112 Chapter 111: Semfinal (1/2)
Thanks to Bai Ning Xue's gungho approach, there wasn't much evidence I could provide regarding Li Chun Long's attempt to assassinate me. She had incinerated the Treegons into a crisp with her lightning, leaving little of her remains.
Fortunately, what we couldn't provide with physical evidence, we compensated with Bai Ning Xue being an eyewitness. Being the student council president, Bai Ning Xue's testimony was invaluable and considered credible. Of course, it irked me to see the double standards and clear unfairness at play here, but since it worked in my favor for now, I wasn't going to complain.
After reporting the event to Teacher Jiao, who promised to lengthen Li Chun Long's isolation training to a year, I returned to the dormitory to have a good sleep. Little did I know, it turned out that the Treegons were also after Zhu Jiao. While I was the priority, Li Chun Long had also directed his Treegons to assassinate Zhu Jiao right before the semifinal.
As it turned out, Bai Ning Xue had suspected that to be the case, which was why she was stalking us. I realized that I was being overly self-conscious all this while. Bai Ning Xue wasn't looking at me and wondering why I chose to not use my Heaven and Earth Formula. She was primarily concerned with what sort of stunt Li Chun Long and the disgraced, ex-student council members would pull. And it turned out that her intuition was spot on.
I felt extremely embarrassed when I learned about that, but fortunately I hadn't voice out my delusional opinions, or I would be digging a hole to hide myself in right now. Ugh. Well, rather than tell, I might as well show.
”The Treegons were after Jiao as well,” Bai Ning Xue told me. It was shortly after we cleaned up the Treegons and I had just sent a text message to Teacher Jiao. She was poking the ashes of the incinerated Treegon with the toe of her shoe.
”Huh?” I uttered, astonished. I was still engrossed in figuring out how I should kill Li Chun Long without getting caught. I mean, it all fell into place. The bastard obviously resented his defeat by me, and sought revenge. I was responsible for foiling his plans and causing him to get imprisoned for isolation training. Of course Li Chun Long wanted to assassinate me.
However, Bai Ning Xue was staring at me, mystified.
”Their primary target is Jiao. You were just second on their list.”
”…eh?”
That was all I could make out. The possibility that the Treegons were targeting Zhu Jiao didn't even cross my mind to begin with. As ashamed as I was to admit it, I was being awfully self-centered here, only thinking about myself.
Damn, I was ashamed of myself.
”But why…?”
”Are you seriously asking that, when you were the one who found out and exposed the ex-student council members' schemes?” Bai Ning Xue was staring at me with a frown. ”Of course it's because he wants to take out Jiao before our semifinal tomorrow.”
”Oh…yeah. He still hasn't given up on that yet?”
”I wouldn't be surprised if Gu Chun Song was the one who requested him to do so. And Li Chun Long was only happy to agree. He always had a grudge against Jiao for some reason.”
I almost rolled my eyes at that. Did Bai Ning Xue seriously not realize that Li Chun Long had a crush on her, and thus resented Zhu Jiao for hogging all of her affections? Suppressing the urge to tell her – for I didn't have the right to do so – I merely nodded.
”I see.”
”That's why I was following Jiao. I had a feeling Chun Long or Chun Song would pull a stunt like this, and I wanted to be in position to stop it. I knew they would launch an attack!” Bai Ning Xue kicked the ashes viciously.
”Uh…okay.” I wanted to bury my head in the sand. So Bai Ning Xue wasn't staring at me or following us because of me. She had no interest in why I didn't use Heaven and Earth Formula. Damn, but I was being overly self-conscious. I was so glad I didn't voice that out to anyone, especially Bai Ning Xue herself.
I would have died from the embarrassment. Well, I was dying now when I remembered my first question to her.
”What does the rich little misstress of the Bai Clan want with me?”
Nothing. The one she had business with was none other than the protagonist Zhu Jiao. I was just a side character, a minor irrelevance at best, an irritance at worst.
At least she seemed to have forgotten all about that. And she wasn't rude enough to shut me down and focus completely on Zhu Jiao, even asking me about why I ”held back.” I didn't hold back, I just didn't want to murder people for no good reason, and reveal my trump card that easily. If the whole academy knew about my secrets, then I would be in trouble.
Heaven and Earth Formula wasn't something I could afford to let people know about. Not after the Martial Arts Alliance murdered my master. I wasn't stupid enough to announce to the whole world, especially one where the killers of my master held hegemonic rule, that I had learned the legendary Heaven and Earth Formula. The same demonic martial arts technique that my master and his sect were persecuted for.
