20demayo Chapter 280 This competition doesn't even have prize money?
Chapter 280 This competition doesn't even have prize money?
In any case, Pine Sparrow has become a teammate of Sky.
That night, Song Que, lying on the makeshift bed she had cobbled together, was too excited to sleep (Qiong had slept on the floor). She was still hoping that tomorrow would be better: if Qiong shone brightly in the Ten Arts War, wouldn't she be able to go to the Eternal Night City "Ruimu" with him? Maybe she could even find more ways to make money and, like those big shots, never have to worry about food, clothing, or shelter again.
Even if Qiong loses the preliminaries, it doesn't matter. With his ability to deal with shadows faster than those people in the Lantern Organization, and his own clever brain, he'll definitely be able to make money even faster! Thinking about the days to come... Song Que couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Stop laughing, go to sleep!"
"Rice Cake," who was lying on Qiong's body and acting as a makeshift blanket, gently scolded Song Que—there was no other way, Song Que was too poor, there was only one small tattered blanket in this drafty wooden house, and Qiong was too embarrassed to ask her for one. Kiana, who felt responsible for causing Qiong to fall into this situation, volunteered to be the little blanket—"Rice Cake" is no ordinary snake, it definitely doesn't have cold, hard scales now, it's fragrant and soft!
"Okay, okay, let's go to sleep now, let's go to sleep now! I'll definitely get you both a new quilt tomorrow!"
The sparrow obediently closed its beak and soon drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Where are we?
The sparrow looked around and found itself in a hay shed.
"Sister Songque, I'm so hungry."
The younger girl was complaining to the older girl.
"here it is……"
Song Que remembered; it was a memory from many years ago. Long ago, on a winter day, in a hay shed on the outskirts of Langqiu City, two teenagers huddled together on a haystack.
Maria, who had just run away from the orphanage and changed her name to Pine Sparrow, didn't know how to cheat and swindle now. She just lived by begging... But begging couldn't support herself and the other beggars at all.
“Xiao An…”
The girl's face became clearer, and Song Que looked at the two girls in front of him with a bitter smile. Both girls were extremely thin, and the drafty hay hut had frozen their lips purple—but this was the best place they could find.
Despite being hungry and cold, the older girl tried to encourage her companion to stay strong. She thought for a moment, cleared her throat, and tried to make her voice sound powerful.
"Don't worry, Xiao An, we've already found a good place to eat. We'll take you there tomorrow when the weather is nice."
"Sister Songque, is there anything to eat?"
Song Que tried to close her eyes and not look, because she still remembered how it ended—but how could it be? She couldn't control the perspective in her dream.
"That's right! It's not just food; there are so many delicacies there, you could never finish them all! Let me tell you about it now. Once your ears are full, your stomach won't be hungry anymore..."
Time flies in the dream, and soon it was dawn. While the older girl struggled to wake up and called for her friends, the little boy named Xiao An had already fallen into an eternal slumber.
No matter how much the girl called out, Xiao An remained fast asleep. Even after she painstakingly managed to bring back the stuffed buns (actually red bean buns) that she had mentioned to the girl to the hay shed, the girl still remained fast asleep.
As time passed, Song Que forgot many things, but she was certain she would never forget that face.
That blissful smile on her face must have been a beautiful dream—a sweet and fulfilling one…
～～～～～～～～～～～～～
"Pine bird, the sun's shining on your bottom!"
The call of "Nian Gao" pulled Song Que back to reality from her dream. She opened her eyes abruptly and saw a small snake with starry eyes close to her face.
"I told you to go to sleep, but you keep talking in your sleep, and I can't sleep at all!"
"Sorry, I was just thinking about something from the past."
The pine bird clasped its hands together with the "rice cake" and begged for forgiveness.
She looked out the window; it was already bright outside, a new day had begun, and her hungry stomach told her it was time to eat.
"Let's go get something good to eat! Hey, have you guys ever tried red bean buns? Hmm... how about we go to Ming Kee and buy some dim sum for breakfast?"
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According to Song Que, Amber Street in Langqiu is the liveliest place in the whole of Langqiu, but it always gives Qiong the feeling of a small, third-rate place. Compared to Amber Street, the commercial street in St. Freya is much more lively.
"Is this really a famous city on Mars...?"
If Langqiu had been divided up like this, Qiong would feel it would be reasonable, but does the current Langqiu even deserve to be called a big city?
Upon hearing Qiong's complaints, the local resident Song Que naturally couldn't ignore them.
"Hey, you can't just say that! Our Langqiu is one of the four major districts of Anhe! It's in no way inferior to Minghai, Baiyu, and Ouxia!"
"Ouxia? Isn't Ouxia a city?"
Upon hearing the familiar words, Qiong blurted out her words without thinking, but it was clear that Ms. Songque from Langqiu was very dissatisfied.
"What Ouxia City? It's a region of our Anhe Republic! Can you stop spouting nonsense if you're an alien who doesn't know what you're talking about?"
Qiong: ……
Anhe, a republic? Didn't you say Anhe City before? Martians are talking about regional and national concepts? Don't you have gods?
"Nian Gao, what do you think?"
"What are you looking at?"
Qiong was at a loss for words. Could the way this Martian God acted be similar to that of Fu Hua and Chi Yuan when they were immortals? (Regardless of how much bloodshed and destruction they caused, as long as the Honkai energy didn't manifest, they wouldn't lift a finger)
"Alas, sparrow."
