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Chapter 23: What Do You Think of a Duel?

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The sparring rings area was just as its name suggested.

Numerous circles were drawn on the ground, reaching as far as fifty, each the width of ninety paces from end to end.

Although they were quite crude and simple in appearance, beneath each ring there was actually an individual especial formation, making these training grounds far from ordinary.

Groups of young theriopes littered the place, circling the sparring rings or standing at some distance. They were merrily chatting, while observing the various matches going on the rings.

It was really lively.

As Kyu Cao and Li Ling arrived to the area, they inevitably attracted the stares from the nearby trainees, who upon seeing the luxuriously dressed cat raised their brows.

Fortunately, both Kyu Cao and Li Ling were naturally cool-headed individuals, and even under such scrutiny their faces did not even twitch.

"Senior Cao, these are the sparring rings. Here's where all the trainees come to spar and perfect their martial arts. Since each ring has a heavy pressure formation underneath, fighting inside is much harder than usual. But the benefits as well are much better, when it comes to one's comprehension of battle," Li Ling explained, as they began to walk among the rings.

Kyu Cao nodded. However, instead of the mystical rings, he focused on the young theriopes inside them.

There seemed to be youths from every race, each fighting with a unique style, even when they were using the same weapons.

He didn't know if this was because they practiced different schools of martial arts, or if it was the differences in race, but it was like a great display of many techniques and tactics.

"Oh," Kyu Cao let out a quiet exclamation of little surprise, his eyes fixing on a certain ring not too far from them.

Li Ling followed his gaze, and she quickly understood what had caught the cat's attention.

There on the ring, two young theriopes were sparring animatedly.

One was a lithe rabbit girl. She was light and quick on her feet, fully displaying the advantages of the rabbit race. Her thin saber moved fast and weightless like a breeze as she delivered dozens of hacks in a single blink.

The other, was a rat male, not much taller and equally lithe, maybe even lanky; a grim air hung around him. But despite his thin figure, he swung around a long spear seemingly effortlessly, standing firm like a tree, blocking each strike from the rabbit girl to an impasse.

He was Ti Ping.

Kyu Cao and Li Ling advanced toward that ring, focusing their attention on this match.

"Ping usually likes to come to the rings to spar," the snake said, though it also sounded like a complaint. "Even since child, he was always one who liked to get into fights."

When they reached next to the ring, the battle situation had not changed much.

The trainees surrounding it glanced curiously at the two, before returning to the spar, thought some of their attention was left on the cat-snake pair.

Kyu Cao intently observed what occurred inside the ring. His fiery blue eyes were tranquil like pools of shining water, but they also seemed to absorb every detail and minute like a mirror.

He watched for a moment, before seeming to notice something. "It doesn't look like he's at a disadvantage," he commented quietly toward the snake.

Li Ling glanced briefly to the side toward the cat, a knowing glint in her eyes, before agreeing. "Yes, that's how he usually spars."

Inside the ring, the rabbit girl uninterruptedly delivered slash after slash, while Ti Ping appeared to be only capable of intercepting her swings.

Anyone would say the rat was at disadvantage, forced to only defend against her relentless attacks.

But no matter how Kyu Cao interpreted what he was, it only appeared to him that Ti Ping was deliberately receiving the blows, as if this was supposed to be some sort of practice.

Maybe it was, he realized, much like how he deliberately provoked ferocious beast to attack him.

Suddenly, Ti Ping changed his movements.

The next time their weapons clashed, he twisted the spear bizarrely, and this one bent. Then, pushing the spear forward the saber was repelled with more force that the rabbit could handle, making this one to momentarily lose control of her weapon.

This was it for Ti Ping, who immediately stabbed forward through the opening.

The spear blade cut into the rabbit's space, directly toward her neck where it came to a stop just barely a touch away from the creamy fur.

"Gwahaha, I won!"

"Yeah, big deal. As if only you had bet on him."

"Dammit! I thought he would finally lose!"

"Gehehe, it seems he's offended another beauty."

Various comments drifted from the surrounding trainees. Some dejected, some gloating, but it seemed most had already expected such result.

