Chapter 44: This Is Paradise

By noon the next day, all the youths had returned to the goods yard. They had originally feared harassment and trouble from those five ruffians, but after hearing about what happened yesterday at noon, that worry vanished like smoke.

Some had even heard that the five ruffians would be coming back to kowtow and apologize. Even those with no interest in sparring wanted to come and watch the spectacle.

The swelling on the five ruffians' faces from yesterday still hadn't subsided, and their foreheads were bruised black-and-blue from kowtowing. Today they would have to add injury on top of injury, but they couldn't refuse. They could only grit their teeth and endure it, and in the end they fled in utter disarray amid the youths' jeering laughter.

Dong Bingfeng did not arrive early. As before, the two personal soldiers followed behind him, and he still wore that suit of leather armor. His martial artist's equipment was more complete than anyone else's.

Zhao Jin paid close attention to this newcomer. In the first two rounds, Dong Bingfeng's advantages in stamina and technique were too great, and he won easily each time. In the third round, Dong Bingfeng faced Ji Xiang. Ji Xiang had now learned quite a few crude routines, and he fought with wild ferocity, making him very troublesome to deal with.

After watching this bout, Zhao Jin wasn't very worried anymore. Although the victor was Dong Bingfeng, his lack of real combat experience and his excessive reliance on flashy routines had both been exposed.

In the quarterfinals, Chen Sheng faced Dong Bingfeng. Since they saw that Dong Bingfeng was holding a staff, they simply proposed that both sides use weapons.

The moment Zhao Jin saw Dong Bingfeng's stance with a weapon, he was completely at ease. What Dong Bingfeng was using was not spear technique, but staff technique.

A month for the staff, a year for the saber, a lifetime for the spear. Staff technique is the fastest to learn, but its achievements are also limited, and it has inherent shortcomings. Not only is it inferior to spear technique, it even has deficiencies against saber technique. However, when Zhao Zhentang spoke of this, he also made it clear that these sayings were broad generalizations. If one put in enough effort and possessed sufficient talent and perception, any weapon could be trained to great strength.

But geniuses in this world are always rare. Dong Bingfeng might be outstanding, but he was no genius.

Perhaps Dong Bingfeng's appearance was too stylish and his presence too imposing, so Chen Sheng dared not be the slightest bit careless and used his full strength from the very start.

The fight was decided at the very first moment. Chen Sheng slid his foot forward, slashed down with one strike, and Dong Bingfeng's staff had only just begun its starting posture. Reacting in haste, the staff was struck right out of his hands. With the second strike, Chen Sheng's wooden saber was already resting against his neck.

If this had been a real fight to the death with blades, Dong Bingfeng would have just been beheaded by Chen Sheng.

Dong Bingfeng stood there frozen, as if he couldn't believe he had lost. Tears were already welling up in his eyes. Zhao Jin walked up with a smile, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing. We fight every day here. You lost once, just come back and try again tomorrow."

A moment passed after he said this before Dong Bingfeng reacted. Tears were already streaming down his face. Wiping his tears, he nodded, his whole face a picture of grievance and heartbreak.

This is clearly a child who has never suffered a setback, Zhao Jin concluded inwardly. Over on the other side, Wang Zhaojing and Shi Manqiang had already begun their bout.

Dong Bingfeng lowered his head and walked toward his mount. Zhao Jin followed behind. Normally, the loser would just leave on their own, but among so many youths, this was the first time Zhao Jin had seen one as aggrieved as Dong Bingfeng. He felt obliged to see him off.

What Zhao Jin did not expect was that the two personal soldiers who had come with Dong Bingfeng actually had smiles on their faces. Not caring in the slightest about their young master's distress, they were chatting and laughing with each other there, and from time to time they glanced over. It clearly looked like they were gloating over Dong Bingfeng's defeat.

Recalling what his own elders had said last night, Zhao Jin couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Dong Bingfeng. These were personal soldiers his father had raised for someone else. These soldiers did not take this young master seriously at all and completely regarded him as a joke.

Still, other people's family affairs were none of his concern, and Zhao Jin had no wish to rashly stir up trouble. Fortunately, those two personal soldiers were not too utterly unrestrained. When they saw Dong Bingfeng walking over wiping his tears, they did come forward to receive him.

Zhao Jin patted Dong Bingfeng on the shoulder and turned around. He had taken just one step when he heard one of the personal soldiers behind him speak: "Second Young Master, do you believe what I told you now? Everything you learned from that so-called famous teacher is just fancy showmanship. Apart from looking good, it's completely useless."

