But he did not let it slow his pace. Not even when he heard Hao Chan’s desperate sob.
“Wait!”
Alex stopped, turned around, raised his eyebrow, gazing at the pale-faced, wide-eyed merchant.
“Yes?”
The man coughed, clearing his throat, flashing a simpering smile. “Perhaps I was too hasty. Everything you’re doing. It’s just for my daughter’s benefit, yes?” Alex said nothing as the man chuckled weakly. “It’s just that, you must understand, it was most unexpected. Yes, a most unexpected thing to wake up to, to find wooden posts fastened to all four corners of my custom-made carriage, secured with rope as if a duelist’s ring!”
Alex stared coldly into the man’s desperate smile for long moments, letting the tension build. “Fine,” he said at last. “On one condition.”
“And that would be?”
“Payment,” Alex said. “Payment the equal of all the guards who died keeping your person safe.”
The man’s eyes bulged. “That’s outrageous. Outrageous!”
“And a promise not to try to stab me in the back by taking me to any damned court, suing me for imagined damages, under any pretext. We get to Yidushi, we drop off your kin at the academy, you and I settle accounts, and we’re done.” He allowed himself a single conciliatory smile. “Except for the bet, of course. Where all I get, for all the hours I’ll spend trying to teach your daughter how to survive, is the right to take back my own bloody coin!”
He roared the last, enjoying the man’s flinch more than he knew he should.
He took a deep breath, gazing at the apoplectic-looking merchant, caught somewhere between desperation and fury. “Deal?”
For long moments the merchant just seethed. Alex shrugged as if couldn’t care less. As if, in fact, he was relieved to finally have an excuse to be free of them. He spun on his heel and walked off.
“Deal!” the merchant screamed.
Alex slowed down, turned around, and crossed his arms over the haft of his fangtian ji while staring back at the man, happy to let the desperate merchant sweat for a bit, before finally nodding.
“Alright then.” Without another word he strode back to the carriage, stepping up the stairs to the roof of the impressive conveyance that he had actually managed to convert into a miniature training ring, rectangular as it was.
He smiled down at an open-mouthed Hao Chan. “Well, come on up! Sun’s already cresting the tree line, and we’ve got a lot of ground to cover if you’re going to be battle-ready in three weeks.”
The beautiful amber-eyed girl was just staring at him as the shouting merchant got Sun Sun securing all traces of camp before Hao Lin clicked his tongue, he and his sister sitting on the coachmaster’s bench, just beyond their makeshift training space.
Alex grinned as Hao Chan continued to stare at him, and save for a few unexpected lurches when they finally got moving, they quickly found themselves more than able to keep their balance.
Chan’s inquiring gaze met his own. “Would you really have left?” she asked softly.
Alex winked. “As far as your father would have known, yes.”
She paled and lowered her head. “So you would have abandoned us,” she whispered.
Alex smirked. “I think you failed your perception check, right there,” he teased.
She furrowed her pretty brows, the hem of her training uniform fluttering with the breeze and the movement atop the massive flat-roofed carriage. “What are you talking about?”
“I would have left as far as your father would have known. But you should know better.”
Her eyes widened and she blushed, lowering her head. “But you would have had to walk.” She swallowed. “And you would have received no payment at all.”
Alex tilted her chin. “That’s not why I’m doing this.”
She swallowed. “Why are you doing this?”
Alex abruptly shoved her, grinning when she locked his arm and rolled back, powerful dancer’s legs tucking under abdomen, in perfect position to send him flying.
“Good!” Alex said breathlessly. “You did that perfectly.”
The girl under him swallowed before flashing a grin, his one arm now completely locked, wrist twisted back, though not too far, her powerful legs coiled like a spring. “I guess I sort of have you in my power now.”
Alex grinned. “It’s a good feeling, isn’t it?”
She blinked and flushed, immediately relaxing and flowing away after carefully depositing Alex to the side, close to the ropes securing the ring, slowly standing back up. “Alright. There’s plenty of room for Golden Realms kung fu and Silver Swan kicks, as long as we’re careful with flips, footsweeps, and back-rolls.” She flashed an arch smile. “And scissor kicks are totally out.”
