Chapter 166: Who’s the Opponent?
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
"That's fine. You just need to stand there and not move and let me hit you a few times and everything will be over!" Yuan Chen had barely finished speaking when he charged over, ready to teach this flippant punk a good lesson.
"That won't do. If I get hit, it'll hurt ..." squealed Xie Yi in fright, turning to run. Just when Yuan Chen was about to hit him, Xie Yi suddenly looked back and leapt into the air. His initially empty right hand now somehow had a rubber bat in it, and he launched a powerful downward chop towards Yuan Chen's head.
Xie Yi's counterattack came too quickly and too suddenly — this unexpected move gave Yuan Chen a great scare. He did not dare to continue attacking Xie Yi, jerking to a quick stop to raise his own bat above his head, blocking Xie Yi's attack head-on. Luckily he had reacted swiftly, otherwise Xie Yi would have succeeded in his sneak attack.
However, even so, Yuan Chen had still taken a hit. Xie Yi had been acting with a plan, while Yuan Chen had only been reacting reflexively — this attack caused him to stumble 3 to 4 steps backwards, a dull pain roiling in his chest. He couldn't help but open his mouth and blood spewed out immediately ...
"Despicable!" Yuan Chen pressed a hand to his chest and choked out in rage.
"This attacking method ... it's too wretched and despicable!" Rage coloured Zhang Jing-an's face; their team had never suffered such a disgrace before.
Xie Yi acted as if he did not understand what was going on. A puzzled expression on his face, he said, "Aiyaiyai, senior, why are you throwing up blood suddenly? Are you trying to tell us that as long as we work hard, we will benefit?" Xie Yi's face lit up instantly, and he said emotionally, "Boo hoo hoo, Senior, you are really such a great guy! Still not forgetting to teach us even during this critical time, even willing to pay the price of getting injured ..."
"Shut up! I'm definitely going to kill you!" Yuan Chen's eyes were completely bloodshot. He felt that he had been played by this ant before him — he felt humiliated, feeling that his dignity had been ruthlessly stomped beneath the other's feet. He wanted revenge. He needed the blood of the opponent to wash away his humiliation. For the first time, an intense desire to kill swelled within his heart ...
Not too far away, Ling Lan's brows furrowed. She could clearly sense the 10th grader's desire to kill. Unable to accept the strength of someone he viewed as weaker than him, and thus choosing to destroy the other? Could this also be considered an ugly aspect of humanity?
Ling Lan looked at the still cheerful Xie Yi who seemed oblivious to Yuan Chen's intent to kill, and a smile bloomed on her lips. "I thought that I had already concealed my capabilities well enough, but unexpectedly, someone is even better at hiding than I am 1 ... as expected, this world isn't that simple ..."
"Yuan Chen, don't break the rules ..." Zhang Jing-an too had sensed Yuan Chen desire to kill, and so spoke up to warn him.
"Leader, don't worry, I will settle this matter perfectly." As long as he did not give the other a chance to surrender or ask for help, even if he killed the other 'by accident', the academy would have no way to punish him. "Leader, you all can leave temporarily." He did not want people nattering on beside him when he committed murder, even if it were his team leader.
Zhang Jing-an cast a searching look at Yuan Chen and then said, "Alright ..." That said, with a quick dash, he left the scene. Shi Qi and the others merely glanced at Yuan Chen, then left after Zhang Jing-an without saying anything.
After Zhang Jing-an and the others had left, Xie Yi's smiling face abruptly became solemn. He said to Xiaoming behind him, "You should leave quickly ..."
"No way. I can't leave you alone with him. Let's fight together." Xiaoming was determined. He felt that no matter what, two people together would stand a better chance of winning than one person.
"Puh-leeze. You're already seriously injured. How do you plan to fight? Furthermore, if you aren't here, it'll be easier for me to escape! Running away is my specialty, don't hold me back!" Xie Yi couldn't help but roll his eyes. Sometimes, being too steadfast was also a troublesome thing.
"Really?" Xiaoming wasn't sure whether he should take Xie Yi at his word.
"Of course it's true! Quickly, go, go!" Xie Yi's expression was annoyed. He waved his hand impatiently at Xiaoming, as if shooing away a fly.
Xiaoming looked at Xie Yi worriedly, but seeing that Xie Yi seemed to be serious about this, he clenched his teeth and left the scene.
Knowing that Xiaoming had left the scene, Xie Yi's initially tense expression instantly relaxed. "Aiks, the troublesome people have all left. Now, let us play ..." With no one watching, Xie Yi was planning to bring out his secret techniques. Otherwise, what was the point in keeping them hidden for so many years ...? Besides, he also did not want to let off someone who wanted to kill him — he was not a saint.
Yuan Chen said sinisterly, "Yes, it is indeed time for us to play ..." That said, he pounced!
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Somewhere else, Zhang Jing-an had led his 5 team members to run about five to six hundred metres away. Then, Shi Qi reminded, "Those people are just ahead. We'll see them soon." He was talking about that team of 7th grade Class-B students they had been chasing from the start.
"Zhu Qi, Qing Ming, I'll leave those people for you guys to handle!" For opponents like this, Zhang Jing-an had no need to act himself.
