Fine, I'll be the Second Best

"I like sweet things, I do, if they don't taste sweet!" - Lin Si, 6, explaining to her father why she didn't want the candy.

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"You…are you okay?" The voice cut through his aggrievements, past the hopelessness and cold taking hold of him. 

She tilted her head downward, reading his yellow slip. Her eyes widened, then to his surprise, almost making him jump, she reached out her hand, patting his shoulder roughly and coming in close so their faces were almost touching. He noticed a scar that ran around the entirety of her right wrist.

"No, no, I get you, brother," she put on an aggrieved face. "I also have suffered just like you at one time, don't be dismayed!" She turned to him, fierceness in her eyes, "I got you this time, just vote on Liu Congru next match, and you will win, guaranteed! He glanced over at the boards. The odds for Liu Congru were less than 1 to 5. Chances were he wasn't gonna win.

"Are you sure…" He asked hesitantly, it was hard to think with his current headache, and his hands constantly tingling currently, he figured he probably needed to massage them.

"Trust me!!" Sun'er had gone off to buy some other snack for himself, and he suddenly felt his wheeled chair whirled around and pushed towards the tables, her face was still next to his, leaning forward to push it. He had never been close to anyone, except his brother and Sun'er, when they helped bath him, it made him automatically tense up.

But she stopped before they reached it, "so you want to make the bet?" She grinned down at him, he found himself automatically smiling back. No one smiled in their residence, his brother never smiled period, Sun'er never looked up even unless given treats, and madam Wang had a constant frown, built from years of hardship. So when someone smiled at him, he couldn't help but automatically smile back, with so little resistance built up.

"Sure, fine…I have 20 taels." What did he have to lose anyway? He'd get the same lecture if he lost 80 taels or a 100!

 "I'll submit it?" She asked lightly, he nodded. 

She stole the slip from his fingers and his sachet from his waist, noticing his hands were cold, instantly set her bottle of warm rice wine into his hands, heating them instantly. The tingling began to fade as his nerves relaxed from the heat, and his body began to warm up, with it against his stomach.

After it was submitted, she rolled him back around, to an even better view point of the field. "Just you watch!" She encouraged him, while also giving him a wink. "And I'll be participating in a match right after, so please stick around!"

"Of course!" He guaranteed righteously.

She chuckled a little. He was so cute, very like her own little brother but…a little less annoying, no could he even be like that little rascal little brother of hers? No way! She left him in peace, and Li Junli watched her head back, to reach the announcement stage. It suddenly dawned on him that she had been the announcer all along. She had spoken so softly, he hadn't blended it with the harsh shouting that could be heard by everyone over the crowds' racket.

She once again sounded the start of the match. There were few rules in each match and martial artists also participated, lining the first row around each arena, to block any residual energies that were to escape. Luckily, no one was as strong as his brother, so there weren't any major hazard concerns.

To his excitement and joyful astonishment, the underdog, Liu Congru, really did win.

In the small respite between matches, the announcer was swapped out to a man clothed in simple garments and wooden beads with a braided rat tail. But he hardly noticed the new guy after she existed the booth, his eyes getting tired from the busy night.

He simply called Sun'er over to help him cash out his money, and on a whim, pushed them all into her name…Lin Si, it read. The other names were all too masculine to be hers. The bets were actually quite staked against her.

Lin Si, on the other hand, had a frustration, signing up to challenge someone late, because of business, and ended up only getting a chance to challenge after the first couple fights, which meant the closest she could get to the front that didn't already have a challenger, was 11th place.

However, this man was still strong.

In fact, the only reason he wasn't higher up was because he had only joined the last challenge night, and having come late in late that evening, beat his opponent in 17th place thoroughly. Tonight, he had yet to challenge anyone, having once again arrived rather late.

However, rather than nervous, she just felt a little bit of tingling excitement. That familiar feeling that she had always gotten when she went into battles, which had caused her to leave her perfect home and perfect family, to journey out on adventures, fight various foes, and eventually return, after getting her taste of everything there was to see, only for her father to send her out again. Hahaha, she glanced upward, licking the cold wind. Maybe she shouldn't have left her warm wine with the young man, but the excitement pumping through her veins chased away any cold she might have.

