I Mastered It

I Mastered It

Seeing Gao Yuan and the other carrying lunch boxes, Instructor Xu lowered his fists. "Eat first. Zheng Fa, you've been hungry all day too."

All four were martial artists and not particularly fussy. They directly laid out the food from the lunch boxes on the bluestone slabs before them, then sat cross-legged in a circle, eating and chatting.

"Spirit Crane Body truly is mysterious and profound. When I exchanged blows with you just now, I could feel it—your internal force hadn't actually increased by much, had it?" Holding his bowl, Instructor Xu could not help praising him.

Gao Yuan could not help glancing at Instructor Xu's nephew beside him. In the other's eyes, he saw the same astonishment he felt himself.

Zheng Fa had mastered Spirit Crane Body?

"Indeed." Zheng Fa's chopsticks paused in midair. Frowning as he recalled it, he said, "When I struck, I always felt that some strange force around me flowed according to my will. Most of the power behind those moves didn't come from the force within my body, but from the outside world."

"That sounds a little like those immortals from the legends who borrow the power of heaven and earth, doesn't it?" Instructor Xu said, his eyes brimming with undisguised envy.

"Is this what it means to enter the Dao through martial arts?" Instructor Xu's nephew could not help asking.

"How would I know? I haven't mastered it!" Instructor Xu shook his head, somewhat rueful. "Zheng Fa has practiced martial arts for less than one-hundredth the time I have, and the force in his body is nowhere near one-tenth of mine. Yet when we fought just now, he was already no weaker than me. Other than entering the Dao through martial arts, I can think of no other explanation."

"That was because you went easy on me, Instructor," Zheng Fa corrected.

"I'm a little stronger than you now, mostly because I have all these years of experience fighting." Instructor Xu took it in stride. "In perhaps less than a few months, I won't be able to beat you anymore."

Zheng Fa still wanted to comfort him, but Instructor Xu waved a hand. "Something I couldn't even get through the door of after more than twenty years of practice—you mastered it in just over twenty days. If I didn't take it in stride, I might as well find a rope and hang myself."

After saying that, he glanced at Gao Yuan and his own nephew beside him, then suddenly reminded them with some concern, "You two should take it in stride too. Don't compare yourselves to Zheng Fa in the future."

Gao Yuan froze and glanced at Instructor Xu's nephew, who was also staring blankly.

"Before, when I pushed you two, I wanted to use Zheng Fa to spur you on. Now..." Instructor Xu fell silent for a moment. "It's better not to aim too high and rush for quick success."

Gao Yuan could not describe what he was feeling.

After hearing Instructor Xu's nephew's explanation just now, he had even thought it made a great deal of sense.

Back when Instructor Xu had been strict with him, it was not as though he had never complained inwardly.

Now, Instructor Xu was saying exactly what he had once hoped to hear, yet for some reason, he felt no joy at all—only a bellyful of bitterness.

Instructor Xu's nephew beside him raised his cup and drained it in one gulp.

Perhaps noticing Gao Yuan looking at him, Instructor Xu's nephew turned to him, his eyes slightly red, and said with a smile, "This wine is a little spicy today."

Gao Yuan looked at the wine cup in his hand and fell silent.

What we were drinking was obviously water...

"Eating?"

Seventh Young Master walked into the training ground. He came over to the four of them, plopped down, and rubbed his stomach. "Get me a bowl and chopsticks."

Zheng Fa handed him a clean pair of chopsticks and asked somewhat doubtfully, "Young Master, you haven't eaten yet?"

It was already rather late.

Instructor Xu and the others had been waiting for Zheng Fa, but the maids in Seventh Young Master's quarters should have served him dinner long ago.

"I forgot earlier." Seventh Young Master's fingers stiffened. Taking the bowl and chopsticks, he spoke as though nothing was wrong.

Zheng Fa glanced at him, feeling that something about his behavior was off.

Seventh Young Master kept his eyes lowered and did not look up. Even while eating, he seemed distracted and without much appetite, picking rice into his mouth one grain at a time with his chopsticks.

Perhaps noticing that Zheng Fa had been staring at him, Seventh Young Master raised his head, looked around at everyone, and asked with a smile, "What were you talking about just now?"

Zheng Fa felt that he was deliberately avoiding his gaze, as if he had a guilty conscience.

