The reason everyone was so eager to watch wasn’t because the match would be exciting, but because they all wanted to see Ye Kong humiliated, to see what this idiot would look like after getting beaten.

“Look, the idiot’s going up.”

“How many moves before he gets thrown off the stage?”

“I guess three moves.”

“Ha ha, you’re overestimating him. I bet he’ll piss himself on stage.”

Listening to the endless mocking voices below, Ye Kong calmly shook his head. You bastards, don’t you have even a bit of compassion, a bit of brotherly feeling?

“Please guide me well.” Ye Kong cupped his fists and bowed to Ye Long.

But he discovered his opponent had no reaction at all. Ye Long stood with his hands behind his back, his head raised high, looking at Ye Kong with his nostrils.

“If you don’t want a beating, get off yourself!” Ye Long snorted.

Although Ye Long was only fourteen, he was even taller and bigger than Ye Hu from before. He looked almost as large as an adult, clearly also a strength-type fighter.

Honestly, after watching the match between Ye Hu and Ye Kuang earlier, Ye Kong felt a bit intimidated himself. Whether it was strength type or technique type, he couldn’t beat either.

Those guys had all practiced martial arts for several years. Ye Kong had only practiced running for seven or eight days. Did he think Read on Jormuntlhe could easily defeat his opponent with that? Impossible. Running, pushups, they didn’t have that much effect.

“Screw you!” With no chance of winning, Ye Kong roared and charged forward.

I may have nothing, but I dare to risk my life! Do you dare?

“He cursed!” Ye Long shouted and dodged to the side. He’d assumed Ye Kong definitely wouldn’t compete and would surely concede early, so he simply adopted a posture of complete superiority, hoping to defeat his opponent with his nostrils alone.

But he was wrong. Not only did Ye Kong not retreat, he actually attacked proactively, catching him somewhat off guard.

“Cursing at you is getting off light! Damn it, if I don’t curse, you think I’m Guo Jing? I’m a hooligan!” Ye Kong cursed while launching another flurry of punches and kicks at Ye Long.

But Ye Long had trained. Ye Kong’s few completely artless punches and kicks were easily blocked.

“Since you want a beating, don’t blame Fourth Brother for being rude!” A fierce light flashed in Ye Long’s eyes as he swung his fist violently! Like Ye Hu, Ye Long also followed the fierce and powerful path. His punch came out with a whooshing sound of wind.

Everyone below could see clearly. Ye Kong’s initial desperate struggle had no technique whatsoever, completely full of openings. Ye Long had just been caught off guard. Now that Ye Long had steadied himself, Ye Kong’s unlucky day had arrived.

Even Ye Haoran shook his head watching this kind of fight. Actually, he’d also seen the scene of Ye Kong running in the rain. In his heart, he still had some thoughts about this son. Able to endure hardship, having perseverance, Ye Haoran gave him full approval for that. So inwardly he also hoped Ye Kong could show some performance.

But experts could tell at a glance whether you had it or not. Ye Haoran could see immediately that this Ye Kong had absolutely no martial arts knowledge. If your stamina was inferior, you should learn from Ye Kuang before, attacking while retreating, consuming your opponent’s energy, then waiting for an opportunity to strike when they showed an opening to defeat them in one move.

What was this proactive attack supposed to be? Wasn’t this seeking death? Once the opponent freed up their hands, one slap would kill you!

In Ye Haoran’s view, whether in battle tactics or combat power, Ye Kong was inferior to Ye Long. With Ye Long’s current noodles punch, Ye Kong would definitely lose in one move.

“Alas.” Ye Haoran sighed very softly, waiting for Ye Kong’s defeat.

But things often develop beyond people’s imagination. The so-called miracle is when something amazing appears just when everyone doesn’t believe in it.

“Bang!” Ye Kong really didn’t dodge this punch from Ye Long. The fist struck fiercely on Ye Kong’s chest.

But what surprised everyone was that Ye Kong didn’t fly backward. Instead, Ye Long grimaced in pain.

That’s right, Ye Kong wasn’t stupid either. Before leaving home today, he’d sewn an iron plate into his clothes. It wasn’t thick, but it was enough to make Ye Long suffer. Striking an iron plate with full force was really deadly.

But even with the iron plate buffering, this blow was still enough to make Ye Kong suffer. Ye Long’s punch also carried internal energy, shaking Ye Kong until his blood churned and his face turned pale green.

“No armor allowed in competition!” Ye Long roared, shaking his wrist that felt like it was about to break.

But this wasn’t over yet.

A mouthful of fresh blood surged up in Ye Kong. Right then he couldn’t hold it back. He opened his mouth and sprayed it with a splat toward Ye Long across from him.

The two were originally standing extremely close. Ye Long couldn’t dodge at all and got sprayed all over his face, unable to even open his eyes.

“No spitting blood at people! No attacking eyes!”

Strike while he’s down, finish him off! This was Ye Kong’s consistent style. stolen contentHe fiercely kicked right into his crotch.