Alex grinned, spending just a minute admiring the view before him. Majestic trees provided a lush canopy that joined over the Trade Rood and reduced the blazing sun overhead to gentle shafts of golden light caressing Hao Chan’s lightly-bronzed skin, the girl grinning and eyeing him just as intently, before abruptly lashing out with a straight kick he braced to counter, before she abruptly shifted her balance and spun around to deliver a sweeping reverse roundhouse aimed for his ankles.
Alex just managed to dodge, but it was a close thing.
He flashed a smile as they readied themselves once more. Their rectangular ring was too small to easily circle, though they had room enough at least to dart past one another, and Alex couldn’t help but wonder just how heavy this carriage was, supporting their training and the cargo that was anchored inside, impressed anew for the wagon horses built like oxen in this world.
And then Alex only had eyes for the beautiful girl determined to put him down as a storm of alternating shin kicks, stomp kicks, strikes and elbows crashed into him before they leaped apart once more, the pair soon settling into what was now their typical training routine. Chan would lash out with a series of her deadly Silver Swan-style crescent kicks at long range, then close in on Alex and embrace the powerful straight-line strikes, shin kicks, and diagonal kicks favored by Golden Realms practitioners before the pair shifted to close range, where Hao Chan would work on elbow slashes and knee bombs while seeking to bring Alex down, using his own momentum against him, or abruptly jerking him off balance with side drops and sweeping hip throws, outside reaps or sweeping kicks.
Of course, they were careful, unable to fight at peak realism with limitations of space and the instinctive drive to cushion any throw, often stopping mid-flip before completion, the crucial part of the technique mastered. Alex warned her from the start that they’d be sparring all-out every night as well, so proper technique follow-through would become ingrained, even as they curbed their blows and especially the force of their throws on the wagon. To her credit, she never once complained, taking to her training with a zeal he couldn’t help but admire.
Of course, even with the double aketon and stuffed cloth cap he was wearing to make up for lack of any padding, he was definitely feeling the bruises after the twelfth throw that morning, having parried and shin-blocked what felt like hundreds of blows in that time.
He grinned in approval. “You’re getting better.”
She nodded solemnly. “Every day. And with my third meridian newly open, it’s like I’m just bursting with energy, and I feel like I’m just a half-step away from enlightenment!” She grinned and Alex’s eyes widened, realizing she was indeed on the cusp of something miraculous. His Qi Perception could all but sense the potential crackling all around her.
Then he noted her poorly-hidden grimace of discomfort, finally registering shins and forearms that looked just as raw as his once had, the pair having struck and countered so many of each other’s blows.
Alex winced, before being suddenly struck by an idea that filled him with excitement, wondering if he could actually pull it off. He knew there were risks, perhaps huge ones, as he explored in directions for which there were no guides, manuals, or tomes of instruction, save the one
he himself was writing. There might be serious consequences if others knew of his secrets. He would just have to trust the girl counting on him so fiercely to never reveal his hidden trump cards.
“Hao Chan?” Alex’s voice was dry. Raspy, even. Wordlessly, it was Hao Yin herself who handed him the flask. He noted the muffin cap she wore today. She quickly flushed and lowered her gaze.
And Alex smiled even as the girl’s brother hummed happily to himself, lost in the joyous world of the caravanner, enjoying nothing so much as leading his train of horses through these pristine wildlands. He thought he finally understood the boy’s secret. He was no cultivator, but he handled the reins like he was born to ride, and for just a second Alex had thought he sensed an odd wave of spiritual energies caressing their wagon like a blessing from above.
But Hao Chan and Hao Yin had different destinies than Yin’s brother. Perilous destinies that could benefit so much from a helping hand when it was most needed. Perhaps even a sacred technique never seen before.
Perhaps.
