Chapter 78: Slap
Chapter 78: Slap
Zuo Zhicheng understood the situation clearly. After Jiang Tianzheng rejected Xiao Jingyang’s marriage proposal, the other side was clearly starting to put down the Haoran Martial Hall. The hall masters who stood close to him, including those from the Xinlu Boxing Club and the Yanwu Hall, were all on his side.
This was unavoidable. After all, Jiang Tianzheng’s strength was not powerful enough to overlook rules, money, and authority. Though Jiang Tianzheng had the reputation of the Divine Fist of Xinlu, he could do nothing against this type of money-funded event.
In his previous life, Zuo Zhicheng had seen too many cases like this. Often, the successful people and leaders in various fields were never the strongest fighters. Although strong fighters might gain respect among martial halls, the Chaoyang Martial Hall had great power and wealth, and Xiao Jingyang could bring more benefits to other martial halls, which Jiang Tianzheng obviously could not match.
Moreover, the entire event was funded by the wealthiest martial halls, including the Chaoyang Martial Hall. Naturally, the Haoran Martial Hall had no say in how they arranged things.
On the stage, Xiao Jingyang glanced calmly at Jiang Tianzheng in the corner. He sneered inwardly, ‘You refused the respect I gave you. So what if you can fight? I’ll make sure your Haoran Martial Hall shuts down within a year.’
After over half an hour, the lengthy ceremony finally ended, and the audience around began to get lively.
“You have waited for a long time,” said a quick-witted disciple from the Chaoyang Martial Hall who had been sent up to act as a sort of host. “The First Xinlu Martial Arts Competition is about to begin!”
Seeing the audience cheer around, he paused before continuing, “But before the competition, there will be a demonstration match. The two participants in this spar are Xiao Changhe from the Chaoyang Martial Hall and Zuo Zhicheng from the Haoran Martial Hall.”
As he introduced them, Xiao Changhe and Zuo Zhicheng walked onto the stage from opposite sides.
Elsewhere, Yao Youwei, who had been talking to Miss Qing all along, smiled upon hearing the introduction of the demonstration match. “Yueqiu, look at the stage. It’s exactly the two who sparred at the billiards hall last time.
But that one-eyed guy seems about to lose. Changhe is quite famous among the martial halls in Xinlu. That guy probably can’t beat him.”
The woman named Qingyue Qiu was like a girl made of snow and ice, flawless and nearly expressionless.
No matter what Yao Youwei said, she only gave brief replies like “Mm” or “Okay.”
Hearing Yao Youwei’s judgment and looking toward Zuo Zhicheng, she merely frowned slightly and said nothing more.
At the front of the stage, Xiao Jingyang watched the two on stage calmly, lost in thought. Beside him, Qin Wu, the master of Yanwu Hall, said, “I heard Changhe has been training very hard lately.”
“Of course,” said a slightly short middle-aged man. “Changhe already had a good foundation. Working hard these past few months just helped him get back to his original skill. He even taught my boy a good lesson.” The speaker was Wang Zhong, master of the Xinlu Boxing Club. The “boy” he mentioned was naturally his son, Wang Qiang, the talented fighter from the Xinlu Boxing Club.
Hearing their compliments, a slight smile appeared on Xiao Jingyang’s stern face. “Hmph, that boy does have talent in martial arts. It’s just that he didn’t work hard the past few years and went down the wrong path.
Even though he failed in the matter with the Haoran Martial Hall, it’s still good that he turned over a new leaf.” He shook his head. “I hope he can truly find an opponent. You know, for us martial artists, having a rival is important. Without someone to compete with in the same generation, it’s easy to lose direction.”
In everyone’s eyes, Zuo Zhicheng was certainly not worthy of being Xiao Changhe’s opponent. Amid the flattery, Xiao Jingyang chuckled again, occasionally talking about managing martial halls, promoting martial arts spirit, and even sharing combat experience. Those around him all nodded as if his words made perfect sense.
He looked every bit the martial arts alliance leader of Xinlu Port.
As for the spar on stage and its outcome, not only Yao Youwei and Xiao Jingyang’s group saw no suspense, but many disciples from other martial halls and even ordinary spectators familiar with Xinlu Port’s martial arts scene felt the same.
On one side was Xiao Changhe, son of the Chaoyang Martial Hall’s master, who had started training at age five and defeated countless opponents. On the other was a nobody, a rookie who had practiced for less than a year. No one thought there was any doubt about the outcome of this fight.
On stage, the two stood about two meters apart. Xiao Changhe’s eyes showed a flicker of disgust as he looked at Zuo Zhicheng.
“Zuo Zhicheng, before I beat you up, there are some things I need to make clear first,” Xiao Changhe said, his chin held high as if scolding a junior, his face full of pride. “I really dislike you.”
Zuo Zhicheng replied casually, “Oh? Finished?”
Seemingly ignoring how Zuo Zhicheng might respond, Xiao Changhe looked at him with a hint of disdain and continued in a voice only the two could hear, “I hate your ignorance, stupidity, and shamelessness. I could just beat you up without saying anything, but I decided to say it anyway.”
“You’re ignorant because you have no idea how big the gap between us is.
Jiang Qing seems a bit close to you, but she’s just pitying your situation. In a few years, she’ll realize you’re not from the same world.
I know you might have some talent, but being proud of it and even trying to challenge me just shows your ignorance. You’ve never seen what real genius looks like.”
“You can have dreams, delusions, even use a little cleverness to think you’ll one day enter our world, reach the upper class, or train to my level. But you need to understand, it’s just a delusion.
The gap between you and me is like the gap between me and monsters like Ghost Fist or Blood Rakshasa. We’re not in the same class in this society. So in the future, don’t let your delusions disgust me.”
After saying this, Xiao Changhe felt extremely superior. Not only because of his words, but because he believed they were true. Given the difference between him and Zuo Zhicheng in wealth, status, and skill, he could easily crush him.
“Finished?”
Xiao Changhe looked at Zuo Zhicheng’s calm face, but before he could react, he felt a sharp pain on his cheek. With a sharp slap sound, he had been struck across the face.