The young man who was chasing Li Chenyuan was...well, how could Qiu Yunru describe it?
He was the buffest fucking person he'd ever seen!
His arm muscles were as thick as melons, his neck was wide and stiff from strength, and his calves bulged out monstrously. Thinking about it, steroids had not been invented in this universe. How on earth had he gotten to this state?! It should be inhuman!
This person was dragging along a Mo blade. Qiu Yunru had never seen one in person before: the heaviest and most difficult to lift and wield of all blades, this was certainly an uncommon and intimidating choice. The young man was also wearing the white and black fighting uniform of None Left Mountain. On his collar glittered silver markings, and his silver vambraces were carved with the snarling faces of lions.
Qiu Yunru knew at once who this must be.
What kind of luck did he have, running into all top three contestants of the tournament?!
This was none other than Yan Wenqing, the second favorite for the tournament. Known for his extreme strength that could destroy any creature even without accompanying skilled technique, his muscles definitely fit his image!
Yan Wenqing's black eyes darted around the clearing. He was clearly enraged. Sweat poured down his back endlessly. One could almost see steam rising from his bright red ears. What a terrifying sight!
As soon as he caught sight of Li Chenyuan, his pupils shrank, and he began storming forward.
"You!" He roared, spittle flying. "You no-good son of a dog-fucked mom! I'll kill you!"
Li Chenyuan's face went white with rage. "Don't insult my mom, you piece of shit ox!" However, even though he was clearly furious at this insult, he turned and ran in the other direciton.
This made sense. Who in their right mind would face off hand-to-hand against someone with muscles the size of watermelons?!
Yan Wenqing screamed and rushed forward, a murderous glint in my eyes. It seemed he really wouldn't stop at anything to hurt Li Chenyuan!
However, he was abruptly stopped by someone stepping into his path.
Yan Wenqing skidded to a stop, blinking. Standing before him was a remarkably pretty young man. He had a graceful and polite air, and he was wearing robes from the Jade Clouds Sect. This was none other than Qiu Yunru.
"Who are you?" Yan Wenqing snarled, shaking himself out of his momentary daze. This man was so pretty that he'd actually gotten distracted for a moment! "Get the fuck out of my way! I'm going to kill that kid!"
Qiu Yunru bowed his head courteously, spreading his arms wide. He smiled apologetically. "Yan-qianbei, the rules don't allow harm towards other contestants. Won't you be disqualified if you hurt Li-shidi?"
Yan Wenqing scoffed. "I'm not that stupid. I've already destroyed my entrance stamp. I don't care about winning anymore! Not while he's allowed to be here!" As he stabbed a hand to point towards Li Chenyuan, who was climbing a tree with difficulty and glaring, Qiu Yunru saw that, indeed, Yan Wenqing's entrance stamp had been destroyed.
The stamp each contestant received at the start of the tournament kept track of whether or not they harmed any fellow disciples while inside the ring. if they did, they would face immediate disqualification, and be tracked down by tournament officials and escorted out. Thus, it was impossible to harm someone without being tracked down immediately and removed.
This stamp was what allowed their score count to be measured. Therefore, in order to participate at all, once had to keep their stamp safe. Though the ink created a strong temporary stain, if one scrubbed it hard enough and long enough, it would disappear.
It seemed that Yan Wenqing hadn't had the patience to go and find a stream to scrub his stamp off in. Instead hand was wet with blood. He'd cut right through his own hand to get rid of it! Blood was still streaming down his fingers in rivulets.
Even if he did hurt Li Chenyuan, no one would come to stop him. How could they track him down without the stamp?
Qiu Yunru's smile faltered. "Ah," He said weakly. "I see. Are you truly so uninterested in winning? Yan-qianbei was slated as the second favorite."
Qiu Yunru felt he absolutely had to keep talking. He could only hope that Li Chenyuan would manage to run off somewhere far away! After all, it wasn't as if anyone here in this clearing could properly take this guy on in hand-to-hand combat. No, they'd all be pounded to dust!
Yan Wenqing growled. Thankfully, his attention had shifted to Qiu Yunru. "Winning is one thing. Honor is another. Li Guiren killed my mother. How can I continue to compete when his spawn is allowed to slither around in the same arena as me?!"
Ah.
So, just like those corpses in the Lan Bing Caves, this was relative of yet another victim of Li Chenyuan's father. Qiu Yunru wanted to smack his hand to his forehead. This made things a little difficult, didn't it?
He smiled apologetically, tilted his head and making a courtesy. "This one is sorry to hear that. However, is it really Li Chenyuan's fault? Are a father's sins also the sins of his son? Li-shidi grew up without his father, never knowing him. How could his father's temperament and violence have an opportunity to rub off on him?"
Yan Wenqing opened his mouth to retort, then closed it. He seemed both furious and confused.
"I...hadn't thought of that before," He admitted. "Hmmm. Huh."
So he was that kind of NPC--with as many strength points as stars in the sky, and only one intelligence point to balance it out!
Qiu Yunru cleared his throat, latching onto this fact. "Indeed. In fact, Li-shidi is one of the kindest people I know. He's considerate, has made friends, and looks out for others. How could he be anything like Li Guiren? If you're angry with his father, isn't it better to go and desecrate his grave, rather than take it out on his son?"
Yan Wenqing's eyes bulged. "Desecrate a grave? That's--that;s!" He paused, rubbing his chin. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. Since Li Guiren had no honor, what honor does he deserve to be given?"
"Exactly." Qiu Yunru sighed internally in relief. He glanced behind himself, and didn't see Li Chenyuan anywhere in sight.
Good kid. He understood!
However, when he turned back to Yan Wenqing, he was met not with a face of thoughtful confusion, but one of complete fury and contempt.
Yan Wenqing snarled, pointed somewhere behind Qiu Yunru. "You!" More spittle flew from his lips, as bountiful as rain. "Aren't you Lei Xifeng's kid?"