What did those words mean?
Those who had not seen Yu Qing pressuring Xiao Changdao earlier would not understand what was going on.
However, there were people present at that time, such as those who lived in the same small building as Xiao Changdao.
Chan Shaoting already had some grievances against Yu Qing. Upon hearing these sarcastic remarks, he could not hold back immediately and shouted, “Stop!”
Yu Qing halted his steps and looked back, as if asking with his eyes, are you calling me?
Chan Shaoting said, “What do you mean by what you just said? Make it clear.”
As soon as he said this, Yong Zexue and others from Guijian Villa could see that his relationship with the newcomer was not good.
Yu Qing really wanted to know if this person would still be so tough when facing Long Xingyun. He said calmly, “It means nothing.”
Chan Shaoting said, “You threaten people when you want to ‘stop at the point’, and you intimidate people when you do not want to ‘stop at the point’. What do you take people for? Can the Chaoyang Assembly be played like this?”
He actually somewhat despised Xiao Changdao’s despicable methods, but he still considered their position as co-residents, and because he hated Yu Qing even more, he spoke up for Xiao Changdao.
Yu Qing looked at him, and a playful smile gradually appeared at the corners of his mouth. He cursed inwardly that this was a living fool, being played and used by Xiao Changdao and Wu Ronggui, and he really fell for it. So after glancing at the two who were secretly manipulating things, he only gave a faint remark, “Young Master Chan has misunderstood.”
Without a single unnecessary explanation, he simply walked away. This time he could not even be bothered to turn his head. He felt there was no need to help this living fool reflect right now. It would be more appropriate to resolve the misunderstanding later with some details, so he was not afraid that his current attitude would offend the people from Guijian Villa and others.
It was not that he necessarily wanted to make things difficult for Xiao Changdao.
Even though he had realised that his martial brothers had been secretly set up by others on Chan Shaoting’s side.
Even though he had realised that those two fellows had secretly colluded with other participants to pressure Kunling Mountain, forcing them to give up using bows and arrows.
He had not planned to do anything to them before. He himself had not come openly and honestly either. He had another purpose. He did not want to make trouble. Less trouble was better than more trouble. He did not want to bother with these people.
Besides, it was not hard to understand that people wanted to stand out and used some underhanded methods in secret.
Honestly, he had also seen Nan Zhu’s behaviour on the competition ground. Judging from Nan Zhu’s performance after falling into a disadvantage, even he himself felt it was deserved.
He simply deserved a beating.
But the key issue was that before this, if Nan Zhu had not reacted quickly and dodged in time, he would probably have been disembowelled. He had nearly lost his life.
Did this count as stopping at the point?
Yet Xiao Changdao deliberately blurred this point, wanting to mislead the views of bystanders.
Yu Qing could not be bothered to argue with him. The previous underhanded methods in secret need not be mentioned. The despicable methods on the competition ground need not be mentioned either. Whether the promise to “stop at the point” had been kept need not be discussed further. In short, each side had its own position. Saying too much was meaningless.
He was only certain of one point. Xiao Changdao had beaten his martial brother Nan Zhu into serious injury.
This one point was enough. There were not many things he could tolerate. Even if Long Xingyun had injured Nan Zhu, he would not easily let Long Xingyun off. He would definitely settle accounts with Long Xingyun. As for when the accounts could be settled, that was another matter.
Given Long Xingyun’s power and background, he still had such a temperament. How much more so for Xiao Changdao.
Restricted by the rules of the Chaoyang Assembly, he did not dare to make a scene on the spot. He would leave his words here for now and settle accounts later.
And his arrogant attitude of leaving on his own without regard for others indeed angered the people from Guijian Villa and others.
Chan Shaoting’s face had already darkened. He stared coldly at Yu Qing’s departing figure. There was obvious anger in his eyes, as if he was forcibly restraining himself.
The younger sister beside him, Chan Shaoyun, who was quite pretty and delicate, was the first to lose her composure. Her facial expression could be said to have twisted instantly. She shouted in uncontrollable anger, “What an impudent thing. No wonder you were expelled from your sect. Little beard, stop right there!”
Yu Qing had no intention of responding. He continued to leave on his own.
This scene made the observing Ke Ran secretly marvel. He discovered that the person the Grand Walker had sent to monitor was indeed no ordinary individual. He actually dared to disregard Guijian Villa’s face.
He grew increasingly curious about who this person was.
Chan Shaoyun grew even more furious. She stomped her foot and was about to rush forward to teach him a lesson.
Fortunately, her mother Yong Zexue reacted quickly. She suddenly reached out and pressed down on her daughter’s shoulder, scolding slightly, “Yun’er, do not make a fuss.”
Chan Shaoyun stomped her foot again and said, “Mother, this person is too arrogant. He simply does not put us in his eyes. Let me go teach him a lesson.”
Yong Zexue glared at her with her beautiful eyes. “What place do you take this for? If you break the rules, no one can protect you!”
Upon hearing these words, Chan Shaoyun finally sobered up. Indeed, if it were merely Kunling Mountain, Guijian Villa truly would not fear it. But the problem was that the forces of the Yin Kingdom court were also stationed here now. In particular, the Grand Enterprise Bureau was watching like a tiger eyeing its prey. If she dared to cause trouble, even if the Grand Enterprise Bureau killed her, it would be for nothing.
But she still stared hatefully at Yu Qing’s departing figure and snorted, “Dog thing. Do not let me run into you in the future.” She turned her head and asked, “Brother, why did I not see him compete on the field?”
Chan Shaoting replied, “He is the one who drew the odd number. He advanced automatically without competing.”
Chan Shaoyun said, “His luck cannot possibly be this good forever. Brother, if you encounter him in the next round, remember to teach him a lesson for me.”
