"Pfft—" Duan Tianlang spat out a mouthful of blood and gradually slumped down.
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Divine Power Bestowed by Heaven
I watched helplessly as Duan Tianlang collapsed, blood and saliva oozing from his mouth, his face ashen. Instinctively, I reached out to see what was wrong, but the referee, who had been stunned for a moment, shoved me aside. He crossed his arms above his head and waved them repeatedly, loudly announcing, "The match is over! Xiao Qiang from Yucai Martial Arts School wins!" It turned out he was truly dedicated—ending the match the very first second Duan Tianlang fell.
Duan Tianlang's disciples swarmed around him, calling out and trying to help. Their eyes were filled with shock and fear; it was the first time I'd ever been looked at like that. I was bewildered myself, looking around before realizing that tens of thousands of people in the stadium seemed frozen in place. They had jumped and shouted excitedly the moment the referee announced the start of the match, and now that it was over, they were still in the same positions as before: some with fists raised above their heads, some puffing out their cheeks as if blowing trumpets, and others standing still in a leaping posture, like dynamic sketches.
Looking back at the platform, just a minute ago the chairman was leisurely sipping his tea, but now he's raised the cup to his lips, having forgotten to drink, and the scalding tea has already trickled down his neck and into his clothes. The Venerable Master Kubei remains in his meditative state, only his eyes are wide open, even wider than Zhao Wei's.
Ever since I went up there, the heroes had been exchanging knowing glances. Everyone knew I wouldn't even last the first round before I was forced to come down. Except for a few kind-hearted folks who were worried I might actually get hurt, they were all gloating, waiting to see me make a fool of myself. After I punched Duan Tianlang so hard he vomited blood, they stopped laughing... and even "unbelievable" wouldn't be enough to describe their expressions. Zhang Shun, who had been leaning against Ruan Xiaoer with his arm on Ruan Xiaoer's shoulder, was choked by Ruan Xiaoer's saliva and bent over. Zhang Shun then fell straight down like a stick, even bouncing a few times on the ground.
I took the notebook from the bewildered referee, signed my name, and slowly walked off the stage, exuding an aura of dominance. Wherever I went, shrewd guys, having recovered their composure, would slap me on the back of the head: "Not bad, kid!"
I can only ask the heavens in silence: Is this the kind of treatment a protagonist exuding an aura of dominance is supposed to receive?
Just then, two figures pounced on me like lightning. The one in front was Tiger, followed closely by a beautiful woman with narrowed eyes. Looking at these two friends who were so enthusiastically celebrating my victory, I smiled faintly and said, "I only hug women..."
Then Tiger kicked me to the ground. Tong Yuan, who rushed up after me, asked in astonishment, "Do you even know kung fu?" It turned out that these two were both trying to test me.
I'm so glad it was Tiger running in the lead. If it were Tong Yuan who gave me that kick, I'd certainly have to lie down, but I'm afraid it wouldn't be so easy for me to get back up.
I scrambled to my feet, and the heroes immediately surrounded me, all eager to test their skills. It seemed they, too, suspected I had been hiding something all along. I cried out, "I really don't know what happened!" An Daoquan took my pulse for a while, then suddenly exclaimed, "Huh?" Everyone asked in unison, "What?" My heart leaped. Had I unintentionally opened my Ren and Du meridians and truly become a peerless master?
An Daoquan said, "Last time I took your pulse, your body was just so-so, but your yang energy was sufficient. Today, when I take your pulse again, why do you seem to have some signs of kidney deficiency?"
Everyone: "Huh?"
I said sheepishly, "Haven't I been spending all my time with Baozi lately?"
Everyone: "Oh—"
At this point, the audience began to whisper among themselves, and the judges also exchanged murmurs. The chairman let out a scream, threw down his hot water cup, and frantically shook his collar; it seemed his basic martial arts skills were still lacking.
I said to everyone, "Let's go."
I quickly led Haohan and Tiger off the stage, leaving the stunned audience and judges speechless. Afterwards, many martial arts masters remained tight-lipped about the match, unsure how to evaluate it. Naturally, some suspected foul play, but the medical team dispatched by the organizers concluded that Duan Tianlang's heart rate was unstable and that he was indeed vomiting blood. This anticlimactic showdown, like a malicious joke, stirred up a huge storm again after a brief period of calm. "Xiao Qiang instantly defeated Duan Tianlang" became a legend etched in history, and Yucai Martial Arts School became famous throughout the world. The Jingwu Free Fighting Association, the Northeast Taekwondo Hall, and even the already eliminated Yucai Martial Arts Schools from Shanxi, Shandong, and Heilongjiang all sent congratulatory messages, expressing their admiration for Xiao Qiang's unparalleled strength, comparing it to a raging river or the Yellow River bursting its banks…
We returned to the stands. I looked at the heroes, and they looked at me; for a moment, we were at a loss for words. This whole thing had happened so suddenly; even we ourselves couldn't say whether we felt devastated or exhilarated. The second match of the quarterfinals had already begun. The Red Sun Martial Arts School and the Yunnan masters were fighting fiercely, and in terms of excitement, it was far more entertaining than our match, which was accused of being fixed and easily defeated. But the audience was clearly still processing their emotions, with only a few cheers, making me feel particularly sorry for the two teams.
In the end, Lin Chong spoke first, saying, "Xiao Qiang, how are you planning to fight in the next match?"
