Chapter 23: On the Ring
The sky outside gradually darkened.
The world fell into darkness, but the city sparkled with neon lights. Everything belonging to the night was just beginning.
Before she knew it, Ji Yueling had already drunk four glasses.
Old Qin had been a bartender for over ten years, and his drinks were very good. Compared to her fourth glass, Gu Qing had already drunk six. Old Qin was already laughingly saying that Li Si’s member card might not have enough points for all these tabs, while Gu Qing cheekily said then Li Si would just have to come fight a couple rounds recently.
Customers gradually entered the bar, and some sat near the counter. Ji Yueling quietly observed everything. As a human, being in this tavern filled mostly with demons made her instinctively uneasy, but somehow, Gu Qing seemed to have a magical quality—perhaps because he appeared so composed that staying by his side warmed Ji Yueling’s slightly chilled blood.
She gradually observed that nearly every customer who entered knew each other, exchanging glances and greetings after entering. Many people who passed by Gu Qing would pat his shoulder in greeting, and upon seeing Ji Yueling beside him, would tease him: “Hey, has little Gu finally gotten smart?”
“She’s just a new member I’m referring,” Gu Qing would patiently explain every time.
What made Ji Yueling slightly surprised was that there seemed to be quite a few women in this fighting club. Many women who entered would show surprise upon seeing Gu Qing, then smilingly approach, touching Gu Qing’s face or playing with his two little pigtails, teasingly asking how little Gu was getting dressed up now—could it be that spring had arrived and he was ready to show off? Gu Qing always looked helpless, completely at a loss with them.
Ji Yueling constantly compared the faces before her with files in her memory, gradually realizing a somewhat frightening fact: these fighting club members were almost all extraordinary individuals. She had originally thought this was really just some demons hiding among humans banding together for warmth, but many of the people here were beings who could go one-on-one with A City Alliance’s eliminators without falling behind.
While she observed everyone, everyone also observed her. The human scent on her was particularly obvious—demons could easily distinguish between their kind and humans—but seemingly because of Gu Qing, all the examining gazes directed at her were especially friendly, without wariness or dissatisfaction.
It wasn’t until Gu Qing had drunk his tenth glass that he finally put down his cup with satisfaction, looking at Ji Yueling in front of him and saying softly, “How are you feeling?”
“Very good,” Ji Yueling replied coldly, lifting her neck slightly.
“Theoretically speaking, for your first fight you can choose anyone to fight—anyone here. Whoever you choose can’t refuse.” Gu Qing explained the rules to Ji Yueling, and she seemed to have been prepared, looking at him seriously with her dark eyes. “Can I choose you?”
“Of course.” Gu Qing smiled lightly at her, as if he had long expected her to say this. He twisted his neck and then said, “But you’d better not get too happy too early, sister.”
Ji Yueling laughed coldly.
…
Gu Qing soon brought Ji Yueling to the back room behind the bar. This entire floor was fighting club territory, and the back room was particularly spacious at the moment. Quite a few people were already standing below, holding beers and chatting. This room was somewhat dim, but a ring was set up in the middle with bright lights shining on it, though it was currently empty.
Watching people fight was also quite interesting, so the fighting venue never lacked spectators. Members could even use their points to bet on outcomes. Soon, Ji Yueling’s biggest confusion since entering was answered.
“Put your hand on this stone for ten seconds, and it will temporarily seal all your energy. Whether you’re human or demon, you’ll be left with only slightly above normal human physical capabilities.”
Ji Yueling suddenly understood.
She had been wondering how this small floor could withstand the destruction if these S-rank demons and extraordinary beings in the fighting club really started battling. Now she understood—once energy was completely sealed, they’d be no different from ordinary people, making an intense fight completely reasonable.
She didn’t hesitate, placing her pale hand on the stone.
Gu Qing also placed his hand on it, but the next moment Ji Yueling looked at him suspiciously and asked, “Your little bit of energy—sealing it or not makes no difference, right?”
Faced with her suspicion, Gu Qing just smiled helplessly, placing his hand over Ji Yueling’s palm and answering lightly, “I have a bit more than ordinary E-rank energy.”
Ji Yueling’s hand was slightly cold, while Gu Qing’s was warm. After ten seconds, both withdrew their hands, and Ji Yueling sensed that the energy in her body was now temporarily sealed. She turned to look at Gu Qing in front of her, but felt little worry.
