After three rounds, the referee determined that one player would advance and the other would be eliminated based on their scores. The referee then consulted both coaches, and the players signed the agreement. The referee then read out the match schedule: "Next match: Player 087, Bai Qian, vs. Player 1001, Li Daxing."
I quickly handed over my credentials. The opposing player was also a big guy. After the referee checked my ID card and player ID, he signaled for both teams to come onto the field.
As Li Kui strode into the arena, he turned back to me with a grin and said, "Watch this!"
Then he turned around and punched the big, pale-faced guy who was waiting to bow to the audience, knocking him to the ground. The audience booed. The referee hesitated for a few seconds before shoving Li Kui aside, issuing a warning, and then saying to the scorekeeper below the stage, "Number 087, two points deducted!"
Li Kui looked at me, bewildered. I said in a weak voice, "Wait... until the referee tells you to hit him..." Then I immediately squatted down and drew circles on the ground with a stick.
Li Kui immediately blushed. He realized that his behavior just now was very dishonorable and despicable. He hurriedly went over to help the big, white-faced man up and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't know. I'll let you hit me three times for nothing later."
The referee was also quite at a loss. The normal procedure was to first introduce the athletes, have them bow to the audience, and then have them bow to each other before the match could begin. Given the current special circumstances, he could only separate the two athletes and then chop downwards with his hand to indicate that the match had officially started.
Li Kui understood this time, but he still cautiously asked the referee, "Can we play now?" The referee said dejectedly, "Go ahead and play—don't talk to me again."
Li Kui leaped like a zombie in front of contestant number 1001. The contestant, having taken a punch from him, knew the burly man was incredibly strong and took a step back in fear. Li Kui offered his face and said, "Here, hit me. It's a deal. Only three hits."
1001 glanced at his coach, who was initially a bit confused, but quickly made a "don't be shy" gesture. The pale-faced man then delivered three powerful punches to Li Kui: a left hook, a right hook, and a low hook. The referee signaled that 1001 had scored three points. Seeing that a loss was inevitable, I shouted, "Fight back!"
Li Kui rubbed his face and said, "Ouch, that really hurts. Fine, I'll hit you then." He swung his fist twice and threw a powerful punch. The pale-faced man raised both hands to protect himself, and while his head and face were unharmed, his body was swept away like a straw in a flood. Li Kui's momentum was too great; he stepped on the man's face and rushed to the edge of the platform. The referee then pushed him aside, saying, "You cannot attack a fallen opponent."
The pale-faced man staggered to his feet. Seeing he wasn't down anymore, Li Kui punched him, knocking him back down, and continued arguing with the referee: "I really didn't mean to..." The referee finally snapped, shoving Li Kui aside and stomping his foot, yelling, "You...do you even know how to fight?" He shouted to the scorekeeper, "Number 087, one warning, two points deducted!"
A guy next to me, waiting for his turn to compete, chuckled and said, "If your guy gets another warning, he'll be ejected." I quickly shouted towards the stage, "Stop fouling!"
The first round ended, and both sides took a one-minute break. Li Kui came to the table and asked gruffly, "How did I play?" The player next to me said, "Not good. You got two warnings and let the opponent score several points. If you keep playing like this, you'll be disqualified before the end of the match." Li Kui and I asked him in unison, "Then what do we do?"
The man sighed and said, "Looks like you guys are self-taught too. Here's what we'll do: wait until he starts hitting you before you fight back. That way, you're unlikely to break the rules." Li Kui and I said in unison, "Great idea!"
Across from us, the pale-faced man was bruised and swollen, his teammates constantly massaging him. His coach glanced in our direction and said, "Good play. Keep it up, draw him into fouls." The man spat out blood and said, "Coach, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up with this tactic..."
The referee checked his watch and waved to both sides. The pale-faced man nervously stepped onto the stage, and Li Kui, also startled by our words, jumped up and down. This time, after the referee started the match, the two stood politely facing each other. The man, of course, dared not make a move easily, and Li Kui was also quite hesitant. After a long while, the two remained exactly as they had been, staring intently at each other, motionless. One could almost suspect that they would simultaneously pout and involuntarily let out a "tsk" sound at the same time.
Out of professional habit, the pale-faced man finally tentatively threw a light punch at Li Kui's glove, but Li Kui still dared not attack rashly. The referee glanced at his watch and suddenly signaled that the pale-faced man had scored a point. I couldn't help but say, "Damn, one point already?" The contestant said, "That's called 8 seconds of inaction, the opponent gets a point." I was about to shout when he slapped me and said, "Don't shout! Giving instructions outside the ring during the match incurs a penalty point."
I plopped down on the ground: "Are you trying to kill us?"
This guy is really something. He rushed onto the stage and yelled, "Hey big black guy, go for it! You can't just not fight back!" When the referee gave him a cold look, he shrugged and said, "I'm not the coach, anyway."
That's the advantage of having a large crowd. The competition was held in an environment like a mule market, where it was impossible to be so serious. There was all sorts of shouting in the crowd, and even if the coach was hiding among them, he would be hard to spot.
Li Kui finally erupted in fury, his fists raining down on the pale-faced man as he yelled in frustration, "Hitting is wrong, not hitting is wrong, do you guys even have any sense of reason?" His opponent, under Li Kui's relentless onslaught, could only protect his head and face with his hands. But we all know the common sense that if someone throws a punch at you, you can parry or block it, but if a sledgehammer comes crashing down, you only have one option: dodge. The man, after taking a beating from Li Kui, staggered, clearly badly injured. Li Kui punched him a few more times, and the second round ended. I smugly asked our off-field coach, "How many points did that beating get?"