Alex turned to Hao Chan. There was so much he wanted to show her, but first, he had to make sure. “If I were to show you a secret, something very sacred to my heart, could you promise to keep my secret close?” He turned to a wide-eyed Hao Yin, gazing at him so intently. “You too, Hao Yin. Would you like me to show you a secret? One you must promise to share with no one else, at least not without speaking to me?”
Hao Chan’s eyes widened. “Alex, are you telling me what I think you’re telling me?” she asked. Sleek and graceful as she was, a natural athlete, the girl was no fool.
Alex swallowed, then forced himself to answer. “I think you already know the answer to that,” Alex whispered, making sure his voice didn’t carry.
Yin blinked. “Cousin, what’s brother Alex talking about?”
Hao Chan just smiled. “You’re a smart girl, Yin. What have Alex and I been doing for the last two hours? What should that tell you?”
The younger girl’s delicate features creased in a frown. “Doing what you two always do, preparing for the Dragon Academy competition.”
Hao Chan smirked. “And what have I not been doing?” she asked.
Hao Chan furrowed her pretty brows once more, but of course she got it, her sensitive ears causing her to flinch whenever she heard the sound of limbs pounding flesh with bone-cracking force.
“You’re no longer pulling your blows. Wait, cousin, I don’t think since after the first day...” She blinked, slowly shaking her head, and Alex flushed under Hao Chan’s twinkling smile, realizing he hadn’t been the only one testing and probing. He wasn’t the only one able to read between the lines.
“That’s right, little cousin. I was testing brother Alex. Testing the supposedly-fragile Ruidian who still somehow managed to kill all those demon wolves.” Her gaze turned serious. “Weak and flawed as my Heartbreaker dance may be, I’m a cultivator who has spent the last four years mastering Silver Swan kung fu. Even with just two meridian gates open, I hit with a force only the most powerfully-built of mortal martial artists could match. And with three gates now open...” She flashed Alex an almost teasing smile. “I think that last spinning heel kick would have brought down anyone who wasn’t a cultivator. And Alex just smiled it off, not even sparring with me at full intensity.”
Alex winced. “That’s not entirely true, you know. I check your blows completely. I just don’t counter punch or kick as hard, but hard enough you feel it. You learn from it. As for throws? I’m right against the edge of our ring. I think it’s most important you learn how to take me down fast and hard. You’re already gaining a decent sense of how best to keep your balance and control the fight, considering how many times you’ve managed to bring me down today.”
“But Alex?”
“Yes, Yin?”
“Is it true?” The girl who thought she kept her secret so well licked soft lips. “I mean, you let Hao Chan use you like a striking bag every day. I’ve, well, I’ve heard many times how you wince. Seen those ugly bruises you think you keep so well hidden. Yet by the next day, you’re fine! No bruise at all! And you don’t even use any of your mentor’s magical healing poultices. Is it because you don’t need to? Are you like me and Hao Chan? Can you actually… cultivate?”
Alex just smiled. “How would you like me to teach you the trick I use to wake up fresh and bruise-free every day?”
Chan’s beautiful eyes widened. “Oh, really, Alex? You would do that for us?” She swallowed her excitement, beaming.
Her cousin solemnly bowed. “I know from my former mentors how fiercely cultivators guard their favorite techniques, revealing it only to their favored disciples, or perhaps their Dao companion.” Both girls flushed at those words. “I would be honored if you would teach us, brother Alex. We both would.”
“Then I would be honored to show you. Because regardless of what the future might hold for us, for any of us, I care for you both, and I will do what I can to ease Fate’s burden upon you.”
He wanted to wince at how his words might have come across. Hao Chan was gazing at him so intensely, radiating such a spiritual glow, that Alex felt his cheeks flush, though he couldn’t exactly say why. “Alright,” he said. “Let the lessons begin.”
And so Alex explained his Eternal Fox technique as best he could while the carriage sped on, losing himself in describing the flow of life-giving Qi pouring through not just his peripheral meridians but through his very cells, doing his best to describe the flavor, color, and texture of that flash of insight that had allowed him to resonate with his Qi on the deepest of all physical levels, able to urge his cells, particularly his damaged cells, to miraculous spurts of healing.
