A Good-for-Nothing

243. The Two Sides Finally Engaged

Translator: Dragon Rider

On the rooftop.

A huge magic barrier cloaking the whole training ground provided them with a private space where they could practice.

At this moment, there were only five people in it, including Li Zong.

Chen Qianlin, Tao Wujiu were all acquaintances of He Zheng. Qiu Luo was otherwise engaged and couldn’t make it. Apart from them, there was also a tall and strong young man, who was well-featured, hollow-eyed and prominent-nosed. Though not exceptionally handsome, anybody could tell that many girls would take a liking to him on their first meeting.

He seemed to have become well acquainted with Chen Qianlin and Tao Wujiu. At the sight of He Zheng looking at him, he held out his hand at He Zheng and greeted him in a hearty voice, “Nice to meet you. I’m Carnotte.”

Carnotte was clothed in a white T-shirt which was being strained by his muscular upper body, a pair of DG sunglasses clamped on his chest pocket. Also, he was wearing a pair of smoky gray capri pants and a pair of canvas shoes with graffiti-like patterns, which suggested that the shoes were probable a limited edition of some year.

He Zheng glanced down at him and noticed that Carnotte had several rings on his fingers. The one on his thumb was a jade ring, and those on his other fingers were Cartier diamond rings. The corners of He Zheng’s mouth twitched at the sight of them and he couldn’t help but inwardly mutter that this guy could well be mistaken for a male courtesan if he put on another couple of rings.

Though Carnotte didn’t say anything, his whole being was giving off an I’m-rich-I’m-very-rich-I’m-super-rich aura. However, it seemed that none of the people present was not loaded.

What a horrible thing money was.

“Nice to meet you too. I’m He Zheng.”

He Zheng composedly shook hands with him. Carnotte’s manner was very friendly.

After they finished greeting each other, Li Zong said, “You’ve all made Carnotte’s acquaintance now, I suppose? This time around, apart from you guys, Qiu Luo and Chen Kai are also on the team. Qiu Luo will come here in the afternoon, while Chen Kai will rendezvous with us at the destination.”

All the others inclined their heads to show that they understood.

Li Zong continued, “Since you’ve all come to know what to expect, I’ll give you some time to get to know each other better. Later I will select one of you to be the captain and another to be vice captain.”

Chen Qianlin’s eyes lit up.

Carnotte asked, “Supt. Li, what criteria do I have to meet to be the captain?”

If Jin Qianlai were there, he would no doubt make a joke about it, but he was not present, so nobody dared to joke about the relationship between He Zheng and Li Zong.

Li Zong’s eyes swept across them all. His gaze was so grave that all their faces turned serious in spite of themselves.

“It’s very simple. Every one of you are to use your most powerful move to attack me in single combat. Whoever hits me will be made the captain.”

If it were not Li Zong but someone else who said this, the others would have regarded these words as nonsense.

This was the first time that Carnotte had had dealings with Li Zong who was a legendary figure. Unlike Chen Qianlin, he had no deep admiration for Li Zong. The moment he heard Li Zong say this, a manifestly disapproving look appeared on his face and he said, “No offense, Supt. Li, but I find such method unacceptable. In fact, our strength does vary, but the strongest is not necessarily the most suitable for being a captain.”

He then added, “However, those who are too weak are not suitable for being a captain either.”

His words implicitly ruled out the possibility of Tao Wujiu being made the captain.

But Tao Wujiu never thought of becoming the captain.

Li Zong nodded and looked at the other two. “You two, what do you think?”

He Zheng pursed his lips and said, “Carnotte is right. If we are really going there to compete on behalf of the country, we definitely won’t be fighting alone, so I don’t think combat power should be the only criterion. And, if one of us is to be the captain…”

He cast a sideways glance at Chen Qianlin and continued, “No matter what criteria you adopt, there’s no way I’m going to accept Chen Qianlin as the captain.”

Naturally, Chen Qianlin held the same grudges against He Zheng as those the latter held against him, but who was the first to make it clear meant everything. Chen Qianlin’s face fell, blue veins twitching in his temples. “He Zheng, we’re talking about something sensible here. Can you not throw a tantrum?”

“I’m throwing a tantrum? Chen Qianlin, you’re the only one in your team who passed the test at the end of the special training. You have no conception of teamwork whatsoever.”

