The Emperor and His Thief - Chapter 53

Lin Xiao’s movement changed. The sword in his hand danced through the air as he continued his offensive move to Meng Chen who can only defend himself. Because Lin Xiao is now focused on Meng Chen, he failed to notice the gaze of the people witnessing the sparring match.

Bai Chenyi was frowning as he stared at Lin Xiao. He then glanced at Long Yinlian who was standing beside him. “Master Long,” Bai Chenyi called out in a low voice. “Are you the one who taught Lin Xiao his martial arts?”

“En. But when we started, Lin Xiao already have the basic of martial arts. I only taught him a little bit,” Long Yinlian replied. “He learns fast. I remember when I first learned the Soaring Hawk sword style, it took me eight years to master all move sets. But Xiao-er only took a good year to master them,” Long Yinlian’s vision is non-existence, so he couldn’t see what others could see. If he could, he would have known that the move that Lin Xiao is using is not the Soaring Hawk sword style.

“The Soaring Hawk Sword Style that came from Ruanyu Empire from across the sea?” Bai Chenyi sounded surprised. “I heard that only the Thunder Hawk members can learn this sword style…”

“Lord Xia and I share the same master.”

“I see,” Bai Chenyi replied. “But, did you ever get curious about how Lin Xiao could learn it quickly? Do you ever suspect that before this, he learned another set of martial arts style?”

“Considering that his form was solid, I knew that Xiao-er learned martial arts before we met. I have also asked him if he ever remembered who his previous master was. Unfortunately, he didn’t. Let alone his master, he did not even remember his own name.”

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Bai Chenyi heard this and did not pursue the topic any longer. But he couldn’t help that familiar feeling he has when he watched Lin Xiao fight. ‘That fighting style looks very similar to Hao Shuren’s style more than Soaring Hawk Sword Style,’ Bai Chenyi thought to himself. He then turned his head to see his fellow general, General Bing, is frowning with a serious expression on his face. ‘It seems that I am not the only one who noticed it.’

The two people engaged in the sparring match was too focused on each other. Meng Chen is struggling towards the end and Lin Xiao continued his fierce assault.

Qin Yijun arrived shortly after, and when he saw Lin Xiao, he felt that the other’s movement was both familiar and yet, foreign. Some of his moves were something he used to see back in his childhood, but some moves look different that he knew, it was not Hao Shuren’s style.

As Qin Yijun approached the area, some of the guards who saw him turned pale and they were about to greet him. Knowing that it would cause a scene, Qin Yijun silently glared at them, warning them not to cause a scene.

Understanding their Emperor’s thought, the surrounding guards didn’t open their mouth, but they also couldn’t continue to cheer as they had before. In fact, they couldn’t even bring themselves to lift their head to see the match, knowing that their Emperor is around.

Satisfied, Qin Yijun quietly made his way and approached Bai Chenyi. “General Bai, Zhen hopes that you have an explanation for letting this happen.”

Bai Chenyi had long expected that this news would soon arrive at the Emperor’s ear, so he was prepared to give his answer. But what he did not expect was that General Bing had spoken up before he could.

“Your Majesty, this general greets the Emperor,” General Bing said as he greets the Emperor with a salute. “It is like this… when this general arrived here, both Meng Chen and that young man were already having a dispute. I only gave them the easiest solution to their bickering.”

“Oh? Then all of this is due to your idea, General Bing?” Qin Yijun asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Yes, ah! They are both young men, fighting with their mouth about who is stronger. Isn’t that just a shame? So, I suggested that they spar. Who would’ve known that the young man fighting Meng Chen is another disciple of that old man Hao Shuren. It was said that he no longer accepts disciple and yet, another one popped up!”

As General Bing spoke, Qin Yijun’s eyes were trained on Lin Xiao’s figure who seemed to be dancing with the wooden sword in hand. His feet were light, and each swing of his sword is filled with a strong force. His figure would sometimes overlap with a silhouette that exists in Qin Yijun’s memories before diverging again.

Meng Chen, who is the victim of Lin Xiao’s assault could no longer keep up. Knowing that the sword is only made of wood and that it would not cut his flesh, Meng Chen decided to cheat. He let Lin Xiao’s wooden sword hit his body and though the force is enough to make him wince in pain, he quickly grabbed Lin Xiao’s wrist to keep the other in place.

Lin Xiao had not expected this kind of dirty move from Meng Chen. He tried to pull away, but Meng Chen held his wrist in a tight grip. “Brother Meng, doing this kind of thing is cheating, ah! Since we are sparring, we should treat it as if we are holding a real weapon. Since you let the wooden sword in my hand hit you with such force, you would’ve been severely injured so this can be counted as my win.”

“Says who? The match is not over yet!” Meng Chen growled as tightened his grip on Lin Xiao’s wrist and pulled the other closer. “When it comes to fights, one must do whatever they can to win! So, what if my method is dirty?” Meng Chen said as he pulled his head back slightly before moving them forward, attempting to give Lin Xiao a headbutt.

Lin Xiao saw his move and his eyes narrowed dangerously. “Brother Meng is indeed right. Then please don’t blame Lin Xiao for being ruthless,” Lin Xiao said before he lifted one of his legs and delivered a kick right between Meng Chen’s legs.

A collective hiss could be heard from those surrounding them. Qin Yijun still had a stoic expression on his face as he witnessed the scene, but he could feel his palm getting wet from the sweat. He turned his head to General Bing, and he could see the man’s face had paled considerably. Both of General Bing’s hands had unconsciously gone to cover his groin area.

To his other side, Qin Yijun saw that General Bai had turned his head sideways with both eyes closed. When he returned his gaze to Lin Xiao, he saw that Lin Xiao had already pulled his leg down and was staring at Meng Chen.

Meng Chen was also staring at Lin Xiao with disbelief before his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Then, his body slumped forward, and Lin Xiao simply side-stepped to avoid the other.

“Oh, I heard a body hitting the ground and the crowd is now silenced… has the match been concluded? From the crowd’s reaction, it seems that Xiao-er won the match?” as someone who did not get to see what had just transpired, Long Yinlian was the only person who did not get to share Meng Chen’s pain.