to go out and fight.

“I expended too much to release the Fuzhou before, and will need dozens of days to recover.”

Eh…. one dozen days turned to dozens of days, does that sound overexaggerated? But I feel that Driven Fire spell was truly over-the-top, so even saying dozens of days could be acceptable. That way, I can properly slack off for longer.

“Eh? That long?”

“So it turns out that it was just a useless, once-in-a-while burst. And here I thought you could be of some use, but it turns out I was mistaken.”

Thus, he was looked down on again.

However, Fan Tong would rather be looked down on than having to temper his combat skills or whatever. As a result, he remained silent, as if silently admitting it was true.

“Zhu Sha, do you want to try fighting then?”

“They don’t look like opponents worth fighting, I’m not interested.” 

Zhu Sha’s extremely egotistic and over-confident words made Fan Tong look at him suspiciously. Speaking of which, Fan Tong had never seen Zhu Sha fight before. But Yue Tui doesn’t seem to object, does that mean he agrees that Zhu Sha is indeed stronger than them? 

“Alright, I’ll just deal with them then.”

Yay, I’ve been waiting for you to say those words!

Their opponents were three males with blue tassels. But before Yue Tui, this level of strength would still collapse at a single blow.

The course of events had nothing worthy to speak of. Yue Tui had no intention of spending much time wrapped up with those that were not of equal strength. Barely a few seconds passed after the start of the round before it ended. He used a single hand movement to knock them out. With the opponents unconscious, the victors were naturally clear.

“If I killed each person, that would be thirty strings…”

Fan Tong heard Zhu Sha speak in a low voice behind him. This also made him feel that this companion was too distant from the definition of a “benevolent person”.

 

All the subsequent team battles were pretty much the same style. They had also encountered two soloists as opponents. Fan Tong was temporarily free from his misfortunes, as Fuzhou was not drawn either time. Instead, one of the rounds was Shufa, and one was Wushu. These obviously had nothing to do with him, who had previously been proclaimed by the Shufa Xuan’s teacher as an absolutely talentless rotten piece of wood.

The one that went up for the Shufa round was Yue Tui, who indeed displayed the skills of “a rare genius that only appeared in Shufa Xuan once every century”. His Regression Technique was flawless. All the Shufa used by his opponent would be forcibly dissipated and restored to its original state. Moreover, he managed to defeat his opponent by only using simple Shufa, since their imaginations were many times weaker than pure imagination, making Yue Tui’s Shufa impossible to break. They could only surrender.

The day after that round, the Shufa Xuan teacher had allegedly waited at the school park entrance to specially welcome Yue Tui, praising the battle from the day before by saying that he had been so moved to the point where his eyes had been brimming with tears of excitement, and had been unable to fall sleep the following night. Then he had tossed a bunch of extravagant embellishments like “Eastern City’s future Shufa will depend on you to bring up to new heights”, and it felt like he wouldn’t give up until he had given Yue Tui all the praise in the world. The scene had drawn a lot of students’ attentions, and Yue Tui himself had felt very awkward. However, the teacher had been extremely passionate, and there had been no way to dampen his enthusiasm, so Yue Tui could only accept it with a smile on his face.

When Fan Tong heard of this matter, he truly felt it was a bit unfair. Even after he had used such a beautiful Driven Fire spell, the Fuzhou Xuan teacher hadn’t said anything to him, let alone praise him in public…or was it that Fuzhou Xuan was more restrained, and would not be so noi—so ostentatious?

But when Fan Tong thought about it more, it wasn’t really his strength. If he actually were to be praised without restraint, he would probably just end up with a guilty conscience. Thus, he just let the different treatment pass.

The one that had gone up for the Wushu round wasn’t Yue Tui, but Zhu Sha.

He had volunteered to go up, in order to “earn some pocket money to spend”.  

As a result, Fan Tong was finally able to witness Zhu Sha’s abnormally unfathomable skills. Compared to Yue Tui’s bright and open style, Zhu Sha’s style was more “full of darkness”. Including that round and all the team battles he participated in afterwards, him taking action would always result in someone’s death. Fan Tong wasn’t sure if this could be described as working hard to earn money or what, but in general, Fan Tong felt that he would not want to be Zhu Sha’s enemy. It would be best to avoid provoking him in the future, so as not to end up being strangled in the middle of the night without knowing.

As long as we don’t end up pulling another Fuzhou soloist, getting to the top ranks might actually be pretty promising?

Even though Fan Tong knew that he would have absolutely no contribution to such a victory, he still embraced this delusion.

---

Fan Tong’s Afterword

God, I don’t want to keep living my days fighting and killing, with my throat always at the tip of a knife’s point. Oh God…even though I’ve never firmly believed in you, I still hope that you can save this lamb that has lost its way, and guide me to safely and tranquilly walk down a broad and open road…

In the end, I’m the only one that really wants to withdraw from the martial arts competition. I constantly worry about whether we’ll encounter another soloist, whether we’ll draw Fuzhou. Always being on edge in fear is truly too exhausting.

Thanks to the fortune of the competition, I’ve been talking a bit more with Puhahaha. After the incident of the Fuzhou explosion, I seriously asked it if it’s a weapon, a Fuzhou amplification device, or a cleaning tool. In the end, it just replied that it’s a multi-functional horsetail whisk that is fully equipped to do anything aside from cleaning. It can even boost the effects of magic and curses.

Honestly speaking, I find it very hard to believe its words, which are too packed for me to not be suspicious about. Moreover, no matter how I look at it, its mission in life is definitely to clean. The fact that it has deviated from its duty to walk down another path has to be a the crooked path of evil, although I use it fine.

Eh…that’s a mistake, a slip of the tongue. There’s no way I’d use it fine. I still need compensation for the huge scare it gave me. I’m really dissatisfied with a lot of things about it, especially its wishful thinking of me really liking it—

What? I’m not the type of person that would abandon appreciation towards another person’s favor, but it’s not even a person! Moreover, I spent two hundred strings on it! That’s an investment I need to reclaim, alright?

And because of Yue Tui’s threat last time, Mi Zhong really did obediently register for the martial arts competition. 

But a person as insincere as him who probably only had a gang of rogues and disreputable comrades wouldn’t have anyone willing to follow him to their deaths. Therefore, he obviously had to participate alone.

At Mi Zhong’s level, he naturally was eliminated in the preliminaries. Of course, I don’t feel apologetic towards him at all. But the fact that he had managed to slip past death is so despicable. It feels like he hasn’t really been punished at all.

Up until this point, our competition advancement could be said to be pretty smooth. I think the blood calamity matter…is something we shouldn’t need to pay much mind to, right?

It’s definitely not accurate! Yue Tui is so strong, there’s no way anything will go wrong.

---

Previous             Index              Next