Yu Xiaogang, Do You Have No Brains?

"Qin Yun, don't go too far!"

Xiao Wu shouted.

She had never expected Qin Yun to attack her outright.

But Qin Yun did not answer.

Nor would he give her another chance to speak.

He flicked his left hand back. The instant his fingertips cut through the air, a spark shot from his fingers.

A sharp blast followed, and the shockwave struck Xiao Wu precisely at the back of her neck.

It knocked her unconscious.

Xiao Wu swayed, then crumpled sideways onto the arena floor.

Her scorpion braid fell against the ground, its tip singed by the flames.

Across the arena, the brother and sister had lost all will to continue fighting.

The sister withdrew the now-dim phantom of her Azure-Scaled Snake. "We surrender!"

The referee's whistle sounded at once, declaring victory for Qin Yun and Xiao Wu.

Qin Yun stood in the arena, his expression showing no excitement at the win.

He glanced down at Xiao Wu lying on the arena tiles. After two silent breaths, he bent and lifted her into his arms to take her back.

Qin Yun could seriously injure Xiao Wu, but he could not abandon her altogether.

If anything happened to her, Tang Hao would likely come after him.

At his current strength, he was not yet capable of facing Tang Hao head-on.

But as Qin Yun passed through the corridor, a gray-clad figure blocked his way.

Yu Xiaogang's face was livid. "Qin Yun, how could you hit your own teammate so hard?"

"A two-on-two spirit battle means fighting side by side. And you knocked your partner out with an explosion?"

Qin Yun stopped and glanced at Yu Xiaogang.

His gaze was far calmer than Yu Xiaogang's, and he spoke without haste.

"I missed!"

Yu Xiaogang did not believe that excuse for a moment.

The blasts in the arena had clearly been aimed at Xiao Wu.

But there was nothing he could do about Qin Yun.

When they returned to where the Shrek group had gathered, Flender was still sitting there.

He was surprised to see the unconscious Xiao Wu in Qin Yun's arms.

At Qin Yun's level, fighting two opponents in a level-forty spirit battle should have been no problem. How had Xiao Wu been hurt?

Before he could ask, Yu Xiaogang caught up with them.

"Flender!" he said first. "This disciple of yours attacked his teammate in the arena."

"He hurt Xiao Wu this badly! Are you going to do anything about it?"

Qin Yun did not even look at Yu Xiaogang. He merely turned to Flender and shrugged, his tone unchanged.

"I told him. I missed. I lost control."

"Blades don't discriminate in a spirit battle. If the Grandmaster cares that much about his disciple, next time he can keep her from teaming up with someone far stronger than she is. Then she won't get 'accidentally hurt.'"

Yu Xiaogang's face shifted between pale and livid.

His chest heaved twice.

"You're targeting Tang San. That's why you hurt Xiao Wu on purpose."

"Tang San is my disciple. You're unhappy with him, so you took it out on someone close to him."

Qin Yun gave a derisive laugh.

"Grandmaster, do you have no brains?"

"Tang San couldn't beat me either time we fought. Why would I bother targeting him?"

"Don't think so highly of yourselves. What makes you worth targeting?"

Yu Xiaogang's lips moved. His face went from livid to pale, then to a dark, purplish red.

It was as though someone had torn away the thin veil hiding his shame right in front of him.

Yu Xiaogang had little talent, and his clan elders had looked down on him.

That had bred a warped need to be taken seriously.

His research into his so-called theories and his training of Tang San both sprang from that insecurity.

He would assume, without even realizing it, that others were targeting him.

Many people knew him as the Grandmaster of Theory, but in truth, most did not think much of him.

Flender's gaze moved between Qin Yun and Yu Xiaogang twice.

One was an old friend and brother.

The other was his prized disciple.

For a moment, he hesitated.

Before Flender could speak, however, Ning Rongrong walked in.

"I saw it," she said. "Xiao Wu attacked Qin Yun first. Stop trying to pin the blame on him."

"While Qin Yun was fighting the brother and sister, she secretly fired the Godly Zhuge Crossbow at his back. He only struck back."

"Grandmaster, does shooting someone in the back make her a teammate? Under the spirit battle rules, wouldn't that count as a deliberate attack on a teammate?"

Her words left the room silent for several breaths.

Yu Xiaogang had watched from a different section than Ning Rongrong, so he truly had not seen Xiao Wu make her move.

Besides, Xiao Wu had been discreet.

Most of the spectators had been focused on the brother and sister's counterattack. Few had noticed what happened behind Qin Yun in those brief moments.

But Ning Rongrong was different. Her eyes had been on Qin Yun from the moment he entered the arena.

She had seen it all, clearly.

Then Dai Mubai stepped away from the wall.

He spoke.

"Ning Rongrong, you just teamed up with Qin Yun, and he helped you win. Of course you're taking his side."

He paused, then turned to Zhu Zhuqing.

"Zhuqing, you should team up with me instead."

"Look at Qin Yun. He can't tell friend from foe. He'll even seriously injure his own teammate."

"If you team up with him, you might get 'accidentally hurt' too."

Dai Mubai did not care whether Ning Rongrong was telling the truth.

He wanted to use this chance to stop Zhu Zhuqing from teaming up with Qin Yun.

Zhu Zhuqing had only recently returned from her one-on-one spirit battle. She was still breathing a little hard from the fight.

A few stray strands of hair clung to her temples with sweat.

She frowned slightly, her gaze falling first on the unconscious Xiao Wu.

Then she looked up at Qin Yun. His expression was calm. He made no rush to defend himself and showed neither anger nor shame. He simply stood there in silence.

She turned to Dai Mubai and met his pleading gaze.

She still resented Dai Mubai for giving up and running from reality.

"I don't need you deciding for me," she said. "I want to team up with Qin Yun."

Even as Zhu Zhuqing said it, she knew part of her answer came from anger at Dai Mubai.

He had walked away back then, yet now he wanted to pull her back into his life as if it were nothing.

Another part came from her trust in Qin Yun.

She did not know him well, but she did not believe he would hurt Xiao Wu without reason.

Her instincts told her Qin Yun was not the sort to stab a teammate in the back.

Dai Mubai's expression froze.

His chest rose and fell as though he wanted to say something.

His throat worked, but in the end he did not ask, "Would you really rather trust someone you've only known for a few days?"

He looked at Zhu Zhuqing for a moment, then turned back to the wall without another word.

Seeing Dai Mubai react that way, Zhu Zhuqing's expectations of him fell a little further.