Chapter 25: A Martial Arts Contest to Find a Husband.
Standing on the platform now are a leopard spirit and a goat spirit competing. The former's claws and teeth are sharper than a razor-sharp dagger; wherever it goes, even wooden stakes are cleaved in two. Such terrifying power would surely tear skin to shreds like paper if it were even grazed by it.
Jiang Huaisu watched from below the stage, her heart pounding with fear.
If neither side uses magic, the herbivorous goat will definitely be at a disadvantage. However, since both are spirits who have embarked on the path of cultivation, their attack methods have become more diverse, no longer limited to the most primitive biting and scratching.
Xiaotian enthusiastically shared his thoughts with her:
"That leopard is very aggressive, but its defense seems slightly weaker, and its fighting style is quite reckless. The goat has been hiding, seemingly looking for an opportunity. However, neither of them can be considered top-tier fighters. Who do you think has a better chance of winning?"
"goat."
"How so?"
"He's used dirty tricks several times. There must be poison needles hidden under his fingernails. I have excellent eyesight, so I can see them."
"I hate these underhanded tactics," Xiaotian snorted. "Unfortunately, it seems they're not prohibited in the arena."
As it turned out, Jiang Huaisu's guess was correct. After about ten rounds, the leopard demon clutched its neck and collapsed to the ground in pain, its face turning a purplish-red.
The little fox, sitting on the high platform watching the battle, seemed to be acting as a referee. Seeing that the leopard demon was powerless to resist, he immediately called for a halt. After having the leopard demon carried off, he gave the goat demon a wooden plaque. A horizontal line was carved on the plaque, symbolizing the number of victories.
“If I get that badge,” Xiaotian said confidently, “it will have at least a hundred lines drawn on it.”
A faint sneer came from not far away.
"Who!" Xiaotian immediately turned his head and shouted in that direction.
Jiang Huaisu, puzzled, also looked in that direction. "What's wrong?"
"I think I just heard someone laughing at me..."
"It's so noisy here, could I have misheard?"
“You might mishear, but you won’t missmell.” Xiaotian pointed to his nose. “Not only is the voice familiar, but the smell is also very familiar…it’s coming from that direction just now.”
"odor?"
There were too many people here, and the smells were mixed. But the faint fragrance of lotus was hard to mask; if you listened carefully, you could smell it.
"Nezha... is more likely to stay with your second brother."
Jiang Huaisu had rarely seen him lately. The great god seemed to be busy with something all day long, and his room was always tightly closed. Even though they lived next door, she knew nothing about his whereabouts.
When Nezha suggested staying at Zhenjun's mansion, she had a fleeting moment of narcissism, wondering if it was because of her. But it turned out to be just wishful thinking; Nezha and Yang Jian were good friends, and it had nothing to do with her.
“When we passed by this mountain yesterday, Li Nezha also saw the scene on the arena. He said he wasn’t interested and went back to his residence first.” Xiaotian raised his voice as if unintentionally. “Do you think he secretly came to watch the excitement, but then felt embarrassed if we saw him? I don’t understand him. Why is he pretending to be so composed?”
A long, slender hand appeared out of nowhere, grabbed Xiaotian's ear, and twisted it hard.
"Aww!"
"You guessed I was here and still dared to talk bad about me." Nezha's expression looked like he wanted to make a hot pot with dog meat. "What do you mean by sneaking off to watch the fun? I can come and go as I please."
Xiaotian gritted his teeth in anger: "Only my second brother can twist my ear!"
"I'll twist it anyway, so what?"
Jiang Huaisu, her head throbbing, stood between the two men: "Alright, alright, brothers, calm down. Since you're all here, let's enjoy the match together, shall we? I brought some sunflower seeds, want some?"
After all, it's someone else's venue. If they start causing trouble offstage, they'll definitely be kicked out, or it'll escalate into a huge brawl.
Nezha: "...I won't eat it."
Xiaotian: "I'll eat it! Is there anything else?"
"There are still shortbreads left, but only two."
"That's easy, we'll split it between the two of us, and Li Nezha will just eat the air."
Jiang Huaisu took out a paper package from her bosom: "Half a piece each is fine. This pastry is delicious. It would be a shame not to try it."
She broke the two pastries into four pieces through the parchment paper, and swallowed one piece herself, demonstrating that the pastries were indeed delicious.
Xiaotian followed closely behind, swallowing the piece of cake in one gulp, just like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit. Jiang Huaisu suspected that he didn't even taste it.
With only two petals left, she offered the oiled paper package to Nezha: "Want a piece?"
This time, he didn't refuse. Nezha took one of the portions with a slightly reserved air and said thank you.
