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Chapter 24: Conditions of the Duel

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Around the same time, on a covertly spot some distance from the sparring rings area.

"How come this Kyu Cao knows the direct sons of the Goldcloud Clan, and even got into conflict with them?!" Cuo Ding barely contained himself from shouting.

The probability of a young, impetuous noble theriope wanting to make trouble for the cat for whatever reason was low, but real.

This probability was actually even higher, the less prominent this noble was. This sort of youths with bad personalities tended to have inferiority complexes and comfort themselves trying to oppress others.

But from where the heir apparent to one of the Great Families, the most supreme clans second only to the imperial clan, an existence that was both lofty and aloof to all other nobles, had just popped out?!

"That's Young Master Kyu Cao for you! And I don't know. I don't know where the Young Master could have met with such character," De Pong responded gnashing his teeth.

The only place where they could have met that came to his mind was the closest city, Bloodbath City.

However, the Young Master's tastes were pretty low-key, and he would never frequent the kind of extravagant places that heirs like Bon Gongwei preferred. So he couldn't fathom where their paths could've crossed.

"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Cuo Ding complained to the dog with aggravation.

"You can go and interfere if you want."

"You...!" Right now, the rooster was so angry, he wanted to peck the fat dumpling to death.

Just what kind of position the direct defendant of one of the Great Clans held?

Even the shameless De Pong was too intimidated to act, lest him, who held position and seniority first at heart.

What Cuo Ding didn't know was that the dog was even worse than him. De Pong was so depressed that he wanted to drop dead.

He knew who the Young Master's father was, so he was clearer on the situation.

Here, in the home camp of the Bloody Army, he wasn't really afraid of offending the children of the Goldcloud if he interfered.

What De Pong feared, was damaging the Young Master position if he covered for him.

The Bloodstripe Family was a military clan. Thus, there were certain principles that every member abided, as part of the clan's honor.

And one of these was never running away at the face of danger and challenge.

"At least this Bon Gongwei kid is quite smart," De Pong thought to himself. "With a duel of teams, things can be smoothed over. Still... Master will surely punish me." Some mist gathered at the corner of the dog's eyes.

Maybe he would be used as an ingredient to make pellets.

Indeed, De Pong had reasons to be depressed.

"Honestly, I got this idea from the upcoming Celebratory Tournament," explained Bon Gongwei. "During the tournament, there will be many divisions, and the team battles will surely be the liveliest of them! So I thought that we could join into the mood early and have a duel of teams."

These words from the monkey left many confused.

At first, it had sounded like a duel between nobles with their honor on the line.

But now, it had become some sort of entertainment activity?

"The rules would be a little different from the true tournament though. At the Celebratory Tournament teams are limited to a maximum of five members, but this time the teams will be up to ten, including the captains. The fights would be individual ones, and the team which achieves five wins first is the victor. What does Little Brother Cao think? Little Brother would only need to assemble some subordinates for this."

So that's how it was, the others seemed to realize.

While at first it looked like the situation had lightened, the stakes had actually risen.

A noble's subordinates could be said reflected this one ability.

Charisma, backing, resources, power; only someone who did not lack these, could obtain and develop truly competent subordinates.

This was an important point among nobles, which greatly determined their worth.

So now, this was a duel were they would be matching all they had against each other.

Some trainees gulped nervously at this thought, while others were already itching to be spectators of such event.

Wan Huanchi's group, which had previously been trying to test the waters with the cat, had now backed away and merged with the crowd, but nobody really paid attention to this.

Li Ling and Ti Ping looked at the cat's back, deeply concerned.

Although they could imagine that his expression would be as stoic and unconcerned as always, they knew that this was only because his face was inexpressive, while inside he was quite the curious and childish fellow.

They could only see Kyu Cao's tail rocking gently from side to side, not really revealing anything.

Just as Ti Ping and Li Ling suspected, Kyu Cao's face was impassive as he stared back at the monkey in front of him, and nothing could be gleaned from it. Though, it could be inferred that the cat was thinking something deeply.

"I understand. Two weeks from now on. I will notify Young Master Bon... Sa of the location before that," Kyu Cao declared calmly.

Bon Gongwei's eyebrow couldn't help but twitch.

While the other party had agreed to the duel, which was a good thing, it had also immediately seized the right to set the place and date.

He'd already been a little unreasonable forcing his request in front of this many spectators. And now, he couldn't argue back, as it would end giving a bad impression.

Yet still, he couldn't fully back down. "That's all right, but doesn't Little Brother think a wait of two weeks is a bit long? With the upcoming festivities, the whole state will begin to get busy, and the closer to the date the harder will be for other matters to be taken care of."

Kyu Cao considered it a bit before responding. "Yes, that is reasonable. A week then. Can Young Master talk about the specifics? Will each participant be limited to one fight, or will they be able to fight multiples times? Will the order be decided beforepaw? What exactly are the conditions?"

It seemed this would be as far as the cat would be willing to concede, so Bon Gongwei didn't talk unnecessary words. "Neither the order of the participants nor the number of times they can fight will be limited. All will be left completely free to one's decision, but once a participant loses they will also loss the right to continue participating. The side who reaches a total of five victories first wins."

"All right, I accept. I hope it's fine if we discuss the stakes of the bet in a later time," said the cat, and Bon Gongwei felt as if he'd perceived a colder inflection in this one's flat tone.

The cat was more overbearing than he initially looked like, and wouldn't do this for free, Bon Gongwei thought unhappily.

But fine, he was not planning for his little brother to lose anyways.

"Yes, that's fine. Well then, I will be bidding my farewells here. Take care of yourself, Little Brother Cao."

"Un. Young Master Bon Gongwei too, take care. Farewell."

With a small nod they bid each other farewell, then Bon Gongwei turned around and began to leave, followed by his group of followers.

