Chapter 265 - An Unforgivable Traitor
Chapter 265 An Unforgivable Traitor
Guo Feng screamed out when he heard this conversation. “What? He’s He Lizhi? That jerk? How dare he challenge Huaxia on Nihon’s behalf!”
What had happened to He Lizhi decades ago had caused a great disturbance in Huaxia. Qin Haodong had been too young to know back then, but almost everyone around Guo Feng’s age knew about it. They hated his guts when they realized that Koyama Lizhi used to be He Lizhi.
As the leader of the team, Gao Fengwen was considering this at a higher level. Thus, he asked, “Are you sure you’re not his match, Tang?”
Tang Qingzhi shook his head and smiled bitterly. “Back during our last contest, he won second place and I placed 21st. The gap was huge.
Moreover, painting is mainly about talent. It has little to do with personal effort. Over the years, the gap between me and him has only grown bigger. I would only embarrass myself if I went up there.”
At the same time, He Lizhi was talking to Qian Duoduo on the stage.
He Lizhi said in Nihon language, “Mr. Qian, can I add one more requirement to the next round?”
Qian Duoduo frowned. Ten years ago, he had been a cynical teenager. Koyama Lizhi had left a great impression on him. Therefore, he recognized the man immediately.
“He Lizhi, I know you come from Huaxia, or at least you used to be a Huaxia man. I hope you can talk to me in Huaxia’s language.”
He Lizhi smiled cheekily and answered, “Sorry sir. I’ve learned an advanced language and forgotten an insignificant one. Now, I only speak elegant Nihon language, so I need you to be my interpreter.”
“You…”
Qian Duoduo’s eyes glared at him. He would’ve rushed forward and slapped the guy if he hadn’t been the host.
Instead, he suppressed the anger inside and said, “Sorry, I’m just a host. It’s not my job to be your interpreter.”
“That’s fine, I’ve got my own interpreter.” He Lizhi waved at the people below the stage. A young man in his twenties came up. The man was different from Li Donghai. Although they were both interpreters, this man was from Nihon, so he had learned Huaxia’s language as a second language.
The scene on the stage was now weird. A man from Huaxia was speaking Nihon language, and a Nihon person was interpreting for him.
When He Lizhi spoke something in Nihon language again, the interpreter said, “Mr. Koyama Lizhi thinks that today’s contests were a little boring because they were all about winning or losing. He wants a bigger gamble. He’ll fall on his knees and apologize to Huaxia if he loses.
Likewise, somebody from Huaxia will have to kneel down before Mr. Koyama Lizhi if Huaxia loses. He wonders if Huaxia has the courage to accept this challenge!”
Qian Duoduo asked angrily, “He Lizhi, do you have any idea what you’re doing?”
“I certainly do. You humiliated me before, so I’ll make you suffer much more.” Koyama Lizhi smiled and said, “Mr. Qian, you’re the host here. I hope you can be professional and call me by my name, which is Koyama Lizhi.
I am now a noble Nihon man, not a lowly Huaxia man.”
“You!” Qian Duoduo was so furious that he started trembling.
At the same time, the audience below the stage recognized He Lizhi. When they spread his story, the whole meeting venue erupted in rage.
“He Lizhi! You despicable traitor! How dare you come back to Huaxia! Now get out of here!”
“You traitor! Running dog! Quisling! Get out of here!”
“Shame on you! Did you forget who taught you your skills? Where did you study wash painting? How dare you challenge Huaxia!”
The spectators sitting in their seats were so furious that they would’ve rushed onto the stage and torn He Lizhi into pieces if the security hadn’t stopped them.
Qin Haodong was also feeling furious. Nihon had prepared so much for the competition this time. If Huaxia really lost to a shameless traitor, it would be an epic scandal across the world.
He Lizhi remained calm on the stage. He looked at those furious people, laughed and said, “You Huaxia people are really braggarts. Why don’t you just challenge me? Why don’t you accept my demands? I’ll kneel down before you if I lose. Do you even have the courage to do that?”
Then, he turned to Qianduoduo and said, “I’ve been standing here for so long, yet I see no representative of Huaxia. Are they afraid of me? Don’t just yield and quit. That would be boring.”
“We have to accept his challenge and teach him a lesson. We’ll teach him why wash painting is the national painting method of Huaxia…”
“Mr. Tang, teach the shameless guy a lesson and make him drop to his knees…”
The audience knew what kind of resentful things He Lizhi had done, but few of them knew his achievements in calligraphy and painting like Tang Qingzhi did. Therefore, almost all of them asked Huaxia to accept the challenge. In their opinion, it would be easy to defeat a despicable man like He Lizhi.
What was happening made Gao Fengwen and the others look gloomy. Tang Qingzhi ground his teeth and said, “Dude, I’ll have a try.”
Gao Fengwen said, “Tang, don’t do it if you’re not 100% sure that you’ll win. At least we can yield now.”
Tang Qingzhi insisted and said, “No. We might yield to someone, but not to a traitor.”
