Martial Arts Master

“I’m so sorry!” Realizing what she had done, she folded her hands and began apologizing profusely.

Thankfully, she wasn’t the type to exert harm subconsciously and didn’t use much force. Had she used her full force, Zhong Ningtao would have broken bones. His head was spinning as he massaged his sore spots, consoling her.

“Don’t worry, I can take quite a beating.”

Jesus, this girl’s innocent looks belied the “terror” beneath!

Lou Cheng shuffled beside him, glancing at the other side of the hall.

“Guide Zhong, those two Japanese are looking at us,” he said in a hushed voice.

Though hardly distinguishable in foreigners’ eyes, the Chinese and Japanese can differentiate between themselves easily, as if they were of a completely different kind.

“Ha ha, don’t worry about it, that’s just how they gather information,” explained Zhong Ningtao. “They are very serious and obstinate when it comes to work. The Shengxiang organizing committee should have received our information long ago, funny how these Japanese appeared before them…”

He glanced at his watch impassively. “It’s six-thirty now, no changes in time zone. You guys can take a break in your rooms for now. We’ll gather here again at seven before heading out for dinner. We won’t be doing much for the first few days, so we can take the time to relax and play around a little before the competition day. Anyways, what do you guys want for dinner? Any suggestions?”

“I’m fine with anything.” Peng Leyun replied nonchalantly as he swept his eyes through the many golden statues in the hotel, then falling into deep thought again.

“You choose,” replied Ann Chaoyang with his headphones wrapped around his neck. One hand in his pocket, the other dragging a suitcase, he examined the passing foreign hotel guests in a relaxed manner.

“I’m not picky with food, I swear!” promised Ren Li.

Zhong Ningtao tossed a pleading look at Lou Cheng, elated as he noticed him browsing through a review app.

“Guide Zhong, let me look through the reviews and see what good restaurants are here. We can discuss it more later.”

Good food is the most important thing when travelling!

At least that was true for “lame” travelers like him and Ke. To them, the atmosphere between the two came first, delicacies second, culture third, and beautiful scenery last.

“Okay, add me on Wechat later.” Zhong Ningtao replied, feeling oddly grateful.

Lou Cheng didn’t use Wechat much in the past, but since it was popular between the adults he got to know recently, he started getting used to it and even began to find it “more chill” than other apps. He was actually thinking about recommending it to Ke.

After scanning the QR code, the group of them got in the lift and “escorted” Ren Li to her room before they dispersed.

Lou Cheng put down his belongings and began to browse through the review app as he sat on the bed. After a short discussion with the guide, they decided on a Shengxiang specialty restaurant.

He had then realized that that Zhong Ningtao had already emailed him his opponents’ data, which he downloaded and began browsing.

“Kaori Karasawa, 22, descendant of the Japanese Xinzhai Sect, 6th Dan Black belt holder (equivalent to Fifth Pin in China) and has reached the “Qi” stage at the end of the previous year (equivalent to Inhuman stage in China). She is famed as a beautiful genius that appears only once in every three thousand years, though this is likely a typical exaggeration from the Japanese. In comparison, Peng Leyun was a cut above her when he was her age.”

There were many Sects in the Japan martial art scene and the government standardized the measurement of strength by Dan. White belt represented amateurs and black belt represented samurais. There were Nine Dans in total, with 1st Dan as the lowest and 9th Dan the highest. 8th to 9th Dan were equivalent to the 1st to 3rd Pin of China.

She should have been twenty-one and a half at the end of last year, to have reached the equivalent of Inhuman stage at that age… what a formidable opponent…, thought Lou Cheng as he scrolled on. There was a picture of Kaori Karasawa and a summary on the Xinzhai Sect.

She was undoubtedly a beauty, a little over 5 feet tall, with soft and smooth baby fat on her cheeks that added to her cuteness.

Lou Cheng skimmed through to the next participant.

“Mouko Yamashita, turning 24, descendant of the Japanese Extreme Hadou Style, 5th Dan Black Belt holder, recently mastered Hadou in May, quasi-Inhuman stage.”

He was a large guy with thick eyebrows, a brutish appearance and disturbingly well-defined muscles.

“Wahku, recently 23, disciple to the Shangzuo Buddhist Sect, a Sadhu with the title of Arhat, has mastered the “Equanimity towards Formations Knowledge” stage in “16 Insight Knowledges”, somewhat equivalent to Inhuman stage…”

“Veigar, 23 and a half, the son of a Miluo warlord, capable of thunder and lightning supernatural abilities and practices the powerful Miluo Martial Art. Power cannot be measured as there are no measurement systems in Miluo, but roughly at the same level as Kaori Karasawa, one of the two favorites in this competition.”

“Banam, 22, Nan Zheng representative, the young creator of the Sect “Zhahe Boxing”, savage in his attacks, malicious to others and even more so to himself. They run the same martial art system as us and he had recently reached the Inhuman stage…”

Shengxiang, Miluo and Nanzheng were close to the war torn areas and often slid into political turmoil—one ruled by a king, another split and governed separately by multiple warlords. The last one was under a military regime, therefore women did not have many rights in the country and it wasn’t easy for them to learn Kungfu.

Lou Cheng kept scrolling. One page flashed after the other as he formed a vague impression of his three opponents’ appearances. Wahku looked no different from most Sadhus, gaunt and cadaverous and a yellowish complexion, wearing a red robe and no shoes, but his eyes spoke of a profoundness of enlightenment. Wei Jia was a muscular guy with a cold countenance donned in a navy blue military uniform. Banam hardly stood at 6 feet , boasting a tanned body with white bandages wrapped around his wrists and feet.

