Chapter 27: Shamelessness Returns
Just as Gu Xiaopang had been bickering for a brief moment, the situation in the arena shifted dramatically! On Platform Five, Lu Xue, already exhausted from defending herself, was forced to the very edge by Leng Zikang with little effort.
At that very moment of crisis, over on the adjacent Platform Four—
“Senior Sister Chen Xue!”
“Be careful!”
Just as Gu Xiaopang’s left-hand rhino horn managed to halt the spinning Water-Splitting Dagger in Song Jiayan’s grasp and dispel its force, he suddenly released his voice, letting out a thunderous shout right in Song Jiayan’s face at close range.
“Did I hear that right?”
“Gu Xiaopang is clearly fighting Senior Sister Song, so why is he suddenly yelling for Senior Sister Chen to be careful?”
The disciples watching from below were instantly left bewildered...
“What the hell did that bastard just shout?”
“Has he lost his mind? Does he think I’m Chen Xue? And he’s warning me to be careful?”
Song Jiayan herself, who should have been reacting on the spot, was momentarily stunned...
“Chen Xue? Junior Sister Chen?”
“What on earth does Gu Xiaopang mean by this shout?”
“Is he showing gallant concern for a lady on another platform?”
Even Leng Zikang, who was on the verge of victory on the neighboring platform, was caught off guard...
But events moved faster than words! In the brief moment Song Jiayan was dazed, Gu Xiaopang’s right-hand rhino horn struck as well. The moment the left horn had finished dispelling force, the right one swiftly locked Song Jiayan’s right arm. With a turn and a twist, he pinned her arm behind her back.
At the same time, though his left hand lacked fresh strength, it took advantage of the momentum to seize and pin her left arm as well.
Then, a rather compromising scene unfolded.
Gu Xiaopang managed to position himself behind Senior Sister Song, successfully pinning both her arms behind her back... Her arms restrained, she instinctively bent slightly forward, her hips pressing tightly against Gu Xiaopang as he stepped forward...
“Shameless wretch!”
“Gu Xiaopang, let go of Senior Sister Song—she’s mine!”
“Utterly disgraceful!”
“I wish I could run up and thrash him, and even if I can’t, I’ll still try!”
Instantly, outrage erupted below the stage! Gu Xiaopang had thoroughly incited the crowd’s fury, as if he’d stirred up a thousand hornets’ nests...
Realizing her embarrassing predicament, Senior Sister Song cared nothing for the outcome of the match. Her face blanched instantly...
“Gu Xiaopang, let me go!”
“No.”
“Will you let me go or not?”
“I won’t.”
“If you don’t let go, I’ll fight you to the death!”
“I’ll let go—if you admit defeat first.”
“Elder! I admit defeat!”
Desperate to escape her humiliation, Senior Sister Song suddenly cried out in panic...
“This match is unfair! Victory without honor!”
“This match is unfair! Victory without honor!”
After forcing Senior Sister Yao to yield in the preliminary round, Gu Xiaopang had shamelessly resorted to the same trick again, infuriating the disciples below, who raised their fists and shouted, clamoring for justice for Senior Sister Song!
Ouyang Luo, Gu Xiaoping, and other third-generation heirs all shook their heads and sighed. Any hope they’d placed in Gu Xiaopang to redeem their pitiful reputation was now utterly dashed. All they could pray for was that he wouldn’t drag them into disgrace along with him.
“Gu Xiaopang, this isn’t over between us!”
From the platform where the Dan Pavilion disciples sat, Mu Wan’er shouted furiously at Gu Xiaopang, then stormed out of the arena!
Before the newly freed Senior Sister Song could even voice her outrage, Gu Xiaopang slipped off the platform with a swiftness like greased lightning, making straight for Mu Wan’er...
Clearly, he cared nothing for the cries of condemnation from the crowd below!
“Ahem.”
“Ahem, ahem.”
“Though Gu Changqing’s conduct in this match was improper... he did not violate the tournament rules. Therefore, the result stands.”
The elder overseeing the event outside the arena looked up helplessly at the high platform, where the sect leader and Elder Gu were all feigning sleep. After a moment of silence, he could only make this reluctant announcement.
Another uproar filled the arena!
Yet no one noticed that, on the adjacent platform, Chen Xue, who had been in dire straits and unable to spare a single thought elsewhere, had missed Gu Xiaopang’s shout entirely. Instead, she took advantage of Leng Zikang’s distraction at the commotion, leaping back to the center of the platform and narrowly escaping being forced off only moments earlier...