Chapter Eighty-Eight: Good Fortune

Because the uproar over Zhang Chulan had grown rather large, even the Old Celestial Master and the others were alarmed.

Several matches that had been about to begin were temporarily called off, and quite a few people gathered here, ready to feast on a second great scandal after Zhang Lingyu’s defeat.

As one of the parties at the center of the storm, Tang Wenlong, who had already left the arena, was quickly brought back so the matter could be questioned face to face.

Since this inquiry was meant to calm the audience, it was naturally conducted in public.

The Old Celestial Master personally took charge as chief investigator, while influential figures such as Lu Ci and Wang Ai also arrived to observe from the sidelines.

Before the eyes of the crowd, Tang Wenlong was led to the center of the field, where the Old Celestial Master questioned him in person.

“My young friend Tang, there is no need for alarm. We called you back only because of your surrender in the match just now. You needn’t be nervous.”

The Old Celestial Master wore a gentle expression, kindly and benevolent, like a mild old grandfather next door.

“Celestial Master, please ask.”

Tang Wenlong remained calm, yet his manners were impeccable.

“My young friend Tang, let me ask once more. In the previous match, were you threatened by someone else, and that is why you surrendered so easily?”

“No.”

Tang Wenlong answered seriously.

The Old Celestial Master nodded, then asked a second question. “Then is there any other hidden reason?”

“Replying to you, senior—there is none.”

Tang Wenlong’s answer was as crisp as ever.

“Impossible.”

“Absolutely impossible.”

“Tang Wenlong, just speak boldly. So many of us are watching. Tell us without fear what happened to you...”

This time, before the Old Celestial Master could continue, the audience below had already exploded.

One after another, they waved their fists and shouted indignantly that justice must be done for Tang Wenlong.

Seeing this, the Old Celestial Master followed their lead and said warmly, “My young friend Tang, if anyone truly behaved beyond the proper bounds, then speak freely. If anyone dared disrupt the order of the Rite of Heaven, I certainly would not let him off.”

His words were just and reasonable, and at once won loud approval from the crowd.

Yet Tang Wenlong could only smile helplessly. “Senior Celestial Master, this junior truly suffered no threats, nor any unfair treatment of any kind.”

“Then why did you withdraw from the match?”

The Old Celestial Master spoke again, asking the question everyone most wanted answered.

“I drank too much last night. The hangover hasn’t worn off yet, and my whole body is weak...”

Tang Wenlong said it with a perfectly straight face.

Everyone: “...”

Good heavens. Even lying had to have some limit. A proper adept, brought down by alcohol and a hangover, and therefore abandoning the match?

Weak all over?

Weak, my foot.

What was in that liquor, pesticide?

And even if there had been poison in it, as a disciple of the Tang Sect, that sort of thing should have done nothing to you anyway, right?

The crowd was speechless, but there was little to be done. After all, even Tang Wenlong himself, the man involved, insisted that he had not been threatened in any way.

And with the Old Celestial Master personally present—

In the end, the matter could only be dropped.

Once it was declared over, the spectators who had stirred it up quickly dispersed, leaving Zhang Chulan standing alone in the stands, dazed and bewildered.

He had no idea what had just happened.

...

...

“It’s done.”

On the way back to his lodgings, Ye Yan received a message from Tang Wenlong. It was brief.

“Thanks.”

Ye Yan replied at once: “I owe you one for this. I’ll repay it when I get the chance.”

“No problem.”

Tang Wenlong sent an emoji.

After closing the chat window, Ye Yan could not help feeling a little moved.

Tang Wenlong was a true friend. When something came up, he really stepped forward.

The matter had blown up so badly that even the Old Celestial Master had been drawn in. It was bound to damage Tang Wenlong’s own reputation to some extent, and might even have harmed the name of the Tang Sect.

Yet even under those circumstances, he had still chosen to do Ye Yan this favor.

It truly was no small debt.

Ye Yan made a point of remembering it.

Just as he put away his phone and was about to find a place to hole up for a while, the group chat known as Xu Si’s harem suddenly sprang to life...

“What the hell, what the hell, what exactly is going on? Why did Tang Wenlong surrender out of nowhere? Still your Fourth Brother @Still Your Fourth Brother @I’m Very Serious”

The message came from Zhang Chulan. At the end, he tagged Xu San and Xu Si.

“No idea.” Feng Baobao.

Li Ziyuan: “Curious marmot.jpg”

Xu San: “I’m not too sure either.”

Xu Si: “Brat, you won and you’re still unhappy? Why dig so deep into it?”

Neither Xu San nor Xu Si could answer Zhang Chulan’s confusion. After all, they had not arranged this matter, and they knew even less of the reason behind it.

“Third Brother, Fourth Brother, I, Zhang Chulan, may want to win, but I don’t want to win so muddleheadedly, without even knowing what happened.”

“At the very least, I should know why.”

“The reason? If you ask me, who am I supposed to ask?”

Xu Si posted a meme of Zhuge Qing’s fox eyes.

But very quickly, he seemed to think of something. “If you want to know, don’t ask me or your Third Brother. Go ask Brother Yan.”

“That Tang Wenlong seems to be from the Tang Sect, right? I remember he has quite a few connections over there too. It should have something to do with him.”

The Tang Sect belonged to the southwest, outside North China’s jurisdiction, and Xu Si rarely dealt with them.

“Got it.”

Zhang Chulan answered, then promptly tagged Ye Yan in the group.

Ye Yan had naturally already seen the chat long ago; he had simply been lurking and had not replied to any of it.

But after thinking for a moment, he still decided to send a message: “Tang Wenlong is my friend.”

Just five simple words, yet they contained the entire explanation.

And after getting the answer, Zhang Chulan was stunned.

So this was the power of having someone mighty to lean on?

He loved it.

They were already in the round of sixteen, and Ye Yan still had the ability to make someone throw a match. If one had to talk about real capability, it had to be Brother Yan.

No matter how unwilling anyone might be, they had to submit.

And with that thought, this shameless fellow immediately began fawning over Ye Yan. “Say no more, Brother Yan. From now on, you’re my big brother. I, your little brother Zhang Chulan, will follow your lead. If you tell me to go east, I absolutely won’t...”

If there had not been a character limit on a single message, he probably could have licked boots all the way to the heavens. Ye Yan was covered in black lines.

Xu Si, however, was habitually immune to Zhang Chulan’s toadying posture and replied smoothly:

“Come to think of it, the round-of-sixteen matches aren’t even over yet, and our North China side already holds three spots. At this rate, Chulan’s chances of taking the championship are a lot higher.”

“Three spots?”

Ye Yan paused. If he remembered correctly, Feng Baobao’s match had not even started yet.

Which meant that Li Ziyuan, the girl who had come along as a mere spare, had also advanced into the top eight.

“Well now, partner, you’ve really been hiding your depth. You’re already in the top eight.”

Li Ziyuan advancing as well was something Ye Yan had not expected. He had thought the girl was just a tagalong making up the numbers on a sightseeing trip. He had not expected her to be so capable.

Li Ziyuan shyly stuck out her tongue.

“It’s nothing. I was just lucky. My opponent, Hu Jie, for some reason suddenly couldn’t enter the arena, so I advanced by good fortune.”