Chapter 151: Thuram
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Thuram was about the same age as Qin Mang. The latter, who had retired and lived his life a long time ago, was chubby like a balloon. The former, who had continued his training even today, still kept his amazing body, with broad shoulders, thick legs, and agile movement despite being over seventy years old.
This body was quick as lightning as he rushed toward Xia Fei with a pounce. His arms were in the air with fingers as sharp as an eagle’s claws.
The air was charged with murderous intent and a mixture of insanity, which would strike fear into anyone.
Xia Fei did not use his speed ability to dodge but charged to meet the other, instead.
Speed ability users specialized in agility, and charging straight at their enemies was comparable to using his worst flaw to fight at other’s strength. How was this any different from giving himself a handicap with the martial arts he had learnt?
Furrowing his brows, Xia Fei put his arms in a defensive stance across his face. He stamped on the ground with his legs and flew parallel to it toward Thuram’s knees like a cannonball.
“Hmm?” Thuram said under his breath before jerking his upper body, suddenly changing his stance mid-air.
At that moment, his body tilted as he stepped toward Xia Fei like a dragonfly gliding across the water’s surface. This attack did not have as much power behind it as before. If Xia Fei were stepped on by Thuram at full strength, he would not be at ease at all. Obviously, Thuram’s skills had surpa.s.sed Xia Fei long ago.
Xia Fei was a speed ability user who happened to have learned Crafty Approach, so he was able to change his attack style at any moment. Thuram was not a speed ability user, nor did he learn Crafty Approach, yet he was still able to change his attack method mid-air in a short time. Evidently, he had superhuman abilities, able to turn the impossible, possible.
“What incredible speed!” Xia Fei was shocked as he curled into a ball, increasing his speed.
The two pa.s.sed by each other. As Xai Fei increased his speed all of a sudden in mid-air, Thuram’s feet missed Xia Fei entirely.
“Hahaha, interesting! Let’s fight three hundred times in the future!” Thuram let out a hearty laugh after hitting the ground. His eyes were filled with excitement as he looked incredibly unrestrained.
Xia Fei was left speechless. This old man had gone at him heavy-handedly without a word of warning. Not only that, he even requested a rematch.
With Avril still in his mind, Xia Fei did not have any intentions of fighting Thuram anew, so he rushed to greet the elderly man with a smile on his face and one hand over the other fist. “This young one would obviously like to entertain your request, but I’m here to deliver a letter on behalf of old man Qin Mang; how about we continue sparring some other time?”
“Uhh…”
Thuram let you a cold snort. Xia Fei now played the role of a respectful junior. No matter how excited he was, he could not help but be embarra.s.sed to ask more of this young man.
Xia Fei’s humble gesture had dissolved any of Thuram’s intent to combat, which only put the latter in an awkward spot. However, as Xia Fei was indeed his junior, he still had to play the role of the elder.
“You may leave,” Thuram said to his secretary. He then returned to his seat, obviously a bit deflated. A measure of strength between warriors was as addicting as drugs, and exchanging just the one move left Thuram completely unsatisfied.
“Is Qing Mang doing well?” Thuram placed Qin Mang’s letter on the desk without opening it, chatting with Xia Fei, instead.
“Heh, the old man is still full of vigor, but his black cat called Old Black’s been growing weaker day by day, and the old man is a bit worried about it,” Xia Fei said with a smile.
“Oh, Old Black. That’s Qing Mang’s lifeblood. He treated that cat as he would a son.” Thuram then asked, “Why didn’t you dodge my attack and aimed for my knee, instead?”
Xia Fei replied, unfazed, “You must be joking. Your attack appeared menacing, but was actually a feint; the real kicker was to come. It didn’t matter where I dodged, so the only option I had was to counter your feint.”
Thuram’s eyes glistened with excitement before gesturing to a chair, inviting Xia Fei to take a seat. “Your master must’ve told you about my move Raptor Illusions. How could that old man Qin Mang explain it to you?”
Xia Fei was slightly shocked before shaking his head. “Old man Qin Mang isn’t my master, nor has he explained your moves to me.”
“What?!” Thuram gave the desk a good, solid slap, exclaiming. “Qin Mang isn’t your master?”
Xia Fei nodded. “The old man is the curator of a library, and I’m just a librarian working under him. Technically, it’s a boss-subordinate relations.h.i.+p.”
“So you figured out my move, then countered it?”
“Not really. I just noticed that retreating or dodging would put me in greater danger, so I decided to take a gamble.”
“Oh… Is that so.” Thuram leaned backward, stroking his white goatee that was not too long as he muttered, “You aren’t his disciple, yet he got you to deliver a letter for him?”
Thuram proceeded to read the letter on the table. He started laughing as he read it before having an incredibly serious look descended on his face.
Xia Fei did not know what was written, so he stood quietly at one side.
After reading it, Thuram put the letter away in his drawer and asked Xia Fei with furrowed brows. “You’re going to Black Abyss, and you’re looking for your friend?”
