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墨書 Inktalez
A group of us returned to the room, laughing and joking, and agreed on a departure time for the afternoon. We each went back to our rooms to rest for a while.
Old Bi suddenly asked me before bed, "Old Wang, I'm starting to find you a bit inscrutable. Did you intentionally let Shen Han participate in the finals? Is it for Jing?"
Old Bi grew more excited. "Hey, is it also to take care of Shen Han? And Qin Sihu has been provoking you; you always avoid him. Are you deliberately hiding your strength to make him underestimate you?"
I paused for a moment and shook my head. "Old Bi, you're overthinking it. I didn't plan that far ahead. I was just thinking about how, well, Honest, I really respect Shen Han. It's not easy for him; all he lacks is an opportunity. I want to help him out. Even if I were to fight again, I might not necessarily win, so it's better to save some time and energy without exposing our best moves. As for avoiding Qin Sihu, I'd rather settle things on the field than bicker off it."
"Your composure is getting better," Old Bi sighed.
"Well, people are always improving; one can't stay young and impulsive forever," I replied with a smile.
"Hey, Old Wang, it's not that you're bad at anything, but sometimes you seem a bit gloomy. You lack the passion we young people should have."
"Passion?" I chuckled bitterly. "I used up all my passion in my first love."
"Hey!" Old Bi perked up and sat up to ask, "Was she pretty?"
I didn't want to reminisce about the past and found a way to change the subject. "Did Luoluo give you her contact information?"
"Uh, she did, but I'm just busying myself with nothing. She has a boyfriend now, so we can only be ordinary friends," Old Bi said as he flopped heavily onto the bed.
What Old Bi had that I didn't was his ability to let go of things more easily. I often carried too much baggage as I moved forward.
"Life is like this; sometimes when you meet the right person at the right time, it's a drama worth watching. But often we don't get what we want—either we meet the right person at the wrong time or the wrong person at the right time, or worse yet, we meet the wrong person at the wrong time." I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling as I murmured.
"I don't understand; that's too philosophical."
"Old Bi, honestly, you've never been in love before, have you? Is Lulu your first?" I turned my head in surprise to look at Old Bi.
Old Bi chuckled twice but didn't deny it. Instead, he said, "Actually, I think relationships aren't that complicated. Your love might just come out of nowhere! Passion can reignite suddenly! So don't be so negative; learn from me."
...
As we prepared for our fierce battle with Qin Sihu, here we were discussing relationships over lunch—wasn't that a bit out of place?
In the afternoon, at the venue, the Losers' Bracket of Revive began.
I was up against Qin Sihu, with the winner advancing to the finals to compete for first place against Shen Han and Soaring Dragon.
The referee had already called out twice. Qin Sihu was already on stage, carrying Twin Whips, waiting. I slowly walked into the arena with my right hand holding a Steel Rod to check in.
I noticed Zhu Wu on the sidelines, wearing a smug and meaningful smile. His gaze often fell on Jing, as if he were telling me that I was bound to lose our bet.
Yet Jing's eyes were fixed on me. Women are truly strange; when I was ambiguous in my attitude, she always thought I was selfish and indifferent, even ignoring me completely. But ever since I announced my withdrawal from the duel with Shen Han, she seemed to feel a sense of guilt.
Old Bi was still joking around with Luo Luo and the others. Perhaps due to their attire, there was less teasing between men and women and more camaraderie among comrades.
Soaring Dragon stood with his arms crossed, looking down at the arena from a high vantage point. His position seemed to reflect his strength—high above, surveying all below. Although I didn't particularly enjoy being looked down upon, I had to admit that at this stage of my abilities, defeating him was impossible.
Old Ma stood by the podium attending to the leaders but kept glancing over here. Ha! At this point, Old Ma had already made his report to the leaders. However, people are always greedy; in Old Ma's mind, it would be even better if I could take down Qin Sihu in Revive and advance to the finals for the championship.
Outside the arena, most of the competitors were whispering among themselves, discussing and speculating about the outcome of this match. I could even hear snippets of their conversations.
"Hey, who do you think will win?"
"I think Qin Sihu is stronger; Wang Wei has been performing quite average—he's just been lucky."
"I think so too."
I was inexplicably surprised; it felt surreal. In this brief moment of stepping into the arena, my senses seemed to be infinitely heightened and sensitive. It was as if I were watching a recording; almost everyone was frozen in that moment, allowing me to see everything clearly. Yes, I could distinctly see the intense fighting spirit in Qin Sihu's eyes—oh, and a hint of something else; perhaps it was jealousy.
Unintentionally, I also saw Qin Sihu sign his name with his left hand on the referee's record book. The referee looked at me—it was my turn.
As I walked over to sign my name, I suddenly smiled.
