chapter III unknown

jiuyin still hovering above the clouds as the sun was in its early stages he came to the lake to wait, he jump to one of the thicker branches he lay there enjoying the scenery while drinking clear liquor out of his gourd though he didnt planned to drink much as he feared of falling from drunkenness though looking at the lake with the water reflecting light at him, he sees the leaves fall one by one, he look down once in a while to make sure that the kid came on time and didnt break the promise they made, the taste of the liquor began to bring back memories of peace with him, his brother, and zhurong enjoying the drink beneath the peach tree, now he will always sit there alone watching the flower wither and fell slowly to the ground with the seat his friends used to sit became empty and covered with fallen petals, as he began to buried those flower beside the tree, treating them as if they are living human that died from many reasons, with a last sip of the gourd he realize only one last drop left and it was over he looked down to see the kid had just arrived in time, he smiled as he jumped down bringing the spear with him

"you arrived in the right time, yu shui" jiuyin with spear on one hand

"how long have you been here?" yu shui was curious yet suprised by jiuyin appearing out of nowhere

"not long, about a few cups of liquor" said jiuyin showing his gourd

"i though diety like you werent supposed to drink something like this ?" yu shui pointing at the gourd

"well not many, but your teacher is one of them and he was quite a fan of it" jiuyin put his gourd around his belt

"here you go" jiuyin gives the spear to yu shui

"a lot heavier than i though, but not too heavy"said yu shui holding the spear like how he used to with both hand closed to one another

"i think we need to help on that" jiuyin pointing his finger at the way yu shui hold his spear

" is something wrong with how i hold it?" yu shui wondering what wrong

"here let me demonstrate" jiuyin took away the spear for the demonstration he then put the dominant hand at the bottom of the spear while the support hand on the middle of the spear, with the way to handle it complete he made a low stances

"this is how you do it" jiuyin with the push of the bottom the spear thrust forward long enough to give him range, he pull back the spear and gave it to yu shui

"now you give it a try" jiuyin stand aside to see how yu shui do it

yu shui holding the spear according to the demonstration, though he didnt get the footing right as his foot was quite untable, jiuyin cant bear to see this he look around to find a twig long enough, he sees one that was about the length of a sword, he pointed toward the leg yu shui sees the twig forcing him to slide his feet back a bit, while the twig move forward forcing him to slide the other feet as well

"that should do it" said jiuyin throwaway the twig "now go ahead and show me" jiuyin stand aside to see

yu shui with preparation in his midnd he thrust the spear and pulled back sucessfully

"good, now lets get to the next step" jiuyin as he step in front of yu shui blocking him

"now i need you to attack me" jiuyin calmly stated

"wait, what !?" yu shui shocked to what he had just heard

"you heard that right, attack me"jiuyin prepared and ready with his whisk on his hand

"are you sure about this ?" yu shui worriedly hoping it didnt hit or it would just missed

"of course i do, in fact i believe you cant even harm me"pronounce jiuyin proudly

"if you say so" yu shui prepared and with a plunge the spear was bound by the whisk yu shui tried to pull it back but it was stuck now jiuyin with his whisk was in control of his weapon

"you would been killed at the moment" jiuyin unbind the whisk and continued " though gotta say at least you were more couragous that the last time you attack on me, so count that as a good thing"

"wait, what do you mean by that ?" as yu shui was curious to know what he meant

"you have a hard time decide if you want to kill or not, yu shui, the last time I saw you, you were deciding to attack me or not, and with you put too much time on it, it's best that you learn to decided quickly" jiuyin curiously wondering why in his though

"often time the one that kills are my teacher, i never experience killing anything in my life, i always put it on study" yu shui looking at his spear wondering if this was for him

"yu shui, have you ever wonder what is the current situation of the world right now ?"jiuyin asked calmly

"no, i dont, i dont want to get involved into the situation" yu shui replied wondering why jiuyin suddenly asked such question

"a new age is about to arrived, there are deity that may or may not have decide to be our enemy some of our allies no longer with us in this new age, and sadly the majesty made you because she want you to help in this matter" jiuyin said as his smile began to disappear and a cold and sad old man was in his place

