The reason he had made this decision was also that he had come here under false pretences. It was not advisable to drag things out on the contest ground under the gaze of so many eyes. The idea of waiting for someone else to defeat Long Xingyun was not really suitable. Since things had come to this, it was better to handle it himself.
He wanted to settle the matter in a single bout if possible, minimising the time he spent exposed in public.
Seeing that even the drawing of lots had drawn such a large crowd, he was already somewhat regretful. He regretted agreeing to do this for Long Xingyun. Why had he not known to discuss some other solution with Long Xingyun at the time?
At this moment, Long Xingyun was also caught off guard. He had not expected that a single whistle could summon Yu Qing over. When had this fellow become so obedient? It was far beyond his expectations.
And he was so enthusiastic, actually forcing his way over to Long Xingyun’s side. After his initial surprise, Long Xingyun immediately mocked, “You really are like a dog, you cannot resist a whistle.”
Yu Qing could not be bothered to bicker with him. He used Long Xingyun’s greeting as cover to slip behind him and hide in the crowd. There were roughly a hundred people here, so he estimated that the surrounding spectators might not pay too much attention to someone like him.
At the same time, he was also quietly scanning the surrounding stands, searching for Xiang Lanxuan’s figure, wondering in his heart whether Xiang Lanxuan might also be watching on site.
Fortunately, after looking around the venue, he did not seem to see Xiang Lanxuan’s figure. His anxious heart finally relaxed somewhat.
He hoped Xiang Lanxuan would never come to the contest ground. He also comforted himself inwardly that, given that person’s status, position, and strength, she might not think much of such low-level fighting at all.
He had also been praying in his heart that people who knew him would best not come here.
His greatest stroke of luck was that even if someone who knew him did come here, they probably would not recognise him anyway. After all, there was still some visual distance from the stands to here. The people who could appear here were probably not the sort who would know him, right?
The mockery did not achieve the desired humiliating effect. Long Xingyun felt quite uncomfortable in his heart. Seeing the man had ducked behind him again, he immediately turned around too. His gaze fell on Yu Qing’s unrestrained hair. “Hey,” he called out. “What’s with this dishevelled hair? You look like a mad dog.”
Yu Qing was rather sick of this fellow’s mouth opening and closing with nothing but the word “dog.” He raised his hand and brushed aside the shoulder-length, centre-parted hanging hair that half covered his face, saying proudly, “Unrestrained and free!”
This was an outfit he had planned long in advance. It could alter his appearance to the greatest degree and help him avoid being recognised by the audience to the greatest degree. He would finish one bout quickly, defeat the fellow before his eyes, and then hide from people.
The two of them were muttering here, but they did not notice that among the contestants nearby, two women were staring in this direction.
One wore a long white dress. Her figure was slender and soft. A white gauze scarf was stretched horizontally across her face, covering half of it, so her true appearance could not be seen clearly. But from the half-exposed brows and eyes, they were as beautiful as a painting. Her whole temperament looked gentle and quiet. She should be quite a pretty woman.
The other wore a long yellow gauze dress. Her face was also covered with a gauze scarf. Her figure was well-proportioned and graceful. Her brows and eyes were quite good-looking too. It was just that her large eyes flickered constantly. Compared to the quiet woman beside her, she seemed less steady, or one could say she was much more clever and lively.
The woman in yellow seemed to have seen a monster. Her eyes widened as she stared at Yu Qing, who was muttering and cursing back and forth with Long Xingyun. She examined him repeatedly, looking again and again, as if she wanted to stare a flower out of Yu Qing.
After observing for quite a while, once she seemed to have made final confirmation, she gradually became somewhat unusually excited. She nudged the woman in the white dress beside her with her elbow.
Getting no response, she nudged again and again, still not sensing any reaction from the woman beside her. She immediately turned her head to look. Just as she was about to speak, she discovered that the woman in the white dress was already staring fixedly at Yu Qing without letting go. She had actually ignored even her nudging greeting, as if somewhat lost in herself.
