Time slipped away silently, and the sun rose and fell again almost without notice.
As dawn broke, Ye Yu was already working out in his room. Ever since he no longer needed to hide his identity by acting as a scavenging street urchin, Ye Yu had maintained strict self-discipline every morning. Supplemented by the hearty meals that constantly replenished his body's energy, he had begun to fill out, his frame no longer as gaunt and withered as it had been back in Linluo City.
After spending two hours pushing his body to what felt like its absolute limit, Ye Yu finally stopped. Exercise required a balance of exertion and rest; blindly increasing intensity and duration while ignoring the body's condition would only cause harm.
He took a shower, and just as he stepped out, he heard a knock on the door. Wrapped in a towel, Ye Yu opened it to find Lox standing respectfully outside.
"What is it, old Lox?"
Realizing it was Lox, Ye Yu walked back into the inner room, and Lox followed, closing the door behind him.
"Young master, today seems to be the registration day for the Martial Arts Tournament, and I've seen quite a few old acquaintances." Lox's expression was very solemn. "I suggest you don't go out today."
"Oh? Is it really that dangerous?" Ye Yu looked somewhat surprised as he sat on his bed and changed his clothes without the slightest hesitation in front of Lox.
"I saw Gohzuki and Retsu of the Four Rakshasas."
"The Four Rakshasas..." Ye Yu murmured thoughtfully, then relaxed and said, "It's fine. They don't know me anyway. Just be careful lately, old Lox, keep yourself hidden, and I'll go out and take a look by myself."
Lox's head was worth a considerable sum of money. If some powerful expert set their sights on him, Ye Yu wouldn't even have the strength to avenge him right now.
"Understood, young master."
Lox acknowledged the order, and seeing that Ye Yu had finished changing and was ready to leave, he stepped aside to clear the way.
Ye Yu picked up Luoying and opened the door. Then, as if remembering something, he stopped mid-stride, turned his head, and said to Lox, "Just stay in my room for now and go back tonight. As for food... I'll find a delivery driver for you."
"A delivery driver? What on earth is that?" As a native of this world, Lox had no idea what the term meant.
"You'll find out later." Ye Yu smiled slightly, then pulled the door shut behind him and stepped out.
The streets today were far more crowded than yesterday, and many people were openly carrying weapons. Keeping his composure, Ye Yu drifted with the stream of humanity until he reached the Martial Arts Tournament registration area.
"Don't shove, don't shove! Form an orderly line!"
The guards tasked with maintaining order shouted at the top of their lungs, but their voices were weak against the tide, and the site remained a chaotic mess.
Those participating in the martial arts tournament included not only disciples from renowned orthodox sects, but also countless grassroots martial artists from the Jianghu. Everyone was hoping to use this tournament—which would be attended by the Emperor—to rise rapidly in the world and become a cut above ordinary mortals.
Not far behind the guards stood a man with shoulder-length white hair and piercing eyes. He wore only a white shirt, with a standard Japanese-style long sword tucked into his waist. Despite the sweltering heat, he wore a red scarf around his neck, giving him a rather bizarre appearance.
The man stroked his sparse beard, watching the noisy crowd with keen interest, and said to the burly man beside him, "Hey, hey, Retsu, aren't you the one who loves peace and quiet the most? Why don't you go over and calm things down?"
"I have no desire to meddle in such trifles." As one of the Four Rakshasas, Retsu had a gleaming bald head save for a tuft of red hair at each temple. Dressed in monk's robes, his voice boomed like rolling thunder, startling Gohzuki into hastily covering his ears.
"How does your internal strength keep growing?" Gohzuki complained.
Hearing that booming voice, the noisy crowd quickly quieted down.
"Look, it's Gohzuki and Retsu of the Four Rakshasas!"
"Why would they show up here?"
"I heard the Prime Minister invited them here to watch the matches."
With that, another wave of people pushed toward Retsu and Gohzuki just to catch a glimpse of the legendary Four Rakshasas, and the noise level surged once more.
Trapped in the middle of the crowd, Ye Yu used every ounce of strength he had to squeeze his way out, hurriedly fleeing to a quieter spot.
That was terrifying. He almost became the first Isekai protagonist to be crushed to death by a mob.
Letting out a long sigh of relief, Ye Yu looked back at the crowd, where everyone was still desperately shoving their way forward, and shook his head.
Forget it. He had originally intended to squeeze in and see what Gohzuki and Retsu looked like, but with his current physique, he feared he might accidentally get trampled to death on the spot.
Just as Ye Yu was standing in a relaxed posture, a sudden premonition made every muscle in his body tense instantly. He spun around to dodge to the side, snatched Luoying from his waist, and slashed toward the space directly behind the spot he had just occupied.
Only to find Leone standing there in a daze, her hand still frozen in mid-air as if she had been about to tap Ye Yu on the shoulder.
Leone was completely startled by Ye Yu's lightning-fast reaction.
The blade stopped right at Leone's neck, and a few strands of golden hair drifted slowly to the ground in the breeze.
"Damn it, why is it you? You scared the hell out of me! I thought someone was trying to assassinate me," Ye Yu complained, putting away the sword he had pressed against her shoulder.
