A Good-for-Nothing

268. Knocked Out of the Competition

Translator: Dragon Rider

It was three full days before the inferno burned out. This time the organizing committee had lost the bait along with the fish. It all started from the moment they saw on the screen Nakayi Hakute forced some demonic Qi into the monster’s body three days ago.

At the sight of Nakayi Hakute’s unexpected action, Robbie’s eyelids had involuntarily twitched. He had no idea what kind of evil stuff that cloud of black gas was, but he had found that he and his men could no longer make contact with the King of the Forest.

Yes, in order to guarantee the safety of the contestants, they had struck a deal with the King of the Forest and had been keeping in touch with him through a special method lest he run wild and do the contestants harm.

Members of the organizing committee had perceived that something was wrong and immediately informed the staff members in the competition zone, telling them to go and put things back on track. However, Li Zong had taken action quicker than them. By this time Robbie still hadn’t figured out how Li Zong had traveled to the other island before the staff members did without a ship.

But right now Robbie was too busy to spare a thought for that matter. When they had arrived, Li Zong had been walking out of the inferno with his loved one in his arms. The raging fire would probably continue to burn for over ten days were it not for the efforts of a team of professional firefighters.

What with the forest fire, high-ranking officials of the International Exorcism Federation and all the staff members had had to consider how they should explain the cause of the big fire to the local Forest Service and the police.

After the fire, the fog enveloping the whole forest had lifted. Seen from the helicopter, the forest which used to look like a gigantic green mushroom now had a treeless, black pocket, which was quite ugly.

The matter of the forest fire settled, Mr. Robbie had another more important thing to do.

This incident had been caused by negligence on the part of them, and had Li Zong not arrived in time, all the contestants might have ended up dead. If that had really happened, half of the young crack exorcists in the world would have been lost, and they couldn’t afford to take the blame for something like that.

Therefore, Mr. Robbie had to go to the hospital to visit all the injured contestants in person.

Basically all contestants had been wounded. By comparison, injuries of the Jiangtou-casters from Southeast Asia who had been wounded by Nakayi Hakute, and those of the teams who had got hurt during the process of fighting against the monsters sent by the organizing committee were less severe.

The Neon Kingdom had suffered the heaviest casualties. Qianli Yu, still lying in bed in a ward, was the only survivor. All the others, including Nakayi Hakute, had died.

The exorcism committee of the Neon Kingdom, after being informed of it, promptly sent someone to negotiate with the organizing committee, intending to get Nakayi Hakute’s body back.

However, things did not go well for officials of the Neon Kingdom.

In the ward.

In order to placate the contestants and make it more convenient for them to talk with each other, the organizing committee had gone to a lot of trouble and finally managed to get them some large wards.

Of all these people, Chen Qianlin and He Zheng appeared to be the most grievously injured. Chen Qianlin’s arm was broken and had been put in plaster, white bandages hanging from his neck.

He Zheng had slit his own arm, and both his arms were heavily wrapped in bandages as well. The two of them looked like fellow sufferers.

Though both of them preferred to stay out of the other’s business.

The others either had sustained some internal bruising or were exhausted, and they didn’t look as the worse for wear as the former two did.

However, this had been a tough battle, and all of them had been drained of energy.

Faces of all the six people lying in the row of six beds in the ward were etched with fatigue.

Lao Tao, playing with a lighter, said, “When I was using the comfort station earlier this day, I overheard a couple of IEF staff members talking. They said the Neon Kingdom seemed to have sent someone here, intending to get Nakayi Hakute’s body back.”

He Zheng wanted to drink some water but was unable to move his hand. Li Zong casually held a cup to He Zheng’s lips and let him take two sips of water. He Zheng’s searing throat felt much better and he croaked, “Those bastards want Nakayi’s body back? They’re sure as hell up to no good. Don’t let them get it!”

He Zheng had yelled too hard during the fighting and was now terribly hoarse. He sounded as husky as a duck, and his voice was halting and very unpleasant to the ear.

Qiu Luo said, “It was not in our country that this thing happened, so we’re in no position to interfere.”

He Zheng instantly got anxious. “Then what should we do? Stand by and watch them take Nakayi Hakute’s body away???”

“That asshole gets to have a decent burial after all those shitty things he did?” Chen Qianlin also huffed.

“Of course not.” The door was pushed open. He Zheng and the others were startled. Zhang Jingqiu walked inside, looking travel-worn, an unlit cigarette clamped between his teeth. As he saw how badly the six of them, especially Chen Kai whose yellow hair was now lifeless, were injured, Zhang Jingqiu was so angry he felt blood rushing to his head.

“Those bastards are unbelievable!”

He Zheng and the others were here to attend the competition on behalf of the Republic of Hua. The Neon Kingdom had long since come to know about the history between Nakayi Hakute and Li Zong, but judging from the actions of their national team led by Nakayi Hakute, it was unmistakable they had sent these people here to make trouble. And Nakayi Hakute had not disappointed them, for he had indeed tried to get the others killed.

“Fuck. After all these things, they still expect to take the body back? No way. I don’t care who’s really behind this, but I’m going to make sure they pay the price, even if I have to frame them!” Zhang Jingqiu hurled his cigarette into the garbage can and said firmly, “You guys stay here and wait. I’ll go and get even with them!”

With that, Zhang Jingqiu stormed out of the room without even drinking some water.

He Zheng and the others were dumbstruck.

The next second, He Zheng turned to look at Li Zong.

Li Zong smiled, “I’m pretty good at scraping, but Lao Zhang is a much better arguer than I am.”

