Chapter 23 – Runicle
The psychological warfare started long before the official fight. Tension was high and weapons were already drawn.
Du Yuan Ming did not expect Ye Zheng Qing to talk back and his face went black. ‘Let’s see if your c*ckiness will help you hold your little plot of land, old fart!’
The servants of the Du family put a table down in the arena and three chairs around it for the patriarch, the general and the Merchant Guild president, comfort was their priority over respecting the host.
“Ye Zheng Qing, now that we have general Zhou and president Dong as witnesses, I am going to ask you one last time. Will you sell us the land by North Hill Bay?” Backed up by two powerful men, Du Yuan Ming sounded confident as he was staring at Ye Zheng Qing like a hawk at its prey. “You can still change your mind, and the Du family will forgivingly accept the troubles you made us go through and buy your ancestral land for one hundred and twenty thousand silver!”
“If you decide to be stubborn about this you will not be getting anything after the fight!”
“Wait, I will give you lot a hundred silver so you don’t end up on the streets right away, I am fair like that!” Du Yuan Ming was desperate to have the last word.
Ye Wei was furious and felt helpless, it was becoming apparent the Du family wanted to crush them and take everything they own.
“If you lose the fight the Du family will take their fingers out of the scroll, arms, restaurant, ranch, and fabric businesses. I hope you will keep your promise!” Ye Zheng Qing knew that if they lost the morale then there would be no hope, keeping his feet on the ground and countered.
“Please!” Du Yuan Ming looked scornfully at the youngsters within the Ye family camp, he laughed and said: “Win with what? But yeah sure, I am a man of my word! Plus we have general Zhou and president Dong here as witnesses. You just have to win for us to keep our promise!” He was relaxed and confident, and didn’t really care about the details.
“Words are just words, put it on paper!” Ye Zheng Qing took out the contract he prepared, stamping his right index finger quickly on the contract. The inscripted contract flew out and stopped in front of Du Yuan Ming.
Ye Family’s trademark telekinesis skill!
“I like your attention to details, I guess I could use some security too!” Du Yuan Ming cleared his throat. He quickly scanned through the contract and then put his handprint on it without hesitation: “Ha, remember this is a deathmatch!”
Ye Zheng Qing looked at his grandchildren. He was not ready to lose any of them… Ye Zhong caught his grandpa’s worrying look, and signaled to grandpa that things will be fine with a solemn gaze.
Ye Zheng Qing stamped his cold hand on the contract, there was no way out now.
“Rules are as follows: three youngsters from each side, fighting one on one with one fight at a time, the family with the last standing contestant is the victor! Any questions?” General Zhou had a blood thirsty look as he turned and announced the rules to make sure everyone heard them clearly.
“No objections!” Ye Zheng Qing’s deep voice has sounded more confident at other occasions.
“No objections!” Du Yuan Ming on the other side sounded a lot more spirited. ‘They have absolutely no way to win… This fight is just a formality, we are taking from the Ye family no matter what!’
He stared at the Ye camp with an arrogant smile as he sent their first contestant into the arena: “Yin Hong, you’re up!” Du Han Yue was at the six star level; Du An Yi, Cheng Zhi, and Yun Fan were five star. But the strongest Ye youngster was Ye Zhong at only four stars as far as Du Yuan Ming knew, as such there was no point for the Du family to send anyone stronger than four star, revealing their power.
“Yes!” Du Yin Hong entered the arena confidently and the smile he had told everyone he carried no respect for whoever the Ye family was going to send. In his mind he had no reason to, his cultivation should allow him to better whomever he faced.
Du Han Yue was standing next to the Du Patriarch indifferently looking at the general direction of where the arena was. He was dressed in white today and didn’t think he was going to fight.
It was not tactically great to send Ye Zhong out right away because the less energy he has, the less chance he had to win against Du Han Yue. However, nobody else in the Ye camp could match Du Yin Hung’s four star cultivation.
Ye Zheng Qing felt dejected, slowly accepting the cruel reality that the Ye family was facing, wondering if he had done something different in the past would the family still be bullied like this? Would his kids be stronger?
“Whiz~”
Ye Zheng Qing’s thoughts got interrupted by the noise of a grand looking carriage approaching the arena. It left a trail of dust behind it and the glimmering runes around the carriage became more visible as it got closer.
“Is that a runicle?”
Ye Zheng Qing was startled ‘Do they have even more back up? This time arriving by a runicle too!?’ In the other camp Du Yuan Ming, Zhou Mu, and Dong Ho looked surprised as well.
The crowd started speculating.
“Could it be the City Lord? Or is it someone from the Runemaster Union?”
Only a handful of powerful people traveled by runicle; another person known to own a runicle was South Star Academy‘s principal.
The runicle stopped by the side of the arena and everyone admired the exquisitely built machine while its blue jade body was reflecting the morning sun. A familiar figure walked out of the runicle gracefully in front of the loud and shocked crowd.
“Zi Yan!” Ye Wei shouted soon as he recognized who the graceful figure belonged to. He was gobsmacked.
The crowd went quiet as Zi Yan walked towards the arena, every pair of eyes were waiting to see what this mysterious teenage girl’s next move was going to be.
Her green dress flowed like a willow in the summer breeze, her crystal clear eyes were set on the pale kid who was standing close to the Ye camp. Her flowing hair covered parts of her face, but it none the less caught everyone’s attention. She still looked a bit childlike but she somehow had the beauty of a woman.
“Who is this beauty?” All the young men were looking at her and temporarily forgot they were here to watch a fight.
‘How do I not know who this is?!’ Du Han Yue was crazed by the hormones in his system, he couldn’t take his eyes off Lin Zi Yan as she was about to walk past him.
‘The pretty face and the elegance, this kind of classiness is what I want in a girl!’
Du Han Yue was agitated, he adjusted his shirt and cleared his throat before he walked up to Zi Yan.
With a warm and friend smile on his face, he introduced himself to the girl of his dreams: “Pleased to meet you, I am Du Han Yue from the Du family, one of Green Moon City’s Big Three.”
Lin Zi Yan registered his words but decided to ignore him. She looked at Du Han Yue for a second then faced forward again continuing on her course.