"Ah? A duel?" Zeng Liang still stared with his dead fish eyes, calmly gazing at Basho as he recited.

"That's right! Let this student who looks like a bird be the referee!" Basho pointed at Xiao Tan and said.

"I'm a falcon…" Although he felt it wasn't important to say, Xiao Tan still corrected him.

"So… the time has finally come to teach this smug disciple a lesson…" Basho said to himself, ignoring the two's reactions, and in the next second… he pulled open his shirt.

His kimono was a one-piece garment. Because of the belt around his waist, even if he loosened the upper part of the clothing, the whole thing wouldn't fall down.

"Ultimate secret…" Basho stood bare-chested, legs slightly apart, standing up straight. Then he raised both hands, straightening his palms, parallel to his forearms. Next… he was like a crab waving its pincers, moving his arms up and down, and said with a constipated expression, "Take this! Matsuo Thousand-Hand Guanyin!"

"Isn't that just two hands…" Xiao Tan looked at this guy clowning around and was really too tired to retort.

"Hahaha… Surprised, aren't you?" Basho smiled smugly, looking at Zeng Liang and saying, "This move… is through the high-speed movement of both hands, thereby creating layers of afterimages, turning into the image of a Thousand-Hand Guanyin…"

"People have already said there are only two hands…" Zeng Liang replied coldly.

"Eh? Didn't the hands multiply?" Basho was stunned.

"No…" Xiao Tan replied with a very affirmative tone.

Upon hearing this, Basho increased the frequency of his hand movements a little: "What about now?"

"Useless…" Xiao Tan gave a more thorough denial.

"Is that so… I see…" Basho muttered thoughtfully, the movements of his hands gradually slowing down, "Then… never mind…"

Having said that, he quickly put his clothes back on in a flash, and with a flash of inspiration, said: "I've got it! Let's decide the outcome with haiku!"

"That's too abrupt of a turn!" Xiao Tan exclaimed, "Speaking of… if you used the speed of putting on clothes to move your hands, you might really be able to create afterimages!"

"Hehehe…" Basho once again ignored Xiao Tan's words, put on a gloomy expression, and said in a very terrifying tone, "The rule is… from now on, all conversations between me and Zeng Liang-jun must be in the five-seven-five format…"

"So you're the one setting the rules…" Xiao Tan muttered, "I thought I was the referee…"

"Alright! The match begins!" Basho didn't let Xiao Tan finish speaking, and interrupted loudly.

On the other side, Zeng Liang was still calm as ever, and quickly said: "I say Basho ah (five), the things you like to eat (seven), what are they exactly ah (five)?"

"I love to eat sea urchin." Basho blurted out almost immediately.

After the two spoke, silence descended…

About five seconds later, Basho shouted in a fit of rage and unreasonable behavior: "Not yet! I haven't lost yet!"

"Uh… whether or not you've lost should be decided by me, the referee…" Xiao Tan's mouth twitched as he continued, "But to be honest… does a victory or defeat with such an obvious result really need a referee…"

"At this point…" Basho still ignored Xiao Tan, stubbornly rushing to Zeng Liang's face and saying, "...Only swimming remains! Let's decide the outcome with swimming!" He pointed to the side, "Let's duel in that little river over there, whoever swims to the big rock upstream first wins!"

"Alright." Zeng Liang replied calmly.

"Eh?" Xiao Tan wasn't worried about the young and strong Zeng Liang, but… this Basho was really unreliable, "That's too much! Basho-san!" He also glanced at the river, "The current in that river is very fast!"

"Less nonsense!" Basho grabbed Xiao Tan's wing and went straight to the river, "I just want to compete!"

…………

Two minutes later…

Wang Tanzhi, Matsuo Basho, and Kawai Toshiyuki… arrived at the river.

Although it was in the town, this kind of small river still existed. Because it was connected to the city's sewage pipes, the river water was not very clean, and the current was quite turbulent.

"Enough small talk, I'll shout the ready!" As soon as the three of them stood on the bank, Basho couldn't wait to walk to the front, "Get ready…"

Before he could say the word "ready," one of his feet had already stepped into the water. In less than half a second… his whole body slid down, and he shouted inexplicably, "Go forth and prosper!" (出门一发 - Chu men yi fa)

"Go forth and prosper?" Xiao Tan repeated in disbelief, and watched Basho… being washed away by the water.

"Ah! The water is so fast!" Basho, who was instantly carried more than ten meters away by the current, finally showed a look of panic, "Wait a minute… what the hell is this? I can't swim! I'm not playing anymore! Eee… hee…"

Seeing this scene, Zeng Liang, standing on the shore, still said to Xiao Tan in a lukewarm tone: "Did you see it (five), Matsuo Basho is in the river (seven), being washed away now (five)."

