Dragon King's Son-In-Law

by Dragon King

  “Now, four of our members will take over and demonstrate the process of a climb to you, from start to finish,” Huang Xujie picked up the bullhorn once again.

  As the beautiful girls appeared, everyone’s eyes had lit up. At this time, Hao Ren discovered that Lin Li, who was wearing athletic wear, had also joined the Rock Climbing Club.

  “She joined, too… But that is no surprise. Since Lin Li is after Huang Xujie, it gives her more reasons to join the Rock Climbing Club that is run by Huang Xujie. Likewise, Huang Xujie needs to pull in as many beautiful girls as possible to help him attract other students; there is no reason for him to reject her application, either.” Hao Ren thought.

  On the rock climbing wall, the four beautiful girls utilized all of their bodies. After their safety was ensured by their harnesses and ropes, they grasped onto the colorful rocks and began moving up.

  Gradually, they had climbed up so high that the student audience had to stretch their necks considerably to see them.

  “This is really nice…” admiring the display of the beautiful girls’ youthful postures, Zhou Liren let out sighs of satisfaction as he eyed every inch of their bodies

  “Using beautiful girls as their marketing strategy, I wonder how many male students are going to fall for that…” Hao Ren pondered as he observed the agile and athletic beauties.

  90 Duel!

  One by one, the beautiful girls reached the top of the wall. Then, they descended by sliding down on the ropes. The exquisite curves of their bodies, their confidence, and their demeanors had convinced the girls that rock climbing could help them lose weight. Also, they made the guys believe that they could strengthen their bodies and have a chance with the beautiful girls in the club.

  The previously hesitant students had made up their minds and rushed to sign themselves up.

  “Did they hire these girls from outside the school?” Cao Ronghua was suspicious.

  Hao Ren shook his head as he disagreed. Although he disliked Huang Xujie, he believed that Huang Xujie could easily charm some beautiful girls into joining his club.

  After, four other beautiful girls appeared, climbed up the wall, and came down. Following that, another group of four did the same thing. With three rounds of sexy girls taking the stage, the male students surely had their eyes well-feasted.

  Now that the girls had finished their performance, Huang Xujie arranged for their muscular male members to demonstrate accelerated rock climbing. Their vigorous postures and agile movements had further convinced their male audience that rock climbing could help them become sharp and robust.

  “To join our club, you have first to pay a 200 yuan registration fee. After the orientation next week, you will join us for group training…” Huang Xujie announced through the bullhorn while arranging other members to help students register.

  “After signing up for his club, group training costs 100 yuan. Then, there is the official training where formal gears need to be purchased; it would further cost 200 to 300 yuan. If you decide to quit, the registration fee and training fee won’t be refunded…” knowing the procedures involved, Zhao Jiayi quietly explained to Hao Ren.

  “By such means, no wonder the Rock Climbing Club has become the biggest club at East Ocean University,” Hao Ren sneered, “The money that they collected from their members would become funds for the senior members to go on the so-called ‘trips’ and ‘adventures’.”

  Apparently, this club’s bullying behaviors had been reported to the school before. However, as Huang Xujie was the son of the Deputy Mayor and disputes involving clubs could get very complicated, the school wanted nothing to do with it.

  Seeing that the students who wanted to sign up were almost all registered, Huang Xujie wanted to attract more. He spoke through the bullhorn once again, “Since today is the recruitment day for our club, we would make an exception and allow students who are not members of our club to try climbing this wall. Normally, this wall is usually off limits to anyone outside the club.”

  He added, “Of course, we are going to make it a little challenging. Only the 10-meter wall was used in the previous performances; if you would like to try the wall, you will have to climb this 15-meter wall. The first person to reach the top will be rewarded with this amazing set of gears!”

  Huang Xujie pointed at the set of black sports gears of a famous brand that was placed neatly on the table behind him.

  The announcement had greatly excited the male students. Yet, no one was willing to be the first one to try. After all, a lot of female students were in the audience, and so many beautiful girls were present. Recklessly going forward might result in extreme embarrassment if they failed to perform.

