Book 1 Chapter 4: Slaughter in the Coliseum
The Coliseum belonged to the underworld of Luoshi City. It was an exceptionally popular place controlled by the Zhang family that attracted numerous plutocrats and aristocrats. Many people even in the entire Qingyun Province knew about it.
This was the place for those plutocrats and aristocrats to kill time, enjoy getting excited and seek blood and gore when they were too bored.
Despite being called the Coliseum [lit. Animal Battlefield in Chinese], it was not really a place where animals fought each other. The ones who engaged in killing here, were humans!
Bai Yunfei’s eyes popped out of his head, his mouth slightly open in astonishment, his body quivering unceasingly — he had never thought that people could fight each other so brutally.
In the Coliseum outside, two red silhouettes were engaging in hand-to-hand combat. In order to increase fighting time, weapons were generally not allowed in the Coliseum. If you wanted to survive, you would have to use your arms, legs, head and even teeth. Only by making it impossible for the opponent to stand up again would you be permitted to survive. And if you were defeated, this would usually mean death for you.
Those people were called red silhouettes because their bodies seemed to be sprinkled with blood! Their own blood, and also each other’s blood.
A man with a strong bearlike body, thick eyebrows and big eyes was panting. One of his eyes had become a bloody mess. His left ear had even been ripped off and his body was trembling slightly. But his remaining eye was still showing madness. Letting out a beastly yell, waving his huge fist, he attacked a middle-aged man much smaller than him in stature in front of him.
There were many injuries on the middle-aged man’s body too, but they looked much less severe than the opponent’s. When the big man’s fist arrived, he unexpectedly did not dodge. Instead, he also raised his fist, wanting to clash with the big man head-on!
The moment his right arm struck out, it seemed to swell up all of a sudden. After the fists collided, that big man let out a miserable cry and retreated several steps continuously. The fingers of his right hand had bent into strange shapes, and his blood was spurting out. Several broken finger bones even stuck out through his skin!
That middle-aged man flung blood off his hand — his opponent’s blood. He even licked it with some enjoyment as his eyes glittered frighteningly. He simply looked more like a beast that was slaughtering its prey than a human.
The ‘audience’ outside the field screamed in excitement for a while. These plutocrats and aristocrats had completely lost that graceful, distinguished posture they had had outside. All of their faces were red and full of excitement. Their eyes were wide open, afraid of missing any of this exciting scene.
They were also trembling nonstop like Bai Yunfei. But the difference was that they were trembling because of excitement whereas Bai Yunfei was trembling because of fear.
Around the two people in the field, there were various bloodstains, either red or dark. Some of these bloodstains belonged to these two and some others had been left behind by the people in the several previous fights.
On the ‘stand’, there were similarly several luxurious chairs above Bai Yunfei and the others. At this moment, three people were sitting in these chairs, watching the fighting below them.
The one of the left was none other than Zhang Yang!
Acting like an elegant young nobleman, he was pointing to that middle-aged man and saying to the person beside him: “Second young master Zheng, what do you think about this Coliseum of mine? A place that makes people’s blood boil, isn’t it? That’s none other than the most ferocious man in this Coliseum. He’s called Direwolf…”
Beside him, there was a youngster dressed in splendid purple clothes with a face even more handsome than Zhang Yang’s, who was watching the fighting in the field expressionlessly. He slightly nodded, saying: “Not bad. This man is already in the half-awakened state. With just some more time, his soulforce will fully awaken and he’ll be able to set foot in the Soul Apprentice stage.”Despite those words of praise, his expression showed slight disapproval, making him appear somewhat perfunctory as he talked.
Zhang Yang, however, did not mind. He said with an ingratiating smile: “A mere Soul Apprentice of course isn’t worthy of your approval, second young master Zheng. The Zheng family has a lot of talents and experts. How can small families like ours possibly compare with it…”He knew that this second young master Zheng, who was from the capital, basically looked down upon his own family. This time, out of curiosity, this young master had come to the Coliseum in Luoshi City and he only needed to serve him nicely enough not to offend him.
