Chapter 35 - Mosart
Lin Zhiqin drove through most of the city. He encountered the beginning of the evening rush hour and was stuck in traffic for a while. After half an hour, he stopped on a spacious street.
"675 Xueshi Avenue."
"Mosart Boxing Club."
At a glance, he saw the huge signboard hanging on a nearby building. The address was consistent with what he found on the webpage for last night's tournament.
This area was close to the industrial park in the south of the city. The buildings were not too dense, with little pedestrian and vehicle traffic. The roads and streets also looked quite empty.
Lin Zhiqin parked his car directly in a parking spot by the roadside, then gestured for Lu Yuan to get out of the car.
"Let's go. I'll show you around before tonight's match begins."
Lu Yuan nodded and followed behind Lin Zhiqin after getting out of the car.
When they got under the huge signboard, ready to go inside, Lu Yuan saw several other signs hung at the entrance.
"Mosart Martial Arts Enthusiasts Association"
"Mosart Fighters Mutual Aid Society"
"Mosart Sect Ancient Culture Research Center"
Hmm?
Lu Yuan was slightly taken aback when he saw the third sign. "So Mosart is the name of a sect?"
Hearing his words, Lin Zhiqin paused and glanced at the sign Lu Yuan was looking at. He replied, "The owner of this club is a follower of the Mosart Sect. The martial arts competitions held by the association every year are also sponsored by him."
Lu Yuan nodded. As he followed Lin Zhiqin inside, he asked, "What kind of sect is the Mosart Sect?"
"I think it's a small sect passed down since the Baishan Era. Originally they probably advocated hunting, fighting and such. In modern times, it has slowly evolved into a passion and admiration for martial arts and combat sports."
"I don't know too much about the specifics." Lin Zhiqin answered casually.
"The Baishan Era?!"
When Lu Yuan heard this term, some information in his mind stirred slightly.
He remembered his sister Lu Jing said that the archaeological team she was with was excavating an ancient temple from the Baishan Era.
Upon entering the club hall, the first thing that caught his eye was a huge image of a red-eyed ibex.
He had seen this image on the webpage for the tournament last night, and guessed it might be something like the sect's emblem.
"The research center and association offices are upstairs. The arena is downstairs, let's go."
Lin Zhiqin gestured for Lu Yuan to follow him, and the two took the elevator.
Lin Zhiqin pressed the button for the second basement level.
Lu Yuan saw that there were actually four or five basement levels below.
"Digging so many floors underground, aren't they afraid the building will collapse." He muttered to himself.
The elevator descended, and after a few seconds they arrived at the second basement level.
The elevator doors opened to reveal a long corridor.
Long fluorescent lights were installed in the crevices along the top of the corridor, illuminating the entire passage in cold white light.
Lu Yuan followed Lin Zhiqin as they walked forward, their leather shoes and sneakers making different sounds on the metal floor.
After walking for about one or two minutes, they finally emerged from the corridor.
The view opened up slightly.
And it was completely different from what Lu Yuan had imagined.
While walking in the corridor, Lu Yuan had imagined a scene of rusty iron cages, exaggeratedly burly and ferocious boxers, and air filled with the smell of sweat, blood, and gunpowder.
However.
What he saw was a bright and spacious hall, pleasantly air-conditioned.
The staff walking around wore unified clothing and had friendly smiles.
There were clear signs for registration, check-in, rest areas, changing rooms, and more.
The competitors also did not look fierce or sinister, but largely polite and courteous.
Lu Yuan even saw a female fighter, dressed in a fighting vest and shorts, with an outrageously curvaceous figure, but speaking in a cat-like, tender voice. This made him feel like this was not the backstage of some fighting competition, but rather the backstage of an anime convention or something.
Everything appeared orderly and well-organized.
"Unexpected, huh?"
Lin Zhiqin glanced at him and smiled. "I was surprised too the first time I came.
In fact, the events held by Mosart are much more professional than most major fighting competitions."
"They're experienced from doing it so many times, I guess."
Lu Yuan couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
He recalled that the information he found yesterday showed that the Mosart Martial Arts Enthusiasts Association was almost constantly engaged in hosting events throughout the year.
Year after year, the people here were probably extremely familiar with the whole process.
