Chapter 26

Opening his eyes, Feng Yan discovered that the dance girl in front was still guarding the door, as if she hadn't slept, with deep eye circles.

Feng Yan walked over and said, "You rest first, we're here." Seeing them arrive, the dance girl nodded and then went to sleep.

Feng Yan watched the sleeping dance girl, her black hair spread over her shoulders, eyes tightly closed, looking extremely cute; several times, Feng Yan just watched her like that until she woke up. Chen Hao kicked him from behind, saying, "Haven't you seen a woman before? Why so eager?" "Um, this... hard to say." Feng Yan answered with a smile. Then they opened the door and instructed the guards: "No one except us may enter this room." Chen Hao, with a teasing tone, said, "Is this not keeping a beauty in a golden house?" "I suppose so." Feng Yan replied.

The two of them walked to the first competition site, at the gate of Ju Ren Guo. The guards waited for the orders of the two adventurers, while the princes stood in place, looking somewhat dissatisfied.

"Then let's begin; this round's contest is horsemanship, i. e., horse riding," Feng Yan said, gesturing for the giants to bring the juvenile horses of Ju Ren Guo, then continued, "During the competition, no colliding, no attacking the riders, otherwise they will lose their eligibility."

"So that means our horses are all provided by Ju Ren Guo?" the Prince of Li Kingdom asked.

"Yes, your horses are all provided by Ju Ren Guo, with their juvenile horses as your mounts; the winning condition is to complete a lap around the outer wall of Ju Ren Guo's city, and we will wait for you at the finish line—remember, victory counts when the horse's foreleg touches the finish line!" Chen Hao answered.

"Is that all?" the Prince of War asked again. Feng Yan slapped his left hand on his forehead, sighed, and said, "I should have just said it all." Then he loudly announced, "Everyone, this competition consists of three events: first, horse riding; second, swimming; third, cross-country. According to the scoring standard, first place in the first event gets three points, second gets two, third gets one—these are the points for horse riding. Then for swimming, first place gets five points, second gets three, third gets two. Finally, cross-country, which is somewhat dangerous and also the highest-scoring event: first place gets ten points, second gets seven, third gets five. That's all; get ready—we'll start the first event, horse riding."

"Look! These are the juvenile horses of Ju Ren Guo, just right for you!" Feng Yan said.

The princes from various countries began test-riding, preparing to adapt to the hostility of the unfamiliar horses; when it was about time, Chen Hao shouted, "Ready!"

The princes rode their horses onto the track, carefully guiding the horses, stepping into the stirrups, walking as steadily as possible; after a long while, they finally arrived on the track.

Feng Yan looked at the situation before him, lowered his head silently, not wanting to speak; he grabbed Chen Hao and asked, "Are you sure this will work?" "To be honest, I have no confidence, but since we've already done it, what else can we do?" Chen Hao replied.

After saying that, he ordered a giant: "Go, get a gong."

The giant brought the gong, and Chen Hao told him, "When I say start, you strike the gong."

"Ready—start!"

As the gong sounded, the princes spurred their horses into a gallop, the horses streaking like meteors before the spectators while the riders freely stretched their bodies on horseback. Riders gathered, fine steeds neighed, colorful flags fluttered, people nearby cheered, some whispered, wondering who would be the victor of this match; the giants both worried for the juvenile horses and cheered their splendid performance.

"Good! Really beautiful, though in such a short time they've fully adapted to Ju Ren Guo's juvenile horses—what an excellent prince!" Chen Hao praised, unable to bear it.

Feng Yan also couldn't bear to look; after that burst of sprinting, the horses showed their unwillingness to carry people on their backs, began to act up, leaping with both hooves suspended in the air like a standing pose, then quickly accelerating, trying to violently throw their riders to the ground and trample them fiercely. "These Ju Ren Guo horses are really fierce," Feng Yan thought, "if they fall off, wouldn't that be...?" Just then came a thud—someone fell from his horse, the horse ruthlessly trampling him; that prince rolled rapidly under the horse's hooves, indicating his withdrawal, and Feng Yan pulled him back, announcing, "The prince of Lilliputian Kingdom is disqualified! Five remain, and the course is still half done."

Feng Yan looked at the prince before him, severely punished by the horse—his nose bruised, face swollen, clothes covered in dust, walking with a limp; seeing the Lilliputian prince's miserable state, Feng Yan couldn't help laughing. After laughing enough, he had someone send him to the doctor.

