Chapter 25: Chapter 25

The next night, Songcheng University’s martial arts hall was brightly lit and packed with people. Everyone was waiting eagerly for the opening ceremony of the annual National University Martial Arts Competitions.

Lou Cheng waited for Yan Zheke outside the women’s locker room. When she came out, he passed her the cute notebook with a grin and said, “Liang Yifan’s autograph. I tore a page for myself.”

Yan Zheke’s eyes widened with surprise. She took the notebook and flipped to the two pages where Liang Yifan had signed and exclaimed.

“You, you managed to get his autograph… Thank you very much!”

Lou Cheng tried his best to remain as calm and collected as possible. He smiled warmly and said, “You’re welcome! You don’t need to thank me. Didn’t you also give me some medicine?”

Reciprocating her favor was only an excuse that he was using so that the situation would not become too awkward for the two of them.

“Oh yes, I did.” With a thoughtful look, Yan Zheke nodded lightly, and said, “I was about to say I could treat you to a meal, but since you have said it, thank you for the autographs anyway.”

“Huh? Treat me to a meal? So this means a date? Did I just miss my perfect chance?” Lou Cheng was stunned. He was filled with regret for talking so much! For explaining so much!

“Actually, I don’t mind a treat…” he said shyly.

Yan Zheke said with her eyes glittered. “Didn’t I already return the favor with the ointment? Why do I still have to treat you to a meal?” Without waiting for Lou Cheng to respond, Yan Zheke beamed and with her pretty dimples showing, she added, “Since you have missed this opportunity, you can only wait for the next chance.”

“I will pick an expensive place next time!” Lou Cheng tried to use a joke to soothe the pain and regret in him.

“Expensive meal? Then I will probably not give a treat then…” Yan Zheke teased.

“Alright, alright. My fault. If Yan Zheke treats, even if it’s street food, I will gobble it down like it is the most delicious thing in the world!” Lou Cheng clasped his hands together and answered her in a joking manner.

Yan Zheke tilted her head and good-naturedly said, “Gobble it down? Can you eat a lot? Maybe I shouldn’t treat you then…”

“… Just look at my sincere eyes,” Lou Cheng felt an urgent need to make an expression that could be found in a sticker pack of a chat application.

“Oh yes, why do you have such a girly notebook?” Yan Zheke giggled and tried to change the topic.

“I bought it especially for the autographs. A manly guy like me will never use a notebook,” Lou Cheng joked.

“Oh…” Yan Zheke looked at him, amused by his words. She was about to say something when Guo Qing waved to her.

“Cheng, I’ll go over first. I have some stuff to settle.” Yan Zheke pointed at Guo Qing.

The cheerleaders would be trying to get the crowd fired up tonight. They need to warm up the people, get them to clap and cheer, especially since this was a live broadcast, so they couldn’t afford quiet moments on the screen.

As Lou Cheng waved goodbye, Cai Zongming, who was nearby, leaned over and said seriously, “Cheng, do you know how I feel after hearing your conversation?”

“What?” Lou Cheng braced himself for a sarcastic attack.

“I was trying so hard not to laugh! Can’t hold back any longer! Hahaha!” Cai Zongming cracked up. “You talked too much! You looked for an excuse! You didn’t ask me for advice! Your date is gone now, right? Filled with regret yet? Heart aching yet?”

Lou Cheng glared at him. “Little Ming, come here.”

“For what?” Cai Zongming asked with caution.

“Let me strangle you!” Lou Cheng said sternly. “We should go and maintain order.”

Today’s event required some order. The pair in Songcheng University martial arts suits moved toward the holding area for guests. Presidents, vice-presidents, and coaches of the various schools from the Partition Contest were present. As for the top two Martial Arts Club of the Partition Contest, which were also the representatives of the host district, Shanbei University Martial Arts Club and Sanjiang College Martial Arts Club, both their main and substitute members were invited to join the competition.

