Chapter 21 – Evil Trick

Following the referee’s announcement, Fang Yang jumped down from the ring. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and excitedly rushed forward to hug Feng Ye.

Hao Chen smelled the odor of sweat getting closer and closer, and took a quick step away.

Feng Ye also wanted to escape. Although he was not afraid of uncleanliness, he couldn’t stand the stinky odor of sweat. It was just that…..this was Fang Yang’s fourth round. After winning this round, he had entered the top thirty and secured his qualification to enter the Floating Island Secret Realm.

In this case, it was appropriate to celebrate.

So Feng Ye ultimately didn’t avoid him, and accepted a hug that was extremely tortuous to his sense of smell.

Fang Yang’s excitement calmed down somewhat after the hug. Feng Ye quickly released him, then took a step back and felt like he could breathe again.

He urged Fang Yang: “Adjust your internal energy. The next battle will be rough.”

As the rounds progressed, the upcoming opponents would only be stronger and stronger. Fang Yang was also aware of this. Since it wasn’t his turn yet, he sat cross-legged on the ground and regulated his breathing.

Another hour passed. The selection competition had lasted the entire morning. The sun was growing increasingly hot, and the other contestants were nearly out of energy due to the non-stop battles.

Seeing this, Sect Leader Ji just said: “Take an hour break. The competition will resume in the afternoon.”

That said, he waved his hand and left first.

The rest of those on the viewing platform naturally followed after the sect leader, and the numerous disciples in the arena breathed sighs of relief. 

The schedule was so tight that everyone was exhausted, so it was great to be able to take a break.

This group of people left the training grounds one after another, some to eat and some to rest.

Feng Ye and the other two were also going to eat a meal.

Unlike Fang Yang, who was covered in sweat, Feng Ye and Hao Chen had just been watching the show the whole time. Hao Chen had also brought his own fan to keep cool, so he wasn’t tired at all and had a very leisurely appearance.

Feng Ye glanced at the fan in Hao Chen’s hand and wondered if there was anything strange about it. Why did this fellow carry it wherever he went?

Most of Hao Chen’s attention was on Feng Ye, and he naturally noticed Feng Ye’s gaze from the first moment. He immediately spread the fan and attentively fanned Feng Ye, saying in a tender tone: “Are you hot?”

Feng Ye: “…..”

Feeling the cool breeze generated by Hao Chen’s fan, he shivered from head to foot in a stress reaction and goosebumps appeared all over his body.

Feng Ye gave Hao Chen a speechless look, wondering what was wrong with him. He hadn’t said a word the whole morning, and the look in his eyes kept changing as he stared at Feng Ye. Sometimes he shook his head and sighed, and sometimes he looked at him from head to toe with inquiring eyes. There was no telling what he was thinking.

That was all fine, but what was with the weird tone just now? Anyone who didn’t know better would think that they were a couple in love, with Hao Chen’s words expressing such affectionate concern.

We’re obviously just fake friends who’ve only known each other for four days, ah! Can’t Hao Chen be more professional and not add more unnecessary drama to my life? Feng Ye complained inwardly.

But Hao Chen was unfortunately completely unaware of the complaints in his heart. On the contrary, he maintained that tender smile as he continued to fan him.

Fang Yang couldn’t stand it anymore. He abruptly pulled Fang Yang to walk on the other side of him, successfully switching places, and the ambiguous cool breeze from Hao Chen’s fan hit his face instead.

“It’s so cool,” Fang Yang exclaimed frankly. His simple brain blocked out the undercurrents in Hao Chen’s cool breeze.

Hao Chen’s mouth twitched and he put away his fan.

Everything has something it can be defeated by, Feng Ye sighed.

The three of them arrived at the cafeteria entrance. Just as they were about to enter, someone called to Feng Ye: “Stop!”

The three of them turned their heads in unison.

The steward, whom all three knew, came over with two brooms and handed them to Hao Chen and Feng Ye respectively.

Feng Ye: “ ? ”

Hao Chen: “ ? ? ” He had double question marks, because it was understandable to give one to Feng Ye, whose main job was the sweep the floor, but why should one be given to him?

“There’s a competition today, and we don’t have enough people. Since you’re not participating anyway, you can help sweep.” the steward explained to the confused disciples.

They’ve seen how idle I am, so they’re making me work. Feng Ye understood this, and so did Fang Yang.

Hao Chen, who didn’t understand: “ ? ? ”

He couldn’t help but raise the broom in his hand and ask: “Why give one to me…..”

