The arena was situated at the right side of the market, it was about a few kilometers away from the imperial palace.

High rectangular-shaped stone walls, painted in ivory, surrounded the arena. The massive entrance was made of heavy wood sculpted with the big imperial dragon emblem, and was painted in orange except for the emblem which was done in gold. The big knobs were dragon's head made of brass. A multi-inclined gabled roof, made of blue ceramic tiles, covered just the width of the huge entrance doors.

The arena was very huge with several bleachers that could accommodate more than a thousand people. It was divided into four wings: North, South, East and West. Each wing had a tower where a guard was assigned to look for any discord except the East wing tower. If any disturbance was observed, the guard assigned in the tower would hit the big gong to warn the other guards. There were several rooms in the arena namely: book-keeping room where the monies and lists were kept, two arsenals, warriors' lair and the guards' chamber.

The East wing tower, the biggest, was made for the exclusive use of the Emperor and his officials. It was the only tower that had a roof which was done in pagoda-style though each layer had carvings that looked like dragon's claws at the tips. The walls were painted bright red and the entablatures were gilded dragon's head.

The main attraction of the arena was the area where the warriors fought - the battle stage. It was a big circular stage made of stone bricks with red marble tiles on top. The size was about 3 feet long with a radius of 1 kilometer.

As opposition to its main use, the arena connoted a wide sense of architectural grandeur primarily to please the Emperor. If not for the battle stage, you couldn't feel any suggestion of violence. In fact, the way the sun's ray kissed the ground almost made it a picturesque scene - a paradoxical implication.

The excited people stood from their bleachers ignoring the heat that was furiously licking their skin. As the gong was hit again followed by the sounds of the firecrackers, screams of anticipation grew three pitches high.

The people who did not make it to the registration hastened in finalizing their illegal bets. Others were more of spectators probably due to lack of funds or distaste for gambling or, maybe, for mere curiosity of knowing who would become the next champion; but some watched primarily to divert themselves from their patterned drudgery. And, let us not forget, some people came to take advantage of the event to thrive in their dirty and nasty businesses.

°°°°°

By the time that the sound of the firecrackers stopped, Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei climbed on the battle stage after his name was called. The first thing he did was to bow respectfully to the Emperor and his officials at the direction of the magnificent East wing tower; the Emperor, in turn, raised his hand to acknowledge Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei. After the Emperor's acknowledgement, he did the customary warrior's bow to the cheering people.

Yan Mei Ling was extremely shocked to find out who Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei was. She could never forget that face. How could she, when he was the arrogant and reckless man who almost killed her with his horse at the town market. The anger she felt for him during that almost tragic day came back, making her feel desperate to bring him down to his knees.

'I'm going to taint your seemingly immaculately honor', she remembered the promise she made to herself. But she needed to control the anger that had gripped her heart or else it would blind her and, eventually, distract her focus.

Yan Mei Ling was so absorbed in her thoughts that she did not hear the announcer calling for her name.

"Where is the ninja boy? What took him so long?" someone from the crowd fulminated impatiently. The other people become frustrated and started shouting for the Ninja Boy to come out.

The announcer stammered as he tried to pacify the crowd or else the Emperor might deem him and the people who were in-charge of the arena as incompetent. While the announcer was trying to soothe the impatient crowd, the ninja boy jumped onto the arena as if he magically appeared from a place of nowhere.

The unbelievable display of his entrance thoroughly amazed the crowd that they did a standing ovation. The ninja boy, amidst the noise, bowed to the Emperor who also acknowledged him before he did the customary warrior's bow.

After the Ninja boy was done with the customary warrior's bow, he faced Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei who seemed fascinated at him due to his almost magical entrance.

Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei bowed respectfully to the Ninja boy and said, "I am extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to fight one of Chixian Shenzhou's greatest warriors."

Despite the genuine light in the Jinzhou's eyes and the sincerity of his voice, Yan Mei Ling, deep in her heart, felt suspicious. 'What a deceptive man - you could not bait me with your pleasant smile and flowery words.'

She remembered Lord Hsien Mao Dong in Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei - of the time of the evil tyrant's visit to the imperial palace.

Lord Hsien Mao had greatly praised the empire's outstanding beauty and the wonderful hospitality shown by the imperial family. He even promised a peaceful alliance but everything he said was a lie. He was merely making a good impression to the imperial family by baiting them with flowery words and false promises when in fact, he was seeking for the most vulnerable part of the Empire that he could use for his advantage. Now, he had finally discovered it, he used it by threatening to attack the empire if the Emperor would not succumb to his demands.