The person on the right was covered from head to toe in a black cloak. His face could not be seen clearly. At the moment, his arms were crossed over his chest, his head slightly lowered. It looked like he was sleeping… Now the fighting in the field was already approaching the end. That big man was simply no match for the middle-aged man. His movements became slower and slower as there were more and more injuries on his body. The spectators’ excited cries were also getting louder and louder.
In the end, the middle-aged man took the big man down to the ground with a sweep kick. Trampling on his chest with his right foot, he lifted one of his arms up with his hands then pulled with force!
That arm of the big man was unexpectedly torn off!
The audience gave an unprecedented cheer. Seemingly because this scene was too bloody, some female spectators turned their heads away one by one. However, they were still secretly glancing into the field through the corners of their eyes, their cheeks very red with excitement.
Eventually, the middle-aged man crushed the opponent’s head like a watermelon with a foot stomp… Seeing the splattering of the red and white stuff, Bai Yunfei finally could not bear it anymore. Groveling in the corner of the wall, he began to vomit. Uncle Wu also trembled all over and clutched Yunfei.
Now, even those several ferocious-looking men in front of them had a fearful expression in their eyes as well.
At this moment, the wooden door of the prison cell was knocked open. Ten something people with weapons in their hands appeared outside the door. The man who had brought steamed buns to them before shouted: “Everybody get out! Take your weapons! And prepare to fight for your freedom!”
That group of men looked at each other but in the end they still walked out one by one. Uncle Wu and Bai Yunfei were the last to come out.
Whenever a person got out, the man who had opened the door took a weapon out from the chest behind him, gave it to him then let him walk into the field.
Bai Yunfei walked somewhat absently at the back of the group. In just a while, he and Uncle Wu walked up to the door. Uncle Wu received a broken hatchet.
Bai Yunfei stood in bewilderment at the door, waiting for that man to give him a weapon. But that man seemed to have been instructed earlier. He looked at Yunfei with an ambiguous smile and did not give him any weapon.
“Why… Why don’t you give me a weapon?”
“Ha ha, isn’t your hand holding a weapon? What do you still want? Cut the crap. Quickly go into the field!”That man jokingly cast a look at the brick in his hand — Bai Yunfei had been holding it all along, as if doing this could help him feel a little bit safer.
With no trace of politeness, that man then gave Bai Yunfei a kick, hurrying him into the field.
Bai Yunfei caught up with Uncle Wu. He still had a nonplussed expression. Seeing those luxuriously dressed spectators who were sizing up himself and his cellmates with curious and puzzled looks, a thought suddenly sprung to his mind.
“In the eyes of these people, I’m just like an ant…”
Zhang Yang stood up, walked forwards several steps and says loudly to those spectators: “Everybody! Coming up next is today’s special bonus program! The winner just now, Direwolf, faces this gang of fierce desperadoes!”
At this point, he looked into the field. When he saw Uncle Wu and Bai Yunfei,who were walking at the back of the group, his eyes flashed with a hint of vileness and satisfaction. And when he saw the brick in Yunfei’s hand, he was obviously stupefied. He then chuckled and somewhat approvingly cast a look at a subordinate beside him.
In the field, hearing Zhang Yang’s voice, Uncle Wu was the first to turn around. He stared at Zhang Yang, who was on the high stand, his entire body quivering, a deep hatred shooting out of his eyes.
Bai Yunfei also recognized Zhang Yang. He even felt that mocking and cruel expression when Zhang Yang looked at him… “It’s really him… Why? Just because I offended that young lady yesterday? But, what gives you the right to decide my life and death so easily? What gives you the right to look at me like looking at an ant?”
Bai Yunfei felt that there seemed to be an unspeakable sentiment spreading in his heart which was about to become insuppressible and explode.
