“Brother Xing, the master would like a word.” Ying shouted.
Xing opened his eyes, seeing the orange-purple hue of the dusk appearing before him. The wind caressed his ears, making him feel alive…but weary.
In the distance, the kaihua village stretched across a short patch, meagre in sized compared to the forest, but it was beautiful none the less.
Xing pushed himself up, took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air around his, to the eyes of the librarians, scholars and clerks of the Library and leapt off the rooftop.
A woman smiled at him when their eyes met. She was tending to the azalea flowers in front of her. Xing nodded, then returned a smile of his own.
“Brother Xing, the master is requesting your presence...now.” Ying huffed.
“And he shall have it,” Xing said with a smile.
Xing walked pass Ying, noticing Susu to his left, away from everyone. She placed her hand above the child’s own and watched as the child to grab it. A reflex game, He mused.
Then the child grabbed her veil, which made him laugh. Susu laughed as well, and that made him smile. That’s the first time I’ve seen her smile since Elder Zixin’s death, He thought bitterly.
As he felt grass crunching beneath his feet. He walked towards Susu, feeling the urge to play with the child. Susu snapped her head toward him, and snared at him, forcing him to walk pass her.
He rounded the corner and somersaulted over a small wall, landing on his feet then darted left, running up a wall then sailed through the skipping off a statute.
He landed, skidding across a wet patch of grass, then swung around a corner, making one final step before plunking himself in front of Master Chaoxiang’s door.
Fear took hold of him as he touched his Master’s door. The same fear he felt when he tried to snatch Master Chaoxiang’s pouch.
Back then, Feng Chaoxiang seemed like an easy target to Xing. He was told to be wary of old men, who could be a martial artist, especially the way they carry themselves.
Xing rushed in, trying to snatch the pouch he had on his waist only to be tripped up by Ban Susu, who at the time was wearing a yellow veil.
He tried to knock Susu’s veil off, but Chaoxiang grabbed his arm, then exhumed that he learned what he learned was killing aura, made him feel like an ant, as he looked up at Feng Chaoxiang, who appeared to be a mountain before him.
Despite that, his eyes were still gentle, which made him curious. Can I do that as well? Xing thought back then,
But now…No...I still can’t…Master is still a mountain and I, the ant.
“Master it is I, Zhao Xing.” Xing said, knocking on the door.
“Xing’er…Do you know what your problem is ?” Chaoxiang asked.
“No Master, I don’t know.” Xing said softly.
“You try too hard to appear as if you don’t care”
A surge of Qi surged through the door, filled with a killing aura, smothering Xing. He dropped to one knee, feeling as his heart raced uncontrollably.
He tried to calm himself, by engaging ina breathing technique, but that was to no avail. The murderous Qi that enshrouded was malicious, intentful and filled with contempt and hate…something Xing had never felt before, despite traveling the Jianghu for so many years.
Xing closed his eyes, swirling the Qi within his Soul Dantian, he surged that Qi into his Core Dantian and he began exhuming it, forming a Qi-like shield around his.
It was futile.
Xing knees quivered uncontrollably from the display of power.
“You love being carefree. You can’t be carefree, just by reaching the Accentuation Realm. You want to protect that child…you should be at least a Qi Perception Realm Practitioner. Do you understand?”
“Yes Master…” Xing shrieked.
“You do? I don’t….You think Wine is the answer to your sorrows! Do you think whoring yourself out, to dull the pain would ease the ache of your heart, hmm? All you do is drink and whore yourself out. Did Yun Yan protect you for you to live like this?”
A boulder of Qi dropped onto Xing’s shoulders forcing him to the ground. The Qi then condensed, swirling around his neck. Then it slowly began to squeeze against his neck. “Tell. Me. Zhao Xing, was Yun Yan’s sacrifice meant for this? Did she die for you to live such a miserable life? Hmm? Zhao Xing...Out of all your Martial Siblings, you have disappointed me the most.” Chaoxiang said softly.
“Master…” Zhao Xing pleaded, “I…it should’ve been me that died…”
“Yet, you’re still here!”
The killing aura dissipated and Xing felt as the boulder on his body dissipated in an instant. He touched his neck, ensuring he was hallucinating.
A cold shock jolt down his spine, making him wince. He sighed in relief, feeling as though he’d been submerged in water for days, only to feel oxygen flood through his lungs like a flute.
He pushed himself up, feeling the weight of his body. His back groaned from the pain whilst his knees sang to the tune of his frustration.
Xing staggered as he looked at the door, that led to his master’s room, frustrated
“You may enter,” Chaoxiang said firmly and Xing obeyed, dragging his feet as he pushed the door open.
Embers of fire lit the entire room, coming from the fireplace sitting on the right. In front of him was a small table with his robes hanging over the chair. Behind the table was a small closet, and two windows on either side of it.
Xing turned to his right, noticing his Master sitting on his bed in the lotus position. Xing’s eyes drifted to his chest, and he saw a purple-coloured palm print shining in the dark. “Master!” He said aghast.
Chaoxiang raised his hand, stopping Xing in an instant. “This was not your doing. Have a seat. We have much to discuss.” He said ushering him to have a seat on the ground.