  The 15-meter wall was the standard for rock climbing competitions. For people who had never been trained in rock climbing, it was impossible for them to obtain the reward.

  In addition, the holds from the bottom to the top were few and far between. Therefore, the difficulty level was incredibly high.

  Actually, Zhou Liren wanted to try. Nonetheless, he knew that although he had a body that was tall and thick, it was still a body of a nerd. After careful consideration, he finally decided to give up.

  On the other hand, Zhao Jiayi, who had the best physique and was the most interested in sports of the four, had now become eager.

  At this time, Yu Rong and the others had noticed Zhao Jiayi. Seeing that Zhao Jiayi was full of excitement and was rubbing his hands together, they immediately began egging him on, “Go, Zhao Jiayi!”

  Since those guys were all good friends with Zhao Jiayi, they started jeering together.

  Feeling acclaimed by his friends, Zhao Jiayi could only step up and walk towards the wall. “Alright! Let me try!” he said.

  As Zhao Jiayi walked forward, Huang Xujie recognized him; he knew this guy was one of Hao Ren’s friends and felt slightly agitated. Yet, he suppressed his negative feelings and pretended to be encouraging, “Great, let’s applaud the courage of our first warrior!”

  The crowd gave a round of scattered applause. In fact, the crowd was very skeptical about Zhao Jiayi reaching the top as he was not very tall.

  Promptly, Lu Bo, the Assistant Captain of the Rock Climbing Club began helping Zhao Jiayi put on all the safety gears. Then, he guided him to the bottom of the 15-meter wall.

  In that instant, all eyes were on Zhao Jiayi.

  Standing there, Zhao Jiayi took a deep breath and looked up at the sparse colored climbing holds. Then, he lifted his right foot and stepped onto the first hold while grabbing the other holds with both of his hands. He began ascending.

  “You can do it, Zhao Jiayi!” Yu Rong cheered loudly.

  Following Yu Rong, the other guys in their class also started yelling out random cheers.

  Soon, Zhao Jiayi had already climbed one-third of the wall and was 5 meters up on the wall. He turned and waved at Yu Rong and the others confidently.

  Yet, the most challenging part about rock climbing was that the higher on the wall, the more difficult it was. It was not only due to physical exhaustion but also the fact that the design and placement of the holds became very tricky as the climber got close to the top.

  As Zhao Jiayi was not tall nor had elongated limbs, and the holds were becoming farther and farther apart from one another, he was having problems grab onto them.

  Thump! Zhao Jiayi made a small jump in the air, grabbed onto a hold with his right hand and quickly moved his left foot to another hold.

  Phew… He hung onto the rock wall and let out a deep sigh of relief.

  By then, five minutes had passed. Hao Ren, Xie Yujia, and the others who were watching with their heads up were filled with worries.

  On the other hand, Huang Xujie, who was standing by the table, was shocked to see Zhao Jiayi, who had never received any systemic training, climb so high. He thought Zhao Jiayi must be a monster of some sort.

  “Way to go, Zhao Jiayi!” Originally, Yu Ron was hoping to see Zhao Jiayi fail so that he could tease h
im about it. But now, stretching his neck, he was just amazed at the fact that Zhao Jiayi had already climbed two-thirds of the wall.

  After briefly shaking his sore fingers and shoulders, Zhao Jiayi continued climbing up.

  Seeing that things were not going as he expected, Huang Xujie gave the Assistant Captain a meaningful glance.

  Now, Zhao Jiayi had climbed more than 10 meters high and had encountered a very challenging hold. Adjusting his breathing, he decided to try the same method; reaching the hold with the help of a small jump.

  Hao Ren also became nervous and was holding his breath. He always thought Zhao Jiayi was good at playing basketball but didn’t know that he was gifted in other sports as well.

  Pop! Aiming right at the hold, Zhao Jiayi made his jump.

  Right at this moment, the rope that was hanging from the top of his head swayed a little!

  It was hard to maintain one’s balance in mid-air in the first place, and this slight sway had caused Zhao Jiayi to lose his balance completely. His right hand was able to reach the hold, but it was unable to sustain the grip. As a result, he instantly lost support and fell from the wall!