Xia Fei was a bit embarra.s.sed; it was fine that Qin Mang told Thuram in his letter that he was heading to Black Abyss, but why did he tell him about Avril, too? What happened to respecting his privacy?
“That is the case,” Xia Fei admitted plainly. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be taking my leave. The old man said that you like tea, too, so I brought along a few different types of tea leaves from my hometown for you to try.”
Xia Fei produced three tins of tea leaves and placed them on his desk. They were not huge tins, storing half a catty of tea leaves in each of them at least.
“These are Tieguanyin, Yunwu, and Mingqianlongjing. If you like them, I’ll bring more next time,” said Xia Fei.
Xia Fei got on his feet, ready to leave, as he finished speaking, but Thuram signaled him to stay seated. Although Xia Fei wanted to meet Avril as soon as he could, he had to respect Thuram’s authority, returning to his seat.
“Do you know what Qin Mang wrote in this letter?” asked Thuram.
Xia Fei shook his head. “No, the old man didn’t tell me anything about it.”
Thuram laughed. “Heh… I’ve known Qin Mang for dozens of years, yet it’s the first time I’ve seen him treat someone so well. Do you know what his nickname used to be when he was younger?”
“Nope.”
“The old man you know was known as ‘Living Hades’ when he was younger. Whoever got on his wrong side would lose some skin at the very least, if they didn’t end up dead. He was famous for being unreasonable and vicious. In all these years, you’re the first person who dared refer to him as ‘old man’; even I refer to him as Old Qin, and that’s only when he’s in a good mood, or else he’ll turn sour.” Thuram spoke with some lingering fear. Xia Fei observed that Thuram was telling the truth; could it be that Qin Mang was really that scary?
He gently shook his head. In Xia Fei’s eyes, Qin Mang was just a quirky, fat, old man. The two of them were used to messing around with each other, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not imagine Qin Mang being nasty.
Xia Fei’s interest was piqued, and the mystery that was Qin Mang captivated his interest greatly. “The old man never mentioned anything about this to me. Ever since day one, he’s been incredibly kind with a good temper.”
“He has a good temper?” Thuram smirked, rolling up his right sleeve to reveal a horrible black scar. “Do you see this? This is what your old man with a good temper left me with. Do you know why we fought?”
“Nope.”
“Because I looked at him funny,” Thuram said, looking deflated.
“When we were training in the training camp, I thought that Qin Mang was quite chubby and cute, so I stared at him for a few moments longer. Your ‘old man’ came at me using his full strength, no questions asked. We fought hundreds of times in the two years we were in the training camp. Half the scars I have on my body were from him. Of course, Qin Mang didn’t get off easy, either; I ripped off half his b.u.t.tocks with the move I just used on you.
“In the end, there’s no clear winner or loser between us. Plus, we got to know each other as we fought, so we ended up becoming friends. I sure miss the days fighting him; we’ve both gotten old now.”
As Thuram spoke, he seemed to have lost himself, reminiscing his younger days.
Xia Fei stayed silent as he tried to imagine the scene of old man Qin Mang fighting someone else, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not imagine that obesed man exchanging blows with someone else.
Xia Fei found it even harder to imagine Qin Mang looking fierce. One could only imagine how short-tempered he was if he went all out on someone who just looked at him wrongly.
Thuram let out another sigh as he returned to reality. “Although you aren’t his disciple, he treats you better than he does any of his other disciples. Have you had a clue how you got on his good side?”
Xia Fei had nothing to add. He did not give Qin Mang any special treatment other than giving him tea and snacks every so often, chatting with him when he was free and helping him look after Old Black, who was as fat as he was, nothing else.
“Probably because we get along well,” Xia Fei replied vaguely.
Thuram stared at Xia Fei with his piercing eyes for quite a long time, making Xia Fei feel uncomfortable.
“Actually, you’re quite similar to Qin Mang when he was younger, though you’re much more mature than he was back then. He was a complete sc.u.mbag when he was younger.
“Qing Man wanted me to provide you with a suitable wars.h.i.+p for your travel to Black Abyss.”
Xia Fei was shocked. Turned out Qin Mang wanted to get him a new s.h.i.+p.
Xia Fei did not actually need a new s.h.i.+p as Vampire was already worthy, probably good enough to face Black Abyss Star Region. Unless Qin Man thought that Vampire was not enough to challenge the Death Trio Star Region?
As he was in the middle of his thought, Thuram added, “Qin Mang said you had an Anathema-cla.s.s special ops frigate.”
Xia Fei nodded. “That’s right.
“An Anathema performs well, but it’s still a frigate, slightly lacking in firepower and defense. Although it fares well against s.h.i.+ps of the same cla.s.s, you’ll be at a disadvantage against larger s.h.i.+ps. Qin Man wanted me to get you a battlecruiser, and you can park your Anathema in the hangar as a backup.
“What a rare occurrence for Qin Mang to lend a hand and help you work things out to such an extent. You should really thank him once you get back,” said Thuram.
“Battlecruiser!” Xia Fei was utterly shocked when he heard Thuram’s words.