Chapter 99 - Death Walk (2)
Fourth and Hao Xuan sat in the VIP room while Feng got everything ready.
The arena had around a hundred thousand seats available, of which only 10-15% would be filled under normal circumstances. But after the notification for the Death Walk went out, it slowly filled up until there wasn't even space for people to stand. The event attracted so much attention that even the higher-ups and the normal public that weren't notified of the Walk got wind of it.
It became a national event and almost every city and town made announcements about it and some even got permission to display the entire fight on large screens for thousands that couldn't afford to tune in.
Billions of people were waiting for the Walk, especially since Hao Xuan's rank was announced.
The military jumped on the bandwagon and advertised the event as an "Official Military Occasion", something like a parade.
And because so many people tuned in and even more were trying to, the deadline got pushed back another hour.
Hao Xuan was sitting in the room with his eyes closed when the door abruptly opened and several people entered.
"Brothers! Sister! when did you get back?" Fourth shouted, startling the baby snakes and Hao Xuan. He turned around and saw that almost all of the other captains were there.
"Just now, but that's not important. What in gods name did you guys do?" Third smacked Fourth on the back of the head.
"Ninth brother, Fourth brother, how could you leave me out of this?!" Sixth stood in the corner woefully, with fake tears in his eyes.
"Ninth brother, why did you ask them to put in even more opponents? Do you know how big this has gotten?" Fifth moved forward with an angry look on her face but it looked more concerned than anything else.
"Oi, you guys sure are living your lives eh?" Eighth walked in and sat on the sofa. He reached forward to pick up a beast leg but Zhurong suddenly popped out from behind it, and like a mother hen protecting her young and stood in front of the mountain of meat.
"Ohh, it's been a while since someone had the guts to bare their fangs at me, little kitty, you sure about this?" Eighth threateningly asked with narrowed eyes.
But Zhurong knew no fear, with his chest puffed he looked straight into his eyes and shouted, "MEOW!" and with that, they started fighting each other for the literal mountain of food that no normal person would be able to finish on their own.
"Third brother, Sixth brother, Seventh brother, Fifth sister, Eighth brother you all came. Come have a seat," Hao Xuan stood up with a huge smile on his face.
"W-Woah, Ninth brother, how did you get so tall all of a sudden?" Sixth asked with wide eyes upon seeing his height and build but Third quickly smacked him on the back of the head as well which quietened him down.
Seventh nodded at Hao Xuan and took out a chair from his storage ring and sat down next to the table. He reached out, grabbed a piece of meat and started eating with small bites.
"O-Oi, What the fuck?! You're not stopping him?!" Eighth shouted at Zhurong when he didn't even spare a look at Seventh.
"Meow Meow!" Zhurong replied with a smirk.
"You're fat! Your entire family is fat! Just because I'm a little chubby you won't let me eat? This is straight up discrimination!" Eighth almost blew up in anger.
"Where's First brother? Did he not come?" Hao Xuan asked ignoring the due and looked behind Third.
"No, he was with his family so he couldn't come. But he will be watching from home and rooting for you," Third sighed.
"Ninth brother, do you have any idea how big this is? Even the great general was inquiring about it," Fifth said while fixing Hao Xuan's collar like a loving older sister.
"Haha, its nothing much. Although I had no idea it would blow up like this, it doesn't change anything. I'll still win," he smiled back.
"Seriously, why are you all like this?" Third couldn't help but shake his head.
***
First was sitting at home with his family, waiting in front of the screen. His son Xin Qiye and younger sister Han Ming were sitting with him, while the wife prepared some snacks.
"Brother, what's going on? Why is everyone so excited all of a sudden?" Han Ming asked looking out the window where people could be seen rushing here and there.
"Do you remember Ninth brother? Brother Hao?" he asked while making funny faces at Xin Qiye.
"Mhmm," she nodded.
"He will be fighting some monsters in a little while. And we'll watch and root for him together."
Han Ming didn't ask anything else and quietly sat in front of the screen with glistening eyes, waiting.
***
"Olivia! Emi! Come down, it's about to start!" shouted Sam from the living room.
