Volume 3: The Sword God of Debt Collection Chapter 12: A Desperate Battle

  For the next three days, I was forced by Su Jing to "practice sword" with Duan Tianya. In fact, what they called practicing sword was just me holding a shoe horn and randomly swinging it around until I was exhausted and my Qi was depleted, at which point Duan Tianya would hide behind a tree in the standard dog-eating-shit pose... So, I still found the rule to force out the sword energy - that is, as long as I do a set of warm-up exercises first. I discovered that my sword energy is usually stable and calm, but after randomly swinging it around for a while, whether it's five or six minutes or ten or more minutes, it will slowly flow into my Dantian. This discovery can be said to be very valuable or completely useless - if there really is an enemy, I believe he won't wait patiently for you to finish your warm-up exercises before making his move.

  Three days later, it was the day we were supposed to "collect our debts".

  Su Jing asked me: "Do you want to call Zhao Dan first?"

  "Is it unnecessary?" I think this seems to imply distrust of the other person.

  "Let's go."

  I drove with Su Jing and Xiao Qian to the Provincial Sports School, following the same route as last time to the badminton hall. As we passed by the track, we saw Lin He Xiang wearing shorts and a vest training. His event was the 110-meter hurdles. When we arrived, he had just finished his training. Seeing me, Lin He Xiang wiped away sweat and said: "You're here to find Zhao Dan, right?"

  "How did you know?"

  "He told me you would be coming today."

  My heart was already halfway down, actually I also had a worry at first, afraid that something unexpected would happen.

  "Is he still at the badminton court?"

  Lin He Xiang said: "If it's usually uncertain, but these days are definitely in."

  "What does it mean?"

  Lin He Xiang said: "I don't know what's going on, Zhao Dan has been spending day and night in that place for the past few days."

  "What is he doing?"

  "Practicing ball, in these three days he almost smashed over a thousand balls, this is the current Zhao Dan, previously just playing badminton wasn't enough for him to afford compensation."

  "What's wrong with Zhao Dan now?"

  "You don't know, do you? He's already been recruited by the national team. In another week, he'll be representing China as a main player in the badminton World Championships in Indonesia."

  I exclaimed in surprise: "So soon?" I knew that Zhao Dan had been recruited by the national team, but I didn't expect him to participate in an international competition so quickly.

  "Come with me." Lin He Xiang led the way in front, and when we entered the badminton hall, it was just in time for lunch, all the other team members had gone to eat. In the huge venue, only Zhao Dan was left alone, standing on one side of the court, with a large pile of brand new badminton balls at his feet. He picked up a ball with his racket and hit it hard towards the opposite side of the court. Just as Lin He Xiang was about to go over and greet him, I pulled him back and stood quietly in the doorway watching.

  That ball was hit high by Zhao Dan, flying high like a rainbow towards the other side. To us, its landing point must be in the back court. But something strange happened - the ball suddenly changed direction just as it was about to cross the net, and fell to the ground with its head down, close to the net. You can imagine that if someone were playing against him at this moment, they would definitely be flustered.

  Zhao Dan shot another one, and this time he picked up a ball and shot it with great force. This time we all held our breath as the ball flew towards the back of the court, and judging from its trajectory, it was definitely going to land out of bounds, and might even fly into the stands.

  But a miracle happened, the badminton was about to fly out of bounds when it suddenly stopped in mid-air as if blocked by an invisible wall, turned around and dropped sharply into the court.

  "Seeing this, I couldn't help but applaud: 'You little devil is even more sinister at playing ball!'"

  Zhao Dan turned around and smiled brightly: "Little Dragon Brother, Little Dragon Sister-in-law, you've arrived."

  I saw his right arm holding the racket high and swollen, and exclaimed: "What's wrong with you?"

  Zhao Dan casually replied: "It's just a ball practice."

  Lin He Xiang couldn't help but say: "I've never seen you work so hard before, now you're so desperate, it's a completely different story once you enter the national team!"

  Zhao Dan smiled slightly and said to him: "He Xiang, go help me buy some food, I'm starving."

  Lin He Xiang said to us: "See, we can't even eat our meals." Saying that, he didn't suspect anything and went to the cafeteria.