"We won't get a single point."
"Huh?" I gasped in surprise. "You beat that kid up like that and still can't score?"
The coach on the sidelines said, "The opponent wasn't down, and you didn't score in their area, so why should you get points?"
The man opposite him slumped onto a small stool and said weakly, "Coach, actually, my initial reason for learning Sanda was for your sister..."
The coach wiped his sweat and said, "I already knew that. Don't think about these things. As long as you can withstand his attacks in the third set, we'll win!"
Upon hearing this, the man said sadly, "You still won't forgive me—"
The referee was also quite agitated. He could tell that in a fight, even ten men wouldn't be a match for Li Kui, but strictly speaking, Li Kui couldn't catch up to him even if he rode a horse. He picked up a cigarette butt from the ground, took a couple of puffs to calm his surging emotions, and waved to both sides, saying, "Come on, you two, hurry up and settle things."
This time, the man, with a death wish, launched a fierce attack on Li Kui as soon as he stepped onto the stage, relentlessly punching and kicking, and even attempting an over-the-shoulder throw several times. However, everyone could see that his punches were light and airy, and his kicks felt like cotton. His so-called over-the-shoulder throws were simply grabbing Li Kui's arm and shoving him in the chest with his back. Li Kui, though seemingly simple-minded, was shrewd enough to counterattack strictly according to the rule of "one punch for every five punches the opponent lands." The man's punches and kicks rained down on Li Kui like firecrackers, while Li Kui's counterattacks were like cannonballs, booming and then silencing for a long while. The man was getting weaker and weaker; his movements became slower and slower, and he staggered. Supporting him was probably his coach's sister. If this were a movie, a bright young woman would have resolutely turned back from the airport at this moment, rushed to the edge of the ring, and burst into tears, and then our hero would rise up... uh, I mean rise up and ultimately achieve victory.
In fact, the outcome was pretty much the same as before, except that the female lead didn't show up. When the man grabbed Li Kui and threw him over his shoulder, Li Kui lost his balance and fell down on him. Then the man was pinned down on top of Li Kui with a groan. The referee ruled that they fell to the ground at the same time, and Li Kui didn't score a point.
So there's no need to calculate anything; Li Kui gets 0 points anyway, and contestant number 1001 wins!
Number 1001 sat limply on the ground, barely alive, as the referee declared him the winner by one hand. Li Kui stood blankly beside him, still asking the crowd below, "Is it over?"
According to competition etiquette, the two coaches should have bowed to each other. The coach of contestant number 1001 glared at me with a fist and palm salute. I waved back and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry to have troubled you." Then I quickly pulled Li Kui away. Li Kui looked back and shouted, "Did I win or lose? Why didn't anyone tell me?"
By then, with many contestants eliminated, the playground wasn't so crowded anymore. I pulled Li Kui out of the crowd, really wanting to kick him in the butt, just like when my dad kicked me when I failed to get into the nearest kindergarten. I pointed to the stands and said to him, "Go back by yourself, I'm going to check on Tang Long." Li Kui finally realized what was going on, and he said angrily, "How could we lose! I'm going to reason with them!" I finally couldn't resist kicking him in the butt and yelled, "Go back!"
Before Li Kui could even react, I headed towards station number 8, looked back at the idiot, and went back dejectedly.
I circled ring number 8 several times but couldn't find Tang Long. I grabbed a guy whose clothes said "Jiangxi Chengcai Martial Arts School" and asked, "Brother, how many matches have been played on this stage? Did you see that guy with pockmarks?"
Cheng Cai: "Pockmarked? I don't remember."
I said, "My surname is Huyan."
Cheng Cai immediately perked up: "You mean Sister-in-law Huyan? Haha, that name is hilarious!"
Yes. How is it?
"This kid had only been on stage for a few minutes when he got hit and spat out an egg. The referee was worried about the danger and stopped the match."
"egg?"
"Yes, and it's perfectly intact. Completely smooth."
The image of someone carrying a bag of eggs and swallowing them one by one flashed through my mind—serves them right, I just realized now that he bought so many eggs but didn't give me a single one!
Our morning's matches are all over, and the result is: a complete wipeout! This is something I never expected!
I walked back to the VIP section with a sullen face. Tang Long was gesticulating wildly as he told his story: "...At the time, I couldn't swallow it, I couldn't spit it out, and I was having trouble breathing when that guy punched me in the chest, knocking my testicles out. I felt so good. Later, the referee said I couldn't compete anymore and that the other guy won. I thought to myself, 'Oh well, he saved my life after all...'"
I kicked the door shut, walked straight to the front, grabbed my water glass, slammed it on the table, and yelled, "You guys are going too far! Do you even want to get fifth place?"
The heroes then noticed that I looked off today. Normally a jovial person, I was now slamming my fist on the table and glaring, and the effect was particularly noticeable. Besides, they themselves felt quite embarrassed about losing both games that morning. Adding to that, they had been drinking heavily every night since entering the city, resulting in their failure to handle any serious matters. They probably felt ashamed too, and remained silent, some awkwardly turning their heads away.
I said earnestly, "Brothers, even if you feel that getting fifth place is an insult to your reputation, even if you're not after that million-dollar travel allowance, can you please help your brothers out? Third Sister was born in 1107, and most of you here are older than her. If we calculate 900 years each, that's tens of thousands of years of karmic connection!" I got so emotional that I paced back and forth in front of them with my hands behind my back. After playing the big shot for a while, I switched to a heartbroken tone: "Take this morning's match, did we lose because we were weaker or because we were less skilled? Neither! We lost because of our arrogance and conceit, because we didn't treat our opponents like human beings—it's so sad, brothers."