Chương 28: "Are You Not Entertained?”

Ch 28 "Are You Not Entertained?"

Two of the judges raised their gold flags as Wood's battered body was lifted up high by Bone Eater.

"What is that guy doing?" Amber asked angrily, as the third judge, the round Mr. Tusk, ate at his meat greedily while his unamused eyes watched the gruesome display on stage. He showed no indication of reaching for a flag. Did anyone actually call such a man the Gold Dragon?

"Just a pig bastard," Ember said, fanning herself gently.

"You will undoubtedly encounter more in this lifetime, Little Cabbage." Bone Eater let out a battle cry from behind his metal mask, sounding like a tiger that had just taken its prey. His muscular arms flexed as he raised the defenseless boy above his head.

"Look at him! Loooook at him! Don't. Ever. FUCK, with Bone Eater!" the man screamed, veins throbbing in his neck as he shook the battered boy wildly above his head. The crowd went wild. The large man let out a bellowing cry as he threw the boy directly through a table below the stage with a disgusting crunch that energized the entire crowd. Finally, all 3 judges had raised a golden flag in the air. GONG"Oooooh! We have 3 flags! It looks like the newcomer won't be the one who finally breaks Bone Eater's winstreak!"

The announcer practically danced with joy as he shouted into the Dragon Tube, the loudness easily matched by the screaming crowd. Amber noticed that the large judge with pork fat all over his mouth was grinning in a way that pissed her off.

"I actually won my bet!" Wing shouted, his face red with glee and liquor.

"He lasted at least a minute!" His voice was joined by many, either in joy or despair at their results.

"Well, I hope this next round is a bit more exciting!" Ember said from behind her fan, pouring another cup of her plum rice wine.

"Oh, I feel like it will be," Wing smiled crookedly as he matched her pour. Bone Eater ran around the platform shouting as Sword & Wine Bar attendants picked up the unmoving boy from Green Wood Village. They loaded him onto a cloth stretcher and carried him out. Amber watched in silence as Wood was carried off. While she didn't feel any pangs of sorrow, she did feel her hatred loosen a bit towards the boy after watching him suffer such a crushing defeat.

Who knows if he could even follow his dream of participating in the Great Clan Trials? He might be too broken for this one, and too old for the next one. Sure, she would've broken his legs anyway, but she had a personal grudge. This seemed more like inflicting misery for the love of it. She quietly observed how it made her feel in her stomach.

"Little Cabbage, do you think you could beat him?" Ember asked, smiling softly as ever.

"Hmmm." Amber took a moment to think as her thoughts returned to Bone Eater. He wasn't as fast as the assassins in the woods, but he did seem to have at the very least the strength of Wild Hog, who could still tear apart cultivators with his bare hands.

"He definitely didn't show everything he had in that match." Amber finally spoke above the noise.

"But I would kill him in 10 minutes," she smiled.

"That long?" The girl in red laughed from behind her fan.

"That's taking into consideration that I haven't eaten breakfast, of course. How long would you take?" Amber asked, her eyelids taking care not to reveal any emotion.

"Well, with no external Qi Arts allowed? That's a pity, or I would roast him in 5 seconds flat!" The girl in red laughed with her head back before drinking her plum wine.

"Well, the guy is crazy. That counts for something in a fight. I don't see how he still has challengers!" Amber said, slipping the last chicken leg unnoticed into the shadows.

"The prize, of course!" Wing said, swaying a bit as his drink sloshed.

"His win streak prize has gotten up to 100 Gold coins, just look at the board!" Amber nearly spit her mouthful of mushroom rice out.

"100 gold??" she asked through a full mouth.

"I imagine that could buy quite a number of cabbages!" Ember laughed over her drink.

"Dragons and Swans, Sinners and Saints, we have your next challenger ready!" The announcer with the Dragon tube moved with great flair back onto the stone platform.

"Already?" Amber looked up from her mushroom rice with surprise. There were still attendants throwing buckets of sand on the bloodied stone floor before cleaning and shuttling it away.

"Today's next challenger, ALSO hails from Green Wood Village!" the announcer yelled into the Dragon tube.

"What?" Amber raised an eyebrow as Ember looked towards her, all while Wing chuckled over his wine, trying to contain his laughter.

"A fierce fighter who is known for slaughtering bandits! For protecting what must be protected! The Savior of Misty Hollow Village! A champion of the 'Lucky Tiger Caravan'!" The announcer spread his free arm out to the crowd as Amber raised an eyebrow at the description.

"Wait-" Amber's eyes spread wide open.

