Martial King's Retired Life

Three Men, One Stage

“Move.”

“You move.”

“You move first.”

The two of them started last night, and they were still at it.

Deerhorn Manor had never ceased being swept up into wars due to them being located at the spacious lakeside of Mount Deerhorn. In the martial world, outlaws chose it as their first choice to base themselves out of as it was a bridgehead. Growing up in that sort of location and being taught to be cautious of wicked people in the pugilistic world from childhood, Lu Jianqiu could not trust Li Shoulin to visit Miss Song when he claimed he would. Thus, it was best to strike first, which was why he rushed to Lionwood Court first yesterday.

Despite his family background and upbringing, in contrast, Li Shoulin was young and accustomed to obeying orders from superiors. His father may have been an accomplished general, but there was no way to expediently import all his knowledge into his thick-skulled son’s head. Having said that, Li Shoulin honoured his word last time and revealed his plan, resulting in Lu Jianqiu beating him to the punch this time. No matter how foolish he may have been, he was not going to let his foe get the first move in an ultimate duel. Therefore, he sneaked off to Lionwood Court under the cover of the night.

The duo sped back into their respective sedans upon hearing that the other person had also arrived when, acting as if they were not there. It was not a question of shame; they simply needed to wait for the other to show themselves first so that they could accuse the other of foul play and shamelessness. Needless to say, they would follow up with mockery and then spread it so that the other person would not have the shame to show himself again the next day. However, as they were thinking the same thing, they still refused to budge after Lionwood Court closed shop and their subordinates went off for drinks to combat the cold. It only later occurred to them that, getting out yesterday would be cheating, but getting out last today would be losing momentum.

Proprietor Chen had to personally defuse the situation after they started getting into each other’s faces to tell each other to walk away. He had his employees remove the doors so that, instead of only fitting five people through the door, they could fit ten people through the door and then invited the two young lords to graciously enter. Alas, they started bickering again before they even entered, wasting the two doors. In the end, the compromise was to let Li Shoulin enter first via the left side and then let Lu Jianqiu enter afterwards via the right side.

Out of nowhere, Li Shoulin asked, “Did… Yanluo go see you yesterday?”

“Of course,” smugly replied Lu Jianqiu, only feeling suspicious after answering.

Li Shoulin simpered. “She visited me first.”

“Because I’m more important.”

“How are you more important when she went to you after?!”

Lu Jianqiu smiled as if he was recalling a beautiful memory. “Because I’m important, she has to deal with unimportant people first. Hehe, you could never comprehend the charm of flower gazing under the moonlight with her.”

“It’s a little early for you to be dreaming. My subordinate saw her split off from you in the morning. Moonlight? You drunk?”

They were close to fighting again.

Li Shoulin could not resist asking, “What did you she see you for?”

Lu Jianqiu finally looked serious for the first time since they were reunited. “She asked me to spare Zhenchou.”

Li Shoulin shook his head. “That’s what she asked me, too.”

“What’s your stance?”

The last sixth months saw them start viewing each other as their strongest competitor, never expecting that their crush was interested in some Zhenchou that popped up out of nowhere. While they claimed to seek a duel with him, they primarily just wanted to blow off steam. They believed that they would still be each other’s primary competitor at the end of the day.

“Can’t go back on a promise made to Yanluo,” responded Li Shoulin, after a long and hard think.

“In that case, I’ll leave him alone.”

Also Li Shoulin: Once he’s in the ring, he has no say in it. Do I need to personally get into the ring to flog a mere untrained servant? If I just swung a pole, the wind would send him rolling across the ground.

Lu Jianqiu: Li Tard is definitely going to try and catch him off guard. I’ll bide my time for now and then deal with both morons at once.

Not long after they entered Lionwood Court, they heard shouting coming from the direction of the ring. Every word the toweringly-tall guy uttered was as clear as day.

“You said there’s no need to pay if Zhenchou is here, right?”

The proprietor nodded joyously. “Yes.”

“Zhenchou has to get into the ring. You said there’s a temporary preparation room at the back of the ring, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, then I have just one question. What makes you so certain that I’m Zhenchou?’

Ming Feizhen had tried offering a plethora of examples of maidens running away bashfully when they saw him as a kid and how many hugging games he’d played with pretty girls, but they brushed all of the stories off as delusions and daydreams.

“Proof? Give me proof, and I won’t argue a word.”

Smiling gracefully, the proprietor wagged a hand. His employee behind him pulled out a painting. “We have a painting as proof.”

The portrait did not resemble Ming Feizhen. It was him.

“It’s quite detailed. Who’s the artist?”

“Unfortunately, we cannot reveal that. However, Miss Song stated that she wanted it back after she entrusted it to us.”

