Capítulo 25: Corvine Mouth
The next night, Songcheng University's martial arts hall was brightly lit and packed with people. Everyone was waiting eagerly for the opening ceremony of the annual National University Martial Arts Competitions.
Lou Cheng waited for Yan Zheke outside the women's locker room. When she came out, he passed her the cute notebook with a grin and said, "Liang Yifan's autograph. I tore a page for myself."
Yan Zheke's eyes widened with surprise. She took the notebook and flipped to the two pages where Liang Yifan had signed and exclaimed.
"You, you managed to get his autograph... Thank you very much!"
Lou Cheng tried his best to remain as calm and collected as possible. He smiled warmly and said, "You're welcome! You don't need to thank me. Didn't you also give me some medicine?"
Reciprocating her favor was only an excuse that he was using so that the situation would not become too awkward for the two of them.
"Oh yes, I did." With a thoughtful look, Yan Zheke nodded lightly, and said, "I was about to say I could treat you to a meal, but since you have said it, thank you for the autographs anyway."
"Huh? Treat me to a meal? So this means a date? Did I just miss my perfect chance?" Lou Cheng was stunned. He was filled with regret for talking so much! For explaining so much!
"Actually, I don't mind a treat..." he said shyly.
Yan Zheke said with her eyes glittered. "Didn't I already return the favor with the ointment? Why do I still have to treat you to a meal?" Without waiting for Lou Cheng to respond, Yan Zheke beamed and with her pretty dimples showing, she added, "Since you have missed this opportunity, you can only wait for the next chance."
"I will pick an expensive place next time!" Lou Cheng tried to use a joke to soothe the pain and regret in him.
"Expensive meal? Then I will probably not give a treat then..." Yan Zheke teased.
"Alright, alright. My fault. If Yan Zheke treats, even if it's street food, I will gobble it down like it is the most delicious thing in the world!" Lou Cheng clasped his hands together and answered her in a joking manner.
Yan Zheke tilted her head and good-naturedly said, "Gobble it down? Can you eat a lot? Maybe I shouldn't treat you then..."
"... Just look at my sincere eyes," Lou Cheng felt an urgent need to make an expression that could be found in a sticker pack of a chat application.
"Oh yes, why do you have such a girly notebook?" Yan Zheke giggled and tried to change the topic.
"I bought it especially for the autographs. A manly guy like me will never use a notebook," Lou Cheng joked.
"Oh..." Yan Zheke looked at him, amused by his words. She was about to say something when Guo Qing waved to her.
"Cheng, I'll go over first. I have some stuff to settle." Yan Zheke pointed at Guo Qing.
The cheerleaders would be trying to get the crowd fired up tonight. They need to warm up the people, get them to clap and cheer, especially since this was a live broadcast, so they couldn't afford quiet moments on the screen.
As Lou Cheng waved goodbye, Cai Zongming, who was nearby, leaned over and said seriously, "Cheng, do you know how I feel after hearing your conversation?"
"What?" Lou Cheng braced himself for a sarcastic attack.
"I was trying so hard not to laugh! Can't hold back any longer! Hahaha!" Cai Zongming cracked up. "You talked too much! You looked for an excuse! You didn't ask me for advice! Your date is gone now, right? Filled with regret yet? Heart aching yet?"
Lou Cheng glared at him. "Little Ming, come here."
"For what?" Cai Zongming asked with caution.
"Let me strangle you!" Lou Cheng said sternly. "We should go and maintain order."
Today's event required some order. The pair in Songcheng University martial arts suits moved toward the holding area for guests. Presidents, vice-presidents, and coaches of the various schools from the Partition Contest were present. As for the top two Martial Arts Club of the Partition Contest, which were also the representatives of the host district, Shanbei University Martial Arts Club and Sanjiang College Martial Arts Club, both their main and substitute members were invited to join the competition.
In their midst, Shanbei University Martial Arts Club as the defending champion would have to go on stage later to draw lots to determine the competing order of the rest of the competitors.
...
After Yan Zheke walked to Guo Qing, she did not mention anything about the notebook and Liang Yifan's autograph. She only talked about how the cheerleading team could help warm the crowd up.
During their discussion, when they touched on the topic of Liang Yifan hosting the drawing lots segment, Guo Qing seemed to recall something, and said, "Ke Ke, I heard that last night Cheng was crazy cool."
"What did he do?" Yan Zheke asked curiously.