Now the race entered a white-hot stage; the five gave it their all toward the finish line, which drew ever closer. As the finish line loomed, Li Kingdom's prince's horse began to act up; he stroked its mane, leaning close and said, "Be good, honestly run to the finish, I'll give your family a big chunk of gold!" No sooner had he spoken than the horse threw him off—"Prince of Li Kingdom—out. Four remain." The finish line was now just a step away; everyone tensed, preparing to sprint, and now let us welcome our first place—Prince of War!

"He really is an outstanding person," Feng Yan couldn't help praising, "whether horsemanship or personal charm, he's flawless."

"How rare that you'd praise someone like this—is it the Prince of War?" Chen Hao answered Feng Yan, also posing a question.

"Ah, yes." Feng Yan answered Chen Hao, continuing, "Although the horses' disobedience to orders was our initial set policy, meant to test their reaction to sudden events, the result is obvious: the Lilliputian prince is merely an empty shell, and will surely be propped up as a puppet by the state preceptor; the Li Kingdom prince believes money can solve everything, but he forgets that money cannot warp the conviction of a steadfast will, so his side is inevitably surrounded by dogs kneeling for wealth; he overestimates money's power. Ju Ren Guo values only strength and kindness, the strong helping the weak—such a person being thrown down is normal. As for the Qi and Chu kingdoms, they still show nothing; after the Prince of War crossed the finish line, those two tied for second, meaning there are four scorers."

"Now I announce: the first round ends—first place, Prince of War; second place, the princes of Qi and Chu tied; third place, Prince of Li Kingdom. Losers may join the next round. Current scores: Prince of War three points, each of the Qi and Chu princes two points, Prince of Li Kingdom one point! Please take a brief rest, then move on to the next event, swimming."

"Why not rest a day?" the Lilliputian prince exclaimed, clearly dissatisfied. Although after the doctor's treatment his injuries were mostly healed, the bruises on his face hadn't faded, making him look ridiculous and laughable.

Feng Yan glanced at him, turned away, and said slowly, "So I can understand you want to give up this opportunity, right? After losing to Ju Ren Guo, what qualification does a country have to marry its princess? Then I'll consider you forfeited; after the competition ends, I'll send you back to your country. Any other opinions?"

"Princess, are you really going to entrust your lifelong affair to these two unreliable fellows?" the maid asked.

The princess now stood on the cliff overlooking where Feng Yan and his group had arrived, with a wide view and able to see their match situation. Looking there, she said, "The princes have already prepared by the Giant River. Isn't this a very interesting game? They're holding games here while also competing against each other—this is better than martial contests, isn't it? I've said before, I just want to see the outside world; even if it's the same as what my father said, if I don't go out and see, how can I know what the outside world holds? My proposal to marry out is precisely this purpose." The maid nodded, understanding.

"Next is a very simple game: swimming, which as children we all liked to splash in pools, the answer is the same, so this time we'll compete in that." Feng Yan said, "Then get ready; we're about to start, and this time the finish point is Denglin."

With the sound of the gong, the princes jumped into the river with a splash and began to surge forward.

"Hmm, not bad!" Chen Hao praised while saying, "This Li Kingdom prince is a swimming ace!"

Feng Yan followed Chen Hao's gaze and saw that prince had already pulled far ahead of the others by a great distance, while the Li Kingdom prince closely followed behind; they vied with each other, you overtook me, I overtook you, nearly neck-and-neck, both rushing toward the finish! "What's that?" Feng Yan stared and saw the Lilliputian prince tightly trailing those two, looking relaxed. "No shame—others toil ahead while he effortlessly glides past in the rear, though he too gains advantage by skill; what can I say? The schedule has no rule against swimming behind them, and adding this is just child's play—troublesome. Fine, when we reach Denglin I'll give him a hard time."

"What's wrong? The race is almost over; first should be the Li Kingdom prince, right?" Chen Hao said, then shouted, "How come there's still a dog behind?!"

Seeing the finish line approaching, the Lilliputian prince launched a sprint: "What! Is it really like that? Unbelievable!" Feng Yan yelled. He realized this was a scenario he had long planned, exploiting the lack of rules to achieve his goal.

Although reluctant, Chen Hao announced: "Lilliputian prince, five points; Li Kingdom prince, three points; the Qi and Chu princes, one point each; the Lilliputian prince currently leads. So get ready—we'll start the next event, the final one, Denglin cross-country! This time, Feng Yan may freely choose attack targets, of course, randomly." As soon as he finished, Chen Hao and Feng Yan exchanged a playful glance toward the Lilliputian prince, whose legs trembled under their gaze. The Li Kingdom prince looked at the red long sword at Feng Yan's side, recalling that astonishing strike which had slashed all his soldiers; he thought it was merely to avoid trouble, but if killing intent arose, he'd grow more fearful, breaking into a cold sweat.