I sat cross-legged on the table and said, "Things have come to this, there's nothing to worry about anymore, let's go all out. But..." I glanced at Tiger and Tong Yuan, hesitating to speak. They were already showing curiosity and suspicion. If we had lost this match today, the heroes could have already set off for Liangshan.
Lin Chong and Lu Junyi exchanged a glance, and Lu Junyi said, "As for going out to play, that's not the most urgent matter. Let's talk about that later." It was indeed inconvenient to talk with two outsiders present.
I glanced across at Duan Tianlang and his group. Duan Tianlang was leaning back in his chair, his apprentices busy serving him tea and water. He just waved his hand weakly, looking like he was seriously injured. The doctors could only listen haphazardly with their stethoscopes; most of them were surgeons, and after confirming that Duan Tianlang was fine, they were left with nothing but a flurry of activity.
After looking at it for a while, An Daoquan said, "Should I go take a look?"
Lu Junyi nodded and said, "There's not much of a grudge between us. It would be good for Doctor An to go and help out."
Lin Chong said, "I'll go with you."
An Daoquan waved his hand and said, "It's better if I go alone." He opened his small medicine box, checked it over, picked it up, and left. I took out the aphrodisiac recipe he had given me from my pocket and handed it to him, saying, "Give this to the person who needs it most."
An Daoquan glanced at me and said, "Do you not trust my secret recipe, or do you want to anger him to death?"
I quickly said, "No, no, I just felt that if one part of his body gets hurt, it's all the same. It's good if he gets hard in some part of his body first. Don't worry, I've copied this recipe more than a dozen times and put it in different places."
An Daoquan stepped down from the audience seats and walked towards the opposite side. Although he had never been on stage before, Duan Tianlang's disciples recognized him. From a distance, they shoved An Daoquan a few times with unfriendly expressions, but Duan Tianlang eventually stopped them. An Daoquan approached him, took his pulse, and took out two pills from his medicine box for him. Duan Tianlang took them without suspicion, and after a short while, it seemed the medicine was taking effect. He smiled and nodded to An Daoquan.
After watching for a while, Dong Ping said, "Although Duan Tianlang is a bit annoying, he is still quite upright."
When An Daoquan returned, everyone surrounded him and asked, "What happened?"
An Daoquan remained silent at first, shaking his head slightly, as if he couldn't figure something out. Finally, he said, "Duan Tianlang is indeed seriously injured. It seems that his heart meridian was shaken by the violent force." Upon hearing this, the heroes looked at me together, then shook their heads and said, "No, that's definitely not right."
Wu Yong suddenly said, "Do you think he might have been injured in a fight before the competition?" His words were like a wake-up call. Everyone looked at Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu shrugged, "I haven't seen him since last time. Besides, I'm not good at foot combat. If he hadn't been distracted last time, I wouldn't have been able to capture him so easily."
Tong Yuan exclaimed, "Who else could have beaten him up like this?"
The heroes thought for a while and then shook their heads in unison.
Duan Tianlang came to the martial arts competition with the banner of "unrivaled under heaven," utterly confident and fearless. And indeed, he possessed the ability to back it up. For one thing, in this martial arts tournament alone, no one was confident they could defeat him. Xiang Yu was indeed formidable, but judging from his words, if Duan Tianlang were to single-mindedly fight him, he could easily protect himself. Lin Chong and Zhang Qing, being mounted generals, were inferior to him in ground combat, let alone the others.
It's fair to say that martial arts enthusiasts from all over China are gathered here, but finding someone who could seriously injure Duan Tianlang with fists and feet would be extremely difficult. Unless it's a legendary reclusive master, but our area has few mountains in the suburbs and lacks white-bearded old men living in caves.
Unable to find a solution, the heroes decided to go back to sleep. Their original plan was to leave immediately after the competition, so they hadn't slept much the night before due to their excitement. Tiger insisted on taking Dong Ping to dinner, and while Dong Ping's attitude towards him had indeed improved considerably, he clearly showed little interest in eating. Tiger suddenly had a bright idea, mentioning that the fish market near their house had acquired new species. Dong Ping immediately dragged him out—the book subtly suggests that when Dong Ping returned in the afternoon, he actually only bought a few loaches.
Hu Sanniang and Tong Yuan, as usual, stormed into the discount boutique. I asked them when they would fulfill their promise to have a proper fight, and the two women replied in unison, "When can't we fight? A discount is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" With that, they stormed off. Since Hu Sanniang was bald, she could wear all sorts of wigs that Tong Yuan and the others had brought from the bodyguard school; today she was wearing a longhorn beetle braid. Despite being the Black Mountain Demon, she sported such a pure and cute student hairstyle; anyone who saw her must have done something terrible in their past life.
Duan Jingzhu stretched and walked out, saying contentedly, "I told you I'd leave a few days later. I had to finish watching the TV series first."
I grabbed him and said, "Tomorrow is the quarterfinals, and Duan Tianlang is already in such a state, so doesn't that automatically put you in the semifinals?"
Duan Jingzhu slapped my hand away with a smug look on his face: "What are you talking about? It's not like I'm afraid of him just because he's not injured."
Shi Qian was the last one to walk. I asked him, "Brother Qian, are you alright?" Shi Qian waved his hand. His wound was covered in pale yellow powder, almost completely obscuring his face. I smelled it and laughed, "Where did you get that Yunnan Baiyao?"
"Stolen."
"...Where? When?"
Shi Qian pointed to the doctors standing on the sidelines: "I took some while they were examining the fat man."
...