“Ahhh!” Ye Long howled in pain, his posture truly spectacular. His face covered in blood, eyes tightly closed, legs clamped together, butt sticking out, left hand clutching his crotch, and his right hand also pointing in midair from the pain of hitting the steel plate. That pose looked just like Michael Jackson doing that dance.

“No… attacking… vital points…”

“No this, no that, you think I’m playing house with you?” Ye Kong sneered coldly, turned his head to spit out a mouthful of blood, walked over, squatted down, grabbed Ye Long’s legs, and fiercely flipped him…

And so Ye Long, the one everyone had high hopes for, was thrown off the stage just like that.

The children below almost fainted. Their eyeballs nearly fell out in shock. Originally they’d expected Ye Long to win in one move, but who knew that with this move, Ye Kong won instead.

The other thing that shocked everyone was that Ye Kong had clearly broken the rules, and broken so many at once. This was way too bold. In front of Ye Haoran, using rule-breaking methods to severely injure Fourth Brother, did Ye Kong really not know how to write the word “death”?

Everyone’s eyes turned to look at Ye Haoran. They saw their father also stunned speechless by this miraculous scene, mouth agape, unable to speak for a long time.

The first to react was Ye Long’s full brother Ye Hu. He rushed forward and caught Ye Long, then looked up and shouted angrily, “Shameless scoundrel! You used illegal methods to severely injure my brother. Aren’t you afraid of family law?”

Only then did Ye Haoran wake up. He stood up and roared, “Quick, someone carry Ye Long down for treatment and check his manhood!”

Soon several personal guards came in and carried Ye Long next door.

Ye Haoran pointed at Ye Kong and roared in fury, “Competition prohibits wearing armor, prohibits using weapons, prohibits attacking eyes and vital points. Don’t you know this!”

The people below immediately looked up with gleeful, schadenfreude-filled eyes. Heh heh, kid, acting arrogant, huh? Won the match, huh? You know what? Violating one rule means [noodles]one hundred military cane strikes. Ha ha, four hundred cane strikes. If you don’t die from them, I won’t be surnamed Ye!

But Ye Kong said with a bitter smile, “Father, I really didn’t know. No one told me these things.”

Of course, even if Ye Kong knew, he’d still pretend not to. Who told you not to send anyone to tell me?

Ye Kong continued, “There’s a saying: ignorance is no crime. I really didn’t know there were so many prohibitions. At the time, I just heard Second Brother tell me the rule was pairing up by age bracket to fight to the death. He didn’t say there were any regulations. How would I know about these rules?”

When Ye Wen heard this, he thought: You little bastard, you’re despicable enough. Why are you dragging me into this?

Seeing his father’s angry gaze turn toward him, Ye Wen quickly stepped forward and hastily explained, “Reporting to Father, I didn’t say ‘fight to the death,’ I said ‘paired sparring.'”

“You did say it. You used exactly this angle, stood exactly like this, with exactly this smile, then swayed your head and said ‘fight to the death’…” Ye Kong stubbornly insisted, even describing it confidently with actions and expressions.

“Stop slandering me!” Ye Wen himself couldn’t quite remember what he’d said ten days ago. His rebuttal was somewhat weak. He muttered to himself, did I really say “to the death”?

“Stop this word game!” Ye Haoran roared and asked, “I’m asking whether you told him the competition rules or not?”

Ye Wen thought, that little bastard dares slander me, can’t I slander you back? He was about to lie through gritted teeth, but when he looked up and saw his father, his heart panicked. He remembered there had been personal guards and servants present at the time, and those guards were loyal only to Father.

“No.” Ye Wen’s heart wavered and he told the truth. After speaking he explained again, “Father, I only told him this news. I didn’t know he didn’t know the rules, and I also had no need to…”

“Enough!” Ye Haoran coldly interrupted Ye Wen’s words. He looked up at Ye Kong and said sternly, “Even if Ye Wen didn’t tell you these things, you still can’t violate the rules. You should know these rules are prohibited on all arenas throughout An Kingdom!”

When everyone heard this, they thought: right, Father is wise. These are nationwide standards. You have nothing to say to Read on Jormuntl this. Can you still claim not to know?

But Ye Kong could still claim not to know.

“Father, please investigate clearly!” Ye Kong cupped his fists and said loudly, “Everyone knows I, Ye Kong, am an idiot! For twelve years I’ve been confused and muddled. No one taught me, no one told me anything. Don’t talk to me about national rules, don’t talk to me about Ye family regulations… because never once has anyone told me about them! I don’t recognize a single character, and I’ve never left the Ye Manor gates. If Father punishes an idiot like me by the standards of normal people, Ye Kong refuses to accept it!”

“You!” Ye Haoran pointed at Ye Kong and actually felt somewhat unable to refute him. He thought: you keep calling yourself an idiot, but why do I feel like all of us are being played by you, an idiot?

“General!” At this moment a guard entered, interrupting the awkwardness inside.

“Fourth Young Master’s physical examination is complete. Minor injuries, knuckles damaged, everything else fine. No obvious damage to his manhood. He should recover after resting for some days.”