Zhao Xing cupped his fists and bowed reverently. “Zhao Xing greets Master.”
Xing walked towards the spacing between his Master and the table, pulled his robes up and sat in the lotus position.
He looked up Master Chaoxiang and de-ja-vu hit him. He knew the setting for a lecture, and this one was it.
“Are you well?” Chaoxiang asked head pointed at the ground.
“I am well, Master,” Xing answered.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Good, raise your head…there’s much to discuss and we have very little time left.” Chaoxiang continued, trailing to a whisper.
“Very little time? What do you mean Master?” Xing asked, raising his head.
“I’m dying Xing’er. You can see that at least.”
Xing’s heart sank within his chest stomach, churning within. The failures of his exploits within the Jianghu rippled within his mind.
He’d failed to save his beloved Yun Yan, and he failed to realise the danger that befell Zhu Zixin before it happen. Now, as he sat there, he stared at the palm strike wound on his master’s chest and anger began to roil within.
His Qi slowly began to swirl within his Soul Dantian. “Who gave you that wound Master?” Xing asked coldly.
“I gave myself this wound. Whilst I was cultivating, I made a mistake and had no choice but to hit my chest to quell it”
“I don’t believe you,” Xing whispered.
“What?” Chaoxiang hissed.
“I DON’T BELIEVE YOU!” Xing hissed.
“Are you calling me a liar...boy?!”
Xing knew not to respond to that question, so he kept his mouth shut. For a moment. He realised he wasn’t a child anymore, what was the worst Master Chaoxiang could do for him? Banish him as his student?
“Yes!” He said firmly, eyeing Chaoxiang with conviction.
Chaoxiang bit his bottom lip showing his frustration. He took a deep breath, then shook his head calming himself. “You’re free to think whatever you want boy, but I’ve said what I have said. You will drop this I am too tired to speak on this further. I do not have time to battle you and Su’er at the same time. Will you listen to what I have to say? Or shall I call in Su’er instead?”
Xing ground his teeth, dipping his head, and clenching his fist in frustration. “Yes Master, I am willing to listen.”
“Good. Now listen clearly, because I will not be repeating myself, understood?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Good, now before I start, we need to set certain things in order.”
“Certain things such as?”
“How long before you allow your skills to rot from a bottle of wine?”
“Never.”
“Never?” Chaoxiang scoffed, “How do you plan to attain this never?”
“Abstain.”
“Through willpower? Xing’er eight years ago you promised you’d abstain from drinking wine. Nothing’s changed. Have I pressured you?”
“No Master you have not.”
“You think my heart doesn’t ache for you? I know how much you loved Yun Yan, lad. I loved her too, she would’ve given you beautiful children.”
“Master, Yun Yan was pregnant when she died protecting me against Matriarch Yun.
“WHAT?” Chaoxiang growled. “SHE WAS WHAT?!”
As tears began to flow in Xing’s eyes, he kept his head down, staring at the floor. His vision began to blur with the memories of Yun Yan’s flooding through his mind.
“Brother Xing...” Yun Yan told him, “I’m pregnant!”
He remembered it, as if were yesterday. The goosebumps that roiled around his body. The exasperation of life he felt, by hearing those words.
Zhao Xing…was alive, and he loved Yun Yan for making him feel that way.
Chaoxiang dropped to the floor with a thud, falling into Zhao Xing’s hand, he hugged his student, with the tightest of embraced and sobbed uncontrollably.
“Xing’er! Why didn’t you say anything!?”
“I…I…was too ashamed Master. She told me we were coming to get your blessing and were ambushed by the Cerulean Pavilion. I tried to fight them off, but Matriarch Yun appeared to me and Yun Yan stopped her palm strike by using her body as a shield.”
Chaoxiang cupped Xing’s cheek, “lad had I known this, I would’ve reprimanded Matriarch Yun, instead of ask for leniency. I wouldn’t have been so strict with you. I would’ve DRANK WITH YOU! I WOULD’VE MOURNED WITH YOU!”
Chaoxiang
As the two sat in silence, tears in their eyes, frustration, anger, and contempt. These feelings were true.
Chaoxiang finally understood why Xing lived in a bottle. It was all done to dull the pain of his lost loved ones. Yun Yan and the child.
“You’ve done well Xing’er well, but there’s still more for you to do,” Chaoxiang said softly
“Master?”
Chaoxiang planted himself on the bed, reposition his legs into the lotus position and looked down at Xing. “Xing’er…” He said calmly. “I’m truly sorry for your loss. But I need you to understand this. I am dying. They are things that need to be arranged before I leave.”
“What things Master?” He asked, with a confused expression painted on his face.
Master Chaoxiang smiled gently and let silence settle within the room. He then peered into Xing’s eyes, resolutely. “From today and onward. You’re to take care of the Axsumite child.”
“What? Master, Susu would never allow it!”
“It is not about what she’d allow, she doesn’t have the ability. Are you against this?”
Xing shook his head slowly, as the gears of mind turned, trying to process his master’s request. “No, Master, I’m not against it. But why me?”
