Chapter 325: Want

~~~

Feng Zhi’s injuries are mostly healed.

The healers of the Eternal Flame Clan began treating him even before he left the arena. Elixirs that would have cost years of a person’s livelihood were poured like cheap wine, and precious pills were swallowed by the dozen. His flesh was sealed, his bones were mended, and his clothes were changed. Mere hours have passed, yet Feng Zhi stands as though nothing happened. Only the slight pain that accompanies some of his movements tells him he has been in a fight.

In a few hours, that will be gone, too.

However, it is not the pain that has kept him immobile for the past five minutes. Feng Zhi, the Young Master of the Eternal Flame Clan and prodigy with few equals, stands rooted to the spot for no other reason than nervousness. His golden eyes are fixed on a simple, unassuming door.

Huang Shing is on the other side.

For years, Huang Shing has been chasing after him. Now, Feng Zhi finds himself in the improbable situation of being the one who needs to go to Huang Shing. It is outlandish and ridiculous, so why does he feel so nervous about it?

“You shouldn’t hesitate.”

Feng Zhi does not jump in surprise. He does, however, mentally chastise himself for having forgotten Yi Jiao was standing right beside him all this time. Clearly, it is a sign he is still tired from the battle and nothing else.

“This is…” Feng Zhi trails off. “There is really no need… You are the one who grew up with him, and…”

Yi Jiao smiles gently and places a comforting hand on Feng Zhi’s shoulder.

Then she takes a step back, moves her hand to his back, and shoves him.

The sudden push catches him by surprise, forcing him to take three stumbling steps that leave his nose brushing against the door. He looks back and glares at Yi Jiao, who smiles and shoos him forward with her hands.

Feng Zhi sighs and enters the room.

“You took your time.”

Huang Shing is lying on a bed. As the loser, there was no need to prioritize his treatment, but that does not mean he was left without care. Many elixirs, pills, and ointments have been used on him, just not enough to completely restore him. His body is completely covered in bandages and burns.

And yet, he is grinning.

Feng Zhi struggles to believe it. He frantically searches those burned lips and cheeks for any trace of falsehood, yet he finds nothing but the buffoon’s usual stupidity. Huang Shing looks so content one would never believe he lost a fight.

Curious. Feng Zhi does not feel like he won either.

“You’re doing that thing,” the fool points out. He raises a bandaged hand and waves it at his face. “I thought you’d have gotten over it. That expression makes you look pathetic.”

Feng Zhi grits his teeth and marches till he is right by Huang Shing’s bedside.

“Well?” He demands.

Huang Shing blinks.

“Well, what?”

“Aren’t you angry at me?” Feng Zhi yells. “You have to be! If it weren’t for that relic…”

Once again, Feng Zhi cannot finish a sentence. It burns him. The paper knife. The stupid, silly paper knife he had so readily dismissed, that he’d kept in his pocket more out of vain hope than any real belief. It awakened at the last moment, turning into a fiery sword that burned through Huang Shing’s defenses.

If not for that, he’d probably have… in all likelihood lost.

Feng Zhi does not need to say it for Huang Shing to understand it, something he will forever be grateful for. The fool looks at him for several seconds in silence. However, the answer that leaves his mouth is not one Feng Zhi expected.

“Nah.”

“What?”

“I’m not angry,” Huang Shing says, shrugging. “Well, maybe a little, but that’s normal. It was a good fight. You won. Congratulations.”

Feng Zhi stares at him.

“How can you possibly say that?’

Huang Shing sighs.

“I don’t know how Yi Jiao puts up with you,” Huang Shing says, grunting as he moves to a sitting position. Considering Feng Zhi’s body is still sore despite receiving much better treatment, even that simple movement must cause Huang Shing quite a bit of pain.

“I realized something when we fought,” Huang Shing says. “No, maybe I knew it beforehand, but I couldn’t fully grasp it till then. You wanted to win more than I did.”

Feng Zhi blinks.

That cannot possibly be the case. The buffoon has been trying to surpass him since he left his stupid backwater town. For years, he has been chasing after him. Defeating him was his sole purpose once upon a time. The idea that he, the Young Master of the Eternal Flame Clan, would care more about defeating a nobody like Huang Shing is preposterous.

So why can he not deny it?

“If I had been willing to sacrifice an arm to your flames, I’d have won,” Huang Shing says, raising a bandaged arm and tapping it with his other one. “I thought about doing it. I didn’t. It seemed like too much a risk for a tournament battle where our lives weren’t at stake.”

Feng Zhi wants to scoff at the notion, yet his mind replays the fight and finds several moments where that sort of crucial sacrifice might have allowed Huang Shing to seriously injure him early on. The fight wouldn’t have lasted long enough for the relic to activate.

He’d have lost.

“I wasn’t willing to make that sacrifice, so I lost,” Huang Shing sums up. “I might have gone in there wanting to win, but you were completely desperate not to lose. You were willing to put so much of yourself at stake that you found your path. I felt it. Most of the arena did, too.”

“Cleanse,” Feng Zhi says, tasting the word.

Despite all his misgivings, it feels right.

“See?” Huang Shing says as if that proves his point. “You wanted it more, so you won. I won’t deny it’s a little frustrating that I don’t want to defeat you as badly as before, but I guess our wants change sometimes.” He pauses, then adds, “Besides, if we had a match right now, I’d win.”

Feng Zhi scoffs. “Braggart. I understand how to use this relic this time.”

“So what? I’d be ready for it this time,” Huang Shing counters, crossing his arms.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“The only reason you can face me is because of the damned elixir!” Feng Zhi points out, his eyebrow twitching.

“Is that what you think? I’ll have to trounce you after you hit the Heaven Realm, then.”

“You brazen fool,” Feng Zhi says. Nevertheless, he’s smiling.

“You know, it is very pathetic that you need the guy you beat to make you feel better about yourself,” Huang Shing points out. “You’re very fragile, Young Master.”

Feng Zhi’s answer is lost as he hears a sniffle behind him. He and Huang Shing look toward the door and see Yi Jiao standing there, teary-eyed but smiling.

“Please, don’t mind me,” she says, wiping a tear. “I am just very happy right now. Continue, please.”

Huang Shing and Feng Zhi sigh as one.

“You’re making this weird, Yi Jiao.”

Feng Zhi agrees but doesn’t voice it. Minutes later, as he and Yi Jiao are leaving so Huang Shing may rest, his fellow disciple calls out to him to tell him one last thing.

“Considering everything, it is probably for the best that you won today. A relic and Dao, you’re going to need both if you want to fight Brother Jin.”

~~~

How to fight Boss?

Nearly everyone left in the tournament and quite a few people outside it must be pondering that very question. Su Daji stands out as a rare exception in that she is not. If she makes it to him, she is not particularly worried about winning or losing.

Even if she wants to hit him really hard.

It is not proper, a part of her complains, but she has never really been all that proper to begin with. The older part of herself might have loved to fake a genteel exterior, but her insides were that of a vicious predator, seeking to indulge her appetites at every turn. Su Daji is quite done with that sort of thing.