Colosseum
"Shi Youchen, Shi Youchen, wake up." Pei Chanbai grabbed the shoulders of the man with his eyes closed and shook him with a not-so-small amplitude. Seeing that the man finally opened his eyes, the alertness in his red eyes faded a little. "Someone is coming." Pei Chanbai whispered in Shi Youchen's ear.
Perhaps because he had fallen asleep in an uncomfortable position, Shi Youchen's sleep was restless. His consciousness seemed to be floating on the surface of the sea, but he didn't know where to go because of the vast emptiness around him. There was a faint fog gathering towards the center, enveloping him with an overwhelming sense of darkness and oppression.
In response to Pei Chanbai's call, his body woke up earlier than his consciousness. When he opened his eyes, a ray of afterglow came in from the window diagonally opposite, casting a layer of gray haze over his already unclear vision.
A black shadow appeared in the blurred vision, and it suddenly came closer. Shi Youchen could see clearly that it was a huge man, at least two meters tall, with limbs so thick that they seemed to be about to burst the cloth wrapped around him. Even though no skin other than his face was exposed, his vitality and strength seemed to be about to burst out at any time.
This body doesn't seem to be something humans can control.
For some unknown reason, this thought flashed through Shi Youchen's mind.
Seeing Shi Youchen finally awake, the man breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had been granted amnesty. He glanced around the hall, confirming there was no one else besides himself, and then beckoned the five people to follow him.
Before leaving the main hall, Shi Youchen looked around again, and then found a huge round clock hanging above the wall opposite the door. At the moment when the long pointer moved upwards, the round clock suddenly flipped over to reveal the back.
It was a black background with a totem similar to a tiger head printed on it.
"Hmm! Hmm!" The burly man seemed to notice someone had fallen behind. He called out to Shi Youchen in a deep, animal-like voice. Following his gaze, he spotted the tiger-headed totem and suddenly paled. "Hmm! Hmm!" His arms suddenly swelled with blood, and the cloth split with a hiss, revealing arms covered in golden fur.
A pair of tiger limbs.
Without waiting for their reaction, he extended his claws, grabbed them, and flung them onto his back. His prostrate body suddenly expanded several times, his clothing instantly ripped apart. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a veritable giant tiger. The five men, carried on his broad, sturdy back, felt themselves soaring into the air, hurtling forward at full speed.
The giant tiger led them through long corridors and galloped towards somewhere. To avoid being thrown off, the people on its back lay down, holding on to the tiger's fur with both hands. Shi Youchen tilted his head back and saw the three people's pale faces.
Finally, when the scorching air stopped whipping the men's bodies, the giant tiger stopped running. It passed through a rusty iron gate and, panting heavily, reached the bottom of the steps. Its saliva dripped onto the gravel floor and was instantly absorbed. The men on its back were shaken off. Shi Youchen's face paled slightly, his lips tightly closed as he took deep breaths to recover. Pei Chanbai stood upright, his expression as if nothing had happened. Two of the other three men immediately fell to the ground and vomited, leaving the only one standing with a sullen face.
When the giant tiger reached its destination, it leaped forward onto the stairs, and in a few leaps reached the top, where it lay down at the feet of a figure.
Shi Youchen felt a dry, burning sensation in his nose, but it wasn't entirely from the scorching wind. He tilted his head slightly upward, peering up the steps. They were filled with people, sitting and standing. Most of those sitting were women of varying ages, while those standing were a diverse bunch: the strange, pot-bellied men he'd seen on the street, the iron-masked men who looked like inspectors at the castle entrance, and...
All kinds of huge animals like the giant tiger.
"Ugh." The two people who were lying on the ground vomiting had only slightly improved. Just as they were about to stand up, they were frightened by a dark brown golden eagle swooping down with its wings spread. They stepped back repeatedly, and sat on the ground with their legs limp, unable to get up again.
The golden eagle clawed at the ground, proudly shaking its feathers. Then, staring at Pei Chanbai, who hadn't moved an inch, it approached with its head tilted. Just as its sharp beak was about to pierce his white hair, the figure next to the giant tiger called out, "Alright, stop."
As expected, the golden eagle stopped advancing. It let out a sharp "woosh," folded its wings, and retreated back down the steps. As the man who had spoken from the top step descended, the only man in the trio who hadn't collapsed in fear reached out and pulled up his frightened companions. He then stood in front of them, his entire body tense as he stared at the newcomer.
Pei Chanbai took a step forward towards Shi Youchen and protected him behind him, "Don't panic."
"Don't be afraid. I won't do anything to you." The person descending the stairs stood before them, smiling. She was a woman draped in pure white silk. Her skin was tan and translucent, and beneath her thick, feather-like lashes were a pair of light brown eyes. Her forehead was outlined with golden lines like fan bones.
Her slender fingers pushed back her long, curly brown hair, and her gaze fell on Pei Chanbai. "It's been a long time since we've seen someone as exquisite as you here." She then surveyed the three people with satisfaction and said, "You have a nice physique." With that, she stretched out her long legs, bypassed Pei Chanbai, and stood beside Shi Youchen.
