Chapter 60: Bai Ying Under Threat

“The contestant with the long hair on stage doesn’t look like an ordinary person, does he?”
“Sister Jingchu, can you tell?”
Hearing Jingchu’s words beside her, Fan Fan was a bit surprised. Bai Ying wasn’t in their year, but lately, he kept turning up. She didn’t know what had happened between him and Qin Xiaochuan, but ever since Qin Xiaochuan had come back from the dead, Bai Ying was always at Qin Xiaochuan and Zhang Yang’s house, looking awfully familiar with them. Fan Fan had also noticed this long-haired boy—he looked gentle and frail, always careful with his words as if terrified of saying the wrong thing, yet he gave off that sunny, handsome, invincible youthfulness, just like a certain movie star. Whenever he walked down the street, there would always be young girls asking for his autograph. She hadn’t expected to see him on the stage of this Dark Tournament. Now, hearing Jingchu’s doubt, Fan Fan too became uncertain. Could Bai Ying actually be a monster? If so, that would be terrifying.

“…Bone Blade again?” Bai Ying, leaping back, seemed quite familiar with the scythe weapon—it looked like they’d fought before. “It’s useless!” he said, springing away to dodge another strike. As the scythe pressed the attack, Bai Ying evaded effortlessly. Compared to Feiyan, this guy’s speed was almost in slow motion—no threat at all.

“Scythe isn’t even a match for Bai Ying. His moves are completely seen through,” Feiyan said, lips curling as he watched the two darting about onstage. Clearly, he already knew how this bout would end. Glancing sideways at Zhang Yang, he added, “You’re really unlucky. Looks like the spirit you’re fighting is their team’s number two.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zhang Yang retorted, thumbing his chest. “If it were best two out of three, I’d definitely win.”

“Who knows?” Feiyan shrugged, eyes back on the arena, unconcerned by Zhang Yang’s boasting. Zhang Yang had lost the first round as expected; Feiyan hadn’t counted on him to achieve much this tournament. With himself, Bai Ying, and Qin Xiaochuan, it would be hard to lose. As for Bai Ying, he felt even more at ease—when it came to keeping cool against an opponent, Bai Ying was superior even to him.

After sidestepping another attack, Bai Ying slipped behind Scythe, hand raised like a blade. “Seems you’ve run out of tricks. Let me end your suffering now… It’s over!”

Sensing something amiss behind him, Scythe muttered, “Your mother is in my hands, Luffy!” Then he spun and slashed upward. Caught off guard, Bai Ying couldn’t dodge in time—the bone blade carved a deep gash across his face, blood quickly streaming from the wound.

“What happened? Why did Bai Ying suddenly slow down?” Zhang Yang was shocked to see Bai Ying injured when he’d had the perfect chance to finish the fight. Instead, the situation had reversed. And at the moment of the attack, Bai Ying had looked genuinely surprised. Did Scythe use some secret trick? Otherwise, how could Bai Ying fail to dodge such an obvious move?

Scythe, seeing blood on Bai Ying’s face, grew triumphant. He pulled a detonator from his pocket, thumb hovering over the button, and sneered, “See this? If I press this, the monster I sent to trail your mother will devour your precious mother in the human world. You know exactly what that means, don’t you, sweet, gentle, filial Luffy? Hehehehe!”

Hearing this, Bai Ying lowered his hands from their fighting stance. He seemed to know what Scythe wanted next.

“You did well,” Scythe smirked, retracting his bone blade and stepping up to Bai Ying. He punched Bai Ying in the face. “That’s what I want—Luffy, the human-loving fool, hahaha!” He prepared to keep pummeling Bai Ying—he’d worked hard for this living punching bag and now was his time to enjoy it. But as he readied his next blow, a sharp sting hit his own face. Looking down, he saw a small pebble roll across the stage. Bai Ying must have thrown it at him. Rubbing his sore cheek, Scythe grinned darkly at Bai Ying standing there. “What, you think tossing pebbles counts as resistance? You’re too naive, Bai Ying!” He punched Bai Ying again, sending him staggering.

