Chapter 857: Setting Up Those Who Want To Scheme Part 1
The first matchup of the second bracket ended uneventfully, and now it was Ako"s turn to go up on stage. The crowd had become excited again because it was now Ako"s turn.
Ako stood on the stage and looked across at the young man whose name she did not know. Tou, on the other hand, was waiting for the battle to start so he could use the needle in his hand to regain the face he lost during his previous fight with the slime girl. The posture and actions did not escape Ako"s eyes. She could tell there was something up, just did not know what.
Old Wen stood at the side of the stage and looked at both Ako and Tou, nodding to both. "Let the battle begin!" As soon as he yelled out, he quickly hopped off the stage and acted naturally as he always did.
Ako clenched the sword in her hand and waited to see what these two people had planned. She did not plan to make the first move. The spectators were just as silent as it was on the battle stage. A gentle breeze blew through the air ruffling both Ako and Tou"s robes.
Tou was beginning to sweat. He had planned for Ako to attack him first. He was going to take the first few hits and then use the chance to secretly stab her with the needle. This was what he and his great grand uncle had decided on since he was not good with thrown weapons. He couldn"t help but s.h.i.+ft his eyes towards his great grand uncle, who didn"t dare look at him.
Ako sneered as she saw this. She smiled as she pointed her sword at him and said: "Are you coming or not? If you do not come, then you must want to forfeit. Since that is the case, the overseer can just call the battle, can you not?" Ako asked with a small smile on her lips as she turned and looked at Old Wen.
Old Wen frowned, hearing her words. He turned and looked at his useless great grand nephew and wanted to snap his neck. The worthless thing didn"t even know how to think for himself. He then looked at the mocking smile on Ako"s face and knew she knew something was up. Since that was the case, he would just pretend he knew nothing. This way, he can"t be connected to anything, and the useless brat would take the fall. But to get the brat to move, Old Wen could only answer Ako"s question. "If he does not move in the next three minutes, you will win the fight."
Hearing his great grand uncle"s words, he knew he was going to be abandoned if he did not do anything. With no help, Tou only had one option left, and that was to attack her first. While this made things harder on him, he could only hope it would work out. He gripped his sword in his other hand and readied himself as he yelled out: "You want me to attack then, fine!"
Tou took a deep breath and began his charge. He kept his other hand free so that he could use it at any moment to toss the needle out. He just needed to get close enough so that the needle would stick into the slime girl"s skin. As long as she gets even the slightest poke, she would become unable to move, and he can then get his revenge and regain all the face he lost. At least, this was his new plan.
Ako looked at the fool running towards him and was not even looking at this sword hand but the hand that was clenched tightly at the side that he seemed to be readying for something. As he got closer and closer, Ako flipped the sword in her hand as she got ready to defend herself.
Tou got within sword reach of Ako. His eyes lit up, thinking he had succeeded in his plan, and thrust out his sword while at the same time reaching out with his other hand as if he was trying to do some kind of faint. But as he looked into Ako"s face and saw her smiling lips, he knew he was through. The next thing he knew, the hand with the needle was grabbed, and his sword was knocked out of his hand with ease. He felt a sharp pain in his wrist as Ako pressed on the nerves in his arms, causing his hand to open.
When Ako saw the needle in laying on his palm, her eyes turned cold. With a swipe of her sword, the hand detached from Tou"s arm as she kicked him, sending him flying to the edge of the stage. He could only cry out in pain as he held his wrist and tried to stop the bleeding. Ako ignored him and walked towards the edge of the stage with Tou"s hand in her grasp. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Hmmm?" Old Wen acted like he did not know and looked at the needle resting on his great grand nephew"s hand and forced a frown. "What is the meaning of this indeed…." Old Wen turned and looked at his great grand nephew. He could only sacrifice the useless trash so he would not be exposed. He jumped up on stage, not even looking at the hand anymore, and drew his sword. "You dare cheat during the Dragon Festival!? Hidden weapons are forbidden, and you still tried to use one!? Punishment is death!"
Old Wen went to slash his sword down, but before it could make contact with Tou"s neck, another sword appeared and blocked his attack. He turned and looked at Ako with a look of confusion. "May I know why you are stopping me from dis.h.i.+ng out proper punishment based on the festival"s rules?"
"Because I want to ask him a quick question." When Old Wen heard these words, his face paled slightly. He suddenly realized he had fallen into a trap. If he killed Tou now, he would be seen as trying to cover something up. If he let Tou talk, he had a chance of being exposed. He never in his life would have guessed that a mere slime girl would be so much trouble!