Victory!

How did this happen? No matter how much I churned my brain, I couldn't find an answer. After all the attacks I pulled off and skillfully defending it all, how come he's on his knee now? What made him do that? It was the QI scythe. I don't know how this wonky stuff was able to do it, but it did it. It was able to injure Guo Ning. I guess it's internal, but that's great as well. I finally got to inflict damage on this guy.

Now that I had something to work with… something that's effective, I had hope. I just spat out the rest of my blood from my mouth and walked towards him. I don't whether it was this new hope or just sheer stupidity, something made me forget about how he blew my lungs. I was gasping for breath a second ago, but I was totally fine at that particular moment. Is this the adrenaline kicking in me? Well, that means I'm gonna get a massive recoil later. Goddamn it. I gotta end this fight and end it soon… But how come my brain says one thing and my heart says something totally different. Seems like my heart is totally relishing this situation. What a masochist!

I drew out my Qi scythe once again. It was as wobbly as before, maybe even more. At the same time, he got up as well. Oh boy, we're both looking for an ugly fight at this point!

We were walking towards each other at the beginning, then we took long steps, then we ran towards each other. We were out for blood!

I swung my scythe, which he dodged albeit having difficulty in doing so and I dodged his punch as well, facing similar difficulties as him. Then it was just a festival of dodges. We dodged nine out of our ten attacks. It might look like a pretty good stat, however this meant that we let through one attack of each other. And that one attack was deadly. But the thing is, both of us tried following up that one attack with other ones, but before we could do so, we miraculously recovered every single time. I guess we were both pumped up with adrenaline at this point. I don't think I can last any longer than three minutes. If that's my case, then Guo Ning would only last until five. But, if we drag it out as an endurance contest, he would win. So, I desperately need that follow-up strike. If I somehow got one in, the victory would be mine.

I guess both of us were thinking the same thing, because for the next one minute, we went all out with our attacks. He knew that I wasn't gonna stay put and make it an endurance game, so he chose an all out brawl as well.

Ha… Our fight was weird. It was almost rhythmic. He had nothing other than his punches and kicks and I just had my Qi scythe. Sure, he had the wind up attacks, but in a brawl like this, it was nullified. He still tried doing swings from different trajectories, but without the winding up, I easily had them scouted.

Meanwhile, my swings were almost generic. I swung him nowhere other than his abdomen region because I thought that the more I did it, the more I would injure that particular area. I mean, I did the same thing with my punches as well. I tried making his palms hurt. Although that didn't work out as I hoped, I was pretty sure that this one will… Until I got exhausted.

I needed one more minute. One more and I was confident that he would cave in. However, I knew it. Thirty seconds and I'd be done. My tank will be empty. Nothing more will come from me.

That's when desperation struck me. My body was once again in control of my emotions. If the last time was anger and fear, this time it was despair. Pure despair. The swings were wide and not on point. My balance was way off as well. It was a shite show all over and I hated it. But it seemed as if there was nothing that I could do about it.

However, something surprised me. It wasn't just me who felt the despair. He felt it as well. Just as my swings were garbage, his punches were shite as well. Which meant if one of us recovered and swung it correctly, then it's game over.

Upon this realization, I tried my hardest to snatch my body's control away from despair. My eyes weren't even focused towards Guo Ning. My entire mind was engulfed in a single task. That one moment… I needed that one moment of clarity where my body and mind were in sync… Then, my fingers flinched on my command.

It wasn't despair, it was me who did it. I knew it. I had an opportunity right there. Opportunity to counterstroke with all my might one last time. But where? Where shall I swing my scythe at? That's when I realized the profound truth. He is a big man, and I'm a woman of small stature. The way I fought against him up until now might have been satisfactory for people watching or the people who are involved in it, but this method was totally stupid. I mean, what person with a short stature like mine fights this way. If you wanna get the big man to the ground, the simplest way you do that is to aim for the legs. I'mma just gonna bust up his knees!

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So, I have one shot to do this. One chance to take out his knees. If I place my entire concentration right now, I could possibly regain control of my body… However, the situation is much more disadvantageous than advantageous. If I regain control right now, I'd basically be trapped before a random swing. I could maybe dodge it, but that might trigger him as well, and he might stop being desperate. I don't want that. I want a mistake. I don't care what kind of mistake it is, I just want one and that too right now!

It seems that fate wants me to win. At least it's listening to my request! A mistake! Guo Ning committed a mistake. He somehow stumbled when he tried to take a swing at me. This is it; the moment I've been waiting for. If I am to miss this, he will probably win the bout. He'll come back to his senses and he'll destroy me. But if I managed to place a hit, this is the end.

He was directly above me. This idiot stumbled right at me! Well, if I don't move, I lose as well... Never would've thought of a third possibility in this scenario, but it exists.

I focused hard and fast. It was no longer just the twitching of my finger; I could move my entire body. Ah… The feeling was bliss…

But a problem came up. I planned to hit his knees for him to fall down. But now that he's already doing that, what should I aim for. I started frantically looking for a spot before I just went for it.

First of all, I moved away from the line of impact. Then, I used his falling body as a springboard and jumped up. I twisted my body up in the air and subconsciously called for the Qi scythe. When the elevation that I got from the jump got interrupted by gravity and I started heading down, I just saw one point where I could do some sort of damage… Or at least I thought it would cause some damage; I mean… I don't know human anatomy! I wanted to strike him on the neck… My conscience was screaming at me to strike him in his neck. But, a double scythe strike on the neck didn't seem practical to me, so I went for the shoulders… not that it was practical as well.

I swung my scythes, each on one of his shoulders. I don't know what others saw, but for me, I felt as if I just sliced through both his shoulders, and it got severed. I could see the blood spurt out like crazy. I know it's dramatic, but that's how I felt…. That's how victory felt… It was bloody. It was sweet.

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Guo Ning didn't get up. I guess he tried kicking himself up, but it didn't work out at all. He couldn't raise his hands. Although I was the only one who saw it; it did happen. The connection of his hand with his body was severed. He could no longer feel it. It made me oddly happy. I guess my mind is sadistic while my body is masochistic. What a weird feeling!

Guo Ning stopped his struggles of getting up. That's when I heaved a breath of relief. However, all that adrenaline I previously had, left my body. I felt pain; immense pain… to the point that I couldn't bear it. I cried loud and hard. Tears kept flowing from my eyes. I couldn't hold it in anymore. While that happened, my mouth was smiling. I just won after all! My first hard fought victory!

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