  Zhao Dan looked at me and Su Jing, pointing to the front row of seats in the audience: "Sit down."

  I sat down uncomfortably, this meeting was somewhat awkward.

  Zhao Dan wiped the sweat from his neck with a towel and said, "Over these three days, I've come to believe more and more in what you told me. Now that I practice these balls every day, some people may not even be able to hit a few in their entire lives."

  "I muttered: 'You should have told us earlier that you're going to participate in the competition next week, we wouldn't have come.'"

  Zhao Dan asked us directly: "Are you ready?"

  "Preparations are all set, but I don't mind lending you another week either, after all it's for the sake of bringing glory to our country."

  Unexpectedly, Zhao Dan resolutely said: "No way!"

  "What's wrong?"

  Zhao Dan said, "If I didn't know anything else, that would be fine. But since Xiao Long told me those words, I suddenly discovered a problem. If my current ball skills are really related to my abilities...". He looked around subconsciously and continued when he saw only us, "Isn't that like cheating?"

  "Huh? You think so too?"

  "So even if you don't come looking for me, I'll go looking for you. I want to return your things and participate in the competition openly and honestly."

  I whispered: "Aren't you being too stubborn? It's not like we're taking stimulants, no one will find out."

  Zhao Dan said seriously: "Maybe it's like that, but you don't understand, badminton is my dream from childhood to adulthood. The first time I saw it flying in the sky, I made up my mind that when I grew up, I must become a badminton athlete. At that time, I didn't even know how to play, maybe I wasn't talented enough. After so many years of hard work, I barely managed to get into the provincial team and could only be a bench player. I want to win more than anyone else, but it's okay if I can't win. At least I can still be with it every day."

  I said: "In that case, you have even less reason to give up this opportunity in front of you."

  "I love it, so I cannot tarnish it. If I use special means to win the world championship, that would be a shame for me. Not to mention others, even my hard work over the years would not be justified."

  I burst out laughing and said: "What you just said is... incomprehensible!"

  "It's just like you're a swordsman who has practiced for many years to defeat an enemy, but before the duel, someone hands you a packet of poison and tells you that if you apply it to your sword, you can easily kill your opponent. How would you feel?"

  I gazed up at the sky and said, "It depends on what kind of enemy it is. If it's a blood feud like killing my father, then I thank that person for giving me poison!" I turned around and whispered to Su Jing, "He reminded me, when we get back, be careful of that little brat Duan Tianya trying to poison me."

  Su Jing: "......"

  "Anyway, I won't accept it, I want to participate in the competition with a clear conscience!"

  I carefully asked him: "With your true strength, are you confident of winning the world championship?"

  Zhao Dan said: "I will use my own real level and the national team members to have a fair competition first, if I get brushed down then so be it." Zhao Dan smiled, "Can't drag the country's hind legs."

  I said: "What's the point of this?"

  "To put it in a big way, it's for the sake of badminton; to put it in a small way, it's my own vanity."

  I sighed and said: "Since you've already made up your mind, I respect your decision."

  Zhao Dan comforted me, saying: "Don't worry, I'm not that easy to lose. In these three days, I've practiced nearly a hundred times, trying my best to cover all angles and various returns while I still have this memory."

  I inexplicably said: "You let me spare you for three days just because of this?"

  "Yes, I believe that in the future I can still hit shots that just clear the net and hit world-class shots. I've already got that feeling stored up in my heart."

  I couldn't help but laugh and cry: "You let someone serve you a big meal, but you don't eat it. Instead, you wait for others to take it away before you start drooling. I really don't know what kind of appetite you have!"

  Zhao Dan didn't say much more, smiling and saying: "How are you planning on getting your heterochromia back?"

  "Have you really decided?"

  "Really!"

  "Alright, you don't have to do anything, just give your hand to this sister."

  Zha Dan handed over his left hand, Xiao Qian looked at me and then at him, sat down between us, pulled up one of our hands each, and said softly, "Let me handle the rest, you two just sit here."

  Zhao Dan sat on the other side of me, looking a bit nervous and somewhat despondent. I patted him on the back through Xiao Qian: "Don't look like you're about to be executed or something, I told you it's yours if you want it."

