Xiaodao scraped his foot across the ground and lowered his stance slightly, the knife in his hand beginning to turn slowly.
"Holy shit!! That stance of Xiaodao's?"
"He's getting serious? No way. He's getting serious against a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old kid? Is Xiaodao for real?"
"She's done, she's done, she's done. This little bitch is in for it now. Xiaodao doesn't hold back when he gets serious."
"Xiaodao! Go easy, you fucker! The rest of us are still waiting for our turn!!"
The rowdy soldiers were instantly startled by Xiaodao's movements, then began shouting all sorts of things. But these
voices could not reach
Xiaodao's ears at all. Once he got serious, he shut out every outside distraction. All he could see was the girl.
In Xiaodao's eyes, everything else had faded away, while the girl's figure grew increasingly clear. Yet
even with his mind so completely
focused, Xiaodao suddenly... had no idea where to start.
The girl had taken her hand off the scabbard planted in the ground, letting it hang naturally at her side. Her long hair
had originally been pinned up, but
the backflip just now had loosened it, sending it spilling down her back. The wind was rather strong today, and those silky strands swayed gently
in the breeze.
All of this was perfectly normal, yet to Xiaodao, something was off.
The girl was full of openings from head to toe. And yet... despite leaving every part of herself unguarded, she gave Xiaodao
the feeling... that there was nowhere to strike.
Still, he did not stop. Slowly rolling his wrist, he shuffled forward one step at a time, while thinking,
*Why would someone who hasn't even
taken a stance make me feel as though there's nowhere to strike?* Perhaps after this fight, he would
understand.
Right