"Give it up, for Caaaaaaabbaaaaaage!" the man bellowed into the Dragon tube as the crowd went wild.

"What the hell!" The golden eyed girl slammed both hands on the table as she stood up.

"Come on dooooooooown!" the announcer yelled into the air as the crowd raged, ready for more blood. Amber looked back and forth at her table mates.

"Did one of you sign me up?"

"Don't look at me, Little Cabbage." Ember smiled softly as she lifted her drink.

"Ahhhh ok, ok, it was me!" Wing was seriously swaying back and forth as he laughed in his enjoyment of the night.

"You said you could beat him! Let's put a huge bet on you then, Cabbage!" Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"I didn't say I wanted to!" Amber called out in anger. She wasn't ready for this kind of insane fight, and especially not for a crowd. Besides, she had recovered some Qi, but she still hadn't even slept a blink since demonic assassins had tried to take her life the night before.

"Challenger Cabbage, please- hey! no! wait! That's my-" The announcer was cut off as Bone Eater snatched the Dragon tube from him and raised it up to his lips.

"Cabbage! You were an IDIOT to sign up to fight me! If you don't get up here in 30 seconds, your mother is a whore and your daddy is a bitch! Bahahahaha!" Bone Eater yelled into the tube before slamming back in the hands of the announcer, whose whole frame shook from the impact. Amber clenched her jaw and tightened her fists. Simple insults or not, she hated hearing those foul words about her parents.

"You did say that you could beat him within 10 minutes, Little Cabbage." Ember smiled from behind her fan. Amber closed her golden eyes for a moment as she tuned out the roar of the crowd.

"Bet all of this money on me," Amber said, throwing her coin bag onto the table as she stood up.

"Yes Ma'am!" Wing yelled, throwing his arms up and joining the crowd in their cheering. Ember simply smiled and raised her cup. Amber suspected the girl in red may have been a bit more tipsy than she let on. Amber had an almost fire like aura as she descended the stairs to the lowest ring of the arena.

"A little girl, huh? You're not worth crushing!" Bone Eater yelled and pointed at her with an accusing finger.

"Why, the fighter Cabbage, the bandit slaughterer! The Savior of Misty Hollow! She appears to be just… a little girl!" the announcer shouted into his Dragon tube as he did a double take. The crowd started booing.

"Don't call your mother a little girl!" Amber shouted from below the stone platform. The crowd came alive with cheers! Amber became quickly annoyed with the fickleness of the onlookers.

"A brawny man and a strong mouthed girl! Let's see what the judges have to say!" the announcer yelled into the Dragon Tube.

"Is there anyone that can vouch for her?" the rotund judge Mr. Tusk yelled, finally reaching for a napkin.

"Sir! She's a guard in our Lucky Tiger Caravan!" one guard shouted from a ring away.

"Luck-y Ti-ger! Luck-y Ti-ger!" Amber realized just how many of them must have been there that night as all the caravan members in the crowd started chanting. There must have been half of their guards their! Amber couldn't even see them all, but she could hear them. The crowd looked dark from her position, where she stood close to the bright stone platform as all 8 braziers glowed brilliantly.

"Lucky Tiger, eh? Oh yeah. Hmmm, I think even I have a coupl'a businesses that use them. Ok, it's fine with me!" The man returned to eating his pork as an attendant stood next to him, holding a half-smoked cigar. Was that attendant merely a human cigar holder? Amber wondered briefly. One of the other judges stood up; it was the elegant Azure Dragon Melina, with blue hair and a large black fur garment.

"I can see that this girl practices internal energy," the woman said, smiling under glinting teal eyes.

"But, let no one say that our Sword & Wine Bar lets people make unfair bets!" The crowd roared at the announcement.

"Girl, all you have to do is pass a simple test. If you do it, I'll pay you double the prize if you achieve a victory in your fight! I want everyone here to see your skill and be able to bet fairly." The woman in the large fur garment smiled with her eyes at the younger girl.

"Heh, this should be interesting!" said the third judge, the old Mr. Bloodwind. The soft glow of fire illuminated his large gold chain as he lit up his pipe. The crowd went silent, waiting to hear the girl's response. Amber looked up with her golden eyes glinting in the firelight, her black hair falling to the sides.

"I'll do it!"

"Cab-bage! Cab-bage! Cab-bage!" Amber could hear the large gathering of her fellow guards cheering for her as she tried to stifle a smile. Her anger suddenly felt a bit lighter. When did she ever have people cheering for her? The girl felt like she couldn't let them down.

