Martial Arts Master

“Songcheng University! Songcheng University!”

The deafening shouts bore a sea of enthusiasm. Standing among thousands of cheering fans, Lou Cheng felt his head numb and body trembling. His blood was boiling and he wished he could be the next to fight for Songcheng University Martial Arts Club.

After one month of hard training, he had pretty much mastered the meditation and all moves of 24 Blizzard Strikes. Practice after practice and progress after progress. He had no idea which level he was of as the pair exercise had been removed from the special training since the start of the partition contest.

Bringing himself from wild thoughts back to Geezer Shi’s talk, he returned to reality of his first ever Martial Arts Competition event and pre-combat locker room experience.

Geezer Shi, of the same unconcerned old man look, appeared more serious than usual. Facing his leading players, Lin Que and Chen Changhua, and some substitutes, he said, “The strongest player of Guannan is Gu Yue, the manager of their Martial Arts Club and the son of their coach Gu Zhen.”

Lou Cheng could hardly hold his laughter. Instead of giving a solemn speech, Geezer Shi began with the opponent’s family background.

Geezer Shi suddenly switched the thread of his talk, “Don’t you feel relieved knowing he has used backdoor connections to get to this position? Hey, he has his backdoor connections but he also has solid skills. He took part in the Professional Ranking Event this April for the very first time and got the Ninth Pin certificate smoothly—around the same time as your qualification, Lin Que.”

Lin Que nodded slightly as if it were no news to him.

“Gu Yue is tall and sturdy, firmly built with great might. He’s a very tough fighter. Hear me clearly. Very tough!” Geezer Shi cleared his throat before continuing, “I believe you’ve watched his fights. Here I’ll focus on three aspects. First, don’t be fooled by his great might and tough moves into ignoring his advantage in physical strength. Except for one time when he was defeated by Qu Hui from Sanjiang, he was always the one to take the lead of his club and fought through the three rounds without showing much fatigue.”

He took a quick glance at Lou Cheng, the monster that never felt tired, as if crying for a match of endurance for him to win. Lou Cheng nodded silently and felt sorry, thinking, “If I was to fight him in physical endurance, he would submit and worship me after a run!”

“The second, he is very cool-headed and able to defend himself calmly in front of an opponent specialized in skirmish fight. Instead of following about blindly, he usually waits patiently for the rival to make moves and then react accordingly. He either drains the opponent’s physical strength or leaves a weak point on purpose to lure the rival into a lock. Afraid of neither injuries nor shortage of energy, he inclines to finish a fight quickly by playing tough.” Geezer Shi took another look at Lou Cheng, wishing he was strong enough to be the nemesis of Gu Yue as his physical strength would never run low to reveal weak points.

“We could do it in his way for three days without a stop. It would all come to a point who felt sleepy the first…” Lou Cheng let his imagination go wild. “Sadly, it wouldn’t be a good match for the audience. They would probably give fingers to me and my deceased ancestors… Also who would possibly want to watch my fight ever again? Better keep it in my mind.”

Geezer Shi took out a metal wine pot like a magician. He had a big sip and enjoyed it loudly. “The last, according to my observation and the information Lin Hua has gathered, Gu Yue is very proud and arrogant. Certainly, he will be the first one to fight today as he doesn’t expect any of his club mates to sap Lin Que’s strength.”

Lin Hua’s best friend, a student of Guannan School, had become a secret informer.

“Lin Que, you go first. Meet strength with strength. Defeat Gu Yue and bring down Guannan’s morale. A victory from the first round will boost our chance of entering the next stage to 70%.” Geezer Shi gazed at Lin Que.

Lin Que, in the black-edged white martial arts suit of Songcheng University, clean and fresh, answered with no facial expression to Geezer Shi’s arrangement, “Okay.”

“You can pretend to play skirmish fight today to trick Gu Yue into leaving an opening and grab this opportunity to defeat him with 24 Blizzard Strikes. Injuries may happen and you may run low on physical strength quickly but go wild and suppress him completely. Knock him out as fast as you can and don’t give him any chance to counterattack,” continued Geezer Shi with his tactical plan.

Lin Que thought about it and nodded to give his consent.

“In this way, you won’t have much strength left for the second round. If Ji Lan is your next opponent, do your best and we have a chance to score another win. However, if it’s Fei Sanli, exhaust him and enrage him to earn a good start for our second fighter, Chen Changhua.” Geezer Shi turned his eyes to the thick-eyebrowed Chen Changhua. “Fei Sanli is more or less of your league. Known for his brutal and vicious style, he often goes for the rival’s eyes and hair. An actual combat has no limitation so his moves, maybe annoying and unpleasant for the audience, are perfectly acceptable. Protect yourself from his nasty moves or all the work we’ve done will be wasted.”

Chen Changhua conned his words carefully and then answered, “Yes. I’ll be careful.”

“As long as nothing goes too wrong, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to take Fei Sanli down. Unless you are injured, play hard in the last round. Ji Lan was recently qualified for Amateur Second Pin. Press her hard enough and she will break down and miss your shortage of strength.” Geezer Shi went on to analyze and arrange.

