Chapter 125: Finals begin(continued)
Lu Heng watched the two boys sit gingerly on the edge of the sofa, barely daring to occupy a third of the cushion. He couldn't help but burst out laughing inwardly, wondering just what kind of image Gu Lingjun had in the family to make the pair act like they were facing a great scourge.
Lu Heng looked at the two boys sitting like a pair of frightened quails under Gu Lingjun's intimidating presence, completely different from their high-spirited appearance on their contestant profiles. Feeling a bit sorry for them, Lu Heng poured each of them a cup of hot tea.
"Here on business?" Gu Lingjun asked tersely.
Gu Thirteen and Gu Fourteen had indeed come with a mission. Just before they left for S City, the eldest brother of the Gu family, whom they called Big Great Uncle, had called them over and, with a warm smile, requested a small favor.
The conversation had gone something like this:
"My dear grandnephews, I hear you're heading to S City tomorrow. There's a little something I'd like to ask of you."
Naturally, Gu Thirteen hadn't dared to refuse Big Great Uncle's request, agreeing instantly without even asking what the favor was.
"Ah, such exemplary young members of our Gu family," Big Great Uncle had said with a nod and a smile. "It's very simple. Once you're in S City, drop by Lingjun's place. Call me right away if there's anything unusual."
Simple?! I don't think so. Gu Fourteen complained inwardly, and blamed the impulsive idiot Gu Thirteen for agreeing without question.
"Big Great Uncle, if I may ask, why pick us?" Gu Fourteen had asked. After all, there were others from the direct family line in the tournament who were presumably closer to Gu Lingjun, so why pick him and Gu Thirteen, two distant cousins.
"You young people share common interests. You'll find it easy to communicate," Eldest Brother Gu had replied, smiling cheerfully.
Noooo, Little Great Uncle is the most difficult to talk to! Gu Thirteen and Gu Fourteen howled in unison internally. However, the matter was already settled, which led to what happened today.
"Little, Little Great Uncle..."
Lu Heng sat down beside Gu Lingjun. Seeing Gu Thirteen mumbling Little Great Uncle for ages without getting to the point, he couldn't stand it any longer. He leaned toward Gu Lingjun and whispered in his ear, "Stop scaring them. If this keeps up, the food will get cold."
Sitting opposite them, Gu Thirteen and Gu Fourteen only saw "Ah Heng" whispered something in Little Great Uncle's ear. In the next instant, a miracle occurred. The always imposing Little Great Uncle Gu, whose presence was as sharp as the Tang sword he wielded, still maintained a stoic expression, but his aura softened considerably.
Gu Thirteen finally relaxed and spoke fluently: "Little Great Uncle, Big Great Uncle asked us to drop in and ask. Have you got used to living in S City?"
"Hmm," Gu Lingjun nodded.
The conversation went back and forth for a while. Gu Thirteen, who had a go with the flow[1] character, noticed that Gu Lingjun had suddenly become much easier to talk to. On top of that, the enticing aroma of food wafting from the dining room immediately gave him endless courage fueled by the greedy worm in his stomach.
He blurted out, "Little Great Uncle, it's getting late, and both Fourteen and I haven't eaten yet..."
"I'll treat you to dinner."
"Great, great!" Gu Thirteen nodded ecstatically, thinking Little Great Uncle has become so approachable!
A few minutes later...
Gu Thirteen stood in the hallway, holding a wad of cash, exchanging bewildered glances with Gu Fourteen. In front of them was Gu Lingjun's tightly shut door.
"Are you an idiot?" Gu Fourteen asked.
"I don't know what gave me the illusion that Little Great Uncle had become more humane!" Gu Thirteen replied. "Isn't the normal process to invite us to stay for dinner? That way, we could further observe if there's anything unusual about him."
Gu Fourteen gave him a long look, filled with a mix of pity and care, before saying, "Still, we didn't come away empty-handed."
"Huh?" Gu Thirteen looked completely confused.
"That Ah Heng is the biggest anomaly about Little Great Uncle," Gu Fourteen said with a hint of helplessness. He really couldn't understand how he had lost to this fool again and again in the training camp. I guess it's probably because fools have extraordinary fighting instincts.
=============
It was Lu Heng's first match in the finals today.
This match was actually not very exciting, as Lu Heng's opponent was a Yellow-tier Martial Artist who made it to the finals through the preliminary selection.
This Martial Artist had mediocre skills and largely made it to the finals by sheer luck. During the preliminary rounds, his opponents were absent several times for various reasons.
Due to the significant disparity in strength, even the underground casinos hadn't set up betting for this match.
