He flashed a reassuring smile as her gaze hardened, thinking fast.
“In fact, I think you have the potential to absolutely crush the competition in the tournament,” he gushed, earning a relieved smile and erasing her hurt frown. “That axe kick, if set up properly, would knock anyone out. And that sweep kick flowing into a spinning hook kick was performed beautifully!” he assured her, words of praise that made Hao Chan grin.
“I know! I worked so hard at mastering all the kicks Master Pitiao taught me, as well as the Heartbreaker form he assures me will shatter any opponent’s resolve!”
Alex nodded. “You’ve definitely learned some powerful moves. The important thing, of course, is knowing when it’s best to use them. Setting them up with feints, quick jabs, probing strikes, unleashing them the moment your opponent’s over-committed or off balance. Then you can put those powerful kicks to devastating use.”
Hao Chan frowned. “What are you talking about? My form is perfect. Master Pitiao assured Father I would excel at the competition!”
Alex blinked. “Wait, you don’t combine your kata practice with actual sparring?”
She solemnly shook her head. “Master Pitiao explained to me that I was not like his other students, and my cultivation demanded I master the Heartbreaker form before I dared challenge any man.”
Alex felt a cold chill race down his spine. “Wait, your former mentor knew you were preparing for the life of a cultivator, attending Dragon Academy, and didn’t think it worth giving you some actual combat training? Does your father know about this? Doesn’t he keep track of your progress?”
Hao Chan lowered her head, hiding her blush. “Not that it’s any concern of yours, but, well, Father doesn’t live with Mother,” she softly explained, before her eyes widened in defense of her father. “But he sends Mother funds every month, and hired Master Pitiao for me personally!”
She flashed a proud smile. “Father was so impressed with my one dance for him that he actually said he was proud of me!”
She positively beamed. “I’m so glad Father had time to visit us this year. He’s already taught me so much about reading people, understanding what they hunger for, and extracting as much coin as I possibly can from any customer! Once I graduate from Dragon Academy, I just know I’ll be a cultivator worthy of respect, and Father won’t hesitate to take me under his wing and teach me everything he knows.”
Alex forced his fists to unclench, favoring her with the gentlest of smiles. “It sounds like a wonderful dream. But what happens if you don’t rank high enough in the tournament to join the Academy?”
The girl’s expression became pained. “Then I don’t think Father will want anything to do with me,” she breathed, before her hands immediately clamped over her mouth, eyes widening, as if mortified she had said those words aloud, darting a quick furtive glance back at her father, who appeared to be examining documents in the carriage, sparing time only for a hard glare their way.
Alex nodded, as if what she had said was the most natural thing in the world. “Then let’s make your father proud. You and I will spar every day, so that when the time comes, you’ll be able to read your opponents in combat as well as your father taught you to do with trade, and know just when and where to strike, and how to spot the perfect opportunity to end the fight with your devastating finishing moves.”
She frowned. “Are you sure it’s necessary? Master Pitiao did say that I didn’t want to do anything to ruin my perfect form.”
Alex shrugged. “That you have to decide for yourself which is more important. Perfect form, or getting into the Academy?”
She furrowed her brow. “The answer should be obvious. But as sweet as you are, you’re just a Ruidian. I don’t think there’s really anything you can do to help me prepare for a cultivator’s challenge, Alex.”
Alex grinned. “Alright, let’s make a deal. If you can best me with your form, just as it is now, then you can do whatever you think best. But if I actually manage to best you, imagine what actual cultivators could do! And even if I’m not formally recognized as a cultivator, so what? Fighting is fighting, and whatever you learn from me will certainly prepare you for dueling cultivators far better than doing nothing at all.”
Alex turned around, breathing deep of the rich forest air, the delightful aroma of endless scores of wildflowers and honeysuckle saturated his senses, inspiring a genuine smile as he took comfort in the trees rustling overhead.
“We’ve got who knows how many days or weeks of travel ahead. That’s time we could put to good use training you for the tournament, don’t you think?”
