Hell As If I Care. I’m Top Dog Here.
Lang Qing welcomed himself in and questioned Gu Xianxian as though he was stepping into his own home, so, despite not being to read his mind, I didn’t have a hard time figuring out what images Gu Xianxian conjured in his mind.
“That’s my question! What are you her for?! This is my room!”
Lang Qing stared at us for a while. “So it was you,” he remarked whilst smiling with his head tilted sideways.
For as long as I had been in the base, Lang Qing had been drinking and keeping to himself, yet, even if you accounted for his ungroomed beard, there was reason to dislike him. To the contrary, you’d think he oozed the masculinity that Gu-Xianxian-like pretty boys lacked. As much as it pained him, even Gu Xianxian couldn’t deny that Lang Qing had the charm and competence to charm women.
“Yeah, it’s mine. What about it?”
“Nothing. It’s not an issue for you to be here.”
Lang Qing’s composure caught Gu Xianxian off guard, although Lang Qing’s maturity must’ve come off as an offence rather than something appreciated.
In a low voice, Gu Xianxian voiced, “H-he said ‘nothing’? He’s messing with me!”
“Maybe he’s cultured,” I suggested.
“Cultured? More like shameless!”
Lang Qing started going through the items in the room as if we weren’t there, prompting Gu Xianxian to thunder, “What are you doing?!”
Lang Qing didn’t respond until Gu Xianxian yelled for a third time. Even then, Lang Qing lazily replied, “Mrs. Gu asked me to pick up an item. I shall leave once I find it.”
Gu Xianxian sneered. “Why would my wife need you to grab something for her?”
“How should I know? She is your wife. Why don’t you ask her?”
Gu Xianxian felt as though his heart was being deformed from pain. “You think I was born yesterday? Even Zero respects you, yet you take orders from my wife?”
Lang Qing looked back at Gu Xianxian for the first time. “Since when do I have to explain myself to you?”
“Fine. I shall save you the trouble!”
Gu Xianxian’s martial arts skills were limited to cudgel skills. He could throw kicks and punches, but his hand-to-hand combat was nothing special. Well, Lang Qing was supposedly a broadsword wielder, so maybe it balanced out?
“Man, this is epic. He trying to crack, crack, crack, but the other man counters, and, pak, pak, then follows up with a bang, boom, bang, boom, dang, dang, dong. Oh, ooh, oh, nice. And, dong, chang, whoa, nice. That’s, oh wow. That was killer, son.”
“Can you stop with the sound effects?! How about giving me a hand?!”
Don’t say that.
Back in the day, Shaolin combined music with dance. They were a match made in heaven. Look, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to help. The problem was, you see, when it came to hand-to-hand combat, it wasn’t my field of expertise. Watching the two of them, all I could see was the two putting on a choreographed-like routine. I had no idea why they wouldn’t just kill the other already.
Young Shiyi said I was broken when it came to counter fighting. When it came to technique, I’d leave the audience wondering what exactly I was doing even though I knew what I was trying to do. When it came to martial arts, Sixth was an encyclopedia. If we were to perform on a show, it might as well have been him performing alone and me collecting the ticket fees.
Back on topic.
The secret signal really was just Gu Xianxian letting Lang Qing catch him and serving six big slaps before throwing him aside. Even if I was technically ignorant, I could tell how big the gap between them was. If I didn’t step in, Gu Xianxian wouldn’t survive. Did I care about what happened to his face? No. However, I didn’t want to risk myself being next.
“Let’s stop short.” I stepped in between them to break them up. As elites of internal disciplines, the two of them were tough to split up since they both combined qi in their movements. That was why I timed it right after Lang Qing threw aside Gu Xianxian and had yet to decide on killing Gu Xianxian. That way, I wouldn’t have to expend energy and could keep their residue qi from hitting the other.
Lang Qing flinched at my two-hundred IQ strategy, letting a fearful expression come to his face.
Oi! Work with me here! What’s with your “This guy might be fun to fight” look?! Stop before I run off!
