Chapter 149. We make the rules.

The night passed peacefully.

The following day, the bustling martial arts arena was packed with disciples of the Tang Sect.

Perhaps invigorated by the two victories from the previous day, the Tang Sect members possessed a newfound sense of pride, as if a heavy burden had finally been lifted from their chests. So much so that the crowd watching the matches today seemed even larger than yesterday, and their cheers were noticeably more passionate.

Standing under the blazing sun, these people waited with mounting excitement for the competition to begin. Although they were not participating themselves, nothing could diminish their thrill and sense of involvement.

In stark contrast to the lively atmosphere of the audience, the martial oversight platform remained as calm and composed as ever. The occupants of the seats were the same as yesterday... though unlike yesterday, when Zhang Wang sat alone, Tang Miaoxing had also arrived today.

The old lion looked just as leisurely and serene as ever, slowly sipping his tea with an air of profound composure.

Unlike their Sect Master, however, the group of Tang Sect members not far away were far from calm.

In the preparation area, Li Lianxing, Tang Wenlong, and Song Yuzhe stood together, their expressions quite grave.

With less than ten minutes remaining before the official start of the match, Liao Tong, the designated competitor, had still failed to show up in the preparation area. This left Li Lianxing and the others full of doubt, completely unaware of what might have happened.

Frowning, Li Lianxing muttered, "What on earth is going on with Liao Tong? The match is about to begin, so why hasn't he arrived yet?"

"Senior Brother Liao Tong is not the kind of person to lose track of time. Since he hasn't shown up after all this time, could something have happened to him on the way?"

Tang Wenlong wore a worried expression. In his impression, Liao Tong was rigid, serious, and meticulous in everything he did. How could he possibly forget an event as major as a tournament match?

Song Yuzhe furrowed his brow. "What could possibly happen inside the campus grounds? He's probably just lost track of time. Wenlong, why don't you give Liao Tong a call and ask him what's going on?"

"Right!"

Instead of blindly guessing and speculating here, making a phone call to find out was clearly a much more reliable option.

Tang Wenlong hurriedly pulled out his cell phone and found Liao Tong's contact information. However, after dialing, the phone rang for a long time without anyone answering.

"What is Senior Brother Liao Tong doing?"

The look of confusion on Tang Wenlong's face deepened. Beside him, Li Lianxing and Song Yuzhe both frowned, sensing that something felt rather wrong.

"Try calling again."

Since the first call didn't go through, Tang Wenlong prepared to dial once more, but before he could press the call button, a voice sounded from behind the three of them...

"Don't bother calling him anymore. He's very busy; I doubt he'll have the chance to answer the phone anytime soon."

At the sound of the voice, the men instinctively turned around to see a short, thin figure standing behind them, draped in a black robe, looking entirely unperturbed.

"Tang Qingshui? Why are you here?"

Even with the black robe concealing his appearance, the three of them instantly recognized who was underneath it.

Faced with their inquiry, Tang Qingshui, with his hands tucked into his sleeves, offered a calm smile. "Dear Senior Brothers, please make sure you don't mistake me for someone else. My name isn't Tang Qingshui; please call me Liao Tong..."

"Liao Tong?"

Everyone was momentarily stunned, and then their expressions turned bizarre. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"Out of my mind? I'm perfectly sane. I just want to take back what rightfully belongs to me. You all know very well that this quota should have been mine in the first place."

Hearing this, the group fell silent for a moment.

Indeed, that quota originally belonged to Tang Qingshui. It was through countless rounds of fierce competition that he had earned it... and only because of a sudden and unexpected twist of events had Liao Tong been sent in to replace him.

"Qingshui, your situation is too special. Not letting you participate was actually for your own good..."

Tang Wenlong was just about to explain when he was cut off by the fierce gaze of Tang Qingshui standing right before him.

"For my own good? Who asked any of you to look out for me? I, Tang Qingshui, don't need your pity. What utter nonsense about being 'special'... I don't need it."

"..."

Every single word spoken by Tang Qingshui left the group speechless. Tang Wenlong, in particular, was at a complete loss for what to do... Clearly, his intentions had been kind, yet they had only made the other person miserable.

Tang Qingshui didn't care about their thoughts and continued in a flat tone, "Anyway, the rice is already cooked; Liao Tong has no way of coming here to compete."

"There are only two paths before you now. One is that I am Liao Tong. The other is to forfeit and surrender. Choose for yourselves."

Tang Qingshui laid the two options before them, leaving the decision entirely in their hands.

Li Lianxing's brows were locked so tightly together they could have crushed a walnut. He demanded of Tang Qingshui, "What did you do to Liao Tong?"

"We are fellow disciples of the same sect, how could I possibly harm him? I simply made him take a short nap; he'll be fine once he wakes up."