"ive seen many had died during the black dragon war, some died saving the people, other executed for not able to done his duty, and some have their position taken out for a slight mistake, the majesty made you hoping that you may change the tide to the upcoming war, even just for one bit it will be enough to change history"

"am i doing this for my own or am i doing this for the majesty?" yu shui questioned

"none of the two, you doing this for your teacher, all he want was to see peace in this land after all" jiuyin with his smile began to return

"if it is for my teacher then i will do it" yu shui said holding his spear prepare for another round of training

meanwhile

a boy wore in all dark blue was in his farming with the farming hoe on his hand as he plowing the soil to make space for the seed to grow some rice as he plowing the soil he notice that there was a girl that was wondering around the land the girl was fairly dressed with most of her clothing are in color that no ordinary citizen could wore and doesnt seem to be from nearby adding the fact that he know the neighbourhood around this village though one thing he cant be sure is wondering what she is doing especially in a farm with no one else she familiar with this remain a question until he notice something was wrong as she began touching her forehead before fainting all of the sudden, he ran with his water bottle by his side hoping that it was just a mild heat stroke and nothing serious as he came to her, he realized that she had some bruises on the legs and seems like she had just escape from something, he looked around hoping that anyone was nearby but looks like this land only had him, with no choice he carried her brought her back to his hut.

within the hut all that exist are some hanging chilies and garlic with some dried corn it was a small hut with only a bed, a cabinet for medicine, a small kitchen and a table. he put her on the bed checking his injuries mostly notice that the injuries occured on the hand and feet and almost nothing on the face, he also checked the vessels that was on her wrist while also checking his breathing with his finger beside her nose he began to calmed down after this as she was breathing normally, looking at her injuries it look like all she need is to put some paste on the skin and wait for it to recover. he cant believe that he would got himself to situation like this as he didnt felt lucky for this, he know that many would be happy if this suddenly happen to them but to him it felt like a problem adding that she wore in a clothing that mostly nobility would wore he is fearing that she was an escapee or something worsed.all he want now was hoping she recover quickly and let his life get back to normal.

with nothing else to do he goes back to the farm to do his work when the rain suddenly fall out of nowhere as he prepare to step foot outside thunder start to strike not far from him, looking at the situation he had no choice but to stay as he closed most of the window with only one opened as he prepare the fire for warmth with a bamboo tube he put the branches into the hole beneath the cooking pot, he then added some straw ash into the hole as well with two piece of flint he hit them creating spark to the straw he use the tube to push the straw deeper then he waited and blow the flame through the hollow tube making sure the fire didnt extinguished suddenly yet carefully as possible as he dont want to overblown it or else he shall restart all over again, he get two pieces of egg and a tomato, he peeled of the skin of the tomato first, with the eggs cracked and put to the pot, he stir it gently scramble them into one soup like egg as he kept on stirring the egg began to form, he added the tomato into the eggs and cooked it for a little and it is finished scrambled egg with tomato, he put to the wooden bowl he had and rest it on the table with the bowl of noodles ready as well, with a wooden chopstick ready he began to eat, he heard the lady on the bed groaning as her hand began to move to touch her own forehead, he put down his own chopstick, check her condition once again, but before he checked the condition she had got up, she look confused as she look around the room, then she look toward the young man standing beside her

"thank you for helping me" she speaks with a warm smile appear as a sign of gratitude

"but could you tell me where am i ?" curiousity can be shown on her face

"zhou ji province, would you mind telling me where you are from, young lady ?" with serious tone shown upon his voice

"i...i cant remember where i was from, all i know was that i somehow got here and that it" while with one hand on her head she tries to remember everything

"so your saying that you dont remember how you even got here in the first place ?" the young man hoping that she isnt saying nonsense

"pr-pretty much, if you can call it that way" she notice the man using the back of his hand to check her temperature while also noticing there arent any injury on her head no bleeding no small buldge appear on her head nothing, with this close to a person she relaize how young this man was as his face was clean with no sign of any beard appear with no sign of aging eventhough he was a farmer in hot weather his skin was the palest as she had ever seen but before she can continue in her though the man pull out his hand

