Chapter 35 – Mosa

Lin Zhiqin drove through most of the city, encountering the beginning of the evening rush hour, which caused a slight delay. After more than half an hour, he stopped on a spacious street.

“No. 675, Scholar Avenue.”

“Mosa Combat Sports Club.”

He immediately saw the large sign hanging on a nearby building, confirming that the address matched what he had found on the competition’s website poster the previous night.

This area, close to the industrial park in the south district, wasn’t densely built, and both pedestrian and vehicle traffic were sparse, making the roads and streets appear quite empty.

Lin Zhiqin parked the car directly in a roadside parking spot and called out to Lu Yuan.

“Let’s go. Before tonight’s competition starts, I’ll show you around a bit.”

Lu Yuan nodded, got out of the car, and followed behind Lin Zhiqin.

As they walked under the huge sign and prepared to enter, Lu Yuan noticed a few other signs hanging at the entrance.

“Moss Martial Arts Enthusiasts Association”

“Mosa Martial Artist Mutual Aid Society”

“Mosa Sect Ancient Culture Research Center”

Hmm?

Lu Yuan’s eyes slightly widened when he saw the third sign. “Mosa is the name of a sect?”

Hearing his words, Lin Zhiqin paused, glanced at the sign Lu Yuan was reading, and replied, “The owner of this club is a follower of the Mosa Sect. The annual martial arts competition held by the association is also sponsored by him.”

Lu Yuan nodded and, while following Lin Zhiqin inside, asked, “What kind of sect is the Mosa Sect?”

“It seems to be a small sect that originated in the Baishan era. Initially, it revered hunting and combat. Over time, it evolved into a passion for martial arts and combat sports. But I don’t know much about it,” Lin Zhiqin replied casually.

“Baishan era?!”

When Lu Yuan heard this term, certain information in his mind seemed to flicker.

He remembered that his older sister Lu Jing had mentioned that her archaeological team was currently excavating an ancient temple from the Baishan era.

As they entered the club’s hall, the first thing that caught their eye was a large emblem of a red-eyed goat.

He had seen this emblem on the competition’s website poster yesterday and guessed that it might be the sect emblem of the Mosa Sect.

“Upstairs is the research center and the association’s offices. The competition venue is downstairs; let’s head down,” Lin Zhiqin said, motioning to Lu Yuan as they entered the elevator.

Lin Zhiqin pressed the button for the second basement level.

Lu Yuan glanced at the panel and discovered there were actually four or five levels below ground.

“Digging down so far, aren’t they afraid the building will collapse?” he silently mused.

The elevator descended, and a few seconds later, they arrived at the second basement level.

As the elevator doors opened, a long corridor stretched out before Lu Yuan.

Long fluorescent lights were installed in the gaps along the ceiling on both sides, casting a cold white light over the entire corridor.

Lu Yuan followed Lin Zhiqin forward, the soles of their shoes—one pair of leather, the other athletic—making different sounds as they scraped against the metal floor.

After walking for about a minute or two, they finally emerged from the corridor.

The space opened up slightly.

What he saw was entirely different from what Lu Yuan had imagined.

While walking through the corridor, Lu Yuan had envisioned a scene of rusty iron cages, hulking, fierce fighters, and air thick with the smells of sweat, blood, and gunpowder.

However, what he saw was a spacious, well-lit hall, with the air conditioning turned up high.

The staff moving about wore matching uniforms and had friendly smiles.

Rooms labeled as registration, check-in, lounge, and changing room were clearly marked.

The competitors didn’t look menacing at all; most appeared polite and courteous.

Lu Yuan even saw a female competitor wearing a fighting vest and shorts, her figure was strikingly impressive, yet her voice was soft and sweet like a cat’s. It made him feel like he was at the backstage of an anime convention rather than a martial arts competition.

Everything in front of him seemed orderly and meticulously organized.

“Surprising, isn’t it?” Lin Zhiqin glanced at him and smiled. “I felt the same way the first time I came here.”

“Actually, the events hosted by Mosa are more professional than most major martial arts competitions.”

“More experienced, I’d say,” Lu Yuan couldn’t help but remark.

He recalled the information he found yesterday, which indicated that the Moss Martial Arts Enthusiasts Association was almost always hosting events throughout the year.

