Who Laughs First, Loses

[Recap: The author's understanding of Elation seems, roughly, to be slightly different from what everyone understands.]

[This theme is still a bit difficult for me, so everyone, I am going to put on my own mask.]

[First of all, though! Welcome, all of Aha's Envoys!]

Early in the morning, outside Notting City, a small woods.

A young girl wearing a pink-and-white dress was surrounded by nine Soul Masters, and the scarred man leading them smiled with ill intent: "Little girl, going out alone to hunt a Spirit Ring? Spirit Beasts are ferocious, why don't you let us big brothers protect you?"

The girl was none other than Xiao Wu, who had gone out alone.

There was no fear on her face, only a slight frown as her Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul was ready to be released at any moment.

"Nine of them." A voice with a smile came from a tree.

Everyone was stunned, looking up.

A young boy was lounging lazily on a tree branch, cracking melon seeds from somewhere and looking down with keen interest to watch the show.

The scarred man frowned: "Kid, who are you? I advise you not to meddle..."

"Nine against one," the boy interrupted, jumping down from the tree, raising a finger, and shaking it. "Wrong. Now it's the two of us against the nine of you."

He turned to look at Xiao Wu, revealing a smile that was suspiciously bright: "This... miss, looking at your rabbit ears, you run very fast, right? When the fight starts later, you run first and I'll cover the rear."

Xiao Wu looked at his smile, feeling her back grow somewhat chilly for some reason, but she still replied: "I don't plan to run."

"Oh?"

The young boy chuckled softly and walked toward the scarred man. "Then let's play together. But first things first—"

His fingertips flipped, and a mask appeared in his hand, slowly covering his face.

"Whoever laughs first loses."

"...?"

"Hey, what's your name?"

"Hehe, miss, before asking someone else's name, you'd better state your own first."

"Hmph, fine, my name is Xiao Wu, Wu as in dancing, and my Martial Soul is a Soft Bone Rabbit."

"My name is Luo Yan, and my Martial Soul is the mask you see... Soft Bone Rabbit? Are your bones soft? Can you twist yourself into a dough twist?"

Xiao Wu was stunned for a moment, then widened her eyes: "You're the one who's soft-boned! It's soft bone! Soft!"

"Oh, soft bone."

Luo Yan nodded thoughtfully. "So that means you can twist into a dough twist."

"You—"

The scarred man finally couldn't help it, slamming his palm against a nearby tree: "Kid! Are you here to flirt or to fight?"

Luo Yan turned his head, the eyes beneath the mask blinking: "Fight? Who said I was coming to fight?"

"Didn't you just say—"

"I said, 'Whoever laughs first loses,'" Luo Yan raised a finger.

"This is a competition, not a fight. Fighting is something barbarians do, and competitions are something civilized people do. Do you want to be barbarians or civilized people?"

The scarred man was dizzy from the wordplay, and a lackey beside him leaned over and whispered, "Boss, this guy is sick."

"You're the one who's sick."

Luo Yan immediately took the line, a trace of hurt in his tone: "I kindly invited you to join a competition, yet you resorted to personal attacks. Miss Xiao Wu, you judge this."

Xiao Wu tilted her head.

The scarred man grew angry from embarrassment, his Martial Soul instantly releasing as a yellowish Earth Wolf projection appeared behind him, and two yellow Spirit Rings fluctuated up and down.

"Kid, I don't care what kind of madness—"

"Wait!" Luo Yan suddenly shouted.

The scarred man subconsciously stopped.

Luo Yan pulled a crumpled little notebook from his bosom, flipped to a certain page, and read earnestly: "Earth Wolf Martial Soul, characterized by a sensitive sense of smell, good at large-scale charging, and its weaknesses are a turning radius that is too large and insufficient hind leg strength."

He closed the notebook and looked up at the scarred man. "Is this note of mine accurate?"

The scarred man was stunned.

"It seems it's accurate."

Luo Yan nodded with satisfaction and put the notebook back into his bosom. "Then we can begin."

He raised his right hand, and the mask on his face suddenly lit up with a faint glow as a yellow Spirit Ring rose from the soles of his feet.

"A hundred-year Spirit Ring?" The lackey behind the scarred man burst into jeering laughter.

The scarred man laughed as well, though it was a ferocious grin: "A one-ring trash dare—"

You lost.

"What?"

Luo Yan pointed at his mask. "I said, whoever laughs first loses."

He turned to look at Xiao Wu, his tone earnest. "Referee, did they lose?"

Xiao Wu froze for a fraction of a second, then the corners of her mouth curled up uncontrollably. "...They laughed first."

"The referee rules that the opponents violated the rules. Match over."

Luo Yan spread his hands wide, like announcing the curtain call of a grand performance. "According to the rules, you have to accept punishment."

Scarface finally lost his patience completely. "I don't give a damn about your bullshit rules—"

His first spirit skill instantly activated, and the speed boost from his earth wolf made his figure suddenly accelerate, charging straight at Luo Yan's face.

Luo Yan did not dodge.

He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

"I said, you lost."

Snap.

The snap was very soft, yet distinct in the morning air.

Scarface had already lunged within three feet of Luo Yan, the earth wolf's spirit power wrapping around his fist and kicking up a foul gust of wind.

In the next second, he would be able to smash this pretentious kid flying.

Then Scarface's body suddenly stiffened mid-air, his two legs tangling together in disobedience, his knees shattering the momentum of his forward charge, and his entire body tumbling out horizontally in a hugely comical posture, rolling three times on the ground with his face hitting first.

"Ah—!"

