Chapter 120
Chapter 120
While they were talking, the Technology R&D Department’s Director, dressed in black and red, had taken her seat.
Unlike the other steady, composed Directors, she kept looking around, blinking her eyes, seemingly curious about everything around her.
The cat jumped down from her shoulder, found a comfortable position in her lap, and lay down to continue sleeping.
Exceptionally languid, the white cat concentrated only on finding the most comfortable spot in its owner’s lap. It gave a contented purr, utterly uninterested in any human affairs.
So many people surrounded it. The cat cared about none of them.
Xie Qingling looked away and leaned slightly toward Ling Fang. Quietly, she asked, “Director, whose Chosen is the Technology R&D Department’s Director? What’s her ability?”
“She isn’t a deity’s Chosen.”
“She’s just an ordinary person who’s a little unusual,” Ling Fang said.
Huh?
Both Xie Qingling and Shen Huaizhou were rather surprised to hear that.
They could not help studying the Technology R&D Department’s Director a little longer. She was petting her cat in full view of everyone, turning it belly-up and rubbing its soft belly, having a wonderful time.
Put kindly, she was sweet, endearing, and full of lively charm. Put less kindly, she was brazen and acted as though no one else existed.
After all, this was a special occasion. Everyone present apart from her was very serious.
Yet even though her behavior seemed inappropriate, the Directors around her, including the particularly rigid and irritating Yang Baduan, appeared simply to ignore it. They indulged her unrestrained conduct completely.
Xie Qingling and Shen Huaizhou were both stunned.
They did not understand. They could not comprehend it.
If she was only an ordinary person, why could she be so carefree and do whatever she liked?!
Wasn’t she afraid of getting beaten up?
All those people were watching!
At that moment, the hands with which they had written so many self-criticism reports began to ache faintly.
“Though the Technology R&D Department’s Director is only an ordinary person, what’s unusual about her is something every sorcerer dreams of,” Ling Fang said.
“Huh? What’s unusual about her?”
“She can use any item with negative effects and ignore its curse.”
“…”
That was not a little unusual. That was extremely unusual.
Being able to ignore every negative effect meant that as long as she had equipment, no one could defeat her!
As the Technology R&D Department’s Director, she controlled headquarters’ armory. So in a sense, she really was invincible.
As long as there was enough ammunition, there was no such thing as insufficient firepower.
If only…
If only Ling Fang had that kind of constitution too, Xie Qingling thought.
Lowering her eyes, she asked, “Director, where does that trait of hers come from? Could anyone else have it?”
“If everyone had it, it wouldn’t be unusual.”
True.
Xie Qingling fell silent.
A moment later, Ling Fang added, “What you should pay attention to is the cat on the Director’s shoulder. It’s the real Spirit Wielder.”
“Huh?!!”
“What?”
Even Shen Huaizhou spoke up.
There was a smile in Ling Fang’s eyes. “Most of the time, it’s just the Technology R&D Department’s mascot. But it’s also a little cat that has received a divine blessing.”
“It’s the Cat-and-Tiger God’s Chosen. When the Director brought it back, it was already a Spirit Wielder.”
[The gentlemen of old always repaid a service rendered. They honored cats for eating field mice, and tigers for eating wild boars in the fields, welcoming them with offerings. To thank cats for eating the mice in their granaries and tigers for driving away the wild boars that devoured their crops, people in ancient times worshipped the Cat-and-Tiger God, one of the Eight Zha Gods. Noble and pure by nature, the Cat-and-Tiger God walks alone. Never willing to bestow blessings on humans, the deity granted a divine ability to a pitiful, weak creature of its own kind.]
Pitiful?
Weak?
Really? This was a cat that had received a divine blessing.
When Xie Qingling looked again at the cat being manhandled in the Technology R&D Department’s Director’s arms, unable to escape, her gaze had changed completely.
Headquarters certainly lived up to its name. It was full of hidden talents.
Now Xie Qingling strongly suspected that even the woman serving food in the cafeteria might possess extraordinary skills, the kind that would let her join the fighting in a critical moment.
Then Gu Liansheng arrived too.
His white hair was dazzling, making him impossible to overlook the moment he appeared.
Unlike the others, he coughed as he walked, as though those few steps toward the dais were going to cost him his life.
Taking medicine every day did not seem to have made him very healthy. Ah well.
Then again, perhaps he took medicine every day because he was unwell.
The arena fell quiet for a moment. Another person now appeared on the dais.
He was a man in a long robe, his hair slicked back, his clothes neatly pressed. He was impeccably groomed.
He had fine brows and narrow eyes, lean cheeks, a straight nose, and a cultured, scholarly air.
His frame was straight and upright. He stood like a pine and moved like the wind. Without a close look at his face, one might even have thought him young. But the fine lines on his face and at the corners of his eyes betrayed his age.
“The head of headquarters, Fu Zihua,” Ling Fang said quietly. “Donghuang Taiyi’s Chosen.”
Xie Qingling nodded.
By now, practically everyone on the dais had taken their seats. Only the Logistics Department’s Director had yet to appear.
The last to arrive were three elders.
