Martial Arts Master

After eating the cake and pastries they’d bought the night before, Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke left the hotel holding hands. They took a bus and headed back to the old campus, first buying a few different kinds of spice bags from a store just outside and then leisurely walking to the bus stop, swaying and recalling the four semesters they’d had at Songcheng University’s new campus.

At the Weishui Lake school building, there was a long bridge, a lakeside veranda, and other kinds of scenery. As the scenery reflected in Yan Zheke’s eyes, a sadness rose in her heart that was hard to explain. She leaned closer to her previous boyfriend who had now become her husband, holding him tighter.

With a kind of special connection, Lou Cheng could sense the sorrow that Ke was feeling at their imminent parting. His right hand looped around and grasped her shoulder, nestling her closer to his chest and comforting her spirit with his warmth.

In the quiet but not oppressive atmosphere, the two lovers got off the bus, swaying their hands as they tightly held them together. They strolled towards the administrative building, hurrying to hand in her residence permit to the branch manager before they got off work.

The excuse that they were going to use was an indisputable fact: because the joint exchange program that Yan Zheke was participating in had been moved up a year, the school needed to help handle all of the procedures. The two of them didn’t have time to get a visa to go abroad, so all they could do was turn in their residence permits in advance.

As for Lou Cheng obtaining an American visa, he didn’t plan on doing so himself. He would prepare it through the Ice God Sect, which was more dependable and convenient. If he went himself, a dangerous guy like him approaching the Inhuman stage would certainly be examined thoroughly.

After everything had been handled, it was approaching noon. They went to the Academy Cafeteria, and as they pushed open the doors to the room they’d scheduled in advance, they saw Li Liantong, Shi Xiangyang, and Zong Yanru.

From the first time since inviting them out to eat, Lou Cheng and his previous girlfriend’s (now wife) roommates had often bumped into each other. For example, during their dormitory communal meals, if they were outside campus, they would all wrangle him into being their bodyguard. If they were on campus, once they were finished, he would also come and meet Yan Zheke, walk off the meal they’d just eaten, and arrange another meeting. After obtaining the National Competition Championship, the two lovers had gone out to eat with them three times, so they weren’t strangers to Lou Cheng. Simultaneously, they all smiled and one after the other greeted them with,

“Hello, big martial arts family!”

Lou Cheng was already used to being poked fun at in this way, and he raised his hand and waved it in response.

“Hello, comrades.”

Hehe…. the girls all broke into laughter as they waited for them to saunter over. They took their seats, and also took the menu, tossing it towards Lou Cheng, putting him in charge of the selection. They then looked towards Yan Zheke, and all at once discussed her going abroad to study.

“How can it be this sudden?” Li Liantong said, maintaining her silent and composed manner.

“Ke, how many years are you going to go for?” Zong Yanru asked with concern. She had somehow known this would happen before.

“Boo hoo hoo, I can’t stand to see my sweet, bright, and soft Ke go! Even though I’ve already got a boyfriend, it’s you who I love the most!” the tall Shi Xiangyang exclaimed, her eyes seeming lost and confused. She was half joking and half truly heartbroken as she spoke.

She was the second of Yan Zheke’s roommates to say goodbye to the single life. After two semesters of seeing others have boyfriends and girlfriends while she remained single, she’d had enough.

Following these words from Shi Xiangyang, the mood became downcast. It made the tender and sensitive girls all recall every detail of the two years that they had known each other, and the edges of their eyes reddened.

Yan Zheke kept her composure and said with a smile, “Going a year earlier is much better, this means I can come back a year earlier. Dirty Tong, Pak Choi, maybe you’ll both still be studying and have not graduated yet.”

Li Liantong and Shi Xiangyang were on a seven-year medical program, so they still had a long way to go.

“You may have a baby and we’ll still not have graduated!” Ever since becoming familiar with Lou Cheng, Li Liantong had adopted her facade less and less, and from time to time would say a sentence like this that would startle you. After joking, she suddenly sighed and said, “What are we doing to do? It feels like we’re breaking up. Ke, you can’t be teased by me everyday now, I can’t watch you become more experienced in the area of love, can’t, can’t…”

As she spoke, her voice gradually faded, and she unexpectedly began choking back tears.