Tang Qingshui looked entirely nonchalant, wearing the expression of someone who had already secured absolute victory.

Clearly, he had planned this premeditated move long ago.

While the few of them were talking, on the martial arts stage, Misono Isshin, dressed in beige athletic wear, had already stepped up. He was currently loosening his wrists and lazily casting a glance in their direction...

"Time is tight, Senior Brothers. You had better make a decisive choice."

Seeing this, Tang Qingshui's smile widened. He unwrapped a piece of chewing gum, tossed it into his mouth, and urged them while chewing.

"Let him go."

After a brief hesitation, the first to make a decision was Song Yuzhe.

Since they were fighting on behalf of the Tang Sect, the battle had to be fought with distinction. Therefore, surrender was an option that could not possibly be entertained.

"Go ahead."

Li Lianxing shared a similar sentiment.

Though Tang Wenlong remained silent, his gaze was immensely complicated before he finally let out a long sigh.

"Thanks..."

Seeing that the three no longer intended to stop him, Tang Qingshui gathered the corners of his black robe, walked slowly to the edge of the ring, placed a hand on the rim of the bluestone platform, and vaulted up lightly with a swallow's agile flip onto the stage.

With Tang Qingshui's unique entrance, the cheers of the numerous Tang Sect disciples below instantly surged with passion, shouting words of encouragement like "Go, Liao Tong!"

Standing firmly in the center of the ring and listening to the fervent cheers beside him, Tang Qingshui smiled slightly. Then, with a sudden reach, he tore off the black robe from his shoulders and tossed it to the ground at his feet, revealing his true face.

"Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters of the sect, Liao Tong greets you all... I kindly ask for your continued support and encouragement."

Tang Qingshui cupped his hands in salute toward the Tang Sect disciples below, a playful smile playing on his lips.

However, once they clearly saw his face, the enthusiasm of the Tang Sect disciples instantly cooled, as if someone had suddenly seized them by the throat. They looked at one another in utter bewilderment.

They were completely baffled by the person on stage calling himself "Liao Tong," having no idea what had just transpired.

"Absurd!"

Up on the martial oversight platform, Tang Miaoxing's expression tightened, and he couldn't help letting out a stern reprimand.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he turned his head to look at Zhang Wang beside him, only to find the latter looking equally blank.

Clearly, he knew nothing about this development either.

Seeing this, Tang Miaoxing could only turn his gaze down toward Li Lianxing and the others. As their eyes met, the old lion read helplessness in the younger men's expressions... and connecting it with Tang Qingshui's temperament, he seemed to dawn upon the truth.

And they weren't the only ones.

Even Ye Yan over here was completely dumbfounded.

He instinctively pulled Liu Han over and asked in confusion, "Han, didn't you guys have Tang Qingshui taken off the roster?"

"Yeah, we did just like you said, took him off the roster and replaced him with Liao Tong."

Dragged over abruptly, Liu Han wore a look of utter perplexity, having no clue why Ye Yan was acting this way out of nowhere.

"Then why did he get up on stage?"

"Get up on stage?" Liu Han looked even more blank. "Yan, isn't that Liao Tong up there?"

"Liao my foot, the one standing up there is Tang Qingshui!" Ye Yan smacked his own forehead hard.

"No way?"

Liu Han was completely dizzy.

"Damn it..."

Ye Yan was filled with speechless frustration. Did all that hard work go to waste for nothing?

"What do we do now then? Should we go tell Brother Shan and chase that punk off?"

Liu Han scratched his head.

As he spoke, he made a move to get up and find Ba Shan to sort things out and get Tang Qingshui removed.

Before he could stand, however, Ye Yan grabbed him by the collar and hauled him back into his chair. "Hold on, what are you going to tell him right now... If that guy named Liao Tong can't make it, won't the Tang Sect just have to forfeit?"

"Then what do we do?"

Liu Han continued to scratch his head stupidly.

Ye Yan sighed. "What can we do? Since those people from Fusang don't know what the real Liao Tong looks like anyway, we might as well just roll with the mistake."

"Oh!"

Liu Han sat back down.

It wasn't just Ye Yan who thought this way; Tang Miaoxing and Zhang Wang probably held the same thought over there.

They all tacitly kept silent.

Right in front of these Fusang devils, they were going to play the old trick of calling a stag a horse; after all, the opponents had no way of knowing.

While Ye Yan and his companions were conversing, Misono Isshin on the stage wasn't idling either. His eyes continuously sized up the young and immature fellow standing before him.

However, due to the language barrier, the two merely communicated through gazes, appraising each other silently.