“From now on, you’re not even allowed that sort of feeble resistance,” Scythe declared, grabbing Bai Ying’s collar with both hands. “You’re nothing but my weeble now, Bai Ying! Hands behind your back!”

At Scythe’s command, Bai Ying seemed to give up. He clasped his hands behind him, eyes coldly fixed on Scythe.

Those icy eyes unsettled Scythe. This kid had looked at him just like that before—the same eyes that had once terrified him when Bai Ying had beaten him senseless. But remembering Bai Ying’s mother was still under his monster’s watch, Scythe calmed himself, glancing at his detonator. “Oh, what’s with that look, huh? You’re scaring me, Bai Ying! Go ahead, try to fight. But the second you so much as flinch, I’ll press this button. You know the consequences better than I do, don’t you? Hehehe!”

“What’s wrong with Bai Ying? Why is he obeying that guy’s every word? Is he hypnotized?” Zhang Yang, having caught a bit of Scythe’s threats, was astonished by Bai Ying’s surrender. Bai Ying could have won so easily—why was he allowing himself to be humiliated? Did Scythe have something on him? With this in mind, Zhang Yang looked back to the stage.

“Nice one, Scythe! Kill that traitor Bai Ying!”

“Is Bai Ying hypnotized? He’s so obedient—just kill him! We support you!”

…

Watching Bai Ying stand there, letting Scythe pummel him without a word of protest, the monsters in the stands cheered wildly, clearly pleased with the turn of events. They couldn’t hear the conversation on stage, but ever since that exchange, Bai Ying had seemed to yield and refused to defend himself. The audience, harboring grudges against Bai Ying and Feiyan, saw the fighter they supported gaining the upper hand, and cared nothing for the details—only for the spectacle.

“Is it really that hard for you, Luffy?” Scythe sneered at Bai Ying’s icy glare. “You can’t even follow simple orders? But you will, won’t you? Because you’re so, so filial—aren’t you? You love your mother, don’t you?” With that, Scythe kicked Bai Ying in the stomach. Watching him shakily get to his feet, hands behind his back, Scythe stepped close and jeered, “That must’ve hurt, huh? I see in your eyes you want to slice my hand off. But maybe, at the very moment you do, my finger will press the button. And then I’ll make you suffer ten thousand times more than me!” He punched Bai Ying’s face again, knocking him to the ground.

When Bai Ying slowly rose, Scythe approached and began smacking him back and forth, laughing all the while. “Ahahahaha, what a delightful toy! No matter how I hit you, you won’t resist, will you, my dear Luffy?” But when Bai Ying turned back toward him, eyes still cold and unyielding, a bead of sweat broke out on Scythe’s forehead. “You bastard…” Scythe drew back his fist, then changed his mind, extending his bone blade. He pressed the sharp tip into Bai Ying’s face, then slowly drew it across, carving a deep line. Bai Ying, however, didn’t make a sound—he seemed not to feel the pain at all, only staring coldly at Scythe, as if seeing not the living, but a corpse.

Unable to bear Bai Ying’s glacial gaze, Scythe jerked the blade away, leaving a second deep gash crossing the first—a bloody X on Bai Ying’s face. Some of the girls in the audience clapped their hands over their faces, unable to watch their idol being so ruthlessly abused.

“…What a killjoy,” Scythe muttered, unsettled by Bai Ying’s unbroken spirit. He stepped back and jerked his left thumb down, as if to threaten Bai Ying further. “You won’t get off easy this time,” he said, waving his right foot. “Kneel and lick my shoe. Once you’ve cleaned it, I’ll cut off your head. That way, I won’t press this button. You wouldn’t dare refuse, would you, Luffy? Your mother’s life is at stake, after all. You should be grateful, shouldn’t you? Isn’t that right, Luffy?”