Chapter 75 Let You Choose
Budokan
In the martial arts hall in the dream, Zhong Mengfan was no longer surprised when he opened his eyes. He naturally took a fighting stance towards me.
In previous training sessions, due to the disparity in strength, Zhong Mengfan was usually overpowered by me. While this was a normal part of training, getting beaten up all the time wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. But today, Zhong Mengfan had a smile on his face.
"What happy things are you thinking about?" I asked.
"It was today, during a mission to save someone, when a pregnant woman came to thank me and called me by my name—Link. Someone finally remembered my hero name, and I was so happy! I feel like more and more people are recognizing me as a professional hero."
"Oh, then you know what?" I only said half of the sentence.
He was curious and asked, "What do you know?"
"The pregnant woman you saved gave birth to twins after being sent to the hospital."
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
He actually asked me the question seriously.
So I replied, "Yeah...it's a boy and a girl."
Zhong Mengfan opened his mouth and said "Wow~"
I continued, "To express her gratitude for saving her life, she plans to name one of the children Link and the other Nightmare."
Zhong Mengfan was very surprised when he heard what I said. "Really?! I'm so embarrassed, but also a little happy." He asked me nervously, "Should I go to the hospital to see the two newborn babies and give them some gifts?"
"I was kidding, idiot." I said calmly.
He showed a shocked expression. "...It's really too much."
I shrugged. "You're just too gullible. Just think about it. How could it be possible that children were born at such a perfect time? Twins at that."
"Hmph!" Zhong Mengfan made an expression very similar to that of an angry Shiba Inu. "Xia Ye, has anyone ever told you that toying with your own disciples like this might cost you the respect and love of others?"
I waved my hand. "I'm still young, so I don't need the respect and admiration you associate with older people."
"Are you a sadist?" He looked me up and down with suspicion. "At least you have that tendency."
"Where did you get this weird idea?"
"This is the profound understanding I gained from being trained and beaten by you in this dream space. Other masters and apprentices, such as Chen Xingyun and his master, the Burning Hunter, would never tease their own disciples like this!"
"Maybe it has something to do with appearance," I said.
"Hmm," he looked puzzled.
But I didn't continue the topic. Instead, I said, "Now that we're done with the warm-up, let's get started with today's sparring session."
Zhong Mengfan nodded vigorously. "Well, I'm ready. I've come up with a new move to deal with you. This time, I'm going to hit you."
"The prerequisite for hitting me is that you must create more opportunities for close combat with me." My sword slid across Zhong Mengfan's body, leaving a bloody mark. Blood flowers spread from the blade, and I had turned into smoke and moved in another direction.
Zhong Mengfan quickly caught up with me and punched me.
Now, this level of flesh wounds no longer affected his counterattack speed. "I will catch up with you!"
I dodged his punch and prepared to teleport again, but my body, transformed into smoke, felt a momentary stagnation—Zhong Mengfan used his ability to compress the air around me. Although I dodged Zhong Mengfan's second punch, it still grazed the end of my hair.
I raised an eyebrow and said, "This is your new move."
He was a little proud. "Hey, not only that. Keep going!"
And he was full of fighting spirit, "Xia Ye, I have discovered that my ability actually has a counter effect on your teleportation."
"But restraint only works if your ability is strong enough to block me. Right now, it's still early."
He said confidently, "One day, it will happen!"
Zhong Mengfan's next punch was a feint, and his real attack was a low whip kick towards the inside of my thigh.
I leaped out of the way, avoiding his kick, and he angled his wrist to deliver a quick punch.
When I dodged the attack again, I also left a sword wound on his back.
"Tsk." Zhong Mengfan curled his lips.
Although I could still predict and dodge his attacks every time through experience, it wasn't as easy as before. I couldn't be distracted during the battle. The gap in strength between him and me gradually narrowed with each training session.
Zhong Mengfan spat out the blood from the broken skin on the corner of his mouth where I had hit him, and clenched his fist. "Come again, I'm going to get serious!"
I curled my lips and said, "Let's wait and see."
When the sword pierced Zhong Mengfan's body, I asked, "So, this is your seriousness?"
"Yes." Zhong Mengfan squeaked, controlling the sword embedded in his body with one hand, preventing me from retracting my weapon.
At the same time, use your other hand to activate your ability.
Charge up and punch!
With the location where Zhong Mengfan punched as the center, a strong storm spread out.
When the power of the storm subsided, Zhong Mengfan looked at me who had dodged away, with a look of disappointment on his face, "Even after all this, I still can't hit you? Um, my stomach hurts so much, it hurts so much..." This punch seemed to make Zhong Mengfan's body completely exhausted. He lay on the ground covering his wound, and the sword was still stuck in his abdomen.
I walked towards him, using my fingers to wipe away the small amount of blood that had leaked from a very small cut on my face. "You hit it."
Zhong Mengfan frowned and said, "Ah, a little happy, but not too happy..."
I looked at him lying on the ground. "It took a while."
"What time"
"You've persisted for this long. By this time, you should have emerged from this dream and woken up from your bed."
Being seriously injured and physically exhausted due to overusing his abilities, the spirit in the dream could not bear the double burden and would instinctively want to escape from this nightmare. As long as I did not forcibly stop him, the dream would end soon and Zhong Mengfan would wake up from the dream.
But now he and I are still in this dream, which means that Zhong Mengfan can fully withstand this level of harm and pain.
He's gotten stronger, but I have no intention of praising him for it.
I stood beside him and said, "If he doesn't wake up, it will be very uncomfortable to look injured like this."
"Nonsense! I'm in pain now." He began to grimace.
I stroked my chin and said, "Well, maybe it's because you slept too deeply today, so you can't wake up."
"What! Do I have to go through a painful death before I can wake up from this dream?" Zhong Mengfan was horrified and screamed "No!!!"
I reached out and grasped the hilt of the sword.
Zhong Mengfan stared at my hands and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious? Take my weapon from you." I made a gesture to draw my sword.
"Stop! Pull out the sword, or it will hurt me even more!!!"
"But didn't you do that on purpose? You deliberately moved closer to me, letting the sword penetrate deeper into your body to restrict my movements, and then you used your newly invented trick on me."
He avoided my gaze guiltily, "Ahahaha... did you find out?"
I tightened my grip on the sword a little. "Since you're willing to endure the pain and take the initiative to inflict physical harm in exchange for the opportunity to attack me, it shouldn't be a big deal for me to pull this sword out of you now."
Zhong Mengfan collapsed and yelled, "This is different! I was planning to hit you in battle. Taking the sword away now will only make it more painful!"
I leaned closer to him and said, "What if I just want to make you hurt more?"
His reaction was obviously delayed by my words. "What?"
"I remember telling you that even if you become a professional hero, you must put your own life first. Using the tactic of exchanging injuries for injuries in battle is simply not advisable."
Zhong Mengfan swallowed hard, "Are you mad at me? I just wanted to achieve the goal you set for me, so I didn't think too much during the battle. I thought this was a dream, so I acted impulsively... I wanted to become stronger and become an A-rank hero faster."
I narrowed my eyes. "Just now you were complaining that I was a sadist, but the way you fight and the way you fight with me make you more like a sadist. Even in a dream, getting hurt hurts. Isn't that what you said to me?"
Zhong Mengfan became completely depressed and said, "I was wrong..."
I said slowly, "What should I do now? This dream cannot end. Either your wounds will slowly bleed away and you will die, or I will draw my sword and give you a fatal blow, so that you will die a "painful death."
Choose one of these two ways to wake up from your nightmare."
【Author has something to say】
Wen Xia Ye: Choose
Zhong Mengfan: QAQ
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