"your head is fine with no sign of any injury, by the way, i was wondering do you remember your name ?"

as he walked to get make another bowl of noodles he hopes that she can at least give a name

"mi fei" she whispered as she remember this name

"what ?" he cant hear it clear

"mi fei." she said it louder this time

"is mi (honey) your family name ?" asked the man curious

"no, if i remember it was feng (wind)" the man nodded how there was such a family name

"i wonder what your name, sir ?" curious to know

"family feng, name wu bing" said the man as he put the bowl of noodles to be steamed

"so am i going to stay here with you ?" mi fei said looking through the window

"until your injury had fully healed of course" wu bing calmly wait for the noodles to fully cooked while go and eating his food

"can i join in the dine with you ?" as she stare at the food

"well im waiting for the bowl of noodles to fully cooked, you can eat the main dish first" as he grab wooden chopstick for her

"thank you for your hospiltality, mister feng, but i wonder how should i repay you someday" as she looking at wu bing getting the things needed for the food

"there is no need for that, as all i want was to not seeing someone died in front of me or else someone gonna accused me of two things" he said bringing a spoon a pair of wooden chopstick

"what two things ?" she curioused what is it

"being called a man who is selfish, or worst... murder" he take a look at the noodles

"is it ready ?" she look at him

"seems like it, tell me if there is something wrong with the noodles" as he grab the bowl quickly with its bare hand and put it on the table "best use the chopstick until the noodle cool down"

"i will" she gets out of the bed, wu bing notice how quickly she healed but he remembers that she doesnt have any wound or anything serious

right after she sat down he began grabbing some egg and put it on the bowl of noodles

"thank you" she said smiling but hiding it behind the bowl of noodles as she was pretty close to it

"its nothing much" he eats while looking at the outside weather without noticing that the girl had been looking at him

meanwhile

jiuyin had notice the kid had began to get used to using the spear and began to get the basics, though he was wondering how should he trained to fight watery places like shores or in a shallow lake then he look at the lake noticng how clear yet shallow the lake can get with small island on top of it was a tree with autumn leaf on it, noticing this he began walk towards it yu shui looking at his teacher walk to the shallow water that was about a foot deep and had only reach to his ankle he looked back

"would you mind lend me the spear, my child"

jiuyin speaks with his hand forward

"is there a reason for this, teacher ?" yu shui asked while lending the spear to his teacher

"in some situation you will be needing to fight above waters, i will train you two things, one, you will train to walk on water with your feet above the water, as most deities used it when they are on deep water but it can also be used for easy travel" he said jumping higher than yu shui height, and with a soft landing his feet touch the surface of the water, and he was hovering above the water with only the long clothing of his touching the water with ripple shown from the touch"two, you will also learn to fight with your feet beneath the water" he jump once more this time not as high as the last one his feet touch the ground beneath the water "because you may encounter some situation where water can be a burden to your attack especially when your using a swing of a spear instead of the thrust of the spear so i need you to get used to fight light this, though there are some benefits as well, with a simple swing you can unleash as many water blades as you like" said jiuyin as he swing the spear with the spearhead hit the water at spray it out toward his opponent in front and with a swing to the back the opponent behind him was hit with the spray of water with his one hand hold the bottom of the spear letting go of the spear with the other, he swung the spear down attacking the water creating splashes of water and grab the spear with both hand he circled around himself letting go of one of the hand and let the spear stop behind his back with his left hand free he grab hold of it, he pulled it out of the right, letting the spear twirl around the palm of his hand and stop with the bottom of the spear stab to the ground

"so your saying that those water that you just sprayed can become little daggers to hit the enemy ?" yu shui asked worriedly

"yes, let me guess you fear that the water may sprayed toward you with one of the technique" jiuyin said as he remember the water sprayed toward him when he did the hit to the water

"yes especially the third one" yu shui wonders how should he do it without harming himself

"its okay that one was just me adding it myself, it didnt exist in the original" jiuyin smiling as he explained the truth

