The Audition (3)
“Hey, what’s going on today? Why is it so lively?” noticed Ye Lang when he went outside. The general yard was full when very few of the Coldblood Group members would usually walk there.
“What?” asked Coldblood Five directly. She wasn’t asking Ye Lang, but a passing Coldblood member.
“Lord Five, it’s the audition for the new Coldblood Thirteen today. Many of the alchemists in our teams are participating,” said the member.
“Oh, alright, you can get on with your work!” Coldblood Five didn’t care much about things like that. Perhaps because nobody really kept her updated about stuff like that.
The members knew Coldblood Five didn’t think much of these events. Apart from the matters of her team of assassins and her own duties, she never probed into anything else.
When the member was about to leave, something surprising happened, causing him to stop for a moment.
“Bring me there!” Coldblood Five had changed her mind.
“Yes, my lord. Here!” when he came to, the member immediately answered and made way for her.
As Coldblood Five, she definitely had the power to at least spectate. They did initially want to invite her as one of the judges with the rest, i.e. Coldblood Two. They were now in Coldblood Thirteen’s lab.
Yep, it was Coldblood Thirteen’s laboratory. Was there any better place to hold an alchemy competition?
And once the new Coldblood Thirteen started their new job, it would all be theirs!
Why did Coldblood Five change her mind so suddenly? The member wondered as he led Coldblood Five. Usually, she never showed any interest but... She just did!
The answer was simple. Coldblood Five wasn’t interested but Ye Lang was! He wanted to see if he’d get any surprises from this group of alchemy experts.
In reality, even if it wasn’t between experts, and it was just a regular tournament, surprises would happen too.
There was a Chinese phrase, “there must be a teacher among the three walking people”! [Translator’s Note: 三人行則必有我師焉; there’s something to learn from everyone- Confucius]
Everyone has something worth learning from!
Many people made the mistake of thinking they had to look to experts better than themselves to learn.
There is always something to learn from different people because everyone has different values, different perspectives.
Ye Lang understood this concept. Hence, he was interested in this contest. No matter their skill level, he would want to watch and observe.
Perhaps that was partly why he became the judge at the alchemy academy.
Most Coldblood members there knew secret sects of alchemy too, so of course, he had to check them out.
If Ye Lang wanted to go, Coldblood Five wouldn’t say no either. At this point, she had nothing much going on. Other than accompanying Ye Lang, she didn’t have much to do.
“Hey, Coldblood Five, why are you here?” asked Coldblood Seven when Coldblood Five appeared at the laboratory. She always paid attention to Coldblood Five.
“I’m here to watch!” she answered, simply.
“Are you having a fever?” asked Coldblood Seven, laughing.
“...” Coldblood Five didn’t answer, ignoring her. She let Ye Lang bring them to a seat at the top, which was reserved for her.
Although not all of the Coldblood Thirteen Eagles would attend the event, seats were still reserved for them in order!
“Everything looks back to normal…” They hadn’t entered the lab for a while now, and Ye Lang noticed all the materials kept in it were back to its original position. There was no trace of the previous accidents.
He recalled how even without Coldblood Five’s destruction, Ye Lang did mess the lab up quite a bit. He even took most of the materials kept there. Now, everything was back to normal.
“That’s natural. Even if we ruined this lab to the ground, someone will restore it,” said Coldblood Five.
Like what Coldblood Five said, everything here, no matter what happened, always returned to its original state!
Due to Coldblood Thirteen’s death, no one knew of Ye Lang’s role in the destruction. They would never know how much materials he used, nor would they investigate!
If he’d known earlier, he should’ve taken more…
Ye Lang wasn’t a cheapskate, but he didn’t mind taking things that were useful to him.
He was already considering looking for another chance to take stuff from the lab in the future!
As for Coldblood Five’s attendance, although many people were surprised, no one said a word other than Coldblood Seven. There were only a few confused looks.
Some were afraid, while the others didn’t feel the need to ask. She must have her reasons for being here. And if she didn’t, they didn’t need to ask either.
She was supposed to be here anyway, there’s a seat reserved for her!!
“Come here, and stay quiet. Don’t talk!” Coldblood whispered into Ye Lang’s ear, ever so softly, as if she was afraid someone could hear her.
“?? Why…” Coldblood Five covered his mouth before he could finish.
She whispered again, “I told you! Not a single word! The people here are not just regular people. It’s very likely they’d be able to hear us, and they’d find out!!”
“Mmm…” Ye Lang grunted, nodding.
“Remember, stay quiet. If Coldblood Two finds out, nothing would happen to me but there’ll be trouble for you.”
After spending some time together, she started to care for Ye Lang. She was still cold towards Ye Lang, often kicking and hitting him but it was completely different from how she interacted with other people.
If he were another person, she wouldn’t care this much!
Ye Lang didn’t think much of it, though he thought Coldblood Five was too cold and fierce.
“Coldblood One-six-zero, pass, you may enter the next round!”
“Coldblood three-eight-two, pass, you may enter the next round!”
“Coldblood…”
The elimination rounds were brutal- surprisingly brutal. Most of the people were kicked out early. The ones that remained were naturally the best of the best.
The person who set the qualifying rules were long-time experts in alchemy. They’d considered every factor so there was a low possibility of missing outstanding talent.