This immediately made Zong Yanru and Shi Xiangyang’s eyes moist. By bringing up this topic, the atmosphere became more and more melancholy, making Lou Cheng also feel unhappy.

He’d told himself before that it was best to have faith and not let his emotions towards her get in the way of his decisions and make him lose his head. It wasn’t like he would be looking back on their parting that was coming in just over a month with great sentimentality, so just concealing it was best. His attitude had become quite regimented as he didn’t want to influence his fairy’s mood.

He blew out a breath of air, then stood up and said,

“I’m going to order the food and go to the restroom while I’m at it.”

It didn’t feel right to call in the waiter in this kind of situation.

“OK,” Yan Zheke said as she struggled to maintain her composure.

Waiting for Lou Chen to exit, Li Liantong grabbed a tissue and wiped the corners of her eyes. She decided to change the topic and liven up the atmosphere.

The corner of her mouth rose, and she looked at Yan Zheke. With a mischevious smile she said,

“Ke, I remember two days ago you just packed your luggage and left! Ru Ru had also just finished taking her exams, so she should have told you then.”

“So…” Zong Yanru asked with slight bewilderment.

Not waiting for Yan Zheke to open her mouth, Li Liantong snickered, “After being gone for two days, how is it that you so suddenly come back to school and invite us out to eat? Have you been ‘close’ these past two days? What have you been doing? In these kinds of times, when a couple is about to separate, it can be hard to control one’s emotions, and you can’t help but break through the previous boundaries that existed…”

“How do you have such dirty thoughts!?” Hearing these words, Yan Zheke’s sadness dispersed and was replaced with shyness surging forth. As was her usual habit, she interrupted the other person, wanting to change the topic.

“Don’t explain. If you explain, you’ll just gloss over it. If you don’t believe me, you can just ask Pak Choi and Ru Ru. They also don’t believe that you could control yourself during a time like this.” Li Liantong pointed to Shi Xiangyang and Zong Yanru, whose faces showed that they suddenly understood what Li Liantong was getting at.

Seeing that Yan Zheke was still shy, she blinked, and in a low voice said, “I don’t want to ask you about the specific details, I’m just curious. You know, school girls are always writing about romantic and erotic love, more so than boys. Inevitably, there will be some odd positions, no, divergences. I’ve seen that there are quite a few impressive fighters that have been written about. I figured that with all of their abilities, how is it that they could put them to good use. To shatter through and ascend to new realms… I just wanted to ask you, is it like this, for example…”

“You can’t ask that!” Yan Zheke immediately interrupted Dirty Tong once she understood the question. Her face became flushed and red, which gave her an indescribable beauty.

Lightning flashed in her mind, and all she could feel was hot steam was rising from her cheeks.

Seeing her state, Li Liantong laughed.

“See, I’m right. If Ke and he hadn’t done anything, she wouldn’t have said ‘You can’t ask that’ just now. Rather, she would have said, ‘How do you know’. Gah, us three beautiful, young women have been cast aside for some guy from the outside.”

“You tricked me…” Yan Zheke blurted out, both bewildered and intensely shy.

She had to admit, she’d unexpectedly been tricked by Dirty Tong!

“The main thing is that you’ve been caught red-handed!” Li Liantong covered her mouth as she laughed.

As she saw the state of Shi Xiangyang and Zong Yanru, who were also unable to contain themselves, it suddenly came to her. They leaned against the table, lowered their heads, and laughed as the atmosphere became more warm and welcoming.

Yan Zheke was affected by them and gradually smiled as well, feeling that she hadn’t done anything that bad. When Cheng was with her, he would help cover it up.

Just then, Lou Cheng came back from the restroom. Pushing open the door and entering, he asked in astonishment,

“What are you all laughing at?”

