Martial Arts Master

Every match had one excited and one upset. Yan Zheke and He Lingling here respectively played those two roles, demonstrating joy and sorrow of life.

Yan Zheke walked towards the supervisor as most of her emotion was let off and suddenly noticed how tight her muscles were and how weak her legs felt. She was even more exhausted than the last match.

“The defeat would have been mine if my last strike didn’t get He Lingling…” thought Yan Zheke, feeling fortunate with some panic fear. She stood by the side of the ring, shaking noticeably, and waiting for the supervisor to stamp the result form.

Her vigor restored slowly during the wait and she could steadily walk up the upper stand to join Lou Cheng.

“Excited and thrilled, aren’t you?” Lou Cheng held her, offering her an energy drink with the lid removed, grinning.

“Yes!” Yan Zheke nodded firmly as she accepted the drink and started to wolf it down. Sweat stood out on her forehead.

Lou Cheng lowered his voice and asked in a joking and expectant tone,

“Don’t you want to celebrate with a kiss from me?”

I’m definitely in!

Phew! Yan Zheke spouted the drink on Lou Cheng’s face, a bit annoyed but more amused. She answered slowly but firmly,

“Per-ver-t!”

Lou Cheng didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. The tissue prepared to wipe sweat for his girlfriend was used to dry his face. “It’s okay that you don’t want a kiss from me but why shot me right in my face?”

“Of course, unless you want to choke me!” Watching her boyfriend take out another piece of tissue and enjoying his careful, gentle drying sweat on her forehead and face, she squinted and protested in a coquettish voice.

Lou Cheng broke into a laugh. “Alright. It’s better that you spouted at me.”

They rested for a few more minutes to let her sweat dry and then headed to the martial arts association office next to No.1 Hall to submit the form to the staff.

The officer viewed the video of her match and verified the result before entering it into his computer. He stamped the form again and sent Yan Zheke to get her photo taken for the certificate next door.

Through the whole procedure, Yan Zheke got her Amateur Second Pin certificate with a unique serial number which could be used on the martial arts association’s national website to check her rank.

She officially became an Amateur Second Pin fighter!

Lou Cheng indulged in the certificate as if it was him who just got qualified and complimented, “Ke, your photo is so pretty. I’ve never seen anyone’s certificate photo this pretty before. You’re endowed with good looks no matter what!”

Yan Zheke glanced at him, half delighted and half embarrassed. “Cheng, I never understood why they used that word to describe boys in novels until now!”

“Which word?” asked Lou Cheng, curious.

Yan Zheke pretended to be bitter at him.

“Slick and glib!”

“Err…” Lou Cheng felt very shy as his imagination had taken it the wrong way which was improper to be talked about in public.

He responded with a sneaky smile, “That was a sincere compliment! Look at my eyes. How genuine and honest!”

Yan Zheke tried to hold back her laugh. “Fine. I trust you! Don’t show off your acting talent in front of me, okay?”

“Where shall we go?” Knowing well when to stop, Lou Cheng smoothly changed the topic.

Yan Zheke took out her mobile from her jacket pocket and checked time. “Qing should finish soon. Let’s wait for her.”

“Sure!” His girlfriend had successfully qualified for the Amateur Second Pin and he could finally put away his concerns to cheer for other teammates.

Rather talented, Guo Qing was stronger than most males of her level. With solid basic skills, she improved rapidly after practicing the Mountain-moving Punch. Definitely one of the most capable candidates for the Amateur Fourth Pin certificate, she defeated all her opponents in this ranking event, waiting for her final match tonight.

“Sister Wen’s match is at 4:30. Let’s go back to the hotel and rest! I’m so exhausted!” said Guo Qing after joining Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke, cheerful and noisy.

Robust and vigorous as Guo Qing also felt exhausted after five fights in two days. She wanted to recover as much as possible.

The most important match is to take place tonight!

The schedule was fair enough that her rival would meet her after five matches.

Yan Zheke had little knowledge about others’ progress except for Sun Jian’s loss as her full attention was concentrated on her own matches. She asked curiously, “Does Sister Wen have a good chance of qualifying?”

They all encountered a tough rival this morning and lost the match.

