Martial Arts Master

“You are Lou Cheng?” Shu Rui’s mouth opened wide. She would have spouted water out if she were drinking.

How does this average looking passer-by I interviewed last year suddenly become the leading player of Songcheng University Martial Arts Club for the preliminaries? He must be of Amateur First or Second Pin.

Am I wrong about him?

During my one year experience working at the TV station, Martial Arts Competition has been my main focus. I’ve met over 50 local martial artists, if not 100. The silly looking Lou Cheng appears nothing like them!

Other Martial Arts Club members began to wag their tongue. They didn’t expect this easy going, amiable senior of great patience in giving instructions to be one of the leading players of the club. They knew they should never judge people by their appearance.

Lou Cheng saw disbelief in the reporter’s eyes and laughed. “Would you like to check my student identity card?”

“Ahh? Err…” Shu Rui was brought back from the shock. Realizing this could make a fascinating story, she showed a note of excitement in her voice. “No need. Who lies about this kind of stuff. The truth will come out easily during a small chat with Coach Shi. Lou Cheng, you seem to be a man of stories. Can we arrange an exclusive interview later?”

With no intention to expose himself in front of the camera, Lou Cheng found a pretext to refuse. “We are training now…”

“No problem. Lou Cheng, feel free to have the interview. It’s a great propaganda for the school to have a martial arts expert!” advised a teacher from the Propaganda Department.

Shu Rui pointed at the Strength Training Gymnasium. “What about this? I’ll ask Coach Shi first. If he doesn’t grant permission, we’ll wait for next time.”

“OK.” Lou Cheng decided to ask his master to refuse the exclusive interview.

The group immediately moved towards the Strength Training Gymnasium, leaving Cai Zongming standing there in a trance, whispering to himself,

“What happened to the one-to-one interview?”

…

Entering the Strength Training Gymnasium, Lou Cheng picked up his pace to reach Geezer Shi before everyone else. He lowered his voice and said,

“Master, a reporter wants to interview me. Please help me turn her down.”

Geezer Shi laughed. “What’s wrong with having an interview? You’ll have many of it if you keep up with your fast progress. It’s important to learn to deal with the media. Your speed rising from zero will be dug out by someone at some point. Why not take this opportunity and explain yourself?”

Lou Cheng mused and nodded. “Fine.”

On his way to the Strength Training Gymnasium with Shu Rui and the cameraman, he glanced at Yan Zheke unconsciously and saw her bright smile, beautiful eyes, and an encouraging gesture.

As warmth filled in his heart, his resistance to the exclusive interview seemed weakened.

“Lou Cheng, relax. Take it as a casual chat between two friends. Just a casual chat.” Shu Rui was no longer a new recruit. She seemed professional and confident about the interview.

Lou Cheng was not nervous at all. It was just an interview with the local TV station which had a very limited coverage. He answered with a smile, “I’m very much relaxed. You can start.”

Shu Rui didn’t have a chance to prepare this off-the-cuff interview in outline. She worked in her thought at high speed and improvised there. “You are a freshman, right?”

“Yes. I just joined the Martial Arts Club when you interviewed me last year,” Lou Cheng added some information.

Shu Rui nodded. Hundreds of threads flashed in her head during this brief pause. She gave her second question. “Which level were you at prior to your training at the Martial Arts Club? You’ve made progress by leaps and bounds during these months, is that right?

“I was simply a martial arts enthusiast before. I knew nothing about Still Stance, styles or moves. My level? I don’t think I could beat a goose before.” Lou Cheng had learned a new phrase “the strength of a swan” recently, which was supposed to satirize some measurement units used to measure strength in some fictions.

Apparently, Shu Rui didn’t get his humor, neither did the cameraman. Much puzzled and surprised, she said impulsively, “You were a green hand half a year ago? Not even of Amateur Ninth Pin?”

“That’s right. I have practiced martial arts for about half a year,” answered Lou Cheng genuinely.

A well-experienced reporter, Shu Rui returned to her normal state much quicker than the cameraman and made a sort of gasp. “So it took you a mere six-month to become the leading player of the club from a nobody? Err… What is your current level?”

“I haven’t attended any ranking event but I’d like to think I’m close to the professional level. I plan to sign up for Professional Ninth Pin in April’s Ranking Event,” said Lou Cheng humbly.

“Half a year from a newbie to an expert of Professional Ninth Pin…” Shu Rui seemed thrilled by this big news, her eyes and brows filled with joy and excitement. “Are you the incarnation of a Living Buddha?”

“No.” Lou Cheng shook his head to deny.

“Then you must be highly gifted?” Shu Rui’s voice turned light and quick.

Lou Cheng reflected on it and nodded slightly, “I noticed my talent in Solemn Silence when I first started my martial arts training here. It didn’t take me long to enter a meditative state where my mind concentrates on one. Also, my endurance seems much better than average.”

He gave some decorative details.