Hearing the injury assessment results, Ye Haoran breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand. “Send Fourth Young Master back to rest. Get the best physician, use the best medicine.”

Then he said to Ye Kong, “Ye Kong, considering you don’t understand the rules, this penalty for rule violations will be waived this time. You’re punished to copy the competition rules one thousand times.”

The children couldn’t help but make booing sounds. Four hundred military cane strikes just weren’t going to happen? Copying the competition rules one thousand times, this punishment was too light.

But even with this, Ye Kong still didn’t want to do it.

“Father, your child doesn’t know how to read.”

Ye Haoran was annoyed. “Being an idiot, not knowing how to read, are these all your talents?” He snorted angrily. Thinking about it, making an illiterate person copy books really was unreasonable, so he said, “Ye Wen, since you were the one notifying, you should notify clearly. You also bear responsibility in this matter. The thousand copies of competition rules, you’re punished to copy them!”

Ye Wen really wanted to vomit blood. Oh, so the idiot hit someone, broke the rules, nothing happens to him, doesn’t even have to copy anything. I did nothing wrong but get punished to copy. Is there any justice in this?

“Your child accepts the punishment.” Ye Wen helplessly bowed. He turned his head and saw Ye Kong standing on the stage smiling at him. Idiot, don’t be too happy! Let’s see how you die today!

At this moment they heard Ye Haoran say again, “Ye Hu, you don’t need to stay. Go back and keep your fourth brother company.”

But Ye Hu didn’t leave. He said, “Father, your child won’t go. Today your child wants to challenge Ye Kong!”

Meeting Ye Hu’s eyes that wanted to eat him alive, Ye Kong’s heart jumped in alarm. Challenge? You can still challenge? After exhausting all his wits to barely beat Ye Long, if he faced Ye Hu again, what would he use to win?

Who knew that just after Ye Hu finished speaking, Ye Wen also said, “Father, I also want to challenge Ye Kong!”

Ye Kong sucked in a cold breath. Damn it, Ye Hu already wants my life, now an even stronger Ye Wen appears. What did I do to you? Why must you beat a dog in the water?

“According to the rules, when multiple people challenge, the eldest challenger is valid. Ye Wen versus Ye Kong!” Ye Haoran said.

“Hey hey hey, you haven’t asked for my opinion yet.” Ye Kong quickly interjected, saying, “Given that my stamina is severely depleted today, I… refuse the challenge.”

“You can’t refuse!”

Screw your immortal ancestors, you can’t even refuse. Ye Wen, you calculated this early on, didn’t you?

“But you can find a helper from among your brothers to help you respond to the challenge,” Ye Haoran added.

“Find a helper?” Ye Kong turned to look at the brothers below stage. He thought: what helper is there here? They’re all enemies! If I noodlesask them up, I’ll die even faster!

“Can I concede then?” Ye Kong thought again and asked. He’d never been stubborn. When taking brothers out to fight, if you arrived and found the other side outnumbered you several times, wouldn’t you run? Wait there to get killed? That’s how things work on the streets. Being flexible, that’s what makes a real man.

“You can concede,” Ye Haoran answered.

“Is there punishment for conceding?” This had to be asked clearly.

“No. But be careful of others calling you a coward and weakling!”

Pfft. I’ve been called an idiot for twelve years, so what? Would I fear the title of coward and weakling?

Just when everyone thought he’d definitely concede, Ye Kong asked again, “Is there a reward for winning?”

Ye Haoran actually laughed. “Yes. Father can reward you with one thing, anything you need!”

Ye Kong’s eyes lit up. Damn it, let’s fight! I’m definitely not someone content with peace. I came today to make Ye Haoran teach me martial arts. If I win, he won’t be able to refuse.

If I could get instruction from Ye Haoran, the number one expert in An Kingdom, becoming stronger would be just around the corner.

“Good! I accept!”

A sneer rose from below stage. This kid was too overconfident. He actually thought he could beat Ye Wen. Too arrogant. Unless… at this moment someone suddenly thought of something and shouted.

“Can’t let him cheat and break rules again!”

“Right! This idiot is too cunning. Strip his clothes off!”

Ye Haoran waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet, then ordered, “Someone, take Ye Kong to change clothes. Ye Wen, you go explain the competition rules to him in detail. After the other brothers finish their matches, then you two will fight.”

The subsequent competitions were lackluster. Probably because everyone was waiting for the big battle between Ye Wen and Ye Kong, so nobody had much spirit for the later matches.

In everyone’s view, this time Ye Kong had no way out, right? Without violating rules, how could this idiot win?

But even so, everyone already had a different view of Ye Kong. First, this idiot really wasn’t an idiot anymore. Before, everyone was still doubting whether the rumors of him not being an idiot were true. After seeing today, no one doubted anymore. Second, he wasn’t just not an idiot, he was actually very shrewd. Bold and meticulous, daring to act and speak, and absolutely brilliant at scheming against people. If you weren’t careful, you’d fall into his trap.

About one shichen later, the paired matches ended. The match everyone anticipated was about to begin.