Apart from the five of them, Zhong Ningtao listed a few other martial artists of varying nationalities to watch out for. After skimming, Lou Cheng picked up his phone which he had purchased an international data package for, pocketed his wallet, and took the elevator down to the first floor where he awaited his teammates’ arrival.

Zhong Ningtao made the right decision this time to personally escort Ren Li from her room so she doesn’t lose her way in the “mountains of people” in the hotel.

“We’ll be eating here,” announced Zhong Ningtao, pointing to the name of the restaurant he and Lou Cheng had decided on.

“Sure,” agreed Ann Chaoyang and the others, who just went with the flow.

When they were at the hotel entrance and saw the masses of dark-skinned, gaunt Shengxiangese, Lou Cheng couldn’t help but ask, “Guide Zhong, you can speak Shengxiangese right?”

Zhong Ningtao looked at him, then at the others who had the same question, and shot them a look that said “Why would you guys ask such a silly question?”.

“Of course not.”

Of course…not… Lou Cheng was stunned as he stared at the guide he previously deemed as reliable. Even Ren Li and Peng Leyun, who were usually composed, were startled for a moment.

“Ha ha, don’t worry about it. The people here can more or less understand English, which I happen to be an expert at,” boasted Zhong Ningtao as he ran his hand across his waxed hair. “Didn’t I handle the cab and hotel registration perfectly?”

Fair point… thought Lou Cheng as he heaved a sigh of relief.

Ann Chaoyang brooded for a few seconds, before asking bluntly,

“Guide Zhong, have you been to Shengxiang before?”

Zhong Ningtao laughed drily, then declared with honesty,

“Nope.”

He quickly added, “Relax, relax. They sent me here because I’m on good terms with the people at the embassy here.”

“…” Lou Cheng exchanged a glance with the rest and shared their confusion.

That wasn’t reassuring at all…

Maybe we should stay in the hotel and make do with cup noodles…

After receiving strong reassurance from Zhong Ningtao and having confidence in their own martial art abilities, they decided to continue with their trip, duly following the map navigation app before finally arriving at the Shengxiang specialty restaurant that was about 700 meters away.

The buildings were heavily influenced by Buddhist architecture, statues everywhere and structures gilded in gold, producing a unique appearance.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Lou Cheng began taking pictures with his phone and sending them to Yan Zheke, hoping she could see what he saw and feel what he felt when she woke up.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Ren Li was snapping away too, half of her shots were of the scenery and the other half selfies. Before long, she was already wandering further and further away from the restaurant. Thankfully, Peng Leyun spotted her and stopped her in time.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Ann Chaoyang had a digital camera in his hands and was focused like an artist working on a sculpture.

“Why aren’t you taking any pictures?” asked Zhong Ningtao as he approached Peng Leyun. “I guess a carefree guy like you probably doesn’t like taking photos,” he deduced.

He probably liked daydreaming more!

Peng Leyun turned his head and looked at him.

“My camera’s spoilt.”

“…” Zhong Ningtao winced and decided to talk to Lou Cheng instead.

As he was reaching Lou Cheng, he saw him turn towards Ann Chaoyang.

“Can you share some photos with me later? The ones I took weren’t very good.”

…Weren’t very good? Then why did you spent all that time taking them! Zhong Ningtao, exasperated at the group he was stuck with, walked into the restaurant and booked a table for six fluent in English.

Lou Cheng sat down and flipped the menu open, shocked to find Chinese translations inside.

“How thoughtful,” praised Ann Chaoyang from the bottom of his heart.

The place was boisterous and crowded.

“At least a third of the tourists here are from our country, it’s not surprising for them to include Chinese translations,” Zhong Ningtao explained, smiling. He motioned for the waitress and began ordering.

Halfway through the orders, the petite girl with light brown skin began rattling off in another language as the group exchanged looks of confusion.

“Can you speak English?” asked Zhong Ningtao.

The waitress nodded and began rattling off again, from which Lou Cheng barely managed to catch a few words.

Ren Li tugged at Zhong Ningtao and asked in a low voice. “What’s she saying, Guide Zhong?”

“I don’t know…” replied Zhong Ningtao in English, looking dumbfounded.

The waitress’s accent was too thick and hard to understand.

“I’ll give it a try,” volunteered “model student” Peng Leyun. His attempt, accompanied by body language, had equally little success.

Ann Chaoyang and Ren Li were eager to put their own exam-style English to test, but their attempts to help also failed miserably.

Their last hope was Lou Cheng, who drew a deep breath before showcasing the spoken English he vigorously learned for the sake of Ke.

It only provoked a blank expression on the waitress’s face.

Just as they were planning to resort to translation apps, the girl asked in a timid voice.

“Do. you. speak. Chinese?”

“Do you speak Chinese?”

This was understood by all of them. They paused, wide-eyed before exclaiming at once.

“You can speak Chinese?”

“Yes, my father is Chinese, there are many Chinese tourists here, they like waiters who can speak Chinese,” she explained in rigid Chinese, smiling.

Lou Cheng and the rest, mentally exhausted from before, traded glances. Suddenly, they all broke into an uncontrollable laughter, bodies trembling and tears in their eyes. It felt that the ice was broken in that moment.