Chapter 13: All of you against me alone!

"I didn't expect you'd also get disqualified, Brother Wang."

"Well I didn't expect that either Brother Yi."

"…"

Wang Fan and Yi Ren were now watching the matches from the spectators' seats as they both had been eliminated from the competition. Neither of them liked talking much so their conversation was a bit slow.

"You didn't need to use Pickle Armor, so why take the risk?"

"I didn't know I was risking anything. I don't remember that wearing only gray in the matches was a rule."

"It was according to Section C, paragraph 5, line 2 of the Gray Grass Sect's 1v1 Competition Rulebook."

"…"

"Oh, look, that seems to be Ling Zhou running over there."

"Why is he naked?"

"He might just be late."

"…"

Two hundred meters away from them one could see many people above and at the sides of the platforms. One small beige dot stood among the grayish rest. The small dot jumped on one of the platforms and another gray dot jumped off almost at the same time.

"Was that a girl shouting?"

"Probably."

The beige dot stood there for a moment before running off somewhere again, leaving only one grayish dot on top of the square stage.

"It seems he won."

"Didn't he get disqualified?"

"The Rulebook mentions using gray clothes only, but it doesn't specify about not wearing anything, so it's debatable."

"It appears Brother Ling found a loophole."

"That means we lost, isn't it?"

"Yeah… I think so."

"…"

"…"

"Hey guys how did it go?"

"Oh, it's brother Fang."

"Hello Plummy Fang. Did you finish your new move or whatever that was?"

"Uh… no, I got stuck at the end. Anyways, what's up with your matches; you shouldn't have finished already, should you?"

"We got disqualified, Brother Fang."

"Ha? But you won?"

"Technically yes, however we aren't participating anymore."

"What was the reason?"

"I used forbidden means, while Brother Wang broke the dress code."

"Sounds like something you would do."

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore. Ling Zhou won the bet, he's the champion now."

"So... the new generation surpassed us after all, huh?"

"Seems to be the case."

"Anyway, is everything ready?"

"Yes. Everything's prepared. We will be leaving at dusk. The night will be our aide. Also, I've packed everything here."

Plummy Fang took out a shabby leather pouch from one of his inner pockets, showing it proudly to the boy with a cubic hairstyle and the thin boy with thin eyebrows and a long nose.

"I had to sell the majority of your failed inventions to a suspicious individual, Brother Yi, along with the pills Junior Brother Ling turned in before the 13th talent competition, some limited edition pickles from Wang Fan's collection, I did a couple of hair services here and there… I also used all of our savings and the spirit stones Brother Yi had for his experiments."

"…"

"My… limited edition pickles!? You sold them?!"

"At a regular pickle's price indeed."

"W-Why not only…?"

"Oh and I also sold the rest of your normal pickles. They were all going to rot away anyway."

"N- Not the special edition ones..."'

"But do not worry; we will be back to our normal financial state in no time. As long as we have Brother Yi working and find another suspicious individual to sell the failed artifacts to. In fact, most of the money for the pouch came from that."

"So, what are the specs?"

"It can hold up to 2 cubic meters and 100 kg of things! Isn't that awesome?"

"And what did you store in it?"

"We have food for two weeks, including Brother Wang's remaining pickles, some clothes for each, the research materials, and those... things."

"Sigh… we'll just have to wait now."

"Hold on, do you have my pickles or n-"

Boom!

A loud noise accompanied by an air shockwave filled the surroundings, startling the trio and the people who were also seated watching the competition. Everyone turned their heads to the direction where the sound came from. The platforms of the competition were in the center of the sect and were surrounded by giant grass-like buildings, making it difficult to see what was happening beyond certain close areas.

However, smoke rose up from one of the outermost buildings of the sect, showing clear signs of destruction.

"Isn't it very close to our lodgings, Brother Fang?"

"Might be. We can't see much from here, so we can't be sure…"

"Are you sure you brought everything?"

"Are you asking because you're worried about our stuff or because you think the explosion has something to do with us?"

"Well, both may be tru-"

Boooom!