"Ha, you could say that."
Lin Zhiqin took Lu Yuan around to see the place.
The people here seemed quite familiar with Lin Zhiqin. Many smiled and greeted him, while sizing up Lu Yuan with a strange look.
This made Lu Yuan feel a bit uncomfortable.
He felt that when these people looked at him, the corners of their eyes were slightly downturned.
As if they had a meaningful smile.
What were they smiling about?
Were they happy?
Or was it because he looked like a high schooler?
Lu Yuan's mood inexplicably became irritable, and he began to lose the good first impression he had of this place.
Only then did he start to notice the red-eyed ibex patterns everywhere on the walls and ceiling of the hall, as well as the various incomprehensible patterns.
"That's the betting counter."
Lin Zhiqin suddenly pointed to a small window and spoke, interrupting the irritable mood that was gradually spreading in his mind.
"If you're interested, you can go buy a few rounds to play with.
Don't worry, it's completely legal and regulated.
And no one knows any information about the competitors in each match, purely luck-based.
The maximum bet is also not high, just a small entertainment."
Lu Yuan glanced at it and said, "Coach, school rules prohibit high school students from gambling."
"Hehe."
Lin Zhiqin laughed without saying anything. He just looked at the time and gestured to him, "Let's go in, it's about time."
The two walked down a small passage, about ten meters or so.
Pushing open the large door in front of them.
A rather huge arena appeared before Lu Yuan.
The first thing he saw was the red-eyed ibex head sculpture representing the Mosart Sect, which could be seen almost everywhere here.
An extremely large one, hanging high above the arena in a overlooking perspective.
Below was the fighting stage.
Also huge.
Far different from the fighting rings Lu Yuan was familiar with that didn't exceed five meters in length and width.
Forget fighting on it, you could probably comfortably run a 50-meter sprint on it.
"If the fighters can't beat each other, would they start running around on it?" Lu Yuan wondered.
The stage was also different from ordinary ones.
It was at least ten meters above the ground, with staircases built on both sides to go up.
The whole thing was black. The railings on all four sides seemed to be made of pure wood, also decorated with ibex head carvings.
It had a fantastical and bizarre style.
Compared to the fighting stage, the spectator stands around it looked far too shabby.
There were very few seats in total.
Not many spectators on the seats either.
Lu Yuan roughly counted less than thirty.
Lin Zhiqin took him to a position almost against the wall, slightly higher than the stage, barely able to see the whole stage clearly.
"Maybe the organizers didn't intend to reserve seats for the audience at all."
Lu Yuan felt awkward sitting here.
It seemed to be added later, out of place with the overall design of the arena, and the materials seemed perfunctory, unlike the care put into other aspects.
But how can it be called a competition without spectators?
"These are preliminary matches, ten per day, starting in ten minutes."
Lin Zhiqin took out his phone to check the time and told Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan nodded.
He noticed the wallpaper on Lin Zhiqin's phone was a young and pretty woman, not sure if she was his wife.
The ten minutes passed in a flash.
Six thirty-five, on the dot.
The walls on all four sides of the arena suddenly lit up.
Only then did Lu Yuan notice that there were actually huge display screens installed on the four walls.
When turned off, the screens were obscured by the graphic patterns on their surface, so Lu Yuan hadn't noticed them before.
The ibex head logo of the Mosart Sect appeared on all four screens.
Red lights flashed in the eyes of the four ibex heads, accompanied by music played on some unrecognizable instruments.
Two teams of women, their bodies covered in colorful paint, walked onto the stage from both sides. They began to dance wildly at the center of the stage.
Red light strips seemed to illuminate beneath the stage.
From Lu Yuan's perspective, this scene seemed like some kind of bizarre ritual.
"It's a Mosart tradition. They do this every time before a match begins. I've also seen them lead live livestock onto the stage and slaughter them on some important days. You'll get used to it eventually," Lin Zhiqin whispered to Lu Yuan.
He then pointed to the dancing women in the center of the stage, remarking with a hint of admiration, "Don't think they just dance for a little while each day. Their monthly salary is frighteningly high. But then again, these moves are genuinely difficult. Most people can't let loose... ahem, can't learn them."
"..."