LIAO SAT IN THE WAITING room adjacent to the arena where he was scheduled to face the defending champion, Cheng. The first round of the competition was underway, and, so far, three bouts had been decided; two by a point victory pretty much incomprehensible to non-Hans, and the third by a decision even the least educated person could understand: a Dao protruding from the loser’s chest. That happened in the second match. The victor was a first-time participant named Qiao about whom almost nothing was known, except that he had political connections, and that he attacked his opponent with a vengeance. The match lasted only seconds into the first cycle. Qiao charged his opponent, Dao flailing furiously, and before the challenger could react, Qiao had impaled the man.
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