Legend of Fu Yao

Guo Pingrong remained expressionless as he cleaned his sword. It was the first time in a long while since Meng Fuyao met him in the general’s residence. She felt that though his General Guo’s martial arts did not worsen, he was no longer filled with vigor as he once was. His eyes were lifeless as he continuously cleaned his sword. Who knew what Zhangsun Wuji had done to him back then, reducing him to this state. As she thought about it, she broke into a tight-lipped smile. Probably, he dealt with General Guo the same way he dealt with Qi Xunyi’s subordinate. It was a method befitting of Zhangsun Wuji — refined, elegant and nothing short of a silent, malicious act.

Gu Lingfeng, the main representative, was naturally unwilling to be outdone. With a hearty laugh, he announced, “This is what the Prince meant, let our strength speak for itself!”

The young master from Xuanyuan nation, Xuanyuan Yun, was not only surprisingly young but had a remarkably refined mannerism and an exquisite face. Ever since he reached the arena, it seems as though he was searching for someone. His eyes scanned the surrounding, only to reveal a sense of disappointment. He blushed when Prince Heng asked his question and then replied gently, “It’ll be as you say.”

Ya Lanzhu fiddled with her braids and said absentmindedly. “I’m just here to play. It will be more fun fighting with more people at once.”

On the other hand, Yun Hen nodded silently in agreement.

Yan Jingchen flashed a charming smile and answered, “The Prince is wise.”

Meng Fuyao gaze swept past Yan Jingchen’s face. He looked pale, and his sunken eyes were now more solemn and his eyebags darker. ‘Even though he had been involved in the collision of the two forces the other day, it merely grazed him. In theory, his injury is by no means as heavy as mine. So why does he look half dead?’ wondered Fuyao. ‘Probably the overindulgence in his lust…’

The strongest few had no objection, and naturally, others had none either. Zhan Beiheng nodded his head, with a wave of his hand, a servant brought up the draw box.

Meng Fuyao glared at Gu Lingfeng, hoping to draw his name and take this chance to slaughter him — the rules stated that unless necessary, one could not take another’s life. She would stop, eventually. But not until she finished wrecking him.

The extremely large draw box was moved over. To ensure fairness, everyone had to draw their lots in the two openings of the box at the exact same time. Meng Fuyao stared at the two openings as she wondered what Tiansha was thinking. ‘Why do they have to ensure fair play for something… like this? What is the difference since everyone is closing their eyes to draw the slot?

‘Plus, what is with that long and huge box? Such a big area for only 20 lots. It will take forever to find a lot to even draw. What are they trying to do? Waste everyone’s time?’

Suspicious, she cautiously and slowly reached for the draw box. She scanned through the various hands — if there were to be any foul play, it would definitely be on the hand.

Then, she noticed Gu Lingfeng’s hand.

His five fingers were short and stumpy with his nails slightly red. It was evident that he had cultivated some sort of poisonous martial arts, and more importantly, he wore a black ring on his middle finger.

The ring was normal obsidian. There was nothing particularly weird about the ring, but Meng Fuyao firmly believed that if that ring were to move, then undesirable stuff would be coming out of it.

It seemed as though Gu Lingfeng and Zhan Beiheng were in cahoots, with Gu Lingfeng determined to cliche the championship.

Gu Lingfeng stood diagonally opposite her. To her left was Xuanyuan Yun, her right was Guo Pingrong, and right opposite her was Yun Hen.

Meng Fuyao’s hand went into the box and tugged on Yun Hen’s sleeve, signaling him to be cautious of Gu Lingfeng’s hand. A moment of realization flashed by Yun Hen’s eyes, and he nodded extremely slowly, careful not to be noticed by anyone else.

All 20 people placed their hands in the box.

Meng Fuyao put her hand in and bounced her sleeve. Inside her sleeve was a certain lord — Meng Fuyao had refused to bring it along for the competition, but Lord Yuan Bao had insisted on coming by throwing tantrums. Grudgingly, she brought Lord Yuan Bao along but decided to toss it down the stage. Now judging from the circumstances, his presence was perfect here.

Lord Yuan Bao entered the draw box silently. Hugging its fruit, it sat in the dark gnawing on its fruit. It set its sight on Gu Lingfeng’s hand, and following Meng Fuyao’s finger, it slowly made its way towards Gu Lingfeng’s hand.

Gu Lingfeng’s hand was moving towards Xuanyuan Yun — Moon Soul’s disciple was a formidable opponent and performed the best in the previous battles. In order for Gu Lingfeng to win, he would have to first get rid of Xuanyuan Yun.

Lord Yuan Bao grabbed Meng Fuyao’s pinky and tugged it to the left. Meng Fuyao looked up and saw Xuanyuan Yun. She hesitated but suddenly recalled the scene she saw three nights ago where he cried. Her heart softened.

Her hand inched over.

In the dark, 20 hands, except for three, were focused on drawing their lots.

Meng Fuyao’s hand suddenly reached out at the speed of lighting.

With a flick of a finger, a strong force headed straight for Gu Lingfeng’s veins.

