Severing Time & Space

Clandestine Meeting

Fifteen winners were selected from the people who took part in the preliminaries. The girl who was part of the Zhou Clan was one of the winners. After the preliminaries, the Zhou Clan’s branch head asked everyone who would be taking part in the tournament to travel down to the arena floor.

Wu Jian stood among the crowd of forty-five contestants. There were a lot more people this year than there had been last time. Ten were from his Wu Clan, but there were also ten from the Juishi Clan and another ten from the Ming Clan. The other fifteen, including the girl from the Zhou Clan, made up the remaining forty-five.

Standing on either side of Wu Jian was Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu, and a little further from them was Ming Shen and his group. He could feel the older boy glaring holes into the back of his head. Wu Jian did his best to ignore the glare and focus on what the Zhou Clan branch head was saying.

“The tournament will now begin. My people will erect four rings, which will serve as the battleground for individual fights. Contestants will be selected to fight from a random drawing. I want each of you to come up here and grab a slip from within this box.”

As he said this, he gestured to a small box with a single hole at the top, which sat upon a pedestal. Everyone formed a line, stuck their hands into the box one at a time, and pulled out a slip. Wu Jian looked at the slip in his hand. Four. Then he looked up at Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu.

“What number did you two get?” he asked.

“One,” Wu Meiying said, holding up her slip.

“I got three,” Hou Jingshu answered.

“I guess that means we won’t fight for some time yet,” he said. He considered this a good thing. Wu Jian didn’t want to fight either Wu Meiying or Hou Jingshu until the end of the tournament.

“Each of you will be placed within a bracket based on your number. Head to the ring with the sign for your designated number. There, you will fight your opponents until one of you is chosen as the victor,” Zhou Zu said. He looked across at the sea of heads, Wu Jian thought for sure he paused upon reaching the veiled girl, but then he continued talking. “Winners are selected by knockout, ring out, or surrender. Killing is not allowed. Even if you only kill someone by accident, you will still be disqualified and your family punished. Remember that.”

They really weren’t playing around. After saying this, everyone was asked to clear the area. Several Zhou Clan cultivators entered the arena, made a series of hand seals to synchronize their chi, and released their technique. Four large rings grew out of the ground. Each one was perfectly square shaped and stood about one foot off the arena floor. There was enough room between them for maybe six people to stand shoulder to shoulder.

“It looks like this year’s competition is much bigger than the one two years ago,” Wu Meiying said as they were making their way up the stairs.

“There are definitely a lot more people this time,” agreed Wu Jian.

“How many people participated last time?” asked Hou Jingshu.

“From the Wu Clan, it was just me, Wu Meiying, and Wu Yong,” Wu Jian said. “The Ming and Juishi Clans had four participants each.”

“While anyone from the ages of eight to fifteen can participate, most clans only allow people who are at least thirteen to take part. Jian and I were exceptions to the rule,” Wu Meiying said. After all, they had only been nine when they first participated.

As they were walking up the stairs, Wu Jian stopped upon seeing something out of the corner of his eye.

“Quickly, hide behind that column, you two,” Wu Jian said in a hurried whisper.

Neither Wu Meiying nor Hou Jingshu knew why he was asking this of them, but they didn’t ask questions either. He and the two girls quickly darted behind the nearest column. Then they peered out from behind it.

“Is that Elder Wu Wei?” asked Hou Jingshu.

“It is.” Wu Meiying narrowed her eyes. “I wonder what he’s doing?”

Elder Wu Wei was standing in front of a door, looking warily left and right down the corridor. He looked in their direction, but the trio ducked back behind the column before he could spot them. They peeked back out from behind the column only to find the tail end of his robe billowing as he slipped through the door.

“That’s suspicious,” Wu Meiying mumbled.

“I think we should see what he’s up to,” Wu Jian said, agreeing.

Hou Jingshu was already leaving the column and heading for the now closed door. The other two caught up with her, and together, they pressed an ear to the door and listened into the conversation happening on the other side.

“Did anyone see you?” someone asked. Wu Jian immediately recognized Ming Han’s voice. There was no mistaking that deep baritone rumble.

“I was not followed,” Elder Wu Wei’s voice.

“Good. We cannot afford to linger here or people might become suspicious. Is it done?”

“It’s done. I’ve made sure to get one of the Zhou Clan elders on our side. Your bribe helped immensely,” said Elder Wu Wei.

“Gya ha ha ha! I’m glad to hear it! I’m looking forward to seeing the Ming Clan win again this year. I don’t want anything standing in my way. Of course, you shall be suitably rewarded again just like you were during the last tournament.”

“Thank you, Lord Ming.”

Because they didn’t want to risk getting caught, the three decided not to overstay their welcome and quickly departed. They traveled down the corridor until they were standing by the entrance to the Wu Clan’s viewing booth. Once there, they found a small space that was out of the way and unobtrusive so they could talk about what they had just heard.

“Wu Wei is working with Ming Han to undermine this tournament,” Wu Jian said. “It sounds like he did this during the previous tournament too. That explains a lot.”

“And he and Ming Han bribed the Zhou Clan elders,” Wu Meiying added.

Hou Jingshu clenched her hands and, through gritted teeth, said, “this is unforgivable. How dare they interfere with the tournament like this!”

“What should we do?” asked Wu Jian. “Tell Father?”

“I think that would be the best idea,” said Wu Meiying. She tapped her chin several times, then shrugged. “We should let Uncle know and leave this matter to the adults. Besides, even if Ming Han and that smelly elder decide to rig the tournament, it won’t stop me from winning.”

“You mean it won’t stop me from winning,” Wu Jian said with a smile.

Wu Meiying smiled back. “You wish.”

“How nice to see you two getting along so well together,” Hou Jingshu mumbled. When the two saw her disheartened expression, they smiled wryly and embraced the girl in a two-pronged hug that brought a bright red blush to her face.

“Don’t feel bad. You know we love you,” Wu Meiying said.

“A-all right! All right! I get it! I don’t feel bad anymore, so just stop hugging me! It’s embarrassing!”