"Don't worry, it's just a random target; also, let me tell you about the plants in Denglin—those vines called Steel Vine, the material for Ju Ren Guo's scale armor; for Ju Ren Guo it's material, but for you it's an extremely dangerous opponent. Your endpoint is the red creek in Denglin; once you reach it, I'll throw my sword there, and whoever first brings my sword back to my hand will be the victor!" Feng Yan said, raising his sword to show them.

"Princess, is it really safe to leave them in Denglin? That place is extremely dangerous for foreigners!" the maid conveyed her opinion to the princess.

"It's fine; they're here, and the giants are too," the princess replied.

Outside Denglin, the princes exclaimed in awe. Before them the peach grove was lovely, yet they discovered some illogical aspects: outside the grove pink peach blossoms bloomed, and looking inside there were still unripe peaches. Denglin, bathed in sunlight, glowed with a golden halo, seeming like an earthly paradise, yet also like a utopia.

"How is it, princes of the various countries?" Feng Yan asked.

"Is this truly the holy land of Ju Ren Guo?" the Prince of War asked, "Will our competition here disturb the local spirits?"

"Don't worry—we have the king's permission, so you may compete here freely. Also, giants, hear my orders! Give them some extra! Now I announce: besides my attacks, the giants will also join the competition; they are hunters. Naturally, I'll have them slow their steps, but if you get entangled by other forest things, beware—you'll face capture by the giants, and if you're seized by a giant, you lose eligibility. All right, get ready—enter Denglin!" After speaking, Feng Yan signaled the giants to give the start command.

"It's begun." The princess stood on the previous cliff, watching them enter the forest.

The Prince of War pulled himself forward by tree branches, feeling that the forest held something out of the ordinary; he walked with difficulty, the forest's paths tangled, making it momentarily impossible to judge which was the correct route, or rather, which could lead to that creek.

The Li Kingdom prince strolled along; upon encountering a fork, he took a gold coin from his pocket and tossed it into the sky, where it emitted a golden glow—"Well, that way then." The Li Kingdom prince, following the flash point of the coin tossed in the air, judged his direction and found a wide path, walking leisurely; at this moment, the Lilliputian prince also sneaked up behind him. "Hmph." A smile curled Feng Yan's lips as he thought, "I knew you'd pull this trick; now it's my turn to play!" Feng Yan signaled the giants to move forward with him, aimed at the Lilliputian prince's rear, gripped his sword with his right hand, and swung hard, sending out a faint red sword aura; with a crack, a large tree toppled, emitting a boom.

The Lilliputian prince sprang into a rapid run: "Exactly, now that's some style, haha." Feng Yan laughed loudly, signaling the giants to run faster; the Lilliputian prince fled while constantly looking back, thinking, "Wow, being struck by that isn't a joke—I must reach the finish line as fast as possible!"

Seeing that red sword aura, Chen Hao understood and said to the giants behind him: "Now you can release those controllable steel vines; prepare to start hunting the foreign princes—for you they are mice, but you must urge them to reach that red creek as fast as possible; that is the destination, not to actually capture them, understand?" Chen Hao glanced at the sun; it was already mid-slope, for them time was not much but not little either. Watching the princes straining forward, he recalled his schoolmates: "People always obtain what they want through competition—indeed, isn't this a fine proof?" Chen Hao laughed, thinking to himself, "A boring experiment."

At this moment, the six princes had arrived at the center of Denglin, the most dangerous place.

The princes arrived at the center, panting; the Prince of War plucked a peach from a tree, wiped it casually on his clothes, and popped it into his mouth. The other princes looked at his action with astonishment; the one being looked at, however, didn't think much of it, saying, "Don't you guys pick one and take a bite? It's delicious, very sweet!" "This prince disdains eating the barbarians' fare!" replied the Li Kingdom prince. "This thing isn't worth money, surely it's not tasty!" answered the Li Kingdom prince. "Eating this damages a prince's dignity!" the Lilliputian prince said, raising his head with an arrogant expression. The two princes of Qi and Chu said nothing, exchanged a glance, then both turned away with a snort.

"I say, just resting like this? Not moving? The two adventurers—" the Prince of War began, but before he finished, the forest rustled and a mass of vines shot out; everyone startled and resumed forward motion, the last prince seeing his right foot about to be seized by the vines, when a red sword aura struck the vines, emitting a thud.