“A pretty big chance. Ke, don’t you know that the quotas for Amateur Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Pin are much larger? The best two of each group can advance,” answered Guo Qing.

The martial arts association arranged it this way to encourage fighters of lower levels to pursue higher amateur ranks. This year 296 people signed up for 50 amateur fourth pin certificates. All combatants were divided into 50 groups and the best two of each group would advance to compete with winners of another group. They had a 17% chance of qualifying while those aiming at the Amateur Second Pin had less than a 10% probability!

Less talented, Li Xiaowen, Wu Meng and Jiang Fusheng were extremely hard working. They never missed one training day, which was much better than most of their competitors. Besides, the 24 Blizzard Strikes was no casual style. Unless they were extremely unlucky, they would eventually get qualified for the Amateur Fourth Pin after one or two failed attempts. However, it would be an entirely different story when it came to higher levels as many martial arts club members and martial arts school students participated.

“I see…” Yan Zheke wiped the frown off her face, feeling very glad for her senior brothers and sisters.

A happy person wanted happiness for all the others!

Li Mao and Lin Hua finished earlier than Yan Zheke. Thanks to their lucky draw, they advanced with a perfect mark.

Back in the hotel, Guo Qing went straight to her room. Lou Cheng took out the room key and asked Yan Zheke as opening the door,

“Ke, take a shower quickly. The sooner we massage, the more you recover. Don’t get any invisible injury.”

As soon as the words slipped out of his mouth, a few thoughts came to his head.

We’ll be alone in a twin room again…

Ke has succeeded in the rank event. No more match is awaiting her…

Pong-pong-pong! His heart was beating fast and his lips were dry, looking forward to something and expecting something.

In his heavy breath, Yan Zheke’s body started shivering. She lowered her head, watching the carpet to one side, and whispered,

“Cheng, Cheng, what about… You come to our room later…”

Ahh? Lou Cheng was lost for a second but soon realized the girl’s intention. She wanted Guo Qing to be there during their massage so they wouldn’t be alone in a hotel room again.

A brief disappointment hit him. He turned to look at Yan Zheke who was secretly glancing at him. She moved her eyes away like a timid deer, shy and terrified.

“How adorable… She’s not ready…” Lou Cheng talked to himself while heaving a sigh and smiled.

“Sure. Give me a call after a shower!”

Yan Zheke’s dimples crept into her cheeks slowly. Beams shone in her eyes. She called quietly,

“Cheng…”

“Yes?” asked Lou Cheng, confused.

The girl, smiling, turned around without answering and waved before entering her room agilely.

As the door closed, Lou Cheng’s mobile beeped for a new text message.

He checked and saw a shy emoji from Yan Zheke.

“You’re perfect!”

“Cheng, you’re perfect…” The line instantly wiped out Lou Cheng’s disappointment and sadness. He broke into a laugh, happy and satisfied.

Back in his room, he opened the tap and washed his face with cold water, relieving the pain in his head and the weariness in his body.

Massaging with Thunder Roar Zen would consume a great amount of strength and he recovered with regular massage motions. A long physiotherapy had drained him to his limit.

Gazing at his face in the mirror, high-spirited with some weariness, Lou Cheng took a deep breath and started to review his earlier behavior. His attitude was very wrong.

After two days of intimacy and irritation, he felt so disappointed when Ke refused to be alone with him in a hotel room. He almost lost his cool and showed his feeling in his voice.

All boys have desires, longing to get closer to their loved one. It’s perfectly fine. However, they shouldn’t rush it

The most important thing is to respect what the girl thinks!

Ke is rather conservative and it’s her first relationship. They’ve only dated for a month. She needs time to adjust herself upon his confession of love slowly. She surely has such fears for getting very intimate and wants to take things slowly.

Her letting me kiss her passionately is already good enough thanks to my good behavior!

He chanted “respect” many times until Yan Zheke messaged him to go over.

With Guo Qing the third wheel in the room, Lou Cheng still felt his heart swelling as he massaged Yan Zheke’s muscles and bruises but it was much more bearable. He no longer needed to cool himself down in the washroom. Yan Zheke held a faint smile on her face, watching him busy like a bee. She urged warmly. “Don’t use the Tremor force this time. Coach Shi said tomorrow we’ll do some recovery exercise.”

