Chapter 61: The Great Competition

Zuo Zhicheng naturally did not know about the man-made shipwreck thousands of kilometers away. At this moment, he was walking helplessly inside a small alley.

Twenty meters behind him, Jiang Qing was hiding behind a corner of a wall like a monkey.

‘As expected… still suspicious, huh…’

Indeed, at first Jiang Qing naturally did not have any suspicions or similar feelings. But as time passed, she thought about the strength Zuo Zhicheng showed at Chaoyang Martial Hall, his calmness, and the sudden appearance of Ghost Fist and Blood Rakshasa at the end.

Although she didn’t directly suspect that Zuo Zhicheng was Ghost Fist, Jiang Qing naturally still felt puzzled.

So now, Zuo Zhicheng, walking alone in the small alley, felt helpless. This was already the fifth time this month she had followed him. Her amateurish skill level made him feel almost unable to watch.

‘But exposing her outright wouldn’t be good, right…’ Zuo Zhicheng thought: ‘But if I let her keep following, I won’t be able to do many things.’

Just as he was considering whether he could use the terrain or the crowd to shake her off, a loud noise came from behind Zuo Zhicheng.

In a situation where any ordinary person would definitely turn around to look, Zuo Zhicheng naturally had to turn around too.

He looked with a face full of surprise at Jiang Qing over ten meters away, and the more than ten bamboo poles she had knocked over, and said: “Senior Sister? What are you doing here?”

“Uh…” Jiang Qing’s face turned red, and she said casually: “I’m just wandering around. What are you doing here? Didn’t you go home with Xiao Lan?”

“I went to buy some food for a late-night snack.”

“All you think about is eating, eating, eating. It’s so late and you’re still having a late-night snack? Aren’t you afraid of getting fat? You’re not allowed to eat.” Disregarding Zuo Zhicheng’s response, Jiang Qing asked: “Don’t forget about the competition at the end of the year. You need to prepare well and maintain your condition!”

What followed was a process like a teacher reciting a chant. Mostly, Jiang Qing talked and Zuo Zhicheng nodded. It was all about this upcoming Martial Hall Great Competition.

The so-called Martial Hall Great Competition was an event held after the eighteen martial halls of Xinlu established the Martial Arts Association. The stated purpose of the event was to promote the spirit of martial arts and spread martial arts culture. After all, the incident at Chaoyang Martial Hall resulted in the deaths of over thirty excellent students. The aim of this competition was still to expand the influence of each martial hall and recruit more students to practice martial arts.

Of course, besides just the competition itself, there would also be various performances on the day of the final at the end of the year.

But although they talked about promoting martial arts culture, and while there was indeed an intention to expand the influence of the Martial Arts Association, according to Zuo Zhicheng’s investigation, there was another hidden purpose within the Great Competition: nothing more than to rank the positions of the various martial halls within the association.

This was also an unavoidable thing when a group of martial artists got together.

Although this kind of so-called competition and ranking seemed meaningless to Zuo Zhicheng, Jiang Tianzheng still signed him up for it, saying it was to increase his practical experience and give him more opportunities to spar with students from other martial halls.

“The Great Competition starts in just six months.” Jiang Qing said: “Although you’ve improved a lot recently, don’t look down on people from other martial halls. Use your time wisely and practice more. And don’t eat junk food, especially late-night snacks. It’s not good for your health. Did you hear me?”

“Hmm.” Zuo Zhicheng answered casually. Although he seemed distracted, he could actually sense the hidden concern in her words. It seemed that since the incident at Chaoyang Martial Hall, she had truly started treating him as her junior brother.

However, this excessive concern caused extra trouble for Zuo Zhicheng, just like now.

On the other hand, seeing Zuo Zhicheng’s absent-minded expression made Jiang Qing feel so irritated her teeth itched. Although this guy had improved a lot these days, and basically no one in the martial hall besides herself and her father could reliably beat him, the scale of other martial halls wasn’t like Haoran Martial Hall.

Especially large martial halls like Chaoyang Martial Hall, Yanwu Hall, Xinlu Boxing Club, and such. Many disciples there had trained for over ten years, and their skills were even higher than hers. Although many excellent students died in the Chaoyang Martial Hall incident, many who remained were still impossible for Zuo Zhicheng to defeat.

Furthermore, to make up for the losses afterwards, the major martial halls recruited many new students, among whom there were no lack of talented individuals. Six months wasn’t a long time, but it was enough to learn many things.

According to Jiang Qing’s estimate, if Zuo Zhicheng could rank in the top twenty in this Martial Hall Great Competition, that would be incredibly impressive. Unfortunately, he broke his ribs two months ago, wasting a lot of practice time for nothing.

But if he really was… then maybe he could… no, he definitely could win the championship.

But Jiang Qing looked back at Zuo Zhicheng’s absent-minded expression and his seemingly thin shoulders, and immediately shook her head, dismissing that incredible possibility from her mind.

Just as Jiang Qing and Zuo Zhicheng walked out of the alley and were about to part ways, a scream rang out.

“Someone’s in danger!” Hearing the scream, Jiang Qing rushed over without another word.

Zuo Zhicheng looked at her back and shrugged helplessly.

By the time Zuo Zhicheng arrived, Jiang Qing had already kicked a short, dark-skinned man to the ground.

“Miss, are you okay?” Hearing Jiang Qing say this, the other person just lowered her head, muttered that she was fine, and then quickly walked away without looking back. Jiang Qing still wanted to say something, but the woman was already far away.

Instead, the man she had kicked to the ground had gotten up. A fierce look showed on his dark face: “Woman, who told you to meddle?”

“Hmph.” Jiang Qing raised her fist: “What? Want another beating? Come with me to the authorities!”

“Zuo Zhicheng, you’re here? Block him for me!”

The short man looked at Jiang Qing, then at Zuo Zhicheng who was walking over. Thinking about how he was knocked down with just a few punches and kicks, he pointed at Jiang Qing and said: “Consider yourselves lucky. I can’t be bothered with you today.”

“Trying to run?” Jiang Qing charged directly over. Seeing him start to run, she picked up a stone by her feet and threw it. She had practiced martial arts for years, and her arm strength was almost greater than a grown man’s. The stone hit him directly on the back. He immediately cried out in pain and fell to the ground.

Zuo Zhicheng watched helplessly as Jiang Qing severely beat up the short guy in front of her. But then he suddenly turned his head. In that direction, over twenty similarly dark-skinned men were rushing over.

Seeing these men and the looks of the man under Jiang Qing’s feet, Zuo Zhicheng realized: “Western Indians?” This was an indigenous race of the New Continent.

But compared to the slender and pretty Newman People, the Western Indians were short, dark-skinned, greedy, stupid, and lazy. They belonged to the very bottom of the colonies, often engaged in cheating and swindling work.

Seeing the twenty-plus men yelling and charging over, Zuo Zhicheng turned his head and said to Jiang Qing: “Senior Sister, it seems his companions have come for support.”

“So many people!” Jiang Qing looked up: “Why are you just standing there staring! Run, quickly!”