"Yes, Uncle Li. I'll have my father drive him away as soon as I get back."

The other personal soldier chimed in: "Young Master, if you truly want to learn martial arts, you must learn the methods of the battlefield and the war formation. Among those here the same age as you, at least three are following that path, and a few others, though they may not have formally studied it, are leaning in that direction."

"Yes, I understand. I will study hard."

Hearing this, Zhao Jin stopped in his tracks and looked back in surprise. Things were completely different from what he had imagined. So it turned out these two personal soldiers were genuinely looking out for their young master, letting him learn a lesson here so they could then teach Dong Bingfeng real skills.

A smile surfaced on Zhao Jin's face. What he had seen and heard was heartwarming. With Dong Bingfeng's foundation and conditions, plus the instruction from those two personal soldiers, his improvement would certainly be very fast. But compared to the youths in this goods yard, Dong Bingfeng had started late.

Today's bouts were exceptionally rare, not only because of the addition of Dong Bingfeng, a son of a military family, but also because the final match was between Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng. This was the first time the two of them had met in the finals.

Chen Sheng had defeated that seemingly very strong Dong Bingfeng, while Zhao Jin had defeated Wang Zhaojing in the semifinals.

In their first fight, Zhao Jin had benefited from the element of surprise. The second time was not so easy. Wang Zhaojing fought very cautiously. However, Zhao Jin had one trait that surpassed his peers: he could endure pain.

Wang Zhaojing revealed an opening. Zhao Jin knew it was an opening, yet he still charged fiercely in, with the momentum of mutual destruction. He took a hit on his thigh but landed a heavy blow squarely on Wang Zhaojing's chest, knocking him straight down. The outcome was clear.

After the bout, Zhao Jin was limping, while Wang Zhaojing clutched his chest and did not get up for a long time. If any other youth had been struck by Wang Zhaojing, they would have knelt down on the spot. Zhao Jin could grit his teeth and endure it.

Because he was enduring the pain, he hadn't held back his force either. When Zhao Jin went over and pulled Wang Zhaojing up, he could see the other boy's face was deathly pale from the pain, his forehead covered in cold sweat, gasping for breath. Although Zhao Jin wasn't feeling good himself, his condition was far better than Wang Zhaojing's.

The rules were set by Zhao Jin himself, and he couldn't break them. So without any rest or relief from the pain, he immediately faced Chen Sheng.

The youths crowded around the arena in layers three deep and more. Those at the back all tried to squeeze inward, while those inside, unable to stop their steps, kept being pushed forward. The sparring circle grew smaller and smaller. Shi Manqiang, Ji Xiang, and Liu Yong couldn't take it anymore and started shouting loudly: "Stop pushing! Anyone who pushes again, I'll start swinging!"

In this goods yard, might made right. Once these few who could fight shouted, order was finally maintained. They themselves didn't even notice that, without realizing it, they had already begun to think of themselves as a group, with a duty and responsibility to keep order.

Unable to squeeze in, everyone thought of other methods. Many youths climbed up to high spots around the sparring ground so they could see clearly and watch the two strongest fight it out.

The fight ended very quickly, leaving many feeling their anticipation had fallen flat. Zhao Jin played a trick. He attacked using Dong Bingfeng's starting posture. Once Chen Sheng reacted, he threw away his weapon and lunged forward. Just like his first victory, he used a headbutt to smash his way to victory.

He had wanted to win fair and square, but the pain in his leg persisted, so he could only resort to cunning.

Another huge pile of pastries was heaped beside Zhao Jin. This was the prize for first place. Those youths who had just recently come to the goods yard all looked on with faces full of envy.

"You few, take enough for yourselves. Shitou, wrap some up to take home. The rest I'll be sharing out today as usual," Zhao Jin said with a smile.

After everyone had taken theirs, Zhao Jin smiled and said loudly, "Come, come, everyone come and take a little to eat. If there's not enough, break them apart and share."

Hearing this, the youths surged forward again. From within the crowd, Zhao Jin raised his voice and said, "Here with us, you can spar and play without worrying about being bullied. As long as you're willing to make friends and put in the effort to fight, you'll have friends and good things to eat. Everyone, tell the friends around you, tell them to come here and play. Everything here is fair, and no one dares to come and cause trouble. You can all rest assured."

Not many answered; they were all holding the things they'd taken and eating. But Zhao Jin's words had all been taken to heart.

To Zhao Jin, this goods yard seemed very crude — at best, it was just a relatively clean and spacious empty lot. But in the eyes of the youths of Xuzhou City, this place was paradise.