"Whoops, I actually missed—my aim was the person in front, yet I hit the vines—then—next strike, I'll take the last one's life!" Feng Yan said while waving his sword; suddenly the attack ceased. The Lilliputian prince felt odd, looked back, and involuntarily sped up, wishing he could grow two more legs; this was Feng Yan, sword in hand, slowly building up the sword aura, turning the faint red into deep red, then gradually emitting light, finally returning to its original state. "Haha, I actually scared you—you're still running fast; others? There are some who are quickly reaching the creek, huh, I see four—nice, nice; if I had time, I could play with that Prince of War." Feng Yan spoke while pointing the mentioned sword forward.

"Sir, that's your personal sword, and—" "I know." Feng Yan interrupted him, "There's a sword spirit inside, right? I've consulted with it—others may wield it temporarily, but only until sunset." "Hmm, understood."

The treasure sword fell before the creek—"Look, that's the adventurers' treasure sword!" the Li Kingdom prince shouted, "I can marry the princess!" No sooner had he spoken than the Qi prince snatched the sword; Feng Yan was not far away, the Qi prince ran straight toward him. Then the Chu prince side-kicked the Qi prince down, seized the sword, and rushed swiftly at Feng Yan. At that moment, the Qi prince rose, lunged at the Chu prince, grabbed his legs, the Qi prince fell, the sword was tossed aside, he struggled forward, only to be snatched by the Lilliputian prince.

Seeing the sword, the Lilliputian prince said smugly, "Then thanks for your gift." A gold coin struck his wrist directly, the pain making him loosen his grip; the sword was about to fall when a shadow flashed from the nearby grass, swiftly taking the sword and sprinting off—now within arm's reach of Feng Yan, the Li Kingdom prince thought, "Good, victory would be mine!"—but the Li Kingdom prince seized him with a steel vine, the Li Kingdom prince raised his sword to slash; the Li Kingdom prince dodged sideways, the Li Kingdom prince's slash hit air, then he grabbed his vine, whipped it hard at the Li Kingdom prince's right leg, yanking, causing the Li Kingdom prince to fall face-first; the Li Kingdom prince picked up the sword and ran toward Feng Yan.

"Not bad at all—if power were the vines, ordinary folk would be bound by them, while the holders of power would be those gripping the other end!" Chen Hao exclaimed with feeling, "Look, there's still someone who hasn't entered the fray."

"You mean—" Feng Yan hadn't finished when the Prince of War burst forth, leapt onto the Li Kingdom prince's necessary path, grabbed a handful of dust, and flung it into the Li Kingdom prince's eyes, blinding him temporarily; the Prince of War snatched the sword from his hand and handed it to Feng Yan—competition over!

Everyone returned once more to Ju Ren Guo's city; the princess was present and asked Chen Hao, "So, does the Prince of War count as my husband?" "That being said, there's no problem," Feng Yan replied. The princess nodded, and then the king arrived.

"The match result leaves no doubt—the victor is the Prince of War." Chen Hao said, "If the other princes are unharmed, they may return to their countries via that black hole."

"Then, may I ask Your Majesty the King, when are you preparing the wedding?" Chen Hao asked. "These are your state affairs; we will not interfere." Feng Yan said, walking over to the Warring States prince, looking at him, and then continued, "Unconcerned with trivialities, not calculating means, if it were wartime, you would be an outstanding general; you are an excellent prince."

"It's getting late; we won't disturb your affairs any longer. Let's go, Chen Hao." Feng Yan said, and then returned to the inn.

In the inn, Feng Yan opened the door; the dance girl had already woken up, seeing the two enter, she thumped down on her knees. Feng Yan helped her up, looking at her, she was truly a rare person; although not as beautiful as the Ju Ren Guo princess who could overthrow a city, she could be considered utterly gorgeous, every frown and smile absolutely beautiful beyond compare. Feng Yan imagined her smile in his mind, and for a moment he was dazed.

"Um, your two benefactors." The dance girl said. Feng Yan came to his senses and replied, "What's wrong?" The dance girl lowered her head and said, "I have no name; could you two benefactors..."

"Hey, Feng Yan, come over!" Chen Hao grabbed Feng Yan, pulled him close, grabbed his neck, and said, "I know she's very pretty, but can you come up with a name?"

"What's so hard about that?" Feng Yan pulled away his arm, walked up to the dance girl, and said, "Then let's call you Wang You, how about that?" "Mm." The dance girl was very excited and nodded.

Then, their bodies became transparent; they knew time was short, so Feng Yan said to the dance girl, "Hey, Wang You, tomorrow I'll ask you something; we must return to another place." Having said that, they vanished.

The dance girl beside them smiled, thinking: "This name is not bad."