The steward narrowed his eyes mysteriously and patted Feng Ye and Hao Chen’s shoulders with his right and left hands respectively. Then, with an expression that said, “Don’t ask what you already know,” he put his hands behind his back and turned to leave, having successfully achieved his goal.

Now Hao Chen finally understood. It turned out that this was where the trap lay.

It was Feng Ye’s turn to not understand: “ ? ? ? ”

“Hao-dage, everyone knows you two are the best of friends! The steward knows you’ll definitely help Shixiong, so he brought you another broom.” Fang Yang was suddenly enlightened. “Then you and Shixiong can go work, and I’ll go eat by myself!”

Fang Yang, who was on the entirely wrong track, walked toward the cafeteria alone. The break was only for one hour, so he had to make the best use of it.

Feng Ye looked at Hao Chen, then at his broom, wondering dubiously, Is it really just like Fang Yang said? Why did he feel that the steward’s expression wasn’t quite like that…..

He shook his head. Forget it. At least he had Hao Chen to sweep the floor with him. As long as he could drag this fellow down with him, the reason wasn’t important.

With this in mind, Feng Ye hefted the broom onto his shoulder and said to Hao Chen in a tone that was polite on the surface but gloating underneath: “I’ll have to trouble Fellow Daoist Hao Chen again.”

Hao Chen knew the real reason, and looked at Feng Ye’s triumphant expression with a smile, saying nothing.

This time, he was no longer as reluctant as before and followed Feng Ye to sweep the floor without making excuses.

After all, when it came down to it, he was certainly not the one who suffered the most from that wildly circulating rumor.

Whoever cared about the rumor was the one who would suffer. For Hao Chen, whose face was as thick as a city wall, one dual cultivation partner, two dual cultivation partners, or even a platoon of dual cultivation partners, nothing could penetrate his skin. Neither sword nor axe could chop through it.

And he had just pretended to show care for Feng Ye on a whim, but the other party felt uncomfortable all over. He must not be as indifferent as Hao Chen was.

He wondered what Feng Ye’s expression would look like when he found out that Hao Chen was his nominal dual cultivation partner.

It should be very amusing, Hao Chen thought as he walked behind Feng Ye, holding a stomachful of specialty North Sea bad intentions.

The two men walked one by one. Although they were on their way to do hard labor, they both had happy expressions on their faces.

On the other side, Fang Yang had just ordered his meal, and planned to head back to rest after filling his stomach. However, just as he took a bite of his food, a fellow disciple he didn’t know well came over and patted him on the shoulder.

Fang Yang turned around in confusion and found this unfamiliar disciple directing a friendly smile at him: “You must be Fang Yang. I watched your match, and your swordsmanship is really good.”

Fang Yang felt a little embarrassed being suddenly praised by a stranger: “It’s just okay, ah. I still need to work harder.”

“No matter how hard you work, the rest of us will be put to shame, haha.” The unfamiliar disciple laughed as he spoke, saying: “How do you usually train? Can you teach me?”

First he was praised, and then he was asked this. Being flattered so highly, Fang Yang inevitably became a little proud, and wanted to tell him everything as soon as he opened his mouth.

But when the words came to his lips, he remembered the promise he’d made to the Mysterious Big Brother. He paused, then skipped over the matter and simply talked about his hellish schedule.

The unfamiliar fellow disciple was amazed at what he heard. After Fang Yang had spoken for a while, he shook his head and sighed: “It seems I can’t be like you. I can’t get up at dawn every day to practice swordplay.”

“Oh, right.” He seemed to recall something, and slapped his forehead in annoyance: “You have the competition this afternoon, so I’d better not disturb you for now. You should have a good rest.”

Although the conversation was very enjoyable, Fang Yang also realized that he would have no time to rest if this continued, so he simply nodded: “Okay, let’s talk next time.”

The fellow disciple left at this point, and Fang Yang turned back around to continue eating his rather cold lunch. When he finished his meal, he picked up the bowl of soup. It was a light vegetable and egg drop soup, with some yellow egg pieces mixed within the vegetable greens.

However, mixed in with the yellow egg were some inconspicuous crushed yellow petals. Fang Yang didn’t notice them at all. He just wanted to finish eating quickly and rest, and didn’t check to see if there was anything extra in the bowl.

He held the bowl of soup and gulped it down, the jut of his throat bobbing up and down as he swallowed everything like a cow chewing peonies.

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Chapter 20 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 22