Martial Arts Master

In the ten or so days that followed, having taken away a fair amount of experience from the fight against Brandon, Lou Cheng kept a low profile. Even during weekends, he abstained from seeking out martial artists or powerful spirit cultivators for “Qie Cuo (sparring)” sessions. Instead, he mulled over questions concerning the fight and pinpointed his own imperfections.

Among which, his self-created “Lament of the Ice Queen” was still a distance away from meeting the requirements of actual combat. Had he not completely suppressed Brandon at that time, it was very likely that he wouldn’t have be able to execute it in time. He had to experiment further and make modifications to perfect it.

And, without relying on the power of Jindan, Lament of the Ice Queen was approximately the same as Severe Warning, but for the difference of their internal and external nature. One freezes the opponent’s thoughts while the other freezes the opponent’s body. Both had their own features, mysteries, and merits.

Thoughts raced in his head. Leaning on a corner, Lou Cheng’s eyes were fixed upon the lecture room, keeping an eye out for emergencies as he continued pondering similar questions.

A sudden vibration came to his phone. He took it out for a look. Unexpectedly, it was a Wechat message from Smith. When dealing with confidential matters, Smith communicated with Lou Cheng through a third-party email and cleaned up the records afterward. For casual matters, on the other hand, he used the Chinese messenger application. It seemed like they had established true friendship through their daily interactions.

“Lou, there will be an exciting movie on the screens tonight,” he began in his first text.

“Had I not kept a keen eye on the nearby perimeters of Holy Top Church through long-range surveillance, I would never have discovered Pavel sneaking out during the busiest time of the day! It’s Valentine’s soon. He’s probably having trouble keeping it in his pants.”

Pavel— the pedophilic Bishop who preyed on children and young girls? After a few curious inquiries, Lou Cheng somewhat made out what Smith meant by “exciting movie”.

The two earliest cases of Deliveryman was taking down Joseph of the Geruga Sect and sentencing Maszewski— who had an intimate relationship with spirit cultivators— to extrajudicial execution in the name of justice. The two said spirit cultivators belonged to the Kege organization of the Geruga Sect. After putting the two cases together, the top brass in Geruga Sect was led to believe that the Deliveryman was targeting them. They brushed off the later spottings of Deliveryman meting out punishment on criminals as a blind to take them off the scent.

As to who would target Geruga of the Nature Sect, the Mission Sect was easily among the top three suspects. They had every mean and resource they needed to move Mighty Ones around, interfere with the security system, and cover up their own tracks. Not only that, their Holy Light could be easily disguised as an explosive supernatural ability.

Putting that together with the rapid response and relentless censure from the Mission Sect, the top brass in the Geruga Sect felt certain of their suspicions. As an act of revenge and a warning, they set their eyes on the equally criminalistic and notorious Pavel.

In the past few months, as Smith monitored the Holy Top Church, he coincidentally noticed Geruga’s attention on Pavel. Presently, at the most negligent hours of superheroes, the revolting and abhorrent bishop had managed to sneak out. What he didn’t know was he was walking right into his enemies’ radar. Inevitably, Smith was thrilled at the development. More importantly, without having the need for Deliveryman to act, he could see another of his wishes being fulfilled. This was, of course, based on Lou Cheng’s playful conjecture, and not Smith’s actual words.

After his shift ended, Smith left the University of Connecticut campus and tailed Pavel with ardor, following him from a distance in his car while waiting for the “exciting movie” to start. With his Skynet access, he could monitor him from a block away, or even further. His presence remained unknown to the furtive target.

Wearing a beanie, Pavel passed through the streets and into the Black Forest area. His eyes moved around fervently, scouring for prey and somewhere secluded.

When he passed by a vacant plot of land choked with building materials and junk, a bright light greeted him. His eyes were blinded by the white glow, as though he was staring into the mid-noon sun with eyes adjusted to the dark.

A shadow leaped down from the top of the junk, with his right arm raised high and fist clenched tight. In the radiance, he fiercely swung at his opponent diagonally, as though he was raking with a greatsword or smashing with a sledgehammer.

Bam!

Around Pavel, a few spots of starlight burst into an odd, half-formed tree. With God’s guidance, he swung his fists accurately, warding off the fatal attack.

Bam, bam, bam! Boom,boom,boom! The intense fight made the ground tremor as though rage was brewing underneath. “Fireworks” bloomed like flowers in the center, more dazzling each time. Near them, a few dark-skinned teenagers who were playing scampered in fear. Some called the police, while others retreated inside their homes.

Knowing the lacking speed of police deployment to ghetto areas, the assailant showed no signs of impatience or apprehension.

Damn pity. The nearby security devices were either broken or had been stolen and sold… With his phone in his hand, Smith shook his head and sighed.

His car was parked nearby, concealed behind the pile of junk. He enjoyed the battle between the “Danger-grades” and even recorded videos to send to Lou Cheng for discussion.

Leaning against the wall, Lou Cheng cast a quick glance across the screen. He saw the Holy Light forming into trees and crosses. He saw the gathering radiance. He saw the trails left by the punches. He saw their agile maneuvers…

The Ice Mirror naturally formed in his mind, aiding him in his predictions on how the fight would play out.