Hao Chan smirked, finally nodding. “Alright, Alex. You’re on. If you manage to beat me, I’ll spar with you for as long as it takes to get better. If you don’t beat me?” She flashed a wicked smile. “You have to wash my clothes and cheer all my dances.”
Alex couldn’t help chuckling at that. “Deal,” he said.
You have dodged Axe Kick. You have evaded Reverse Roundhouse Kick. Surprise Shove successfully executed. Your opponent has toppled over!
Scissor Kick successfully avoided! You have successfully grabbed your opponent’s leg in midair! Opponent’s balance lost. Finesse check made. Strength check made. You have successfully caught your opponent. No damage taken. Opponent is temporarily awed.
“How did you do that?” a breathless Hao Chan asked after Alex gently put her back on her feet once more.
Alex grinned. “By not being where you expected me to be.”
She furrowed her pretty brows. “I know that, but how?”
“You have a phenomenal arsenal of devastating kicks. But all of them are flashy. All of them, quite frankly, designed both to deliver incredible power and show off just how graceful you are. But all of them telegraph your intentions. Your opponent always knows where you’re going to strike, and you leave yourself wide open to your opponent’s counter attacks. Only your incredible speed and fluid transitions save you.”
Hao Chan paled, soft hands squeezing into tight fists. She lowered her head. “How much trouble am I in?”
Alex tried to hold back the pity in his gaze. “Have you ever actually sparred with anyone before?”
“Well… no, not really. Only with my mentor, and he forbade everyone else from even interacting with me, let alone properly spar.”
Alex decided not to mince words. “I think you might be in serious jeopardy, Hao Chan. If you enter the contest as you are now, you will be destroyed by your first opponent. Of that, I have no doubt.”
Her pallor grew, but her gaze hardened to steel, and Alex had to admire her courage, daring to look such an ugly truth in the eye. “Alright,” she said. “Train me, elder brother.” She flashed a trembling smile. “You saved us once already from those demon beasts. I can only hope you’ll be willing to come to my rescue a second time.”
Alex held her gaze, his expression solemn, free of any reassuring smile. “It won’t be easy, Hao Chan. If we’re to have any hope at all, your training’s going to be bitter rinds the whole way through.” He gazed intently at her shins. “You’re going to bleed with pain before we’re done every night, and you’re going to learn to use your body like you never have before.”
Her breath quickened with fear, and perhaps something more. Pupils dilating, she held his gaze, even though he could smell her dread.
Now Alex’s gaze held genuine concern. “Are you sure you’re ready for that, Hao Chan? Are you truly prepared to endure all that pain? Are you ready to fight with the ruthless zeal of a girl fighting for her dreams against men who won’t hold back? Because if you’re not… if you’re not ready for this, then you have no place setting foot inside a cultivation academy.”
“Then my future will be ashes and dust,” she whispered.
“Not so,” Alex hastened to reassure her. “You could become a world-class performer, I’m sure of it. The way you moved, your natural speed and grace, the way you could charm an entire audience with your smile… honestly
, Hao Chan, it seems to me you were trained to be a dancer, not a fighter, and as a dancer, you absolutely excel.”
Her eyes widened at that, and Alex held his tongue, refusing to say more of his suspicions than in that one loaded comment. Innocuous and innocent, and nothing to be ashamed of.
Yet Hao Chan surprised him with the fierce glitter in her eyes.
“Train me,” she whispered. “Train me every day, and I will cultivate every night! I’m so close to another breakthrough. So close to clearing my third meridian. And when that happens, if I can do that in time, if I can become stronger, faster, and absorb all you have to teach me...”
“You just might have a chance,” Alex conceded.
She gave a resolute nod. “Good. It’s decided. You and I are training every morning and evening, Alex, starting now.”
Alex couldn’t help smiling at her dedication, if nothing else. “Alright,” he conceded. “First thing’s first. You have to learn to deceive your opponent. To open with jabs and snap kicks, to counter your foe and wait for an opening. Only when your foe’s off balance, or least expects it, do you unleash your finishing moves.”