Seeing this, she knew the woman in the white dress had recognised him too. She immediately said in a low voice, “Could we be seeing things?”
The woman in the white dress was still staring fixedly at Yu Qing, not uttering a sound.
After asking herself, the woman in yellow answered herself, “I also thought I was seeing things at first. When he brushed his hair aside just now, I saw. It should be correct. It should be him.”
The woman in the white dress’s gaze fixed on Yu Qing was very complicated. Still, she did not utter a sound.
The woman in yellow said in a low voice again, “How did he come here? I did not see his name on the list of those who advanced.”
Not knowing what she had recalled, the woman in the white dress’s eyes flashed with utter misery. She slowly closed her eyes, slowly turned her head back, and when she opened her eyes again she was looking straight ahead, only staring at the host’s platform. In a flat tone, she said, “Whether he comes or not is his own business. It has nothing whatsoever to do with us.”
The woman in yellow was still muttering, “What’s going on? Does he have the strength to advance to this competition zone?”
An index finger, through the gauze scarf, was placed against her lips. The fingernail scraped back and forth across her lip through the gauze, her eyes full of incomprehension.
In a certain corner of the stands, Xiang Lanxuan, in a cloak, stood there with arms folded, staring at Yu Qing, who was huddled together with Long Xingyun. Seeing Yu Qing suddenly appear with dishevelled hair, she more or less knew Yu Qing’s intention. Her face could not help breaking into a wide smile.
She was not only watching Yu Qing. Her gaze also frequently glanced toward the two women in white and yellow dresses. Seeing that the two women had already noticed Yu Qing, she was even more delighted. The meaning of enjoying the spectacle was very obvious.
In a remote corner of the stands, amid a chattering crowd, Wen Xin and Xiao Hong also sat down with fresh faces. Although the stand environment was somewhat crude, just steps dug out of an earthen slope with a cushion laid on top, basically everyone was like this, so there was nothing much to complain about.
The most important thing was that it was their first time at such a grand event. Novelty overwhelmed everything else.
As for the seating order, the two of them were indeed sitting rather far back. They had not been able to secure the good front positions.
The two of them had also asked the Qinglian Mountain side to help get them two good seats. Unfortunately, Qinglian Mountain had failed their trust. The reason given was that people who were not cultivators could not sit too far forward. Once they encountered residual waves from fighting and had no defensive ability, it would be easy for an accident to occur.
As for the real reason, the two of them had no way of knowing. But one thing was certain: the number of people who had used connections to ask Kunling Mountain for good seats was certainly beyond counting.
Thus, the two of them did not possess the Dharma Eye either. With their vision, they could not even make out the appearances of the contestants in the arena.
The seats of Nan Zhu and the others on the stands were still acceptable, neither too forward nor too backward. They had not arranged their seats according to any order either. A whole block of the stands had been specially reserved for contestants who had been eliminated from the bouts. First come, first served, just find an empty seat and sit.
But they had had it hard enough too. Because they lived rather far away, they had assembled into a team before dawn and been escorted here by Kunling Mountain disciples.
Nan Zhu and the others had also seen Yu Qing with his dishevelled hair. One look at that manner, and Nan Zhu was immediately amused. He could guess why Yu Qing was dressed like this.
“Goodness, this is what you call a sea of people. Compared to the previous sparse scattering, this is what the Chaoyang Grand Conference should look like.”
Nan Zhu, looking all around with no one talking to him, began talking to himself endlessly. Occasionally he would strike up a conversation with Baili Xin, who mostly maintained silence.
At the best viewing position on the stands, near the host’s platform, a high platform had been erected. Above it was a shelter from wind and rain. There were also guards standing by the edge of the high platform. Elder Qu of the Qu surname personally led people in guarding this carefully constructed stand.
