Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 631 - 630

Tian Peng smiled, and his movements remained unchanged, "You all seem very surprised, but in fact, I seem to have said from the beginning of our competition that you are not my match."

He had indeed said something like this, but at that time, everyone thought he was just talking tough and didn’t expect Zhu Ganglie to actually be able to defeat Deputy General Chen.

Upon hearing Tian Peng’s words, Deputy General Chen felt a surge of anger. He wanted to withdraw his leg and engage in another bout with this man, but to his surprise, he couldn’t pull his leg back.

"What’s going on, why isn’t Deputy General Chen moving?" the soldiers below, puzzled by the standstill between the two, exclaimed.

"Exactly," another remarked, "Although Deputy General Chen’s strike is rarely caught, he should be withdrawing his foot and restarting the fight by now. He couldn’t have been so surprised that he forgot to attack, could he?"

"You think Deputy General Chen is like one of you? If he’s not moving now, it’s definitely because he has his own strategy," a staunch supporter of Deputy General Chen said.

"I don’t think so," said a rather composed soldier.

He observed Deputy General Chen’s micro-expressions and made his conclusion, "Deputy General Chen looks like he wants to withdraw his leg but can’t."

"Can’t be, I see General Zhu’s foot on Deputy General Chen’s leg, but it doesn’t seem to be exerting any force."

"Indeed, he can’t move," came a rough voice in response.

The soldiers who had just been discussing animatedly fell silent in an instant and looked over at the source of the voice, meekly. It indeed was the Flag Bearer Great General; they immediately stood up straight, ready to salute but were stopped by the Great General’s gesture.

"No need for salutes now; the fight is still going on over there. Saluting would distract them," the Flag Bearer Great General said.

The soldiers who were about to salute breathed a sigh of relief. Listening to the Great General’s tone, he didn’t seem to be planning to blame them for privately discussing their superiors.

That was indeed a relief; otherwise, they really wouldn’t know what to do.

Even though the Great General wouldn’t punish them for their private discussions about their superiors, they really didn’t dare to continue discussing Deputy General Chen and General Zhu’s competition in the presence of the Great General.

"Great General, you’ve returned," Tribune Zhao saw the Great General and greeted him with a bow and hushed voice.

The Great General nodded, "The one on the field, is that the new General who Guards the Northwest who’s just taken post?"

"Yes, he just arrived this afternoon," Tribune Zhao replied.

"Chen Gong is really too impatient; the General who Guards the Northwest has been in a hurry to get here all the way from Chang’an, and here he is feeling bold enough to challenge him to a competition as soon as he arrives," the Great General chastised.

"We’ve tried to advise him before, but General Zhu was also willing to compete," Tribune Zhao explained, "Presumably General Zhu had never seen such a spectacle of soldiers competing and couldn’t contain his own eagerness. With just a slight nudge from Deputy General Chen, General Zhu accepted the challenge immediately."

"Is that so?" the Great General said skeptically upon hearing Tribune Zhao’s words.

"It’s true," Tribune Zhao said, not delving into their joint provocation of Zhu Ganglie.

The Great General looked at Tribune Zhao with a probing gaze. He had received the news upon his return that they had all gone to the Governor Mansion to welcome Tian Peng.

These people were known for being straightforward in the barracks, never holding back whatever was on their mind, speaking their thoughts as they arose.

When the correspondence from Chang’an had come earlier, they had all expressed dissatisfaction with Tian Peng. Their reasons were always the same: he was too young and had not risen through the ranks based on his own abilities.

Tribune Zhao felt somewhat guilty under the Great General’s gaze, casting his eyes around. Fortunately, the Great General just looked at him twice and didn’t ask anything else.

On the field, Tian Peng and Deputy General Chen were still at a standstill, with Deputy General Chen trying hard to retract his foot, but all attempts had failed.

Zhu Ganglie’s foot was on his ankle, a position so cunning that if the force were too little, he wouldn’t be able to pull his leg back.

As it was now, if the force were too great, his own ankle might be injured. Although it likely wouldn’t be very serious, getting hurt in just a sparring match was utterly unconscionable.

Tian Peng didn’t move either; he was indeed doing it on purpose.

On the dueling field, aside from using one’s martial skills to make the opponent utterly defeated, there was an even more humiliating method: overpowering the opponent and then waiting for them to surrender.

It was obvious that Tian Peng was using the second method.

He had used this method once before during the martial examination, where that young master didn’t withstand even a single move.

This Deputy General Chen was rather formidable, after all, he had taken two of Tian Peng’s moves, and his advantage of having actual combat experience became immediately apparent.

However, alas, in the face of absolute power, experience is only a bonus, not a guarantee of victory.

"Having us at this standstill really is a waste of time," Deputy General Chen eventually couldn’t help but say.

"A waste of time?" Tian Peng retorted, "How can this matter of a duel be considered a waste of time?"

"It’s unnecessary for so many soldiers to stand outside and watch us in this standstill, especially now in the cold winter. It really isn’t good for the soldiers to stand still and be blasted by the cold wind," said Deputy General Chen.

Tian Peng feigned understanding, "Oh, so Deputy General Chen feels cold, no wonder. Here we are having a good contest, and look at you, having taken off your coat; that’s just asking for discomfort."

But Tian Peng’s words were not wrong; Deputy General Chen indeed felt somewhat cold. The atmosphere could be described as freezing enough to turn droplets to ice.

He hadn’t felt it much when he was moving, but now that they had been at a standstill for a while, he only felt the biting cold wind, his body so frigid he couldn’t bear it - and yet he was restrained and couldn’t move.

"I don’t feel cold," Deputy General Chen said, "I’m just concerned about the hundreds of soldiers’ well-being. Plus, it’s almost time for dinner. We can’t have the soldiers freezing out here."

Tian Peng scoffed, "So what you’re saying, Deputy General Chen, is that you’re not cold?"

Deputy General Chen was speechless. How could he not be cold? He was only flesh and blood and without the Golden Bell Cover or the Iron Shirt, standing bare-chested in such cold weather, even in the afternoon, only a fool would not feel cold.

No matter what Deputy General Chen wanted to say, every word was stifled back by Tian Peng’s repeated taunts of "Aren’t you cold?" He was in an extremely awkward situation, yet unable to change his current state.

Eventually, he couldn’t bear it and asked, "General Zhu, just tell me straight, what do you want from me?"

"I don’t really want anything," Tian Peng responded, "Aren’t we just sparring here? We definitely need to determine a winner and a loser, we can’t just say what to do and what not to do."

Although Tian Peng said nothing explicitly, his actual actions had already proven what he wanted to do.

It was nothing more than forcing Deputy General Chen to surrender, to say in front of several hundred soldiers that he was outclassed - a humiliation far greater than being simply defeated.

"So, General Zhu, after all this time, are you just trying to make me surrender?" asked Deputy General Chen.