Martial Arts Master

In front of the security check. Unlike his breezy arrival with just one travel bag, Lou Cheng was now dragging a 20-inch suitcase behind him. Inside the suitcase was the spoils from the street shopping he did with Yan Zheke during their spare time, new clothes for him from head to toe, and also souvenirs for Lou Zhiqiang, Qi Fang and the others.

It’s great to have a wife. She handles these things perfectly… Lou Cheng noticed the weariness on Yan Zheke’s face. He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ears.

“I’m heading in. Go home and get some good rest tonight. To make up for all those sleepless nights.”

Yan Zheke was touched at first, but what he said made her embarrassed and petulant. She shot him a dirty look, whipped out her right arm, and propelled her fist from her waist to Lou Cheng’s abdomen. Her movements were deft but she didn’t put any strength behind it.

“And whose fault is that?” she hissed. Trying to play it off cool, she turned, waved, and sauntered towards Du Yan who was waiting at the elevator.

Cradling his stomach, Lou Cheng stood up straight. He watched as his little fairy’s silhouette went off, smiling.

Is it about time I consult the forums on what to do if your wife becomes increasingly less shy and more violent?

Eh… I’m sure they’ll say “Scram if you are here to flaunt your loving relationship, normie.” Then I will say “I came to the wrong forum… I’ll see myself out…”

He brooded as he watched Ke going further and further away. Before reaching the elevator, Yan Zheke couldn’t hold it in any longer. She looked back, over her shoulders, and saw Lou Cheng standing at the same spot without having moved an inch.

They locked eyes. She couldn’t help but purse her lips and murmur, “You dummy…”

The goodbye wasn’t as hard as the previous time, since they wouldn’t be parted for long, and Lou Cheng would revisit the following month. They were more experienced now. After a few seconds of eye contact, they waved at each other again. One entered the elevator, while the other stepped into the security check. Expertly, they switched back to “internet dating mode”.

Seeing that Lou Cheng had a smooth sailing (his flight left on time, and weather forecast didn’t bear any bad news), Smith had to suppress the urges to brandish his fists in celebration. He sorted out the surveillance reports for the past period, for a second time, before shooting out spider silks and barging into the director’s office with a whoosh, as though he was headed to a world of freedom.

Thank you my Lord, Amen!

…

In a cavernous clean hospital with few patients, a middle aged man with brown hair, a serious countenance and one arm looked through the window, at the unconscious House inside the ICU.

“His brain is nearing death…” he said to a man beside him.

“I know,” the man replied with a flat voice. His eyes were virid, and he wore a black robe. It was hard to tell his age.

He had common looks, but a scholarly air around him and an enigmatic energy that seemed to be from beyond this world; anyone would submit to him at first glance and willingly listen to every word he spoke.

“I have a suggestion, Lucas. Let me take him. You probably know this already, but we are running an Artificial Weapons Project. It will allow House to survive, in another form,” the man with one arm said solemnly.

The mysterious, scholarly Lucas paused briefly, then nodded ever so slightly.

“I have no objections,” he said.

The one-armed man secretly heaved a sigh of relief. He then asked, “Have you gotten any useful leads on the Deliveryman?”

“No. “Psychic” isn’t omnipotent. When there is a clear lack of direction, even the arch-mentors can’t do anything about it,” Lucas replied slowly. “But if he appears a few more times, we will catch him for sure. Everywhere he goes will leave traces, the only question is how much. Things will be easy once we hold enough clues.”

“May God bless you,” the one-armed man intoned habitually.

But the moment he said it, he felt that it was inappropriate. Why would God bless the likes of demonic spirit cultivators? He would be more likely purge them with his holy light.

Lucas seemed to be thinking the same thing. He gave a sarcastic smile, and took one last look at House in the ICU, before pivoting and walking outside.

“One more thing, Lucas. You guys need to distance yourself from the matter as soon as possible. Throw a few scapegoats out to face public condemnation,” reminded the one-armed, middle-aged man, raising his voice.

“We are working on it,” Lucas replied over his shoulders, a slight smile spreading across his face. “Hey, Gore. When things are over, you are invited to my private island for a vacation.”

“My pleasure,” replied one-armed Gore. A heat passed through his lower abdomen when he reminisced of the scenes that happened on the island.

…

Lou Cheng arrived in Songcheng on the eve of the 11th, when everyone in the martial arts club was on their three day holiday. He planned on visiting Xiushan on October 2nd to help his mom and dad with moving houses, as well as distributing the souvenirs he brought back. They could finally move into their newly-bought house after letting it sit for half a year to get rid of the smell of construction.

Right as he stepped into the dormitory room, before he could lay his suitcase down, Lou Cheng saw Zhao Qiang, Zhang Jingye and Qiu Zhigao returning from self-study.

“Huh? This early?”

“Huh? You are back?”

Greetings were exchanged in surprise.

Zhao Qiang gave an abashed smile.

“Cheng, join us for dinner tonight. My treat,” he announced.

“You are treating? What’s the occasion?” Lou Cheng asked as he studied the leader of the room, comrade Qiang. His black-rimmed glasses and neatly combed hair were old-fashioned, but gave him a matured air.

No less than what you would expect from a scholar…

“Living the life lately, huh, Cheng? You have never even heard of the Han, let alone the Wei or the Jin, (If you don’t know about the thing that happened before, how could you know about what followed?)” Cai Zongming said sententiously as he sidled up from the dormitory room next door, throwing out a prose from <The Peach Blossom Spring>.