A thought flashed across his mind. He typed a word and sent it over to Smith with his eyes still fixed upon the lecture room.

“Jump!”

Smith checked his phone and stared blankly, not knowing what “Lou” meant.

At that moment, Lou Cheng’s second message came.

“Jump out of the car!”

Jump out of the car? After a brief pause, he shoved the car door open and leaped out. Subconsciously, he trusted the word of a professional.

He tumbled to the back of a house and hid there. In front of his eyes, a blast of flames shot across the battlefield and smashed through the windscreen of his sedan, landing right on where he was sitting ten seconds ago!

Boom!

In the dull explosion, tides of flames burst out along with splinters of glass. By now, the fear and relief had caught up with Smith, and he could hardly bother about the security equipment that had been destroyed.

Though the attack would not have killed him, the experience definitely wouldn’t have been enjoyable.

It wasn’t all that bad to have an “extremely dangerous” friend after all!

After spacing out briefly, he reported the affair to the National Security Agency under the name of a special agent who happened to pass by.

However, by the time help arrived, the battle had long ended. Someone who was likely to be a spirit cultivator had shown up to assist the assailant, and they finally took out Pavel, then destroyed the body and shreds of evidence. Afterward, they took off in a haughty manner.

“Now the government will have to step in and issue warnings to the Geruga Sect and the Mission Sect. They won’t be stirring up trouble for a long time,” Smith messaged Lou Cheng as he reported the losses to the higher-ups.

As someone who supported the idea of “extrajudicial murder in the name of justice”, he didn’t hand over the videos he took.

The likes of Pavel was better off dead!

On the way back from campus, Yan Zheke listened to Lou Cheng’s story as she drove. Eyes widening, she asked,

“You can foresee the development of battle twenty seconds in advance now?! ”

“Only if they fought without switching gears. God knows what else they had up their sleeves,” Lou Cheng admitted, smiling.

“That is to say, you were only sixty to seventy percent sure? What if they did switch gears? Wouldn’t Spidey have jumped for nothing?” asked Yan Zheke, enlightened but still skeptical.

“It’s not like jumping will kill him,” Lou Cheng chuckled airily.

Spidey lacks experience in actual combat, so an occasional round of vigorous exercises would do him good…

…

It was Valentine’s day, as well as their second anniversary.

The girl received a resplendent pair of earrings and a photo album.

“An album?” said Yan Zheke, pleasantly surprised and curious as she took it from his hand and laid it across her knees.

The words “A gift from time” was hand-written by him on the cover of the album.

“Well, I shall not comment on the handwriting!” the girl giggled as she flipped it open.

The first page was dedicated to the outside scenery of the Martial Arts Stadium, the second to Weishui Lake, and the third to the night scenery of the long bridge. Page after page, she saw all the places that were oh so familiar to her. Towards the end, there were pictures of the suspending glass bridge and other places they had seen during their travels.

“You went back specifically for this?” asked Yan Zheke in delighted astonishment, raising her head up.

“When we went overseas, didn’t you enjoy taking pictures as a record of what we experienced together? I wanted to add in the pictures of the places we went in even before that. Even if we are not in the pictures, we can think of them as backgrounds for the current us,” Lou Cheng explained, smiling.

Yan Zheke lowered her head and looked down. She caressed the surface of the pictures with a dimpled smile on her face. Her lips parted gently.

“A little lacking in photography skills, but I’ll reluctantly accept it considering the amount of effort you put in~”

“Do you like it?” Lou Cheng pressed with a grin.

Yan Zheke rolled her eyes at him and turned her head to the side.

“I like it a lot…” she replied at a volume that was barely audible.

She quickly changed the subject, and said, with a nostalgic expression,

“I kinda miss the canteen at Songcheng University… I can still remember the Yuxiang shredded pork with only spring onions as its condiment. And the Shuizhu Roupian (Boiled Meat Slices) that only becomes fully cooked when they pour a ladle of boiling oil over it… So tender…”

The food stores in the Songcheng University had some good dishes, especially the appetizing Yuxiang shredded pork— a perfect balance of sweet and sour—Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke spoke highly of. It didn’t lose out to even the time-honored restaurants of the Xing Province.

“The only problem was the abundance of fish in Weishui Lake! Almost every dish had fish in it! ” Lou Cheng complained as he joined in the recollection of tasty dishes.

The more they thought about it, the hungrier they got. In the end, stroking her tummy that was slightly hurting from menstrual pain, Yan Zheke looked at Lou Cheng with a pitiful expression.

“Cheng, I was on Weibo just now and saw someone with the nickname of ‘Xiangxia Tubaozi.’ (literal meaning: a provincial dirt bun; figurative meaning: country bumpkin)”

“And?” Lou Cheng asked, puzzled.

“And… And now I’m craving for a meat bun (baozi)…” said Yan Zheke, burying her face in her hands.

They spent a lovely Valentine’s together. When Aunt Du was back from her holidays, Lou Cheng set forth for the returning flight with his belongings slung across his back. His life of traveling back and forth had resumed.