The Attack of the Wastrel

At long last, the battle ended when Liang Po had run out of energy to continue fighting.

When they came down from the battling stage, Liang Po had a pained yet delighted expression on his face. He gratefully thanked Rong Yuan, “Thank you for your guidance today, I learnt a lot from this battle. I hope that we will get to battle again in the future.”

Rong Yuan nodded his head and waved his hand gently, “It’s nothing. It’s my responsibility to nurture outstanding Martial Artists for the Xia Kingdom, you don’t have to thank me.”

He then swiftly leapt down from the battling stage. The action alone was so gentle and smooth that it made all the hearts of the girls who had come to watch him beat faster.

A pity that he did not get a reaction out of the lady that he had wanted to impress. When she saw him coming down, she had this expression on her face that looked like she had not been completely satisfied.

“The battle ended so quickly…”

When Yuan Zheng heard this, his leg shook uncontrollably and he almost fell to the ground.

It had been an hour of fighting and Gu Lingzhi was still unsatisfied. If Rong Yuan were to continue fighting for a little longer, the Martial Lords who were waiting to fight would definitely cause a commotion.

Rong Yuan’s face also fell. He could pass this off as just experimenting his fighting techniques on his opponent, but he could not keep doing it. He had a reputation to uphold.

Fortunately, Gu Lingzhi also knew when to stop and also understood that Rong Yuan could not keep others waiting just to make her happy, so she said a few congratulatory words to Rong Yuan, before thinking of going back to the Martial Student battling arena.

Feeling the energy from the crowd, she could not help but want to fight a few battles to excite herself as well. She had gained a lot of knowledge from watching Rong Yuan fight, such as new mannerisms and fighting techniques.

“Where are you going?” Rong Yuan stopped her by the shoulders, his brows furrowed. “I have one more match, aren’t you going to watch?”

Gu Lingzhi blinked, remembering that everyone could battle a maximum of three rounds every day. She was also curious about who his next opponent would be. It can’t be… that unlucky Liang Po again, would it?

That was not the case. Rong Yuan’s next opponent was one who was an experienced Martial Lord. This time, Rong Yuan did not bother to drag the time out and defeated his opponent cleanly in just a few moves. He was swift, clean and fierce. Gu Lingzhi wondered if he was still that person that had been acting shamelessly in front of her all day long.

Seeing the confusion in Gu Lingzhi’s eyes, Yuan Zheng, who had restored his confidence in his master, explained, “Due to his status, he did not interact with many people since a young age. When he grew up and showed enormous talent, many people got close to him for various reasons. After a series of unpleasant events, His Highness became cautious of everyone around him. I’ve never seen him care about anyone until you came along, hopefully you will not make him upset.”

Gu Lingzhi was taken aback when she heard this. She did not think that someone as reckless as the Third Prince would still harp on past events. Gu Lingzhi always felt sympathetic towards people who have been hurt before.

When Rong Yuan came down from the stage and saw the sympathetic expression in Gu Lingzhi’s eyes, he looked at Yuan Zheng for an explanation.

Yuan Zheng merely raised his eyebrows and gave a mysterious smile.

Yuan Zheng felt that he did not say anything that he was not supposed to say. All he told Gu Lingzhi was how others had made use of the Third Prince’s young age to take advantage of him, and how they had ended being kicked out of the palace by the Third Prince instead. Who knew that that was enough to evoke Gu Lingzhi’s sympathy.

The moment Rong Yuan had finished his battle, Gu Lingzhi wanted to go to the Martial Student battling arena to sign up for tomorrow’s battles. Rong Yuan rejected her proposal immediately.

“I know you want to improve your abilities, but you have to think of how you haven’t been practicing these few days. If your body isn’t completely healed, you’ll underperform. What if you get another injury? If you’re too bored in the inn, I can accompany you to go shopping at the capital city to see if you want to get anything. If you’re still bored, you can also choose to stay in your room to practice forging weapons.”

Gu Lingzhi was really convinced by what Rong Yuan had said. Her calf was indeed not fully recovered yet. She was fine if she had to exert her leg muscles for a while, but after a period of time, it would hurt. She was indeed not fit for battle, especially if someone was out to get her.

The person that had attacked her that day was a student from the Royal School. She was sure that because Rong Yuan had been by her side the past few days, the culprit did not dare to attack again. If the culprit wanted to attack again, he would undoubtedly take the opportunity to use a battle to heavily injure her. Though he failed to kill her, making her a cripple would suffice too.

“Let’s go back then,” Gu Lingzhi said as she walked out of the battle arena.

To be frank, after being here for so long, she was getting sick of the way people were staring at her. Everyone knew that he was attracted to her.

When they left the Town of the Brave, it was still early. Rong Yuan suggested going to Chunxiang Pavilion to have lunch before going to shop at the capital city. However, Gu Lingzhi who was already feeling overwhelmed from the stares she was getting, was unwilling. She turned and headed towards the inn.

She only wanted to quickly recover and get away from Rong Yuan.

Whether it was intentional or not, she had gotten into a lot of trouble because of him. In her heart, she had started thinking of Rong Yuan as a burden. It was better if they were not associated at all.

It was just her wishful thinking however, because Rong Yuan was thick-skinned and would not leave her alone.

“Xiao Hei, your wounds have not healed, it is not convenient for you to live alone. As your only friend, it only makes sense that I take care of you.”

Gu Lingzhi pursed her lips and shot him a look of contempt.

“Please do not trouble yourself, Your Highness. My wounds have almost fully healed, I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”

“But I’m still worried,” Rong Yuan said, moving past her and into her room. He acted like he owned the place, and poured a cup of tea for himself before clearing his throat. He smiled at Gu Lingzhi and asked, “Do you want a cup of water? You must be tired after watching battles for the entire day.”

She really wanted to use a Recording Crystal to show the world how shameless the Third Prince really was. 

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