Chapter 21: In High Spirits

21. Chapter 21 — In High Spirits

The little girl was far more accurate than Zhao Jin at judging the time by the sky. Zhao Jin nodded with a smile, but then noticed Mu Shulan staring at him intently, her face full of reverence, not even blinking.

Zhao Jin shivered under that gaze and quickly turned his head away.

The one-on-one fights among the children and youths were all decided very quickly. Not to mention those with a huge disparity in strength, even those who were fairly evenly matched wouldn't drag on for too long.

It was soon the turn for number five. Zhao Jin and that stocky youth walked into the circle. The youth's face was full of vigilance, his body already slightly crouched. Zhao Jin grinned. He'd been in plenty of fights before and was very experienced; seeing the other's stance, he knew this was no pushover. Only someone who fought often would have that kind of instinctive posture.

After they entered the circle, Chen Hong, who was standing at the edge, asked, "Are you ready?"

Both Zhao Jin and the stocky youth nodded. Chen Hong raised one hand and shouted loudly, "Begin!"

Chen Hong was very excited, and his voice was loud. In the past, when he followed his older brother here to play, he was just a tag-along, watching everything from the sidelines. He never imagined he'd actually get to participate now, shouting "Begin!" This made Chen Hong feel very important, both thrilled and exhilarated.

The moment "Begin" was shouted, the stocky youth lunged straight at Zhao Jin. In terms of build, he was considerably larger than Zhao Jin, and could directly tackle a person to the ground. Once someone was down, he would win.

Watching the other lunge, Zhao Jin's heart pounded fiercely, but his body didn't move. He actually dropped into a horse stance.

Zhao Zhenxing and the Chen family servant had already moved much closer, wanting to watch their own children fight. Seeing Zhao Jin drop into a horse stance, Zhao Zhenxing frowned and shook his head, saying, "Has he lost his mind? Dropping into a horse stance at a time like this — he's bound to get sent flying."

The circle wasn't large, and a lunging attack took only an instant. The youth was before him in a flash. Zhao Jin, still in his horse stance, threw a punch, meeting the attack head-on and striking the youth squarely in the chest just below the throat.

Zhao Zhenxing, who saw this scene, was stunned. Zhao Jin's punch was clearly the essence of his own spear technique — the long spear's rapid thrust targeting the three vital points of the upper body.

Throwing such a punch wasn't rare in itself, but accurately landing it in the tense moment of an opponent's lunging attack was truly remarkable.

Zhao Jin's punch slipped through the guard of the lunging youth's arms and struck the chest right below the throat. The youth felt a sharp pain in his chest, and his movements instantly fell into disarray. Zhao Jin's second punch was already swinging out, this time a hook that landed squarely on the youth's left cheek, knocking him straight to the ground. As for this second punch, it was a trick he'd picked up from his past fighting experience.

When brawling, keep your cool and aim for the other guy's face — at the very least, you won't come off worse. Zhao Jin had accumulated quite a lot of experience, not to mention the professional training he'd received in this life.

"Young Master Jin is incredible!" the family servant exclaimed in astonishment. Zhao Zhenxing was also momentarily shocked, then his face broke into a smile as he said, "I really didn't expect this, truly didn't expect it. He really is fine material for martial arts."

The youth lay on the ground without moving. It wasn't that he was seriously injured, but rather that he felt deeply disappointed and disheartened. He muttered a couple of curses under his breath but didn't continue. He'd lost a fair and square martial contest, so there was nothing to complain about.

The crowd of youths watching all gasped in admiration, thinking Zhao Jin was really formidable. Just as they were marveling, they saw Zhao Jin walk over toward that youth. Everyone couldn't help but pause, thinking: wasn't it said that falling meant losing? Could Zhao Jin be going over to keep hitting him?

Unexpectedly, Zhao Jin walked up to the youth's side, extended his hand, and said, "My name is Zhao Jin. What's your name?"

The moment Zhao Jin extended his hand, the youth instinctively shrank back, thinking Zhao Jin was about to strike him again. To his surprise, Zhao Jin asked the question gently, his face full of smiles, his tone brimming with friendliness. The youth hesitated for a moment, then answered sullenly, "My surname is Ji. I'm called Ji Xiang."

After answering, he grabbed Zhao Jin's hand and was pulled directly to his feet.

"Jixiang?" Zhao Jin paused, thinking the name was quite cleverly chosen. But someone nearby shouted out teasingly, "The Ji of roast chicken, the Xiang of tasty flavor!"

"The Ji of auspiciousness, and Xiang is just that Xiang." Ji Xiang hurriedly explained, then turned and glared fiercely in the direction the voice had come from.

Everyone outside burst into laughter, but no one could tell who had spoken. The atmosphere among the youths at the goods yard had been somewhat tense from the martial contest and fighting, but Zhao Jin's gesture immediately eased the mood across the whole place.