In their midst, Shanbei University Martial Arts Club as the defending champion would have to go on stage later to draw lots to determine the competing order of the rest of the competitors.

…

After Yan Zheke walked to Guo Qing, she did not mention anything about the notebook and Liang Yifan’s autograph. She only talked about how the cheerleading team could help warm the crowd up.

During their discussion, when they touched on the topic of Liang Yifan hosting the drawing lots segment, Guo Qing seemed to recall something, and said, “Ke Ke, I heard that last night Cheng was crazy cool.”

“What did he do?” Yan Zheke asked curiously.

“While the deputy head of the security team was watching, he stepped out from the security team formation and asked for Liang Yifan’s autograph. When the deputy head demanded that he returned to his position through the walkie-talkies, Lou Cheng simply switched his walkie-talkie off! Totally calm and collected, without any fear.” Guo Qing continued with her gossip, “Fortunately, Liang Yifan did not mind, and the deputy head just reprimanded him and he was off the hook…”

While listening to Guo Qing, Yan Zheke bit her lips and a subtle glow came into her eyes. Her lips arched slightly and her right hand stroked the notebook’s cover lightly.

…

A young man, smartly dressed in a black tuxedo and tie, stood at the aisle of the guest holding area. His position overlooked the male locker room of the Songcheng University Martial Arts Club. He sniggered and whispered to his partner beside him, “This year Songcheng University has Lin Que in their team. It will be worth watching. Catch the matches, if you can.”

“Club Manager, so what if there’s Lin Que. Why should we, Sanjiang College, care about them? In the old days, you would have been worshiped as a God!” Next to him, a tall but childish-looking youth casually passed a blandishing statement.

“No, no, you flatter me. It would only be because the people in the old days didn’t know better and hadn’t seen enough.” The tuxedo man beamed proudly. When he did so, his feet left the ground and he was floating at least 10 centimeters above the ground!

He kept his floating stance and drifted along the aisle to the seats at the back of the guest area.

The rows of the guest area were arranged in an inclined slope. As the tuxedo man floated past a few rows, a familiar voice called out to him. “Qu Hui, you haven’t changed a bit, as shameless as ever.”

The tuxedo man, Qu Hui, turned around to find out who called out to him. A young man in a white martial arts suit stood at the edge of a row, with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He was about 1.80 meters tall, with thick bushy eyebrows and heavy dark eye rings. He seemed fatigued and had not slept for many nights.

“Hey, Xu Wannian, you also haven’t changed at all. Still the same ruffian look.” Qu Hui sneered. “No matter how shameless I am, at least I wouldn’t be defeated by a new member of the club.”

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Shanbei University Martial Arts Club President, Xu Wannian, gave a tight smile and said, “There’s no need to provoke me or stir anything. I respect my Junior Peng’s ability and have nothing to be ashamed about. Alright, I’ll stop bickering with you. Watch your step and don’t fall.”

After watching him return to his seat, Qu Hui continued drifting toward the rows at the back and questioned the youth beside him, “There must be something wrong with Xu Wannian. Since when was he so quick to stop?”

“Yes, there must be something amiss, or else he wouldn’t have missed the chance to curse that you’d trip and fall. You’re floating in midair, how would you trip and fall?” The tall, childish-looking young man said in a joking manner.

“If there is anyone who would fall in this crowd, it would not be you, our President!” The other Sanjiang College Martial Arts Club members echoed.

Qu Hui was little confused and felt funny. He could not help but turn back to look toward Xu Wannian while drifting to his seat.

“Is there anything else between those lines?”

Bam!

Just as Qu Hui turned back, he bumped face-first on to a pillar that was supporting the roof of the dome. His nose was so sore that tears trickled down his cheeks. Then, at that moment, he forgot to maintain his supernatural ability and fell backward. The rest of the team members tried to catch him.

“Damned! What kind of building is this! A pillar in the middle of a walking path!” The childish-looking young man angrily started to blame the pillar.