  Zhao Dan smiled and carefully asked: "By the way, Little Dragon Brother, where did your special ability come from? Can I ask?"

  "Ugh, don't mention it, you're right, I'm indeed a swordsman."

  "Ah, what dynasty is this?" Zhao Dan's eyes lit up as he asked.

  I said: "Not ancient times, but a continent."

  Zhao Dan immediately became spirited: "Still the foreign mainland?"

  "You little scamp hasn't been watching less online."

  After all, he is a young man. As soon as I mentioned this, his attention was drawn to it immediately. I didn't deliberately conceal it either, and roughly told him about the situation with my daughter's country. My main purpose in telling him these things was to distract him from his concerns. Originally, he was a rising new star, but now his prospects are likely to be bleak.

  Zhao Dan heard that I was the Sword God and patted his thigh, saying: "That's so cool!"

  I said: "It's just that I'm putting you out."

  Zhao Dan waved his hand and said, "Nonsense, so many people are waiting for you to rescue them, besides this thing was originally yours."

  Xiao Qian suddenly said: "Alright!" Then she fainted again just like last time.

  After a rest, I supported Xiao Qian and Zhao Dan to bid farewell. I patted him on the shoulder and comforted him: "Play well next week, I believe you can do it!" But this sentence was said in a way that even I didn't believe myself.

  Zhao Dan smiled slightly: "Little Dragon, you're really bad at lying."

  Su Jingtao said: "Thank you for your kindness and justice, the mainland people will remember you."

  As we walked away, Zhao Dan picked up the badminton racket again and hit it towards the net. I turned back to look, just in time to see the shuttlecock land weakly within his own court... I sighed... On the way back, I was a bit distracted, for the next three or four days, I didn't do many glorious things. Liu Rili didn't say anything, but Wang Jinsong and Zhao Dan were really messed up by me. They were originally living their lives peacefully in their own world, but after I got involved, they couldn't live well anymore. For no reason, a line of poetry came to mind: "How can we get a vast mansion with thousands of rooms, where all the poor scholars under heaven can rejoice together?"

  At this time, Su Jing mysteriously told me: "Little Dragon, drive faster."

  "Do you have something urgent?"

  "No, just hurry up and open it."

  "Oh." I laughed: "I didn't expect you to be an impatient person too."

  Su Jing's eyes were fixed intently, her expression guarded, until the car reached the hotel entrance before she let out a sigh of relief. I looked at her in puzzlement and asked: "Did you wet your pants?"

  Su Jing's expressionless face said: "Just now we were being followed."

  "Huh?"

  "It must be a wicked Taoist, I feel he is in heaven, probably thinking of making a sneak attack on us."

  "What now?"

  Su Jingdao said: "I don't feel his sword aura now, he should still be unsure about joining forces with us to deal with these people together."

  "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

  "I'm afraid you'll be distracted."

  "This kid is really something, I'd say even if we joined forces, he wouldn't be a match for us."

  Su Jing worried: "His sword aura is even stronger than before!"

  "He won't be..."

  Su Jing shook his head first and said: "It should not be that you have found your sword energy again, but only a very small point, but it is very obvious."

  We chatted as we walked into the house, where everyone was present, but no one paid attention to us, all staring blankly at the TV screen.

  On the TV screen, several ambulances were parked at the entrance of a residential area. Medical personnel in white coats were busy carrying stretchers and people were constantly being carried into the ambulances. The subtitle below read: A group of residents in a local community have fallen into shock, suspected to be food poisoning.

  "Is it gutter oil or poisonous milk powder this time?" I hurriedly found a stool and sat down, asking anxiously.

  Everyone was silent and stared at Liu Laosix, who rarely had a serious expression and said to me: "It's Wang Qing!"

  "King Qing?" I was taken aback for a moment.

  Liu Laosix said: "These people's foreheads are black, and they're all young and strong, obviously their yang energy has been sucked out."

  "Practicing Qigong?"

  Liu Laosix explained: "Wang Qing uses his own yin-yang body to absorb the yang energy of these people. Although they don't have to worry about their lives, at least they will be delayed for half a year or a year."

  "What is the use of yang energy?"

