Mei Ying, Twisted Ankle

The members of Kaishan Martial Hall were so furious their eyes turned bloodshot.

"Arrogant!"

"Too bullying!"

"You bastards!"

At the edge of the ring, the presiding elder also frowned, looking toward the Master of Iron Fist Hall:

"Master Shi, the rules of this ring are one match per person. While your disciple's consecutive victories are certainly valiant, fighting back-to-back..."

"Elder." The Master of Iron Fist Hall interrupted him. "The rules state best-of-five, but they never said one person couldn't fight consecutively. If Kaishan Martial Hall feels they are outmatched, they can concede now; my Iron Fist Sect will not press the issue."

These words choked the elder into silence.

The rules indeed did not explicitly forbid consecutive appearances.

But to openly despise one's opponent like this, declaring one would clear the entire bracket alone, and even using the opponent as a bargaining chip to "get a wife"...

It was simply too arrogant!

The commoners watching below loved the spectacle and wished for even more excitement.

"Good heavens! Is this big guy going to wipe out Kaishan Martial Hall all by himself?"

"Getting a wife? Haha, what a reason!"

"Kaishan Martial Hall is done for. They can't win, and they can't afford the shame of conceding..."

On the high platform, several local martial hall masters gathered around Old Master Du, their faces filled with indignation:

"We shouldn't have let those outsiders open halls here in the first place! Look how wild they've become!"

"Old Du, just tell these grandsons to get lost. Why keep fighting? It's infuriating!"

Du Liefeng suppressed his anger and said, "You were all there when we discussed this, and you all nodded. To call it off halfway through—do you think this is child's play?"

One man urged anxiously, "We agreed then, but who knew they would be this overbearing! If this continues, the reputation of the Wen'an Martial Arts Guild will be trampled into the mud! Old Du, you must uphold justice!"

"Fine, I know."

Du Liefeng nodded with a gloomy expression: "After this match, I will go talk to them myself! If they want to spar, then spar properly. But wanting to ride on the necks of our Wen'an Martial Arts Guild and shit? No way!"

"Old Du is tough!"

"Right! We'll go together!"

"We can't let them bully us like this!"

The other masters nearby immediately perked up upon hearing this, echoing his sentiment. For a moment, they stood united, as if they had finally found their backbone.

On the east side of the ring.

The Master of Kaishan looked around at his disciples; they all looked timid and cowardly, with no one daring to step forward.

His heart turned cold. Niu Mang was the hall's top expert, having just formed one Seal last year, yet in front of Shi Jingang, he was like paper—nearly beaten to death with a single punch.

After a long silence, the Master of Kaishan said dejectedly:

"My Kaishan Martial Hall... concedes."

The elder announced loudly: "The third match, Iron Fist Martial Hall wins! Kaishan Martial Hall is out!"

Shi Jingang, however, was still unsatisfied as he stretched his arms, muttering in a muffled voice: "How boring. Is this all the martial halls in Wen'an have to offer?"

He turned his head toward the edge of the ring and asked earnestly: "Elder, let me go again for the next match? My muscles haven't even warmed up yet."

On the east side of the ring, the members of Liuyun Martial Hall, who were about to face him, were instantly terrified, their faces drained of color.

This Shi Jingang was clearly a human-shaped beast.

How could they fight this? Whoever went up was just throwing their life away.

The elder said in a deep voice: "The ring has its own procedures; this is not a game. Since Disciple Shi has already made his contribution, please return to your seat and watch."

Hearing this, Shi Jingang pouted in disappointment: "What do I do now... My master said I have to win a few more matches before he'll help me find a wife. What if I lose my chance at a wife now?"

His words were sincere, revealing the naive anxiety of a farm boy worried about marriage.

It drew roars of laughter from the surrounding commoners. A few bold and sharp-tongued women, seeing his naive strength and high martial skill, even squeezed through the crowd, shouting half-jokingly:

"Big dummy, what's so hard about getting a wife? Come home with sister!"

When Shi Jingang heard the jokes from those women, his naive face immediately drooped:

"You lot won't do. You're all old and withered, ugly as can be. Not what I want. My master said since I'm strong and can fight, I have to marry the prettiest, most delicate maiden—someone like the fairies in the plays!"

These words instantly sent the entire crowd into a frenzy of laughter.

Some women who were called "old and ugly" jumped up in anger, cursing in the street.

Others, enjoying the show, slapped their thighs in delight.

"Good grief! This big oaf has quite the high standards!"

The clamor had yet to subside.

On the high platform, Du Liefeng watched the arrogant martial arts schools from the neighboring counties and suddenly stood up: "Let's go! We're going over right now to have a proper talk with these outsiders! Do they really think Wen'an County is some ownerless wasteland where they can run wild?"

The several school masters had long been nursing a belly full of fire, and the group marched aggressively toward the foreign schools on the west side, drawing the eyes of many in the arena.

The Mistress did not go with them; she had always disliked such direct confrontations.

Seeing that the fighting on the platform had paused, Mei Dai and Mei Ying whispered to the Mistress that they wanted to take a walk in the woods by the lake.

The Mistress nodded in approval and told Lu Chen to follow and look after them.

The four left the viewing stand and stepped into the winter woods by Yunmiao Lake, where the branches were sparse, the snow had yet to melt, and the air was serene and quiet.

Mei Dai and Wen Liangyu walked side by side, chatting and laughing; the intimacy between them was such that anyone would say they were a pair of lovebirds thick as thieves.

Mei Ying followed behind, and seeing her sister's lovey-dovey demeanor, she curled her lip, sidled up to Lu Chen, and muttered:

"Look at them, Senior Brother Lu, it's enough to make one's teeth ache."

Lu Chen didn't say anything, but he felt a bit strange inside.

Just a few days ago, when returning from the academy, this Wen Liangyu had still been hovering around Mei Ying and ignoring Mei Dai—how did he change his tune in the blink of an eye?

Seeing that Lu Chen ignored her, an inexplicable fire rose in Mei Ying's heart, and she raised her foot to kick his calf.

"Thud!"

With a dull sound, she felt as if she had kicked an iron pillar; a piercing pain shot through her toes, and she staggered backward.

Lu Chen quickly caught her arm, his expression calm: "Careful."

"Is your leg made of iron?" Mei Ying gasped in pain, hopping on one foot, both embarrassed and annoyed.

"Are you alright?" Lu Chen asked flatly.

"How could I be alright? It hurts to death, I think my toe is broken." Mei Ying said with a sob, tears welling up in her eyes.

Lu Chen was silent for a moment, then said: "It's not that easy to break a bone. Take off your shoe and let me see."

"Here?" Mei Ying's face flushed, and she glanced at her sister, who had walked further ahead.

"How can I know if the bone is hurt if you don't take it off?" Lu Chen's tone remained unchanged as he pointed to a nearby rock: "Go sit over there."

Mei Ying bit her lip, but eventually limped over and sat down.

Lu Chen crouched before her and reached out his hand: "Foot."

Mei Ying hesitated for a moment, then carefully extended her left foot.

Lu Chen's movements were efficient; with a deft flick of his fingers, he removed her onion-green embroidered shoe and plain white silk sock.

A tender, white jade foot was revealed. The instep was snow-white and smooth, the toes rounded like the tips of tender bamboo shoots, and the joint of the big toe was red and swollen. The entire foot was small and delicate, with slender ankles and soft soles. It shivered slightly in the cold wind, and when gripped by Lu Chen's warm, rough hand, the toes curled sensitively.