Who are you calling a stable boy?!

"It's an honor to meet you! It seems you two have formed the championship team with Kyoko."

"Have you already met Kyoko?"

We met at the training ground just now.

Is she still at the training ground?

"They've already left. They said they were going back to their room to shower and rest."

"That's right, it's getting late, we should rest too..."

As she spoke, Chizuru looked at the hermitage.

"Don't tell me what to do. If you want to leave, leave by yourself."

Anzi then shifted her gaze from Zheng Jing and glared at Qianhe.

"Even for someone like you, Anko, your skin will get worse if you always stay up late."

Despite Anko's cold attitude, Chizuru's smile remained unchanged, and she pointed a finger at her cheek with a hint of mockery.

"boring--"

"You can borrow my skincare products. Kyoko has used them and said they're great."

"...What does that have to do with me?"

Bending over with her hands in the pockets altered from her long skirt, Anzi snorted coldly and strode toward Zheng Jing.

Where else would you like to go?

Chizuru followed.

"Go somewhere you're not, you annoying guy."

Upon hearing this, Qianhe, who happened to be a few steps in front of Zheng Jing, stopped and smiled at Zheng Jing.

"Mr. Zheng Jing, we'll head back to our rooms now. Goodnight."

After saying goodnight, Zheng Jing took the spot the girls had just vacated, watched the two figures disappear around the corner where the corridor met the deck, and then touched his face.

"As expected of me, everyone loves me... I'm so handsome it's unbelievable!"

-

"Oh! You're back too."

Just as Kyoko was about to open the door, she saw Anko and Chizuru walking towards her one after the other, and waved with a smile.

"You're only getting back now? Didn't you leave the training ground quite a while ago?"

Qianhe asked.

Kyoko scratched her head a little embarrassedly.

"Well, I grabbed some late-night snacks on the way, and when I saw Mr. Long and the others were still there, we chatted for a while... Did you guys go to the training ground to find me?"

Qianhe shook her head: "We met a Mr. Zheng Jing on the deck."

"You've already seen him."

Jingzi's expression changed slightly when Zheng Jing was mentioned.

"How about it? You... can feel it too, right?"

The hermit remained silent.

Chizuru nodded slightly.

"really......"

Kyoko shook her head.

"Chizuru, can you figure out what's going on with him?"

"...Sorry, I'm not quite sure either."

After a moment's hesitation, Chizuru said, "But he shouldn't be part of the Eight Heroes. If I had to say, he seems more like..."

She looked at Anko, then at Kyoko.

"More like us."

Upon hearing this, the nun who had been silently leaning against the wall stirred.

She opened the door to her room and was about to go in.

"Hey! Yagami! Don't you have any thoughts on this? You must have sensed something too, right?"

"boring."

Without turning his head, the hermit slammed the door shut.

"Ah! This guy!"

Frustrated, Kyoko scratched her hair and stomped her foot: "This awful temper is so annoying!"

"She probably doesn't have a clue either, there's no need to keep asking her."

Chizuru patted Kyoko on the shoulder and whispered a comforting word.

Kyoko pouted, squatted down, and puffed out her cheeks: "If I wasn't worried that the Eight Orochi Masters might actually infiltrate, I definitely wouldn't have teamed up with her..."

Seeing Kyoko like this, Chizuru felt somewhat helpless.

During the first World Martial Arts Tournament, Goenitz, one of the Eight Heroes, barged into the venue during the semi-finals, nearly causing a horrific tragedy that killed and injured tens of thousands of people.

Although the combined efforts of numerous fighters on site ultimately subdued Iori and Leona, who were rampaging with Orochi blood, and defeated Goenitz—and thanks to the legendary figure's intervention, not even any spectators were injured—Goenitz, having witnessed the legendary figure's immense power, claimed before his death that he had seen Orochi's resurgence...

If the Eight Orochi Warriors were to actually win the championship this year, Chizuru wasn't sure if the legend would grant their wish.

So, to prevent this worst-case scenario from happening, she found Kyoko, the previous champion, and went through a lot of trouble to persuade Anko, thus forming the current champion team.

However, instead of discovering the Eight Heroes, they first discovered a strange new face.

Zheng Jing...

Who exactly is that man?

Chapter 220: Cursed Spring Village is a famous tourist attraction (

Perhaps it was because the heavens also wanted to see the opening of this World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament as soon as possible, the ship sailed smoothly, and the calm sea delivered Zheng Jing and his group to the venue as scheduled.

After disembarking, each team was assigned their own temporary accommodation on the island, and the organizers also provided each team with a steward to take care of their daily needs.

See you all when you turn around!

Zheng Jing smiled and waved.

"Oh! I look forward to your performance!"

Kyoko raised her fist and waved cheerfully at Zheng Jing.

Qianhe smiled and nodded at Zheng Jing.