The lackeys behind him were also whipped by something at the same time, hunching up one by one, clutching their stomachs. Some knelt on the spot, while others directly collapsed and convulsed on the ground, panting with "wheezing" gasps, their faces flushed crimson.

"My spirit power... why is my spirit power in disarray!" A tall, thin lackey clutched his stomach and rolled on the ground, tears and snot streaming down together.

"Damn it, I can't release my spirit skill!"

"Boss, it hurts so much..."

The nine of them twisted about in disorder across the ground.

Luo Yan squatted down, just a foot away from Scarface's face.

The eyes beneath the mask curved, as if smiling, or as if admiring his own artwork.

"Don't worry, it's just a small punishment."

His tone was brisk. "Just spirit power disorder. At the shortest half an hour, at the longest a day or two, it will automatically recover. You won't die, you won't be crippled, and it won't affect you coming out to do some... well, other business in the future."

He paused, lowering his voice. "Though next time, I advise you really not to laugh."

Xiao Wu stood behind, watching this scene, her eyes widening slightly.

Her intuition was not wrong; this person... was indeed somewhat unusual.

Luo Yan stood up, patted the dust off his knees, and walked to Xiao Wu's side.

He took off his mask, and the expression on his face reverted to that lazy, punch-me-in-the-face teenager. His spirit ring had already vanished.

"Let's go."

"Luo... Yan? Where are you going now?"

Luo Yan stopped in his tracks and looked back.

Xiao Wu chased after him, her skirt swaying gently in the morning breeze, those pretty eyes filled with curiosity and a trace of vigilance that had not completely dissipated.

"At my age, other than going to Notting City to go to school, what else can I do?"

Luo Yan continued walking forward, his pace as casual as if on a spring outing. "Find some noble lady to marry myself off to?"

"You're going to Notting City? Let's go together!"

Luo Yan stopped, turned around, and revealed a delicate face that forever wore a punch-me-in-the-face smile.

He sized Xiao Wu up, his gaze lingering on her rabbit ear hair accessory for half a second.

"Together?"

Luo Yan tilted his head, his expression sincere and innocent. "Miss Xiao Wu, we've known each other for less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and you want to elope with me? Isn't this progress a bit too fast? I haven't prepared the betrothal gifts yet."

Xiao Wu's fists clenched instantly, and she took a deep breath. "Who wants to elope with you! I mean on the way! Going to Notting City on the way! Aren't you going to Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy?"

"Oh, on the way."

Luo Yan nodded as if suddenly enlightened, then revealed a somewhat disappointed expression. "I thought my charm had finally been discovered by someone. But—"

His tone changed, and he looked Xiao Wu up and down. "You're going to Notting Academy too?"

"Yeah, why are you going to Notting Academy too?"

"Because there's only this one junior academy within a hundred miles."

Xiao Wu froze for a moment. "I see, let's go, we're going to Notting City together!"

"Hey, Luo Yan."

Xiao Wu walked ahead, suddenly turning her head as her rabbit ear hair accessory swung with the movement. "What kind of spirit beast did you hunt for your first spirit ring?"

"Guess."

"How could I possibly guess!"

"Then don't guess." Luo Yan said.

Xiao Wu's fists clenched again. "Are you like this in every sentence just to be asking for a beating?"

"No." Luo Yan said earnestly, "Occasionally I also say something useful. For example—"

He paused. "A century-old Illusion Fox."

"A century-old?" Xiao Wu's steps halted for a fraction of a beat, then she caught up again, her eyes widening a bit.

"Then what is your innate spirit power?"

Luo Yan stretched, his tone breezy. "Full spirit power."

"Innately Full Spirit Power?!"

"What, doesn't it look like it?" Luo Yan glanced at her.

Xiao Wu opened her mouth, thought of his performance just now, and closed it again.

Luo Yan had already smiled and walked forward two steps, then stopped again, turning back to look at her. "Not leaving yet? Keep dawdling, and the good beds will all be snatched up by others."

Xiao Wu chased after him, walking with large strides beside him, though after a moment she still couldn't help asking, "Where did your century-old spirit ring come from? Did you hunt it yourself?"

"What else?" Luo Yan raised an eyebrow. "Could it be that I expected some philanthropist to cripple a century-old spirit beast and deliver it right in front of me, then help me deliver the final blow?"

"When did you hunt it?"

"After the Innately Full Spirit Power awakening, I squatted in the outer perimeter of the Soul Hunting Forest for four days."

Luo Yan spoke of it casually, but Xiao Wu could hear the weight within it.

For a child who had just awakened their martial soul not long ago, this was practically risking their life.

"You were alone?"

"Do I look like the kind of person who has company?"

Xiao Wu fell silent.

She suddenly re-examined this youth.

Luo Yan was about the same age as her, possessed innately full spirit power, and his martial soul was that bizarre mask she had never seen before.

"Fine, let's go."

Luo Yan crossed his hands behind his head, his gaze passing over Xiao Wu's bouncing rabbit ears to land on the dusty gray city walls of Notting City, yet his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

As a member of the twenty-first-century transmigrator army, he naturally knew the true identity of the person in front of him.

The transformed hundred-thousand-year-old Soft Bone Rabbit of the Star Dou Great Forest.

If this piece of information were placed on the black market, how many gold soul coins could it trade for?

It would probably be enough to buy the entire Notting City; of course, he had no interest in gold soul coins.

What he was more interested in was what kind of expression would appear on this rabbit's face when she discovered that all the trump cards and secrets she took so much pride in had been seen through by someone from the very moment they met.

It would definitely be very interesting.

"Luo Yan! Walk faster!"

"Coming, coming!"