He Zheng’s words were utterly blunt and explicit. Of course, Chen Qianlin didn’t see them as teammates. Although he and He Zheng were not giving each other tit for tat at the moment, and he had no intense dislike of any of the others in particular, it didn’t change the fact that he was proud and looked down his nose at the others.

Carnotte was thrown into confusion. Tao Wujiu was aware of what was going on but had no idea how to sugar the pill.

Chen Qianlin smoldered for a long moment before he sniffed hotly, “What makes you think you are better than me?”

He Zheng folded his arms across his chest and replied with ill-concealed pride, “I was in Wei Cheng’s team, and our whole team passed the test.”

Chen Qianlin’s eyelids twitched. “So? I’m sure Wei Cheng deserves all the credit for that.”

He Zheng, who couldn’t be bothered to contradict him, said, “I’m okay with anybody being the captain – anybody but Xiao Chen. Him being the vice captain is fine with me, and that’s my line in the sand.”

He Zheng couldn’t be reasoned with when his pet peeve was concerned. “I have no intention to make us lose face in a foreign land, but if Chen Qianlin is made the captain, I swear I’ll make trouble for him.”

Carnotte was baffled as to what was going on. He secretly tugged at Tao Wujiu’s sleeve and asked, “What’s going on between the two of them? Why are they acting like they have some kind of personal vendetta against each other.”

“There is no vendetta between them. It’s just they’re ill-disposed towards each other by nature.”

He Zheng thought, ‘That’s bullshit! If it weren’t for the fact that Chen Qianlin always tries to get close to Li Zong and is disgustingly patronizing, I would never have taken a dislike to Chen Qianlin. It’s not like I’m a sociopath or something.’

Chen Qianlin inwardly sniffed, ‘Nonsense! If it weren’t for the fact that He Zheng is always so lucky and sullied the reputation of Li Zong who’s my biggest idol, I would never hold He Zheng in contempt.’

Anyway, they both had their own reasons to hate the other. ‘It takes two to make a quarrel,’ as the saying goes.

Of course, the most important reason was that they both believed they were better, but they had never fought before, which was why they were both smoldering.

But the two of them seeing each other as mortal enemy was not getting them anywhere. Carnotte looked at Li Zong and softly called out, “Supt. Li.”

Li Zong could tell that Chen Qianlin and He Zheng’s could barely forebear from biting each other to death, but he didn’t try to smooth things over. Instead, he said, “He Zheng and Chen Qianlin, do you think this method of choosing the captain is acceptable?”

“No, but I’d like to scrap with Chen Qianlin to see who is better.”

Li Zong nodded. “Your request is granted.”

Then he said to Tao Wujiu and Carnotte, “I’m going back to the office. You two are stay here watching the fight. Call me when it’s over.”

After saying that, Li Zong really left.

Carnotte was amazed. “Supt. Li really left just like that?”

“Yeah. Hey, I think I’ve just got to the reason why Supt. Li is doing this. This is not about choosing a captain. He knew that Chen Qianlin and He Zheng are on bad terms, that they will never make peace with each other without having a fight first. May it’ll be settled after the fight,” Tao Wujiu said.

“Is it really necessary to go to such trouble?”

“Are you stupid? If Supt. Li directly tell them to have a fight, he’ll be held responsible and punished for allowing trainees to fight, okay?”

Carnotte immediate caught on. “What a shrewd move.”

Never talk if you can settle it through fighting. The two of them would be able to sort things out in a far more efficient way after a fight.

While the other two were talking, He Zheng and Chen Qianlin, who had been itching to beat the shit out of their opponents for quite some time, prepared themselves for the fight. The look in their eyes were as menacing as sharp knives. Their swords appeared in their left hands at the same time, and there seemed to be electrical sparks cracking in mid-air where their eyes met. The next moment, they whipped out their swords, poised to attack.

When Li Zong exited the magic barrier, Xiang Hailou was waiting at the elevator, arms folded across his chest. His swarthy face was almost expressionless as he saw Li Zong coming, but he said, “You created an opportunity for Chen Qianlin and He Zheng to have a fight. It’s very thoughtful of you to go to such trouble.”

