Prince and His Fool

Chapter 21: 'House Rules'

As soon as the warrior of his choosing joined the ring, his seemingly kind face instantly transformed into that of a fierce killer, thirsty for blood. He was like an explosive fireball, fiery and hard to shake off scaring the living daylights out of his target.

As a pitiful Rong Zian dodged the man's first swing, he noticed Ying Tie's wolfish smile it finally dawned on him, 'Shit! He played me.' he yelled internally glaring at the pair of uncle and nephew who had purposefully picked a firecracker in a small package predicting Rong Zian's selection process, he had picked a warrior who would inflict the most pain.

The man was agile leaping into the air as though flying and whenever Rong Zian made a break for it, the firecracker of a warrior would land right in front of him and swing his sharp sword almost slicing his face.

A frightful Rong Zian could only think of those countless gladiator shows he used to watch online where the audience would be yelling 'sweep the leg, sweep the leg' so he decided to give it a try and surprisingly it worked. His opponent came tumbling down with a loud bang, shocking the entire audience but Rong Zian didn't stop there. Seeing the warrior was still in a daze, he took advantage and sat on top of him intending to knock him out with the hilt of his sword.

But Rong Zian had only managed to infuriate the warrior even more and yet again underestimated the man's strength. The now crazed fighter grabbed Rong Zian's arms and headbutted him right in the nose. In a daze, Rong Zian stood up and staggered backwards his fingers rubbing his nose as though checking for blood but the man didn't let him recover, he kicked Rong Zian's chest with the kind of force that launched him into the crowd.

Wu Yange was expressionless in all this ordeal as he watched the Rong Zian get ruthlessly beaten up by the berserk warrior. Though he wouldn't show it, he was impressed by the coward's speed and dodging technique that is up until Rong Zian's unfortunate headbutt. He expressed his displeasure glowering at Chief Ying but the man purposely averted his gaze with a 'house rules' kind of expression. In turn, the prince gazed at Ying Tie with a deadly stare and like a frightened dog, Ying Tie folded his tail in between his legs and whispered something in his uncle's ear. The old man frowned but didn't immediately stop the fight.

The crowd shoved a trembling Rong Zian back into the ring and he fell pitifully to the ground. Just as he recovered from his trance he knelt up, only to discover the warrior was descending from up above with a sword in hand. The warrior heard the chief call his name gesturing for him to stop but with his momentum, he couldn't. The only way was to try and miss his target deliberately.

Still fearful for his life, Rong Zian raised his hands to shield himself from the attack, his heart racing, he could almost feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. From who knows were, a ferocious gusty wind blew by with extreme force, Rong Zian felt as though his soul was being drawn out of his body.

Rong Zian waited for the expected pain to descend upon him but it didn't come, he only heard a man screaming at the top of his lungs. The crowd had fallen into silence with their jaws dropped at the current scene. They had witnessed their warrior struck by an invisible force and fly above their heads landing into the muddy pig style.

Rong Zian slowly moved his hands peeking to see what had stopped the enthusiastic warrior from chopping off his hands but the man was nowhere in sight. The crowd was looking in another direction their faces no longer glued at the ring. Both uncle and nephew were flabbergasted but quickly recovered as the chief announced, "The winner of this match is none other than Rong Zian!"

The crowd went ballistic cheering at the sudden turn of events, while some fellow warriors helped their wounded compatriot to his feet. Rong Zian was in shock, he could only turn to the aloof prince and smile, 'The monotonous prince finally defended me maybe he's not that bad,' he thought as he gave him a nod in acknowledgement.

Wu Yange ignored him and walked into the village with a deadly stare aimed at the chief. If this old-timer wasn't his father's friend, he would have lost patience with him ages ago and struck him down where he stood. The ecstatic old man was famous for his thick skin and as expected he took it upon himself to flatter a victorious Rong Zian treating him as a first-class citizen to Ying Tie's dismay.

Just like Rong Zian, Ying Tie strongly believed the prince had everything to do with his success but he didn't expect his uncle to actually fall for it.

The chief ushered his new favourite into the village, picking the best seat on the banquet table for him to sit. Naturally, he wanted this talented child right beside him but before the chief could sit down, Wu Yange took it upon himself to create distance between the two. The sullen chief had no choice but to sit opposite him on the other side of the table.

Rong Zian was thrilled to have survived such an ordeal, he couldn't help it but incline towards the prince and thank him.

"Hey.....Your Highness, you saved my neck earlier so thank you though, I wish you had saved me sooner," he whispered to the prince but the man didn't even give him a second look as he sipped some tea. Feeling disgruntled a pouting Rong Zian took some of his roasted duck from his bowl and placed it in Wu Yange's bowl. "That's your repayment, we are even," he yelled as he continued with his meal.

The prince was stunned to see the piece of meat on top of his rice, in his mind he couldn't figure out how this would equate as repayment if he had assisted him. He still found it interesting that Rong Zian was completely oblivious to his power and he apparently wasn't willing to enlighten him.