Anzi turned to the side and glanced at Zheng Jing without saying a word.

See you on the field!

On the other side of the Wave team, Ken flashed a bright white smile and confidently gave Zheng Jing a V sign.

Long crossed his arms, a slight smile playing on his lips, his eyes filled with anticipation as he looked at Zheng Jing.

Please give me your guidance then!

Sakura bowed.

On the ship, apart from the reclusive nun, Zheng Jing had already become one of the crew.

"You really... love making friends."

After the champion team and the wave team had walked away under the guidance of their respective stewards, Rin couldn't help but put her hands on her hips and look at Zheng Jing with some emotion.

"There are so many wonderful people in the world, it would be such a pity to miss them."

Zheng Jing chuckled and glanced at the butler that the organizers had arranged for them.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. What's your name?"

"Good afternoon, members of Team Tohsaka. My name is Sharen. From this moment until the end of the tournament, I will serve as your personal care manager and do my best to provide you with the best service."

The silver-gray-haired girl with red eyes lifted her skirt and bowed to Zheng Jing and the other two.

After introducing themselves, Sharen led Zheng Jing and the others into a private car and headed to the accommodations that had been arranged for them.

On the way, Rin became more talkative.

Of course, unlike Zheng Jing, who liked to joke and chat, Rin mainly asked Sharen about various information regarding this conference.

For example, the arrangement of the competition schedule.

According to Sharon, the main proceedings of the conference are expected to last five days.

Unlike previous tournaments, this tournament adopts a team competition format with three players per team. To prevent situations like those in previous tournaments where some players could fight for an entire day, this tournament has introduced a new rule: each round of the match has a three-minute time limit. If the players cannot determine a winner within three minutes, the referee will decide the winner.

Therefore, barring any unforeseen circumstances, based on the algorithm of two matches per day, the first two days will see the quarterfinals to the semifinals, the third day will see the semifinals to the semifinals, the fourth day will see the semifinals to the semifinals, and the final day will be the day for the strongest team to emerge from the eight teams and the champion team to compete for the title.

Besides the tournament schedule, what Rin was most concerned about was naturally which teams were participating in this year's competition, and what kind of strange and wonderful people were in those teams.

Sharen lived up to her role as the life manager, having prepared a wealth of information on the contestants well in advance, so that Zheng Jing and the other two could read it as soon as they arrived at their residence.

So as soon as they arrived, Rin immediately had Sharen take her to see the documents, and Xueqing, out of curiosity, followed along.

Zheng Jing, on the other hand, wanted to take a walk around the vicinity of his residence first.

This entire island was specially built as the venue for the tournament, but if you disregard the enormous arena that occupies the very center of the island, it's essentially a resort.

Zheng Jing and his group lived by the sea, facing north. Heading towards the island, there was a lush, forested area.

According to Sharen, within a three-kilometer radius of their residence, only island staff members will be active. If needed, these staff members can be called at any time via walkie-talkies.

In theory, that's correct.

"You old bastard, stay right there!"

Even in his exasperation, Zheng Jing heard a girl's voice that sounded like she was pouting.

At the same time, two figures, one chasing and one fleeing, appeared before Zheng Jing.

A panda, larger than a polar bear, stood upright and ran through the forest with astonishing speed and agility using its two strong hind legs.

Behind the panda, a red-haired girl with a short whip was furious, shouting and yelling. Her petite body was agile and swift as she chased after the panda.

"You old geezer, give me back my pork knuckle!"

The girl shouted angrily again.

Upon hearing the sound, the panda running ahead turned its head, and a smug and mocking expression appeared on its face, which was holding a whole braised pork knuckle in its mouth.

"You—"

Upon seeing this, the girl's fair face turned completely red.

With a quick glance, she suddenly kicked out a boulder that was more than half a person tall!

"If you like it, then eat my Fierce Tiger Shot!"

The boulder came hurtling out and hit the panda that couldn't dodge in time.

Then, along with the stone and the bear, this large mass continued forward with its remaining momentum, crashing into the large tree that Zheng Jing was using as a spectator's seat.

Zheng Jing, who was sitting comfortably on the tree branch, saw the red-haired girl rushing towards him grab the panda's head and snatch the braised pork knuckle from its mouth when he fell down.

The panda struggled to pry open its limbs, its teeth firmly gripping the pork knuckle.

This scene is less like young girls in high school fighting with giant pandas for pork knuckles and more like hyenas tearing each other apart.

Sure enough, with both sides applying so much force, the pork knuckle was completely shredded, bone and all, in no time.

The part in the girl's hand is small, while the part in the panda's mouth is large.

Taking advantage of the moment, the panda tilted its head back and ate the part in its mouth in two quick bites.

"what!"

The girl immediately pinched the panda's neck area, which she wasn't sure if it was the neck.

The panda stuck out its tongue and pointed in Zheng Jing's direction.