Li Zong appeared rather bland and there was no embarrassment on his face as he came to know Xiang Hailou had seen it through. “Chen Qianlin and He Zheng have tried to have a fight several times but never got the chance. Things would get worse sooner or later if they can’t get what they want, so I figured it’d be better if I gave them an opportunity. It’ll be settled after the fight.”

Xiang Hailou’s complexion was swarthy and people could easily get the impression that he was an honest man, but people’s appearance is the most deceptive thing in the world. The look in Xiang Hailou’s eyes flickered and with that he said, “It surprises me you’re so well informed, Supt. Li. I mean, you even know how many times they have arranged for a fight?”

Li Zong glanced at Xiang Hailou and the two of them walked into the elevator. The elevator doors closed and the indicator lights started to shine one by one from the top to the bottom.

“It seems that you have your own plans, given that you’re not bringing Wei Cheng.”

“Yeah. Wei Cheng is indeed pretty good, but his abilities are not suitable for the exorcism championship. He and Jin Qianlai could make a good team. Wei Cheng’s demon-killing staff and Jin Qianlai’s Eight Poles Transition Abacus are perfect for dealing with the variety of demons who are making trouble on a frequent basis all around the country.”

“Lao Zhang sent me here to ask you about your plan for the rest of the trainees.”

“I’d like to send them to the sub-bureaus to do internship as we did in previous years. What do you think?”

“We’re thinking about the same thing.”

With a tinkle, the elevator arrived at the destination floor.

Li Zong and Xiang Hailou walked out of the elevator. As expected, Zhang Jingqiu was already waiting in the doorway of Li Zong’s office, a folder in his hand. It didn’t take a genius to tell that inside the folder were names lists of STTP applicants and newly recruited staff members.

Li Zong glanced at his watch. It was half past nine in the morning. He Zheng and Chen Qianlin should have finished the fight by half past ten.

The three of them walked into the office and fell into discussion.

At the training ground on the rooftop.

The glaring light of another powerful strike burst forth. When the two famous swords, the Shadow Sword and the Sharpness Sword, clashed together, the sparks generated by the violent impact were within an inch of landing on Carnotte’s shoes.

They hurriedly back off two paces. Tao Wujiu produced a packet of sunflower seeds from somewhere about his person and handed it to Carnotte. “Have a try, bro.”

“Wow, where did you get this?”

“You have to bring a bit of everything with you before going into the society,” replied Tao Wujiu, patting a small pendant hanging from his belt. Carnotte, who was from a fairly famous sect, could tell from a mile away that it was a magic vessel used for containing things.

“Here. Have some iced cola.”

Tao Wujiu fished out two bottles of cola and tossed one to Carnotte.

The two of them were watching leisurely, while He Zheng and Chen Qianlin were fighting tooth and nail.

There was another collision. Both of them were using swords and were good at close-quarters attack. Although Chen Qianlin’s moves were steady and firm, He Zheng’s sword strikes were accompanied by powerful sword-light. On top of that, they both wanted to prove themselves and were both going all out, which made the fight even fiercer.

“The way I see it, He Zheng would be the one who runs out of energy first. His foundation couldn’t hold a candle to his opponent’s,” said Carnotte, snapping open sunflower seeds with his teeth. “You see that sword strike of Chen Qianlin’s just now? If He Zheng’s footing was stable enough, he would be able to parry it and conveniently deal Chen Qianlin a blow which will definitely cause a bloody slit on him.”

Although He Zheng was inferior to Chen Qianlin in terms of basic skills, and his sword strikes were not as varied as Chen Qianlin’s, he was always a cultivator was both Fu-craft and swordcraft. Having been fighting Chen Qianlin for twenty minutes, He Zheng was getting tired, his forehead covered in sweat. As he heard the discussion of the two spectators who were watching idly, anger surged inside him, blue veins flickering on his forehead. “If you two don’t shut up right now, I’ll cut you in half along with him!”

As He Zheng said this, he quickly cast a Fu.

At the sight of it, Chen Qianlin yelled, “Damn you! You shameless bastard are using Fu!”

It could be said that He Zheng was now quite proficient in casting lightning spells with Fu. He gave a sly grin at Chen Qianlin and said, “You’re not my husband. Why should I not trick you?”

He had all along been waiting for Chen Qianlin to get carried away believing he had got the upper hand!