“Because, this is what you need. It’ll help soothe your heart of your loss…and Susu lacks the strength to protect her.”
“But Susu... she has been caring for him ever since she held her. She loves her.”
“Love is not enough Xing’er, especially for an Axsumite baby to grow up in Huaxia. she needs to be strong…and that, she is far from.”
The weight of his master’s words settle over him, and his shoulders slumped from those words. He looked at his hands. Tthe calluses and scars telling the story of his journey.
“ I understand what you’re trying to say Master…but Susu’s too attached her. You saw how vicious she attacked you when you took her.”
“Are you discrediting your attacks? if I remember correct yours was laced in more vitriol than hers.”
“I am not, but I don’t know if the world will accept her.”
“They accepted Susu, did they not?”
“Yes, after ten years of trials and tribulations…” Xing admitted “but…”
“I understand your reservations, but were those reservations on your mind when you took hold of her?”
“No Master, the child has done nothing to deserve death. Yes, she’s an Axsumite. I know Emperor Tian Hao’s decree was claimed to be mandate of heaven.”
Master Chaoxiang chuckled a mighty laugh and shook his head. He stared at Chaoxiang for a second, then slapped his hand on his shoulder, “Bodhidharma’s light son, do you think a mere man, knows what heaven’s mandate is?”
“Master…tha…
“That decree was over four hundred years ago. I’m sure not all Axsumites agreed to invading Huaxia Xing’er,” Master Chaoxiang said firmly.
“It may have been over four hundred years ago, but the Emperor’s words are sacred.”
“Do you care of these words, if it means killing an innocent child? Who has, nothing to do with an invasion from four hundred years ago?”
“Of course not Master,”
“Then do what you must…it is your life and hers.”
Xing took a deep breath, letting the weight of his master’s words sink in. The responsibility felt immense, but a sense of determination began to build within him. He looked up at Chaoxiang, his eyes filled with resolve.
“I will do as you ask, Master,” Xing said, with a steady voice. “I will take care of the child.”
Chaoxiang nodded, a look of relief washing over his face. “Good. This will be a difficult path, but I believe in you, Xing’er. Remember, strength comes from within, and it’s not just physical strength that will protect her. You must also be strong in spirit.”
“I understand, Master. I will protect her, Master. I promise.”
“Good…I have something that will help you in your journey,” Master Chaoxiang said calmly.
Chaoxiang pulled a blue book from beneath the sheets and waved it in front of Xing. He slid the back into Xing’s hand and the characters spoke out to him. The Guided Star Fist.
“Master…this is.”
“Yes, I’ve conquered the flaws within The Guided Fist.”
“Master we didn’t see an—“
“Enough,” Chaoxiang snapped, “There’s no need for you to coddle me. I knew you all developed your own style using the basis of The Guided Fist for your skillset. I am not insulted but vilified…with that, it will only enhance your martial arts.”
“…a strong foundation is the basis of everything, even death needs a basis to come forth.”
“You remember my words,” Chaoxiang said with a laugh.
“Always Master.”
“Do you want the manual or shall I rip it apart and discard you as my student and allow you to live the life you want?”
Xing eyed the manual, thinking the Guided Star Fist could enhance his Iron Shredding Claw.
As his heart thumped in his chest with excitement. He even remembered the manual Zhu Zixin had given, which could be applied as well, which meant he could even become a peerless master! “Yes. I will do as you ask Master.”
Chaoxiang turned to Xing, which startled him, and then his eyes went from gentle to fierce. “Swear it.” He said coldly.
Xing had never sworn a word ever since Yun Yan’s death. He swore to heaven and earth that he would marry her, even if he were to die. Yet, she died in his arms, protecting him.
I've run enough Xing thought, steeling his result, forming the resold in his eyes as he looked up at his master.
Chaoxiang struck Xing’s acupoints in the neck, back and thigh with such vigorous speed Xing gasped from the relief falling to the ground head first.
“I, Zhao Xing, First disciple of Feng Chaoxiang swear upon Heaven and Earth that I will protect the Axsumite child as my own. I will do what must be done to protect her, even if my death is guaranteed. I swear it because if I fail to do so the Heavens will open up and strike me down whilst Hell swallows my bones…punishing me until I reincarnate as her father in the next life or a thousand times over until I provide her with the life that she needs.” Xing said, tone resolute as ever.
He gave a reverent bow and kept his on the ground for five minutes, which in turn went to ten, then twenty then thirty minutes.
Xing rose his head, feeling the weight of his failures over the past months. He’d failed the save the child’s mother, he’d failed to save Zhu Zixin and strangely enough, he felt as though he should’ve been able to save his master as well.
He looked up, seeing his master’s face. It wasn’t one of anger or pain, despite the palm strike on his chest, but one of relief as though he was the one who carried the Xing’s burden and struggles, which he finally took charge of.
“Good. Now rise and have a seat, it’s time we talk like men.”
Xing rose, picking up the Guided Star Fist manual, and clasping his hands around it. The manual was as heavy as a stone, but in reality, he knew it weighed a mountain...a mountain of his master’s skill.