New Partners

I had never been to anyone else's hall except Bai Ye's. I didn't have any friends at Mount Hua, and since I mainly practiced medicine, there was no need for training partners. When Xie Lun led me to his master's hall, I wasn't sure what his fellow disciples would think of me, and I was a little afraid.

The moment we stepped in, about five or six young men ran up to us like a group of children seeing their favorite friends visit.

"Senior Xie is back!" the one in the front exclaimed. He looked the youngest of them all, probably only sixteen or seventeen. "I've been practicing the new move all morning like you told me. When can you teach me the next one? Look, I got this perfectly now!" He unsheathed his sword and immediately started showing Xie Lun his latest progress.

Another disciple nudged him in the elbow. "Calm down! Don't you see that Senior Xie brought a guest with him? Brandishing your sword around is a bad way to greet a lady."

The first disciple finally noticed me. "Oh, I'm so sorry," he smiled apologetically. "Welcome. My name is Qi Lian, I'm the newest disciple here, and I get too carried away with swords sometimes."

The rest of them followed in introducing themselves. It was an overwhelming flood of names as I had never met so many people at once before, but their warm greetings eased my earlier nervousness.

"Yun Qing-er is Master Bai Ye's disciple," Xie Lun said as we walked inside. "She recently started learning swords and needs someone to practice with."

"Master Bai Ye's disciple?" Qi Lian exclaimed. He seemed to be the most talkative of the group. "Shouldn't she be practicing with you then, Senior Xie? The rest of us are only beginners."

"I … I'm actually a beginner as well," I said. "I mostly practice medicine, and I'm fairly new to swords. I didn't get a hang of it until very recently."

"Medicine takes hard work," Qi Lian gasped. "I can't remember even a page of those herb names, let alone all their effects and interactions. I always admire those who dare the medicine path."

His comment surprised me. Everyone always mocked me for practicing medicine because that was the path that required the least talent. No one had ever considered how much work I had to put in instead. Except for Bai Ye, of course, but he was my master, so he was probably biased, and I was relieved to hear someone else acknowledge my effort.

"But since she is here to practice swords today," said one of the other disciples, "why don't we start sparring? I'd love to see what Master Bai Ye's sword techniques look like!"

"I'll go first!" Qi Lian said, drawing the sword that he just sheathed back bare minutes ago. "I've been waiting for someone to spar with all afternoon," he winked at me, "they were all tired after the morning rounds and no one wants to practice with me anymore!"

Xie Lun smiled. "Qi Lian is obsessed with swords and overflows with energy, as you can see," he said to me. "Unless you object strongly, he will be nagging you every day to spar with him."

"I would be honored," I replied. I liked how straightforward everyone in this group was, and I didn't think I would mind practicing with them more often.

I drew my swords, and we began practicing. I used the Crescent Moon moves that Bai Ye taught me recently, mostly staying on the defensive and meeting Qi Lian's attacks with different blocking and countering techniques. Although I didn't recognize Qi Lian's style, it seemed very fast and aggressive, and within about a dozen moves I was struggling to match his speed.

Seeing my situation, Qi Lian slowed down his attacks, and we sparred for another fifty moves before he knocked both swords out of my hands. "I told you I'm terrible at this …" I said embarrassedly. The sound of Twin Stars clattering to the ground reminded me of that day on the cliff with Lu Ying.

"You aren't terrible," Xie Lun commented. He picked up my swords and handed them back to me. "Did Master Bai Ye not teach you what makes a good swordmaster?"

I shook my head. Everyone else in the hall gathered around us at the question, looking at Xie Lun expectantly. I suppose it was a sign that he was going to give them hints on how to improve.

"Whenever you learn a new technique, there are two parts to it: the movements themselves, and the idea behind the movements. To be honest, Yun Qing-er, your movements were far from perfect. Your foot landed in the wrong position at the wrong time, and your strikes kept missing the target. However, you understood the idea behind the movements. You knew how to connect them and time them smoothly, and even when you misstepped, you knew how to recover your pose and continue.

"Movements can be improved with practice, but this understanding takes experience as well as talent to fully grasp. This is the essence that marks a real swordmaster, and in that way I'd say you are doing very well. All you need is just more time and more practice."

I was amazed by what Xie Lun said. "You are saying that I … that I have a gift for swords?" I asked. "My master has never told me this … I always thought medicine was the only route I could go."

Xie Lun frowned. "Master Bai Ye should easily see what I just saw. What did he tell you instead?"

Xie Lun's tone alarmed me. "He didn't say I was bad at swords," I explained. I didn't want anyone to think that Bai Ye had told me something wrong. "He just said that everyone progresses at a different speed, and mine is slower than others. I suppose I was just too easily discouraged."

"You shouldn't be," Qi Lian said. "Like Senior Xie said, as long as you keep coming to practice with me, you'll get much better in no time."

Xie Lun sighed. "Of course, Qi Lian, it's all about you and your sword practice."

Everyone laughed. Then I continued to spar with a couple of other disciples, but my mind was adrift, still caught on Xie Lun's earlier words. Did Bai Ye really see the same potential in me as Xie Lun did? If so, why did he never mention it to me?