"The Azure Dragon, Judge Melina, has made an incredible offer to our young challenger! Will young Cabbage be able to double her prize money?" the announcer shouted into the Dragon tube.

"Bring three servant girls who are willing to make some extra money! Tie them to separate poles!" the blue haired woman yelled.

"What?" Amber blurted in surprise as the crowd roared. Soon enough, they had three servant girls tied to poles on the stone platform who all looked terrified. It was said that the girls would be willing, but they didn't look it.

"I'll be aiming 50 gold coins at these girls!" the Azure Dragon shouted from her judge seat.

"Of course, their lives won't be in any danger, but they'll suffer some pain if our young challenger fails to catch every coin! Our challenger gets to keep every coin she catches! The women participating will also receive a coin for every hit they take, and one coin for participating! This bet won't be affecting the status of Challenger Cabbage's participation in the fight! You may make your betting judgements based off of her skill!"

"Place your bets now, how many coins will she catch?" the announcer yelled vigorously into his Dragon tube, waving his free hand at the noisy crowd. Amber gasped in shock. Were they really going to just use these girls like that? Even if they paid them?

"Hey! I won't agree to that!" she yelled.

"Oh, but you already did. And so did they!" Melina smiled, her azure eyes glaring down.

"And the challenge starts now!" The woman aimed a gold coin with her fingers, folding her thumb down to prepare a mighty flick as the three tied up women closed their eyes in anticipation. Her eyes glowed an electric blue as she began to circulate her Qi.

"Shit!" Amber yelled, scrambling onto the stone platform as the first flick sent a gold coin whistling through the air at a frightening speed. Amber's golden eyes tracked the glinting projectile as it hurtled toward the first servant girl's head. Amber pushed off of her back foot, her body moving on pure instinct. The girl twisted mid air, her hand shooting out to snatch the coin just inches from the terrified servant girl's face.

The crowd erupted in applause as the girl tumbled into a roll, trying to even out her breathing through Burning Sun.

"One!" the announcer shouted into his Dragon tube.

"Challenger Cabbage has already caught the first coin! Are we in for a surprise? You can only see this type of show here at the Sword & Wine Bar! Now make some nooooise!" Melina was already flicking another coin, this one aimed at the second servant girl. Then another. And another. The blue-haired judge's fingers moved in a blur as she sent gold coins whistling through the air like deadly projectiles.

"10!" the announcer yelled. Amber leapt between the three poles, catching coins mid-flight with movements that defied many spectators' judgement of her appearance. Her Qi surged through her body, enhancing the girl's speed and reflexes to their absolute limit. Left! Right! Above! Her mind traced each trajectory as the coins came faster and faster.

"20 coins!" The servant girls yelled out and cried in anticipation, but Amber refused to let a single coin through. She burst left and right in front of the helpless girls, snatching gold from the air like a tiger striking its prey.

"25!" All eyes were filled with anticipation.

"Not bad!" the old judge with the golden ring exclaimed, puffing on his pipe.

"Such speed from one so young!" Melina's smile grew wider as she increased the pace even more. 2 coins. 3 coins. 4 coins at once! The woman's azure eyes sparkled with amusement as she tested the limits of the young challenger.

"45!" The audience was going crazy as the girl seemed unstoppable!

"Cab-bage! Cab-bage! Cab-bage!" The Lucky Tiger guards were on their feet now, their voices nearly drowning out the rest of the crowd. The final five coins came nearly at once, fanning out in a deadly arc toward all three poles. Amber's golden eyes widened as she projected the arcs, but it seemed nearly impossible to catch all of them. Drawing on every ounce of her internal energy, the girl launched herself into the air, her body spinning like a dancer as her hands flashed out in rapid succession. One. Two. Three.

Four. The last coin whistled past her fingertips, and for a heartbeat she thought she'd failed. Her body spun upside down and her foot lashed out in a desperate kick, redirecting the gold piece straight into her waiting palm as she landed on her shoulder, rolling to her feet. Finally, the blue haired judge stood up from her seat, her expression one of genuine appreciation.

"That's 50!" she called out.

"I am satisfied! Are you not entertained?" The crowd roared its approval as attendants rushed to untie the sobbing servant girls. Amber stood in the center of the platform, chest heaving, her pockets bulging with no less than 50 gold coins.

"Our young contestant Cabbage has succeeded in catching all 50 coins! She has passed the Azure Dragon's test! The fight will now proooooceeeeeed!" the announcer yelled dramatically into the tube as the crowd roared.

"Place your bets now!"