No need to relieve the deep fatigue!

Lou Cheng couldn’t exert it even if he wanted to. He happily agreed to her and continued to work on her body, dedicated and proficient.

“You two are trying to kill me with your romance and love, aren’t you?” Guo Qing smashed a pillow into her face after watching them for a while. She carried on to moan. “I have to wait for Sister Wen to come back to massage me…”

Yan Zheke laughed and said, “Find yourself a boyfriend quickly!”

“Old Qiu doesn’t like me…” answered Guo Qing, sulky and unhappy.

Realizing she had started a wrong topic, she quickly attempted to fix it. “Let me massage you later. Sister Wen will come back late.”

“What about Cheng?” asked Guo Qing, confused, moving the pillow away.

Yan Zheke answered in a low voice, “We don’t have to be together all the time.”

“Cheng, please let me borrow your girlfriend for ten minutes or so!” asked Guo Qing pitifully, pressing her hands against each other.

She wanted to get some massage as soon as possible to let her body recover for the final match.

Lou Cheng smiled and said, “Fine. Only this one time.”

Yan Zheke’s massage finished at around 4 o’clock. She looked at Lou Cheng eagerly and whispered by his ear, “I’ll come to you after a quick massage for Qing.”

“Deal,” answered Lou Cheng with a sincere smile.

Back to his room, he first washed his face with cold water to pep himself up so he wouldn’t fall asleep and miss Yan Zheke’s knock on the door.

The beautiful knock sounded after 20 minutes browsing forums and Weibo.

As soon as he opened the door, he was stunned by the bright glamour.

Yan Zheke had changed into a white cotton dress, a pink coat, a cute pair of canvas shoes and sleek skin-toned stocking. Her legs looked very long, perfectly straight and a bit obscure.

Her black hair hung down like silk, thin brows shone with her bright eyes, adorable nose stood tall and straight, and pink lips were sleek and tempting.

Yan Zheke noticed Lou Cheng’s shock, his eyes brightened and face impressed. She scrutinized herself up and down, perturbed.

“It’s a bit odd to wear stocking like this… I wanted to go with short socks but the weather is kind of chilly. And I still have some bruises on my leg…”

Then she felt the heat and desire in Lou Cheng’s eyes and suddenly came to the realization. She looked away, shy and bashful, and muttered,

“Pervert!”

Lou Cheng forced himself to withdraw his eyes, his face red and hot. He coughed, brewing some compliments. Yan Zheke stared at her tiptoes, blinking in erratic intervals, her face blushed. She tried to sound casual.

“May I take you out on a date?”

She had long decided to reveal her heart by asking him out on a date.

“A date? Where are we going?” asked Lou Cheng, pleasantly surprised.

Yan Zheke seemed quite pleased with herself. “The Ocean Aquarium! Aren’t you thinking it all the time?”

“Err? I wanted to go?” Lou Cheng’s head operated at high speed. “We’ll get there by 4:40. The aquarium closes at 6 o’clock and the ticket office opens until 5:30. Visiting there one hour should be enough… We should go now.”

Before Yan Zheke turned around, she saw weariness between Lou Cheng’s brows and suddenly felt her heart aching.

“Cheng, you look exhausted!”

“I’m okay!” Lou Cheng played tough.

Yan Zheke thought about it and put on a slight smile. “What about you rest a little bit first? We can leave at 5 o’clock.”

She chuckled quietly. “The massage master will give you some gentle rub at your temples!”

Lou Cheng reviewed his own condition, realizing he might forget everything from the aquarium later. He answered with a smile, “That would be great!”

He turned sideways to leave the passage open.

Yan Zheke stepped into the room. The familiar settings reminded her of the massage, her heart beating fast.

Alone with him in this room again…

There’s no more match tonight… Would Cheng lose control…

What can I do if he loses control and tries to do something to me? How far should I let him probe?

How far…

Yan Zheke felt her face burning, heart beating even fast and legs heavy but she continued to walk in the room, avoiding Lou Cheng’s eyes. She pointed at the bed by the window.

“Lie there!”

Lou Cheng raised his head on a pillow and lay as close to the window as possible, leaving the girl enough room to massage his temples.