The dog licked its lips, still wanting more: "Can I have the last piece?"
Nezha: "Why should I?"
"Because I'm going to fight later, and that will take a lot of energy," Xiaotian said matter-of-factly.
"You're going to go on stage?"
"Of course! Watch me rout them!"
Do you know what the final winner will receive?
"I don't know." Xiaotian looked at him suspiciously. "Do you know the answer to that question?"
"...I've heard there's gold, silver, pearls, jade, mountains, fields, and even magical artifacts and treasures." Nezha gestured for him to join in. "If I don't participate, you should be able to sweep away all the demons. Go for it, become the winner, and give your second brother a surprise."
Xiaotian's suspicion deepened: "I feel like something's fishy." Nezha wasn't mocking him, but encouraging him instead?
"And while you're at it, take a wife home so your second brother can attend the wedding banquet," Nezha added expressionlessly.
"?"
Xiaotian looked completely bewildered, utterly unable to understand what kind of riddle this guy was speaking of.
"Stupid dog," Nezha finally relented and mercifully pointed out, "Have you ever heard of a martial arts contest to find a husband?"
Jiang Huaisu, who was listening in, instantly understood. She glanced at the intense competition and hesitated before saying:
"Wait, so the essence of this competition is... recruiting a son-in-law?"
"Hmm, more or less."
No wonder all the guys here are male! They're all here to be kept men!
Xiaotian was a beat slow to react. After a moment, a look of mixed struggle and regret appeared on his face: "Is that so? Then, I think I'll pass."
Nezha continued to urge, "Go for it! The bride is a fox, you two are a good match. You're both furry creatures that walk on four paws, I'm sure you'll have a lot in common."
The dog looked completely innocent: "But I don't want to get married."
Nezha expressed his regret, half-jokingly: "That's a pity."
Jiang Huaisu was eliminated outright due to the wrong gender, leaving her only to watch the spectacle.
"How about this?" Xiaotian watched the match for a while, itching to play, and came up with an idea. "I'll go up and play a few rounds to have some fun, and then find an opportunity to throw the game and deliberately lose."
"Isn't that a good idea?" Jiang Huaisu interjected. "We can also weed out some of the bad apples. If the other side is very good, we can find an opportunity to eliminate them. If they are stupid, weak, scheming, and like to play tricks, we can take the opportunity to beat them to a pulp."
"That's right, let's do it this way!" Xiaotian made up his mind, then looked at Nezha, "What about you?"
"I'm not getting involved."
Actually, Nezha almost went onto the arena before Xiaotian and Jiang Huaisu arrived. Fortunately, his vigilance kept him from acting impulsively.
After spending some extra time figuring out the competition rules offstage, he completely lost the idea of going on stage. He wasn't short of money, nor was he short of magical treasures; the rewards for this competition held no appeal for him.
Xiaotian didn't care about all that; whether Nezha participated or not wouldn't affect his decision, since he was already prepared to enter the arena.
Feeling a little nervous, he whispered to Jiang Huaisu, "Since it's a fox choosing a husband, could the one sitting on the high platform watching be...?"
"No way, that one looks like a male, and it's very young, still a cub. Maybe it was just kidnapped to work as a child laborer."
"I think so too." Xiaotian felt relieved. If the fox in question were right in front of him, he wouldn't dare to show himself, in case it took a liking to him.
Jiang Huaisu's eyes swept around, but she couldn't find a fox girl who matched the description. It was strange; if she was choosing a husband, shouldn't she come and see for herself? Or was this fox purely attracted to strength, completely disregarding looks, only caring about fighting ability?
If looks were the primary concern, a quick glance at the audience would suggest Nezha would be a guaranteed spot, right? Perhaps intentionally trying to be low-key, he was dressed very simply today, and his signature weapon wasn't with him. Even so, his face was striking enough, a powerfully beautiful face that's unforgettable.
Jiang Huaisu began to have doubts. Actually, Xiaotian didn't seem so bad. Objectively speaking, his baby face with its still-youthful appearance paired with his muscular physique created a striking contrast, and perhaps some people would prefer that.
But then I thought about it again, and some monsters have rather peculiar tastes. Those with delicate skin and tender flesh may not be popular, while those with blue faces and fangs may be more favored.
There are plenty of choices, so there's no need to limit yourself to a specific range.
That's wonderful. If she had a fortune, she might even hold a martial arts contest to choose a husband, and then build herself a luxurious viewing platform. Of course, the final interpretation rests with her; transferring the family fortune is out of the question, and she won't allow herself to be a kept woman.
Unbeknownst to her, she was already dreaming in the audience until Nezha gave her an elbow strike, which jolted her awake and made her raise her head.