One leaned on a walking stick. His body was stooped and he walked slowly, but he still remained well ahead of the others, because those behind him moved even more slowly – a white-haired woman pushed an elder in a wheelchair, following gradually behind him.
The body in the wheelchair was as thin as dried bamboo, almost curled into a ball. If one ignored the wrinkles time had left on his skin, his posture was almost that of a baby curled up in deep sleep.
The moment they appeared, the entire arena fell utterly silent. Though the elders moved very slowly, no one dared speak, for fear of disturbing them.
These must be the three founding elders Ling Fang had mentioned.
As Xie Qingling was thinking this, she heard him say, “Stand. Pay your respects.”
She and Shen Huaizhou immediately stood. Everyone else in the stands rose too, as did those on the dais. All turned their gazes respectfully toward the three elders.
After a wait of about two or three minutes, the elders took their seats. Only then did everyone sit down in unison, returning to their earlier positions.
Someone passed a microphone to the dais. Fu Zihua took it, then handed it on to the three elders who had just arrived.
The elder with the walking stick accepted it and cleared his throat. When he spoke, however, his voice was full of vigor. “Children, I’m Han Yanping. I’m very happy to see you all again this year.”
“I came last year. I’ve come this year. I’ll come next year too. And I hope everyone here will be able to come again next year.”
He paused, then continued, “Children, today is a happy day, but also a sorrowful one. Some are shedding their blood on the battlefield. Some have given their lives for us. It is because of their sacrifice that we can gather here and hold today’s tournament. To tell the truth, I’m deeply saddened.”
“Since the department was founded, far too many people beside me have gone. I don’t want to see anyone else die. But – but the smoke of war has not cleared, and the wolves, jackals, tigers, and leopards still eye us hungrily!”
“Our families, our comrades, our loved ones, our homes… Everything we cherish, everything we must protect – we cannot yield an inch! Let us carry on the wishes of the fallen and drive those evil ghosts and wicked people with their sinister designs out of our homeland, once and for all!”
In the stands, some people’s eyes reddened; others trembled all over. For a moment, the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive, yet clearly some seething emotion surged within it. It was as though, beneath a sea churned by hidden currents, magma on the ocean floor lay waiting to erupt.
When Han Yanping finished, he passed the microphone to the elder in the wheelchair. With great difficulty, the other elder shook his head. He could not even raise a hand, much less make a speech.
The gray-haired elderly woman also shook her head, signaling for him to put the microphone down.
Seeing this, Fu Zihua’s slightly hoarse voice rang out. “Everyone is here. The Selection Tournament can begin.”
He offered no ceremonial remarks or speech. He went straight to the point, with remarkable efficiency.
“Qi Tiansheng,” Fu Zihua called. “You’ll host again this year.”
As soon as he finished speaking, someone sprang up from the stands.
Qi Tiansheng leaped into the air, turned several somersaults, and landed steadily in the arena.
Looking around, he called out, “My opening remarks are much the same every year, and I’m getting tired of saying them. But there’s a new group of newcomers each year, so I’ll still do my duty and explain the Selection Tournament’s rules and prohibitions.”
“Your opponent is determined by random pairing. The competitors’ names will only be announced immediately before each match begins. Cheating is forbidden.”
“You fight in pairs, and the winners advance. The selection continues until only five remain.”
“If there’s an unpaired competitor, we’ll also use a random draw to choose someone to skip the match and advance directly to the next round.”
“The rules in the ring are that simple. Next, the rules outside it.” Qi Tiansheng looked at everyone. “First, no cheating. You can win only through your own strength.”
“Second, what happens during a match stays in the match. If there’s friction between you, you may not use it as an excuse for an armed fight or revenge afterward.”
“Third, the matches must be fair. No throwing a match. Even if you face someone you know, we expect you to fight properly. Don’t let your feelings get in the way.”
“Fourth…”
“…”
“Tenth, if you have questions, take them to Director Yang Baduan. If you have complaints, take those to Director Yang Baduan too.”
Only after listing ten rules in succession did Qi Tiansheng end his opening remarks.
Most of the newcomers had never seen anything like this or entered a Selection Tournament before. By this point, the stands were beginning to buzz with excitement.
Xie Qingling’s little group remained quiet. Neither she nor Shen Huaizhou said anything.
Suddenly, Qi Tiansheng broke into a brilliant smile and reached behind his neck. When he lowered his hand again, a long staff with golden coiling patterns had appeared in it.
Holding it in one hand, he spun the staff in a graceful flourish. “For the sake of your little lives, you won’t be entering the arena in your real bodies.”
“I know you don’t understand what that means. Don’t worry. I’ll find someone to fight an opening match with me and show you how the matches will work.”
“I’m about to choose one lucky spectator…”
Qi Tiansheng deliberately drew out the words. Then his staff turned in a circle, and his gaze swept around the stands before stopping in one direction.
He held one end of the staff, while the other pointed toward Xie Qingling’s group.
“You,” he said loudly. “Come fight me!”
“Ling Fang!”
As soon as he spoke, another “Ling Fang” appeared in front of the one seated upright.