After a long while, Misono Isshin rested his hands on the crossed long and short swords at his waist, stared at Tang Qingshui before him, and slowly spoke,

"Pitiable wretch, running into me is nothing but your bad luck. If you want to blame someone, blame your fellow Tang Sect members for their lack of manners... You are merely a venting tool."

Speaking in the Fusang language, his eyes overflowed with utter disdain. Although Tang Qingshui couldn't understand a single word of what he said, he could easily read the disdain and mockery in the opponent's eyes.

Tang Qingshui dug into his ear with his little finger, too lazy to exchange idle chatter with him.

He spat out his chewing gum and pulled a neatly rolled sheepskin scroll out of his pocket with his other hand.

After unrolling the scroll, Tang Qingshui sliced open his palm with a small blade and pressed a bloody handprint onto it.

"There's no point in babbling a bunch of nonsense. If you're a man, sign it."

With that, he tossed the scroll over to Misono Isshin standing opposite him and quietly awaited a response.

Catching the sheepskin scroll, Misono Isshin wore a bewildered expression, having no idea what the fellow intended to achieve by suddenly tossing him such an object.

Yet, despite his confusion, he unfolded the scroll.

Immediately following that, he saw a large expanse of sloppy, wild Chinese characters, accompanied by a crimson handprint stamped right over the text.

Although he wasn't clear on the specific purpose of this item, judging by Tang Qingshui's actions, he could tell it had to be something very important.

Therefore, unable to read the Chinese language, Misono Isshin called over an interpreter.

"A pact of life and death?"

With the interpreter's assistance, Misono Isshin quickly grasped the contents written on the scroll and the meaning behind the bloody handprint, and his expression turned bizarre.

"Yellow-skinned monkey, you actually want to fight a battle of life and death with me. I really have no idea where you find the courage... Very well, I grant your wish."

As his voice fell, Misono Isshin drew the short sword 'Mikiri' crossed at his waist, and mimicking Tang Qingshui's gesture, slashed open his palm, leaving another crimson handprint on the scroll before tossing it back to Tang Qingshui with an intensely arrogant look.

"Not bad, Fusang devil."

That the opponent had signed the life-and-death pact so cleanly and decisively was something Tang Qingshui hadn't expected.

Even so, it played right into his plans.

"Listen up, everyone, this is the pact of life and death drawn up between the two of us."

Clutching the life-and-death pact, Tang Qingshui slowly turned around and pointed at Misono Isshin. "Today, he and I will determine not only superiority, but life and death..."

"What?"

"..."

Before his voice even faded, an uproar broke out across the grounds. No one could understand why Tang Qingshui would do this, and only a handful of people remained silently tight-lipped.

Upon hearing those words, Tang Miaoxing's eyes widened like copper bells, and he crushed the teacup in his hand into pieces with a sudden grip. He surged to his feet from his chair like an enraged old lion.

"You little bastard, acting so recklessly, daring to pull off a life-and-death pact in a place like this. A-Wang, we're not fighting this match; let them win."

"Go drag that brat down here."

Just as Tang Miaoxing finished speaking, Zhang Wang slowly stood up beside him, intending to step onto the ring and haul that reckless kid down...

Before he could take more than a few steps, however, Ba Shui abruptly stepped forward to block his path. "Sect Master Tang, Senior Zhang, what you're doing violates the rules."

"To hell with the rules! We don't care about the outcome of this match anymore, we forfeit, alright?"

Tang Miaoxing was furious, the hair on his head practically standing on end, and the look he cast toward Ba Shui turned several degrees colder... At that moment, Ba Shan also stood up.

"Sect Master Tang, please don't make things difficult for us. These rules were set by the Company; we are merely the executors... What you're trying to do isn't appropriate."

Ba Shan and Ba Shui blocked their path. Though their words sounded polite, their feet didn't budge an inch, showing no intention of stepping aside whatsoever.

"Cut the damn crap! I already said, the Tang Sect forfeits this match... Don't stand in the way."

With Tang Qingshui's life on the line, the old lion was losing his composure. His tone and demeanor were exceptionally rigid and harsh, refusing to give the Company any face at all.

Ye Yan was forced to step forward and intervene.

"Old master, don't get excited just yet. We can discuss anything, but let's not make fools of ourselves in front of outsiders..."

Ye Yan's words still carried some weight, helping Tang Miaoxing calm down slightly.

While the few of them were arguing, Misono Isshin and Tang Qingshui had already clashed on the stage.

Seeing this, Ye Yan said helplessly, "Old master, stepping onto the stage right now really isn't appropriate."

The battle had already begun; at this juncture, anyone rushing in to meddle would completely change the nature of the situation.

Following Tang Miaoxing's core concern, Ye Yan offered reassurance: "Actually, you really don't need to worry. They can sign the life-and-death pact all they want, but whether someone actually dies or not is still entirely up to us..."