  Moreover, for whatever reason, the rope that was supposed to support the climber did not start pulling in time.

  Seeing that things were not going well, Hao Ren dashed out of the crowd and sprinted forwards like a cheetah. He threw himself over and reached out his arms, attempting to catch Zhao Jiayi!

  Thud! While Zhao Jiayi was losing his wits from the 10-meter free fall, the rope that was attached to his harness finally began pulling!

  Even so, Zhao Jiayi was still falling. Right before he fell into Hao Ren’s arms, the rope finally stabilized and reduced most of the impact from the fall!

  Dragging the rope, Zhao Jiayi was now standing on the ground, and his face was ghastly pale. Likewise, Xie Yujia who was at the front of the crowd and had witnessed the whole course of Zhao Jiayi’s climb closely was covered with cold sweat; she was trying to calm her heart by placing her hands over it.

  With his eyesight sharper than ever, Hao Ren noticed the unusual movement of the rope; He knew something was wrong.

  Others might not be able to tell and thought that the rope was swaying because Zhao Jiayi had made a jump, but Hao Ren knew very well that the rope was tampered with!

  However, he had no evidence to prove it!

  Letting go of his arms which were supporting Zhao Jiayi’s shoulders, Hao Ren turned to Huang Xujie. With rage fueling in his eyes, he raised his arm and declared, “You, let’s have a match!”

  91 Conquer 15 Meters If You Are a Man

  “Oh?” Huang Xujie pretended to be surprised, “Do you want to compete with me?”

  Everyone else, including the members of the Rock Climbing Club and the crowd, were all astonished when Hao Ren issued the challenge.

  Hao Ren didn’t say anything else; he just stared at Huang Xujie.

  “Lu Bo, get him set up!” Huang Xujie clenched his fists and said, “If you want to play, I will play with you!”

  Lu Bo, the Assistant Captain of the Rock Climbing Club, put the harness on Hao Ren. Although Hao Ren challenged their captain, Lu Bo was careful with the safety preparation since it was a matter of life and death.

  With an angry expression, Hao Ren spread his arms for the harness silently. On the other side, several pretty girls from the club surrounded Huang Xujie and put the harness on him; that scene aroused jealousy in Zhou Liren.

  Xie Yujia, who was standing in the crowd, hesitated for several seconds before walking over.

  “Hao Ren, don’t compete with him! It is too dangerous!” she said.

  “Class President, don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” seeing Xie Yujia’s frown of concern, Hao Ren reassured her.

  “Rock climbing is a dangerous sport. Since you never practiced before, you will put yourself in danger if you act rashly,” Xie Yujia tried to dissuade him while shaking her head.

  She was concerned not only because Hao Ren was her classmate, but also…

  “Xie Yujia, don’t interfere. If his mental state is disturbed, there will be a higher probability of accidents occurring. If that happens, you may need to responsibility for the accident,” Huang Xujie said to Xie Yujia while he buckled up his harness.

  His words sounded well-intentioned, but they made Xie Yujia more worried.

  She glanced at Hao Ren in concern and looked back at Yu Rong and his buddies, wishing they would join her efforts. But the truth was, the guys would never issue a challenge and then back out in fear. It would be too shameful for a man.

  “Class President, just watch. I’ll be fine,” Hao Ren was moved by Xie Yujia’s concern for him, but he wasn’t going to quit.

  He was still burning with rage.

  Feeling resigned, Xie Yujia looked back at Xie Wanjun who towered over the crowd. At the moment, her brother was watching the whole thing with an emotionless expression in silence.

  “The competition is about to begin. For safety reasons, everyone, please watch it from the outside of the site,” Lu Bo walked over and ushered Xie Yujia out.

  Three belayers held Huang Xujie’s safety rope, and Hao Ren got the same treatment.

  The competition was about to begin when Yu Rong suddenly rushed into the site and said, “We will act as the belayers! We don’t trust you guys!”

  Yu Rong was quite influential among the guys. Several other buddies of Hao Ren followed suit and rushed in.