"What are you doing relaxing over there! Your master has been washed away!" Xiao Tan roared, "Also… why are you still speaking in a five-seven-five format!"

…………

Fifteen minutes later…

Two kilometers downstream.

"We've walked so far and still haven't seen any sign of him, where did he get washed away to…" Xiao Tan walked beside Zeng Liang, muttering in his mouth.

"The riverbed downstream has become shallower, he'll probably stop somewhere." Compared with Xiao Tan, Zeng Liang's attitude seemed even more indifferent, as if the person washed away by the water was just a stranger… no, it should be said… someone not even as good as a stranger.

Before the two finished speaking, a light green figure appeared in Xiao Tan's vision.

His falcon vision was very powerful now, and he could see things from a great distance. Therefore, he saw at a glance… that it was Basho's lower body stuck upside down in the riverbed.

In short, with the joint efforts of Xiao Tan and Zeng Liang, Basho was soon pulled out of the river.

"Basho-san… are you alright?" Xiao Tan asked, looking at the embarrassed Basho.

Basho, who was covered in water after landing, was lying on the ground, looking exhausted: "Thanks to you, I was saved…" He paused and explained, "My head was stuck in the rocks on the riverbed, so I was floating upside down like that just now."

"I said… Basho-san," Xiao Tan said, "You proposed a swimming duel yourself, and ended up being washed away… that's embarrassing enough, so don't expose such unflattering details…"

"Nonsense!" Basho perked up again after catching his breath, "I, haisei (俳聖 - haiku sage) Matsuo Basho… did it to protect the villages downstream, that's why I jumped into the river, using my proud muscles to withstand the torrent…"

"This blatant nonsense is also part of the *Basho Legend*…" Xiao Tan responded with squinted eyes.

But Basho's nonsense didn't stop there, he continued: "However… Zeng Liang-jun, my disciple, who saw this scene, became jealous of the handsome Matsuo… in short, handsome tail… so he…"

"Shut your gob!" Zeng Liang slapped him, shutting Basho up.

"Looks like your method is still effective…" Xiao Tan said.

"Of course." Zeng Liang replied.

"Damn it…" Basho was still not convinced, he stood up with a whoosh, "Listen up… there's a final showdown…"

"Aren't you giving up yet…" Xiao Tan shook his head, covering his forehead.

At this moment, he only hoped to end this side quest as soon as possible, so as not to suffer any indelible mental damage.

"Hehehehe…" The confidence in Basho's smile was simply incomprehensible, "That's right… in this final showdown… let's decide the outcome with handsomeness!"

He suddenly turned his head, pointed at Xiao Tan, "This student, as the referee, you must make a good judgment in this match!"

"Eh? You still remember that I'm the referee…" Xiao Tan was stunned, "Speaking of… I didn't even have a chance to make a judgment before."

"Are you ready? Zeng Liang-jun!" Basho took half a step back, looked at Xiao Tan and said, "So~ this student, which one is more handsome, me or Zeng Liang-jun? Please speak from your conscience!"

"Zeng Liang-jun." Xiao Tan's answer came so quickly.

"You bastard…" Basho jumped up in desperation, "What the hell!" While shouting, he rushed towards Xiao Tan.

"Huh? What's going on? A fight?" This time, Xiao Tan was caught off guard, he thought that in this comedic script, there wouldn't be any fights, so he was unprepared…

But then, Basho grabbed Xiao Tan's collar, pressed him to the ground, and then… put his other hand into his hair, and began to sprinkle dandruff…

"Feel the wrath of the haiku god! Snow Dance of the Nine Heavens!" Basho shouted the name of the technique with full-blown chuunibyou (中二病 - eighth-grader syndrome) energy.

At this moment… Xiao Tan was deeply shocked.

Looking at the dandruff fluttering on his face, he was speechless, and didn't want to get up to resist, because… he felt it was too cruel to be serious with this kind of clown.

"Sigh… forget it…" At this time, Zeng Liang-jun sighed, "I'll concede."

"Eh?" Basho heard the words, immediately stopped his movements, "Really? Then I'm the suave and handsome Handsome Tail?"

"Ah… yes, yes…" Zeng Liang replied weakly, "Suave Tail."

"What the~ so I won after all~" Basho instantly put on a harmless expression, stopped his "Snow Dance of the Nine Heavens," and took out something from his pocket, and placed it in Xiao Tan's hand, "Anyway, thank you, this student…"

Before he could finish speaking, he pulled Zeng Liang away, and waved to Xiao Tan from afar, "Bye-bye~"

[Side quest completed]

[Special script extra reward: Basho-san's Horsefly Doll]

When Xiao Tan came back to his senses, the two had already walked away, and the system voice indicated that… the "thing" Basho had stuffed into his hand before leaving was the reward for this quest.