Larbre Studio

  Larbre Studio

  The moment the lot drawing ended, Veigar stood up, leaving a shadow behind his burly frame.

  Pressing down on his general hat, he snorted at the arena, then left the Shengxiang stadium without turning back.

  Over at the Japan representatives’ side, Kaori Karasawa was the only one left. She gently knocked at her chin with her clenched fists. Her rosy lips were slightly pouted, as if she had been bullied, but her eyes did not give away any emotions.

  Stroking the bandage on his hand, Nanzheng’s Banam turned and eyed Lou Cheng coldly, as if he was looking at some sort of dangerous prey. Then he strode along the walkway, and disappeared behind the doors.

  Beside Lou Cheng, Ann Chaoyang had his headphones on again, immersed in the world of music. Ren Li peeked at Peng Leyun before taking a small step away from him, wanting to draw a clear line between friends and foes.

  From this moment onward, we are no longer teammates!

  Peng Leyun, deep in thoughts unbeknownst to anyone, stood rooted to the ground with his mind elsewhere, ignoring all the gazes on him.

  Lou Cheng secretly shook his head. Picking up his phone, he reported the Top 8s matchups to Yan Zheke.

  The girl seemed to be thinking about him. A quick reply came even though it was during her class time.

  “Originally, I felt bad for my Cheng for drawing the 4th seed right after the 5th seed. But looking at Veigar against Kaori Karasawa and Peng Leyun against Ren Li, I realized I didn’t feel that bad after all. Happiness is derived from comparison!”


  “That’s what I thought too, which is why I’m in a great mood,” replied Lou Cheng, typing with an easy smile on his face.

  With that, Yan Zheke set the distractions aside and diverted her attention back to her class, slowing down on her replies. While waiting for Ann Chaoyang and Ren Li, who went to freshen up in the changing room, Lou Cheng began scrolling the forums again.

  “Seriously? It’s so rigged!” replied “Eternal Nightfall” Yan Xiaoling.

  “It’s the first time I have seen such obvious rigging……even an elementary student like Ling Ling can tell! [sighs while covering face with hand]”


  “Honestly, it’s not that bad. [funny face] It’s normal for the Eastern hosts to get special treatments. They have to at least get a place in the Top 4s if they plan to keep the ticket sales going. If not, who’s there to compensate their arduous effort organizing the event? As long as the referee remains just and they don’t play tricks elsewhere, I’m okay with it,” replied “Unparalleled Dragon King”.

  “Yeah, I think it’s within acceptable limits too. At least our overpowered cheater team, I mean, wild card team has secured a spot in the top 4s. [guffaws]” replied “Road to the Arena”, then adding, “It’s an acceptable outcome for Lou Cheng too. Even though he didn’t get either of the weakling brothers, it’s not like he got pitted against the strongest.”


  “Yup yup, see how I didn’t curse? In fact, I feel like laughing. This must be the result of me accumulating good karma for Lou Cheng! [looks up smugly]” replied Yan Xiaoling.

  “And how did you do that?” replied “Okamoto’s Fan”, curious.

  The question provoked much interest among everyone in the discussion, rallying to press her for more details. Even Lou Cheng himself asked under anonymity, pretending to have chanced upon.

  “You, you see, this afternoon I invited my bestie to watch a movie. After the movie ended, she suggested we should take a walk, and so we did, until we realized neither of us knew the way……”


  “Then you got angry and shouted at her. You said it before,” replied “Brahman”, “but what’s that got to do with accumulating good karma?”


  “When I shouted at her, I ended up stepping on, on a pile of shit……[points fingers together, sulking]”


  “Hahaha, well done! Little Nightfall, you should come to our gatherings in the future! You are so cute! I like you so much! [pounds ground in laughter]” replied “Wonton Seller.

  “You must have been overjoyed given your love for feces, no? (Insert funny face)” replied “Unparalleled Dragon King”.

  “I can almost smell these replies,” agreed “A plumber eating mushroom”.

  As the teasings dwindled, “Invincible Punch” shifted everyone’s attention to another topic.

  “After Mo Jingting posted that video, I realized a lot more people began following the Four Nation Competition.”


  “There will only be more eyes. The destined duel between Peng Leyun, the clash between the favorites Kaori Karasawa and Veigar, and the morphing Lou Cheng against another Inhuman Mighty One. Any one of these fights is enough to hype up the Top 8s, not to mention all three of them,” replied “Pig-riding Knight”.

  You don’t get to see many competitions of these kind, especially in that age group!

  “After the drawing of lots ended, I’m all excited!” concluded “Unparalleled Dragon King”.……

  When they were back at the hotel, they returned to their respective rooms without a hitch, to which Guide Zhong nodded slightly in contentment.

  Even though the Four Heavenly Sons, or Heavenly Son in line each had their own unique failings that led to a fair share of trouble, they listened to instructions and did not once step over the line. Pride resided in their bones, but it never got to their head. Much unlike the ones he dealt with in previous years. Young, rash, with strength to back up their cockiness. The moment he takes his eyes off of them, they end up causing a scene.

