CH 37.1

Battle Invitation (1)

There was still half an hour until the exam ended. The campus was empty and the sports field was also quiet.

Ruan Qingmu walked to the camphor tree, found a patch of ground with lush grass, and lazily lay down.

It was almost noon. The blinding sunlight was blocked by the tree shade and the thick grass was soft underneath him. As he lay down and looked toward the top of the canopy, specks of light changed positions as the leaves swayed overhead.

He closed his eyes, letting those specks of light hit his cheeks and eyelids. Suddenly, he sensed a  shadow blocking the light.

He opened his eyes in shock and looked toward that person standing next to him, feeling slightly at a loss for words.

He turned his head and looked at the school building afar, but it was still quiet without any other students coming outside the exam room.

The boy before him also… handed in his papers in advance?

The tall, cold youth bent down and sat down beside him.

Ruan Qingmu half-tilted his head and looked at him; his tone was angry. “What are you doing? Did you think you did well on your exam? Did you hand in your paper early?”

“Does coming out early mean doing well in the exam? You must be the first rank then.” Qin Yuan’s face was expressionless at this time.

Ruan Qingmu sat up and glared at him. “Did you know that your tone of speaking is just asking to be beaten?”

Qin Yuan turned his head, his pitch-black pupil stared at him fixedly. “That makes the two of us. I also wanted to beat you once.”

Ruan Qingmu looked at him for a long time before suddenly jumping up to his feet. “Let’s fight then. You and me?”

Qin Yuan sat down and looked up at him.

The slender youth stood there with the mottle of tree leaves shading him and the faint sunlight flowing down behind him. Ruan Qingmu’s face was so pale that it was almost transparent and he looked back at him openly and in a lively fashion.

It was obviously a provocation, but Qin Yuan suddenly felt something strange this time. The look in Ruan Qingmu’s eyes didn’t carry anger, but instead, they were eager and elated.

As if he had waited for a long time for this fight.

He slowly stood up, patted his school uniform, and suddenly reached out to remove a piece of grass from Ruan Qingmu’s bangs.

His action was gentle and his tone was calm. “I’m not Liu Jun. If you really want to fight with me, I want to warn you first that I know some boxing and wrestling and have been trained formally.”

Ruan Qingmu smiled, his white teeth shining brightly under the sunlight. “I also want to warn you that fancy moves are useless. I can use hidden moves against you in actual combat a hundred times over. There’s no way you can beat me.”

Qin Yuan looked at him, his eyes shining with a light from within. “Then come and let me see your hidden moves.”

Ruan Qingmu slightly smiled and reached out toward him as if wanting to grab hold of him first. “Okay.”

Qin Yuan involuntarily reached out too. When the two people’s palms almost met each other’s, Ruan Qingmu clenched his other hand into a fist.

The moment he swung it up, his fist and elbow formed an angle. Qin Yuan was suddenly alerted, but he happened to be caught in the direction of the harsh sunlight and could only see the remaining shadow of the fist.

His eyes were dazzled by the sunlight for a moment and he could feel a sharp pain in his abdomen the next moment. Qin Yuan’s mind was left with only one thought:

————This person truly meant it when he said he would use his hidden moves.

His tide of anger had just risen, but his opponent’s feet had already arrived.

Qin Yuan didn’t stand without moving this time. He nimbly dodged and turned a few inches simultaneously to avoid that sweep.

He clenched his right hand with the middle knuckle slightly protruded and struck Ruan Qingmu under the ribs as he dodged his kick.

This stealthy blow was swift and struck half of Ruan Qingmu’s chest ribs, causing him to draw the corners of his mouth, gasp, and stagger back a few steps.

Two shadows in white-blue uniforms tangled together under the green shade in the quiet and empty sports field. The sunlight dazzlingly danced around them as they made move after move against each other.

***

It was nearly the end of the exam. Most students inside the exam room had already finished their essays and were sitting there restlessly in their seats.

Some went out of their way to pass cheat sheets, randomly looked around the room in boredom, and leisurely stared outside the window.

Suddenly, a boy sitting beside the window in Class 9 let out a whisper of “ah.”

The invigilator immediately shot him a warning glance. “What are you doing? Why did you just make a noise?”

The boy shrank his neck. “There’s a fight down there!”

All the students next to the window simultaneously extended their heads outside the window this time. Tang Tiantian squinted her eyes and was suddenly startled by the sight before her.

Although it was a bit far and the two fighting boys wore the same uniform, Tang Tiantian could still recognize them.

One was Ruan Qingmu, who handed the papers in advance, and the other… was Qin Yuan from Class 1??

The two people even fought until they were rolling around on the dirt. What kind of deep hatred was this? They had obviously gotten along well to make the blackboard bulletin before all of this!

Tang Tiantian became anxious. She looked at her finished papers, clenched her teeth, and ran to the podium right away. “Teacher, I want to hand in my papers.”

Fang Li and Bai Jing, who also sat beside the window, stood up in unison right then. “Teacher, I also want to hand in my papers!”

The two fallen people under the huge camphor tree struggled and leaped up from the ground.

Ruan Qingmu was still staggering on his feet when Qin Yuan flashed behind him, hurriedly reached out, and cleverly jammed his neck while adding pressure. “Are you yielding or not?”

Ruan Qingmu looked down at the arm choking his neck. The small muscles on it slightly bulged with faint sweat that brightly shone and reflected the sunlight.