The rabbit girl looked at Ti Ping resentfully, her adorable puffed cheeks that of a cute little girl who had been wronged.

She said nothing. She only turned around and strode away, her long steps full of a lovely vigor.

Ti Ping didn't pay attention to any of this, and he directly walked out of the ring, to where Kyu Cao and Li Ling stood.

"Senior Brother Cao. What a surprise to find... um, Senior Brother here." The rat youth's expression was somewhat awkward, a mix between pleasant surprise and his usual shrewd, serious face. He was still not comfortable showing his more boisterous side in front of the cat, so even though he was pleasantly surprised, this is what came out.

"That's one more girl who hates you." Unreservedly, Li Ling told the rat with a mocking giggle.

Ti Ping immediately glared at the snake, exasperation all over his face. "Who cares? A spar is a spar, and she was not so weak as to be helpless."

Hearing this, the mockery in Li Ling's eyes only deepened, but she no longer said anything.

Kyu Cao stood as a spectator on the side, finding these two's relationship really curious.

They seemed to be childhood friends, extremely close. But almost always they spent their time together bickering and jeering at each other.

The cat honestly didn't know what to exactly make out of this.

Shouldn't childhood friends act more... friendly, toward each other?

Feeling an intense stare, Li Ling and Ti Ping stopped glaring at each other, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

"So, how come you two are together here?" Ti Ping directed his question to Li Ling, finding it easier to interrogate her.

"Senior is visiting the military quarter. We met by coincidence, and now I am showing him around."

"Oh?" he let out a surprised sound. "Could it be that Senior Brother is considering joining the army?"

"No," Kyu Cao calmly shook his head, "I was just curious about how this place would be."

"Eh?" Once more Ti Ping let out a sound of surprise, together with Li Ling.

Then the snake's heart was filled with a wry feeling, actually feeling pity for instructor Cuo Ding.

It seemed the rooster had been played this time.

"Fellow Brother Ti Ping!" someone suddenly called.

Ti Ping, Li Ling and Kyu Cao turned toward the side, where a group of trainees had approached.

The one who had called just now, was a brown dog standing at the front. He looked at the three with a friendly smile. "It seems Big Sister Li Ling has come today as well," the dog casually greeted.

Ti Ping and Li Ling both returned the greeting, but they also became a little suspicious.

Their relationship with the other trainees was not bad. It could actually be called extremely normal. But to be approached so amiably like this, it was not completely normal.

"And this would be..." added the dog, glancing at Kyu Cao.

So this was it, both immediately realized.

These guys were most likely scouting.

It was normal for the most common trainees to want to seek umbrella under the trainees with more extraordinary backgrounds.

Ti Ping and Li Ling were the same actually, having come under the banner of Wonlai, who was a member of the Bloodstripe Clan. Albeit not a influential one, his standing was still superior.

Now that they knew that the cat no intention of joining the army, this endeavor from the group of trainees would definitely end being useless. However, it wouldn't do good to slight them so directly either, since it would appear as if they were trying to hog all the non-existent benefits.

"This is Senior Cao," Li Ling introduced the cat.

"Oh, he is a Senior! Senior Cao, please forgive my over-familiarity. My name is Wan Huanchi." The dog bowed slightly, mimicked by those behind him. They all were acting quite respectfully.

"Wan?" Kyu Cao repeated softly.

Seeing his response, the brown dog's eyes lit. "Yes. My family name is Wan."

Kyu Cao stared intently at the dog, trying to see if this could perhaps have some relation to the dog guard from the Backdoor's Forest, Wan Tanpei.

Silence followed.

The dog, Wan Huanchi, began to feel nervous under the cat's stare.

The cat's face was extremely neutral and stoic, like that of a figurine. Not really cold, but still it gave one a feeling of great indifference.

Was the conversation over?

Luckily, he was saved of the uncomfortable situation by sudden noises of commotion caming from the edge of the area.

Turning their heads, they could see the various trainees scattered around the rings move aside, and give way to a sizable group of theriopes that was advancing in a rather overbearing manner.

Whispers began to run among the trainees, since such bold displays were not really common.