"Hey! I'm the one who almost got scared to death, okay? I just wanted to tap your shoulder, why did you have to react so violently?!" Leone shouted, tears welling up in her eyes as she realized she had nearly departed this wonderful world.
"Then why didn't you call out my name?" Ye Yu snapped back. If he hadn't reacted with split-second reflexes, Leone would have been decapitated.
"What are you looking for me for?" Ye Yu sighed as he looked at Leone's tearful expression, and quickly asked. He was terrible at dealing with crying girls—the ones he made cry himself didn't count.
"I just wanted to ask you... was what you said yesterday true? That anyone who ran into you would get a silver coin?" Leone asked with a sobbing voice, slowly shuffling closer to him.
"Of course it's—"
Before Ye Yu could finish, Leone lunged forward instantly, grabbing for him.
Instead of moving away, Ye Yu stood his ground, used the scabbard of Luoying to bat Leone's hands away, thrust the sword back into his belt, and punched Leone squarely in her still-unblemished eye.
Leone was once again sent rolling on the ground in agony.
After a long while, Ye Yu watched as Leone finally stopped thrashing and glared at him furiously, sporting a pair of fresh black eyes.
Ye Yu inspected the matching bruises and nodded in satisfaction. Very symmetrical, absolute perfection.
He had wanted to do that since yesterday; he just hadn't gotten the chance.
"Why do you always punch me in the eye? How am I supposed to show my face looking this ugly?!" Leone complained indignantly, though she no longer dared to make a move.
"Don't you know how to dodge? You're not a wooden post," Ye Yu said casually, crossing his arms. "Anyway, I have a mission for you. The reward is one silver coin. Are you taking it or not?"
"What mission?" Leone touched her bruised eye, wincing in pain. This Ye Yu really didn't hold back at all.
"I'll give you two silver coins. You use one silver coin to buy a takeout meal and deliver it to old Lox—the old man who was following behind me." Ye Yu handed over a small slip of paper as he spoke.
"Two silver coins!" Stars sparkled in Leone's eyes as she reached for the slip of paper, her hand suddenly accelerating halfway through.
Ye Yu anticipated her little trick and placed the paper directly into her palm just before she could touch him.
"Tch."
Leone curled her lip, glanced at the address written on the paper, nodded, and held out her hand. "No problem. Hand over the silver."
Ye Yu flipped two silver coins into Leone's hand, then turned around to leave. "Oh right, when you deliver it, make sure to tell old Lox: 'Panda Delivery, your order arrives on time.'"
"Huh, why do I have to say that?" Seeing Ye Yu turn his back on her again, Leone hatched another scheme and slowly crept up behind him."Just say it." Ye Yu suddenly squatted down, looked at Leone who had pounced on the ground, and said with a smile.
How could Leone possibly understand his own quirky sense of humor?
"Humph!" Leone let out a soft snort, scrambled up from the ground, and ran off. She didn't want to stay with Ye Yu a second longer, lest she lose her mind.
Seeing Leone leave, Ye Yu looked over toward the registration area for the Martial Arts Tournament, which was gradually returning to order. After thinking for a moment, he walked over and joined the long queue. He had decided to enter the tournament.
The Martial Arts Tournament would allow him to match skills with homegrown experts while also giving him access to the higher echelons of the Empire.
According to the plot, Esdeath was destined to become a general of the Empire. Infiltrating the upper ranks of the Empire would make future interactions with Esdeath and various other plans much easier to execute.
Furthermore, a tournament attended by the reigning emperor himself presented a golden opportunity for Ye Yu to wedge his way into the heart of the Empire.
As time passed, it was finally Ye Yu's turn in line. The staff member responsible for recording names looked down at Ye Yu, who was not even as tall as the table, and fell silent.
"Little brat, we don't accept minors here," the registrar said, looking down at Ye Yu and speaking in a stern voice.
"I'm eighteen," Ye Yu said, adopting a serious and earnest tone with a childish, unbroken voice.
"You're eighteen, my foot!"
The registrar's mouth twitched. Why don't you drop that childish voice before you try this again?
Just as he was about to turn Ye Yu away, a gold coin flew from beneath the table and landed on his lap, completely unnoticed by anyone else.
"Ye Yu, eighteen years old," Ye Yu said, smiling at the registrar.
"Good! Ye Yu, eighteen years old. Next!" The registrar caught the hint, swiftly pocketed the coin, and called out as if nothing had happened.
It truly was a universal truth that money could make the ghosts grind flour.
Ye Yu turned and walked away with a look of satisfaction, completely indifferent to a single gold coin.
The competition was scheduled for three days later because the organizers needed to finalize the headcount and build the arena. A great many experts had come for this Martial Arts Tournament, but even more people had come just to pad the numbers, and those deadweight participants had to be weeded out.
If the Emperor were to show up and watch a dull, uninspiring contest, heads would roll.
Therefore, Ye Yu still had to undergo testing by the organizers tomorrow to confirm whether he was truly qualified to step into the ring.
Seeing Ye Yu leave, the registration official who had pocketed the gold coin immediately used the excuse of a call of nature to slip away to the restroom.
