Chapter 59 - Chi Nanwei's Blade

Chi Nanwei is getting married?

Ye Beizhi's eyes twitched.

The man beside him didn't notice Ye Beizhi's reaction at all and complained fervently, "This Governor's son Zhou Yi claims to be proficient in both literature and martial arts, but that's just flattery from his bootlickers. In fact, anyone with eyes can tell that he's not proficient in literature or martial arts. Even the poems he uses to amuse courtesans are given to him by the governor's scribes!

"As for his martial skills, just look at that weakling. I could kick him down with one foot. He usually just leads his ruffians to terrorize the city." Before Wang Erhu could finish speaking, he saw Ye Beizhi turning to leave and quickly asked, "Hey, where are you going?"

"I’m going to kick him down."

Wang Erhu saw Ye Beizhi pushing through the crowd toward the arena and quickly ran in front of him. Wang Erhu warned, "No, you can’t just go up like that."

"Why?" Ye Beizhi turned around, frowning.

"To go up on the stage, you need to register over there," Wang Erhu pointed to an alley behind the arena with a scowl on his face. "There's a group responsible for registering names and the order of fighting in the competition, but they're all people from the governor’s office... Do you understand?"

Ye Beizhi did not respond and turned to walk into the alley.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Wang Erhu quickly grabbed him again.

Ye Beizhi frowned and looked at Wang Erhu with a puzzled expression. "Is there anything else?"

Wang Erhu stared at Ye Beizhi. "Are you really this clueless or just pretending to be?"

Ye Beizhi looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Do you think you can go on stage just by registering?" Wang Erhu snorted coldly and explained, "Those who make it on stage are all pre-arranged stooges! If an outsider tries to go up, they won’t return after registering there. The governor’s office has arranged for thugs who will beat up any outside contestants until they can no longer fight!"

Ye Beizhi nodded and walked toward the alley again.

Wang Erhu didn't bother stopping him again, assuming that he understood when he nodded. Considering that they were just passing acquaintances, and he had done all he could.

Ye Beizhi walked into the alley and noticed a table at the very end. Behind it sat a scribe, and a few burly servants in casual clothing stood around chatting idly.

Seeing Ye Beizhi approach, these people were baffled. They did not expect anyone would still dare to come in.

The closest servant stepped forward to block Ye Beizhi's path, and sarcastically asked, "Hey, are you here to register?"

The servant was nearly a head taller than Ye Beizhi, and blocked the alley like a boulder. Ye Beizhi looked up at him, nodded, and then tried to walk around him.

The burly man stepped to the side, blocking Ye Beizhi again. "Hey, you’re here to register with your tiny build? Are you looking to get beaten up?"

Ye Beizhi looked up at him without speaking.

"What are you looking at?" the burly man hissed, "Keep looking and I'll kill you—"

Bang! Boom!

Ye Beizhi launched a roundhouse kick that caved the burly man's chest in, and blasted him through the alley wall. He lay amidst the debris, unconscious or worse.

Ye Beizhi glanced at the burly man in the rubble and said, "I’m in a hurry. Move aside."

The remaining servants swallowed in unison. The seated scribe was the first to regain his composure and sharply commanded, "All of you! Get him!"

The servants glanced at each other, gritted their teeth, and charged at Ye Beizhi.

Outside the alley, loud cheers erupted again, it seemed like Zhou Yi had won another round.

Ye Beizhi rubbed his forehead impatiently. "I told you... I'm in a hurry."

***

Ye Beizhi put down the pen and picked up a paper with his name written on it. He asked the scribe, who was too scared to speak, "Is this correct?"

The scribe nodded like a chick pecking at grain, hoping that this monster would leave as soon as possible, and stammered, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes—"

"

Mm

... So, can I go up on stage now?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes—"

"Ok, thank you." Ye Beizhi nodded to the scribe and left the alley.

The scribe sighed in relief, melting into a pool of sweat in his chair.

He looked around and saw the alley in shambles... beside the collapsed wall, there were servants lying on the ground, some with broken limbs, others bleeding profusely.

"Haha... everyone, please forgive my pitiful skills." Zhou Yi said with an obsequious smile. He looked around the audience and clasped his fists and loudly shouted, "Who’s coming up next?"

Ye Beizhi slowly climbed up the stairs.

Wang Erhu's eyes widened, how did he get up? Did no one stop him?

A trace of uncertainty flashed in Zhou Yi's eyes as he wondered, "Why don't I remember this person? Was he among the people arranged yesterday?"

But he didn’t think much of it, there were so many henchmen that it was possible he had just forgotten. Zhou Yi then gave a slight bow to Ye Beizhi and said, "I am Zhou Yi, a swordsman. May I ask your esteemed name?"

Ye Beizhi waved his hand casually, "Ye Beizhi, a blade—"

Ye Beizhi then realized he had no weapon. Looking around, he spotted Wang Erhu staring blankly from below and called out, "Brother, let me borrow your blade!"

Wang Erhu was momentarily stunned but took off the blade from his waist and tossed it onto the stage.

Ye Beizhi caught it, waved it around to get a feel for it, and nodded nonchalantly.

He then spread his hand towards Zhou Yi to wordlessly indicate,

Look, I’m using a blade

.

Zhou Yi had an ugly expression as he said, "Does Brother Ye look down on me? Just borrowing a blade and claiming to be a bladesman? If I borrow a bench should I say I'm a bench fighter?"

The audience erupted into laughter.

"Brother Ye, you're not taking this seriously at all." Zhou Yi sneered. "Do you know any martial arts at all? Or are you just here to show off?"

The audience jeered at Ye Beizhi in agreement.

"If you don’t know how to fight, get off the stage!"

"Exactly! Get down, and let someone who can fight come up!"

"How can this clown challenge Young Master Zhou?"

Zhou Yi held his blade and watched Ye Beizhi with a cold smile. He hoped the crowd would distract the challenger and do his work for him.

Ye Beizhi looked around the crowd, unfazed. He raised the blade and pointed it at his opponent, the governor's son, opposite him.

At the prospect of a fight, the raucous audience started stirring.

"Well! This kid really dares to fight!"

"Interesting, Young Master Zhou! Teach him a lesson!"

Zhou Yi’s eyes were frosty as he drew his blade. He charged at Ye Beizhi, saying, "Since Brother Ye insists, don’t blame me for being merciless—"

Swish

— A blade light flashed across the stage.

Zhou Yi’s voice abruptly stopped, his blade-wielding right hand flew into the air and a stream of blood trailed behind.

The audience, who had been cheering for Young Master Zhou, felt their words catch in their throats, like an overambitious cormorant failing to swallow a fat fish.

"

Ahhhh!

My hand!" Zhou Yi howled. He clutched his severed arm and looked at Ye Beizhi with disbelief.

As Ye Beizhi advanced on him, Zhou Yi screamed, "Who, who are you?!"

"I am"—Ye Beizhi thought for a moment, then looked down at Zhou Yi—"Chi Nanwei's blade."