Chan Shaoting neither confirmed nor denied.
Yong Zexue also fixed her gaze on the departing figure. Her expression was slightly arrogant due to displeasure. She spoke in a tone of dislike, “Has our Guijian Villa been too courteous, causing some misunderstanding? Every Tom, Dick, and Harry dares to jump around. Ting’er, if you truly encounter something that does not know life or death, you should still teach it a lesson when necessary.”
Upon hearing these words, Xiao Changdao was secretly overjoyed. He was currently anxious and worried about being retaliated against by Yu Qing and others later. He was just thinking about how to make use of this side.
He had not expected that this side was already dissatisfied with that side and was going to take the initiative to act.
Chan Shaoting understood his mother’s meaning. He nodded and said, “Yes, son understands.”
Chan Shaoyun at the side clenched her fist, looking extremely hateful. “Brother, do not be polite at all. Beat him to death!”
She spoke so viciously and did not avoid others when talking about killing. Ke Ran, who was listening nearby, could not help but frown slightly. He glanced up and down at this young woman.
The commotion from this side also attracted some attention. Wu Tian and Sun Lianxing and other Kunling Mountain personnel who were negotiating on the host platform all looked towards this side. The latter even signalled for someone to come and take a look.
Nan Zhu was indeed quite severely injured. Both external and internal injuries were serious. Fortunately, Kunling Mountain’s treatment methods were not bad. They had already handled things properly, and people had helped carry him back to the small building on the mountain top.
“It was not that I could not beat that fellow. It was that he was too treacherous. He actually hid mechanisms in his weapon to ambush me. I really lost so unjustly…”
Nan Zhu, lying on the couch, still looked extremely indignant and sorrowful.
Of course, playing the victim was not the most important thing. What was important was pouring out his grievances to Baili Xin. Pouring out grievances was also not important. The key point was explaining that it was not his own incompetence. He desperately hoped that Baili Xin could understand this point.
As soon as he entered his chatterbox mode, Yu Qing and Mu Aotie at the side immediately shut their mouths. The pity in their eyes also immediately disappeared.
This time, Baili Xin was quite unusually patient in listening to Fatty Nan’s outpouring. She did not leave impatiently. It was probably because she saw that he had suffered serious injuries.
The next day was the routine rest day after the first round of competition. It could be considered as giving everyone a day to catch their breath. It also happened to allow the participants to complete a necessary process that did not require much effort, the drawing of lots.
The sky was high with scaly clouds. Morning dew caught the light. Plants and trees glittered. The mountain air was fresh.
Although it was not a competition day, the competition ground was not deserted early in the morning. The spectators arrived in greater numbers than the participants.
The former wanted to watch the excitement. Among the latter, many of those eliminated had lost interest in this drawing of lots. After all, they had already experienced it and already knew what it was about. Those who could still come were either concerned or also there to watch the excitement.
For example, Nan Zhu also dragged his injured body to come.
In the eyes of others, he should be like this. In reality, his injuries had already healed by about seventy to eighty per cent. He did not even dare to let Kunling Mountain people help check his injuries anymore.
As for why his injuries healed so quickly, the three martial brothers knew clearly in their hearts.
Yu Qing and Mu Aotie watched with their own eyes as he played the victim before Baili Xin to win closeness and deceive some physical contact in the form of support. Yet it was not easy to expose him. They could only pretend not to see.
On the field, the remaining forty-five people would continue to participate in the next round of competition. With the experience from the last time, Wu Tian on the platform only needed to give casual directions, and everyone knew what to do.
It was still the old rules. Everyone formed a circle and continued with that immediate marker system.
Up to this point, Yu Qing, who had been staring at Xiao Changdao wanting to settle accounts with him, finally realised a problem. This drawing of lots rule was somewhat interestingly designed. He did not know who designed it. Even if one could cheat, at this stage it was not guaranteed that whoever wanted to find whoever as an opponent could definitely do so.
Dong dong dong dong dong.
The dense drumbeats from behind the platform continued sounding. No one knew at what point the drumbeats would stop.
When the drumbeats suddenly stopped, the people circling stopped. Indeed, the situation Yu Qing did not want to see appeared. The marker position was stuck between him and Xiao Changdao. Importantly, it was stuck in front of him, not behind him.
In other words, when drawing lots, he was ranked in front. Xiao Changdao would draw lots behind him.
Thus, the probability of the two drawing the same match was no longer under his control. It completely depended on Xiao Changdao’s luck. The probability of the two being matched together was too low.
He somewhat regretted not being shameless enough to squeeze in behind Xiao Changdao. The closer he was to Xiao Changdao, the smaller the possibility of their order being disrupted.
At this point, he could not think too much. The first person to draw lots had already thrown out their dart. And his drawing order this time was indeed quite far forward. He was the fifth to draw.
There was no time to think of other things. The smoke that could drift to the front of the platform where the plaques hung on the sacrificial altar was not thick. He needed to concentrate his spirit to execute the Word Observation Technique.
This time, paying careful attention, he discovered that his previous guess was indeed correct.
When the dart shot the wooden plaque, the plaque would indeed strike a certain airflow on the platform. It would create a small shockwave that rippled in all directions. Then, due to the uneven, concave characters on the plaque, the overflowing airflow would display various different chaotic signs. This would further manifest in the movement of the smoke.
Unfortunately, the process of the dart shooting the wooden plaque was too brief. His drawing position was also too far forward. There was no time for him to carefully observe every plaque. He could only quickly lock onto the one plaque whose overflowing airflow was the least chaotic.
If he guessed correctly, the surface beneath that plaque should be the smoothest.
To verify his guess, when it was his turn to draw lots, he unhesitatingly shot the dart in his hand with a whoosh towards that plaque. Then he left the circle to the side to wait for the result to be announced.