You Still Say You Don't Know Martial Arts

Chapter 31: You Still Say You Don't Know Martial Arts

This sparsely populated, undeveloped mountain region had none of the noisy city sounds to disturb him, none of the various unpleasant smells lingering in the air, and none of the steel and concrete or towering buildings blocking the view.

Xiang Kun felt that his ability to lock onto and distinguish scents, as well as to pick out sounds, had improved considerably. Even his eyesight seemed to have gotten somewhat better.

He could imagine that his abilities would improve further at night.

Could it be...

That the place he truly belonged was outdoors, deep in the mountains?

"Looks like you don't come to the mountains very often. Stop daydreaming and let's go. The air's even better up there!" Tang Baona saw Xiang Kun standing with his eyes closed, breathing in the fresh air, and laughed as she urged him on.

Although the place they were at looked like the foot of the mountain, they still had quite a distance to go before they actually started climbing.

And the route they'd planned didn't follow the cleared paths. They were taking all sorts of narrow trails instead, and the terrain was terrible, so naturally they couldn't make much headway.

But they weren't trying to rack up the miles anyway. They took their time, stopping whenever anyone got tired or whenever they spotted a nice view and wanted to take a picture.

Along the way, Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er also heard from the others about the sanda coach saying Xiang Kun was a better fighter than him.

So the two of them sidled up to Xiang Kun, one on either side.

Tang Baona suddenly exclaimed, "Chang Wei! You still say you don't know martial arts!"

Yang Zhen'er chimed in from the other side, "Tell us! Are you a Shaolin Temple warrior monk?"

Neither waited for Xiang Kun to respond. They both doubled over laughing first.

Xiang Kun was speechless. He simply sped up and headed on ahead. The two women naturally refused to let him get away and hurried after him.

They were already climbing the mountain on an extremely narrow dirt path, full of potholes and very difficult to walk on. They'd been walking for over two hours, and it was the hottest part of the day. Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er had used up a lot of energy and were sweating profusely. Xiang Kun didn't seem to be walking very fast, yet they just couldn't catch up with him.

"Hey! Do you think he's practicing some kind of inner cultivation? How come he's barely sweating in this heat?" Yang Zhen'er whispered to her friend.

Tang Baona rolled her eyes. "Your imagination gets more outrageous by the day. Do you really think he's a Shaolin warrior monk, some hidden master?" But Yang Zhen'er's comment had made her notice it too: Xiang Kun did look far too relaxed. Even with his excellent fitness, after walking for over two hours on rugged mountain trails in this heat, he shouldn't look like he'd barely broken a sweat.

Just then, Tang Baona's foot suddenly found empty air. She cried out and fell to the side.

It wasn't some bottomless cliff, of course, just a pit about twenty centimeters deep, but Tang Baona still twisted her ankle.

Xiang Kun had turned around the instant Tang Baona lost her footing, but he was too far away to reach her in time.

Everyone hurried over. The yoga instructor took off Tang Baona's shoe and sock. Her ankle was already starting to swell. When the instructor asked her to try moving it, Tang Baona let out a low cry and couldn't bear the pain.

"Nana, does it hurt a lot? Can you stand?" Yang Zhen'er was frantic too.

Tang Baona clutched her ankle and shook her head. She could no longer speak.

The yoga instructor frowned. "She can't walk." Then she looked up at the men. "We'll have to head back. Which of you can carry Nana?" Cars couldn't get anywhere near them, so they had no choice but to walk back.

Normally, the guys would have been eager to step up and show off. This time, though, every one of them immediately looked at Xiang Kun.

Xiang Kun knew it would be hard to refuse. And Tang Baona's ankle did seem badly sprained, so he walked over and crouched down, letting the yoga instructor and Yang Zhen'er help Tang Baona onto his back.

After resting for a while, Tang Baona wanted the others to continue with their original plan. Yang Zhen'er and Xiang Kun could take her back on their own.

But everyone disagreed. They also felt that Xiang Kun couldn't get Tang Baona all the way back to where they'd parked by himself. It had taken them more than two hours to walk there.

Coach Shen came over and said, "We can switch off when someone gets tired. Take turns carrying her."

Xiang Kun didn't say much, but once they started heading back, the others realized that even with someone on his back, they could barely keep up with his pace.

The trip out had taken more than two hours. With someone on his back, Xiang Kun made it back in half that time. Some of the difference was surely because they weren't stopping to rest or take pictures anymore, but he really was moving much faster.

Coach Shen and the others, struggling to keep up behind Xiang Kun, didn't get a chance to offer to take turns carrying Tang Baona. He seemed more relaxed than anyone else.

The pain in Tang Baona's ankle had eased quite a bit. At first, she'd been worried that carrying her over such difficult terrain would be hard on Xiang Kun, and had planned to ask him to stop and rest every so often.

But she soon realized that even with her weight—over ninety pounds—on his back, Xiang Kun walked steadily, without any sign of strain or effort.

His breathing was steady, even calm, and he didn't seem to be sweating much.

And, strangely enough, after walking for more than two hours on the way there and carrying her for quite a while on the way back, Xiang Kun was actually very cool to the touch. Tang Baona felt as if she were lying against an ice pack, which was incredibly comfortable.

"Why are you so cool? Could it really be like Zhen'er said, and you've been practicing some kind of inner cultivation?" Tang Baona couldn't help asking curiously by Xiang Kun's ear.

Feeling her warm breath by his ear, Xiang Kun instinctively drew his neck in.

This was almost certainly the closest he'd been to a woman in years. But unlike before, his senses were now exceptionally sharp.

He could hear Tang Baona's breathing and heartbeat on his back, and he could clearly pick up all sorts of scents from her: her perfume, the fragrance of her clothes, and the hormones in her sweat. They all traveled clearly through his nose and into his brain.

Honestly, he thought the scent Tang Baona naturally gave off smelled better than her perfume.

"Maybe there's something unusual about my constitution. I'm sensitive to cold but not heat. I don't mind the summer heat, and I don't sweat much. Besides, I don't have any hair, so I can lose heat easily." Xiang Kun made up an answer on the spot.

Still, Tang Baona's question caught his attention. Was his body temperature lower than an ordinary person's?

When they got back to where they'd parked, Xiang Kun carefully settled Tang Baona in the back seat, then said goodbye to the others, who had finally caught up and were panting heavily.

Yang Zhen'er wiped her sweat with tissues from the car, cranked the air conditioning all the way up, and hurriedly drove back.

They took Tang Baona to the hospital for an X-ray, treatment, and a bandage. Then Xiang Kun and Yang Zhen'er took her home. Luckily, she'd only injured a ligament; no bones were broken.

After declining Yang Zhen'er's invitation to stay for dinner, Xiang Kun bought a digital thermometer on the way home.

As soon as he got back, Xiang Kun took his temperature. He picked up the thermometer and saw that, just as he'd expected:

28°C.