Qiong patted Song Que on the shoulder.
"Does the god you Luo Xing people worship really exist? Or rather, has any of you seen that god? What is His/Her name?"
If God truly exists, let alone whether humanity can establish nations, or whether there is only one global nation unified by God, perhaps God intends to let humanity develop freely?
According to the idea that God loves the world, He wouldn't allow someone like Song Que to make a living only by cheating and swindling. Even if we take a step back, shouldn't human society prosper under God's protection? Yet, along the way, Song Que distributed most of the snacks to him and "Nian Gao"—all to ragged children.
Considering that certain young master Bai and Serim, isn't the wealth gap in Mars' Light Hill......?
Doesn't God care? Could this God simply be a spiritual totem?
"Of course, we in Langqiu believe in the one atop the Ruimu Tower! She protects the entire Luoxing! We don't really care what she's called... Hey, she's a god! It's normal for her to have some charisma. Basically, no one has ever seen her leave that tower. But I heard that a long time ago... someone saw her?"
Song Que's attitude was quite certain, indicating that she firmly believed in the existence of gods.
"Will participating in the Ten Arts War really allow us to meet this god?"
The sparrow nodded vigorously.
"Of course! As long as you win first place in the Ten Arts War, you will definitely be summoned by the gods! That's common sense!"
"But isn't this 'common sense' just secondhand information from you guys?"
"Qiong, let's not think too much about it. Just do your best. If you really stand out..."
The sparrows and flies rubbed their hands together, laughing.
"The winner of the preliminary rounds can bring two companions to Ruimu—you don't know, it's easy to leave but difficult to get in there, except for the victors of the Ten Arts War and the local residents! Everyone says it's much more prosperous than Langqiu! Why don't you take us with you?"
"Hmm...a city under the feet of a god who is strict in entry and lenient in exit?"
Qiong's personal favorability towards that deity plummeted. Even if you made Kiana the Earth's god, she wouldn't restrict people from traveling to the moon! Besides, she was only watching over Earth—wait, could the Martian god also be watching over Mars, and that tower, filled with calamities, is actually a demon-sealing tower? Because she's so focused on suppressing calamities like the Great Collapse Shadow Disaster to prevent the world's destruction, she has no time to care about humanity?
Thinking of this, Qiong's goodwill towards the Martian God she had never met rose again.
"Alright, alright, we've arrived at the registration point! Hurry up, go sign in and get your jade token!"
Qiong, who had been lost in thought the whole way, only then noticed that she and "Nian Gao" had been led by Song Que to a deserted stall. After all, there were only so many people in Langqiu, and most of those who wanted to sign up had already done so. Only one man was still sitting there, probably a staff member.
"Wait a minute, Pine Sparrow, where did I get an ID card?"
Qiong suddenly realized something: He was an unregistered resident on Mars! This isn't Earth, there's no one like Lao Yang to make him fake documents!
"Oh? What should we do then?"
Qiong looked at Song Que with a bitter face, hoping that this Master Song Que could solve the problem.
But the sparrow seemed completely unconcerned.
"ID card? What's that? A document to prove identity? You don't need that to register for the Ten Arts War. If you ask me, you should hurry up and look at the handbook!"
"Wait, aren't you supposed to be the Anhe Republic? Don't you even have a proper household registration system?"
Qiong felt that the Martians were too casual. Could anyone anonymously receive a jade token and gain the power of "technique" just by signing a document? Qiong was speechless about this—what if someone took the token and ran away without participating?
Despite his complaints, he still started flipping through "A Complete Guide to Registering for the Ten Arts War Competition".
"Wealth, fame, power... Do you want everything in the world? If so, come here. A grand event that will make you famous throughout the world awaits you..."
For some reason, the more Qiong looked at it, the more he felt it was a brochure for a pyramid scheme. He handed the brochure to "Nian Gao".
"The winner of the qualifiers will receive the coveted ticket to Rimuru with your beloved family and friends! The ultimate victor, the 'Spellcaster' (Knight Candidate), will ascend to sainthood, becoming a knight of the gods and achieving immortality? Can a knight of the gods live forever?"
What followed were mostly polite formalities and ridiculously lenient competition rules, such as "The tournament organizer, Litost, will issue the rules in Langqiu on a first-come, first-served basis," "Participants who win the Ten Arts War preliminary rounds will have the right to travel to Ruimu, and they and their relatives will have the right to reside in Ruimu," "No one is responsible for the personal safety of the participants," and "The organizer has the final right to make the final judgment and interpretation of the Ten Arts War"...
"Why isn't the bonus mentioned at all... Huh? Lithost?"
Qiong was greatly disappointed not to see any information about the prize money. This competition didn't offer any prize money; the only reward was the right to freely come and go from place to place in Ruimu, which didn't seem like much!
Upon seeing the name Lithost, Qiong quickly remembered who this person was: the master of the "Martyrdom" technique, Donegal!
"So, this match was organized by Litost? Where are the Litost people?"
"As you can see, I am right here."
The man sitting in front of the stall spoke without any expression. If it weren't for his voice, Qiong wouldn't have recognized him.
"Um, are you one of the organizers? Sorry, I wasn't wearing a hoodie, so I didn't recognize you..."
Litost, who casually picked up one of the few remaining jade tokens, paused for a moment and couldn't help but glance at Qiong a few more times.
Wait a minute, he doesn't seem to have the habit of wearing a hood in public—after all, he usually only wears a hood when he has no choice but to do something evil.