Wang Sheng, standing nearby, saw the familiar look on Qin Qi's face and heard those familiar words. His legs clamped shut at once!
A breeze swept by, carrying a faint sadness!
"I said I agree to a one-on-one with you!"
Liu Long was completely off guard. Seeing Qin Qi walk toward him, he helpfully shouted the words out loud.
"Oh."
Thump!
The instant Qin Qi said "Oh," his leg moved too. It was still a kick aimed between the legs, but faster and fiercer than before!
"!"
Liu Long's mind went blank in an instant. His muscles tensed on instinct, and both hands clutched tightly at his crotch.
Everyone knew that if you still had the strength to scream, then your injuries weren't serious. But when you didn't even have the strength to scream—
That was what a devastating blow looked like. Liu Long had just taken one, and he'd nearly passed out!
The male students watching Liu Long crumple to the ground like a curled-up shrimp couldn't help feeling phantom pain themselves.
"You—you ambushed him! You don't play fair!"
"You're despicable!"
"You shameless scoundrel! We refuse to accept this!"
The Formal Students clamped their legs together and shouted.
"You refuse to accept it?"
Qin Qi took two steps toward them.
"Hiss!"
"What are you doing?"
"Don't come any closer! We're not afraid of you!"
"If you take another step, we'll all gang up on you! Let's see if you can knock every one of us down!"
The Formal Students sucked in a sharp breath and then retreated a step, their voices trembling.
As the Formal Students backed away, the Work-Study Students followed suit.
Wang Sheng, especially, felt the phantom pain with startling clarity!
"I'm not going to hit you. I'm going to reason with you."
"You just said I ambushed him. I can't accept that slander!"
"We country folk can put up with anything, but we won't stand for being slandered!"
Qin Qi looked utterly serious, with a hint of wounded innocence in his eyes.
"You—you're still trying to make excuses? Everyone saw what you did!"
"That's right! Not just us—the Work-Study Students saw it too!"
"We didn't slander you. Everything we said was true!"
The Formal Students shouted back.
"Think carefully about what happened just now. What are the facts?"
"First, you wanted to fight. I stepped forward and said I'd fight you. That's right, isn't it?"
Qin Qi shouted loudly.
"Y-yes, but then you pretended not to hear us, and finally launched a surprise attack!"
"Wrong! I really didn't hear you clearly. To make sure, I even asked again whether Liu Long wanted to fight me one-on-one!"
"What did he say? He said he agreed!"
"Then I said, 'Oh.' The fight began, and I attacked. What's wrong with that? It follows the rules, doesn't it?"
Qin Qi pressed them.
"Th-this..."
The Formal Students couldn't respond for a moment. Going by Qin Qi's version, he had announced the one-on-one.
Liu Long had agreed, and then the two of them had started fighting. Liu Long hadn't reacted in time and had been defeated.
That did seem fair enough.
"N-no, that's not right!"
"You attacked while Liu Long was speaking! That's still an ambush!"
Someone shouted.
"You're talking nonsense again. The last response was clearly mine. Liu Long said he agreed to the one-on-one, and I said, 'Oh.'"
"I was the last one to speak. Liu Long wasn't talking!"
Qin Qi had taken advantage of the way people's minds instinctively processed speech. When one person finished speaking and another heard their voice,
The brain prioritized processing the information carried by that sound. If you launched a surprise attack at that moment,
The eyes couldn't see, and the ears were still occupied by the previous sound. For that instant, the person was completely unguarded.
There was an art to ambushing someone, and as it happened, the Tang Sect specialized in it.
They had even turned the process into a children's game, one Qin Qi had played countless times.
"Th-this..."
The Formal Students looked at one another, unable to come up with a rebuttal.
Qin Qi's sophistry had thoroughly muddled the logic, leaving them unable to grasp the heart of the matter.
"So I didn't ambush him at all. I beat Liu Long with my strength!"
"But because I'm a Work-Study Student, you started playing dirty and slandering me!"
"I'm an honest country boy. I can't bear this kind of injustice!"
Qin Qi shouted at the top of his lungs. If your voice was loud enough and your expression firm enough, even the unreasonable could claim a third of the argument!
Especially when the other side was a bunch of underage kids.
"W-well, fine. You win this one. We lost."
"Take Liu Long and let's go."
The Formal Students didn't want to argue anymore. They just wanted to get out of there.
"Wait... you haven't paid yet. Where do you think you're going?"
Qin Qi shouted.
"Pay? Pay for what?"
"The fee for the one-on-one."
"What fee do you have to pay for a one-on-one?"
"Other people don't charge one. I do. Are you going to pay? If you don't, I'll kick Liu Long again."
"No! We won't bow to threats!"
Without another word, Qin Qi kicked Liu Long in the butt. The impact sent a jolt through him that carried all the way to the front.
"Fine! We'll all pay! Just count it as a loan from me!"
Liu Long was in so much pain that he started cursing. In his heart, he roared, They won't pay, so why are you hitting me?
Go hit them!
"Liu Long, don't be scared of him! Even if he beats you to death, we won't give in. That's the backbone of us Formal Students!"
Someone spoke indignantly.
"Even if he beats me to death, you won't give in... You—you—you!"
Liu Long glared at those bastards, so furious he nearly spat blood. What the hell kind of thing was that to say?
I haven't even offended you people. Do you really have to make my life miserable?
I can endure a vicious blow from an enemy, but a teammate's betrayal cuts me to the heart!
"You've really got it rough. Not one of them is willing to pay to protect you."
"Ah, you're a tough one. Fine, I'll just take your money."
Qin Qi sighed and began to "loot the corpse," taking all the money Liu Long had on him.
"As expected of a young master. He's loaded. One person's pocket money is worth more than all the Work-Study Students' savings in Dorm Seven put together."
Qin Qi looked at the gleaming coins in the wallet, and his heart beat faster despite himself.
He tucked them into his pocket and then headed off to get something to eat.
"Battles in the ring are perilous. One misstep can mean the difference between life and death."
Qin Qi patted Liu Long on the shoulder and sighed, then turned and walked away, looking world-weary beneath the setting sun.
"He seems kind of dependable."
Xiao Wu stood some distance away, watching Qin Qi's retreating figure. His words from moments ago echoed in her mind.
For some reason, Qin Qi's voice seemed to have taken on a more imposing quality.