“You quickly achieved concealment of spirit and qi? Still Stance must be easy for you. Once you have mastered Still Stance, you can get twice the results with half the effort.” Specialized in martial arts related interviews, Shu Rui had a thorough understanding of Solemn Silence’s importance.

“Yeah.” Lou Cheng smiled and added sincerely, “It’s my fortune to have Coach Shi in the club. A true master, he has taught us many Still Stance styles and visualization in battle. His instructions helped me improve day by day and reached the Amateur Ninth Pin level before the district contest. But back then I was way behind the seniors. I couldn’t even be a substitute.”

Shu Rui smiled gently. “No wonder your name was not on the list. What happened next? How did you become the leading player of the Martial Arts Club?”

“I kept practicing through the first term until the past winter break. Because our pair exercise was ceased before the district contest, I had no way to tell my level. I was desperate for some actual battle experience when I heard of the Phoenix Cup Warrior Sage Challenge Tournament from Coach Shi. He helped me get an invitation and I attended the competition in Yanling.” Lou Cheng didn’t try to hide his experience in the Warrior Sage Challenge Tournament.

Shu Rui let her right hand rest on her lower belly and asked with interest, “Did you set a goal for yourself before the tournament?”

“Yes. I wanted to make it to the second round so it wouldn’t be too humiliating!” Lou Cheng joked at himself.

Shu Rui chuckled. “And then? How far did you make it?”

“The top eight. I learned a lot and improved fast from each match. I think I have become a real martial artist after that tournament, inside out.” Lou Cheng added with a tinge of emotion.

“The top eight? Did you encounter any professional level contestant?” Shu Rui was obviously surprised.

It doesn’t sound like an amateur level competition!

Lou Cheng answered frankly, “I fought three of Professional Ninth Pin. Win two and loss one.”

“Wow! That’s really impressive! You are more than just professional-to-be!” Shu Rui sounded amazed and impressed.

“You are flattering me. Luck was on my side in those two victorious matches. One of the Professional Ninth Pin experts hadn’t had any real combat experience for a very long time before the tournament…” Lou Cheng went on to explain in short.

A series of questions and answers led this unprepared interview to the end in less than ten minutes. Lou Cheng had pretty much sketched his story.

“Thank you, Lou Cheng. I’ll let you go back to your training. Sorry for the interrupt,” Shu Rui said cheerfully.

“No problem.” Lou Cheng answered politely.

Shu Rui gave a little chuckle. “No matter what, thank you for your cooperation. I’ll interview your Coach Shi.”

Lou Cheng felt relieved and turned around to join his club mates. As he was passing by Yan Zheke, he heard her whisper, “That reporter is so pretty!”

“She does have a good set of features…” Lou Cheng held his tongue before speaking out his thought and changed his answer.

“Pretty? I find her rather plain.”

Yan Zheke sent one glare at him. “Hypocrite!”

“I’m honest with you. I guess she’s just not my cup of tea,” answered Lou Cheng sincerely.

Yan Zheke laughed in spite of herself. “Hah. Your aesthetic conception sounds quite special. Well, tell me what your cup of tea looks like?”

Lou Cheng looked at her and smiled. “Have a guess.”

Yan Zheke waited for a second before spitting at him. She turned her face away. “Not a fan of your guessing game!”

Under the watchful eyes of his club mates, Lou Cheng couldn’t say more. He retreated into the team and continued with his training.

…

Songcheng TV Station.

Shu Rui reported Lou Cheng’s story in brief to the head of her department.

Director Guo said in a muted voice,

“Don’t air this interview yet. Wait for Songcheng University Martial Arts Club to have some good performance in the preliminaries. Last time we made a whole program but they didn’t go far. Just mention their participation in the preliminaries in the news.”

“Okay. I’ll find more materials.” Shu Rui saw this coming.

Back to Newsroom Two, she answered a call from her boyfriend and chatted with her colleagues about what they saw and heard before turning on her computer to search for materials related to Lou Cheng’s exclusive interview.

The first thing that came to her mind was the Phoenix Cup Warrior Sage Challenge Tournament. Lou Cheng barely said anything about it.

She typed in the title of the competition and added Lou Cheng’s name in the search bar.

Many results were returned. She browsed the headings without clicking on any link.

“These few are from the Warrior Sage Challenge Tournament’s official site… These… Hmm? Lou Cheng has a personal forum?” Shu Rui gave out a surprised shout. She opened the forum to check if it was real, seeing “Eternal Nightfall” and “Brahman” grumbling at the serious lack of Lou Cheng’s news.

A smile climbed on Shu Rui’s face as it reminded her of her days being a fan. She cut parts of the interview, made a crude preview trailer and posted with her almost forgotten ID “Lush Gives Birth To Light”.

“The preview of Songcheng TV Station’s interview with Lou Cheng!”

She then uploaded the edited video and typed.

“Don’t bother asking who I am. I’m just a good person!”