There was no need to state the obvious. Zhang Jingqiu, the first apprentice of the sect leader of the Tigers and Dragons Mountain, had been performing the duty of having his younger sect-brothers and sect-sisters toe the line, so he was better at arguing than most. Hardly anybody could get one over him in a debate.

He Zheng said, “Zhang Jing–” He gave a cough and continued, “Why did Group Leader Zhang come here?”

“All members of SMB care about each other. You guys are injured, so of course Group Leader Zhang wants to help you guys get your revenge,” said Li Zong, flicking He Zheng a significant look.

Zhang Jingqiu was a rival to Li Zong in SMB, but when national interests were involved, he had decided to leave aside his personal grudges.

Therefore, Zhang Jingqiu was now sweeping towards the officials sent here by the Neon Kingdom, planning to have them give him an explanation.

Taking Nakayi Hakute’s body back could be a trivial matter or a serious one. If no other countries were trying to stop the Neon Kingdom, they naturally could bring their contestant’s body back without trouble, for they had the right to do that. However, unfortunately for them, some contestants from the Republic of Hua were the direct victims of this matter. It was definitely unacceptable to bring the culprit’s body back without giving the victims an appropriate explanation first.

As a result, there was no doubt the Neon Kingdom had to consult with the Republic of Hua about the matter of taking back Nakayi Hakute’s body.

Zhang Jingqiu said in a seemingly casual tone, “The six members of our team are still in sickbeds. The captain and vice captain have both lost their mobility and they couldn’t even drink water unaided. Mr. Nakayi Hakute, one of your contestants, performed prohibited enchantments without consent, which was a violation of the competition rules. We’ll talk about the matter of the body later, but first I think you need to apologize to my team members and give them an acceptable explanation!”

What with the severe consequences of Nakayi Hakute’s actions, the Neon Kingdom attached great importance to the handling of this matter. The one leading the team coming here to negotiate was Akira Shota, who used to be a very famous Yin Yang Master, and who was among the nobility in the Neon Kingdom. Nakayi Hakute had learned exorcism skills from him for some time.

Akira Shota, having lived for a very long time, was far past the age of getting angry easily like youngsters, so he adopted a fairly humble attitude. “Yes. That’s indeed what we should do.

We didn’t bargain on Nakayi doing such things either, so we’re obliged to accept responsibility.”

Zhang Jingqiu didn’t buy it, and his tone didn’t soften much when he spoke again. “We don’t have the power to read people’s minds, so naturally we don’t know whether you bargained on it or not, but Mr. Akira, I have to remind you one thing – the Neon Kingdom must give us and IEF an explanation as to how Nakayi Hakute got the demonic Qi.”

A young man in Akira’s company was rather indignant. “That’s not our fault!”

“Oh?” Zhang Jingqiu raised his eyebrows, his eyes flashing squarely at that young man. “Nakayi Hakute is your man, and he was the one possessing the demonic Qi.

If you insist on taking Nakayi Hakute’s body back, I have reason to suspect that you harbor ulterior motives.”

Akira lowered his eyes, which, though old, were not opaque at all. He concealed the glint in them and said, “It seems Mr. Zhang is unwilling to let us have Nakayi’s body.”

“Nakayi’s body is no longer a matter between just you and me.

Soon this will become a global event.” Zhang Jingqiu pointed it out in severe and categorical terms, his arguments brooking no contradiction. He made the others feel as though Nakayi’s body was a time bomb, one that would explode if anybody touched it.

Akira Shota kept silent for a few moments. Even Robbie was baffled. Didn’t they just want to take back a dead body? Was it really that big a deal?

But Akira Shota and his men were in the wrong. Because of Zhang Jingqiu’s aggressive and insistent take on the matter, eventually the officials of the Neon Kingdom did not get the body. Akira Shota even apologized to He Zheng and the others in person and secretly offered them some compensations.

Those in Akira Shota’s company were very unhappy about it, but Akira Shota accepted all the demands. However, he made a request – he wanted to see Nakayi Hakute one last time before leaving.

This request was understandable, but Zhang Jingqiu still conferred with Li Zong about it. Eventually they decided to let Li Zong accompany Akira Shota to see the body. Firstly, Li Zong’s presence was a token of their respect; secondly, Li Zong was more powerful than Zhang Jingqiu, and it wouldn’t be easy for Akira Shota to play any tricks under Li Zong’s nose.

Zhang Jingqiu was indeed a man meant for great things. He made sure all the compensations that “should” be paid were paid before Akira Shota saw Nakayi Hakute’s body.

He merely went inside to have a look at it and had stayed in there for less than five minutes when he exited the room.

Zhang Jingqiu was waiting in the doorway. Li Zong impassively nodded at him and with that Zhang Jingqiu’s tense muscles relaxed and he saw Akira Shota off.

They needed to take a ferry to get to the transit city from the island. On the ferry, the couple of young men following Akira Shota all had indignation on their faces. One of them blurted out a question the moment they boarded the ship.

“Mr. Akira! Why were you so mild when they were so impertinent?”

Akira Shota made no reply. He closed his eyes, pondering over something.

It had never crossed his mind that Li Zong and the others would be so ruthless as to send Nakayi Hakute’s soul to the underworld with Minghun skills.

What with that, there was nothing useful left in that body.

Akira Shota let out a long sigh and opened his eyes which were full of regret.

Looking at the seemingly boundless sea, Akira Shota was at a loss what to do.

It seemed that the Neon Kingdom had been kicked out of this game fraught with intrigues and subterfuge.