Since Su Xiao and Tang Ye gave their word to compete in the academy idol contest, they had to prepare. Su Xiao carried a tall stack of books because he needed to do plenty of writing to tackle the “rites” contest. Tang Ye lugged hundreds of empty scrolls, brushes, inkstones and pots of ink as he chose to compete in “calligraphy”. Su Xiao could handle the arithmetic side of the competition, while Tang Ye planned to take care of music, archery and chariotry. Ming Feizhen? Neither of them thought they could count on him for any of the six subjects.
Seeing Su Xiao’s gait come to a halt, Tang Ye questioned, “What’s the matter?”
Su Xiao squinted. “I suspect someone is tailing us.”
“… Why?”
“Hmm…” Su Xiao pointed to the rear. “Because there really is somebody following us.”
There was a tall and bald pretty boy with a phoenix tattoo on his face and a girl just past her teens spacing out. Upon meeting eyes with Tang Ye, the monk smiled and went to speak, but Tang Ye set down his stuff and coldly asked, “You want to fight?”
The monk scratched his head. “I never said that.”
Tang Ye looked askance at Su Xiao. “He says he wants to fight. I’ll go over. If things look like they’re heading south, run.”
When Tang Ye took his fourth step forward, Xun Feng opened his mouth to speak; however, Tang Ye launched himself forward to execute a downward chop – Chop Mount Hua. Xun Feng could smell burnt charcoal and feel hotter once Tang Ye was within three metres of him.
Su Xiao bolted off with his stack of books, but he stopped once he reached the neighbouring courtyard for his obstructed vision alarmed him.
The girl in the martial arts robe declared, “Hi, my surname is Bai. I am here to challenge you.”
“Hi, my surname is Su. Stay away from me!”
***
Xun Feng performed a hand brush motion, reducing the heat somewhat, then performed the same with his other hand, gradually speeding up the motion and reducing the interval between each brush. The breezes he generated gradually cancelled out the incoming heat.
Tang Ye’s destructive approach couldn’t overcome Xun Feng’s force, rendering him stationary whilst airborne. Had he still pushed forward with tunnel vision as he did in the past, it would’ve been the final exchange between them.
When you couldn’t tell if your opponent is committing or feinting, committing to an attack of your own was the same as giving your weakness to your opponent. Alas, being airborne severely limited one’s choices.
For someone who said he wasn’t interested in fighting, Xun Feng’s unreadable answer sure wasn’t reflective of that.
Having learnt when to push and when to pull back, Tang Ye retracted his arm to guard himself whilst spinning to his feet. Countering defence with defence nullified the advantage one’s opponent had gained.
Xun Feng allowed Tang Ye to reset and smiled. “You’re a little impulsive, aren’t you? This one did say he wasn’t here to fight, no?”
“Would you approach us with bloodlust oozing out of you if you weren’t after a fight?”
“Yes.”
“… So your goal was to commit murder.”
“…”
Tang Ye nodded. “I won’t stop you from trying to kill me, but I don’t suggest you do so here; it’ll cause inconveniences for others. There’s a mountain to the west of the city with cool breezes and cold water. If it weren’t for the lack of tigers, it’d be perfect. How about we duel to the death there? You first.”
“Mm… I don’t want to kill you, either.”
Tang Ye nodded again. “Ordinary fights here aren’t acceptable, either.” He then got into stance.
“Wait, you got it wrong.”
“To the mountains, then?”
“No, no need.”
“Right?” Tang Ye was already airborne and boiling the air by the time his reply reached Xun Feng’s ears.
Xun Feng instinctively strafed, though he could hear crackling flames and smell smoke. He didn’t need to look back to know a pillar had just become his scapegoat. He wanted to experience the thrill of playing a villain, especially the cliché, dangerous provocation. He never expected his opponent to be a mad dog who went at whoever was in front of him!
“Are you a battle monger?! I came to greet you!”
Tang Ye showed a relieved smile. “All right, let’s have a life-and-death greeting, then.”
Tang Ye’s hands heated up even more.
***
Shen Kuang clocked off early. Well, technically, he was only his sister’s personal assistant since he didn’t have a legitimate post at Liu Shan Men. Because of Shen Clan’s special relationship to Liu Shan Men and Emperor Yuansheng’s decree, they were allowed to access files only available to the imperial court, albeit in a different form. Shen Kuang massaged his shoulders, though, as it was sometimes a heavy responsibility.
Nobody noticed Shen Kuang leave after work. He never was the person to draw attention between him and his sister. Some people thought it was nice to have such a capable sister. To Shen Kuang, nevertheless, it was sometimes a form of pressure at the office due to the way people looked at him. After all, the societal norm was that men were supposed to do the heavy lifting. While his sister was racking up merits and setting records, Shen Kuang was the opposite of his name – a still body of water. Nobody was aware of his internal thoughts beneath his quiet and cute exterior.
Shen Kuang suddenly stopped and looked up. “Who’s there?”
“Judging from the fact that you didn’t ask, ‘Who are you?’ it seems Song Chi was right when he said Young Master Shen isn’t as cute as he appears.”
Shen Kuang took a step back due to the speaker’s tone. “Cute? I’m a man, you know?”
“I do.” The swordsman in his mid-twenties emerged and licked his lips.
In response to the swordsman’s leer, Shen Kuang grabbed his arms, where his hairs were erect.
“Even better that you’re a man.”