Kyu Cao too, didn't linger any further either, and began to walk away using the same way he'd come from. Ti Ping and Li Ling both followed behind him.

Many of the onlookers were disappointed that nothing had really occurred.

Moreover, apart from that the duel would be a week later, the others details had not been confirmed, so it was doubtful if they would have the chance to watch.

What a pity, they felt like they were going to miss a show.

But thinking further, was this even going to be a good show?

Turning toward Bon Gongwei, who was followed by more than a dozen of fierce-looking subordinates, the impression the monkey gave was that of a mighty figure, truly worthy of the name of one of the Great Clans of the Wave Breaking Empire.

Of course, it would be his little brother who would fight, but nobody thought that Bon Sa was much inferior to his older brother.

Yet, looking at the cat, with only two young theriopes behind him, although he appeared as unmoved like a mountain, it was somewhat of a pitiful sight.

But regardless of how the duel would play, or whether they would be able to watch or not, these were interesting news. And soon word of it began to spread through the trainees.

"Great, now what?" Now that the situation had developed like this, there was nothing Cuo Ding could do, so he was much calmer. Still, the irritation he felt toward the chubby dog next to him was only greater.

"We are lucky things went this way. With such conditions, it will not be necessary for the Young Master to personally fight."

The rooster couldn't do but nod at the dog's words.

They were seniors with much more experience, so they understood better than the young trainees.

From what Bon Gongwei had explained, they could see that the monkey was trying to evade a direct confrontation between the two young masters as subtly as possible. All the rules were thought out with this goal in mind.

If Kyu Cao and Bon Sa ended fighting directly each other, there was the possibility that the conflict would escalate instead.

But letting their representatives fight it out, the aftereffects could be greatly lessened.

This was akin to playing a game with their subordinates as the pieces, but this was simply the lesser of two evils, seeing as how it was unlikely that the two young masters would suddenly become friends.

"But for the Young Master to lose, it's unacceptable either way!" De Pong said emphatically. It was already a given that he would suffer for this, so now he could only make sure that things didn't get worse. "We'll have to assist the Young Master as best as we can to ensure a victory."

"We?"

"Let me just say this. If the Young Master loses while in the Bloody Army's territory, you can look forward to cleaning latrines the rest of your military career."

"Ugh."

It really seemed there was no choice. If the cat really was the son of a high ranking member of the army, it would be indeed unacceptable for him to lose while in their turf.

Military families viewed victory at the battlefield in a very special way after all, even if this battlefield was a small one.

Cuo Ding believed that for the dog to be this adamant, Kyu Cao father had to be at least a Marshal. That the cat could be the son of the Blood General, such thought did not even exist.

"What do you suggest?" Cuo Ding knew nothing of the cat's circumstances, so he had no option but to follow this irritating dumpling's input.

De Pong thought it briefly, before responding. "Those two seem to be Young Master's acquaintances. You take care of them so that they can increase their strength as much as possible before the day of the duel. They might come useful."

The rooster furrowed his brows. "You mean..."

"Don't be stingy," De Pong looked at the rooster with a gloating smile, and in return he received a deadpan and disdainfully expression.

However, inside, the dog was much more nervous than he let on.

This was, because he had some idea of the Young Master's situation. Namely, that he had no subordinates to speak of.

The odds were against them even before it began.

Winning this duel, would be more difficult than anyone could imagine.

Kyu Cao and company came some distance from the sparring rings area, then the cat turned around and looked at the two. "Which other place is here of interest?" he asked with his usual, almost monotone voice.

Li Ling hesitated briefly, before deciding to speak her mind "Senior Cao, is this okay?" It was obvious what she meant.

"Un. I guess it was something that had to happen," the cat responded as if unconcerned.

Ti Ping and Li Ling could only feel helpless.

Truth is, they actually felt somewhat guilty.

Not so much for implicating the cat as not having prevented the incident.

Had they not tried to play valiant when they saw Bei Bingxao, and paid more attention to the monkey youth that had obviously been leading the group, such encounter could have been avoided.

But regrets didn't help at anything.

"Senior Brother Cao," suddenly spoke Ti Ping.

"Hmh?"

"... No, nothing." But ultimately, he abandoned the idea.

This idea, was to help Senior Cao in his duel.

However, the opponent this time was a direct descendant of one of the Great Clans.

Surely, the monkey's subordinates would not be trifling individuals.

And it seemed Kyu Cao's position, albeit still a mystery, was no less inferior. So in this fight, there was simply no place for average trainees like them.

Kyu Cao didn't know exactly what they were thinking, but he could at least tell that they seemed concerned about him, which he appreciated. "I will manage somehow."

Ti Ping and Li Ling smiled wryly.

Senior, why is that you choose to say such unreliable lines here?

It seemed they could only cheer from the sidelines this time.

"Senior Cao, would it be possible for us to know where will the duel be held too? We would like to go to cheer on Senior," asked Li Ling sweetly, trying to brighten up the atmosphere.

"All right. I appreciate it."

"No, Senior Cao is too polite. Then, shall we continue the tour?"

"Un. Which way?"

"What does Senior want to see?"

"I can't think of something right now," Kyu Cao shook his head.

"What about the mess hall?" suggested Ti Ping.

Actually, there was the chance that Bi Gong might be there, and he was thinking that right now the big lug's company would be much appreciated.

Li Ling's thoughts did not follow the same path, and she glanced with narrowed eyes at the rat for suggesting such vulgar place.

This idea, however, actually appealed to Kyu Cao, who had never seen a communal eating area. "All right."

Li Ling glared reproachful at Ti Ping, who ignored the snake and stepped forward, taking the lead this time.

Kyu Cao followed calmly, deciding to enjoy his tour for now.