Chapter 22: Soul of the Servant

Qingling looked around quickly and made her choice, "This game."

"Samurai Spirits! Alright!" Wu Dahai eagerly sat down in front of the game machine.

Since the stool was very low, Qingling's long legs had nowhere to rest. She simply took off her shoes, bent her legs together, and placed her heels on the edge of the stool, resting her chin on her knees. If one ignored her cold, frosty face, her posture looked somewhat lazy and cute.

"Have you played this before?" Wu Dahai asked.

"Never," Qingling replied, holding the joystick. She was unfamiliar with the four buttons on the left and, after inserting the coin, didn't know how to select a character.

Wu Dahai, surprisingly patient with her, said, "This controls the direction, and you can choose your character... Yes, just press the A button when you see one you like."

Qingling didn't mind and directly selected the first one.

"Haohmaru! Nice!" Wu Dahai grinned, "Then I'll pick Ukyo Tachibana!"

Once the characters were chosen, the battle began.

Wu Dahai controlled Ukyo Tachibana and performed a quick slashing attack, knocking Haohmaru to the ground with a series of punches and small combos. Just as Haohmaru got up, Ukyo Tachibana was already close.

"Reverse Hell Slash!"

"Secret move! Snowfall!"

The game character Ukyo Tachibana unleashed a dazzling combo, and Haohmaru's health bar dropped to zero. With a scream, Haohmaru fell to the ground, unable to rise. Throughout the entire match, Qingling didn't even manage to land a single hit.

Although Wu Dahai had flawlessly defeated Qingling, he didn't feel any sense of accomplishment.

Best two out of three.

The second round started. Wu Dahai didn't rush to attack and patiently began teaching, "A is light slash, try pressing it?"

Qingling pressed it, and Haohmaru quickly swung his sword, injuring Ukyo Tachibana.

"B is medium slash, try pressing it."

Qingling followed his instructions, and Haohmaru swung a medium-speed sword, pushing Ukyo Tachibana back two steps.

"AB is heavy slash, press both."

Qingling pressed both buttons, and Haohmaru swung a heavy, slow attack, knocking Ukyo Tachibana down.

"C is light kick, D is heavy kick. Press CD together for a heavy kick. It's the same for all characters."

As a complete beginner, Qingling picked things up quickly, repeating the moves.

"Alright! Let's start!" Wu Dahai resumed controlling his character.

Ten seconds later, Qingling's Haohmaru was soundly defeated again. However, this time there was progress—at least Haohmaru had managed to put up some resistance, dealing a small amount of damage to Ukyo Tachibana.

"You lost, best two out of three," Wu Dahai stood up.

"One more time," Qingling said.

"Next month," Wu Dahai responded.

"One more time," Qingling repeated, a fiery battle intent gleaming in her eyes.

Wu Dahai hesitated for a moment, "Alright, one more time."

"Wow, breaking the rules just like that?" Officer Huang was unsure whether to be happy or hurt, "I begged you before, but you wouldn't make an exception."

"Obviously. You're an old man, what's in it for me to make an exception for you?" Wu Dahai replied, then confidently turned to Qingling, "I'll give you another chance, but I need to touch your hand."

Qingling looked confused, "Why?"

Wu Dahai grinned, "To be honest, I've never touched a girl's hand. I mean a human's, not beasts."

"Is there a difference?" Qingling asked.

"Of course there is! Just the thought of the other person being a beast makes me lose interest! The women in the organization are all so stingy, none of them would let me touch them. It's really frustrating! What's the harm in a little touch?"

Gao Yang, witnessing such shamelessness for the first time, was at a loss for words.

Qingling thought for a moment and bargained, "Let's play again. If I lose, you can touch my hand."

"Deal! You're on!" Wu Dahai didn't expect Qingling to agree so quickly. He was confident in his victory!

"Let's start."

Wu Dahai sat down again, inserted a coin, and they both picked Haohmaru and Ukyo Tachibana.

Wu Dahai seemed to feel bad about beating a newcomer and started to teach Qingling again, "I'll show you Ukyo Tachibana's combos..."

"No need, I got it," Qingling directly refused.

"Alright, but I won't go easy on you," Wu Dahai said, no longer holding back. He attacked more aggressively than before.

Qingling didn't just stand there; she kept defending.

In fighting games, defense is important. Standing and blocking leaves you vulnerable to low attacks, while crouching blocks aerial strikes. You have to quickly switch between different defensive stances based on your opponent's actions.

This round, Qingling didn't make any moves; she just focused on defense.

Although her defensive stances were very quick and flexible, just defending without attacking caused her health bar to gradually decrease. Plus, if her opponent got close, they could use close-range attacks to break her defense.

Qingling kept defending throughout the entire round and lost.

She wasn't in a hurry.

In the second round, Qingling started to try attacking.

She didn't use any special moves or combos—she didn't even know them—she just stood still. When the opponent attacked head-on, she defended. If they got close, she used A for a quick light slash to push them back. If they jumped to attack, she used B for a medium slash to block.

As long as the timing was right, these two moves could counter most close-range and jumping attacks. Even if they couldn't counter, they could still trade damage.

But Wu Dahai, being an experienced player, only needed to find one close-range opportunity to break her defense, then quickly chain a combo to wipe out most of Qingling's health.

Without a doubt, Qingling lost again.

"You lost!" Wu Dahai happily stood up, eyes fixed on Qingling, "Time to touch your hand!"

Qingling stood up and extended her hand.

Wu Dahai was surprised, not expecting her to be so straightforward!

His hand was halfway out when it suddenly retracted.

A greedy, lecherous smile appeared on his face, "How about this? I won't touch your hand, but I'll give you one more chance to challenge me! But I want to touch your chest first, then we'll continue!"

Qingling remained expressionless, as if thinking.

"Forget it, let's do it next time."

Gao Yang couldn't stand it anymore. If it were his sister being harassed like this, he'd have punched that guy already. But with Qingling's situation, he didn't have the right to intervene, so he could only try to dissuade Wu Dahai.

"Yeah, winning or losing is common in battle," Officer Huang also tried to advise. "I've seen many troubled girls in my years of work. But Qingling, you really don't need this, really."

Qingling's desire to win was ignited, and she ignored their words, turning to face Wu Dahai, "Alright."