Yan Zheke fixed her dress, kneeled down on the bed, leaving her feet with shoes on hanging outside. She bent over, reaching one hand across Lou Cheng’s head, and started to massage his temples.

The ache in his temples was relieved a lot. The sweet scent of her hair came to his nose. Lou Cheng was completely relaxed, letting the suppressed weariness flood out. He fell asleep quickly in her fondness and tenderness.

Hmm… 15 minutes of sleep…

Yan Zheke’s heartbeat was still very fast. She couldn’t help imagining that Lou Cheng pulled her down and kissed her passionately.

Should I fight or let it…

Her thought was interrupted by Lou Cheng’s long and rhythmical breath.

She locked her eyes on him, realizing he had fallen asleep within a few dozens of seconds.

Is he this tired?

Yan Zheke was astonished and in agony about him. Although from an aristocratic family of martial arts, she didn’t know the Tremor force would consume one’s energy this greatly. In her mind, Lou Cheng was the one with immense physical strength and vigor. She didn’t realize how tired he had become even seeing weariness hovering on his face.

Now, when Lou Cheng’s fatigue was unveiled in front of her, she suddenly came to realize that her boyfriend was just another human being who had his limits and would feel tired.

Cousin can throw four Tremor punches continuously…

He just massaged me with regular motions and the Tremor force alternately for over an hour…

His physical strength is not unlimited. I’m his limit…

Yan Zheke’s eyes were red, filled with tears. She bit her lips slightly. As a faint smile blossomed on her face, she reached her hand out to Lou Cheng’s brows.

“This silly boy… Why do you have this frown in your dream? Are you worried about something? Is it this date? Are you worried you will sleep over and miss the date at the Ocean Aquarium? Lost in thought, she saw that Lou Cheng’s brows unfold a little bit due to her unconscious smoothing movement. Then she tilted her lips and showed a naughty smile.

Her fingers danced on Lou Cheng’s brows as if playing the piano, little by little wiping off Lou Cheng’s frown. He slept like a baby, peaceful and relaxed without his usual maturity while he was awake. She nodded, satisfied, feeling each line on his face with her fingers softly.

As her fingers caressed and stroked his face playfully, the smile on her face grew brighter. Her fingers moved across his face, drawing a word on his cheeks.

Idiot!

“Idiot…” She chanted the word quietly for a few times and burst into a laugh like a little fox after stealing a hen. Her fingers went on to feel her boyfriend’s fresh beard and then his lips.

“This bad boy always takes advantage of me…” Her eyes dazed gazing at his lips.

She clearly remembered how Lou Cheng licked and sucked her lips as if tasting the greatest food in the world, how he was busy like a bee earlier, and how he hid his weariness this morning…

Yan Zheke looked drunk in her own thoughts. Looking at the deeply asleep Lou Cheng, she claimed silently.

“Sleeping beauty, I’m your prince!”

She brushed back her hair with her fingers and slowly lowered her head, her heart beating loudly and her face turning red.

Gently, her lips pressed against Lou Cheng’s. She carefully stroked and sucked in the way she remembered from Lou Cheng. She timidly put her tongue out, feeling the shape of his lips with a guilty conscience.

She suddenly raised her head, feeling her lips, puzzled and astonished.

“Why are his lips sweet?”

Her eyes moved down, seeing Lou Cheng’s lips shiny with her lipstick.

No wonder it tasted so familiar…

She chuckled quietly, her eyes blurred and touching.

Clouds moved away, revealing the sun and its brilliant shine through the window. When sunshine poured on the sleeping boy and the shy girl, everything seemed bright, tranquil and warm.

…

Lou Cheng woke up when the light began to fail. In the warm orange lamplight, Yan Zheke was reading the textbook she forgot to put back to the shelf. Her figure viewed from behind was slim and graceful.

“What time is it?” asked Lou Cheng, puzzled. He reached out for his mobile but his head was still empty.

Yan Zheke turned to look at him but rapidly turned her head back, her face flushing. “6:10.”

“6:10…” Lou Cheng’s mobile was showing the same time and two missed calls from Sun Jian.

His head remained blank for a dozen seconds and then suddenly sobered up. He started to reproach himself, upset. “I, I slept over…”

His loved girl asked him out but he slept over…

Yan Zheke turned her face sideways, biting her lips. She said with a bright smile,

“I didn’t wake you up on purpose. You were so much tired… We’ll have many opportunities in the future.”