  Liu Laosix said: "This thing is useless to Wang Qing, but his master will definitely be able to use it..." Su Jing suddenly realized and said: "No wonder the evil Taoist's sword energy has become stronger, it was all Wang Qing's doing!"

  Liu Laosix nodded and said, "It seems that the evil Daoist has invented another wicked technique, which can transform ordinary people's yang energy into his sword energy. Wang Qing probably only took action now because he had just successfully experimented with it yesterday, and today another entire neighborhood of people have fallen victim to it!"

  Su Jing slammed his fist on the coffee table: "Damn it!"

  Liu Laosix sighed and said: "I didn't expect him to actually lay hands on ordinary people, this is a great taboo of the Mao Shan Sect!"

  I worriedly said: "If things go on like this, once Wang Qing has absorbed the evil paths of everyone in the city, won't he be invincible under heaven?"

  Liu Lao Liu said with a bitter face: "Who says it isn't?"

  "Come on, you should think of a way too, aren't you also from Maoshan Sect?"

  Su Jingdao said: "Don't bother him anymore, what can he do with his two brains?"

  I exclaimed in horror, "This is terrible! If Wang Qing continues like this, it's only a matter of time before our own loved ones are affected." But I soon realized that apart from me, no one else here seemed to have any family either.

  Su Jingyi pulled me and said: "Come with me."

  She called me into a corner of the dining room and said seriously: "It seems that it's time for us to make a break with the bad guys."

  I smiled wryly and asked, "Do you have a plan?"

  Unexpectedly, Su Jing said resolutely: "Yes!"

  "Speak up!"

  Su Jingdao said: "If the evil cultivator now discovers the sword energy scattered on your body, will he still let Wang Qing go and absorb that little bit of thin yang energy from ordinary people?"

  "I said: 'Of course not, stop beating around the bush and tell me directly what you want to do.'"

  Su Jingdao said: "The key to the evil Taoist's harm to people lies in Wang Qing. If Wang Qing is finished, he will lose his claws, so my plan is to lure out Wang Qing and then capture him!"

  "How to invite?"

  Su Jingdao: "Use your sword energy."

  I burst out laughing: "Spare me the nonsense. If I knew where they were, wouldn't I have gone to get them myself? It's much simpler for us to join forces and take down the bad guys later."

  Su Jingdao said: "So we have to make a fake one."

  "How was it made?"

  Su Jingdao said, "Last time I was in seclusion, I made an unexpected discovery: perhaps because we are both Sword Gods, our sword auras are very similar. If I make some adjustments, it will be completely undetectable. My plan is to find someone to be the bait, put my sword aura on him and deliberately let Wang Qing discover it, then lure him out."

  I exclaimed in shock: "You can't be serious?"

  Su Jingdao said: "We have no other choice."

  "Have you ever thought that if it fails, the consequences will be unthinkable!"

  Su Jingdao said: "It shouldn't fail, Wang Qing himself is not strong. As soon as he appears, we'll subdue him. I'll immediately withdraw my sword energy and we'll join forces to deal with the evil Daoist."

  "I thought about it and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat: 'This is playing with our lives, if we make a mistake, the bad guys will become Ultraman, and we'll be left to suffer.'"

  Su Jingfen clenched her fist: "We can only fight it out!"

  I wiped away sweat and said: "Why did you do this?"

  Su Jingdao said: "Even for the sake of the people here, if the evil Taoist is not eliminated, their safety will not be guaranteed. My original intention in coming to find you from the Country of Women was to save people, and I couldn't just watch as more people suffer and do nothing."

  I was quite moved: "Don't mention it, you're really quite responsible."

  Su Jing Rou said, "Mainly also heard your words just now, if we don't take care of it, the evil Taoist will eventually harm your relatives and friends. After I return to the Country of Women, you still have to live here, I can't leave trouble for you."

  This time I was really moved, and also, when I heard her say "I'll be back in the daughter country", I felt a strange sense of sadness. I suddenly stood up and said angrily: "Come on, let's do it! You tell me, what should we do first?"

  Su Jingdao said: "First step, you have to find me an ordinary person who can be trusted."

  This chapter has been revised, Xiaohua mistakenly remembered the Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup in the previous version, the Uber Cup is actually a women's event, thank you readers for pointing out the mistake. Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to ask for monthly tickets again...