"good thing it isnt, or else how am i suppose to do that without blinding myself or worsed" yu shui felt relief hearing that was just made up

"all right, my child, now its your turn, but i will tell you the one shown in the manuscript first, and i hope you can understand what it meant, oh did you bring the manuscript, my child ?" jiuyin gave the spear back to yu shui exchanging places

"i have it with me" as he gave the manuscript to jiuyin

he walk to the lake

jiuyin roll the manuscript reading it from right to left "i hope you understand the meaning"

'i have studied literature for many years so no need to worry for me on that" yu shui exclaimed gladly

"if you say so" jiuyin clears his throat

"prepared stance with dragon head front, and charge"

yu shui though out for a second before he used the prepared stance with the spearhead in front and center, and he then thrust the spear forward pushing the bottom of the spear close to his left hand

"dragon flew to the ground, and hit with its tail"

yu shui though of it again before he put the spear to the water pull the spear back before attacking behind him while kneeling with spear to the enemy throat

"the dragon flew up, and sprayed water after turned back"

yu shui pushed the spear up to his front, befor he jumped up while pushing the spear to the side resembling the dragon that had attack to the enemy behind him, but after had just land he slipped

with a huge splashed it hit toward jiuyin but only by a little but yu shui however he was got his clothes wet all over himself

"you now have two choice, you either kept training like this, or change your cloth to do another training"

jiuyin said as he look around for something to dry him off

"either way will have me end in training so i chose the former" he said as he stand up bringing the spear to prepare again

"are there any injury on you ?" said jiuyin pull out a bottle of some paste for injury

"no, no injury at all" as he look at his injury to making sure it was no injury on him

"good thing there is none" jiuyin calmly puts back the bottle back to his little pouch

"i guess this can also help in making me got used to using some weight on myself" yu shui look at himself all wet and heavy from the layers of clothing

"maybe instead it can be helpful in helping you get yourself lighter, especially in the jump" jiuyin notice the idea of this

"i guess its time to make good use of this while i can, would you mind repeat the one i just failed again, or do i continue the next one" yu shui look at jiuyin hoping for answer

"i think we should try the next one first" jiuyin said before he search where they left off

"if you say so, what the next step" with his spear low and close to the water he stand there ready

"the dragon flew dodging attack while confusing the enemy, and flew over with claws scratch the enemy" yu shui looked at the water as he splashed some water in front and began shake the spear nonstop blinding the enemy before he thrust to the side and do a smack with the shaft of the spear

"the dragon hold firm,before he parry with its tail and made wound to the back"

yu shui hold the spear tight in front of him before he parry with the bottom of his spear and made wound behind the enemy back he can choose the back but also the legs or even the head if he want to, but he can also choose to use the flat to hit the enemy not killing him whatever it is he have multiple choice in this one

"the dragon swung its tail, to attack the tiger leader"

yu shui with his spear hold close to the spearhead he swung wildly imagine himself dodging multiple spearhead that head toward his head he also added some swing with both hand in the middle of the shaft before he hold the bottom of the shaft and creat some space between him and the enemy before he roll, swinging his spear one more time before his other hand get the hold of the spear

"the tiger with its claw dodge the dragon repeated thrust, with swing of its tail splasing something to the tiger" yu shui imagine the enemy with a sword as he attack the enemy, dodge, parry, and dodge the spear attack with elegance resembling a dance, before he pull back, jump with the spearhead circling beneath him splasing some water to the enemy

jiuyin closed the book "my child, let have a rest for a little, while also dried up your clothes" jiuyin sat beside the place he had just stand on

yu shui came out to see that the sun had approach to the highest point before he knew his clothes were dried at least the one that are above the lake height

"so far how do you think" jiuyin curious for a respond

from his apprentice

"well so far so good only that i need some time to though on the steps and the metaphor" yu shui laid on the ground beside jiuyin

"i notice you add some of your own technique in there is that intentional or accidental" jiuyin about to take a sip from his gourd but forgot that there are none left

"well mostly intentional, just noticing how i can use it to my advantage" yu shui said looking at the leafs that covered the sunlight

