Chapter 28: A Reputation That Shakes the World

  After a dozen rounds, Song Qing discovered many opportunities to defeat Xue Ping, and had to admit that this was a good opponent. This skill could be ranked in the top twenty or thirty within the Thousand Households, even within the entire Xuzhou Garrison. However, it still fell short of his own abilities by one level. Moreover, he couldn't understand his own boxing route, and was stimulated by the whispers of the soldiers beside him, so his moves became more and more unorthodox, and his flaws expanded from small to large, and were everywhere.

  However, Song Qing did not choose to counterattack, but instead maintained a defensive stance, carefully observing Xue Ping's punching route. He was not unable to defeat his opponent, but rather didn't know how to do so without thoroughly damaging his reputation and leading to disastrous consequences in this life-and-death struggle. What he wanted to achieve was to win over people's hearts by showing mercy, so it wouldn't hurt to leave some face for Xue Ping.

  By now, he had gradually become more patient because Xue Ping's strength was slowly being depleted. His attacking movements were no longer as fast or fierce as before. Most of the time, he didn't even need to defend himself and only needed to lightly dodge to the side. He even had the spare time to sneak a smile at the soldiers outside, showing off his ease and confidence.

  This approach proved effective, and more and more military households changed their attitude, from initially supporting both sides, thinking that either side could win, to completely supporting Song Qing, believing that Xue Ping would definitely lose. Xue Ping naturally also sensed the change in atmosphere around him, and his moves became even more flustered.

  Finally, Song Qing and the others got their chance. Xue Ping's fist was too powerful, and with his previous physical exhaustion, he couldn't hold himself up for a moment. After being dodged by Song Qing, his body rushed forward in a straight line. At this time, even if Song Qing gave him a light push from behind, he would immediately become a dog eating mud. Even if nothing was wrong, it's likely that he would still slip and fall.

  But Song Qing didn't do that, instead he quickly ran to the front of Xue Ping, and with a loud crash, he collided with him, using a simplified version of Iron Mountain Crash, directly sending Xue Ping flying five steps back. Although his appearance was somewhat disheveled, he managed to stop Xue Ping's nearly unavoidable falling momentum.

  Xue Ping lost, but on the surface it didn't look too bad. In his heart he was extremely unwilling, yet at the same time very clear-headed: with his current state, continuing to fight would be no different from humiliating himself. Moreover, he had grown older, while Song Qing was still young; the gap between them would only grow larger in the future, and it wasn't even necessary to compare - he simply wasn't a match for him.

  "Hmph!" Seeing Song Qing had backed down, Xue Ping also knew better than to continue fighting and, panting heavily, put away his own stance. He struggled to calm his still-heaving chest, trying to find some hint of satisfaction on Song Qing's face before seizing the opportunity to launch a verbal attack, perhaps accusing him of being disrespectful to his superiors or having no regard for authority figures. This way, he could salvage some dignity and hurl a couple of insults at Song Qing, tarnishing the young man's reputation so that when people in the Wei Manor praised his bravery, they would also whisper about his questionable character.

  But Song Qing never gave him the chance, after being beaten he stood there obediently, seeing Xue Ping's gaze turned over, immediately cupped his hands and bowed: "Sir concedes, I am terrified and have no place to hide!"

  "There's no need to be anxious, you're so capable of fighting, what can I, a mere adult, do?"

  "Sir, you're being too serious!" Song Qing said without a hint of arrogance, only bowing his head and saying: "You are always the superior one, let alone that you have known my father for many years and are like an uncle to me. It's completely normal for you to occasionally point out my mistakes in martial arts during your free time. Today, I just happened to be lucky and relied on my youth and strength to win against you by a hair. In the future, I will still need to rely on your guidance and care in all matters within the camp!"

  This remark was made without any loopholes, making it impossible for Xue Ping to find even a slight flaw. On the contrary, many veteran military households were present and they looked at Song Qing with great favor, thinking that this young man not only had exceptional abilities but also remained humble and composed in his words and actions, looking like a promising candidate for great things.

  Xue Ping looked around and saw that there was no other way, he and his son could only lose face if they continued to stay here. He glared at Song Qing again with a fierce gaze, then looked at Song Hu in the crowd with even more resentment. With a reluctant heart, he led Xue Ming and those few rascals away. He didn't mention this matter of the small school grounds again, but with so many people watching, unless he could catch Song Qing off guard or regain his own face, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to come back here again. This place had become completely dominated by Song Qing's first territory.

  Since Xue's father and son had left, the military households were bustling for a while before dispersing. Song Hu had a lot to say to his son, but he saw Song Qing busy taking care of the ten children who were injured in the fight, so he didn't say anything else and led several old brothers away first. When they left, they were full of joy and satisfaction. On the way back, they were even more congratulated by everyone, with beaming faces. He knew that this news had begun to spread gradually, and from today on, he would be Wang Chang's number one man, while Xue's father and son had been thoroughly suppressed.

  Song Hu's judgment was not wrong, from that night on, Song Qing had a great battle with Xue family father and son, and finally won the victory, which began to spread in the Wei Suo, and the spread speed was very fast. After all, both Song family father and son and Xue family father and son were famous people in the Wei Suo, not only in this thousand households, but also in the entire Xu Zhou Wei had a reputation. Originally, the two sides were evenly matched, because of Song Qing's weakness and Xue Ming's arrogance, the Song family was relatively weaker, many people who got along with Song Hu were actually worried.

  But now things have turned around, Song Qing suddenly rose to fame and then single-handedly defeated the Xue family father and son, and Song Hu, as a father, naturally followed suit and his reputation reached a new peak. Coincidentally, at this time, the news of Qian Hu's promotion came out, and Wang Baihu was likely to take over, and who would take over between Song Hu and Xue Ping became the most concerned topic among people. Under such an atmosphere, Song Qing's solo defeat of the Xue family father and son became even more eye-catching.

  This is an official matter, ordinary military households may discuss it, but they won't care too much about it because it doesn't have a big impact on them. However, when it comes to gossip within the Wei Suo, they are very knowledgeable, especially many young children from smaller families who can't inherit their father's business and have already thought of going to join Song Qing. Although Song Qing still doesn't have much property, he has taken over Wu Laohei's gambling den and defeated Xue family's father and son, so his future prospects seem quite good.

  This morning, Song Qing had just finished breakfast and was about to leave the house when he saw Luo Xiaobei running towards him from afar, panting and out of breath. He reported a piece of news to Song Qing: a group of people had arrived at the entrance of their small school grounds, none of whom looked like easy-going individuals, but they all seemed relatively honest. They claimed that they wanted to see Song Xiaoqi.