Sitting in the observation room, Cui Zihang naturally wasn't interested in the match. He was only there because it happened to be his turn to supervise the competition today.
The observation room was located at the best vantage point of the entire tournament venue. With a Martial Artist's eyesight, he could clearly monitor even the slightest changes happening on the field.
The match was set to begin in just a few minutes. Cui Zihang leaned back on the sofa, idly watching the preparations on the field.
"Cui Zihang." A voice sounded behind him.
Cui Zihang shot up from the sofa. Whoever it was, he, an Earth-tier Martial Artist, hadn't detected their presence at all!
He turned around and saw that it was Gu Lingjun. Realizing this, he found it unsurprising. But then, he wondered—why was Gu Lingjun here at such a dull and uneventful match? With some puzzlement, Cui Zihang asked, "Little Martial Uncle Gu, is there something you need from me?"
"Not you." Gu Lingjun walked straight forward and took the best vantage seat Cui Zihang had just vacated.
Cui Zihang sat down beside him, his mind full of questions. Although members of the judging committee had the authority to randomly supervise any match, Gu Lingjun wasn't the type to do such a thing. And this match, with its huge disparity in strength, wasn't likely to attract this Martial Arts fanatic.
The match began.
As predicted, the situation on the field was entirely one-sided. From the start, EternalMoon's attacks came like a torrential storm, leaving his opponent no room to breathe. It didn't take long before, with a few swift and efficient moves, he rendered his opponent completely powerless.
In the end, EternalMoon's precisely controlled scimitar stopped just half an inch from his opponent's throat.
They had a winner.
Cui Zihang's attention was almost entirely focused on Gu Lingjun.
The moment the match began, Gu Lingjun pulled a portable camera out of the bag he had brought with him. Throughout the entire match, he was intently recording, his expression utterly absorbed.
His focused demeanor gave the impression that there were two Heaven-tier masters dueling on the field, where missing even a second of footage would be a tremendous loss.
Cui Zihang shifted his gaze back to the field. He glanced at the match—boring. He even rubbed his eyes, yet the scene remained the same: a totally unexciting match dominated by a massive disparity in strength.
He glanced at Gu Lingjun again. The same intense focus, even a hint of fervor in his eyes, was locked on the camera's screen. Cui Zihang had only ever seen Gu Lingjun in such a state when hunting exceptionally powerful Heaven-tier mutated beasts.
Is there some unknown secret in the footage captured by that camera?
As the match ended, Gu Lingjun packed up his camera and prepared to leave.
"Little Martial Uncle Gu, please wait a moment." Cui Zihang felt that if he didn't figure out what was going on today, he wouldn't be able to sleep that night.
"What is it?"
"May I take the liberty of borrowing the video you just recorded? You know me—I'm a very curious person. Seeing how focused you were, I'm worried I might have missed some incredible moments," Cui Zihang said with utmost sincerity.
Gu Lingjun thought for a moment and, out of a subtle desire to show off, pulled up the footage he had just recorded and handed the camera over.
One look, and Cui Zihang was shocked. It wasn't just because the footage was entirely centered on EternalMoon as the star of the show, with the other contestant reduced to the role of a supporting actor.
More importantly, the filming style was identical to the videos EternalMoon had previously released.
"You are the one who filmed all of EternalMoon's videos?" Cui Zihang asked.
"Mm."
"Who is this EternalMoon to you that he could get you to be his personal videographer?" In his shock, Cui Zihang blurted out the first question that came to mind.
Cui Zihang wasn't shocked that Gu Lingjun, a member of the judging committee, had dealings with a contestant. After all, Martial Arts matches were ultimately about learning skills from each other, with judges primarily ensuring fairness and safety, and the key was seeing true skill in action. Many members of the judging panel had family members participating in the tournament, and there was no rule explicitly prohibiting such connections.
What shocked him was that Gu Lingjun would actually serve as a videographer for a Yellow-tier Martial Artist! This was the same Gu Lingjun who cared about nothing but Martial Arts and wouldn't let anything interfere with his training. It was a scene so unimaginable that it felt less likely than the sun rising from the west.
"Ah Heng said it can't be made public yet," Gu Lingjun said calmly before taking back the camera and walking out.
That left Cui Zihang standing dumbfounded in the middle of the room.
"Wh-what? Make it public? What are you going to make public…"
Cui Zihang felt as though he'd heard some terrible secret. After the initial shock wore off, a new worry crept into his mind—was he going to be silenced for knowing too much?
[1] 顺杆儿爬: Say and do things that please others. A knack for taking advantage of the situation.
No comments:
Post a Comment