Hao Chan nodded gamely, the evening passing almost before they knew it. She looked exhausted by the time Alex made sure she could throw a competent hook and jab, refining her limited blocking and parrying techniques so it might actually stand her in good stead, before glaring in the direction of the carriage, shocked by the gaps in Hao Chan’s knowledge.
“What’s wrong, Alex?”
Alex shook away his frown. “Nothing, Hao Chan. Actually, your speed at picking up new techniques is nothing short of phenomenal, and it looks like your former instructor taught you one useful series of counters, parrying with your arms while striking with your legs. But you lack any knowledge of shin strikes, elbow strikes, or knee strikes, which makes absolutely no sense, considering how you were taught to counter.” He couldn’t help glowering. “It’s like you were deliberately set up to fail in as glorious and graceful a fashion as possible.” He spurted out before catching himself, wincing in apology. “This one apologizes if offense was caused.”
But Hao Chan just gave an angry little shake of her head. “It’s obvious my previous master was… flawed.” Her brow furrowed, she nodded once to herself. “Once I have the skills I need to beat you and hopefully to triumph in the tournament, I shall have to return to Master Pitiao and instruct him in all the ways his techniques are lacking.”
Alex managed a diplomatic smile. “Perhaps, or perhaps put him out of mind entirely. You have far more important things to focus on than the flaws of your former teacher.”
She nodded his agreement. “And there’s no better time than the present,” she said, though Alex was already shaking his head.
“We had a good session tonight, and you’re already panting hard. I’m going to give you some liniment to rub on your muscles before you become sore and stiff. And you’d best use the rest of the night to cultivate.”
Hao Chan nodded, flashing a grateful smile, capturing him with her amber eyes.
“Alex?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
He couldn’t help grinning at that. “You won’t be thanking me at all, once we begin strengthening your shins.”
She chuckled throatily. “If you can keep me from failing against my first cultivator as badly as I did against you, I’ll thank you every night in my dreams for the rest of my life.”
Alex only smiled as she sauntered her way back to the carriage, though he couldn’t help furrowing his brow as her father immediately began shouting, Hao Chan raising her voice in turn, ending only when her father handed her a silver flask, and Hao Chan flashed a strangely relieved smile, drinking deep with the most blissful expression upon her features.
Of course, that’s when her father started yelling again.
Alex frowned, but knew better than to interfere.
Instead, he cast out his Qi Perception, hoping the whispery sense of a certain plant that had been so common in Liu Jian’s apothecary but he had seen no trace of in this part of the woods might actually be nearby.
Cautious curiosity turned to fierce satisfaction when his hopes came to fruition, finding the bright purple blossoms of Qi-infused lavender hiding within a bed of posies and mint, adjoining a nearby stream. He plucked both lavender and mint, all of it infused with Heaven and Earth spiritual energies manifesting as both Wood and Water Qi.
He gave a satisfied smile, transferring considerable quantities of both to be contained within his alchemical garden, as well as a good portion of the stream, before heading back to camp as if he had just stopped to relieve himself.
A glaring Hao Zei was there to meet him. “You! This is all your fault, you damned Ruidian, planting all that nonsense in her head! Now my priceless Hao Chan has scuff-marks all over her outfit, and two bruises besides! The cost of all this is coming out of your hide!” the red-faced man roared, wagging his meaty finger in Alex’s face.
Alex glared coldly at the man. “Do you have any idea the disservice her martial instructor did her? As it stands, she has absolutely no chance of surviving a single bout with anyone who’s cleared a single meridian channel, let alone whatever caliber of cultivator is actually accepted into Dragon Academy.”
The bloated merchant squeezed his furious fists. “Stay out of matters that don’t concern you, Ruidian. That’s an order!”
Alex ground his teeth, glaring at the man, catching sight of an anxious-looking Hao Chan approaching.