Now that everyone was looking in the direction of the strange event, they had a clearer idea of what was happening. An explosion made a giant gray strand-like building break from its base; causing it to fall. Debris flew everywhere. Clouds of dust rose up, obstructing the view to the affected areas.

"Are you sure… that it's not our fault?"

…

A couple minutes earlier, Ming Daiyu had just returned to the Medical Grass; a building of the sect not far from the area where the 1v1 tournament was being held (for obvious reasons). This building was different from the typical long and curved ones around it; it was actually very short in comparison. It had the shape of a large tent with smooth edges, but the material it was made of seemed like concrete; being a tone lighter than the buildings around it.

The door had a similar texture but was made from a darker material, seemingly thick and heavy, but with a density close to that of wood. She opened the doors with a hurried push, opening both at the same time and rushing to enter, but she froze in confusion before she could even step in.

"ALL OF YOU COME AT THE SAME TIME!"

"Restrain him! Careful, he's got a hostage!"

"We can see that!"

"YOU'RE GOING TO SEE WHO TAI TU IS! COME ON, ATTACK ME!"

"Calm down Brother Tai, leave the boy on the floor."

"You little man, don't be a coward and fight me fairly! Or else you're eating snot again!"

"YOU'RE DEAD STICK-BOY! AHHHH!"

"Careful, he's coming!"

"Grab him!"

Tai Tu had gone berserk since Ming Daiyu first left, taking Average-guy as a hostage and causing chaos inside the Medical Grass. He looked like a walking tomato; he was red, short and had fat arms that made him look round.

He threw Average-guy to the side on the floor next to one of the beds and rushed to attack stick-boy, who had already taken out his giant conical stick, holding it with his only healthy arm to defend himself against Tai Tu's incoming offensive.

One of the patients who had just woken up because of the fuss couldn't help but scream as Tai Tu grabbed him by the foot and swung him around as some sort of sling, throwing him towards Stick-boy with abnormal strength. The latter quickly reacted, rotating his stick to use it as a shield and not pierce the innocent flying man.

The poor guy crashed into Stick-boys giant wood cone, bending his whole body from the waist as the momentum of his limbs that didn't hit the stick remained. Stick boy only had to take two steps before throwing another provocative remark.

"HAHAHA! Tai Tu, you're so dumb! You could've thrown me the guy you were holding as a hostage, yet you used such an inefficient approach! No wonder you lost to a little guy… Oh wait, you're a little guy yourself!"

"YOU ARE DEAD!!!"

Stick-boy hadn't realized that Tai Tu was already in front of him as he was busy taunting him, and the big stick he held worsened his visibility while he was blocking the man that was thrown at him, allowing Tai Tu's fist to go past the wooden cone and approach his face with an unmatched speed.

"STOP!"

A sharp voice reverberated inside the large, white room as a small and extended hand suddenly appeared in front of Tai Tu's fist, receiving the brunt of the attack with its palm. The air around the altercation expanded like a tri-dimensional wave that blew upon every inch of space inside the building.

"It's enough!" The girl, whose body didn't move an inch, spoke again as she tightened the grip she had on Tai Tu's fist. She then proceeded to pull it towards herself as her body rotated enough to make use of her other hand with which she grabbed the back of the head of the red guy who was now a few centimeters away.

Ming Daiyu pushed the head she was holding to the ground, moving her foot to step on it as soon as it landed, and readying the other to deal with Stick-boy, who was about to react.

"Forgive me, Senior Sister! I will comply!" He shouted before the kick thrown at him could connect. Ming Daiyu stopped her attack in mid air, believing his words.

"As if! Stick-boy never surrenders!" He shouted again, swinging his stick and making use of the momentary distraction to deal a blow.

Clap!

A dry sound of skin getting hit entered everyone's ears. Stick-boy thought that his attack had connected but, looking closely, he found out that Ming Daiyu had protected her face at the last moment with her palm, and that she was now angrier than before; her relatively thick eyebrows were so furrowed that they left lines on her forehead.

She didn't speak a word and just snatched the stick and threw it away before landing a punch to Stick-boys cheek.

Pam!

His body flew a couple meters closer to the door as he fell unconscious.

"Everyone, get ready! We are under attack!"