Wen Qinxi was dragged all the way to Ye Lang guild by an anxious Machu and his anxiety was truly warranted as Qie Ranzhe had unintentionally provoked one of the high ranking guild mercenaries during the trial. The Ye Lang guild was a prestigious guild affiliated with the emperor accepting only the cream of the crop. For this reason, candidates had to endure a severe trial which included a rigorous obstacle course testing their endurance, a written test for mental aptitude and finally hand to hand combat with one of the recruiters that's until one of them yields. In most cases, it was the recruits who yield to the recruiters but Qie Ranzhe was an exception.
Because he strove to do his best and dared not disappoint Lin Jingxie, he went all out knocking out the unsuspecting recruiters within five minutes of entering the arena. Actually, he intended to knock him out earlier than that but thought it would too ruthless and deliberately slowed down the beat down. Dealing with such a weak opponent Qie Ranzhe eventually got bored and knocked him out cold with no chance to yield on his own accord.
This disconcerting incident was unfortunately witnessed by a fifth-ranked mercenary of the Ye Lang guild known as Tougu who inevitably noticed that Qie Ranzhe was merely toying with the recruiter the entire time. In his eyes, he discerned Qie Ranzhe's actions as a pure provocation which gave rise to him descending from the platform and personally teach that brat a lesson.
Wen Qinxi arrived just in time to see the two bruised and battered men glaring at each other with a searing death stare neither of them willing to yield. Qie Ranzhe was half-kneeling clutching his abdomen with blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth while wearing an eerie psycho smile. Tougu, though towering over Qie Ranzhe he was in no better shape than him. His stance was not as domineering as intended with his right leg twisted in an unsightly manner. A subtle grimace would appear on his face whenever he unconsciously put weight on it.
This was presumably Qie Ranzhe's handy work ruthlessly exploiting Tougu's weakness by repeatedly bashing that leg resulting in what could only be diagnosed as a fracture. Disregarding the excruciating pain Tougu still maintained his tough disciplinarian aura while mocking Qie Ranzhe, "You surely have guts but unfortunately it counts for shit because you can't beat me. I advise you to yield unless you intend to die in this arena. Nothing good will come out of your unrivalled stubbornness. You have already proved yourself worthy to be a member of Ye Lang guild so quit wasting everyone's time and yield so l can give you your jade token!" in a pompous commanding offstandish tone.
If it was anyone else, they would have yield ages ago but unfortunately, the person Tougu had encountered was Qie Ranzhe. Though exhausted and bruised all over Qie Ranzhe's injuries were not as severe as he gave Tougu no chance to strike his vital points. There was only one way this battle was going to end which was when he came out victorious. He stubbornly refused to yield even though he had already attained his ticket into the guild. This was why Machu rudely barged into the Lin Mansion worried Qie Ranzhe would fight to his death. He desperately sought after Lin Jingxie to talk some sense into Qie Ranzhe.
"Ran-ge!" he called out successfully grasping Qie Ranzhe's attention while pointing in Lin Jingxie's direction. When Qie Ranzhe's view fell on Lin Jingxie his psycho smile fell overwhelmed with complicated feelings. He didn't want to Lin Jingxie to see him in this state especially when he was being mocked by the pompous brawny man.
Seeing Qie Ranzhe in such a state, Wen Qinxi couldn't help but feel pained on his behalf scared to even look at him thinking Qie Ranzhe's bruises would hurt even more under his gaze. Qie Ranzhe misunderstood when he saw Lin Jingxie refusing to look at him. Thinking he was disappointed by his performance, Qie Ranzhe decided to end this fight to appease Lin Jingxie.
Just when Wen Qinxi was about to reason with him, Qie Ranzhe suddenly lunged at the Tougu his eyes cruel dark eyes brimming with unyielding determination. He couldn't let this mouthy old man make him look bad in front of Lin Jingxie. Tougu didn't let him off easy using his full strength to beat Qie Ranzhe down but soon those offensive moves quickly turned defensive as he struggled to fend off Qie Ranzhe. In three more moves, Tougu was out cold with his body sprawled down on the ground. The guild members were dumbstruck, the kid had actually beaten their fifth-ranked mercenary just like that. They weren't sure how to react and simply carried their fallen comrade to the infirmary.
The town's guild receptionist handed the jade token to Qie Ranzhe who at some point had sprawled on the ground panting heavily with a light chuckle escaping his dry throat. "Welcome to Ye Lang guild. We are setting off to the training camp in two days. Make sure not to miss it," he said before walking away at a fast pace hastily creating distance from such a dangerous character.
The boys ran over to check if their brother was okay but he simply refused their help saying he was fine. It was only when Lin Jingxie showed up did he start acting pitiful calling out him, "Ah! Jin-ge, help me up everything hurts," while stretching out his trembling hand like a man at death's doorstep.
Everyone, "..."
Wen Qinxi quickly extended a helping hand pulling him up to his feet with great effort while mocking, "You are such a fuckin drama queen,". A satisfied Qie Ranzhe gladly leaned against him for support all the way to the shelter. Wen Qinxi couldn't understand why this idiot had to subject himself to this much pain if it was him you would have played dead like a dog that didn't want to take a bath.
The physician diagnosed him with mild muscle spasms. Using that excuse Qie Ranzhe successfully convinced Lin Jingxie to assist him during his bath. Not only that but also managed to blackmail a massage out of him by shamelessly acting pitiful. While he was soaking in the hot tub Wen Qinxi unskillfully knead his shoulders. To be more exact his massaging skill was on par with that of a five-year-old attempting to massage their parent. I guess that's what they meant when they said it's the thought that counts.
Wen Qinxi was utterly clueless when it came to massages but was willing to help him out especially when the guy looked so pitiable. It was going well that is until Qie Ranzhe opened his mouth making this seriously awkward. "Mn....Mn.....Jin-ge, a little harder yes right there. Ah....that's perfect. Go a bit deeper...Ah.....yes right there.....mn," moaned and groaned Qie Ranzhe as the shoulder massage progressed.
With such ambiguous words, Wen Qinxi couldn't prevent a blush from creeping up his face in embarrassment. If anyone outside heard Qie Ranzhe's nonsensical mumbling they would definitely misunderstand. These words alone were enough motivation to make Wen Qinxi withdraw his hands. "That's enough my hands hurt," said Wen Qinxi wiping his damp hands with his back facing Qie Ranzhe.
Qie Ranzhe wasn't stupid, he could tell Lin Jingxie was embarrassed but that didn't stop him from teasing him some more. "What's the point of soaking in the bath when the massage ended? Fine, hand me the towel so we can leave together," he asked with an ominous grin. Wen Qinxi didn't suspect anything casually turning to hand him the towel but Qie Ranzhe suddenly stood tall presenting his entire birthday suit in blazing glory.
Faced with Qie Ranzhe's magnificent body showcasing all the goods leaving nothing to the imagination, Wen Qinxi almost vomited blood but the surprise soon turned to pure jealousy when his eyes glanced over Qie Ranzhe's tool. 'Wow, Niiiccceeee. Feeling envious yet? He's definitely bigger than you,' said Jolie poking fun at Wen Qinxi.
The size was quite impressive that Wen Qinxi took another glance as though making sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. 'Piss off,' said Wen Qinxi chasing away the annoying system.
"Like what you see?" asked Qie Ranzhe with a roguish smile brimming with pride.
Wen Qinxi suddenly flung the towel at him saying, "I have seen better," before walking out just in case Qie Ranzhe saw through his lie.
"Better my ass, this is the best you will ever see," he said looking down at his member with his hands placed either side of his waist.