  Sigh, the saying is right after all. “A full kettle does not make a noise, but a half-filled kettle makes a ton of them.” (similar to a dog that barks doesn’t bite)

  After entering the room, Lou Cheng laid the cushion behind him. Shooting the breeze with Yan Zheke intermittently, he browsed Weibo, scrolled through the forums and repeatedly studied the fighting videos of Banam.

  Time flew by. It was already ten. Suddenly, an incessant knocking came from his door.

  “Who is it?” Lou Cheng asked loudly, hopping off his bed. Holding his phone, he walked to the door and opened it intrepidly.

  A pretty woman stood there, her hair dyed from black to blonde, with hikimayu eyebrows and large eyes. She wore an unrevealing nightgown that covered half her thighs, perfectly accentuating her perky chests and slender legs. A sight for sore eyes to any man.

  Her hair glistened with wetness, clinging to her face. Seeing Lou Cheng, she gently bit down on her lips and displayed a pitiful expression in her eyes.

  “Help……help me,” she pleaded in fractured Chinese.

  A muscle in Lou Cheng’s cheeks twitched. He smiled warily.

  “If you need assistance with anything, you should look for the hotel staff. Do you need me to make a call to the front desk?” he said while waving the phone in his hands, blocking off the door to prevent the woman from slipping into the room.

  Sure, this chick has amazing looks, but what does that have to do with me?

  The woman was stunned briefly, then instinctively shook her head. Just when she wanted to say something, Lou Cheng took a step back and heartlessly shut the door in her face, right after she turned down the offer to contact the hotel staff.

  Slam!

  Watching the maroon door quickly closing, she jumped back instinctively, then stood rooted to the ground.

  Behind the door, Lou Cheng unlocked his screen. Excited, he shared the story of the recent encounter with his wife.

  “Some woman was knocking at my door just now!”


  Yan Zheke’s attention was naturally drawn to the topic. With the deftness of a Professional Ninth Pin, she carefully took out her phone.

  “What for? [shocked dog]”


  “She asked me for help, wearing nightwear, and when I told her to go to the hotel staff, she turned me down. So I just shut the door and left her outside,” bragged Lou Cheng.

  Good work! thought Yan Zheke. “This smells fishy! Hm, you handled it well, Cheng! You must do this in the future as well! [resting chin on knitted fingers]

  Just as Lou Cheng was about to reply, the knocking at the door resumed.

  “What do I do? She hasn’t given up. She’s knocking at my door again. It’s going to reflect badly on me if people sees her.”


  Yan Zheke’s pupils swimmed as her thoughts raced.

  “At times like this, your life mentor, Coach Yan has to take things into her own hands! [pushes sunglasses up] When you encounter something like this, the best solution is to stay at your spot and contact the hotel front counter. Let them know what’s going on and request for immediate assistance!”


  “Brilliant!” praised Lou Cheng, enlightened. “I’ll contact them right now.”


  After sending that sentence, he paused, mulling over how to articulate the matter in cohesive English. Troubling.

  And so he added, “How do I say it in English?”


  Yan Zheke almost couldn’t stifle her laughter.

  “Come, let big sister translate it for you! [roars in laughter]”


  As the smiling Lou Cheng chatted away with the phone in his hand, the woman outside continued tapping on the door with watery eyes. She was resolved to use her last resorts once her target showed up again—”Seduce him, grab what she needs and sneak out!”


  No male will contact the police for a steamy encounter that loses him nothing!

  Thump, thump, thump! Despondent, she continued knocking. Her despair grew when the two stocky hotel security appeared at the nearby intersection.

  “Ma’am, which room are you from?” one bellowed……

  Ten minutes later, the woman disgracefully returned to the car parked outside the hotel. She turned to the Japanese representative’s Guide in the back seat.

  “This person is very cautious, unlike most men. The ones that never cease dreaming about steamy encounters takes the bait easily…… He’ll definitely bring the issue up to his superiors, we can’t use this method a second time. I think we should bribe the cleaners to collect what we need,” she complained.

  “That won’t work. Everyday, before the cleaners comes in, their coach will collect their key cards and inspect their rooms,” brooded the Japanese representative Guide. “I’ll come up with something else.”
……

  The next morning, after ending the morphing state trainings, Lou Cheng and Peng Leyun stepped into the Shengxiang Dojo which they had reserved earlier.

  Ren Li looked around, avoiding Peng Leyun while turning to Lou Cheng and Ann Chaoyang.

  “I want to fight someone other than him!” she declared earnestly.

  Oh? Is she hiding some counter moves from Peng Leyun? Thought Lou Cheng. Though curious, he had to avoid suspicions, so he turned to Ann Chaoyang. “You spar against Ren Li. I’ll go with Peng Leyun.”


  “Sure,” agreed Ann Chaoyang without any excuses, his usual self again.

  After they compliantly left for another spot, Lou Cheng saw Peng Leyun still zoning out, so he took the chance to tell Guide Zhong about the strange encounter from before.

  “.……Well done!” replied Zhong Ningtao, smiling and nodding after his momentary astonishment died down. “Tell me earlier next time.”


  Lou Cheng wanted to say something, but he noticed the life returning to Peng Leyun’s eyes as he stretched his neck, producing loud cracks.

  August 23rd, 7:30 P.M. After a day of rest, the flames of war for the King of Youth Pro League were rekindled. The strongest four was about to be determined!