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Chapter 102: Chapter 102: She? Fighting Tu Shan??
Following the staircase downward, the cheers and screams of the crowd grew louder, wave after wave.
One wall away.
Bathed in the light of the wall lamps, the dim steps led to a pitch-black depth underground.
While the outside world was brightly lit with red lanterns and clinking glasses, the underground world was somber, stuffy, dangerous, and mysterious.
Stepping off the last stair onto the ground, Lu Sheng looked up at the man beside her and asked, "What is this place?"
"...Little sister," the man sneered after hearing her question, "You don’t know what this place is, how did you become a competitor? And you just walked in with me?"
Lu Sheng’s brow furrowed slightly: "Competitor?"
"This is the only underground boxing ring in Jiang City, a place where lives and fortunes are gambled."
"I don’t know how you got here, but since you’re in, you can’t just leave without competing."
—Underground boxing ring?
Lu Sheng took a deep breath and finally understood what the blood in the air and the driver’s comment about someone being carried out covered in blood meant.
Underground boxing matches, which are unlicensed boxing competitions, exist in various countries around the world. They are dark zones unknown to the general public, or rather, a black industry.
The underground boxing rings sell "tickets" to spectators on the spot, as there is no income from broadcasting rights or advertising fees, so gambling is the main source of revenue.
The bets are on the competitors’ wins and losses, with odds both high and low.
It’s more fitting to describe it as a combat competition rather than a boxing match. The fighters often battle with bare torsos, creating an atmosphere filled with savageness, violence, and blood, offering the audience intense sensory stimulation.
Describing it with the raw words "Beast Fighting Cage" would be more appropriate.
However, such places were not unfamiliar to Lu Sheng.
In her previous life in the UK, she had participated in the infamous Abis underground boxing matches.
One match each night, a string of battles for seven consecutive evenings, all to win the final prize.
"First, follow me to the waiting room, someone will come to find you."
While explaining, the man led Lu Sheng forward.
Passing through a long and dim corridor, the moment the door was opened, the blinding white light made Lu Sheng squint.
Indeed, the scene before her was completely different from the world above.
At that moment, Lu Sheng stood at a high vantage point. Looking down, the layout was reminiscent of ancient Roman amphitheaters, and the entire boxing space was much more extensive than she had imagined.
In the center of the Great Hall was a large circular boxing ring, surrounded by several rough strands of vines as barriers. Crowds of people surrounded the ring, too numerous to count.
At that moment, two burly men with bare chests and formidable physiques were fighting in the ring.
When the competitor from the Red Team landed a heavy punch that knocked down the Blue Team member, the crowd erupted into rapturous cheers, and everyone boiled with excitement.
Lu Sheng narrowed her eyes and looked on.
Directly above the ring was a large high-definition screen showing a close-up of the action in the ring, so that viewers far from the ring could see the situation clearly.
In the top-right corner of the screen, there were two rows of numbers, one row showing the betting odds for each fighter in the current match, and the second row likely showing their support rates from the audience.
In general, the greater the difference in support rates, the higher the odds. After all, it is not common for a fighter whom the entire audience believes will win to end up losing.
The man, evidently having worked here for a long time, didn’t even glance at the ring but led Lu Sheng straight to a room.
It should be the waiting room he mentioned earlier.
He asked her to wait there and then left.
Three minutes later, a delicate-looking teenager who seemed to be only fourteen or fifteen years old pushed the door and entered.
Dressed in a simple cyan robe, he had a scholarly appearance. In his hands, he held two items, his voice slightly juvenile.
"Miss, my master sent me to find you."
"These are the things he asked me to bring to you."
The boy’s hands were clean and white, with some light calluses.
However, when Lu Sheng saw what he was handing over, her pupils suddenly constricted.
Two things.
The first is a letter, the second is a black half-face mask. Yet at the corner of the eye area on this mask, there’s an embroidered pattern of a dark red rose.
The pattern of a rose.
Not some other pattern, nor any other flower, but specifically a rose.
Lu Sheng took a deep breath, opened the letter directly, and couldn’t help clenching his fist when he saw the first salutation.
[Ah Qiang: It’s been years since we’ve met, long time no see~]
This person selling rare herbs in the Black Market is indeed Ning Yu!
Only he would address himself this way, with that annoying tone that just sets Lu Sheng’s teeth on edge.
[Although I don’t know how Ah Qiang found out about me, the moment I saw the message, I knew it was you.]
[The arsenic herb was just a pretext; you just wanted to see me, right?]
[If you want to see me, then fight a match for me first. Win, and I’ll consider meeting you~]
Lu Sheng gritted his teeth, holding back the urge to tear up the letter right there and instead looked up to ask the young man, "Where is your master now?"
The young man shook his head: "Miss, the master said that he’ll consider meeting you after you win the match."
This so-called arch-nemesis must be something like this; just hearing a message from him is enough to stir up murderous impulses.
Closing his eyes for three seconds, Lu Sheng opened his eyes and said expressionlessly, "Tell me when my match is and the procedure."
Fifteen minutes later, Lu Sheng once again walked out to the boxing ring outside.
At the moment, two muscular men were on stage, fighting fiercely and exchanging solid blows.
The watching crowd erupted into high-pitched cheers, with shouts of "Beat him to death! Beat him to death!" coming in waves.
Both men were only wearing protective gear on their heads, covering only the top half.
The one called Shan Pao from the Red Team struck his opponent’s jaw with a punch, flipping him over and to the ground. Through the screen, one could see the opponent’s teeth wrapped with bloody froth spraying out of his mouth.
After knocking down his opponent, the Red Team’s contender straddled the man and punched him ferociously until the opponent was almost breathless and close to being beaten to death before the referee came over to separate them and declare the Red Team winner.
Officially, such bare-knuckle fights prohibit lethal moves. However, accidents are inevitable, so those who enter the ring must sign a life-and-death waiver in advance.
The people eating this bowl of rice are almost like desperadoes; they’re all willing to trade their lives for money.
Once the result was announced, the onlooking crowd was instantly in an uproar.
Those who won money were elated, whereas those who lost were as despondent as bereaved relatives, creating a stark contrast.
Soon, several staff members came up and carried the unconscious Blue Team off the stage on a stretcher, looking quite proficient and unsurprised by the loser’s pitiful state.
Next up was Lu Sheng.
Displayed on the big screen were the words: [Tu Shan VS Zhenzhufen]
The audience below was somewhat baffled, buzzing with speculation.
Everyone in the boxing venue knew who Tu Shan was.
But this Zhenzhufen was a newcomer, unsure whether male or female, with unknown skill levels.
And what a strange alias Zhenzhufen was! Was it some sort of powder made from ground pearls?
A bald man in a suit, sitting in the VIP viewing room, was also bewildered.
He immediately turned to the handsome man in a Chinese-style long robe sitting beside him, who was squinting at the screen: "Ning, this Zhenzhufen, is he the one you brought in to fight Tu Shan?"
"Correct," Ning Yu nodded with a smile.
As expected of Ah Qiang, a real genius at coming up with aliases.
This alias did not hide at all her intention to kill him, did it?
"Oh, so it should just be an alias that doesn’t sound tough enough, but the person behind it must be really impressive!" Saying so, the bald man relaxed, picking up his cup of tea.
The next second, when he saw a girl in a school uniform stepping onto the platform, his eyes bulged, and with a "Pfft—" he spat out all his tea.