At this moment, they were nearly at the last row.

Qu Hui floated again. His tuxedo was still crisp and neat with no signs of wrinkles. He looked at Xu Wannian grudgingly and said, “I actually tripped…”

Such a big pillar, but no one, including himself, had noticed it!

After seeing Qu Hui’s pillar knocking scene, Xu Wannian turned to the rows occupied by his club members, the Shanbei University representatives, and said, “See that?”

“Senior Brother Xu, is that your supernatural ability?” The members of the Martial Arts Club asked openly. A good-looking young man with a freckled face pursed his lips while some thoughts ran through his mind.

Xu Wannian proudly said, “Right. In the past, I never thought so, I always assumed that I was just a ‘Corvine Mouth’, the good things I speak of may never come true, but the bad ones always will. Fortunately, Junior Xu noticed it, and he looked for someone to help me hone this special ability.”

While sharing his history, he patted the shoulders of a young man next to him.

“Huh?” Looking lost, that young man turned to look at who had tapped on his shoulder.

While everyone was chatting happily, he was actually out of sorts and in his own world.

“Nothing, Junior Peng. You can continue to ponder about your biological challenges and life goals.” Xu Wannian let out two laughs and patted Peng Leyun’s shoulder again.

Peng Leyun’s skin was as smooth as that of a girl, with some facial hair around his mouth. His looks were not outstanding, but he looked clean. After he heard Xu Wannian’s words, he turned back, and with a blank stare, he said, “Think about life.”

“Senior brother Xu, this supernatural ability of yours, to what extent can it be used?” The junior with a freckled face asked.

Xu Wannian replied good-naturedly, “For now it just interferes with my opponent. The worst is a splitting headache and no side effects.”

After saying that, he pointed at the two people who were making their way up the rows and said arrogantly, “I’ll show you all again.”

Following instructions blasting from the walkie-talkies, Lou Cheng and Cai Zongming walked toward their assigned positions. Just as they had climbed a few steps, they heard a voice. “Hey, you there.”

Lou Cheng turned toward the voice and saw the bunch of young students dressed in the Shanbei University martial arts suit. He was puzzled as to why they would call him.

“What do they want from me? Is Peng Leyun here?”

With a questionable smile, Xu Wannian said, “It’s a little slippery in the front. Someone fell just now. You should be careful too and not fall too.”

“Oh, thank you,” Lou Cheng responded with gratitude.

Suddenly, the Jindan in his abdomen did a little jump, and the nebula began to expand and contract quickly.

Uh? Lou Cheng stopped in his tracks. The Jindan reverted to its original form and stopped acting up.

“What’s wrong?” He frowned while thinking. Though he was trying to understand what just happened, he continued to walk up the steps with Cai Zongming.

One step, two steps, three steps… they reached the last row and turned to look over the entire stadium.

“What? Why didn’t it work?” The Shanbei University Martial Arts Club members who were waiting to see Lou Cheng fall were shocked.

Nothing happened to him!

Xu Wannian was also surprised. He stood up and stepped onto the aisle to make sure that he did not miss anything. Lou Cheng was truly still standing upright and smiling brightly.

What went wrong? Xu Wannian was confused and he turned back.

At this moment, he missed a step! He could not regain his balance in time and was about to roll to the bottom of the steps!

A hand stretched out and held on to him firmly, helping him to regain his balance, preventing that embarrassing fall.

“The soul of language can sometimes fail, and when it does, there will be a boomerang effect,” Peng Leyun said with an unfathomable look in his eyes. Nobody noticed when Peng Leyun left his world and returned to everyone else’s world.

“Huh? Junior Peng, what just happened?” The now standing steady, Xu Wannian asked in a surprised tone.

Why would he fail?

Peng Leyun shook his head to express that he did not know the reason for the failure. Then, he looked away and mumbled to himself.

“I smell the scent of the stars…”

His eyes went back to being empty and blank.