"I don't understand why this is such a big deal. Violence should not be celebrated like this," Mrs. Khan said from the kitchen.
"Ma, it's not like that. He is from the Red Legion you know. No one knows what they look like, their real names or identities are a secret. They fight from the shadows and don't take any recognition for their work. Every day they fight to protect us. This is just a way to show him our support," he said enthusiastically.
After the incident [refering to CH6], Sam became obsessed with the Military. He even tried to join but Maaz and Mr. Khan brought him back and had him enrolled in the National Academy of the Mei Kingdom.
It was a separate entity from the military and trained cultivators and warriors in their own way. It was much safer as no one would have to undertake missions they didn't want to.
Sons and daughters of many rich merchants, businessmen, and other people of power went there.
Other than Maaz, all the rest of the kids were going there thanks to General Yue Fei. After erasing Hao Xuan's memories, he pulled some strings and had all of them enrolled in the academy without any tuition fees.
He was a smart man. Even though he was hoping for the best but he still prepared for every single scenario.
"Well, I still don't like it. There are easier ways to do things. Why put yourself in danger? His parents would be worried sick if they knew," even though she didn't know him, still her motherly instincts didn't want to see anyone get hurt.
"A little bit of danger is fine. You cannot become strong sitting at home," Mr. Khan entered. He seemed even younger than before and at most looked to be 40. Beast world really did agree with him.
"Did it start yet?" he asked Sam while sitting down.
"Not yet, soon," Sam shook his head.
"Emilie, Olivia, come down, dinner is almost ready!" shouted Mrs. Khan and after a few minutes, a couple of identical little girls came running down. Emi still had her teddy bear in hand.
"Papa!" they went running up to Mr. Khan and sat beside him.
"Oh my, who are you? Where are my little daughters? Did you guys eat them?" Mr. Khan said jokingly and played with them while the others set the table.
The screen was in the dining room so they could see the Death Walk while eating, although that wasn't a good idea considering it was really gory most of the time.
***
"Lieutenant, did you hear anything? Is it really Captain?" Mason asked and everyone turned to look at Kuo.
"Who else could it be? All the other captains are at very high realms. Only our captain has yet to breakthrough, and this is a hell of a way to do it. The entire kingdom will be watching," he shook his head.
All the Mad Saints had gathered together in their quarters and were also waiting for the Death Walk. They were some of the rare few that knew it was Hao Xuan who would be fighting. Suffice it to say, the excitement was in the air.
***
All the other VIP rooms were filled as well, some said that a few royal princes and princesses came to watch but no one knew if that was true or not.
***
"Are you ready? It's almost time," Third asked looking at the time. It was only ten minutes until the deadline.
"Yes, it's no big deal," Hao Xuan replied in his usual tone, making Third furrow his brow.
"Ninth brother, don't let your guard down. Do you know how many people have actually finished the Death Walk?"
"Finished? About 30% right?"
"No, you're talking about the mortality rate? Yes, the mortality rate is 70% but that doesn't mean the remaining 30% finished. Over the years, more than 500 people have tried, and out of all of them, only 4 finished. That's a 0.8% success rate. All the rest had to abandon the Walk with serious injuries. Most of them couldn't even cultivate after that."
He sighed once again and continued, "Brother, I know you're strong and you want to test your power, but don't risk your life. Even the Four that finished the Walk used great treasures and techniques to survive."
"A normal genius can fight with enemies one stage higher than theirs, a great genius can fight with two stages higher. And very rare few can fight against three or four stages higher opponents. Out of all Nine of us, only one person can fight against enemies with five stages or higher. That's our second 'brother'."
"Second brother? I still haven't met him," Hao Xuan said with a surprised expression. Was their second brother the real gem?
"You will, soon. but you need to focus. We will be taking over the roles of protectors for this fight. During every Death Walk, several people act as protectors to intervene in case of an emergency. I've talked with brother Feng and with Great Generals order, we will be overseeing the entire Walk. But still, it only takes a moment of hesitation to lose your life. Careful!"
Third patted his shoulder and walked out of the room along with the rest, leaving Hao Xuan alone with the baby snakes and Zhurong who was still making his way through the mountain of meat without a care in the world.