The shout of "roast chicken" suddenly jogged Zhao Jin's memory. Heading south from his own home, not far from Pengcheng Academy, there was a cooked-meat food shop. The family who ran it was surnamed Ji. Whenever his own parents mentioned them, it was always "Old Roast Chicken" this and "Old Roast Chicken" that. This Ji Xiang was probably a child from that family.

"Hei Wu wins!" Chen Hong shouted from over there, while Mu Shulan clapped excitedly off to the side.

The two of them tossed their number tags back into the clay pot, and the next pair entered the circle to fight.

The fights that followed were all rather dull. It was simply a matter of the bigger and stronger ones winning, or else those with brawling experience coming out on top. The youths spent their days idling around this goods yard and didn't have much experience in martial combat, so their fighting was very simplistic. Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng both watched with utter boredom, but all the other youths watched in high spirits. Boys naturally liked fighting, and this kind of martial contest that resembled a tournament, with so many prizes to be won, indeed had a very high level of engagement.

It wasn't until Fatty Sun and Liu Yong began that Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng showed a bit of interest.

Fatty Sun had left a rather deep impression on Zhao Jin earlier, and Liu Yong was the person he'd fought just yesterday, so naturally they drew his attention.

Chen Hong had just shouted "Begin" when Liu Yong had already charged forward, aiming a kick at Fatty Sun's groin. In street brawls, that was a surefire tactic, but he hastily pulled his foot back — it had been stated beforehand that this was against the rules.

Even with the last-moment change of move, Liu Yong was still faster than Fatty Sun. His kick landed on Fatty Sun's thigh. Fatty Sun cried out in pain and staggered two steps. Liu Yong's fist was already swinging, landing heavily on Fatty Sun's chest.

Liu Yong's gang of little buddies outside cheered loudly. Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng both shook their heads. Although Fatty Sun was much bigger than Liu Yong in size, his movements were slow. If the fight went on like this, he was bound to come off worse.

But it wasn't easy for Liu Yong to knock Fatty Sun down now either. Only falling down or admitting defeat counted as losing, so the fight had to continue. At this moment, Liu Yong was showing off in front of his friends, feeling very pleased with himself. With a strange yell, he charged forward to keep attacking. In his excitement, his movements became a bit too wide. Fatty Sun seized this chance and met him head-on with a punch, landing it squarely on Liu Yong's chest.

A muffled "Thud" sounded, and the two separated. Liu Yong's movements halted. He clutched the spot where he'd been hit with his hand, his facial features somewhat twisted. The cheering around them also stopped.

Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng immediately perked up, thinking the fight was about to get exciting. To their surprise, the expression on Liu Yong's face grew uglier and uglier. He took several deep breaths, then waved his hand and said, "I'm not fighting anymore. I lose."

Fatty Sun rubbed the spot where he himself had been hit, then excitedly pumped his fist.

"Sun Dalei can take a beating, and his punches are heavy. He can take a few hits no problem, but if he hits someone else once, they can't take it." Chen Sheng analyzed from the side, trying to sound profound.

Only then did Zhao Jin remember that the fatty was called Sun Dalei.

"Brother Xiao Jin, if we don't go back to practice martial arts now, it'll be too late." Just then, Mu Shulan quietly reminded him. Zhao Jin was startled — the rattan cane really hurt when it struck.

Zhao Jin smacked his forehead and said to Chen Sheng, "I have to go back and practice martial arts. When the thirty-two matches are finished, take sixteen black tags and sixteen white tags and put them into the clay pot. Let the winners draw again, pair them up for new matches, and keep going like that until the final two people."

Chen Sheng nodded blankly. Zhao Jin felt uneasy, and his voice turned stern. Staring at Chen Sheng, he said, "You must do exactly as I say. During the matches, anyone who breaks the rules loses, and that includes you. The pastries must be given to the winners — don't hold them back. Do you understand? If you don't follow this, no one will compete with you anymore."

"Did you hear me?" Zhao Jin raised his voice and asked again, extremely sternly. Chen Sheng jumped in fright. He was already somewhat afraid of Zhao Jin and quickly said, "Got it, got it!"

Zhao Jin turned to leave, but Chen Sheng suddenly remembered something and chased after him, shouting, "Zhao Jin, didn't you win? What about your next opponent?"

"Just count that last match as my loss, and let Ji Xiang advance!" Zhao Jin shouted back, then grabbed Mu Shulan and dashed off quickly.

Ji Xiang, who had been standing dejectedly in the crowd, immediately perked up upon hearing this, looking at Zhao Jin's retreating figure with a touch of gratitude.

Mu Shulan, however, still wanted to keep watching. As she ran, she kept looking back at the ongoing matches on the field.

They had just run out of the goods yard and reached the intersection when they saw Uncle Zhao Zhenxing standing there waiting with a smile. Zhao Jin immediately stopped in his tracks, thinking that since he was late getting back, he was sure to be lectured by his uncle — getting lashed with the rattan cane was even a possibility.