The Scum Is A ***

"Er Zi? Er Zi!" Wen Wen called as he shook Fei Yinzi by the shoulder when he saw that the other looked absent-minded.

Fei Yinzi's face is filled with shock after he saw his master, Cheng Sheng, is with the child that they have met last night, named 'xiao Bao'.

"What's wrong with you?" Wen Wen asked him. "The competition is about to start!" he reminded him. When he saw that Fei Yinzi still didn't answer, he finally followed Fei Yinzi's sight and also saw xiao Bao. Then, he understood. "Er Zi! Don't think of anything! He might not be Cheng-shibo's disciple!" he told him. "He might be my master's disciple!" he said, trying to make Fei Yinzi calm.

Hearing his words, only then did Fei Yinzi wake up. "You're right… sorry, I lost my calm." He said as he suppressed his emotions.

"Er Zi, that child…" Wen Yan and the others also saw xiao Bao.

"No. He can't be Cheng-shishu's disciple." Su Yi spoke as they all looked at xiao Bao who is very eye-catching since he is the only child among the Xinfaxian Sect elders Cheng Sheng, Li Tian, Feng Mo, Lei Qing, Lei Ling, You Rou, and their shifu Fan Wen. "He might be just an outer disciple after Xie-shigong and Fan-shigong, or our masters, notice him last night and wanted him to study in our sect." he explained.

Everyone immediately calmed down when they heard Su Yi's words, especially Fei Yinzi.

"Thank you." Fei Yinzi spoke in a hoarse voice and lowered his head to hide the rims of his eyes that are red. His fists inside his wide sleeves clenched.

"Er Zi…" the others didn't dwell on Fei Yinzi's problem for long since the competition is about to start and they need to focus on their personal battles. Wen Wen, however, is deeply worried for Fei Yinzi. "Er Zi. Focus on the battle before you right now." He told him. "If you would perform poorly, wouldn't Cheng-shibo scold you?" he asked. "Cheng-shibo would definitely feel disappointment, and his trip would go to waste because he will only see you in defeat." He told him.

Fei Yinzi's eyes widened and he felt his mind cleared up. He raised his head to look at Wen Wen before he turned to look at the area where the Xinfaxian Sect elders are sitting. "… you're right…" he muttered as he turned to look at Wen Wen and smiled. "Wen Wen, thank you." He told him.

Wen Wen nodded and he brightly smiled. "Sure!" he answered, inwardly feeling relieved. He was really worried there that Fei Yinzi would suddenly snap and then perform poorly later during his battle. Then, wouldn't all of Fei Yinzi's time and efforts be for naught? If even he can't accept this, then how would it be for Fei Yinzi, who wanted to please his master in every way?

...

In the elders' area, Cheng Sheng's brows raised when he saw that Fei Yinzi has recovered his calm and expression after Wen Wen told him something. "Oho~?" he muttered as the corners of his lips curled up. "Lei-shidi, your disciple is really good, ne?" he said and looked at Lei Ling.

Lei Ling, who knows that Cheng Sheng wanted to rile up Fei Yinzi so he took xiao Bao with him to pose as his 'disciple', sweated and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Cheng-shixiong, Wen Wen is very kind and would look after everyone!" he told him.

"I know. Or else, why would I also dote on him like how I did to you back then?" Cheng Sheng said.

Lei Ling smiled. "Thank you, Cheng-shixiong." He said.

…

"Welcome for the 103rd Intersect Competition!" the host greeted to everyone as today's event starts! "Today begins the elimination stage, and the elimination stage will have three types of battles, which are: solo battles, double battles, and group battles! There are one hundred participants currently. By the end of this stage, only fifty will remain!" he said.

"OOH! So harsh! The number was halved!" the audience said.

"In solo battles, whoever wins, wins and who lost will not be able to qualify to the next round. His competition ends here!" the host continued. "The surprise in this stage lies on the double and group battles, for they will win, or lose, as a team!" he said.

"WHOA! This sure is a pleasant surprise… for us audience but not for the participants! Hahahaha!" the audience laughed in schadenfreude after seeing the participants' expressions.

"The rules for the solo battles are as follows…" the host spoke as he began to read the rules.

The participants carefully listened, as well as the audience.

"The winner will be decided with his opponent incapacitation." The host spoke. "The winner can also be declared if one of the participants admits defeat. A participant can't kill his opponent." He said in a serious voice. "To avoid any deaths, the judges will intervene if they deemed that one of the participants on stage has the intent to kill. The match will then be decided as the defense's win and the offending participant's forfeit." He explained.

"This is reasonable…" the audience agreed as they continued to listen.

"For the double battles – " the host spoke as he read the next page. " – the winners will be declared if one of the two pair both admits defeat. If only one of the pair admits defeat while the other does not, then the battle will continue." He said.

"Oh!" the audience exclaimed in surprise.

"The winners also will be decided if one pair was defeated, while the remaining pair has one, or also both, are still standing." The host continued.

"So, for a pair to win, the second pair, their opponents should both admit defeat, or they should defeat them both. For the winners, just one of them remaining standing will do." The audience summarized.

"Like in the solo battles, if one side has a killing intent, even if that participant's partner is ignorant of it, but both of them will be disqualified and their opponent will win by default." The host continued. "The judges also have the right to intervene in the match if they deemed that any of the participants had the intent to kill." He said. "For the group battles – " he flipped another page. " – unlike the solo and double battles, the group battles consisting of groups of at least 3 people and maximum of five will decided who will be their team's leader." He said and looked at the participants.

The participants were surprised, as well as the audience.

"The team's leader can decide for the tactics, or any of the members could, it depends on how your team decides. But, in announcing of forfeiting the match, only the team leader can say." The host explained. Then, he made a pause. "Of course, since that is the rule, the team leader should live until the end, or be defeated along with the rest of his group. But, as long as the team's leader dies, then the team also dies." He told them.

"This…" the audience doesn't know what to feel, since the team's fate will depend on their team's leader then.

The host seemed to be able to guess their thoughts. "Since a participant was decided to be the leader, naturally, that participant should be skilled. Otherwise, what's the point of them being the leader, instead?" he told them.

"That's true…" the audience was finally convinced.

Meanwhile, the participants started discussing.

"Da ge, do you want to be the team leader?" Chen Yu asked Chen Wu.

"Hmm…" Chen Wu is considering it.

"Xiao Meng. Do you want to participate in the group battles?" Qian Jue asked Qian Meng. "You'll be our fellow disciples' leader." He told him.

"That's right, young master!" the Qianxu Sect disciples agreed.

"Ai… all of them are on about solo and group battles… ge, do you want to go double with me?" Jing De asked Jing Xu.

"Sure." Jing Xu nodded.

As everyone are fervently discussing, the host suddenly exclaimed. "Aiyo! I forgot to say something important!" he said and grinned. "Since only fifty participants will remain at the end of this stage, and to ensure fairness of the competition, a participant can participate in only one battle!" he told them.

"WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh? Have I said this before at the opening ceremony? Or not?" the host tilted his head with a playful smile on his face. "So, if a participant loses in one match in the solo battles, defeated in the double battles, or lost along with his team in the group battles, that's the end of his competition." He explained.

"What…?!" everyone stared at the host in disbelief. This year's competition sure is exciting, but also actually harsh on the participants!

While everyone was worried, only Cheng Sheng is smiling in glee. He wanted to know what his disciple will do.. Now… what is your choice, Er Zi? He thought and chuckled.