"Shi Qi, you keep watch over the situation!" Zhang Jing-an sent Shi Qi over as well not because he was worried that Zhu Qi and Qing Ming would fail, but rather because he was afraid one or two people would manage to separate and run off from the team again. Zhang Jing-an liked to wrap things up in one go, and did not like there to be any loose ends.
"Yes, Leader!" The three of them acknowledged their orders and quickly sprinted off.
"Leader, what about me?" The remaining team member was rather depressed. Everyone had their own tasks; only he had nothing to do.
"Luo Qiong, haven't you noticed something off? I keep having the feeling that someone is watching us, but I can't find the other," admitted Zhang Jing-an to this remaining team member.
"Leader, could it be some teachers watching us?" This was the first thing Luo Qiong could think of. Some teachers were truly very formidable — the more the students learned, the more they found those teachers frightening.
"This is also possible, which is why I have brought you all away from Yuan Chen. If the teacher's attention stayed there, then we wouldn't sense anything here ... but this feeling kept following me. Even after I sent Zhu Qi and Qing Ming off, this feeling still stayed here ..." As Zhang Jing-an continued to elaborate, he suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "The feeling is gone ..."
Then, his expression changed drastically. "Not good. Something has happened to Shi Qi!" Shi Qi's presence was no longer concealed; this meant that he had most likely lost consciousness.
"Has he been attacked? Is it our opponents?" cried Luo Qiong, shocked.
"Of course it's the opponent. Those teachers would never attack Shi Qi." Zhang Jing-an's expression was dark. He had actually been unknowingly followed by an opponent, and by spreading out his forces, he had unintentionally fallen for the opponent's plot.
Ling Lan had quietly snuck up to Shi Qi who was hiding on a tree branch, and before the other could notice her and react, she had struck him unconscious with one blow. She then carefully laid the other down on the branch, quietly pressing the other's surrender button to ask for assistance.
Right below, Zhu Qi and Qing Ming were oblivious. At that moment, they were gleefully watching the five figures who had appeared in front of them. It was the 7th grade Class-B team who had returned to try and rescue their teammate with a sneak attack.
Between Ling Lan's fingers, two extremely small and thin ice needles appeared out of thin air. With a flick of her wrist, the ice needles flew silently through the air to pierce into the area behind Zhu Qi's and Qing Ming's neck. The two of them shivered, feeling a chill spread out from their neck. However, this feeling merely flashed by, quickly disappearing without a trace, causing them to think that they had imagined it.
The thin ice needles would not actually hurt them, and also would not give them any lingering after-effects. But for one hour, their true strength would be restricted by 30% to 40% by the cold air of the needles. This was a chance Ling Lan was giving to the 7th grade team. Whether or not they could take advantage of it would depend fully on the efforts of the 7th grade team members.
After doing all this, Ling Lan left the scene to return to the place where Zhang Jing-an was waiting.
"You've come!" Zhang Jing-an could feel himself being watched once again. So, he spoke up, hoping to trick the other into revealing themselves.
Meanwhile, as Zhang Jing-an spoke, Luo Qiong was looking around nervously. Dammit, he had not sensed anyone approaching! Could it be that the opponent was like Xie Yi and had a special concealment talent? He did not believe that the 7th grade students could be that much stronger than him.
"As expected of the first rank of the 10th grade!" A cold voice rang out, as if right by their ears, but also as if coming from a far distance. Zhang Jing-an tried to pinpoint the opponent's position based on this voice but could not; instead, this voice seemed to muffle all other sounds around him.
"Ugh ..." Luo Qiong made a strangled sound, as if his voice had been stoppered at his throat. Without thinking about it, Zhang Jing-an leapt in Luo Qiong's direction, but there was already no one there.
Zhang Jing-an stood there, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. The opponent had already made his move, and he had lost a team member in an instant, but he had not seen a hair of the opponent. Thus, he had no idea at all who the opponent was — when had such an abnormal prodigy appeared in the 7th grade? Or could it be said that some perverse and deviant teacher was playing a joke on him?
At this point, Ling Lan had already appeared where she had placed Shi Qi earlier. She put Luo Qiong there as well and pressed his surrender button too before disappearing again.
Ling Lan had not disappeared for long before two figures abruptly appeared on that large tree branch. Seeing the two red-clad youths on the branch, they exclaimed, "They're from the 10th grade Class-A ..."
One of them bent down to check the necks of the two laid down on the branch, "They're unconscious!"
"How are their injuries?" asked the other with a worried tone.
"The opponent's method is very polished. These two were knocked unconscious in one hit without any warning. They are not injured at all." The person who was checking on them continued to diagnose the reason for their condition.
"So what you're saying is, the opponent knocked them unconscious and then pressed their surrender button to get us to take them away?" said the other, pleasantly surprised.
"Looks like it ..." The person checking on the students was just as pleased. Discovering a strong student indeed made them very happy, but they were even happier that this student's morality was impeccable as well. Every teacher hoped that their academy would produce such a student who was exemplary in body, mind, and soul.
"The 7th grade students aren't as weak as we had expected ..." The teachers had originally thought that the 7th grade would certainly lose this grand armed melee without a doubt. Now, it looked like it was too early to come to a conclusion just yet.