Only an idiot would show it off in an official tournament that was being broadcasted around the continent.
”Well, I'll go check on Zhu Jiao before I report to Teacher Jiao.”
”I already checked on Jiao.” Bai Ning Xue was staring up at a window before she glanced at her cellphone. I gulped. Did she bug his room or something? Wow, that was some dedication, going as far as to stalk her childhood sweetheart. I didn't know whether I should be impressed or disturbed. ”He's all right. No point causing him to worry about this.”
”…if you say so.”
Not wanting to argue, I complied. With that, I went to report this case to Teacher Jiao, and the rest, as you know, was history.
As an addendum, Li Chun Long had his isolation training extended to ten months. Two months for attacking me after the match had ended, and another two months for the attempted assassination. It was far too little, in my personal opinion, anyway, but without any physical evidence it was tough to prolong his isolation training. Moreover, he failed. If he had succeeded and either Zhu Jiao or I died, the punishment would have been more severe. Apparently.
I had an inkling that the only reason why Li Chun Long wasn't executed or sentenced to death (though he would most likely have been if he had succeeded in murdering either me or Zhu Jiao – according to the martial artists' way, a life must be repaid by a life), was because the Green Dragon Sect had intervened. Furthermore, there was no such thing as life sentences. In this timeline, no organization or nation-state would be merciful enough to keep you alive for a lifetime in prison. They would much prefer to either kill you off and save resources, or put you to work. Why should they feed someone who was doomed to rot inside prison for the rest of his life?
In contrast, isolation training was meant to force the guy to reflect on his actions, meditate, cultivate and grow stronger, so that he could once again contribute to society when he was released. Of course, if he was too dangerous, he would be executed instead of being imprisoned. However, as much as I held a grudge against Li Chun Long for all the things he had done, he technically wasn't that evil to the point where he deserved to have his life terminated. Not from the point of view of the academy or the Green Dragon Sect, anyway.
From their perspective, if Li Chun Long emerged and killed me, then I was too weak. Of course, he would get punished, but only with a slap on the wrist and another few months of isolation training. As long as he didn't go around massacring large numbers of students and indulged in ****, he shouldn't get executed. He would, however, increases the chances of a death sentence if he became a repeat offender and killed a few more, like Zhu Jiao for example.
The guy had to be very careful and toe the line, or even his sect wouldn't be able to protect him in the future.
With that, Li Chun Long and the other student council members went into isolation training, with the exception of Qing Xin Xia, who would only go in after the tournament ended. Right now, even the group stages were all but done, with only a few matches left.
And one of those matches was the long-awaited semifinal between the cliché protagonist Zhu Jiao and the ice princess Bai Ning Xue.
*
”You okay, Jiao?”
I was patting him on the back as he nervously made his way to the coliseum.
”Yeah,” he replied with a nod. However, he was visibly perspiring and I could even see a slight tremor pass through his body. ”I'll be okay. I'll definitely win this!”
”You had better!” Tang Qi Hong said encouragingly, and winked. Lian Rou giggled and waved to spur him on as well.
”We believe in you!”
”Do your best,” Tong Xue added as he gripped Zhu Jiao's arm assuringly. The protagonist-if-this-was-another-story laughed.
”Why the hell are you all sending me off as if I'm going to war or something? Stop that, it's creepy.”
”Well, this will be the biggest match in your life,” Ban Zhang pointed out. ”You have so much at stake here it's not even funny.”
”Yeah. Make sure you don't get dumped. Win the match, and win her heart.”
Everyone stared at me.
”Dude…” Tong Xue moaned.
”Can't you have a little more tact?” Tang Qi Hong snapped. I blinked, confused, as I glanced from one person to the next.
”What? What did I say?”
”It's okay!” Zhu Jiao chuckled. ”I needed that anyway. Thanks!”
He turned away and proceeded toward the preparation room, waving his hand.
”I'll do my best, guys. You just watch!”
As he disappeared, the rest of us nodded and began to make our way up to the spectator box above. Unsurprisingly, there were already many people gathered in the spectator box, eagerly pressing against the window to watch the match of the year. The five of us had to squeeze through the crowd to find relatively good spots.
”Ah, Bai Ning Xue is already there!”
Tang Qi Hong's eyes narrowed. As always, she had a vendetta against Bai Ning Xue. She constantly sought a way to one-up her self-proclaimed rival, even though the latter never took her seriously. To make matters worse, she almost always lost. And even the ones she won were insignificant non-battle matches that Bai Ning Xue couldn't be bothered with (like fashion or something as relatively ”unimportant” as that).