Year after year, the people here must be extremely familiar with the entire process by now.

“Ha, you could say that,” Lin Zhiqin replied, leading Lu Yuan around for a tour.

The people here seemed quite familiar with Lin Zhiqin. Many greeted him with smiles and gave Lu Yuan a curious look.

This look made Lu Yuan feel somewhat uncomfortable.

He always felt that when these people looked at him, the corners of their eyes drooped slightly.

As if they were harboring some meaningful smile.

What are they smiling at?

Are they that happy?

Or do I just look like a senior high school student?

Lu Yuan’s mood became inexplicably irritable, and he started to lose the good impression he had of this place at first glance.

He began to notice the red-eyed goat emblems and various other incomprehensible patterns plastered all over the hall’s walls and ceiling.

“That’s the betting booth,” Lin Zhiqin suddenly said, pointing to a small window, interrupting the growing irritation in Lu Yuan’s mind.

“If you’re interested, you can place a couple of bets for fun. Don’t worry, it’s all legal and compliant. Plus, no one knows the information about the competitors in each match, so it’s all based on luck. The maximum bet is also quite low, purely for entertainment.”

Lu Yuan glanced over and said, “Coach, the school prohibits senior high school students from gambling.”

“Heh.”

Lin Zhiqin chuckled, said nothing more, and simply checked the time before calling out to him, “It’s about time, let’s head in.”

They walked down a small corridor for about ten meters.

Pushing open a large door in front of them.

A rather massive arena unfolded before Lu Yuan’s eyes.

The first thing he saw was the statue of the red-eyed goat head, representing the Mosa Sect, which seemed to be everywhere in this place.

A very large one, hanging high from the ceiling of the arena at a vantage point.

Below it was the martial arts arena.

Also enormous.

It was vastly different from the martial arts rings in Lu Yuan’s impression, which were no more than five meters in length and width.

Never mind fighting on it, you could probably run a 50-meter sprint on it with room to spare.

“Will the fighters start running if they can’t win on this huge platform?” Lu Yuan wondered.

The martial arts arena was unlike any other he had seen.

It stood at least ten meters above the ground, with staircases built on both sides for access.

The entire structure was black, and the railings seemed to be made of solid wood, adorned with numerous statues of Goat Heads.

It had a fantastical and eerie style.

Compared to the martial arts arena, the surrounding spectator seats were quite shabby.

There weren’t many seats in total.

And the spectators were few as well.

Lu Yuan roughly counted and estimated there were fewer than thirty.

Lin Zhiqin led him to a spot almost against the wall, slightly elevated above the arena, just enough to get a clear view of the entire arena.

“Perhaps the organizers never intended to accommodate many spectators.”

Lu Yuan found the seats awkward.

They seemed like an afterthought, mismatched with the overall design of the venue and made of rather shoddy materials, unlike the care taken with other aspects.

But can a match without spectators still be called a match?

“The preliminaries are taking place during this period, ten matches a day, starting in ten minutes,” Lin Zhiqin checked his phone for the time and told Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan nodded.

He noticed that Lin Zhiqin’s phone wallpaper was a photo of a young, beautiful woman—possibly his wife.

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

At 6:35 sharp.

The walls of the arena suddenly lit up.

Lu Yuan then realized that the walls were equipped with massive displays.

When the screens were off, their surface patterns camouflaged them, so he hadn’t noticed.

The screens displayed the Goat Head Emblem of the Mosa Sect.

The eyes of the four Goat Heads emitted flashing red lights, accompanied by music played on some unidentifiable instruments.

Two teams of naked women, their bodies painted with oils, walked onto the arena from both sides and began to dance wildly at the center of the arena.

Red lights seemed to illuminate around the arena.

From Lu Yuan’s perspective.

The scene before him looked like some bizarre ritual.

“It’s a Mosa Sect tradition; they perform this before every match. I’ve even seen them bring live animals onto the arena to be slaughtered on special occasions. You’ll get used to it eventually,” Lin Zhiqin whispered to Lu Yuan, explaining.

He pointed to the women dancing in the center of the arena and remarked with a sigh.

“Don’t be fooled by their short performance; their monthly salaries are sky-high. But then again, these moves are really difficult—ordinary people couldn’t learn them.”