Plus, adding the pressuring and heavy atmosphere which surrounded the group, only one reason for this march could pop in their minds.

A storm was coming.

When Ti Ping and Li Ling saw the one walking at the front of the group, serious expressions appeared on their faces.

After a short span of time, the group's direction became apparent, causing Wan Huanchi and the other's expression to change and their hearts to clench.

As the group neared, they had no option but to step aside, or rather, they didn't dare to stand in the way of this theriope's group.

Finally, the group stopped.

They stood in front of Kyu Cao, Ti Ping and Li Ling, the two groups' secondary characters ending glaring at each other, while the ones at front had a more calm bearing.

One was a cat, the other a monkey.

The sounds in the sparring rings area died down to an absolute silence.

Many onlookers gathered at the distance, extremely curious of who this cat, who had attracted the attention of such frightening character, could be.

"Greetings. Allow me to present myself, my name is Goldcloud Bon Gongwei," the monkey introduced himself.

He was a handsome, young adult male monkey, with rich brown fur like fine tanned wood.

His bearing was collected and gentlemalish, and the distinctive air of nobility hung around him.

It was obvious that this soldier was not of common birth, and despite being this young, the distinction of a Team Leader hung on his arm.

"Greetings, I am Kyu Cao," Kyu Cao responded.

Bon Gongwei noticed that the cat did not mention his family name.

But seeing how this one didn't even bat an eyelid at the mention of the Goldcloud name, it meant the cat was confident his background was no less than his.

It seems his suspicions were true.

"Little Brother Kyu Cao might be wondering why I came here, so allow me to be blunt. I believe, you have met my younger brother recently, right?"

"Yes. Bon Sa." Kyu Cao didn't beat around the bush either, and answered directly.

When the peanut gallery heard this, many gasped with shock. This cat dared to pronounce the name of Young Master Bon Sa so directly and indifferently, and in front of his older brother no less.

This cat truly didn't know the word fear!

Bon Gongwei didn't pay heed to this and continued. "Right, and it would seem Little Brother Kyu Cao and Lil' Sa had some disagreement back then."

"Un. We got into conflict."

This time, even Bon Gongwei was taken aback. Hearing the cat admit it so bluntly and unabashedly, it seemed this little brother's personality was fiercer than he initially got the impression of.

Standing behind Kyu Cao, Ti Ping and Li Ling observed everything anxiously.

This was certainly something they had feared since the time the cat had confronted the Young Master Bon Sa in the Tiger's Scar.

They knew, that Bon Sa would search out for the cat. Though they were uncertain as to if he would even find him.

But never would have they imagined that it would not be Bon Sa the one to come first, but his elder brother!

Not losing his calm smile, Bon Gongwei then said, "Then, if Little Brother Cao admits to it, I suppose you are aware of where I am intending this conversation to go. This is a matter that concerns the honor of my little brother, as well as that of the Goldcloud main family, so I hope that Little Brother Cao can give us the opportunity to recover some face."

"Give you an opportunity my ass! You're practically twisting his arm here!" screamed mentally Ti Ping.

Many of the onlookers had similar thoughts.

While it seemed like a polite request, when done in front of so many eyes, it made for this one to be extremely hard to turn down.

This was especially the case when it came to nobles.

Theriopes from important and powerful clans valued honor and face the most. Just as Bon Gongwei stated, a matter of face couldn't be easily ignored.

But this Bon Gongwei's methods could be said to be really ruthless. He was practically trying to corner his opponent into not having any option but agree.

The only reason he did come across as shameless, was because the monkey was still being rather polite, and malice couldn't be detected in his actions. It seemed like he really wanted to resolve this matter straight up front.

The cat stared back at Bon Gongwei, silent, and the monkey got the impression that he was thinking it over.

Then, Kyu Cao finally spoke. "What does Young Master Bon Gongwei suggests?"

"Haha, it is simple. What does Little Brother think of a duel?"

"A duel?"

"Yes, a duel," Bon Gongwei nodded agreeably. "But not a simple one-on-one duel, since that would too strangling. I am talking about a duel of teams."