"While the deputy head of the security team was watching, he stepped out from the security team formation and asked for Liang Yifan's autograph. When the deputy head demanded that he returned to his position through the walkie-talkies, Lou Cheng simply switched his walkie-talkie off! Totally calm and collected, without any fear." Guo Qing continued with her gossip, "Fortunately, Liang Yifan did not mind, and the deputy head just reprimanded him and he was off the hook..."
While listening to Guo Qing, Yan Zheke bit her lips and a subtle glow came into her eyes. Her lips arched slightly and her right hand stroked the notebook's cover lightly.
...
A young man, smartly dressed in a black tuxedo and tie, stood at the aisle of the guest holding area. His position overlooked the male locker room of the Songcheng University Martial Arts Club. He sniggered and whispered to his partner beside him, "This year Songcheng University has Lin Que in their team. It will be worth watching. Catch the matches, if you can."
"Club Manager, so what if there's Lin Que. Why should we, Sanjiang College, care about them? In the old days, you would have been worshiped as a God!" Next to him, a tall but childish-looking youth casually passed a blandishing statement.
"No, no, you flatter me. It would only be because the people in the old days didn't know better and hadn't seen enough." The tuxedo man beamed proudly. When he did so, his feet left the ground and he was floating at least 10 centimeters above the ground!
He kept his floating stance and drifted along the aisle to the seats at the back of the guest area.
The rows of the guest area were arranged in an inclined slope. As the tuxedo man floated past a few rows, a familiar voice called out to him. "Qu Hui, you haven't changed a bit, as shameless as ever."
The tuxedo man, Qu Hui, turned around to find out who called out to him. A young man in a white martial arts suit stood at the edge of a row, with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He was about 1.80 meters tall, with thick bushy eyebrows and heavy dark eye rings. He seemed fatigued and had not slept for many nights.
"Hey, Xu Wannian, you also haven't changed at all. Still the same ruffian look." Qu Hui sneered. "No matter how shameless I am, at least I wouldn't be defeated by a new member of the club."
Shanbei University Martial Arts Club President, Xu Wannian, gave a tight smile and said, "There's no need to provoke me or stir anything. I respect my Junior Peng's ability and have nothing to be ashamed about. Alright, I'll stop bickering with you. Watch your step and don't fall."
After watching him return to his seat, Qu Hui continued drifting toward the rows at the back and questioned the youth beside him, "There must be something wrong with Xu Wannian. Since when was he so quick to stop?"
"Yes, there must be something amiss, or else he wouldn't have missed the chance to curse that you'd trip and fall. You're floating in midair, how would you trip and fall?" The tall, childish-looking young man said in a joking manner.
"If there is anyone who would fall in this crowd, it would not be you, our President!" The other Sanjiang College Martial Arts Club members echoed.
Qu Hui was little confused and felt funny. He could not help but turn back to look toward Xu Wannian while drifting to his seat.
"Is there anything else between those lines?"
Bam!
Just as Qu Hui turned back, he bumped face-first on to a pillar that was supporting the roof of the dome. His nose was so sore that tears trickled down his cheeks. Then, at that moment, he forgot to maintain his supernatural ability and fell backward. The rest of the team members tried to catch him.
"Damned! What kind of building is this! A pillar in the middle of a walking path!" The childish-looking young man angrily started to blame the pillar.
At this moment, they were nearly at the last row.
Qu Hui floated again. His tuxedo was still crisp and neat with no signs of wrinkles. He looked at Xu Wannian grudgingly and said, "I actually tripped..."
Such a big pillar, but no one, including himself, had noticed it!
After seeing Qu Hui's pillar knocking scene, Xu Wannian turned to the rows occupied by his club members, the Shanbei University representatives, and said, "See that?"
"Senior Brother Xu, is that your supernatural ability?" The members of the Martial Arts Club asked openly. A good-looking young man with a freckled face pursed his lips while some thoughts ran through his mind.
Xu Wannian proudly said, "Right. In the past, I never thought so, I always assumed that I was just a 'Corvine Mouth', the good things I speak of may never come true, but the bad ones always will. Fortunately, Junior Xu noticed it, and he looked for someone to help me hone this special ability."
While sharing his history, he patted the shoulders of a young man next to him.
"Huh?" Looking lost, that young man turned to look at who had tapped on his shoulder.
While everyone was chatting happily, he was actually out of sorts and in his own world.
"Nothing, Junior Peng. You can continue to ponder about your biological challenges and life goals." Xu Wannian let out two laughs and patted Peng Leyun's shoulder again.