The force closed in. Feeling wary, Gu Lingfeng pulled back his hand unconsciously and struck with his palm. But Meng Fuyao’s hand was already waiting for him at his escape route. Her fingers were bent into a claw, hard as steel. In a split second, she grabbed and clutched his hand down. Gu Lingfeng flicked his finger repeatedly to attack. Meng Fuyao picked up a lot like a weapon as Gu Lingfeng’s hand continued to move towards Meng Fuyao’s hand. His finger dug into her palm, but she curled her fingers into a fist and attacked viciously.

At the speed of light, the two exchanged 3 moves in the dark box.

Kacha!

The fist stopped right on Gu Lingfeng’s wrist acupuncture point. He never expected someone to be so accurate in sealing the acupuncture point even in the dark. Strength left his fingers as Meng Fuyao took the chance to grab him — his wrist was now in her hand.

Extremely shocked, he quickly used his other hand to aid. But Yun Hen’s hand was faster and accurately caught his wrist.

With both hands held down, Gu Lingfeng’s face turned black. He looked up to search for the perpetrator only to accidentally meet Meng Fuyao’s gaze.

On her face hang a cold, cynical smile. A chilling yet burning gaze.

He had seen such gaze before. Rooted to the ground, he felt like he was submerged in ice cold water. Suddenly, he remembered that he had seen that gaze before on a certain rainy night as he drew his sword. That night, he saw a hazy figure that turned back amidst the rain, carving that resolute gaze into his mind.

He suddenly realized who she was.

But it was too late.

Meng Fuyao laughed silently, clutched his finger and snapped it.

“Ah!”

Gu Lingfeng let out a blood-curdling screech that made everyone, including the audience, jump in surprise.

A smile crept onto the calm and collected Meng Fuyao. She let go of his hand. In that instant, she had crippled his entire hand’s meridians and sent a force down his core. Not only could he never poison another with his poisonous palm, but his life was also left hanging on the thread.

Gu Lingfeng’s screech continued — Yun Hen followed suit and crippled his other hand. Lord Yuan Bao rushed forward excitedly and bit down on both hands, hard.

After completing his task, Lord Yuan Bao spat out some blood residue in disgust and hurried back into Meng Fuyao’s sleeve.

Meng Fuyao smiled charmingly as she casually drew a lot.

Everything had happened in a split second. The audience only saw 20 people’s hands going into the box, drawing lots with much attention. Then their ears picked up on Gu Lingfeng’s screech, and right after, they witnessed him taking his bloody hands out of the box.

Zhan Beiheng stood up abruptly and yelled, “What happened?”

The rest of the 19 people who finished drawing their lots moved away innocently as the judges rushed up to take a look at Gu Lingfeng’s hand. To the judges’ bewilderment, what greeted them were animal bites.

Zhan Beiheng was taken aback by the announcement. He initially expected Gu Lingfeng’s injuries to be the result of another contestant’s attack. But to think that the injury was an animal’s bite. In disbelief, he went forward to personally check only to be silenced by the truth. All he could do was go back to his seat, upset.

For a Tiansha seeded player to be out on the third round without a fight!

Everyone was whispering back and forth. Some of the indignant Tiansha citizens stood up and shouted, “Prince, there must be something fishy going on! Please search the other contestants!”

Zhan Beiheng’s expression remained cold. In contrast, Ya Lanzhu was all smiles and giggles.

“Yes, we are all extremely suspicious. Not only did we put our hands in the box, but we also put our mouths in the box and bit General Gu.”

That statement bought on a wave of laughter. In the midst of the laughter, Yun Hen coldly said, “This box that the nation has created is definitely intriguing. Probably too many tricks which ended up hurting oneself instead.”

Zhan Beiheng’s face twitched. After all, he did have a guilty conscience, so he didn’t dare continue further investigating the matter. He waved his hand, ordering his servants to bring Gu Lingfeng down and announced, “The competition will continue—”

Meng Fuyao smiled and looked at her own lot.

“Black, seven!”

At this time, the judges were already reading out their lots: Guo Pingrong versus Yan Jingchen, Xuanji Chen An’s Count Wang Huayan, Ya Lanzhu drew red five, which was supposedly Gu Lingfeng’s lot, so she did not have to fight.

As the top contestant for the previous two rounds, the audience paid close attention to Xuanyuan Yun. Most of the reputable contestants already had their match, and the rest of the contestants were those that had a lower ranking in the first couple of rounds. The audience looked around to see which was the unlucky one to fight with this strong young man.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he carefully handed the lot over and gently announced, “Red, seven.”

The judges turned towards the remaining few. They all had a smile of relief, looking relaxed. The judge waved the lot and asked, “Who has black seven?”

Meng Fuyao stepped forward, smiling, as the audience waited eagerly and pointed to herself. “I have it.”

Excited discussions filled the atmosphere. Someone shouted, “Aiya, forget about this match.”

“Surrender earlier and move on to the next person.”

“How meaningless, I thought we could watch an epic battle.”

Meng Fuyao turned around and smiled, waving her hands. “Don’t chase me away, the importance lies in the participation.”

She walked down the stage as the jeers and teasing went on, waiting for her turn. Not long after she sat down, Zong Yue silently appeared next to her. His appearance made her rub her eyes.