First, Gu Qing’s body didn’t look particularly robust—rather, he had a somewhat youthful slenderness. He was naturally pale and clean, usually looking like a wilted tree, while she had learned fighting techniques long ago. Even without energy, subduing an adult man of similar age bare-handed wouldn’t be difficult.
After completing this ritual, the two walked onto the ring step by step under everyone’s expectant gazes.
Gu Qing unhurriedly unbuttoned his shirt and took off the clean white garment, baring his upper body. Ji Yueling looked at him with slight contempt and mocked, “Not as bad as I imagined.”
Though Gu Qing looked thin, taking off his shirt revealed the faint outline of lean muscle. The scars on his chest made his body look particularly fierce, yet not repulsive—rather, they had a strangely chaotic beauty.
“I’m not showing off my body to you. The shirt was hand-scrubbed by Qianqian—if it gets bloody, she’ll worry.” Gu Qing threw his shirt toward the audience below, where a familiar drinking buddy caught it. It would have been better if she hadn’t also hugged it and taken a big sniff while looking seductively at Gu Qing.
“So you’re already prepared to be beaten bloody by me?”
“The fighting club’s rule is fighting until one side gives up. But the important thing was never who won—it’s just that when one side is satisfied, it ends there.” Gu Qing had originally planned to say more, but decided against it.
In every fight he’d ever had, he had never given up.
Gu Qing clenched his fists and looked seriously at Ji Yueling. “But I don’t like sloppy endings, so you’d better give up early.”
“Neither do I,” Ji Yueling replied coldly.
The lights on the ring were bright. She removed her athletic jacket, leaving the tank top that tightly wrapped her body. She had originally thought she would hate this feeling of standing on the ring, like being a monkey caged in a zoo for people to watch.
And she was a beautiful woman—beautiful women, from childhood onward, always experienced many disgusting gazes.
But when she looked toward the audience below, she suddenly realized that whether male or female, their eyes seemed to flicker with a certain fervor. This fervor wasn’t disgusting—what they seemed to anticipate was simply an indiscriminate battle. In this battle, there were no distinctions of gender, age, or race—only the instincts hidden deep in people’s hearts.
Those violent, angry, destructive desires were the foundation of human nature. They were flames that had burned in hearts since birth, constantly regulated and suppressed by the world, by society, by morality, but suppressed flames never truly went out. Given the chance, they would burn wildly and intensely.
She suddenly sensed the flow of blood in her body. Like Gu Qing, she clenched her fists. She tried to clench them tighter, and seemed to hear the sound of her blood boiling.
How long had it been since she’d fought with someone?
Perhaps when she was very small, she and her sister would fight over toys, but later as she grew up, being the older sister, she learned to be understanding, learned to yield, learned to be the good girl in others’ eyes. She began studying seriously, thinking she could live her life happily and peacefully this way.
Until high school, when that nightmare suddenly destroyed everything.
The audience below suddenly exclaimed, seemingly hearing someone shout “Beautiful!” But before that sound reached Ji Yueling’s ears, there was already a dull thud beside her ear.
Because Gu Qing had thrown a beautiful left hook, landing right on Ji Yueling’s cold, perpetually scowling poker face. If nothing unexpected happened, her face should soon swell up like a pig’s head.
“Hey, we’ve started. There’s no extra time for daydreaming.”
Ji Yueling quickly retaliated, dodging Gu Qing’s next swing, grabbing his shoulder, lifting her knee, and driving it into his abdomen. She seemed to faintly hear the sound of ribs cracking—a sharp snap—but just as she hesitated whether to stop or if she’d hit too hard, her left cheek took another punch from Gu Qing.
The audience below began cheering as the two grappled together, nerves taut, adrenaline pumping wildly. Every punch seemed to use all their strength, striking faces, shoulders, chests, abdomens, backs—wherever fists could reach, dull thuds echoed.
The lights made Ji Yueling feel dizzy, her vision blurring. She instinctively threw punches, never once thinking of giving up. Punch after punch, blow after blow—when she finally came to her senses in one moment, she realized she was already covered in blood, her nose and mouth sticky with it, her vision unclear, probably because Gu Qing had just punched her in the eye socket.
But in this moment, she suddenly understood the meaning of the fighting club’s existence.
“I like this place,” she said, then charged at Gu Qing again, grabbing his shoulders and ramming her forehead hard into his—a resounding crash.