Of course his friends didn’t get it, so much of it involving a different paradigm or reality, a completely new way of thinking. But describing the flow of Qi through his body, the feeling of his cells racing at supernatural speed as they were flooded and renewed by the spiritual energies of Heaven and Earth, that had at least earned him a couple of tentative nods.
And as the day progressed, the surly merchant almost spitefully refusing to stop for lunch, they continued to gaze raptly as Alex continued his lecture, so caught up in his passion that he didn’t stop to think as he pulled his cultivation manual out of storage such that it seemed to appear out of thin air.
He paid no mind to their gasps, merely flipping open his manual that had been written with very real parchment and ink, even if the means of its construction had been exotic, such that his friends could see and touch and interact with his work with no problem at all, open-mouthed as he flipped open his manual to a key diagram he could only hope would explain the intermingling and flow of Qi within and through any damaged areas of the body, up to and including the very cells to be saved.
And finally, Hao Chan gave a hesitant nod. “I… I think I get it,” she said, soft lips pursing in an ‘oh’ of wonder as she embraced a meditative pose, gazing down intently at the diagram even as she breathed slow and deep.
Soul Sight skill check made!
And Alex blinked, knowing he could normally catch only the barest flickers of essence flowing through anyone not a spirit beast, but after so many hours by Hao Chan’s side... he could sense it. He could sense the white flow of her Qi as a whole, gently cycling through her cells, most especially the damaged ones upon her limbs. He could sense the slow, steady trickle of Qi now coursing through them, healing them at a pace that was nothing short of miraculous. It was no instantaneous fantasy novel regeneration, but after another half hour had passed, Alex knew he wasn’t kidding himself. Hao Chan’s bruises really were fading before his eyes.
“That’s incredible!” Hao Yin gushed, gazing hopefully at Alex. “Oh, I do hope you can help me too!”
Alex chuckled softly. “There is a way, but you might not like it.”
Her lips hardened. “Try me.”
Alex grinned. “Spar with me every day. The bruises you’ll get training your forearms and shins will serve as
the perfect way to train up your new healing discipline.”
Hao Yin blinked, a slow smile lightening her features. “I like it! In between sparring sessions with you and Chan, you can then spar with me!”
Alex chuckled at her teasing smile. “But remember, the deal is you tell no one in turn.”
He pointedly gazed down at the floor before meeting their eyes once more.
Hao Yin nodded solemnly.
Hao Chan flushed, but nodded. “I wish I could say you were being too hard on my father, Alex. But I can’t. Not really.” She sighed and nodded. “I will do nothing to give your precious secrets away to either my less-than-perfect father, or that glowering Sun Sun.”
“Thank you,” Alex said, grinning back at Hao Chan. He had somehow sensed that, whether she understood the world like he did with an internal matrix screen or not, she still had the potential for a breakthrough, just like he did at every level. But unlike the spinning disc of black and White Qi swirling in his mind, he doubted she could save up points, like he seemed to be able to do. In fact, the tremor in his gut had suggested that if she was unable to grasp ahold of significant insight before exhaustion claimed her this night, it would be an opportunity lost forever.
Which was just one reason why he was willing to share his most precious secrets with her.
And when crimson dusk transformed to blue twilight and then darkness at last, Alex’s faith in the strikingly beautiful girl was paid back threefold when she abruptly got up and stretched, before turning back to flash Alex the most beatific of grins.
“Shall we, Alex? The carriage has stopped. We can finally spar without restraint and get rid of any bad habits!”
And the girl saying this was now free of any bruises at all.
You have learned the Qi Discipline: Spiritual Teacher: Rank 1. You may now directly impart the knowledge of any and all disciplines involving the cultivation and manipulation of Heaven and Earth energy upon any willing student. Rate of learning depends on depth of mastery, personal insight, Rank in Spiritual Teacher, and student’s natural aptitude.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Reforged: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 2 Page 27