"What are you spacing out for? Your dog is coming up."
"Don't talk nonsense! What do you mean by 'my dog'? Erlang Shen will beat me up if he hears this."
As they were talking, the match on the arena had already begun. As expected of Yang Jian's second-in-command, Xiaotian proved with his actions that what he had said earlier was not just boasting.
In just three moves, he knocked his opponent off the stage. The little fox gave him a wooden plaque and drew a horizontal line on it.
Unlike before, after this decisive match, the cheers from the audience were few and far between. Everyone came for the final prize, and having an opponent with overwhelming strength on the field was not a good thing; no one wanted to be the runner-up.
Still confused, Xiaotian wondered why he hadn't heard any cheers from the audience. Had the episode ended too quickly and everyone not had enough?
After the first match ended, he didn't choose to rest but instead started the second match. However, most of the demons below the stage remained in a wait-and-see attitude, and no one immediately jumped out to be the first to challenge him.
After waiting for a full quarter of an hour, a lizard demon finally stepped onto the stage, declaring its challenge to Xiaotian.
Anyone who dares to show their face at a time like this is definitely not simple. Sensing the other party's strong hostility and competitiveness, Xiaotian couldn't help but become serious.
He soon discovered that the lizard demon was indeed quite skilled, far superior to the previous one. More importantly, its attacks were ruthless, each strike aimed directly at vital points, seemingly with the primary goal of killing its opponent rather than simply winning.
Seeing that Xiaotian and the lizard demon were evenly matched, Jiang Huaisu worried from the audience: Could it be that they've encountered a wild master?
"It's obvious the stupid dog has the upper hand, why are you so nervous?" Nezha tilted his head to look at her.
"Is that so? Compared to the last match, this one seems much more difficult."
"The last one was the worst of the worst, so it doesn't count. This one is a little stronger."
"...Just a little stronger?" Jiang Huaisu stared intently at the stage. "But the wooden plaque hanging from the lizard demon's waist already has several lines, which means he has entered the arena more than once and has never lost."
"So far, among the guys who have stepped into the ring, apart from Xiaotian, he should be the most capable fighter," Nezha said dismissively. "But that's nothing special; he's just the tallest among the short ones."
Nezha's judgment was correct. Although the lizard demon's attack was fierce, the dog was not afraid at all. After all, he had rich combat experience. After adapting to the lizard demon's attack patterns, he quickly suppressed his opponent and made him retreat step by step.
Unfortunately, several spectators who were too close to the arena were accidentally injured by the lizard demon's thrown projectiles. Some had blood gushing from their foreheads, some had their arms pierced, and others had gashes on their shoulders. The projectiles seemed to be poisoned, and their wounds were getting much worse. The unfortunate spectators had to leave early, grumbling as they squeezed through the crowd to find a place to heal their wounds.
This caused a small commotion in the arena. Jiang Huaisu's view was blocked, and she couldn't see what was happening on the stage for a moment. She only heard the lizard demon let out a deafening roar, whether it was to bolster its own morale or to vent its anger when it was forced into a desperate situation.
She asked Nezha, "Can you see what's going on up there? Did they win?"
"No... but it will be soon."
Since Nezha said so, she felt relieved. However, the surrounding noise grew increasingly chaotic; someone seemed to be shouting something in the distance, and people kept pushing and shoving their way towards them. The audience below the stage was like a wheat field in a strong wind, shoving and collapsing in a chaotic mass. If this continued, it would escalate into a stampede.
The scene was chaotic, and Jiang Huaisu was jostled and knocked around. Barely managing to steady herself, she stood on tiptoe and peered towards the source of the disturbance.
Before she could even see what it was, a rhinoceros demon fell down beside her, its enormous horn nearly hitting her in the waist.
"Hey!" Rhinoceros Horn got up angrily, glanced at Jiang Huaisu, and preemptively scolded, "What are you doing here, woman? Crowding around and causing trouble, why don't you move forward?"
"Where is there any room for me to move? You fell down yourself, don't try to blame me." She crossed her arms in front of her, speaking warily. "If you really feel cramped, you might as well tuck your corners in. It's so big, it takes up space and can easily hurt people."
The conversation, the scene, felt like being on a crowded subway during rush hour on a weekday, everyone shoulder to shoulder, the air thick with all sorts of unpleasant odors. She couldn't take it anymore.
At that moment, she was incredibly grateful that her true form was a magpie, and that she could escape the chaos with a flap of her wings. However, just before she was about to transform back into a bird, a red ribbon appeared out of nowhere, wrapped around her waist, and tossed her into the air like a kite.
She was taken aback: "Wildfire?"
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