RSG Chapter 59
Sword Competition
Translator: Sylph
Editor: Elsa
On this day, He Yan made a big scene again.
One the way back, He Yan encountered Wang Ba who was hiding in the crowd; he came to observe He Yan and Jiang Jiao spar with the spear. He wanted to leave after watching but was accidentally caught by He Yan.
He Yan greeted him from far away, “Brother Wang!”
To the public’s perspective, Wang Ba’s face turned black as he called out boss like a mosquito. He Yan looked at him with a smile as he turned and ran away as if someone was chasing him from behind.
“Brother Ah He, you’re really good.” Mak said with envy.
“There’ll be more and more things like this in the future. You have to get used to it.” He Yan stood on tip-toe and rubbed Mak’s head.
Hong Shan snorted when he saw this, “You should grow up first if you’re trying to be someone’s boss.”
He Yan shrugged her shoulders. It’s not up to people to make things like this happen. It’s all up to the Heavens. Things like growing up cannot be forced.
She was in a good mood today. At night when He Yan went back to sleep after her sneaky training late at night, she had an unprecedented dream.
In her dream, she was standing on the high platform of the martial arts arena. Everyone was calling her boss. Cheng Lisu ran over and said to her with a warm smile, “Brother He, you’ve finally entered the Nine Banners Battalion!”
“Really?” She was very happy, but then she suddenly heard a voice, “He Ru Fei?”
She turned around and saw that it was Xiao Jue. He was staring at her coldly, his words ridiculed her, “Are you He Yan or He Ru Fei?”
He Ru Fei. When she heard this name, she immediately woke up from her dream, sat up and touched her head. She was sweating profusely.
It was bright outside and Hong Shan was pushing the window open. Seeing her wipe her sweat, he casually said, “It’s extremely hot these days. I don’t want to spend the summer in Liang Zhou anymore. I might as well have lost a layer of fat from the heat.”
He Yan smiled, still a little unsure. Seeing this, Mak wondered, “Brother He doesn’t look well. Are you suffering from heatstroke? Do you want to drink some leaf tea?”
“No need. It’s just the weather,” He Yan got out of bed and put on her shoes, “I’ll go out and run to cool down by sweating.”
After an early morning weight-bearing run, she still managed to practice martial arts at the arena, and today was the day for swordsmanship practice. As the group practised, they saw another group of people approach He Yan.
He Yan put down the knife in her hand.
“What you said yesterday. Does that still count?” Asked the leader of the group in a deep voice.
The leader was a bald man with dragon eyebrows, a leopard neck and bronze bones. There was a string of Buddhist beads around his neck. The beads were warm and shone with a dark light and each bead was the size of a finger. He held a big gold-backed sword in both hands and was much older than He Yan. He must be past the age of perplexity, perhaps in his forties. And yet, the man did not look like a potato couch- he was like a taut bear.
“My name is Huang Xiong,” The bald man said in a dull voice, “I want to learn the sword technique with you.”
The eavesdropping recruits had their ears perked up and became excited, “Ah! Someone’s here, someone’s here, someone’s here! I told you. We have thousands of good men in Liang Zhou. It can’t be that not a single one out of these thousands can’t teach this kid to be a human!”
“Right, right. Destroy his narcissism and avenge our dry bread!”
“I don’t think He Yan can act cool this time. Look at the sword in Huang Xiong’s hand. It’s not an ordinary sword! I’m afraid he’s an experienced swordsman!”
He Yan also noticed the sword in Huang Xiong’s hand. The blade was reddish in colour. Whilst the back of the sword was extremely thick, the blade was sharp and the tip was flat with a slight curve. This type of sword was very heavy and ordinary people would find it difficult to wield, but this was just right to match a good man like Huang Xiong.
“You have a good sword.” He Yan praised.
Huang Xiong heard this and his eyes softened slightly, “It’s my 30-year-old friend.”
He Yan was speechless and couldn’t help but think of her Qing Lang sword. She was now a recruit again and unlike Huang Xiong, she had no sword to bring with her to Liang Zhou. There were no other weapons that suited her which made her feel uneasy.
Right now, she was very envious of Huang Xiong.
Huang Xiong saw that He Yan was hesitant to respond and frowned, “Didn’t you say yesterday that those who come forward are all welcome? Do you not want to fight now?”
He Yan was taken aback for a moment, and smiled, “When did I refuse? I’ll do as I’ve promised.”
Meeting the gaze of the crowd, she calmly walked onto the high platform of the arena stage.
In the audience, Liang Ping numbly watched He Yan’s movements.
Du Mao leaned against the tree and gloated, “This He Yan keeps picking a fight even though he’s your subordinate.”
Liang Ping couldn’t wait to go and smack him twice. If it weren’t for Du Mao’s nosiness from yesterday and letting Jiang Jiao and He Yan duel, He Yan would never have gone to the arena, nor would he have said such silly words such as setting up a ring. Today’s events wouldn’t have happened.
Now that Head Instructor Shen had inquired about the current situation, Liang Ping couldn’t stop it. He could only pray in his heart and hope that He Yan would have good luck and be safe and sound.
—
Cheng Lisu stayed in Xiao Jue’s room, painting peach charms on the little table. His uncle was reading a book sent from the capital and Cheng Lisu didn’t know the contents of the book. Xiao Jue has been reading it all morning.
Cheng Lisu felt bored. He was thinking about whether to go out and look at the area to find some entertainment for himself. There was a sudden knock on the door from outside and Xiao Jue commanded, “Come in.”
It was Shen Han who entered.
Shen Han walked to Xiao Jue’s side and whispered a few words. Cheng Lisu moved his chair to the other end and stretched his ears to eavesdrop.
“He Yan…Huang Xiong…sword…arena.”
For the first time, Cheng Lisu’s brain functioned properly. He deduced what was going on after only thinking for a moment. Someone wanted to duel with He Yan using sword fighting and he was now in the arena. His heart pumped with excitement. As expected from his elder brother, he was sparring with another person when he had just won a match yesterday. He wanted to go and see it immediately!
Cheng Lisu stealthy put down the pen and paper in his hand. Winking at Shen Han, he attempted to tiptoe out of the room whilst Xiao Jue had his back turned to him.
Before he could reach the door, Xiao Jue said softly, “Cheng Lisu.”
“…” Cheng Lisu answered with a sullen face. His heart felt strange. His uncle didn’t have his eyes on him. How did he get caught every time he tried to do something?
Cheng Lisu trotted up to Xiaxo Jue, squirmed, and said, “Uncle, I’ll just take a quick peek. My elder brother is sword fighting with others. How can I not watch it? I have to be loyal to He Yan. I promise I’ll come back to practice calligraphy after I finish watching. I won’t be late!”
Xiao Jue raised his eyebrows and glanced at him, “Have I forbidden you from watching?”
“Huh?” Cheng Lisu widened his eyes and smiled, “If you’re letting me watch, why don’t you say it earlier! Then I’ll get going!”
He turned and when he was about to run, Xiao Jue warned him, “Slow down.”
Cheng Lisu looked at him suspiciously.
The latter stood up and walked out with Shen Han, “I will go too.”
Cheng Lisu was dumbfounded.
“Doesn’t your elder brother want to enter the Nine Banners Battalion?” The corner of the young man’s lips was hooked, “I’m also curious as to how he plans to enter the Nine Banners Battalion.”
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