Peng Leyun's skin was as smooth as that of a girl, with some facial hair around his mouth. His looks were not outstanding, but he looked clean. After he heard Xu Wannian's words, he turned back, and with a blank stare, he said, "Think about life."
"Senior brother Xu, this supernatural ability of yours, to what extent can it be used?" The junior with a freckled face asked.
Xu Wannian replied good-naturedly, "For now it just interferes with my opponent. The worst is a splitting headache and no side effects."
After saying that, he pointed at the two people who were making their way up the rows and said arrogantly, "I'll show you all again."
Following instructions blasting from the walkie-talkies, Lou Cheng and Cai Zongming walked toward their assigned positions. Just as they had climbed a few steps, they heard a voice. "Hey, you there."
Lou Cheng turned toward the voice and saw the bunch of young students dressed in the Shanbei University martial arts suit. He was puzzled as to why they would call him.
"What do they want from me? Is Peng Leyun here?"
With a questionable smile, Xu Wannian said, "It's a little slippery in the front. Someone fell just now. You should be careful too and not fall too."
"Oh, thank you," Lou Cheng responded with gratitude.
Suddenly, the Jindan in his abdomen did a little jump, and the nebula began to expand and contract quickly.
Uh? Lou Cheng stopped in his tracks. The Jindan reverted to its original form and stopped acting up.
"What's wrong?" He frowned while thinking. Though he was trying to understand what just happened, he continued to walk up the steps with Cai Zongming.
One step, two steps, three steps... they reached the last row and turned to look over the entire stadium.
"What? Why didn't it work?" The Shanbei University Martial Arts Club members who were waiting to see Lou Cheng fall were shocked.
Nothing happened to him!
Xu Wannian was also surprised. He stood up and stepped onto the aisle to make sure that he did not miss anything. Lou Cheng was truly still standing upright and smiling brightly.
What went wrong? Xu Wannian was confused and he turned back.
At this moment, he missed a step! He could not regain his balance in time and was about to roll to the bottom of the steps!
A hand stretched out and held on to him firmly, helping him to regain his balance, preventing that embarrassing fall.
"The soul of language can sometimes fail, and when it does, there will be a boomerang effect," Peng Leyun said with an unfathomable look in his eyes. Nobody noticed when Peng Leyun left his world and returned to everyone else's world.
"Huh? Junior Peng, what just happened?" The now standing steady, Xu Wannian asked in a surprised tone.
Why would he fail?
Peng Leyun shook his head to express that he did not know the reason for the failure. Then, he looked away and mumbled to himself.
"I smell the scent of the stars..."
His eyes went back to being empty and blank.
Capítulo 26: Drawing Lots
Xu Wannian still hadn't recovered from his shock before the launching of the opening ceremony of the National University Martial Arts Competitions, which began with an instrumental performance by the philharmonic orchestra of Songcheng University, followed by the graceful dancing of the young and lively dance company.
"We can sleep for a while after watching the dance." Cai Zongming yawned naturally.
Lou Cheng deliberately made an expression of fear. "At the school's opening ceremony, the principal talked nonsense for over an hour and a half. Think he'd get knocked out if he did the same thing again?"
"I can't tell whether he will be hit today, but he's not the only one who has been talking nonsense. I watched a video a couple days ago about last year's opening ceremony. The chairman of the Martial Arts Federation made a speech that was so long it both remained fresh in my mind and also nearly put me to sleep." Cai Zongming said with a "righteous" look on his face.
Honored guests of the Martial Arts Club of Shanbei University were seated in the front row. Listening to the speech of the president of Songcheng University, Xu Wannian looked weary. He wanted to sleep yet didn't dare to, since it a live telecast.
"He's just going on and on..." a delicate-looking boy with freckles on his face next to him said as his mouth twitched. "Brother Xu, could you use your 'Misfortune Seer' tactic on the old man to make him forget what he was going to say, or lose his notes, or make his blood pressure go up, something like that?"
After a short silence, Xu Wannian sighed. "I want to, but he's too f*cking far away!"
He looked toward Peng Leyun next to him. "In times like this, I admire and worship Junior Brother Peng the most. He can reflect on life and go on a mental journey whether or not there's someone around talking nonsense. I honestly suspect that he just has a supernatural ability to sleep with his eyes open!"
"I also envy Brother Leyun. He can be lost in thought while he is still talking." Another member of the Martial Arts Club echoed the opinion.