Thankfully, Gu Xianxian had enough rage and determination to get back to his feet. He placed a shaky hand on my shoulder and uttered, “Bro, st-step back. I got it.”
Yeah, yeah, go ahead.
Gu Xianxian didn’t recklessly charge in this time. Alas, he was too inferior skill-wise, not to mention he was emotional. Before he could engage in any competitive exchanges, Lang Qing sent him reeling yet again. Gu Xianxian had blood dripping down the side of his face, and the bruises on his face kept increasing.
“Aren’t you embarrassed? This is all you’ve got?” mocked Lang Qing.
“Kill me if you can, big mouth, or I’ll make sure you’re six foot underground today!”
“I’d like to see you try.”
I didn’t know much about Lang Qing. However, speaking from experience, broadsword wielders with his dress up had an easier time killing people than butchering chickens, and they had no issues doing it in cold blood. If Gu Xianxian riled up Lang Qing with his reckless fighting, Lang Qing would make sure to kill Gu Xianxian even if it cost him an injury. That wasn’t the ending I was after.
“Hang on,” I interjected.
“What do you want now, bro?”
Gu Xianxian put himself at a huge disadvantage from the beginning with his emotional state, and then his lack of experience in comparison compounded his weaknesses.
“If you want revenge, follow my instructions.” I stepped in between the two of them again.
Lang Qing placed his right hand behind his back. “Step aside.”
I looked back at Lang Qing. “There is one universal word everyone must submit to.”
Lang Qing stepped forward with his hostility on his sleeve. “You want to reason with me?”
I shook my head. “And that word is ‘power’.”
Gu Xianxian: “Huh?”
“Might makes right. That’s only truer for us folks in the pugilistic world. We speak of loyalty, but, when it comes down to it, the stronger man has the final say. What do you think?”
“Hahaha, you abuse your power when it’s everyone else you’re dealing with, and now you worship power? I’m sick of your nonsense. I’m not Zero. That doesn’t work on me. Now, move.”
“You’re mistaken, Brother Lang.” I shook my head again. “I never said you’re strong.” I pointed to myself with my thumb and clarified, “I’m the strong one.”
“You?”
I pulled out the most exaggerated facial expression I could. “I’m motherflipping strong. Haven’t you heard of ‘Killer 3000.0, 1-on-1 King Zh-, Wu Ping’? I’d school ten of you on my own, so I what I say goes today!”
Following a chuckle, Lang Qing’s tension faded. “There is only one 1-on-1 King. He is undefeated in the Western Regions and has even defeated Demon Sect’s Ximen Chuideng. They call him Western Emperor of the Night, Śakra. He is the leader of the Western Regions’ Lotus Cult and never shows himself in public.
“He crushed all competition in the Western Region’s seven states. He is the strongest man alive, the symbol of power and the goal for any martial artist. I wanted to visit him when I visited the Western Regions, but it was impossible to be granted an audience with him.
“You call yourself a 1-on-1 King, too? How curious.”
All because I mentioned that baldy, Lang Qing and I decided we’d spar tomorrow night at the same time in the very room Kuanggu Sheng and Tiangou faced off. Lang Qing was dead set on showing me that my blood was red.
Gu Xianxian: “Brother Wu, you are truly my brother from another mother. I must’ve been blind to have not realised you were such a good friend before this.”
“Well, you better be more observant from now.”
“Are you really going to fight him tomorrow?”
“I was just scaring him. Go eat another beating tomorrow.”
“?!”
I treated Gu Xianxian at the dispensary before going back to my room.
Making Gu Xianxian rematch Lang Qing tomorrow night was the last resort. Although my better alternative was a hassle, it was worth the hassle. Why was I troubling myself with the issue? Because I couldn’t recruit Lang Qing, and I couldn’t beat him, either. I couldn’t ask for anything more than having a legitimate excuse to get him off the guard team. How was I going to win? Come on now. Cheating! Cheat my way to a win!
I opened the door to my room and shouted, “Younger Yan, we have a job. Get up!”
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