I remembered reading a book once that mentioned how sometimes when a martial artist lets go of their mindset and focuses entirely without distractions, their senses become extraordinarily sharp. Every sound and movement around them can be felt clearly; this is a sign of enlightenment.
I had always been skeptical about such mystical things before, but now I began to believe: The path can be sought and followed; all laws are like this!
After signing my name, I stepped back to my original position and closed my eyes.
At that moment, the starting whistle blew!
I felt a slight tremor in the wooden floor; it must be Qin Sihu charging at me with his Twin Whips.
In the next instant, I sensed a gust of wind rushing toward me, stirred up by Qin Sihu's Twin Whips.
I suddenly opened my eyes, and what met my gaze was a heavy mace coming straight at me!
I swiftly drew my Steel Rod from behind and caught it with my left hand. With a powerful upward flick to the right, there was a loud clash as steel met steel, and my Steel Rod vibrated in response to the impact.
After deflecting that strike, I used the momentum from our weapons colliding to thrust my Long Staff forward sharply toward his chest.
Qin Sihu seemed to have anticipated this; he stepped back, crossing his Twin Whips in front of him to block my Steel Rod, pushing it upward.
Just as I was about to regain control, Qin Sihu trapped my staff with his left hand while his right hand lunged forward with a swift thrust!
I pulled back my staff with both hands and executed a light flick to deflect his right-hand mace away.
Hmm, why is this match different from the previous one? Qin Sihu has changed his offensive strategy. Previously, he would attack vigorously with both hands wielding the Twin Whips, but now he holds the mace in his left hand primarily for defense, rarely engaging in offense. His right-hand mace moves fluidly up and down, skillfully alternating between offense and defense. After I attack, he uses his Twin Whips for defense and then waits for an opportunity to counterattack with his right-hand mace. It feels like he is responding to each of my moves with precise counters—a pure defensive strategy.
I realized that Qin Sihu avoided using the Wheel Mace technique because he feared I would learn his Soaring Dragon routine and break through his defenses. This made sense; my Long Staff has a natural advantage in reach, allowing me to avoid the risky close-range tactics of Soaring Dragon. Clearly, Qin Sihu had done his homework.
However, I hadn't anticipated this counter-response strategy. Even though I held the upper hand, Qin Sihu was defending meticulously. I found it difficult to break through his defenses. The Steel Rod is heavy; over time, my stamina would deplete faster than his. In just a moment, seven or eight exchanges had passed. I couldn't afford to drag this out any longer.
What should I do? I needed to find Qin Sihu's weakness. My eyes instinctively drifted toward his left hand; he had been using it for defense throughout our exchange. It seemed that his left hand wasn't his dominant one. I needed to find a way to target it—ideally disarming him so that victory would be assured.
With that thought in mind, I began striking heavily toward his left-hand mace. After several exchanges, it appeared that Qin Sihu was struggling and slowly retreating.
Just as I prepared to continue my assault, I caught a glimpse of a slight smirk at the corner of Qin Sihu's mouth—he seemed to be sneering.
Wait! A thought struck me! Something was off!
I suddenly remembered that man who had gone to trouble Qin Sihu's left hand, only to be defeated. Could it be?! Qin Sihu's weakness isn't his left hand?! He deliberately feigned weakness to draw attention to his left hand, setting a trap!
Then I recalled seeing Qin Sihu sign his name before the match; he signed with his left hand! That's it! Qin Sihu is left-handed! He has trained his right hand to be as strong as his left, usually relying on his right hand for strikes. If you attack his left hand, his right hand will strike back fiercely when you're unprepared, knocking you off your feet. But if you focus solely on defending against his right hand, treating him like a normal person, then his left hand becomes the lethal weapon! It must be this way!
My eyes lit up. Overall, the right hand is indeed Qin Sihu's weakness. Realizing this made me deeply admire him; Qin Sihu is definitely a person of great determination! You see, it's tough for left-handed people to survive in the military. Why? Because our country's Automatic Rifle 81 and 95 models have ejection ports on the right side. If a left-handed person shoots with their left hand, their right hand and arm can easily get burned by the ejected shells, or even worse, shells could bounce back and hit their face. Many left-handed individuals are eliminated because they can't adapt to shooting with their right hand. Of course, I've seen left-handers shoot well, but very few can master both hands equally!
It turns out that Qin Sihu is one of those rare individuals! I chuckled inwardly; I almost fell for your trick!
Alright! Let's turn the tables on him!
I suddenly had a plan in mind.
At that moment, Qin Sihu took a step back again. After parrying my strike with his left hand, it hung even lower, and his right hand seemed to be blocking downward as if he lacked strength.
Just then! I held my staff with both hands, raising it high before bringing it down hard towards Qin Sihu's left shoulder!
(To be continued; tomorrow will be even more exciting!)
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