Inside the restroom, the official carefully fished out the gold coin and bit down on it with his teeth.
"Holy crap, it's actually real! I'm rich!" the registrar exclaimed happily. At the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about food or clothing for the next month.
Still, did that little brat really think that was a fun place to be? Weapons were allowed in the ring during the Martial Arts Tournament, so long as no one died.
In other words, while opportunities abounded here, the dangers were even greater. One misstep, and you might spend the rest of your life bedridden.
As for a little kid like him, the registrar didn't hold out any hope at all. Besides, the little fellow probably wouldn't even pass the subsequent ability test.
But what did that have to do with him?
The registrar thought with malicious glee. He never expected that simply working as a registration official would yield such a windfall, and the little brat's stunt had even inspired him to think of a way to make quick money.
By the time the queue reached Ye Yu, it was almost lunchtime.
At that moment, Leone was clutching two silver coins, wandering aimlessly through the streets because she had no idea where to buy food. She usually just scavenged whatever others left behind; when had she ever held a silver coin to buy things to eat?
For young Leone, high-end shopping was a completely foreign concept.
"Come to think of it, why do I have to listen to that guy anyway?!" Leone yanked at her own hair, thinking with indignation.
"Right, both silver coins are in my hands now. If I pocket them and just hide them away, wouldn't they both belong to me?" Leone looked at the silver coins in her palm, her heart racing with excitement.
Having grown up in the Imperial Capital since she was small, if she really decided to hide them, Ye Yu might not actually be able to find them.
Yet in the Imperial Capital, Leone didn't have a single friend her own age she could talk to.
In the slums of the Imperial Capital, those younger than her treated her like an older sister, while those older than her treated her like a child and looked after her well. But there was absolutely no one like Ye Yu, someone she could fool around with casually.
Though she had known Ye Yu for less than two days, Leone hadn't realized that she had already come to view him as a friend.
After hesitating on the spot for a moment, Leone sighed, set off, and walked toward the upscale restaurant from yesterday.
In the end, her reason conquered her impulses.
Ye Yu had already returned to his room. On his way back, he had taken a stroll around the Imperial Capital to scout out its layout and architecture—just in case Lox's identity was exposed, making a swift getaway inevitable.
Ye Yu lay on the bed, watching Lox standing rigidly to one side, feeling a wave of speechlessness.
When he went out, Lox had been standing there just like that; when he came back, he was still standing the same way. Didn't the man ever get tired?
So Ye Yu sat up and said to Lox, "Old Luo, you're being way too uptight. I can understand acting like this in front of outsiders, but why keep it up in private? There are chairs right over there."
"With the young master absent, this old servant wouldn't dare presume to overstep behind closed doors," Lox replied respectfully before finally taking a seat.
Ye Yu remained silent for a long time. Ever since that night they eliminated the city defense officer in Guangxi Town, Lox had maintained this state.
He was acting just like a machine.
"Sigh."
Ye Yu sighed and fell back onto the bed. Lox had been hurt too deeply by Moses; now, besides serving Ye Yu as his young master, he didn't care about anything else.
At that moment, a knock sounded at the door. Lox stood up, cracked the door open a sliver, and only swung it wide when he saw it was Leone.
Ye Yu poked his head out, looking like he was settling in for a good show.
Leone carefully placed the takeout package on the ground. Then, resting her right hand on her hip, she swung her left arm in a full circle from bottom to top before returning her left hand to her hip, repeating the exact same circular motion with her right hand, and finally flashing a peace sign next to her panda-like dark circles.
"Panda Delivery, your mission is delivered!"
The moment Leone started her first gesture, Ye Yu was already back inside the room, laughing so hard he was pounding his bed in a frenzy.
The motions! She had actually added motions on her own! Too unbeatable.
Ye Yu never imagined Leone would pull a stunt like that. This was the happiest day of laughter he had experienced since coming to this world.
Lox stood by the door, watching Leone's adorable appearance, her two dark circles looking quite comical.
After a long moment, he turned his head away and let out a soft chuckle. Was this what Young Master Ye Yu called a delivery person?
Seeing Lox's expression and hearing the unrestrained laughter from inside the room, Leone's face turned red down to the roots of her ears. She quickly grabbed the food and marched into the room.
Seeing Ye Yu convulsed with laughter, she hurriedly offered an explanation: "Ahhhhhh! Why are you back? Stop laughing, will you?! Aren't slogans supposed to come with hand gestures?!"
"Sorry." Ye Yu sat up, propping his head with one hand to suppress his laughter, his trembling body a testament to how difficult it was to hold back.
Lox unpacked all the food, laid it out on the table, and said to Ye Yu and Leone, "Young master, Miss Leone, please enjoy your meal."
Leone waved a hand, the flush on her face still not fading.
"I've got things to do, I'm heading out first."
She had earned a silver coin today, and her younger brothers and sisters in the slums were still waiting for her to buy food and bring it back.
She slipped out the door as if fleeing for her life. Today's events were entirely too embarrassing; she didn't want to spend another minute lingering with those two witnesses.