He deliberately raised his voice. “Your former ‘instructor’ taught her how to dance. Not how to fight! As it stands, your daughter has no shot of making it into the Academy. No shot at all. Is that what you want? She made it clear you’ll only accept her as your apprentice if she’s proven herself, yet you would deny her even the chance to gain the experience that might give her an opportunity? Tell me, Hao Zei, do you want her to fail? Do you even plan on having her compete at all? Because everything I’ve seen so far points to a girl trained for theater, not the arena of battle!”
“Father?”
A furious Hao Zei froze at his daughter’s voice. Yet instead of concern, his eyes glittered with a dire promise Alex’s way.
Despite that, Alex forced a smile, as if desperate to win the man over. “Sir, it’s unfortunate her former master failed her, but let’s not give up hope! I would be honored to train her, to teach her what little I know, so that when she does compete, she won’t shame you or herself! If nothing else, she’ll at least have the skills to best a simple Ruidian by the time we’ve arrived at Yidushi, and that will put her in a far better position to secure a rank or at least lose gracefully, so she doesn’t bring shame to your family. And best of all, sir, I insist you don’t pay me a single copper unless she can pull a victory!”
“Yes, Father, please! He’s already taught me so much, in just a day’s time! Imagine what I could do if I spent the next three weeks training by his side! Please, Father. I don’t want to shame you.” She swallowed. “I want to make you proud.”
The merchant froze with Alex’s words, odd expressions Alex couldn’t even fathom stretching into the oddest of smiles. “Very well, Ruidian boy. You will train my daughter. You will train her well. And if she fails to gain admittance to Dragon Academy, you’ll compensate me with every single copper you possess, with every coin you own!”
Hao Chan’s eyes widened as her father’s face lit up with an evil smile. “Well, boy? Are you willing to put your paltry stakes where your words are? You’d have me risk my precious flower to your bold declarations. The least you can do is put your money where your mouth is.”
“Father, no!” Hao Chan’s gaze was one of dismay. “Alex is trying to help me. Why would you punish him for coming to my rescue?”
“Know your place, daughter!” her father roared. “This is a conversation between men!” He snorted contemptuously. “Not that this Ruidian is anything more than a frightened little rabbit, all
too ready to turn tail and run, showing the true worth of his arrogant declarations!”
But Alex just smiled and nodded, thinking fast, determined to take advantage of this absurd gamble to the fullest “Deal. You allow me to train Hao Chan however I see fit, and if she fails to successfully compete, all the copper, all the silver, every coin in my pouch, is yours.” He raised a clenched fist from his belt pouch, allowing both copper and silver to trickle through his fingers, only then hearing the longing hiss of a ravenous-looking Li, gazing at the shimmering coins of silver falling from Alex’s fingertips.
Hao Zei gave a guttural laugh, flashing a predatory grin. “Done and done! Now hand over the pouch. Sun Sun will guard it until after the trials.” His gaze hardened. “We wouldn’t want you running off before our wager is complete now, would we?”
Hao Chan’s eyes widened. “Father, that’s not even fair! You’d leave him penniless as a reward for risking his life for us? For making sure I can compete without shame? For—”
Her words were abruptly cut off when her father backhanded her with surprising speed, his cold glittering eyes free of a father’s warmth. “I told you to curb your tongue when men are speaking, girl. Do not make me repeat myself again!”
Hao Chan raised a hand to her cheek, more stunned than truly hurt, but the tears streaming down her cheeks spoke of deeper injuries.
Hao Zei glared daggers at Alex. “Well, boy? Hand over your pouch!”
Alex schooled his features, caustic hate kept at a cold simmer. “Of course,” he said, and even the silently observing Hao Lin and Hao Yin were gazing at Alex in disbelief.
Hao Zei sneered satisfaction when Sun Sun tore the pouch free. “Now search the rest of him,” he ordered the giant of a man. “Make sure he’s not holding out on us.”
And Alex only smiled, not resisting at all, when a coldly glaring Sun Sun, who adamantly refused even to say a word to him since Alex had deduced the nature of his copper choker, patted him down, giving his master a curt shake of his head.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Reforged: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 2 Page 19