“Cannot reveal, my foot. Miss Song asked you to paint it?”

Under normal circumstances, pamphlets with portraits of the competitors would be sent out when there was ample time to prepare for a duel in order to promote the match. With a name like Zhenchou, the interest would be huge since everyone would want to see how ugly he truly was. The proof? Even Ming Feizhen had to pay a visit.

Ming Feizhen could not figure out why Song Yanluo wanted a painting of him; he had never seen it anywhere else, either.

“This one did not say anything, Zhenchou… Mr. Zhen, do you remember what was just said?”

After thinking it through, Ming Feizhen bobbed his head. “Fine. I never said anything,” he said, and then walked off.

“Eh? Are you not going to fight anymore?”

“No. whoever wants to fight can knock themselves out.”

Given how busy Ming Feizhen already was, this was the last thing he wanted to add to his plate. On his way out, though, two folks stared at him hostilely.

“That’s a real snobby attitude for someone tucking tail,” insulted Lu Jianqiu.

Unlike his rival, Li Shoulin remained neutral on the exterior since he saw no point in adding insult to the injuries he was going to soon inflict. “Are you that Zhenchou?”

Unfortunately, Ming Feizhen was in a rather bad mood.

“I’m your dad.”

Li Shoulin reached for his spear, but Lu Jianqiu stopped – although not without laughing until he was in tears.

“Brother Li, we promised Yanluo not to hurt him. How could you do something so shameless outside of the ring?” Lu Jianqiu hiked his chin up and declared, “Nicely said. I didn’t expect ugliness to…”

“I’m your grandfather,” Ming Feizhen interjected.

Before his red-faced rival could even think of drawing his sword, Li Shoulin clapped as he laughed at his rival. “Call me ‘Daddy’, son.”

“You two have fun.”

“Hey! You wait, you, eh?”

“You want to walk away after having the last say? Wait, where’d he go?”

The duo genuinely never noticed Ming Feizhen’s presence vanish before they looked for him.

It was fleeting, but Ming Feizhen sensed a domineering presence that was oddly faint at the same time. It did not matter if they were careless or overconfident; what mattered was that he heard the distinct presence similarly to seeing a ray of light in pitch black. In the brief time it took for him to sense and process the presence, the individual in question had already reached the roof of the eastern building and taken cover amongst a group of birds. While the breaths were gone, Ming Feizhen was certain of the target’s location.

At the same time that he sensed the target, the target also perceived Ming Feizhen’s existence. The two of them approached each other at the same time and same speed. A plethora of information, therefore, rushed into their minds. Ming Feizhen became just another person in the crowd, losing his distinctiveness. Only a second later, Ming Feizhen returned to the ringside.

Lu Jianqiu and Li Shoulin caught sight of Ming Feizhen again.

“Eh, when did he get behind…?”

“Why is he here?”

Ming Feizhen, spinning the three coins in his hands casually, responded, “I dropped something at the bottom of the ring. I just bent over. Are your eyes already dysfunctional at your young age?”

They could only take the insult on the chin since he was not in the ring yet.

Ming Feizhen’s attention was on analysing the unique presence he sensed a moment ago. There were not many elites who were able to release a tiny amount of qi and yet create such a dramatic presence. Regrettably, Ming Feizhen had encountered plenty of them. If the perverted organisation was included, then it was tough, but there was one thing that was certain – the target was elite.

Seeing Ming Feizhen come and go as if he could teleport, the proprietor did not buy his explanation. That said, as he was not a martial artist and had heard the quickness of martial artists, he did not consider it bizarre and, instead, courageously queried, “Mr. Zhen, for tonight’s match, will you…”

Ming Feizhen glared back at the proprietor, almost dropping him on his knees. Luckily, his young employees caught him before he dropped. Ming Feizhen did not mean to vent on the innocent proprietor; he merely could not control himself. In stark contrast to when he initially arrived, he said in a high-spirited tone, “I didn’t want to fight. I’m not your match when both of you come from respected families. However, it would be a disservice to the guests of Lionwood Court to just walk out, so some rain will be coming to parades. Now that the seats are filled, do you two still want to fight?”

Li Shoulin and Lu Jianqiu: “Of course!”

“Okay.” Ming Feizhen gestured confidently with his hand. “Let the three of us bring the fireworks to this stage tonight.”

The two placed their hands atop Ming Feizhen’s. “Let’s do it!”

Then… it went awkwardly silent.

Ming Feizhen pulled his hand back and, with a frown, dusted his hands. “Did you two just molest me?”

Li Shoulin and Lu Jianqiu: “Are you asking to die?!”

Violence ignited.