A Clash of Gods - Chapter 134

Chapter 134 Enjoy Popular Confidence
Yang Ning saw clearly that the people from the Five Cereal Hall stood behind him and Zhenbi was included. He focused his attention on the battlefield but didn’t expect that somebody dared to kick him from behind, so he was furious.

The people from the Five Cereal Hall turned away and didn’t look at Yang Ning, pretending normal, so Yang Ning couldn’t judge who had kicked him.

“You cause trouble again.” Jingneng was unhappy and restrained his anger. Seeing Yang Ning, he asked in a rage, “Who told you to enter the hall?”

Yang Ning thought that he didn’t want to come here. Just now the bell rang, and all the monks in the temple ran over, so he followed them to come in.

However, he heard Chi Danmei’s seductive laughter. “I thought that a hero dares to compete. However, it turns out to be…” She didn’t continue but looked Yang Ning up and down with her alluring eyes, showing a charming smile.

“What?” Yang Ning noticed the sarcasm in Chi Danmei’s words and expressed crossly, “I never offended you. Don’t make cutting remarks.”

“Yo, this young man really speaks impolitely. I didn’t make cutting remarks.” Chi Danmei laughed. “Since you came out in this way, you would make anybody misunderstand. I thought you would come out to compete on swordsmanship.”

“You are skilled in playing dirty tricks and I am no match for you.” Yang Ning chuckled. “I am just an onlooker and can’t compare with you.”

Bai Yuhe glanced at Yang Ning and stated coldly, “Clown, why not leave here?”

Yang Ning had planned to leave, yet he furrowed his brows because Bai Yuhe spoke rudely. “Is this your home here? So I should leave as you said? You look like a gentleman, but why did you speak so rudely?”

Bai Yuhe ignored him, while Chi Danmei smiled. “My senior fellow apprentice is weird. If he meets a capable man, he would be polite to him…” She chuckled. “However, as he meets somebody like you, he is not patient.”

Yang Ning rolled his eyes. “Make it clear. What kind of person am I? You are coquettish, yet I didn’t comment on you. You still dare to criticize me. Do you think that you can do whatever you like here?”

He spoke impolitely, and many people turned pale. Jingneng rebuked harshly, “Qi Ning, shut up. Get out of the Brilliance Hall.”

Nevertheless, Chi Danmei didn’t get mad. She just asked with a smile, “Young man, you said that I am coquettish, but I was born with such a style. Don’t you like me?”

Yang Ning ignored Jingneng and announced, “Don’t think that you will make all men lose their wits if you are coquettish. There are many women like you in the brothel.” It was obvious that Chi Danmei showed disdain for Qi Ning in her words, while he didn’t want to suffer any loss, so he sneered at her and thought that as they were in the Temple of Great Light, she didn’t dare to hurt him here.

Some of the monks were shocked and some of them laughed in secret. Jingkong shook his head, while Jingneng couldn’t help cursing, with his face turning ghastly pale, “How can you be allowed to talk nonsense in a quiet place of Buddhism? Why not get out? Qi Ning, it’s the Temple of Great Light here. You can conceal your identity as the heir of the Marquis of Honor.”

Seeing that Yang Ning spoke randomly in the large hall and even mentioned the brothel, acting like a play boy, Jingneng was furious and meanwhile was afraid that the people from the Baiyun Island would think that Yang Ning was a disciple here, which would ruin the temple’s fame, so he revealed Yang Ning’s identity.

Bai Yuhe frowned as he heard the words “the heir of the Marquis of Honor”. He hadn’t given a glance at Yang Ning, yet now he turned his head, looking Yang Ning up and down, asking, “Are you from the Qi family?”

“Crap! Didn’t you hear that?” Bai Yuhe had called Yang Ning clown, which was humiliating him, and Yang Ning disapproved of this man’s arrogance, thinking that he was just one of the top three among the young generation who were good at swordsmanship and hadn’t become the number one in the world, yet he was so arrogant. If he became the top one, wouldn’t he disdain everybody?

Bai Yuhe nodded slightly, and his tone was not as haughty as before. “I am Bai Yuhe from the East Sea. Please give me instructions, Your Excellency!” Afterward, he bowed and became polite.

Yang Ning found that this guy could recognize his mistake and try to put it right, so he waved his hand with a smile. “You get me wrong. I am not going to compete on swordsmanship with you. If I really compete, I can do nothing but run away.”

Bai Yuhe responded, “Your Excellency, don’t be modest. Please give me instructions!”

After speaking, he turned around and faced Yang Ning. Then he took a few steps backward and twisted his wrist, making the long sword in his hand horizontal.

Since Bai Yuhe looked serious and didn’t seem to joke, Yang Ning was anxious and explained, “I… Swordsman Bai, you really misunderstand me. I…I don’t want to compete on swordsmanship with you, and… Right, you have heard that I am not a disciple in the Temple of Great Light. Even if I compete with you, it’s ineffective.”

Bai Yuhe stated immediately, “Your Excellency, as long as you give me instructions, if I lose, then the Temple of Great Light can win this round.” He requested again, “Please give me instructions.”

“F**k, is this Bai a fool? Why does he pester me?”

Yang Ning had said that he wouldn’t compete on swordsmanship, yet this fool seemed to choose him. Yang Ning knew well about his capability. If he competed on swordsmanship with this guy, it meant that he would court death. Then he rolled his eyes and decided. “I won’t compete. Please look for another man who is capable.”

