Chapter Fifty-Five: The Opponent’s Probing

At that moment, the short contestant who had accompanied Qin Xiaochuan leapt lightly onto the arena. His agility and speed were absolutely comparable to Feiyan’s. Seeing the short contestant take the stage, Zhang Yang was stunned, “What? He’s going up? If this guy loses, wouldn’t we be out before the competition even begins?”

“What does it matter,” Feiyan, standing nearby, calmly observed the situation on the arena. “If that guy loses, I’ll kill everyone on this ship. That way, no one will dare oppose us.”

...

As the short contestant landed on the stage, the monsters already present immediately surrounded him. Nearly twenty or thirty monsters stood across from him, each one the strongest chosen from their respective teams. When they stood together on the stage, they formed a formidable group. In the world of monsters, the law is survival of the fittest, so upon seeing the lone human contestant, they determined to eliminate the weakest first, then battle for the ultimate victory.

As the human stood in the corner of the arena, the monsters’ eyes gleamed with cruel amusement, like a pack of hungry wolves eyeing a rabbit. They were certain this frail human would be torn apart, and each prepared their best moves to rush in and claim the largest share.

The bearded captain pulled out his pocket watch, checked the time, then waved a hand at the contestants on stage. “The match begins!” At his words, the monsters frantically charged at the short human in the corner, their patience long worn thin.

“Just as I thought,” Zhang Yang exclaimed, hands at his mouth, watching the monsters attack together, “They’re going to take out the short contestant first. Standing in that corner, he’s doomed!”

Facing the charging monsters, the short contestant showed no sign of panic. He planted his feet in a martial stance, left hand extended with fingers spread, right hand brimming with spiritual power hidden at his waist. As the monsters entered his attack range, his right fist flashed, and the nearby monsters were blasted off the stage into the water, as if struck by a shotgun.

“What!” Zhang Yang, recognizing the move, exclaimed, “His technique is almost the same as Qin Xiaochuan’s—could it be…?” He sensed something familiar about the short contestant, but dared not confirm it yet.

“I knew why Xiaochuan was sleeping so soundly,” Bai Ying glanced at the slumbering Qin Xiaochuan and breathed out, “He must be extremely confident in the strength of the contestant he found.”

With only the short contestant left on stage, the bearded captain announced loudly, “The sixteenth team for the Dark Martial Arts Tournament finals has been chosen: Team Qin Xiaochuan!”

Upon hearing the result, Zhang Yang hurried over to the short contestant and voiced his curiosity, “You’re incredible—an overwhelming victory! But who are you, really?”

...

Apparently finding Zhang Yang’s question hard to answer, the short contestant pointed upward. “Up there?” Following his gesture, Zhang Yang saw a shocking scene: the eliminated monster teams, enraged by their defeat, rushed over in a murderous frenzy, their bloodthirsty nature fully exposed. As the monsters swooped down from above, Zhang Yang shouted, dodged to the side, then drew two spirit swords and hacked at the monsters landing on the deck. It seemed that after Bai Ying’s special training, Zhang Yang could now wield dual swords.

“Forget about rules—kill them all, and we’ll make a name for ourselves…” Clearly, the monsters’ thinking matched Feiyan’s: if their teammates failed, they’d burn their bridges and slaughter everyone on the ship, so no one could object. But they made a fatal mistake—choosing the wrong opponents.

Watching the foolish monsters charge, Feiyan simply remarked, “Just as expected,” and strode toward them. After a flash of light, his blade sliced through over a dozen monsters in an instant—faster than during his trial before boarding with Qin Xiaochuan, suggesting he hadn’t used his full strength in their earlier match.

Likewise, Bai Ying brandished his rose whip at the unruly monsters. Within his swirling Moonlit Wind formation, the unfortunate monsters were shredded into pieces by the flying whip. As for Zhang Yang, he was rather embarrassed—had Bai Ying not come to his aid, he would have been torn apart by five monsters himself. In less than a minute, the chaotic melee ended with no suspense. Amidst the monster corpses littering the deck, the bearded captain was incredulous. These people were too powerful—clearly, they hadn’t shown even a tenth of their strength. His task to assess their abilities for Mr. Yu Jing had been wasted; he needed to report the situation to Yu Jing right away.

