Chapter 20

Xu Yi stepped aside, a trace of interest showing on her face.

"The rest of you, move back. I'll start."

Seeing someone actually dare to go toe-to-toe with Coach Chen Huan, several students grew interested. They wrapped up and moved aside to watch.

Feng Xia held her hand as she stepped aside, keeping a close eye on Lin Sheng. She didn't think she'd lost; she'd just been in poor form yesterday and hadn't gotten enough rest.

"Let's see how this kid gets himself killed!" she muttered through clenched teeth.

She was one of the old hands in the class. She'd been there for over two months, and now she'd been beaten by a newcomer. This was just—

"Begin!"

"Kill!!"

A sudden crash rang out.

The two swords clashed violently.

Bang!!

In that instant, everyone, Xu Yi included, seemed to see two swords clashing fiercely, not two wooden sticks.

Chen Huan stepped forward, pressing her wooden stick hard against Lin Sheng's. Her elbow followed through, angling toward him as she tried to knock his weapon away with a strike from her elbow.

This was a sword-disarming technique she hadn't taught yet. Though it was only a simple combination of grappling and sword moves, it still took a long time to practice before it became instinctive.

She was shocked, too.

She hadn't held back at all just now. She'd planned to defeat Lin Sheng in the first exchange and show off her skills as a coach. But she hadn't expected them both to have controlled the distance perfectly.

Since she couldn't take him down with one move, she had to press on and change tactics. Otherwise, if this dragged on, she'd lose face.

"Impressive." Xu Yi's expression turned serious.

"Naxi Swordsmanship puts the greatest emphasis on judging distance. The point of that exchange was to first stay beyond your opponent's reach, then look for a chance to extend the tip of your sword as far as possible and strike a vital point."

"But Chen Huan couldn't even gain the upper hand just now. This newcomer's pretty amazing."

"He's that good?" A newly joined student gaped. He'd had some experience before joining the club and had sparred with Chen Huan many times. Every time, she'd hit him almost instantly.

Now, seeing Chen Huan and Lin Sheng trade moves back and forth for several exchanges, he couldn't help feeling surprised.

"He's improving too fast!" a male student said in a low voice. "I remember he's only been here a little over three weeks. Did he study this before?"

"Doesn't look like it. He's probably just naturally good at this kind of sport." Xu Yi shook her head.

While they were talking, the situation on the floor shifted again.

Every one of Chen Huan's attacks was nimbly dodged by Lin Sheng, and anxiety began to build in her.

She was a coach. If she couldn't even take down a student who'd only been training for three weeks, how could she teach anyone else?

She had to win, and she had to win decisively!

But the more that thought built up, the more anxious she became.

Chen Huan's movements had started to lose form, and her face was turning red.

Lin Sheng noticed, too.

He'd been immersed in the instinctive control of muscle memory and hadn't realized what was happening. Now that he'd come to his senses, he realized he might have taken things too far.

With a thought, Lin Sheng quickly left an opening, making his right-side block a fraction of a second too slow.

Chen Huan's eyes lit up. Her wooden stick shot toward the opening before he could react.

Thwack.

Lin Sheng was struck in the right ribs. His chest was left wide open, and he staggered back a step.

He was about to concede.

"Kill!!"

Suddenly, a furious yell rang out, and another blow came crashing down toward him.

Chen Huan's eyes were bloodshot. Gripping the wooden stick with both hands, she brought it down with all her strength.

She'd also realized Lin Sheng had deliberately left an opening, but too much time had already passed.

She was a coach, yet she'd spent this long struggling against a student.

So she needed a decisive victory to restore her authority!

At that moment, even though she knew Lin Sheng was deliberately trying to concede, she still steeled herself and pulled back her wooden stick for a downward strike, following through on the opening. Her movements were so fast that she was determined not to let Lin Sheng get a word in.

Bang!

Lin Sheng had already been preparing to stop, and the sudden move caught him off guard. He hadn't noticed that Chen Huan was acting strangely.

But there was no time to block now.

His body instinctively sensed danger. In an instant, he tightened his grip on the wooden stick with one hand and thrust it forward, turning his body sideways at the same time.

Whoosh.

Chen Huan's wooden stick scraped hard down his mask.

What strength!

If that had hit him in the head, even the helmet wouldn't have stopped him from getting hurt!

Thwack.

At almost the same moment,

Lin Sheng's wooden stick struck Chen Huan hard in the stomach.

She let out a muffled groan.

Lin Sheng immediately sensed something was wrong and looked at Chen Huan.

She was crouched on the floor, clutching her stomach, her face pale. Her wooden stick lay off to the side. She looked badly hurt.

"Lin Sheng!!"

Xu Yi shouted angrily from the side. "What are you doing!? This was only a sparring match, and you hit her that hard!?"

She hurried over and crouched beside Chen Huan to help check her injuries.

Lin Sheng had held back, while Chen Huan had deliberately pressed her attack. Their movements had been so fast that no one around them had understood what happened before it was over.

"..." Lin Sheng stood silently where he was, saying nothing.

He'd acted entirely on instinct, dodging and then counterattacking.

In that instant, it had been Ravel's muscle memory that controlled his body.

It seemed that instinctive strike had left Chen Huan in a lot of pain. Even with her bamboo armor protecting her, she was still crouched on the floor, unable to get up for the moment.

But if he hadn't counterattacked just then, Chen Huan's final strike—

She'd clearly done it on purpose, deliberately pretending not to realize that Lin Sheng had left that opening for her.

"How many years have you been training? Tell us the truth. Don't try to pass yourself off as a beginner!" Xu Yi stood up and said coldly.

"How many years have I been training?" Lin Sheng asked, bewildered.

"Still pretending!? You came from the club next door to cause trouble, didn't you?" Xu Yi felt sure she'd figured it out.

"We'll refund your tuition. Get out! You're not welcome here!" she shouted, pointing at the door.

She'd just checked Chen Huan's injury. A large patch of her abdomen was bruised and swollen. Xu Yi had never imagined Lin Sheng would hit so hard.

Lin Sheng said nothing more.

This was really just a misunderstanding.

Because she was concerned about losing face, Chen Huan had deliberately seized the opening and struck hard, only to be countered by him.

If he'd been an ordinary student, perhaps this never would have happened. But he wasn't an ordinary student.

Still, he'd achieved his goal and truly tested just how impressive Ravel's swordsmanship was.

"Since you don't intend to explain yourself, then goodbye." Lin Sheng saw that Chen Huan had no intention of getting up to explain. Under Xu Yi's influence, the other students were looking at him with growing hostility.

He couldn't be bothered to stay there any longer.

He quickly took off his protective gear and helmet, dropped the wooden stick, and strode toward the classroom door.

Only then did he notice that the commotion had drawn quite a crowd to the classroom entrance.

Some were female students from the club across the way; others were people he didn't recognize.

"Excuse me." Lin Sheng didn't dawdle. He went straight to the office, where they quickly settled his account and refunded him a hundred yuan.

With the money in hand, Lin Sheng turned and headed downstairs.

The sky was slowly growing dark.

Standing outside, he looked back at the sign for Tengchong Fencing Club.

He'd spent three weeks at this place, and he hadn't expected to say goodbye so soon.

Chen Huan had been fine at first. He hadn't expected her to do this just because she was concerned about losing face.

There was nothing more to say.

Lin Sheng shook his head. He couldn't explain what had happened, either.

Turning around, he was about to leave.

"Wait, man!"

Suddenly, a tall, burly man rushed up behind him and slapped him on the shoulder.