Wang Taigang was in worse shape than Yan Mingqing, that was clear to see. As the two observers, Han Youhong and Lin Songmei traded some light commentary, but, in the end, there wasn’t much to say. Mingqing was just... winning.
Feeling the soreness in her legs from the day before, where she had spent way too much time chasing Songmei around in circles during their duel, Mingqing had disengaged. Across from her though, was an almost panting Taigang. Mingqing wasn’t sure if it was just her sheer dominance, or just because Taigang had just been battling Youhong fifteen to thirty minutes prior.
Well, Mingqing didn’t know, so she was just going to assume it was because she was just that utterly dominant.
With confidence rushing through her, Mingqing broke into a wide smile. Pushing a new thick layer of silvery, starry Qi onto her sword, Mingqing dug her heel into the ground, pivoting, before leaping forward once more to press her advantage. Pushing Taigang into a scattered retreat, Mingqing pressed her advantage, hammering an unending flurry of sword strikes onto his golden frame.
“Yeah, I think that’s about the end of it,” Youhong commented, popping a lychee jelly into his mouth while kicking his feet up and leaning back into his seat. “All that’s left is to wait for it to end.”
Songmei wanted to defend Taigang but... there wasn’t really anything that she could say. Taigang’s forearms were a blinding gold color, reinforced to the max with Qi, but at this point, all Taigang could do was defend himself, like an animal cornered by an apex predator. In the moment, the blinding golden sheen that his arms had seemed to pale in comparison to the glittery silver blade that Mingqing wielded.
Doing a twirl—just for style as far as Songmei could tell—Mingqing slammed her way past Taigang’s final defenses, her sword pressing against Taigang’s neck as the duel came to a close.
“It’s my loss...” Taigang sighed, putting his hands up, resigned as Mingqing lowered her sword. “Good duel, good duel.”
Sheathing her practice sword and throwing it into her spatial storage ring, Mingqing took Taigang’s hand, giving him a light nod and a “not too bad, good job,” before jogging back to the table where Youhong and Songmei were now clapping.
A little surprised with how fast the duel wrapped up, Songmei was at a loss of words as Mingqing ran over with a half-expectant look on her face.
Tilting her head and extending her arms out to offer a hug, Songmei was enveloped by Mingqing, who then followed up the initial embrace with a monster squeeze that pushed all the air out of Songmei, that along with some organs too...
“You did great~” Songmei whispered once her lungs were no longer being compressed into a plate. “I’m proud of you~”
Getting squeezed again, Songmei felt Mingqing’s breathing hitch for a second before Mingqing whispered a quiet “thank you” as her breathing returned back to normal as if nothing had happened.
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Suspicious. Reeeeaaaaal suspicious. Songmei didn’t want to say things or believe things “weren’t normal,” but, in this case at least, she felt it wasn't ideal, maybe, if anyone got that surprised by hearing the words “I’m proud of you.”
Deciding to ask Mingqing about it the next time they had a heart to heart confessional in bed, Songmei settled on leaning in close to Mingqing’s ear, blowing on it just a touch while laugh-whispering: “Always.”
With Mingqing snorting and releasing the hug, Songmei had her nose pinched as Mingqing laughed with a teasing grin, “What are you trying to do now?”
“Nothing~” Songmei sang, turning to take a peek at Youhong and Taigang. Luckily enough, they were too engrossed in their own little post-duel talk. From the looks of it, it was just Taigang asking for ways Youhong, a third-party perspective, thought the duel could’ve been done differently.
Then, much to Taigang’s chagrin and amusement, there was just Youhong peddling his new outlook on life that consisted of “not dueling people like Mingqing who are most definitely going to beat your ass twelve times out of ten.”
Not wanting to eavesdrop more on Taigang and Youhong’s conversation, Songmei sat back down, patting the seat next to herself for Mingqing while asking, “How was it for you? Easy duel? Make any mistakes? Or was it absolute perfection?”
“Honestly? It wasn’t too bad,” Mingqing shrugged, a thin smile appearing on her face as she sat down about as closely as was possible (without being too suspicious) to Songmei, “there’s not much to say though. His style really doesn’t match up against mine very well. He relies very much on overpowering his opponents, while also being close to them. I can overpower him while also maintaining a distance just outside of his ideal attack range.”
“That’s... that’s kinda rough,” Songmei sighed, giving her invisible condolences to Taigang who was now discussing potential new ways to utilize his main technique with Youhong, the technique dispensary.
Lacing her fingers into Mingqing’s under the table, Songmei waved Taigang and Youhong over, pulling up a map of all nearby restaurants on her terminal. With her one hand really not being enough to navigate the small... Qi... holographic... magic, whatever screen the terminal had, Songmei scowled a touch, before making the decision to tough it out—Mingqing’s hand was soft enough to warrant the extra trouble.
“What’s up, Songmei?” Taigang asked, sliding a chair out from under the table and taking a seat.
Showing the list of restaurants she had pulled up on her terminal, Songmei was greeted by an enlightened “ohhh” from both Youhong and Taigang. “I was just thinking we order some food now while we talk about future plans now that the technique-showcase and duels are over.”
“You sure you and Youhong don’t want to duel? Or you and me?” Taigang asked, giving a light shrug, “I mean, I think I can do another, and Youhong would probably be down too?”
“I’ll pass,” Songmei shook her head, turning the terminal back towards her. “My techniques aren’t really great for duels, and also...”
Pausing, Songmei extended her index finger out with an awkward smile, letting Qi begin to flow out in a helix pattern, condensing bit by bit into a crystal.
A dead fish stare greeted her. Multiple actually.
“They can’t tell,” Mingqing cleared her throat with an awkward cough, turning away to suppress half a chuckle. “Even I can’t tell, and I know what to look for since I know.”
Coughing and dying of embarrassment, Songmei explained, “Well, I uhh... I opened my fifth meridian yesterday, so yeah, no point in really dueling, I think...”
““Oh.””
With the empty stares becoming more empty, Songmei raised her hands, as if trying to assuage the disbelieving feelings that filled Youhong and Taigang’s hearts. “Let’s just order some food and talk about our future plans...”