Blood of my Master

The second day of the martial arts competition was a bit better because only the winners of the previous day could participate.

My first bout was against an 18-year-old named Zhao Yu. He stared warily at me while I kept my hands on my back.

“Begin!”

We measured each other, looking for openings. The previous day I had been using the serpent stance, so it was a surprise for him when I switched for Tiger guard and went for him with my legs.

He stopped my downward kick, but the strength behind it still brought him to his knees. I took half a step back and hit him with a roundhouse kick which he barely blocked.

Being in close quarters was an advantage for him, so he launched a fist my way and I blocked it with a knee.

I backtracked, trying to keep my distance but, battered as he was, he wasn’t going to let me gain the upper hand again, so he pursued me. I took him on a merry ride around the platform, blocking or evading all his attacks until we were at the edge of the arena. Stepping out would mean disqualification, which gave him the notion that he could win by simply pushing me.

Poor guy.

He tried tackling me, and before he struck, I used the earth-breathing technique, anchoring my position to the ground.

For him, it was probably like running headfirst into a wall.

There was complete silence in the arena until I took a step forward, pushing the knocked-out boy away from me.

I looked up, waiting for the referee, who finally came out of his stupor to declare “Winner, Shen Mu!”

I breathed out, relaxing my back and arms, and bowed to my downed opponent, before directing a more profound bow to the emperor watching from above.

As I jumped down from the platform, I found myself surrounded by a group of children. Ages varying from ten to fifteen, they stared at me with awe and began asking me question after question after question.

“How did you become so strong?”

“Why won’t you use your hands at all?”

“Can you use your hands?”

“Where do you live?”

“Who are your parents?”

I tried answering their questions as I heard them, except for those directly related to the strategy Master Fa had devised.

“You really are a sensation.” A cultured, feminine voice made me turn only to find Bai Fan smiling wickedly at me.

“Miss Bai Fan, it’s a pleasure to see you today. At what deity do I owe the honor?”

She laughed prettily, turning the heads of many of the males.

“Can I not come to watch a friend compete?” she teased, and it was my turn to laugh.

“Woe be me if I dared to forbid you anything.” Our friendly banter was interrupted by the arrival of the imperial princes, Heng Li and Meiling. The latter was openly glaring at the older Bai Fan.

“Alas! It seems that is my cue to leave. Good luck in your next bout!” She curtsied to the new arrivals “Your majesties.”

The rest of the kids appeared rather intimidated by the princes and their entourage, so they bade me luck in the next fight and retreated.

“I didn’t know you knew Miss Bai” Li mused out loud.

“We met at the calligraphy competition.” I smiled remembering our chat on the way to see the emperor.

“Hum” he acquiesced. “Anyway, it was a great match, my friend.”

“Thank you, your highness.”

Li rolled his eyes, while Meiling laughed behind her hand.

“Did you watch the bout, princess?” I asked just to be polite, making Li snort.

“You couldn’t keep her from coming even if you tried.”

Said lady glared daggers at her older brother before composing her face and answering my question.

“Yes, I found it very… exciting.”

I raised an eyebrow, not quite expecting that answer.

“I confess that I was worried you would be pushed out of bounds by the older boy.”

I nodded, “That was precisely what I wanted him to think.”

She pouted “I don’t like being fooled.”

Smiling, I did what I always did when Zhi pouted: I patted her head “There, there.”

Only noticing my actions when I heard Li gasp behind me.

The princess was blushing deep red and I wanted to curse myself. “Forgive me, princess. I don’t know what came over me-” I attempted to remove my hand only to have it caught by the little girl I was apologizing to.

Her tiny hands caressed mine for a moment, before letting it go.

“Th-there is no reason to apologize.” She bit her lip and looked up at me with rose cheeks. “Meiling is happy.”

‘Well……shit.’ I wanted to kick myself

‘Stop encouraging the fangirls, idiot!’

I was thankfully prevented from further digging my own grave when the announcer called my name.

“Later!” I practically fled from the scene, not caring that Li was laughing at my misfortune.

I was somewhat surprised that my second bout arrived so quickly after the first one until I discovered that the one after mine had lasted two minutes and the following even less, won by Prince Chen Hui.

If I won this next bout, I would face the prince in the finals tomorrow.

For My master’s honor and my own ambition, I wouldn’t let myself lose.

When I heard the name of my opponent, I couldn’t help but gulp.

Fa Min, my master’s grandson.

‘Well…shit’

I hadn’t seen any of his bouts, but I was known for using the snake and tiger stances and not using my hands. I still had three more stances to surprise him with, but I was sure that this bout would be the hardest by far.

The boy was two years older than me and received me with a genial smile.

“I’m honored to be facing my grandfather’s star student.”

“And I’m honored to be facing the blood of my master.”

We both bowed in front of the Emperor before making a wushu bow to each other.

“So, you can use your arms” he smiled after our bow, as I again snapped my arms behind my back.

“Master’s orders.”

“Interesting.” He adopted the snake style.

For this match and since I couldn’t use my arms, I decided to capitalize the power of my legs with the crane style.

Murmurs rose from the public, but I ignored them in favor of focusing on my opponent.

“Begin!”

As fast as a real snake, Min attacked me with his fists and I barely evaded them, countering with a frontal kick directed at the groin. He moved out of the way and the tip of my shoe only grazed his inner thigh.