Yan Mei Ling curbed her fists angrily at the recollection and controlled herself from crying in front of the crowd.

°°°°°

Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei studied the masked ninja boy who was dressed in black outfit. His attire was not common among the warriors of the empire but rather with the spies of the other countries located at the Northeastern part of Chixian Shenzhou. Could the ninja boy possibly be a spy from another country or possibly sent by Lord Hsien Mao Dong? But the latter seemed vague for Lord Hsien Mao Dong's army or spies did not wear the same thing.

'Maybe the ninja boy is a foreign warrior who merely wants to prove his fighting skills,' he concluded to himself.

He heard of some warriors who traveled from one place to another to fight with the renowned warriors in the area merely for the joy of proving themselves the world's greatest warrior. But no matter the identity of the ninja boy, he would use this opportunity to study his fighting techniques and enrich his knowledge in martial arts.

He continued looking at the Ninja boy until he felt the latter stiffened. A sudden awareness came to him when he found himself staring into the boy's eyes - the only feature that was not covered. Those eyes, he thought for a moment, seemed familiar but he couldn't exactly remember where and when he had came across with someone who had those eyes. He frowned when he remembered someone. . Of the girl he'd almost hit in the town market. But he dismissed the thought as it seemed impossible.

Although the girl he had met at the market seemed a bit fiery as compared to the other women he knew, she was too beautiful and fragile to mask herself as a warrior so that she could fight with the big and strong men.

'But the ninja boy was slender and fragile too just like the girl you'd met in the market,' an unbidden thought came to him. He mentally shook his thought aside. It was ridiculous and impossible.

He frowned at his thoughts. Maybe, it was his obsessive desire to find the girl once again that had played illusions on his mind. Heaven knew how he had yearned for her, and the time he'd spent searching for her. But then, how the fiery girl captivated him, despite the fact that she had momentarily made him feel like an ass when she scolded him in a public place, was still a mystery to him.

Shaking the thoughts that had momentarily distract him, he studied the ninja boy again and concluded; despite his small and fragile frame, his appearance was just a facade hiding an incredible and stealth warrior. He'd watched the boy's previous fights and knew well that the latter relied on his intelligence and speed so he should outwit the ninja boy.

°°°°°°

Yan Mei Ling was curious why Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei remained standing while frowning at her as if trying to figure out who she really was. She stiffened when she realized that he might have recognized her.

She felt distraught thinking even of that possibility. What if he would know her identity and tell her father? Her father would definitely not allow her to go out of the house even to visit Li Lei Shuang - that thought deeply saddened her and made her want to leave the arena right now.

The crowd was silent, thinking that the two warriors were scaling each other. But they became bored when the warriors merely stood while staring at each other for too long - no one even made a move to start the fight.

"Hey, you both start the fight!" A man shouted impatiently. "We did not pay to come here and watch you as you stare at each other on the arena!"

The other crowd shouted the same thing.

"Yes, start the fight!"

"What do you think of us? Paying you to entertain us with your staring contest?"

Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei became irritated with the crowd and looked at them with deadly calm eyes. As if the crowd were admonished by his arctic glare, they became silent.

Yan Mei Ling was surprised at how Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei effortlessly pacified the crowd by simply staring at them. It was as if that he had celestial powers in him.

When Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei sensed that the ninja boy was in deep thoughts, he seized the moment and started to attack the ninja boy with multiple fast kicks but the latter had quick reflexes, as what he expected, and managed to avoid his attacks. He was impressed at the stealthiness of the ninja boy that he threw another series of swift attacks which, again, the latter successfully avoided.

"You are a great warrior indeed," Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei exclaimed before he aimed another series of flying kicks to the ninja boy.

Of the numerous kicks that Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei released, three had finally landed on Yan Mei Ling. She winced at the unbearable pain she felt but she tried her best to ignore. Obviously, he was using the Wind Horse technique: it was a technique that combined both speed and strength to release numerous number of kicks with the same fatal intensity as that of a speeding horse.

But she would not allow him to intimidate her without even showing what she was capable of. She jumped mid-air until she landed at his back. She did a lightning fast turn and kicked the jinzhou.

Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei was thrown on his knees at the intensity of the ninja boy's attack. He gnored the pain by swiftly standing on his feet. The boy despite his size had unbelievable strength but he could manage it.