Li Junli rarely drank. No, it would be more precise to say he had never drank, not unless he found a way to sneak one when his brother wasn't looking. He was strictly prohibited from drinking. But.. now with the warm wine in his hands, it was hard to resist.

The next battle was signaled to start. The stand-in announcer wasn't great, but his voice was barely loud enough to hear it, so Li Junli didn't mind much.

Meanwhile, Xu Tianwen: …I never thought I'd end up announcing underground fighting rings at one point in my life. Also, is she really that confident to go against such a strong opponent?

Li Junli strained his eyes, begging them to clear again, and to his delight, they really did, in fact they cleared so well for a moment he could see every detail of the two challengers' dress and face.

He saw the young woman, Lin Si, standing, facing a man, easily 3 halves her height, and 6 times her thickness, with arms that rippled with strength, he carried two maces, attached to the handles by thick chains, each weighing over 27 catties, and yet he swung them like light weights. She faced him calmly, as if she couldn't hear the ruckus of the crowd or the shaking of his chains.

It was clear those who had betted on her only betted for her character and eloquence, but the cheers for her victory were vibrant all around. This man wouldn't win if he won, and wouldn't win if he lost.

But, although he felt her skills might be subpar, he didn't dare to fully let down his guard. He'd heard from his own master that even though women were weaker in the earlier stages of martial arts, once they reached a certain level, able to interact with inner qi directly, they were able to release completely newfound power, sometimes even equivalent to men of the same level.

He rocked his maces round and round, they circled each other, trying to read the other's movements, her blade was still sheathed, but she held it in one hand, striding stride to stride with him. Then, his mace finally broke out of its familiar twirl, it raced towards her.

The moment his muscle twitched to send the mace over, she had already begun moving, her feet swept the sand of the ground of the arena, twisting her body, as she bent double, in the moment the mace leapt toward her, she had already leapt towards himself as well. Without the distance, he was suddenly at a disadvantage and couldn't stop the hefty blow as her sword butt went up and slammed into his chin, jarring him for a moment. But he was no easy opponent, the moment he saw what would happen, he clenched his jaw, tanking the hit, while his knee thrust skyward to slam into her body. 

She leapt away as quickly as she had entered his space, she left it, her hair flying behind her, now tied in a low pony tail, it rested on her shoulder, as she once again stepped around him. This was different than the usual battles, and everyone's eyes were instantly drawn to it the moment the exchange was made. Both opponents looked to be incredibly at ease, rather than the usual bout, where both of them would be hopping on their toes, looking for openings, these two just gazed at the other arrogantly as they paced side to side. She saw his leg twitch, reacting before a movement was made to step to his other side, but, it was a feint, his left arm rose up, the mace swinging straight at her face. Even if she attempted to block it with her blade, it would strike so hard it could easily shatter the wooden covering, plus it had vicious spikes all up it, making it hard to avoid getting stabbed in the process of blocking. This man had stopped holding back, realizing she was a real opponent after receiving the strike to his jaw.

However, to everyone's surprise, as the spiked ball went for her face, unable to retreat, she suddenly disappeared, everyone's eyes barely able to track, as her body fell downward, rolling on the ground, like a dog, right under the swing, her blade slammed upwards, snapping his fingers viciously, as she leapt to her feet behind him. He was forced to loosen his grip on one mace, but his momentum didn't stop, and reacting as quickly as possible, he swung his other mace around behind him, before he had even turned to face her. But she had taken that moment to shock the back of his knees so hard, it forced the muscle to convulse. When the tendon convulsed, it threw off his entire movement, and he was forced to quickly back off.

She stood the same straight way. Her brown clothes and hair made it impossible to tell that she'd just rumbled with the dirt.

She smirked at him, taunting him with one hand. He truly stopped holding back finally. A yellow, reddish energy suddenly emanated from his body, even coating parts of the maces he held, unevenly. Everyone instantly quieted in shock, not paying attention to the announcer's continuous drawl, who was somehow completely unaffected. Well, even Li Junli was unaffected. This kind of out of body qi, he had seen it a hundred times by his brother, and his brother, unlike this man, had complete control over it, letting it coat his blade evenly, able to send it out in perfect crescent waves, unlike whatever the messy energy of this man was doing.