Before long, the cruise ship carried its sole victorious team—Team Qin Xiaochuan—toward Death Fairy Island. This island, nearly a thousand square kilometers in the Pacific, boasted a hotel specially designed for tournament teams. After being chauffeured to the hotel entrance, Zhang Yang gazed at its magnificent facade, feeling a strange illusion that he’d arrived at a vacation resort.

Escorted into the hotel lobby, three beautiful women appeared at the entrance.

“Xia Dan, will he really come here?”

“Yes, he will. But when you see him, go easy on him.” Xia Dan glanced at the angry-faced Fan Fan and recalled the scene at Zhang Yang’s home. Zhang Yang’s sister, Miss Jingchu, was remarkably well-acquainted with matters of the spiritual world. No surprise there—the Zhang family traced their lineage back to the Han dynasty’s Celestial Master Zhang, especially skilled in monster-slaying, a family tradition. She’d long known about the Dark Martial Arts Tournament, but hadn’t expected her brother to be invited as a guest. So when Fan Fan brought Xia Dan to her home looking for Zhang Yang, she realized her brother had gone to the tournament, and Qin Xiaochuan had also been missing for nearly two months.

When she told Fan Fan about the tournament, Fan Fan’s response was unexpectedly, “Take me with you.” It astonished her that this frail young woman was so devoted to Qin Xiaochuan, unafraid of the island’s monsters and spirits. Seeing Xia Dan’s wry smile, she had no choice but to bring Fan Fan and Xia Dan to Death Fairy Island. She also needed to find her brother; otherwise, she wouldn’t know how to explain it to their father.

Accompanying the three was another important guest—Mrs. Susu, Qin Xiaochuan’s mother. For her, visiting Xiaochuan was just a convenient excuse; her main interest was sightseeing on the scenic island. So when she heard Fan Fan and Xia Dan were heading to Fairy Island to find Xiaochuan, she joined without hesitation.

In suite 404, the five members of Qin Xiaochuan’s team had been settled into a spacious apartment reserved for tournament contenders. Surrounded by luxurious furnishings, Zhang Yang sat comfortably on the sofa, preparing to open a can of his own drink for a moment of relaxation. Just then, the door opened, and a person in attendant’s uniform wheeled in a dining cart, evidently delivering dinner.

“Zhang Yang, aren’t you drinking the hotel’s coffee?” Bai Ying asked as Zhang Yang took out his own beverage. Bai Ying lifted a cup of coffee from the table and tasted it—it was excellent, authentic civet coffee from Yanliu Island, with a rich aroma of fermented beans.

...

“Hey, better safe than sorry.” Zhang Yang took a sip from his energy drink, “I don’t trust the hotel coffee. If it’s poisoned, I’m done for. I feel safer drinking my own.” He took another sip.

“You’re worrying too much, Zhang Yang,” Bai Ying laughed, sipping his civet coffee. “The tournament hosts didn’t invite us here to poison us—they want to tear us apart with their own strength. Hm? Looks like there’s a cup missing?”

“Aren’t there exactly five cups?” Zhang Yang counted the cups on the table—five, none missing.

“Qin Xiaochuan’s cup is gone. He’s still sleeping, so something’s off.”

Glancing at the sleeping Qin Xiaochuan, the group sensed something wrong and quickly stood from the sofa, scanning the room. Soon, they spotted a strange child sitting beneath the clock on a small platform. The child had three stars marked under his left eye, holding a cup—the missing one Bai Ying had noticed. It seemed this little fellow had been here for some time.

“What!?” Zhang Yang shouted in disbelief, seeing the child squatting on the platform. “When did this kid get in? He must have been here from the start, right Bai Ying?”

“…Even if he came before us, the fact he’s holding the coffee cup is undeniable…”

Bai Ying felt guilty, realizing he’d been careless—not checking the room after entering. Even if the intruder was just a child, pilfering a coffee cup right under their noses was unforgivable.