“You don’t pull punches, do you?” He was smiling and so was I.

“Do you want me to?”

“Not for your life!”

His next attack was so low that I evaded by jumping, giving him an opening that he capitalized with a punch to the ribs. I was only saved by my faster-than-normal reflexes, kicking his punch away and taking a step back.

I landed on my two feet with a flourish and took a moment to reassert my breathing, switching to the element of air.

The speed of my next kick was doubled by the element, and Fa Min blocked it but was sent back a couple of steps. He shook his arms to ease the numbness I knew he was feeling now.

“Wind breathing, huh? This fight gets more interesting by the second.”

I was sincerely amazed he had read my movements.

He switched to tiger style and I grimaced on the inside while keeping a poker face on the outside. Still maintaining the flow of air, I evaded his next attacks that came even faster than before.

Apparently, he too had mastered the element of air.

Switching styles in between evading usually isn’t a good idea, because the body needs time to readjust, but with my mastery of the earth, the readjustment period was almost non-existent. So, it took him completely by surprise when instead of a crane, the tiger fought a dragon.

Evading his last punch, he had expected me to try and gain some distance, but instead, I attacked with a headbutt that connected with his upper lip, followed by a shove and a powerful short kick to the stomach.

The guy grunted and stumbled to his feet only to find the sole of my feet coming in a straight trajectory to his face. He threw his body back to avoid my kick and lost his balance at the edge of the arena falling on his butt on the grass.

The arena was silent for a second before it exploded in cheers and applause.

Some were chanting “Fa! Fa!” while others went with “Shen! Shen!”

I looked down at my opponent who was grinning like a fool. I extended my hand to him and he took it, so I pulled him up to the arena again.

“You are something else, Shen Mu.”

“So are you, Fa Min. I haven’t had such an interesting bout in… well, never.”

He laughed out loud “I shall train intensively for our next bout. And I expect you to use your arms and hands in it.”

“It will be my pleasure” We bowed to each other before we turned to the emperor.

The emperor allowed the people to keep applauding and chanting for a whole minute before waving for silence.

“A most excellent display to both of you, truly befitting of this Imperial Spring Competition. You have my thanks for giving us such a show.” He applauded and, with this tiny gesture, the entire arena went crazy.

We kowtowed to the emperor before leaving the arena. We were walking side by side and, before we were swarmed by the good-wishers, Fa Min whispered something that I wouldn’t have been able to hear if I hadn’t already mastered Air.

“Be careful of the Prince, Shen Mu. He has won all bouts due to his royal blood, but he is also an accomplished martial artist. Do not drop your guard.”

He smiled and clapped my shoulder, before going on his own way.

Outside the tent reserved for the participants, I found a huge throng chanting my name and wanting to ask me a million questions. The furor caused by our fight was so high that not even the presence of Heng Li and his guards dissuaded the people from trying to swarm me.

Only after I had been slapped in the back so much that my shoulders felt numb and answered enough questions to write an encyclopedia was I free to reunite with my family.

“Ge-ge how does it feel to be the talk of the town… literally?”

I sighed. We were dining at home since people followed me no matter where we went. We had wanted to dine at the Ying Yi, but it would have been impossible.

“I’d rather have a quiet dinner with my family.” I rotated my shoulders “My back is sore from all the pats on the back I’ve received since the fight.”

My parents chuckled, and because I was in an evil mood I added “I do not envy our parents from this day on.”

“Oh?” Zhi hid a smile, probably guessing where I was going with my comment.

“I don’t even want to imagine the number of marriage proposals they are going to receive from my adoring fans.”

Both went slightly pale and chuckled weakly.

It was mostly an auto-score, but the only one I could get on both at the same time.

That night Ling offered to wash my back in the bath and I didn’t refuse, I was so tired that the fact that I had always avoided being in the bath with her to prevent indecent situations, was the last thing on my mind.

So, I only had myself to blame when I spotted her entering the bathroom… And I wasn’t even wearing a towel.

“…”

I was staring, I know. But my mind was trying to process the chain of events that led us there and, of course, when I discovered I was to blame, I quickly averted my eyes and turned, covering my bits with my hands.

“I-Is something wrong, Master?”

“N-no” How could I tell her that having seen her naked was having an effect on me?

In my flustered state, I completely forgot that in ancient Asia, the rules about nakedness weren’t the same ones I had in the 21st century.

While she was embarrassed, it wasn’t like she would forget her duties and kill me with the bronze gourd used exclusively for the bath.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when her hands gently pushed my stronger, taller frame to sit on a stool so she could wash me.

But when she unceremoniously began washing me, I relaxed.

“Aah, your hands are magical, Ling.” I stated after she had scrubbed my back diligently.

Surprisingly, I heard her giggle. It was a sound I had never heard coming from her, but it suited her.

I tensed again when she leaned in to whisper an answer near my ear “they are only for you, master.”

‘Come on Mu! You’re older than her! Act your age!’ I totally forgot that I was a 35-year-old soul in a 13-year-old body and that the reactions from the body were sometimes stronger than what my older mind could control.

“Then perhaps we should do this more often.”

‘Did I….?’

‘Fuck.’

‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!’

I wanted to kick myself for saying that, but even more, because I had casually turned and seen Ling biting her lip, her eyes full of mischief and longing.

‘Well… shit’

I think that phrase could easily define my day.