Chapter 88: Your eligibility has been revoked

“Brother Wang, when can I collect my prize?”

“Collect your prize?”

Wang Xi was still a little slow on the uptake, but then he quickly remembered the five hundred thousand taels from the preliminaries.

“You mean the five hundred thousand from the preliminaries, Young Master Xiao?”

“Yes, that money.”

In Wang Xi’s view, Xiao Yang should have been here to claim the reward for winning with the fighting dog. He had witnessed that speed himself. One shout, and the opponent had gone down in a heap. With that kind of strength, he certainly had the right to claim a prize.

“Please come with me, Young Master Xiao.”

With that, he led the way once more.

The Four Young Masters of the Jin Family followed silently behind.

Soon, they arrived at a shabby little counter.

At that moment, a burly young man walked up from the back and, without another word, squeezed Xiao Yang aside.

“Move over. Make room for this reigning champion of the dogfights.”

The youth had a massive blue hound on a leash in his hand; it was clearly a top-tier fighting dog as well.

Seeing someone cut in line right in front of Xiao Yang, the four brothers of the Jin Family all burned with anger.

They took a few quick steps forward, ready to teach this arrogant brat a lesson.

But Xiao Yang stopped them.

He wanted to see what prize the other man was here to collect.

After all, there were only three prizes in total. By all rights, he should have taken them all. So why was someone else here to claim a reward?

The youth shouted loudly, afraid that passersby might not hear him. He lifted his chin with obvious pride.

“I’m here to claim the reward for the fighting dog preliminaries.”

The staff member was a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old woman. When she heard that he had come to claim the prize for the fighting dog contest, her eyes brightened slightly.

All the attendants here were slaves bought by the arena, and if they wanted to escape that fate, they had to find a capable man to redeem them.

And this youth before her looked quite promising.

He was young, yet had already taken the preliminaries’ championship; he would surely amount to something.

Thinking of this, her voice grew much gentler.

“Of course, Young Master.”

As she spoke, she fluttered her eyes at him and began taking out the silver notes, preparing to pay.

At that moment, Xiao Yang finally could not hold back any longer.

If he did not stop this now, his money would be handed over to someone else.

“Hey! You little official, let me speak plainly. He cut in line and that’s one thing, but he hasn’t proved anything at all, and you’re already giving him the prize?”

As soon as those words fell, two displeased gazes landed on him.

One was the attendant at the counter, irritated that Xiao Yang had ruined her good fortune.

The other was the youth’s.

What sort of identity did he have? How could he possibly be pretending to claim a prize?

“Young man, what is wrong with you? Such bad manners.”

“Look at this young master’s bearing—how could he possibly be claiming it under a false name? I think it’s much more likely that you’re the one trying to do that.”

At that, the youth raised his head, looking down at Xiao Yang with open arrogance.

Meanwhile, the attendant continued handling the claim for him.

Xiao Yang’s face darkened.

“I’ll ask only once: what number was the champion of the fighting dog preliminaries? Answer me.”

The attendant at the counter was clearly growing impatient too.

“What’s the use of asking so much? The champion has nothing to do with you.”

Xiao Yang’s brows drew together slightly.

The youth, meanwhile, laughed loudly.

“Hahaha! The lady is right. What does the champion’s number have to do with you?”

“And you there, what are you staring at? Get lost already.”

Xiao Yang arched a brow and glanced at the youth.

Then he asked again, “What number was the champion of the fighting dog contest?”

Questioned again and again, the counter attendant became somewhat puzzled and was just about to answer when she heard the youth beside her say, “Isn’t the person in question right here? I’ll take out my number plate now.”

With that, he reached into his robe and produced a token.

The attendant looked over as well.

When she saw the number eight, the unease in her heart vanished without a trace.

She even looked at Xiao Yang with a touch of smugness.

“Boy, look carefully. This is the number of the preliminaries’ champion.”

As she said that, she waved it back and forth right in front of Xiao Yang’s face.

“Ninety-eight.”

Xiao Yang stated the other man’s number.

“That’s right! I am the champion, number ninety-eight.”

The youth sneered, his eyes on Xiao Yang as if he were looking at some country bumpkin.

However, the attendant’s expression clearly shifted in a subtle way.

At nearly the same moment, she opened a jade medallion, and a line of text appeared.

In her heart, she was frantically praying: it must be that I remembered wrongly, it must be...

A line of words appeared above the jade token.

First place in the fighting chicken preliminaries, number eighty-eight.

In an instant, the counter attendant felt as though her soul had been ripped from her body.

She nearly collapsed to the floor, only forcing herself to remain upright.

“Boy, did you see that clearly? If you did, get out.”

The youth directly ordered Xiao Yang to leave.

But then, with astonishing speed, a slap appeared.

Smack!

It landed squarely on the youth’s face.

“What right do you have to tell others to get out? If you keep making trouble, don’t blame me for being rude.”

The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.

They clearly had not expected the counter attendant to suddenly turn violent.

“Young Master, I was the one at fault just now. Please forgive me.”

She apologized with genuine remorse.

The youth covered his face, still somewhat dazed.

Weren’t they on the same side a moment ago? Why had she turned around and slapped him in the face?

“You’re courting death.”

For a mere little maid to dare strike him—she was simply tired of living.

“I’m filing a complaint against you right now. I’ll ask your arena carefully whether this is how you treat the preliminaries’ first-place winner.”

Before the words had even faded, another voice cut in.

“You don’t need to complain. Your qualification has been revoked.”

A calm voice rang out.

The youth froze for a moment, then became even more furious.

He turned around, intending to see which ignorant fool had dared to revoke his qualification at will.

The speaker was Wang Xi.

Just now, Wang Xi had wanted to act, but Xiao Yang had stopped him, and so he had been able to watch such a fine show.

The attendant had judged by appearance alone. If she had done that to some high-ranking person, so be it. But how dared a lowly attendant do such a thing?

“What are you, exactly?”

A flash of killing intent passed through the youth’s eyes.

“I am the champion of this year’s preliminaries, with the strength to contend for the title.”

“Not even you, and not even your boss behind the scenes, can revoke my qualification.”

As he spoke, he deliberately loosened the chain in his hand.

Then he shouted loudly, “Oh no, my dog has broken free! Everyone, be careful!”

Yet a faint smile played on his lips as he spoke.

It was obvious he was doing this on purpose.

He sneered inwardly.

His fighting dog was no ordinary beast. In fact, it was beyond the scope of a fighting dog altogether.

It was a dog with the bloodline of a high-tier demonic beast.

Its father was a fighting dog, while its mother was a gale demon wolf of the Beast Master realm.

This fighting dog had inherited the strengths of both parents.

Within the same realm, it was almost invincible.

And as if the blue hound understood its master’s intentions, it charged straight at Xiao Yang.

But the moment it leapt, a figure was even faster than it.

That figure slammed the blue hound flying.

Then a foot came down hard on the blue hound’s body.

The next instant, a gaping maw opened wide and bit viciously into the blue hound’s neck.

Because everything happened so suddenly, the youth stood there stupidly, rooted to the spot.