“Look at how arrogant he is! It would be beyond embarrassing if we really lost.”
Gao Fengwen actually held back one of his thoughts. If they lost, they’d have to kneel down and apologize, which would be worse than yielding now.
Tang Qingzhi, who knew what Gao Wenfeng was implying, glared and said, “Please rest assured. If I lose, I’ll hit and kill myself on the wall rather than kneel down to apologize.”
Guo Feng said, “Fine, enough with the arguing. Qin Haodong has already gotten on the stage.”
The two of them raised their heads, only to see Qin Haodong standing on the stage.
“Would… Would that work?”
Tang Qingzhi looked worried. He had heard Qin Haodong’s story from Guo Feng, but he thought it was more of an exaggeration. He didn’t believe that a young man could be a match for a real painter, especially when that painter was He Lizhi, who was quite talented.
Guo Feng said with a firm expression, “Calm down. Qin Haodong is a miraculous man. We can’t do this without him.”
The audience cheered when they saw Qin Haodong on the stage. They didn’t think much about it. They were just doing it because the young man had surprised them twice and they were sure he’d do it once again.
Yagyuu Hirai, who was in the Nihon team, looked worried as he said, “The bastard went on the stage again. Is he good at painting too?”
“That’s highly unlikely. No one can be so young and so good at so many fields at the same time.”
Although Chiba Mieko said so, she actually had a bad hunch. She could feel that Qin Haodong would cause them trouble again.
Qian Duoduo’s expression eased down a bit. He had seen how Qin Haodong had drawn out Wu Daozi’s Lotus Figure with the Wandering Dragon Technic. His skill was so superb that there was no way he would lose to the fake foreigner.
He Lizhi looked at Qin Haodong disdainfully and said, “Young man, don’t be swanky. You might be talented in some ways, but you’ll never be my match. Now, get off the stage and have old Tang Qingzhi replace you.”
Qin Haodong smiled and said, “A traitor like you doesn’t deserve to be his rival.”
He Lizhi’s face turned sullen as he said, “It seems that you’ll never be convinced until you fail. If you want to take part in this contest, do you have the courage to accept my conditions?”
“Of course I do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here,” Qin Haodong replied coldly, “I think your conditions are too easy, so I’d like to add one more. Whoever loses will disable both his hands and never paint again. How about that? I dare you to accept it. Get back to your own country if you don’t and never try to show off ever again in Huaxia!”
He had been completely irritated by this traitor. Thus, he would make him pay the price today.
He Lizhi was startled. Qin Haodong’s gamble had totally surprised him. The Nihon government protected him only because of his painting talent. If his hands were disabled, they would definitely kick him out of the country.
Tang Qingzhi, who was also startled, said hastily, “This young man is too impulsive. He has no idea how good He Lizhi is at painting. Go stop him.”
Obviously, he was not optimistic about Qin Haodong’s performance during the upcoming round.
Although Guo Feng was worried, he said, “I’ve known him for a long time, but I’ve never seen him do anything he wasn’t sure about. If he said that, he must have a reason. Let’s leave him be.”
Gao Fengwen thought about it and said, “Yes, he’s young, but he’s not impulsive. Maybe he’s sure that he will win.”
The two people were speaking at the same time. Thus, Tang Qingzhi stopped talking and watched silently.
Upon seeing He Lizhi remain silent for a long time, Qin Haodong asked sarcastically, “What? Are you afraid?”
He Lizhi was embarrassed. Qin Haodong had accepted his proposal, so if he didn’t accept Qin Haodong’s proposal, he would immediately find himself in a despicable position.
However, nobody could be his match throughout the whole nation, except for a few grandmasters. He thought that maybe the young man had suggested this wild gamble just to intimidate him.
When he thought of this, he suddenly became confident. Thus, he said, “Why wouldn’t I dare? I can accept your proposal as long as you dare to draw.”
When He Lizhi accepted the proposal, Qin Haodong turned back to Gompos, who was sitting on the referee’s seat. “Mr. Gompos, you must have heard our bet. Can you be an eyewitness?”
Gompos shrugged and said, “As a painter, I don’t want to see that happen. However, if you have both agreed, I can be your eyewitness.”
This foreign friend had studied wash painting in Huaxia for ten years, so he spoke Huaxia’s language fluently.
When they were done negotiating, the game officially began.
He Lizhi said confidently, “I’ll start first.”
He immediately walked to the table, which had already been set by the staff. The audience was yelling and screaming while he started drawing. Perhaps they were trying to influence the traitor’s creation in their own way.
However, He Lizhi seemed to become another person the moment he picked up the pen. He looked serious and calm. He certainly was a master.
As time went by, the profile of a picture appeared on the electronic screen. It was the figure of a peony standing out amongst other flowers, as noble as a queen.
Tang Qingzhi sighed and said, “This is what he is most capable at. If he has taken out the ace in his sleeve, it means that he is trying his best to win. It will be nearly impossible for Haodong to beat him.”