Amused by her joyful voice, Lou Cheng felt much better at once.

“True. We’ll have many, many opportunities!”

He got out of bed and put on shoes, intending to wash his face to wake himself up completely before returning Senior Brother Sun Jian’s call.

Yan Zheke secretly glanced at his lips as he passed by her on his way to the washroom and hastily turned back to the textbook. She said seriously, “We should probably check out.”

Their rooms were paid until the next day, but they needed to have dinner, and then cheer for their teammates in the martial arts arena before heading back to old campus together.

Lou Cheng, standing outside of the washroom, was interrupted by a knock at the door, followed by a shout from Sun Jian.

“Cheng, are you there?”

“Yeah! I’m in!” answered Lou Cheng loudly as he turned the door handle.

Yan Zheke behind him just had her stuff packed. She blurted out,

“Don’t…”

She halted when Lou Cheng pulled the door open, looking at her in great confusion.

Sun Jian standing by the door said with a smile, “Cheng, did you fall asleep? You didn’t answer my calls. It’s time to check out. We’ll go to the martial arts arena together to cheer for them.”

“Yes, brother.” Lou Cheng turned to face him with a grin.

Sun Jian’s eyes locked on his face, astonished and stunned. He began to tease him with a sneer.

“Cheng…”

“Yup?” answered Lou Cheng.

Sun Jian patted his shoulder and advised earnestly,

“Remember always to wipe your mouth after!”

“Excuse me?” Lou Cheng was confused.

Sun Jian shot his brows upward, indicating his understanding. He walked away towards the elevator, humming, without asking questions.

Guo Qing just said Yan Zheke was not in her room…

“What the heck is going on?” Lou Cheng was completely lost and turned to the washroom. Yan Zheke held her textbook in front of her chest and kept her head low, with two dimples in her cheeks. She said quickly, “I’m going back to pack up.”

She ran by Lou Cheng agilely and went straight out of the room.

“Strange…” Lou Cheng shook his head as he walked into the washroom. He glanced at the mirror subconsciously.

He was stunned by the pretty, familiar lipstick color on his lips.

“What the heck?” He became wide awake, taking out his phone, a bit annoyed but more amused. He wrote Yan Zheke a message, starting with an

“You rogue girl!”

A smile of joy climbed on his face as that message went through. He had a good taste of the girly scent before washing it off.

Hmm… Peach flavor…

Yan Zheke replied a miserable emoji. “I’m innocent! You pervert! I was massaging your muscles when you pinned me down semi asleep! You kissed me in your sleep!”

“Really?” asked Lou Cheng, adding an emoji with a question mark on top.

Did I kiss Yan Zheke by instinct in my sleep?

What a skill!

Yan Zheke answered with a righteous looking emoji.

“Not really!”

Hmm! I wouldn’t have left any evidence behind if I could wipe it off without waking you up!

Phew… Lou Cheng broke into a laugh as he was certain the girl kissed him in his sleep. He wished he was awake to enjoy the beauty of this kiss and respond passionately!

…

In the evening, Jiang Fusheng was defeated by a competent opponent, while Guo Qing, Li Xiaowen and Wu Meng passed the final test and got the Amateur Fourth Pin certificate. Li Mao got very lucky in his last match where his rival was injured in his previous fight that he became an Amateur Second Pin fighter.

The ordinary looking, quiet Lin Hua surprised everyone by winning six fights and qualifying for the Amateur Third Pin, which made her boyfriend Sun Jian a bit jealous.

The next morning, Lou Cheng continued to visualize the Frozen Ground Diagram, memorizing the subtle changes in his muscles, tendons and organs little by little.

He was in no rush as he knew it would take a long time.

At the beginning of the martial arts special training, Geezer Shi clapped his hands.

“You all did well in this Ranking Event and didn’t bring shame to my face. Today we’ll do some rehab work.”

He quickly glanced through Lou Cheng, Lin Que and Yan Zheke before continuing with a laugh.

“By the way, the Azure Dragon Squad has requested for the special competition format.”

“Ahh?” Lou Cheng and his mates had no clue what the coach was talking about.