"maybe your teacher does that on purpose, maybe he make it while wondering if the people that trained his technique put focus on the technique" jiuyin laught at how this was a cunning move to test an apprentice

"i do notice the technique were describe were pretty simple and easily understood, do you know the reason why he write it that way ?" yu shui once again shown his curiosity for his teacher

"look like your getting know your teacher better at this, from what i can say he wasnt fond in learning, he mostly put it on martial skill instead of a literate one like you and i, so it make sense that his metaphor was easily decipher but maybe, just maybe it was so that people can read it and understand it easily, literature or not, they are the same in his eyes" jiuyin shown a warmth smile when speak of his brother

"i do have a question though" yu shui remember the mystery that been bugging his head

"go ahead and tell" jiuyin wonders

"is there other reason why we have to choose a lake like this, so far from what i trained i think any other places with body of water will do, but why here ?"

"ah yes, the most important part of this technique" jiuyin stnd up walk to put his hand on the water "not hot, nor was it cold to the point of freezing perfect for the next training" he pulled his hand shake the water off his hand

"does the temperature effect the technique ?" yu shui wondering why it is important

"well you can call it that way, you see with you able to control the water it will be a lot easier with places like this, as you trained first to froze the water that you control first, if you start with places too hot,it will be impossible to train, but if its too cold the lake will froze before we can do some training, you will start off with the help of the climates these water have the cold in it but not enough to froze them, and with that you trained to control the temperature within the water control it until it is frozen solid, then we slowly advance making the temperature hotter and hotter until you can make some ice daggers even in the hottest climates, and if you got used to it you can easily create dagger in a blink of an eye" jiuyin explained "the size of weapon can be created varied as someone skillful like your teacher are able to create spears but it requires skill and enough water to made adding that this was used on special occasion, the sword however is situational not rare as the spear but not too common, but it mostly used to distract enemy in close range and create hidden attack when needed, what the most common i see used by your teacher is this" jiuyin grab a handful of water in one hand before he let most of it flow leaving little water on his hand, he threw it at nothing but it create little splashes of water"you see those water droplets ?"

"you mean i can create small needles with it ?" yu shui replied

"correct, it is mostly used as needed for escape, or to blind the enemy to give you time of distraction" jiuyin exclaimed

"so where do i start" yu shui asked excitingly

"well you start with control the water, and then you calmed yourself down, i recommend you train to stay calm in any situation, your teacher able to achieve this by control the thing within the water, and let the thing stopped and control it to spread its surrounding, i also notice your teacher are able turned ice to water truly handy i would say" jiuyin noted to yu shui

"if that the case then let me try" yu shui walk to the lake again with his feet beneath the shallow water, he lift his hand water began to form following his hand but as he stopped he cluthches his fingers trying to froze the thing within the water but instead of a solid ice, he receive a sprayed of water to his face

"pfft, hold and stop the thing within the water not blow the thing within the water" jiuyin almost cant hold back from laughter but he resisted though he can imagine how funny it was to train this for the first time

"well it is my first time control something like this, but i'll try my best to keep on going" yu shui shake off the water from his body as he prepare for a secondary attempt, he breath in and breath out, as he lift his hand once again a ball of water followed, and with him grasping to the water

"deep breath, my child, deep breath, grab one of them and spread it to the entire water,keep concentrate on one of them, and let them connect to the others" jiuyin calmly instruct beside him he look at the kid showing sign of struggle before he look at the water to see a small part within the water began to froze but before he can spread it all, yu shui let go and the water fell, jiuyin came to see a small clear hexagonal ice, it was thin like leafs, and can be broke pretty easily, yet within he can see small pattern of repeated hexagon

"so did i do well for beginner ?" yu shui looked at his teacher holding the thing

"pretty good for a beginner, still a long way to go , but goof for a beginner" jiuyin find this thing simply interesting as it resembles the one that his brother had made for him though different in looks and pattern but similar in the form "look like he will followed your footstep, brother, but will he became what i had seen in him or will he be in a different path?" jiuyin thought to himself on this but he kept the thing yu shui just made and continue the training