Shi Youchen only felt the woman's muddy and slow gaze crawling over his whole body. Just when he thought that the sudden approach of her breath meant he was going to be touched, the woman's head stopped only ten centimeters away from his neck.
She closed her eyes and took a deep sniff, then said with an intoxicated look on her face, "You are the first male with such a smell." Her opened pupils suddenly shrank and became a vertical slit. "The chief will definitely be satisfied this time." After saying that, she turned her body and returned to the highest step.
The people who were sitting began to whisper to each other, while those who were standing or lying down all lowered their heads and remained silent.
"Okay, let's start!" The woman gave an order, and Shi Youchen felt the ground beneath his feet began to shake. Before he could reach out to grab the steps, he sank down with the sinking ground.
Of course, Pei Chanbai and the three people next to him also fell into the trap. The gravel ground they were standing on turned out to be a lifting platform. At this moment, the entire ground sank about five or six meters. The steps, which were originally quite high, and the creatures on them immediately appeared higher and farther away. Under the steps that were exposed due to the sinking, there were curved iron gates surrounding them, and a dark space was hidden behind them.
The rumbling sound of the rising gate echoed in the fallen space. A woman's voice came from above, "The longer you stand here, the greater the power the leader will grant you. This is the competition that will determine your future status."
The iron gate was fully raised, and a group of people emerged from the darkness on all sides. Some of them were in tattered clothes, and some were covered in dirt, as if they had just crawled through the mud. They all had the same look in their eyes, a look of despair and desperation.
Shi Youchen finally realized that the layout and structure here were roughly similar to some of the architectural ruins in the old calendar of some areas. And those ruins were called "Colosseum" in the new calendar.
The place they were in was like a gladiatorial arena, and the spectators on the stage watched them in the arena, just like animal trainers in the past letting wild beasts fight and kill each other.
Before Shi Youchen could think more, a thin child covered with rags rushed over. His outstretched fingertips were filled with dirt, and his dirty hair stickyly covered one eye. The uncovered eye was fierce and stared straight at Shi Youchen.
Shi Youchen could probably guess why he was being targeted. Of the five people in the arena, he was undoubtedly the weakest, judging by his physique alone. He dodged the child's claw aimed at his face, then raised his left arm to block the following hook. With just these two strikes, he realized the child's decisive and ruthless attack was probably not his first time participating in such a competition.
A powerful side kick interrupted his thoughts. The child's tiny body was incredibly agile, and he couldn't even react quickly enough. But given the size difference, no matter how strong the child mustered, he couldn't knock a grown man over with a single kick. So Shi Youchen seized the child's slender ankle and yanked him back. With a swift flip, he straddled the child, pinning him by the arm.
Shi Youchen sat with his knees pressed against the child's lower back. His right hand clamped around the child's wrist, which threatened to break if he pressed harder, and he bent it against the child's back. His left hand pressed the back of the child's neck, his fingers deliberately loosening their grip. Just as he was debating how to disable the child, he felt a dull pain in his left shoulder. Then, the strength in his hand faded, and the child, facedown, instantly flipped over and struck Shi Youchen's already injured side with his elbow.
When Pei Chanbai knocked down another person who was blocking his way, he saw the dirty child staggering to his feet and about to kick Shi Youchen in the back of the head.
"Ouch!" A muffled groan of pain echoed, and the next moment, the thin figure was kicked a meter away, falling to his knees and gasping for breath. Beside Shi Youchen, the tall man, the only one of the three who hadn't vomited from fear, reached out to him. "Are you okay?" he asked.
The man's voice was completely inconsistent with his appearance, not at all rough and unrestrained. He seemed a little embarrassed by this, and after saying this, he fell silent.
Shi Youchen supported his waist, exhaled deeply, and ignored the outstretched hand. He supported himself on the ground and stood up, nodding his head in gratitude at the man. The man withdrew his hand with a look of disappointment, rubbed his trouser leg a few times, and turned away with his head lowered, not daring to look at Shi Youchen.
When the afterglow completely faded and night fell completely, the fight between more than 40 people finally ended.
"Stop it, everyone." The woman at the top of the group's voice was tinged with excitement. She hadn't expected four people to make it to the end. In the middle of the field, Shi Youchen leaned against the earthen wall, one hand on his waist. Concerned about not having more information, he hadn't used his abilities to heal his injuries, so his body was already covered in scars.
Pei Chanbai stood about two men away from Shi Youchen. Aside from his clothes being dusty and his hair a bit messy, he was unharmed. The other two men still barely standing weren't as relaxed as Pei Chanbai. One of them was the man who had helped Shi Youchen. His clothes were ripped to shreds, revealing a hideous light brown scar below his collarbone, and his back was covered in bloodstains.
The last person standing besides the three was a short-haired woman with a nice figure. Her clothes were intact, but the sweat soaking through her body and the traces of flesh and blood between her long nails showed that she had gone through a difficult battle.
The ground began to rise, and the woman in white robes leisurely walked down the stairs. She looked down at the four people left on the field. The corner of her lip cracked, and she spat out a piece of her snake tongue. She hissed and laughed, "Then, congratulations on becoming the chosen ones this time."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