Shi Xiangyang, Zong Yanru, and the others all glanced at each other. They remembered the example Li Liantong had given just previously and burst into even greater laughter after a moment, nearly slapping the table and pounding the wooden benches. Yan Zheke was again both shy and happy, unable to say anything.

“…” Lou Cheng watched with bewilderment, feeling at a total loss.

These four ladies were so heartbroken and full of sorrow a moment ago; how could they get so excited and laugh so happily after just a little while?

Girls really were complicated!

While eating, the mood from time to time would shift from melancholy to blissful, but everything had to come to an end. With all of the cups and dishes scattered everywhere, Lou Cheng called for the waiter to pay the bill and used his phone to pay.

Heading out of the restaurant, they stood at the entrance. Zong Yanru, with tears in her eyes, said,

“Ke, you need to look after yourself over there. When you come back for vacation, remember to get in touch with us.”

“Okay.” Yan Zheke was trying with great difficulty to keep from crying, so she could only give a simple response and nod her head.

Shi Xiangyang opened her mouth to say something, but found that nothing came out. She breathed in and again said, “Ke, if you have time, keep in touch. Now, now, it’s the internet age, everybody can talk to each other all the time… You and Cheng be good. We’ll wait for the two of you to get married and we’ll give you a big wedding gift!”

“Exactly, I shall give my best wishes to you two and you will get married one day!” Taking a cue from Yan Zheke Li Liantong spoke lightly and briskly, but the red corners of her eyes and misty pupils betrayed her true feelings.

With some sadness, Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke bade them farewell. They looked in each other’s eyes and again pulled each other’s hands close.

“If Dirty Tong knew she could just send us a wedding gift now, she’d jump ten feet high,” Yan Zheke said, her mood complicated.

“More than that, I think she’d jump so high her glasses would fall off and shatter!” Lou Cheng exclaimed with a smile.

Afterwards, the newly-formed couple retraced their steps to the places that contained so many memories for them. From the springtime lakeside bursting with vitality to the vast and desolate western area, from the long bridge where they would often run into each other to the school building where they would go to class every day…

After two and a half days, they went out less. Other than going out to eat or for training, they burrowed themselves inside their hotel room, even to the point where they ordered take out twice. Their two bodies became one and their Qi and Blood flourished. As their emotions burst forth, they did everything they could to please the other, basking in their unconstrained youth and enjoying the excitement of it, wishing that they could become forever joined together.

On Monday, July 30th, Yan Zheke took the materials that Yan Kai and Ji Mingyu had posted and handed them to the university office. Then, together with Lou Cheng, they took the steps back towards Xiushan, their home.

When she was needed here again, she’d come back, only the person accompanying her at that time would be Empress Dowager and not Lou Cheng.

On July 30th, 5:40 PM, the high speed rail took off, quickly reaching the Xiushan stop.

Lou Cheng did not play with his phone, but tilted his head, looking at his tired-to-the-bone fairy. As he thought back on the craziness of the past few days, his heart was filled with tenderness. He thought about how could it be possible his wife was this beautiful and how he liked everything about her. At first he put his arm around Yan Zheke’s shoulder, but he felt that this wasn’t enough, so slid his arm down towards her waist. Afterwards, he still felt that this wasn’t enough, so he slid closer and completely enveloped her against his chest, breathing in the scent of her perfume.

After a moment, Yan Zheke’s eyelashes fluttered and she woke up from the dream that she had been in. She raised her head, and seeing the familiar face of Lou Cheng, the disappointment from her nightmare immediately dissipated.

She reached out with her arm, wrapping it around her husband’s waist.

Silently holding one another for a moment, the two of their phones then went off simultaneously, each coming from each other’s mother.

“Hello, Mom, what’s up?” Lou Cheng answered with surprise in a low voice. Beside him, Yan Zheke said something similar.

Qi Fang answered at great length, “Are you almost here? We originally decided that you’d eat dinner at home, but your grandpa said we should come over because Erzi has invited us to dinner when he heard that you are back home.”