"All of you, lower your voices," said the instructor of the Martial Arts Club of Shanbei University sitting in the front row after turning his head. With his hair all white in middle age, he had sunken eyes and an old-fashioned temperament. He was well respected in the Martial Arts Club, so everyone shut their mouths immediately.
Half an hour later, Cai Zongming became drowsy, his eyes glazing over.
"Cheng, we should talk to each other. Otherwise, I will fall asleep and roll down from the steps. If that happened, I'd be a running joke all over the country!"
"I guess the principal may finish his talk soon. There are so many guests today, and every one of them has to say a few words. If the principal takes too long, the opening ceremony won't finish until dawn." Lou Cheng attempted to comfort himself.
The atmosphere that had been created by the music and dance a moment ago had already frozen over.
Lou Cheng had barely finished speaking when the principal abruptly brought his speech to an end, made a salute and got down from the platform. It seemed that the principal was unsatisfied about the time limit of the speech.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
There came a roar of thunderous applause in the gym, practically blowing the roof off the place.
Feeling as if they'd escaped from a great catastrophe, Lou Cheng and Cai Zongming also clapped their hands forcibly, showing their thanks to the principal for his mercy by releasing them from the long-winded speech.
"Next, we shall invite Mr. Fang Jingjue, the Chairman of the National College Martial Arts Federation to give a speech." The host invited the next guest.
"..." With his mouth agape, Cai Zongming said, "Cheng, we'd better talk to each other."
Eyeing the front, Lou Cheng watched the cameras at each position and murmured.
"About what?"
"Do you know about the special competition format for martial arts competitions in teams?" Cai Zongming threw himself into the topic with his heart and soul.
"I don't live under a rock, how could I not know? Under normal circumstances, each party may send three fighters to fight one by one in single combat, during which the winner stays and the loser leaves. The first party to have all three candidates defeated is out of the competition. However, sometimes it's allowed to apply for a special competition format in which all three candidates from each party come on the stage to fight. That way they can fully display all the unique aspects of that certain kind of martial arts." Lou Cheng casually talked about the special competition format, while listening to the unending speech by Chairman Fang Jingjue.
Cai Zongming answered with a smirk, "Then do you know what they say about the special competition format?"
"What?" Lou Cheng became interested.
Cai Zongming grinned. "It is said that during the initial establishment of the Professional Martial Arts Competition, the Xuanwu School went to the leader of the martial arts realm at that time, Master Lin Zhongxun. They said to Master Lin that the competition format was not fair, for their school-based itself on swords formation and was good at the 'Sanyuan Dingguan Swords Array (three-man swords array).' If they were going to fight one by one in single combat, what was to stop the others from taking advantage of their weakness?"
"Ah, that's right! Some schools are better at joint formation than single combat. The ordinary competition format truly is unfair to them," said Lou Cheng.
Cai Zongming replied with a laugh, "Master Lin also thought so. So he formulated a special competition format where if the application was put forth in advance, one school could send three disciples in at the same time to do a set swords formation. The opponent could fight with a three-person formation or have the three substitute fighters together."
"This sounds quite fair, a school poor at formation holds the advantage in number. Why is that so funny?" Lou Cheng gazed at Cai Zongming, puzzled.
Cai Zongming stifled his smile and said, "Hearing this, the Master of Kongtong School couldn't help but go to Master Lin to seek equal treatment. He said to Master Lin that Kongtong School was good at 'Five Directions and Five Elements Formation', and three disciples were far too few to meet the demand."
"Seems to make sense..." Lou Cheng said in hesitation.
Cai Zongming continued. "The Shangqing was beside the Kongtong School, and they couldn't ignore it hearing them talk like this. How else could they suffer such an injustice? 'Master Lin, please show some consideration for the 'Big Dipper Sword Formation' of Shangqing Sect!' What do you think, didn't this put Master Lin in an awkward position?"
"This truly was a specific problem. Master Lin would have to rack his brain to find a more comprehensive competition format..." Lou Cheng said, furrowing his brow.
"At that time, the Buddhist abbot of the Daxing Temple came in. He stared at Master Lin and mentioned the Five Hundred Arhats Formation..." Clapping his hands, Cai Zongming continued, "Well, Master Lin just told them to get out!"
Lou Cheng couldn't help but burst into laughter. "That's true. There is nothing in the world that can satisfy everyone."
They seemed to be entirely absorbed in listening to the speech with a smile on their face when they were chatting with each other. Talking and laughing, one guest came up after another. They enjoyed the song and dance in between, waiting until "Light in Still Night" Liang Yifan, came onto the stage.
