Master of Kaidan
Chapter 207: Only This Profession Can Be So Capricious

Chapter 207: Chapter 207: Only This Profession Can Be So Capricious

At dawn, when the sky was just about to brighten, Feng Xue threw off her little blanket, folded up Santa’s wrapping cloth that she had laid out on the ground for sleep, and turned up the corners of her mouth slightly.

Seeing that vehicles had already started to appear on the road, Feng Xue picked up the orca pillow and walked down the little path under the overpass toward the riverside plaza. Shangshu Mountain was abundant with water, and any apartment building came with a river or lake view; thus, this dock-named area certainly wasn’t short on waterfront scenery.

Seeing that several elderly men and women had already started practicing martial arts in the square, Feng Xue didn’t linger. She walked straight through the plaza, leaped over the barrier (good kids shouldn’t learn from this), and arrived at the river’s edge, where she picked up the orca pillow and began to "sword" dance.

Although her form might have seemed girlish, the tidal power of the orca pillow was very real. As she swung it, the sound of surging waves that seemed to echo in her ears, as well as the water vapor circling the orca pillow, allowed Feng Xue to clearly feel a kind of beauty in strength.

With a gentle swing of the orca, ripples spread through the air. Feng Xue quietly experienced the feeling of stirring up the tide, attempting to incorporate it into the realm of "martial arts."

...

Worried that Feng Xue might have left and thus hardly sleeping through the night, Liu Qi got up from bed at five o’clock in the morning. Disregarding his whole body’s aches, he rushed to the overpass and happened to see that the expert had just woken up.

Liu Qi intended to approach and ask for apprenticeship, but then he saw that person suddenly carrying the adorable pillow across the street, and curiosity led him to follow—

He saw the expert standing by the riverbank, holding the tail of the orca pillow and waving it around. It was clearly just a chubby fish pillow, but in Liu Qi’s eyes, it appeared to be an incomparably sharp great sword.

He wanted to remember the sword moves, but as soon as this thought arose, he felt that each movement made by the expert was so ordinary, as if they were simply swinging the pillow without any purpose.

For a moment, Liu Qi even wondered if he was delirious, imagining a person waving a pillow in early morning madness to be a martial arts master.

But just at that moment, the expert suddenly stepped forward, her waist twisting sharply, and her hands grasped the tail of the orca pillow. In that instant, Liu Qi thought he saw a deep blue sword light shoot from the front end of the pillow, within which a tiger orca seemed to swim freely.

His gaze followed the path of that sword light, and in that moment, a scene he would never forget unfolded before his eyes—

The river, it split apart!

Although it only lasted a few seconds, Liu Qi was certain it was not an illusion, because the sudden whirlpools of various sizes that sprung up on the river surface were the clearest evidence.

"Expert!" The hesitant part of Liu Qi’s heart finally made up his mind at that instant. He turned around to a nearby breakfast shop on the plaza and bought some breakfast items, but by the time he returned, Feng Xue was no longer by the river’s side.

"Where did she go? She couldn’t have already left, right?!"

A strong sense of loss surged through Liu Qi’s heart, feeling as if he had discovered he had won a jackpot, only to find the lottery ticket missing.

He carried the alcohol and breakfast he had brought from home and started running towards the direction of the overpass. Although he had little hope in his heart, he couldn’t rest easy without having a look.

"She’s still here!" Standing on the opposite side of the road, Liu Qi saw the expert tidying up under the overpass and, filled with joy, he ran over. After a series of actions that could have been considered as inviting disaster, surprisingly, he was not hit by a dump truck and sent to another world, but safely arrived in front of Feng Xue.

"Expert, please take me as your disciple!"

Looking at the young man in front of her pushing a bottle of alcohol and breakfast in her face, for a moment, Feng Xue didn’t know what to say. Liu Qi also seemed to realize his behavior was abrupt, but at the same time, he didn’t know how to rectify it. Was he supposed to kneel down on the spot? But would that give the expert the impression of "if you don’t accept me, I won’t get up"?

Feeling the situation was rather absurd, Liu Qi stood frozen on the spot, but soon, a voice that seemed like music from heaven reached his ears—

"Squat in a horse stance and let me see."

"Yes!" Liu Qi felt as if he had received absolution. He immediately squatted into a horse stance, even forgetting to put down the things in his hands, and then he started to regret it a little.

Yesterday, an hour of horse stance had already caused his body, which usually only practiced routines, to accumulate a large amount of lactic acid. Now, as he assumed the stance, he only felt his legs were sore and weak, as if countless fine needles were stabbing him.

However, he still gritted his teeth and, following the high-skilled individual’s advice from yesterday, slowly adjusted his breathing and contracted his muscles.

Looking at the young man’s methodical movements, Feng Xue couldn’t determine whether the other was naturally talented or if, after the spread of the tale that "everyone in Yan Country could do martial arts," everyone had that kind of potential.

But regardless, being able to persist while feeling weakness in one’s legs showed at the very least determination and resolve.

"Not bad," Feng Xue said, taking the wine and dishes from Liu Qi. A moment of imbalance almost made Liu Qi sit down, but he managed to steady himself and said, gasping for breath,

"So, does this mean you agree?"

"That depends on what you want to learn," Feng Xue replied nonchalantly as he found a real stone stool to sit down on, "If it’s just basic skills, that’s no problem. Add in a little bit of power-release technique, and fighting five men would be absolutely no problem."

"What if I want to learn real Kung Fu?" As a web novel author, Liu Qi knew the time to decide his destiny had come and anxiously pursued the question.

Then, he saw the corner of the high-skilled individual’s mouth suddenly curve upward:

"Even though true skills can be imparted in a few words, I can’t possibly teach you everything after just meeting twice. And I won’t stay in a city for more than a week, so there’s no time to thoroughly examine your character, enlightenment, and temperament."

Hearing this, Liu Qi didn’t hesitate to reply,

"That’s okay, I can travel with you!"

"Setting aside whether you can endure the hardship, do your family members agree?" Feng Xue took a couple of gulps of baijiu, looked up at Liu Qi, whose temples were already showing sweat, and upon hearing Feng Xue’s words, Liu Qi earnestly said,

"No problem, my parents aren’t here. I only had my university and previous job in Shangshu. I’m a full-time author now. I can work anywhere with a laptop."

"In that case, it might be possible. But there’s one last question—are you sure you can bear this hardship?" Feng Xue asked with a smile on his face, but Liu Qi felt a chill to his bones, as if someone were holding a knife to his throat.

"Gulp..." Swallowing hard, Liu Qi’s mind raced with various thoughts. In the end, he chose to speak the truth,

"I don’t know, but I think I can try. The rent for the place I’m living in now is very cheap, and the lease still has three years on it. If I really can’t keep up, I have a backup plan."

Liu Qi felt that mentioning a backup plan made him seem rather weak, but while he didn’t want to give up on this opportunity, he also couldn’t be sure whether he could truly persevere.

Rather than make beautiful promises now only to back out later, it was better to be clear from the start.

If the other person decided not to take him because of this, then at least the longing would be cut off.

As Liu Qi thought this, Feng Xue had already finished a bottle of baijiu and let out a burp, saying,

"So, the last question."

"What could it be? Will he ask why I want to train in martial arts? Should I say it’s for fitness or to carry out heroic deeds?" With various thoughts emerging in his heart, what Feng Xue blurted out was a remarkably simple question,

"What’s your name?"