Chapter 355 — Do Evil Enough and You Destroy Yourself

But seeing how wildly the students below were responding, Xu Qianxing did not have the host stop them. Time limits were only ever meant for the unpopular acts; for a performance as explosive as Yang Ce's, even if the students demanded an encore, Xu Qianxing would do his utmost to persuade Yang Ce to keep going.

Whatever the students welcomed, whatever hit their sweet spot—that was what Xu Qianxing wanted to promote with all his might. So since the crowd was clamoring so loudly for Yang Ce's act, then let it go on! No problem at all.

"These two students are even more impressive than the professionals! Better than any of those professional acrobats!" The school officials were astonished that their own university could harbor such talent.

"Mm, this act is fine work! Excellent. I say we give them first place in this year's arts festival." Another official nodded and said, "The audience response is overwhelming too. I doubt anyone would object to making this act the champion."

Hearing the cheers below for Yang Ce and Lin Yanhe, Li Jiasheng grew anxious. He and Ren Jianren had come up on stage this time to restore the taekwondo club's prestige—and now Yang Ce and Lin Yanhe had stolen all the limelight. What were they even supposed to do up here?

Ren Jianren shot Li Jiasheng a look, signaling him to keep going, not to lose heart—maybe Yang Ce had just been a blind cat stumbling onto a dead mouse. That show-off style of his couldn't possibly last. Catch one, could he really catch every single one? He wasn't some martial arts master! This time Li Jiasheng steadied himself and threw another throwing knife. He had controlled the force well; eager to claw back the crowd, he ignored Ren Jianren's earlier reassurance and aimed straight for the apple on Ren Jianren's head.

Fortunately, the knife actually stuck in the apple atop Ren Jianren's head! Excellent! Li Jiasheng clenched his fist. Ren Jianren was delighted too—Yang Ce might have shown off, but he'd only landed one knife, while their side had already landed two! The final result would be decided by who pierced the most apples, not by who looked the coolest! Though the audience also cheered Ren Jianren and Li Jiasheng's second success, the applause was plainly nothing compared to the roar for Yang Ce and Lin Yanhe.

Everyone's probably just shouted themselves hoarse, Ren Jianren and Li Jiasheng consoled themselves.

At that moment, Lin Yanhe threw another knife. She had tried her best to make the throw straight, but such things simply could not be mastered overnight. She had only trained a few days with Yan, and that was barely enough to hold the knife by its tassel and fling it out; accuracy had never been part of the practice.

"Ah!" A cry of alarm went up from the audience—because Lin Yanhe's knife was hurtling toward Yang Ce's chest! "This..." The officials below were startled too. This was serious; the student must not be hurt! The arts festival was supposed to be a joyous occasion, and bloodshed would ruin everything. At the shout, Li Jiasheng immediately set down his knife and turned his gaze toward Yang Ce and Lin Yanhe. Seeing that Lin Yanhe's throw was heading straight for Yang Ce's chest, Ren Jianren and Li Jiasheng were both stunned for a moment—then secretly began to laugh. This time Yang Ce was finished! Let's see how arrogant he'd be now! He'd called them grandstanders—well, he was the real grandstander here, wasn't he? Ren Jianren nearly burst out laughing.

But just when everyone thought Yang Ce was done for, a miracle happened again! Yang Ce's body, as if spring-loaded, snapped downward with a whoosh—not quite crouching to the floor, but with knees slightly bent, held in a half-squat. And the knife, smoothly and cleanly, planted itself once more in the apple on Yang Ce's head! The whole hall erupted! This time, of course, the stunned silence lasted far shorter than before; everyone had grown used to the shocks Yang Ce delivered out of nowhere. Applause! Applause again! The entire hall broke into thunderous applause, and even the school officials in the front row clapped along! Indeed, the performance was simply too thrilling—who could have imagined that a slight bend of the knees would let Yang Ce catch the knife again?

Compared with the audience's shock, Lin Yanhe did not find it strange at all. She had already been amazed at home; after enough amazement, one stops being amazed. When they practiced at home, as long as she didn't deliberately throw the knife at the ground or at a height beyond Yang Ce's jumping reach, he could easily catch it and let it sink cleanly into the apple without suffering the slightest injury! Lin Yanhe had fully witnessed Yang Ce's uncanny skill, so she saw nothing odd about it, and picked up another knife. Her earlier timidity had vanished; she had recovered the confidence and calm she had at home. This throw came out far more normally, and Yang Ce only needed a slight turn of his body to catch it.

This one wasn't as difficult as the previous two knives, but the audience still burst into warm applause. Even if it wasn't as spectacular as before, it was still far more impressive than Li Jiasheng and Ren Jianren's performance! After all, it had taken Li Jiasheng and Ren Jianren this long to land two knives, while Yang Ce and Lin Yanhe had already planted three! "Let's do something a bit more complicated," Yang Ce said with a smile to Lin Yanhe. "Learn from your sister Mengyan."

When they practiced at home, Chen Shutang would stir up trouble with disposable chopsticks, always throwing from some absurd angle for Yang Ce to catch, and Yang Ce could actually catch them—which Chen Shutang found utterly uncanny. Lin Yanhe blushed, but nodded. Through these days of practice, she had come to trust Yang Ce completely, knowing that no matter how she threw, he would catch it.

With that thought, Lin Yanhe threw another knife—but this one flew a little higher than the apple on Yang Ce's head.

This time, the audience below held their breath in perfect unison, eager to see how Yang Ce would solve this problem! Even Ren Jianren and Li Jiasheng wore cold smiles at the corners of their mouths, waiting for Yang Ce to make a fool of himself! Yet Yang Ce seemed not the least bit nervous, watching the knife fly toward him—watching with an utterly impassive expression. Everyone was a little disappointed, though they could understand: after all, Li Jiasheng had thrown a similar knife earlier, one that sailed right over the apple on Ren Jianren's head.

Since Ren Jianren hadn't caught that one, even if Yang Ce failed to catch this one, it wouldn't be a big deal, would it? It was just that everyone thought so highly of Yang Ce, who had surprised them time and again—if he failed this time, wouldn't that let them down?

But would Yang Ce let them down? Just as the knife was about to pass over his head—he hadn't done it on purpose; with knives, a slip of the hand was always possible.

Watching the direction of Li Jiasheng's throw, Yang Ce frowned. This guy was vicious—aiming right for his crotch? Fine, then. He needn't blame Yang Ce for being unmerciful.

"Ah—!" The moment Li Jiasheng released his knife, the audience could not help but cry out! If Yang Ce went to catch Lin Yanhe's knife, his body would inevitably meet Li Jiasheng's knife, and he would surely be wounded! Even Lin Zhiyun was frightened by the scene and cried out in alarm:

"Yang Ce, dodge!" Ren Jianren and Li Jiasheng—dodge, or take it head-on; let's see what you do! Just when everyone expected Yang Ce to dodge, they never imagined he would actually take it head-on! Yang Ce sprang up to catch the knife Lin Yanhe had thrown first, and it sank steadily into the apple on his head.

But right behind it came the knife Li Jiasheng had thrown! It looked certain to bury itself in Yang Ce's body—and by now, it was clearly too late to dodge.