Can Young People Without Protagonist Fate Dream of Fortuitous Encounters Too?

(The worlds depicted in this book are all parallel worlds, and the cities and power structures differ from reality. Please do not try to identify with them.)

Shang Shu City is a city full of three-dimensionality. It is built on the mountain and surrounded by mountains. You can see the first floor through the window of the twenty-second floor, and it is not uncommon to see cars driving on the roof.

You might have just climbed a rugged mountain path that looks like it was trodden by small animals in the forest, only to find yourself on someone else's roof the next moment.

In cities so closely connected to the mountains, there are also many old houses built in obscure corners and often overlooked.

They seem to have blended into the mountains, looking less like houses and more like a part of the mountain scenery.

Feng Xue appeared on the mountain road wrapped in a small blanket. She thought she had entered some deep forest, but when she looked back, she saw a steel jungle with varying heights. Looking back again, she saw a small village in the mountains made of brick and tile houses. For a moment, the classical and the modern were separated by only a thin line, yet it seemed as if two worlds had been divided.

However, she wasn't surprised by the scenery for long, and even thought it was nothing special—after all, South District is, in a sense, an upgraded version of this architectural style.

Feng Xue's gaze swept around and her attention settled on a bungalow with a small courtyard. It was an old-fashioned brick and tile house. Although it occupied a considerable area and had a small yard, most people wouldn't think, "This is a villa only Rich Person can live in." On the contrary, its old-fashioned atmosphere and moss-covered walls gave the impression of an old house that hadn't been maintained for decades—it might even make one wonder if it had running water and electricity.

At this very moment, a young man who looked to be in his early twenties was practicing boxing in the courtyard, dressed in loose-fitting autumn clothes.

Although it looks somewhat plausible, the moves are completely disorganized, and the power generation technique is utterly terrible. It's obvious that he practiced by copying boxing manuals from the internet or some other place.

This isn't to say that online martial arts manuals are all fake; quite the opposite, at least in the world before Feng Xue became Wu, many things that were once considered Secret Transmission teachings of various schools could be found online. But the key issue is that traditional martial arts are like those ancient books without punctuation; if you don't have a guide to tell you the secrets, just reading them by rote is useless.

"Whether it takes form or not, whether it carries meaning or not..." Feng Xue shook her head gently, but she was certain that this young man was the target that Descent Rule.

The Real World Rules in [Kung Fu Dream] are very simple: Feng Xue can descend to the side of people who "have a dream of learning martial arts" and teach them Martial Arts.

However, the flexibility of this teaching is extremely high. Feng Xue can simply throw out a secret manual, or impart ten years of Internal Force, or simply keep it by her side and teach it carefully. But before Feng Xue could even say the lines she had prepared, their eyes met in mid-air.

"I..."

Feng Xue was about to speak when the young man immediately stopped and said:

"Wait a mininute!"

"Uh, I haven't said anything yet..." Feng Xue grinned, standing outside the courtyard. A short while later, the young man came out carrying a bowl of steaming white porridge and a plate of pickled vegetables.

"I didn't make anything fancy this morning, let's just grab something to eat."

"..." Feng Xue wanted to speak, but after looking at her own gear, she didn't say anything in the end. She just took off the small blanket, spread it on the ground, and took the bowl of porridge from the other person's hand to eat.

Seeing this, the other person returned to the doorway and started punching again. Feng Xue smiled and said:

"Young man, if you like boxing so much, why don't you find a proper teacher?"

"I don't have the money!" the young man said nonchalantly. "Shangshu Martial Arts Gym is already expensive, and last month they introduced a new regulation that weeded out a large number of people. Now, even a 'form certificate' costs tens of thousands a month. Who can afford that!"

"You have no money and you're practicing boxing so early in the morning? Don't you have a job?" Feng Xue looked at the young man speechlessly, but the young man calmly replied:

"I quit my job to write novels because I didn't want to be exploited by my boss. Work, work my ass!"

"Tsk tsk, young man, have you ever heard the saying? Usually, unemployed young people in their twenties imagine themselves as writers."

Feng Xue said with a smirk, and the young man immediately became anxious, saying, "I signed a proper contract." What followed were incomprehensible phrases such as "If you don't make money, it's the fault of piracy," "A failed writer is still a writer," and "Even a perfect attendance bonus is more than a salary."

However, Feng Xue didn't laugh this time. Instead, she stood up, placed the empty bowl of porridge on the stone platform at the courtyard gate, and met the young man's gaze with her sharp eyes, saying:

"You don't seem to have any deep-seated hatred, so why are you so fond of kung fu? Are you hoping to use it to save the damsel in distress?"

The young man's face darkened upon hearing this. Strangely enough, he was slightly socially anxious, but today, facing this complete stranger, he was able to easily start a conversation, as if he were chatting online rather than in real life.

Meeting Feng Xue's earnest gaze, the young man felt a sudden urge to confide in her, but he wasn't the type of protagonist; he had no deep-seated hatred, nor any extraordinary experiences that led him to kung fu. In the end, he could only utter:

"I'm a Chinese from Yan, isn't it normal for me to like kung fu?"

"That's true." Feng Xue nodded in agreement, her previously serious expression suddenly relaxing. Just when the young man thought she was about to say something, he suddenly felt something bump into his side twice, and his whole body stiffened.

"Considering this meal's kindness, I'll teach you something real," Feng Xue muttered in a voice the young man could barely hear. He then picked up the small blanket from the ground and left along the mountain path, but his voice still reached the young man's ears.

"Don't think that Horse Stance is boring. Power comes from the root, and strength originates from the legs. Without a solid lower body, no matter how much you practice, it will just be a showy display..."

As Feng Xue's figure disappeared, the young man stood frozen in place, dumbfounded, but his posture changed uncontrollably.

A strange heat flowed from the two points on his sides where he had been hit to his legs, and then his leg muscles began to contract and relax rhythmically.

"This is... a fortuitous encounter?" As a Webnovel writer, even the slowest person would have realized what was happening at this moment. He immediately calmed down and felt his current state, including the changes in the strength of his leg muscles and the amplitude of his body's rise and fall. He didn't know if some master had done something or if he really had a talent in this area. All the key points of the whole process were incredibly clear in the young man's mind.

At that moment, a thought inexplicably popped into the young man's mind—

"Should I have ordered another bottle of wine?"

I've explained the Phantom of the Opera Set's integration into the environment many times: it means "it won't feel out of place here," but it doesn't make your presence "legal."

One example I often give is --

If you wear a balaclava and carry a gun to rob a bank, absolutely no one will find it incongruous, because that's what you should wear when robbing a bank (outrageous opinion), but that won't stop the police from arresting you.

Its effect is more like "carrying a ladder." It's like you wearing a cleaning lady uniform and going into the women's restroom. Everyone thinks it's okay for you to be there. But if you use your position to peep on other people while they're using the restroom, you'll still get beaten up.