Jingkong and Jingneng looked at each other and then they both turned to Yang Ning. Jingkong’s eyes became meaningful, and he stated, “Qi Ning, you came here to have your wounds healed. During this period, you are a disciple in the Temple of Great Light.” Then he explained, “Maybe you don’t know that your wounds were quite serious. When you were sent to the temple, you were almost dead. Many disciples in our temple joined hands and saved you.”

Yang Ning knew that what Jingkong said was the truth. Although he disliked Jingneng, he still respected Jingkong. Then he cupped his hands. “Master Jingkong, thank you very much. You saved my life, but I can do nothing to repay you for your kindness. However…you said that I am a disciple in the Temple of Great Light. It’s…” He laughed, which meant that he didn’t admit it.

Jingkong glanced at Jingneng, and the latter explained, “This is a rule in the Temple of Great Light. If you come to ask for treatment and we help you, you should become a monk in our temple.”

Yang Ning was astonished and thought, “There is such a bullshit rule? Isn’t it said that the Buddhists are benevolent? Why do they force a normal person to be a monk after saving him?”

Jingneng added, “Of course. The family of the Marquis of Honor has promised to send somebody to become a monk for you. However, before he arrives, you are a disciple in the temple. If you take part in the competition, you can represent our temple.”

“Did you make a mistake?” Yang Ning felt a headache. “I was kicked out by accident just now, and I didn’t want to be in the spotlight. All of you, don’t get me wrong. I have never touched a sword. If you tell me to compete on swordsmanship with him…then you just push me into the fire pit, right?” Then he looked back and pointed to the people from the Five Cereal Hall. “It must be somebody among them who kicked me out. Please investigate carefully and uphold justice for me.”

Nevertheless, Jingkong expressed with a smile, “Qi Ning, Bai is skilled in swordsmanship, and you are certainly no match for him. You don’t qualify to compete with him, but they came from afar. I can see that Bai sincerely wants to compete with you, so you can ask him for instructions. We had an agreement that we should stop at a certain point and not kill anybody. With Bai’s skills on swordsmanship, he can fight and withdraw at will. In the Temple of Great Light, he won’t hurt you.”

Yang Ning was stunned and thought that Bai Yuhe forced him to compete on swordsmanship, acting like a fool. Why would Master Jingkong tell him to compete? Was he infected?

He couldn’t figure out why.

Suddenly somebody shouted, “Qi Ning, Qi Ning!”

He followed the voice and found that the speaker was Zhenbi. As soon as Zhenbi shouted, the other disciples from the Five Cereal Hall next to him raised their arms and shouted excitedly, “Qi Ning, Qi Ning!”

On such an occasion, all people were overstrained. Once some of them raised their arms and shouted, “Qi Ning”, the others also did the same and shouted without hesitation. For a moment, the roars in the Brilliance Hall were majestic like thunder and spread far away.

Seeing Zhenbi’s sly smile, Yang Ning wanted to slap that face for ten days or half a month.

He knew that Zhenbi harbored evil intentions and wanted him to have no way back, yet the other disciples in the large hall might support him. After all, nobody could compete at the moment, so they had to push Yang Ning out.

Chi Danmei giggled like flowers and spoke to Yang Ning. “Young man, it appears that you enjoy popular confidence. If you don’t agree, perhaps everybody would look down upon you.”

Yang Ning raised his arms all of a sudden. All the monks in the hall saw that and quieted down at once.

Yang Ning looked serious with momentum and turned around slowly, facing Bai Yuhe. The latter stared at Yang Ning in silence, with expectancy which could hardly be concealed in his originally emotionless eyes.

Yang Ning saw that and thought it was the excitement as Bai Yuhe would defeat a weak man. He pondered for a moment and then expressed at last, “Since all people recommend me, it appears that I can’t refuse to compete.”

As Bai Yuhe heard that, joy was shown in his eyes. “Please give me instructions.”

“Then…can I admit defeat?” Yang Ning asked with a cold face.

Bai Yuhe was stunned and then shook his head. “We haven’t competed. It’s hard to decide who wins.”

It was silent in the Brilliance Hall. Yang Ning was clear that he had no way back, so he sighed and then stated, “Fine, let’s just compete, but…can I have some requirements?”

“Please go ahead!”

Yang Ning asked, “We will compete on swordsmanship, not internal force, so can you just show some movements of swordsmanship? Don’t play hardball, in case that it ruins our relationship.”

Bai Yuhe nodded. “Okay. I won’t exert my genuine qi.”

Yang Ning was relieved a little and thought that if they competed on swordsmanship with the genuine qi, he might be injured by accident. Since the other party agreed not to use the genuine qi, it couldn’t be better.

Yang Ning added, “And, er…stop at a certain point. Swordsman Bai, if we are equal in match and the victory can’t be decided, would we keep fighting all the time? There must be limitation, right? For example, if it is a draw after ten or twenty movements, what should we do?”

Bai Yuhe pondered for a short while and then replied, “I will lose if I can’t win within three movements when I compete with somebody else, but as you compete with me, if the victory can’t be decided within ten movements, I will lose. Is it okay with you?”

“This is what you said.” Yang Ning didn’t consider why Bai Yuhe treated him as an exception and just demanded joyfully, “You said that you will lose if the victory can’t be decided within ten movements. Don’t break your word.”

Bai Yuhe responded seriously, “I would never break my word.”