Meanwhile, Yan Mei Ling was disappointed at how fast the Jinzhou was able to stand when, in fact, the kick that she had just released was The Mountain kick technique. It was a kick that was so fatal that it would be impossible for the opponent to stand directly after receiving the attack. How the Jinzhou ignored it as if her kick was a mere feather landing on his back greatly frustrated her. A fast transition of words came to taunt her:

'Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei had brought glory to his clan - I wish I have a son like him.'

'Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei will defeat the ninja boy'

'He is the greatest warrior the empire ever has.'

The words echoed and hammered through her brain painfully making her extremely angry. Her anger was driving her mad that it blinded her sensibilities. Adrenaline rush pumped into her vein that enabled her to release a series of attack to Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei.

She could not seem to stop. She would not seem to stop. She was panting for breath but it was as if that she would die if she stopped raging attacks on Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei. She had to hit him; she had to hurt him and made him go down on his knees in a gesture of defeat.

'Get him down!' Her mind cried.

Yan Mei Ling made a cartwheel to Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei's side and kicked him at his side ribs. He retaliated by propelling his knee to her but she dodged him.

'Be calm, Mei Ling,' she could hear her master telling her. 'Have full of control of your emotion. Be its master; don't let it dominate you.'

Kick, punch, dodge!

Kick, punch, dodge!

Kick, punch, dodge!

Kick, punch, dodge!

'When anger arises, think of the consequences.' She oddly remembered the Confucian thought.

Yan Mei Ling continued her mindless assaults until she felt a fatal blow landed between her chest and stomach. It felt excruciatingly painful that the air she breathed seemed to desert her.

She saw a nebulous sky slowly blinding her vision until her knees melted like water, and she felt her back hitting the ground. She was evaporating, it was sucking the life out of her.

Something warm and liquid was on her mouth but she was wearing a mask trapping it within. She would drown then asphyxiate - pathetically killed by her own blood.

'I want to be with you forever, Yan Mei Ling,' a voice told her.

That voice.

She recognized it; it belonged to Li Lei Shuang. Oh, she wanted to see her best friend now but she would die on the arena.

She would die when the sun looked so beautiful and the bamboos outside proudly danced with the wind.

She would die without even saying goodbye to the people she loved.

She would die when she felt that she was not ready to die.

I need to protect, Li Lei Shuang! I cannot die. Her mind screamed but her voice appeared silent as darkness ultimately enveloped her entire senses.

°°°°°

Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei watched the ninja boy sprawled on his back for so long and, then, something gripped his heart - compassion.

It was odd to feel such emotion when you were fighting against your opponent but undeniably, he felt it. The ninja boy looked vulnerable and innocent despite the fact that he was a warrior. He was possibly a mere child trying to prove himself that he could be the greatest warrior. And, he felt genuinely sorry for the boy for this fight would possibly shatter the young warrior.

Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei was about to leave the battle stage after the announcer declared him the champion when someone from the crowd shouted, "Unmask the ninja boy!"

He would have ignored it but soon the other crowd joined in convincing him to unmask the ninja boy. He stared at the fallen young warrior and felt curious. Aside from his curiosity, he feared that the kick he threw on the boy might possibly be too much than he could handle. He immediately walked to the boy to check if the latter was still breathing. But when he was about to remove the mask to allow the boy to breathe properly, another ninja, an adult, kicked him hard enough to throw him off the arena.

Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei's went agape with shock when the adult ninja quickly carried the unconscious ninja boy in his arms. He jumped out of the battle stage and they both disappeared from the arena as if by a gasp of magic.

----------------------

Author's Note:

By the way, when I am writing or say describing the arena, what comes to mind is the arena where the tournament is held in Dragon Ball Z. Remember that anime? It's my favorite. I never like the cartoons on Nickelodeon or Cartoon network, the way the art is done isn't as nice as the one in the Japanese Anime. You can argue with me; but with an artist's POV, I am telling the truth - exactly as how my eyes see and appreciate the art. :p

Enough of that, if you notice that I refer Ninja Boy as he instead of she, it's because on the other people's POV, Mei Ling is a boy. No one knows of her identity except Yeng. Now you know! :)

Anyway, I hope that you'll comment. I promise I'll answer and I'm online every night between 8:00 PM to 1:00 AM in this timezone GMT + 8:00. Start computing! :)