It was necessary for Yan Zheke and others to take the lead, as the martial arts gym had exploded in the clamor.
This was not only because of the personal charm of Liang Yifan, but also due to the "efforts" made by the guests in the front row!
"I'm not the best speaker, and I know that you all are eager to see the results from the drawing. So at this moment I just want to declare my sincere wish that National University Martial Arts Competitions will be better and better, have a deep lasting impact and provide an opportunity for the youth who had missed training when they were younger!" Liang Yifan said knowingly.
"Great!" Cai Zongming, Xu Wannian and others were amongst the first to applaud. Seeing the smiles of everyone in the gymnasium, one could clearly sense the feeling of warmth amongst the people there.
The projector started and behind Liang Yifan a screen showed up, on which there was the roster for the district contest. However, the fighting competitors were still left blank.
According to the competition format, there would be four groups within this region. The top four participants of the region last year would enter the group competition directly as seeded players, while other schools should enter corresponding groups through two rounds or three rounds of individual competitions. The one who got the left side during drawing lots would enjoy home advantage.
The group competition was carried out in a single cycle, and the home field was determined according to last years results. The top eight would enter the Top Eight Knockout, and the top two Knockout would participate in the national finals as representatives of their region.
The master of ceremonies and the host then put two boxes, a large one and a small one, on the stand in front of Liang Yifan. He drew out the seeded team of each group from the small box.
"Group A," Stretching his hand inside, Liang Yifan took out a piece of paper, then unfolded it and said out loud, "Shannan University Martial Arts Club."
They had gotten third place last year.
"Group B... Shanbei University Martial Arts Club!" Liang Yifan didn't skip a beat as the coaches in the gym stared at each other in dismay; the other participants on group B could only fight for second place.
"Group C... Sanjiang College... Group D... Haiyuan School." After drawing the seeded player of each group, Liang Yifan made a bow with his hands folded in front and left the platform, while the other guests continued to draw for the teams in each knockout.
Lou Cheng's heart was in his throat, and he realized that he already cared about the honor of the Martial Arts Club.
The fact that Songcheng University Martial Arts Club was not among the Knockouts of Group A made him somewhat regretful. Compared to Shanbei and Sanjiang, the other two martial arts clubs were not so scary.
"Group B, the third Knockout, Home Field..." Drawing out the paper, the guest spoke out, "Songcheng University Martial Arts Club!"
"Holy shit! Turns out to the most difficult group..." Lou Cheng felt a little depressed.
"No big deal, perhaps the other opponents were weak? It's OK if we can make second place." Cai Zongming always looked on the bright side of things.
The guest then drew out the opponent for Songcheng University - Neihai Normal School.
"That's okay." Lou Cheng breathed a heavy sigh of relief as Neihai Normal School was known as a weak team.
As the opponent for the second round of Knockouts would come from Qin Yang and the other weak school, the odds would favor Songcheng to enter the group competition.
When the drawing was finished, it was already late into the night. After coming back to their dorms, they were all too exhausted to pay attention to the news and went to sleep one after the other.
The next day, Lou Cheng returned to the dorm in the afternoon. He searched for news about the opening ceremony of the National University Martial Arts Competitions. Everyone was still following everything quite closely due to Liang Yifan attending.
In the Longhu Club forum, Lou Cheng found some posts below the front page where there were video news and a featured program made by Songcheng TV Station.
"Featured program?" Without reading the comments below, Lou Cheng skimmed one time through the news video and set his mind at rest after verifying there was no footage of him and Cai Zongming chatting and laughing. However, when he clicked the feature program of Songcheng TV Station, he caught sight of his own face!
"Very excited and thrilled. Umm, I'm really honored," said dimwittedly, with an idiotic smile on his face.
That was the time they were interviewed as onlookers outside the Martial Arts Club during the orientation conducted inside... Recalling past events, Lou Cheng opened the door of his dorm and shouted toward the opposite side. "Talker! Little Ming! Come and watch this, we're on the TV!"
Originally, when the interview had finished, they'd both eagerly looked forward to seeing their faces on TV, and would watch the Songcheng TV Station now and then. However, they never saw their faces and soon forgot about it. Who'd have known that this interview was part of the program? They hadn't thought it wouldn't be broadcast until the opening ceremony of the martial arts competitions.
"Really?" Cai Zongming came in and asked Lou Cheng to play it back. "Whew! Nice! I've got a handsome smile, not like a certain someone who seems clumsy and dumbfounded. Let's take a look at the comments, any words of praise for me?"
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