"We were saying how formidable Spirit Crane Body really is..."

Gao Yuan answered, but seeing Seventh Young Master's expression, he could not continue.

At the words "Spirit Crane Body," the veins on Seventh Young Master's hand clenched around his chopsticks bulged, and his expression became even uglier.

Now it was not just Zheng Fa. The other three also noticed that something was wrong with him.

No one spoke any longer.

"Whew..." Seventh Young Master let out a long breath and smiled. "You three can leave first. I have something to say to Zheng Fa."

Instructor Xu and the other two looked at one another, unable to make sense of it, but they still rose to their feet.

"Wait. Instructor Xu, you stay too."

Seventh Young Master suddenly spoke.

Instructor Xu's face grew even more puzzled.

After Gao Yuan and the other had gone far away, Seventh Young Master kept his head lowered, breathing heavily, as though a fierce struggle was raging in his heart.

Only after a long silence did he lift his eyes to look at the two of them. "Before I tell you something, I hope you'll first promise me one thing."

Zheng Fa and Instructor Xu both grew serious. They knew Seventh Young Master well enough; he had never been this earnest before.

"Zheng Fa, what I'm about to tell you today ultimately happened because of me. If you bear resentment, resent me. Don't resent my mother."

Zheng Fa frowned.

Seventh Young Master raised a hand to stop him, then said to Instructor Xu, "Instructor Xu, if this household wronged you in the past, I apologize to you first."

Instructor Xu's mouth fell open, unable to understand what he was talking about.

"Listen until I'm done. Don't interrupt me—I'm afraid I won't have the courage to say it again!"

Seventh Young Master held up his palm, stopping them both from speaking, then blurted out in one breath:

"Spirit Crane Body cannot be mastered! It's not that you aren't capable—it simply cannot be mastered at all."

"My mother gave it to you because she wanted you to suffer setbacks, behave yourselves, and serve my family!"

"So, Zheng Fa, stop thinking about Spirit Crane Body. Instructor Xu, it wasn't your fault that you failed to comprehend Spirit Crane Body after twenty years either."

After saying all that, an indescribable expression appeared on his face, but he was clearly much more relaxed.

Seeing the two of them stare at him blankly without speaking, Seventh Young Master grew a little uneasy again and said to Zheng Fa, "Zheng Fa, my mother did it for my sake... Instructor Xu, if you want to leave..."

"Seventh Young Master!" Instructor Xu suddenly interrupted him, his face grave. "You should not say such things."

"I didn't want to say them either. I wanted to bury all of this in my heart! But today... I couldn't even eat!" As he spoke, a rare look of determination appeared on Seventh Young Master's face. "I've figured it out. She is my mother. The wrongs she has done, I will bear them."

"I know your relationship with Madam is poor, but you should not fabricate such matters to slander her!" Instructor Xu seemed not to have heard him at all, looking at him as though he were an ignorant child.

Seventh Young Master glared at Instructor Xu. "What I said is true! Spirit Crane Body really cannot be mastered!"

Seeing how anxious he was, Instructor Xu nodded as though he understood something, and his expression softened somewhat.

"I know, I know. Seventh Young Master, you mean well. You're only saying this because you don't want me to lose faith in the martial path."

"I'm not! I didn't!" Seventh Young Master clawed at his ears and cheeks. He had imagined countless possible reactions from Instructor Xu and Zheng Fa: anger, hatred, even weeping bitterly and hurling curses.

He had prepared himself mentally so many times.

But he had never imagined that Instructor Xu simply would not believe him.

Seventh Young Master stood dumbstruck beneath Instructor Xu's grateful yet disapproving gaze, on the verge of collapse. "Why won't you believe me?!"

"I believe you, I believe you. Just don't say things like that again in the future, or Madam might beat you."

Seventh Young Master savored those words. Wasn't that still disbelief?

Was he being humored like a child?

Beside them, Zheng Fa watched the two talk past each other, and a look of understanding crossed his face.

"I mastered it," he said.

"Mastered what?" Seventh Young Master was baffled by Zheng Fa's sudden remark.

"I mastered Spirit Crane Body."

"Ah?"

Seventh Young Master stared blankly as Instructor Xu nodded at him kindly, his dark face carrying an indulgent smile that said he saw through everything but would not expose it.

(End of Chapter)