”You had better win, Jiao,” Tang Qi Hong muttered under her breath. I smiled and patted her shoulder.
”Let's believe in him.”
Otherwise I would have to take revenge for him, but honestly, I didn't know if I could defeat Bai Ning Xue. At least not as I was right now.
”Sorry to keep you waiting!”
Zhu Jiao burst into the arena, heaving for a moment before he straightened himself. He then smiled and raised his hands to a fighting stance.
”Sorry for being late.”
”No, it's all right. I'm used to it…I mean, you're just on time.”
A ghost of a smile flickered over Bai Ning Xue's pretty face, and she quickly corrected herself. Unfortunately, her slip (I suspected she did that on purpose) had reached the ears of many students, and all those guys who were chasing her couldn't help but perk up at that.
I thought back to Li Chun Long and Gu Chun Song, who were in isolation training. Even though they were barred from all kinds of media and contact from the outside world, the teachers would most likely send them videos of the tournament seminfinals and final as ”resources” for them to watch and learn. So they would know about this even before they were released. It was a pity we wouldn't be able to see their expressions, though.
It would be hilarious if they emerge from isolation training months later, only to find out that Zhu Jiao and Bai Ning Xue were officially a couple. That would be the ultimate sweet irony. And it would totally serve them right.
”Let's begin,” Bai Ning Xue said. Zhu Jiao nodded in agreement. Seeing no objection, Bai Ning Xue then turned her head up to the speaker. ”Teacher Cai, we're ready to begin the match.”
”Sure.” Teacher Cai's voice boomed out of the speaker. ”The both of you may begin whenever you're ready.”
The spectators collectively held their breaths as they waited.
”Hu…”
The surrounding atmosphere was so thick that you could cut the tension with a knife. The two contestants faced off against each other, and Bai Ning Xue stepped forward to introduce herself as part of the formal ceremony before a duel.
”I am Bai Ning Xue of the White Tiger Sect. My class is 1-4 in the high school division. My specialties are the Living Lightning, Divine Thunder Tiger Formula and Heavenly Thunder Strike techniques. My approximate inner qi level is thirty years.”
By now, everyone was already familiar with Bai Ning Xue. She didn't need to introduce herself, but she did so as a matter of formality. Similarly, everyone knew who Zhu Jiao was, but he stepped forward as part of the ceremony before a duel.
”I'm Zhu Jiao, class 1-4 in the high school division. I'm trying to revitalize the Golden Kirin Sect. My killer move is the Golden Kirin Sacred Beast technique…at least I'm doing my best to restore it under Wu Ling Academy's guidance. My inner qi level is about three sexagenaries.”
Oh? This was a change. Well, it wasn't, to be honest. Throughout the tournament, Zhu Jiao had been using a similar introduction. It appeared that his master had finally allowed him to reveal that he was the successor of the Golden Kirin Sect, with the caveat that he didn't mention the ghostly existence of Qi Lin. Currently, Zhu Jiao was going with a fabricated story about how he was trying to restore the lost martial arts techniques of the Golden Kirin Sect, same as how I was trying to restore the lost techniques of the Heaven and Earth Sect.
The only difference was that I was not ready to reveal my Heaven and Earth Formula to the world. Qi Lin was killed over two hundred years ago, and the Golden Kirin Sect had been lost in time, consigned to history books. In contrast, Master was slain less than three years ago, and the Heaven and Earth Sect destroyed not much longer than that. The people in the Martial Arts Alliance who murdered my master were still alive and around. Therefore I couldn't afford to be careless. Whereas the people who razed the Golden Kirin Sect had been dead for centuries, and nobody cared if Zhu Jiao claimed that it was an orthodox sect.
”All right, let's begin!”
Teacher Cai's voice rang across the arena, and in the next second, both Bai Ning Xue and Zhu Jiao disappeared.
”?!”
”Where did they go?!”
”Fast!”
The spectators gasped and marveled at their superhuman speed. As for me, I had to rely on my glasses to track their movements. I could barely follow them, but I caught sight of a silver blur and a golden blur before they clashed in the middle of the arena. Lightning exploded against golden, fiery qi that was sturdy and unyielding.
At some point, both Zhu Jiao and Bai Ning Xue had drawn their weapons. Zhu Jiao had donned his armored gauntlets whereas Bai Ning Xue had unsheathed her elegant sword. The couple were striking each other fiercely, Zhu Jiao's armored fists deflected by Bai Ning Xue's sleek blade before they could smash into her.