However, it was rare in the martial world to be able to attain the level of out-of-body qi. Anyone able to do so was already considered a master, and each had legendary titles. However, this man was still somewhat unknown and from unknown origins.

Lin Si remained calm, her calmness flowed over the entire crowd, to even Li Junli, he'd seen a similar look, in his brother's eyes.

The man charged towards her, his maces swung in every direction, north, south, east, west, upward, downward, making escape impossible. He wasn't going to go easy on her anymore. She suddenly licked her lips, a smile accidently creeping its way onto her face.

Li Junli saw this, it was completely different than his brother…this face she was making…his brother's own cold, untouchable one overlapped with hers for a moment, before suddenly hers overwhelmed it, and all he could see was the maniacal grin. He begged his eyes to stay clear a little longer.

A mighty force swept towards her. She let out a little qi, so small it was indiscernible, coating the very tip of her blade, then, as the maces came towards her she swept it out in front of her, each swing, pristine, timed to perfection, blocking very hit with minute precision, barely tilting from side to side, dissuading each attack as if they were the slaps of a disobedient child. She didn't move one centimeter, her feet in perfect place, dust was kicked up, the audience screamed in defiance that they couldn't see, but Li Junli, in a rare moment, his eyes cleared even more, and with his higher elevation from where she'd placed it earlier, he had a perfect view, able to gaze through the dust, eyes latched onto her movements-so simple they could be tracked by the naked eye, even of someone without training like himself, and yet, not one moment were they too slow to block a hit.

Suddenly, through the dust, her smile widened, he found his own face also smiling at its maniacal glory, Sun'er glanced at him in confusion, licking a tanglu stick.

She leapt forward, suddenly, slamming one mace to the side, an opening revealed itself, right as her body reached it, her body bent at an implausible angle, as her feet flew across the ground. The blade in her hand twisted in a beautiful curve, it slammed into the man's chest, shocking him for a moment, and that brief moment was long enough to flick it upwards and slam him in the jaw so hard, it was left limp and hanging, he also flew backwards, falling to his posterior

She now stood over him, domineeringly. Her smile was so wide, she had to move her lips side to side doing her best to contain it, before she could finally remove it. She gazed down at him, loosening her sword to point at his face. It was still in the same right hand it had started in. It had yet to be unsheathed. "Surrender?"

He lifted his own hand, with three fingers raised, the sign they'd developed to signal the challenger had surrendered. If the match continued, the one who hit the surrendered foe would be eliminated and lose his plaque.

She drew back her sword, slinging it over her shoulder again, reaching out a hand to help him up. He glanced at her rather thin wrist, and shook his head, ignoring it, to stand up himself, heading over to the medics (physicians-in-training, who found a way to make money without actually being doctors yet).

Lin Si didn't immediately go back to her post. Her eyes had caught the young man, Li Junli's, when she was fighting, and she figured she might as well bid him good night, since she saw him withdraw his money, easily almost 1000 taels now, and begin to roll out. She greeted him before he had made much distance from the bidding table.

"Yo," she winked at him, leaning into his chair rudely again. "How did I do, wasn't it good?"

"Yes, yes," he agreed, thumb raised, "you won me a lot!"

She punched his shoulder lightly, he flinched a little, no one had ever touched him so forwardly before, no one…

"You cheeky one, make sure to bet on me if I ever compete again then!" She grinned.

He nodded, "yes, yes, I'll make sure to do so…but not if facing a stronger opponent~" calling Sun'er to continue, he quickly went down the path, rolling away.

She kicked some dust after him. "I heard that! Also! Keep the wine!"

Oh, right, he'd forgotten, he still had her wine! How embarrassing!

As he returned back home, feeling the wine was almost cooled, he held it close, until Sun'er brought him to his room, and left him to get some towels to wipe him down, he finally didn't resist, and with no one to stop him took a good chug…and instantly regretted it. He spat it out, across the floor, setting the wine gourd down, to grab some water from the drinking pitcher, trying to wash out the flavor. Tchew, that was gross, tasted like rotten vegetables!