He did, after all, enroll in Songcheng University through real abilities.

“What are you talking about?” Lou Cheng asked, curious.

“Qiang’s got himself a girlfriend! He has to treat all of us! ” Qiu Zhigao—Old Qiu—explained with visible envy.

“Girlfriend? The one from Songcheng Normal University?” Lou Cheng asked, his gossip switch turned on.

She was Zhao Qiang’s classmate from high school.

“Yup,” Zhao Qiang answered, nodding, happy and bashful at the same time.

“Weren’t you the one that said an elder taught you to study more when you were young, and not to waste time on relationships?” Lou Cheng teased in amusement.

“In our lives, we ought to consider the course of history…(quoting Jiang Zemin)” Zhao Qiang mused with contentment.

“Speak normally!” Lou Cheng cut him short.

Zhao Qiang scratched his head in resignment. “What? I couldn’t keep it in, alright? I fell in love, and that’s it. Nothing I can do about it,” he complained.

“Well, you sure advanced pretty quickly,” Lou Cheng complimented him from the bottom of his heart.

“Nah, it’s mainly because she took a liking to me too,” Zhao Qiang replied merrily.

“The way they chatted all day every day, visiting each other at school… If they weren’t a couple by now, they would be enemies! Friendship between old classmates? Who are you trying to fool? Didn’t I call it already? That Wang Xi will eventually have Qiang in, in…”

He made a gesture of tightly gripping something in the palm of his hand.

Zhao Qiang could only smile stupidly at his words.

After a round of laughter, Lou Cheng airily asked, “Where are we going for dinner?”

“Let’s head down to Songcheng Normal University. It’s an old campus, and there are delicacies on every street and alley. The variety is much more diverse than what we have here. Tastier too,” suggested Zhao Qiang.

Songcheng Normal University (Shifan), it was originally nicknamed Songshi, but ever since the Chow Chow (Songshi) dog became popular, everyone made adjustments to the name on their own.

“The old campus area at Songcheng Normal University? It’s a little far…” Cai Zongming hesitated.

“Huh? That’s not like something you would say, Casanova.” Lou Cheng teased after a pause.

“Why not?” Cai Zongming asked, throwing his best friend a suspicious glance.

“The past you would have said without a doubt, ‘Going to Songcheng Normal University is a great idea! There are many pretty girls there. As a married man, of course I won’t mess around with other girls, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make my day better by feasting my eyes on them. I would go, no matter how far the distance,’” Lou Cheng took a jab at Talker without holding back.

Cai Zongming paused for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh.

“Things are different now… Look, every morning I have to attend special training, and in the afternoon and night, I have classes and assignments to complete. Unlike you, who has the school and academy behind your back, I have to worry about exams too. The remaining time I have on my hands is barely enough for me to chat with my Fang Yuan. I barely even have time for my games, so what time do I have to check out pretty girls? I’m living a life of constant despair and confusion…” he grumbled.

“Haha, glad to hear that!” Lou Cheng said, giving Xiao Ming a slap on the shoulders.

Cai Zongming curled his lips.

“To think that in the past, I was the one who preached for you to not live like a monk when your girlfriend isn’t around, and to be more energetic and bright. Now I finally understand… This life is too damn tiring… I have got no energy for anything else…”

After a break, the five of them departed. On the way there, they began to talk about how each of their relationships began. Zhao Qiang’s love life was plain sailing; they fell for each other at around the same time. Zhang Jingye was wooed by the girl instead; they somehow got together after Wu Qian frequently invited him on trips for a period of time. As for Casanova, Fang Yuan knew that he was serious after some time, so she reciprocated his feelings without having him do much.

“Looks like I’m the only one who went through a lot of trouble to woo my girlfriend…” Lou Cheng mused.

Right after he finished his sentence, he remembered how he got together with Yan Zheke, who was now far away in America.

They had just parted but he had already began to miss her.

After 40 minutes, they arrived at the northern gate of Songcheng Normal University, and met up with Zhao Qiang’s ex-classmate/current girlfriend. She had pleasant looks and fair skin, about 5’3 feet tall.

“These are my roommates. This is Lou Cheng, you should know him. He has to wear glasses whenever he goes out these days, if not he would surely cause a road jam,” introduced Zhao Qiang.

“Hi. Two girls from my dormitory are fans of yours,” Wang Xi greeted politely.

“Well, thanks,” Lou Cheng replied with a smile.

“Cai Zongming, who I talked about before. We call him ‘Talker’, for he is all talk. Zhang Jingye, ‘model worker’. Old Qiu, the only single dog among us. Introduce some of your friends to him sometime, if you will,” Zhao Qiang smugly described them one by one.

As they were shooting the breeze, they walked into a food street near northern campus gate, and settled on a famous barbecue shop.

While they were waiting, Lou Cheng began to talk about the people and culture of America, which everyone were very fond of. They were all interested in the social phenomenon of superheroes.

At that moment, his phone suddenly rang. It was from an unknown number.

Who is it? Lou Cheng suspected it to be a phone fraud or cold call, but he didn’t want to risk missing out on important information, so he picked it up anyway.

Once the call connected, a sonorous voice sounded from the other end of the phone.

“Lou Cheng?” the voice asked.

“Yes, and you are?” Lou Cheng asked suspiciously.

“I’m Chen Qitao,” he answered without a pause, in a matter-of-fact tone.