Zhang Yang pointed to Direwolf and said to the people in the field: “All of you are death row inmates I bought out from prison. The likes of you commit arson, murder and looting every day. You should be dead already. But today I give you a chance to survive. Just fight him together. Anyone still stands in the field after half an hour, will be set free!”
Everybody understood what he said. Those spectators all whispered to each other and gesticulated at the people in the field. There was even an ‘amused’ expression on the faces of many of them.
“So they’re all death row inmates. So many people together, even holding weapons, can that Direwolf win?”
“The ten something people in the front look like criminals, but take a look at those two at the back. Isn’t it obvious that they’re just an old man and a kid?”
“Hah, you see, you see, what is that young lad holding in his hand?”
“A brick?”
“A brick… Ha ha! A brick!”
After the people in the field heard what Zhang Yang said, their eyes shone with hope. After all, nobody would want to die if it was possible to save his life. The ten something people in the front gathered together and whispered something to each other.
That Direwolf obviously had known about this ‘program’ early on. He stood still with arms crossed and glanced at the weapon-wielding people in front of him with a relaxed expression. Beside his foot, blood was still coming out from the corpse of that big man… Uncle Wu withdrew his look, stared forwards for a short period of time then pulled Bai Yunfei, saying in a low voice: “Yunfei, listen to me. Let’s hide on one side. If that man attacks us, just run. Don’t fight him. We can’t beat him. It’s 30 minutes and this field isn’t small. If we do our best to dodge, maybe we’ll have a chance to survive!”
Zhang Yang returned to his chair and said with a wave of his hand: “Let’s get started!”
Hearing the order, Direwolf gave a merciless smile. He then lifted his feet and slowly walked towards the group of people in front of him.
Holding various kinds of weapons in their hands, those ten something death row inmates spread out slightly. All of them were somewhat scared and no one dared to go up first.
Direwolf slowly walked towards them step by step. Because just then he had stood over there, his feet seemed to have been soaked in the blood flowing out from that man killed by him before. And now each step he took left a bloody footprint behind. In addition, his whole body was stained with blood as well, looking like a demon walking out of a bloodbath. So, every time he took a step, it was as if he stamped on everybody’s heart.
In the end, a prisoner could not take this suffocating fear anymore. He shouted loudly, like an explosion: “He is already injured from the fighting just now. Let’s get on together everybody. Kill him, and we can survive!”
Things will develop in the opposite direction when they become extreme. The extreme fear had erupted into a struggle for survival. This group of people rushed up almost simultaneously. Their eyes were all deep red, looking like crazy. Brandishing their weapons, they charged straight at Direwolf!
Direwolf’s eyes flashed with a hint of contempt. He raised his hand and grabbed a long spear then slightly exerted his strength. The user of the spear could not resist the great force coming through the spear’s handle. His body inclined and bumped into two people beside him.
Direwolf then slightly leaned to one side, avoiding a short saber that came flying. Afterwards, he raised a foot, sending a big copper hammer flying with a kick. Then he bent forwards and took advantage of the opportunity to make a sweep with the spear in his hand, instantly downing a group of people.
A whole gang had been beaten to the point of breaking up in the blink of an eye!
What happened after that was a one-sided slaughter… Snapping necks with kicks, crushing chests with foot stomps, casually snatching a large saber then cutting off three people by the waist with a single swing… Initially, the audience was still somewhat sluggish, but after Direwolf killed several people, they suddenly exploded with countless piercing screams! Because they were accustomed to watching long fights, the sudden appearance of this kind of ‘slick and delightful’ slaughter made them feel excited and stimulated in a different way… In under 10 minutes, more than ten people had been killed almost completely, not to mention 30 minutes!
Now some finally reacted by throwing down their weapons and running. But they were simply caught up after just several steps.
Whoever was caught up, was killed!
In the end, there was no one left standing around Direwolf.
He then shifted his eyes, looking at Uncle Wu and Bai Yunfei!