His words had obviously strengthened their confidence in winning this contest.

“In case you are wounded by Fei Sanli, push it close to drain Ji Lan’s energy, building up advantages for our last fighter, Li Mao.” Geezer Shi fixed his eyes on Li Mao and said, “You are one level lower than Ji Lan but a victory over her shouldn’t be hard as long as Lin Que and Chen Changhua can finish their share.”

“What a pity that Brother Sun Jian is injured and Brother Wu Dong has quit the club. Otherwise, the victory would be in our bag,” said Guo Qing with a tinge of emotion.

Wu Dong left the Martial Arts Club after his recovery as he was ashamed of the defeat dealt by Lou Cheng and busy with job hunting. His every encounter with Lou Cheng felt like loud slaps right on his face.

Geezer Shi sneered loud, “Wu Dong? He’s pretty much wasted. He wouldn’t be a match for Li Mao if he was here. Li Mao, are you doing alright?”

Li Mao swallowed a spittle. Listening to the loud hooray outside, he nodded heavily.

“So our fighters and the order are set. Lin Hua and Guo Qing, you are the substitutes.” Geezer Shi signaled Lou Cheng to write down the arrangement for the match supervisor who was waiting by the side.

Before a fighter got in the ring, in case of a reoccurrence of some old injury or any special circumstance, a substitute could go in instead. However, if the fighter was already in the ring, he couldn’t be replaced and would lose the combat even if he passed out before the fight started.

Lou Cheng quickly wrote down the list Geezer Shi had just arranged and gave it to the match supervisor waiting by the door.

The supervisor accepted the piece of paper and strode out. A few seconds of sudden silence was followed by a loud cheering, “Come on, Songcheng University!”

“Come on, Lin Que!”

“Lin Que! Lin Que!”

The hooray hit Lou Cheng’s heart like an electric current. He longed to fight more than ever, to be the one at the center of the ring for these wild and surging screams and attention!

“Next year…” He quietly tightened his fist.

The shouts and cheers quieted down both locker rooms.

“The martial arts atmosphere is awesome in Songcheng University. Indeed a great martial arts school with a long tradition.” The bald Fei Sanli from Guannan School was stunned.

Sitting on the metal bench calmly, Gu Yue slowly put on his bracers and then suddenly stood up, with his strongly built body bringing an intense oppression to the people around him.

“A great martial arts school with a long tradition? Maybe ten years ago. Now it’s a group of losers, not a match for our Guannan.” Gu Yue moved his neck left and right and turned to his father, Gu Zhen.

“Let’s go.” Gu Zhen and Gu Yue shared a very similar face with a high-bridged nose and deep eyes as if they were both multiracials. The most significant difference lied in their hair—one had turned grey and the other was short and spiky.

Gu Yue rubbed his hands against each other before making his way toward the door.

“Let’s go!”

“Let’s go!” Fei Sanli, Ji Lan and other members of the Martial Arts Club got up at the same time as if they were going on an expedition.

…

In Songcheng University’s locker room, Lou Cheng stood by the door, browsing across the full auditorium in search of Yan Zheke. When he withdrew his eyes, Lin Que had put down his black thermos and stood up.

“Lin Que! Lin Que!”

The loud shouts and cries shocked Chen Changhua.

Every new member of the Club dreamed about glow and shine, and admiration and fondness from their schoolmates. Who didn’t long to defeat the opponents and bring honor to their Club?

In his freshman year, he ran errands for the Club, jealous of his elder brothers and sisters who were welcomed with cheers and screams.

Then, in the second year, he finally became one of the leading players and fought in two knockout competitions and three group competitions for Songcheng University Martial Arts Club, where his name Chen Changhua was shouted and cried out loud. That was the moment of glory he would never forget. However, year after year their defeat drained the passion of their supporters and the Martial Arts Club was no longer the hit in their university. He gradually lost his ambition in winning the match and began to worry not to fall. All that still mattered to him was his position.

When it came to his third year, they lost in the second round of the knockout stage. Few people sitting in the auditorium shouted his name. They also didn’t suppress the opponent team’s fans.

Today, when he was about to bid farewell to Songcheng University, the passionate audience and loud cheers were back just like before. However, this time they were there for Lin Que.

“Lin Que!” He abruptly called Lin Que to stop by the door.

Lin Que stopped and turned around without any emotion. Lou Cheng and other members of the Club were unable to breathe with fear for any drama to take place at that very moment.

Chen Changhua stood up and walked up to Lin Que. He reached out his right hand and took a deep breath.

“Good luck, Lin Que!”

Lin Que seemed astonished. So did Lou Cheng and other members of the Club.

A few seconds passed and Lin Que still had the same face. He stretched out his right hand and held Chen Changhua’s hand.

The grasp was tight.

Lin Que turned around. Members of the Martial Arts Club stepped out of the locker room and into the massive stadium with deafening cheers coming from the frenzied audience. A flight of stone stairs led to the ring.

This was a journey to glory, a trip to honor!