  After witnessing Zhao Jiayi’s failure a moment ago, they lost trust in the members of the Rock Climbing Club. They’d rather keep the rope in their own hands.

  Lu Bo had no choice but to walk over and show them how to control the rope and what to do when the climber falls. Finally, Yu Rong, Zhou Liren, and Huang Jianfeng who were the strongest among them were left on site to be Hao Ren’s belayers while the rest were asked to watch outside.

  Then, Lu Bo walked to the rock climbing wall and raised his watch.

  “Ready! Go!” he shouted.

  Hao Ren and Huang Xujie put their hands on the rock climbing wall at the same time and began climbing.

  In fact, with this level of rock climbing, a few seconds of difference at the beginning was not a big issue. The critical point was who could make it to the summit. Even if the competitors could all reach the top, there would be a difference of minutes between the first and the second place.

  On the 15-meter rock climbing wall, Hao Ren to the left of Huang Xujie, and they each chose their own route.

  Huang Xujie was very deft and climbed three meters shortly. Although the positions of the holds were changing due to different levels in difficulty, he, as the Captain of the Rock Climbing Club, was quite familiar with these holds and knew the best route to the top.

  He was wearing an orange mesh vest which exposed his chiseled muscles, and the girls watching shrieked at the sight.

  In contrast, Hao Ren was climbing steadily with his hands and feet tightly positioned on the holds firmly. He wasn’t dressed professionally like Huang Xujie, but his steadiness and smart route choice made the students who didn’t know him admire him a little.

  “Who’s this guy? He is quite bold to challenge the Captain of the Rock Climbing Club.”

  “He is the buddy of the guy who just fell. I guess he is doing this for his buddy.”

  “How can he defeat Huang Xujie who is the best climber in the Rock Climbing Club?”

  “Don’t you know that he is the guy who defeated Huang Xujie in the long-distance race in the school’s Athletic Games?”

  The students in the crowd began to talk among themselves.

  Hearing the comments around her, Xie Yujia was so nervous as she observed Hao Ren that her fingernails cut into her palms, and her heart was in her throat.

  By now, Huang Xujie had climbed half of the distance while Hao Ren was only half a meter below him.

  Huang Xujie had slowed down. After each step, he would pause to rest for several seconds while leaning against t
he wall.

  In a rock climbing race of this level, one needed steadiness, excellent techniques, and sound mental fitness to reach the summit.

  Hao Ren continued climbing steadily; he would calculate his route before making several moves.

  “This guy’s stamina is terrifyingly good,” Huang Xujie thought as he looked down at Hao Ren who was only half a meter lower than him.

  From a professional viewpoint, Hao Ren’s choices of holds were not excellent. They were energy-consuming and challenging to reach. Despite that, Hao Ren was still closely following him.

  “Hao Ren is really a monster,” Huang Xujie’s face turned grim at the thought.

  Looking up at the remaining eight meters, he inhaled deeply and resumed climbing cautiously. If he made a mistake and fell, the lucky second-year would win the competition.

  He had just grabbed another hold above him when Hao Ren suddenly signaled to his belayers that he was going down.

  “He has finally exhausted his strength,” Huang Xujie was pleased when he saw that. He silently mocked, “Well, you are just average. Even though you were lucky enough to win against me in the long-distance race, there’s no way you can beat me in rock climbing!”

  Seeing Hao Ren’s hand gesture, Yu Rong and the other two belayers immediately slacked the rope and put Hao Ren down.

  “I’m not finished. You go on climbing,” back on the ground, Hao Ren raised his head and yelled when he saw Huang Xujie’s belayers also wanted to loosen the rope.

  Huang Xujie froze in surprise and thought, “What the hell is this guy doing?”

  Hao Ren murmured some words and took the silver bracelets off his wrists. He bent down and put them on the ground.

  Carrying 50 kilograms on his arms while rock climbing was not an easy task. Besides, due to his bad mood, the burden on his arms seemed to have grown another 50 kilograms.

  As he swung his arms to relieve the tension, Hao Ren walked toward the wall once again.

  92 The Winner and the Loser