Anyone with eyes could tell that this stand was for the most honoured guests. The audience made all sorts of guesses. Some guessed it was the Emperor of Yin, some guessed it was the Director of the Grand Enterprise Bureau.
The sun gradually rose. The honoured guests on the high platform delayed their appearance, causing the drawing of lots to also be delayed in starting. Among the full hundred contestants, some were gradually growing impatient. From time to time, someone would shout and ask the host on the main platform when it would start.
For instance, Kui Kui bellowed in a loud voice, “What is Kunling Mountain playing at? Do you want to turn the Chaoyang Grand Conference into a Sunset Grand Conference?”
As soon as these words came out, they drew a burst of approving laughter. Someone even echoed, “You speak with great talent, brother. I admire you!”
Kui Kui laughed heartily, proudly cupping his hands toward those who had played along. Then he continued pointing at Kunling Mountain’s nose and cursing under the gaze of all eyes.
Long Xingyun also followed along, leading cheers and applause.
The faces of a group of Kunling Mountain disciples all turned green, yet they could not say anything.
Not to mention them, even Elder Qu on site could not say much. He well knew what sort of figures were among these contestants. He could only have people repeatedly urge everyone to be a little more patient.
Chan Shaoting, meanwhile, frequently looked toward Long Xingyun’s side, his eyes full of uncertainty and surprise. This was because he had seen Long Xingyun at some occasion in the past. The point of his surprise was not this, but rather that Yu Qing had mixed together with Long Xingyun. Looking at the way the two of them huddled together muttering, they were clearly old acquaintances, and their relationship seemed quite good.
Guijian Villa was indeed one of the notable sword sects in the cultivation world, belonging to the top-tier sects. But compared to Chilan Pavilion, there was still a bit of a gap. It was not that their strength was inferior to Chilan Pavilion, but because Chilan Pavilion was a directly connected household of Qianliu Mountain. This made comparison difficult.
He, Chan Shaoting, was only the young master of some top-tier sect. Yet that young master Long was a young master Long who could swagger in and out of Qianliu Mountain. You let Chan Shaoting go and try.
He did not dare swagger in and out of Qianliu Mountain, yet young master Long dared swagger in and out of your Guijian Villa. This was the gap in status between the two.
Then there were the woman in the white dress and the woman in the yellow dress, who also attracted Chan Shaoting’s gaze from time to time. Although the two women had their faces covered, he could still vaguely recognise them. They should be the two from Sinan Mansion whose arrival he had learned of beforehand.
He was now considering one matter: what to do if he ended up facing the two women and Long Xingyun. The reason he had come to participate in the Chaoyang Grand Conference this time was that his family harboured certain expectations of him. His mother coming in person carried even more earnest hope.
Also, he did not know if it was his imagination, but he felt the two women also seemed to be sizing up Yu Qing from time to time. Especially the woman in the yellow dress was too obvious in her behaviour, almost staring at Yu Qing the entire time. He somewhat suspected whether the two women also knew Yu Qing.
Was it because of the identity as the Great Archer, or because of the identity as a disciple of Longguang Sect?
On the high platform of the VIP seats, Zhan Yunqi suddenly arrived in a hurry. He quickly stepped up to Elder Qu and saluted, then leaned in close to report in a low voice, “Her Ladyship is not coming.”
Elder Qu was taken aback. “Not coming? But everything is already prepared.”
Zhan Yunqi explained, “Her Ladyship said it is just drawing lots, a matter of no more than a moment’s effort. She cannot be bothered to run back and forth. She said she will come again tomorrow when the opening bouts begin.”
Elder Qu: “Are the others not coming either?”
Zhan Yunqi: “They are all coming. The prince, the princess consort, and the princess are all coming. They are already on their way. The sect master sent me ahead to inform you, and to have the seating here rearranged.” He pointed to the seats arranged on the platform.
Elder Qu nodded repeatedly. He quickly called the disciples over and directed them to rearrange the seats. First, they removed that luxurious large seat placed in the very centre.