Chapter 27 Part1 (2/2)

Liu Bing Yi chose to repay frankness with frankness, saluted him with both hands. “Since young, I have learnt a variety of skills, I can’t say what I’m best at, but I’m willing to fight with my bare hands with you, brother.” Zhe Chi’er nodded, and started his form of attack. Zhe Chi’er might look big and burly, but his moves were as fine as they were rough. His legs employed wrestling moves of ‘stay’ and ‘dodge’, his fists using the ‘fast’ and ‘bind’ moves of close combat. His fists struck relentlessly, fast, one round after the next, until Liu Bing Yi was unable to dodge from his flying fists.

Just as Zhe Chi’er said, he only knew these two forms of martial arts. It was precisely because he only knew two forms, which is why he had honed them to near perfection after more than ten years of training. The stability of his legs and the speed of his fists matched each other seamlessly. Those who knew martial arts could see that Zhe Chi’er had unconsciously integrated the Han form of martial arts, simplifying the complicated moves, roughing up the graceful ones. Those maidens and madams who didn’t know anything about martial arts though, found his moves extremely boring. In contrast, Liu Bing Yi’s flying kicks, his moves at times simple, at times complicated; sometimes slow and gentle, sometimes strong and fast, dazzling the maidens and madams, keeping them on the edge of their seats.

Yun Ge was very confused. Da Ge’s moves were graceful and pretty, but she just felt like he wasn’t using his full strength. Liu Bing Yi gave off this feeling that he had learnt a broad range, but didn’t hone his skills to perfection, though she knew he definitely wasn’t someone like that. His skill set was broad, but definitely not superficial, he would pick the moves he thought best and learn them till he had perfected it.

In a blink of an eye, they had already exchanged over a hundred blows, but were both unscathed. Liu Bing Yi had some understanding of the gra.s.slands’ martial arts and after studying Zhe Chi’er hundred over moves, he already knew what to do. He told Zhe Chi’er “Be careful.” He switched moves all of a sudden, using Zhe Chi’er’s moves against him. Zhe Chi’er was a simple minded man. He learnt wrestling and fighting when he was five or six, then devoted himself solely to practicing those two, not even bothering to know if there are other better forms of martial arts that may exist in this world.

After more than ten years, he had unknowingly mastered all the forms of martial arts known to the people of the gra.s.slands. Even if Liu Bing Yi changed his moves, he would still counter the same way, no matter what moves his opponent threw, whether they were bluffs or real moves, he would counter them accordingly, but now that Liu Bing Yi was suddenly adopting his own moves against him, Zhe Chi’er’s mind went blank. He thought, how could he know my form of martial arts? I know what move he is going to use next! But how do I counter it? Then wouldn’t he know I would know how to counter it? He probably would have already prepped himself up for that, so how should I fight….

Liu Bing Yi made use of Zhe Chi’er distraction to hook his leg, lean forward and throw Zhe Chi’er on the ground with the most ancient wrestling move – the shoulder throw. Everyone else was confused too when they suddenly saw the two of them using the same moves against each other.

Even after Liu Bing Yi had thrown Zhe Chi’er to the ground, they still weren’t able to react. Liu Fu Ling was the first to clap, then all at once, everyone realized that Liu Bing Yi won, and started cheering loudly.

Liu Bing Yi helped Zhe Chi’er stand, Zhe Chi’er’s face was ruddy red, still looking lost even as he said. “Your skills are really good, you’ve won.” Liu Bing Yi knew that he had inflicted trauma on this honest man’s heart. From now on, whenever he made his move, he will first be hesitant. Zhe Chi’er possessed good skills, in his single-mindedness; he had already unconsciously incorporated the highest state of martial arts –‘defend’ in his moves. As long as he wasn’t distracted, it wouldn’t be easy for anyone else to attack him.

He had already grew fond of Zhe Chi’er and was about to explain and point that out to him. I didn’t defeat you; you were first defeated by yourself. Then he remembered, even if Zhe Chi’er got better, he was still a Qiang, if both nations ever went to war, his weakness would be the Han’s chance. He chose to only give him a small smile, then walked off after a bow.

Ke’er Dada managed to smile with some effort, sent Liu Fu Ling his congratulations. “The Han warriors are good indeed!”

Liu Fu Ling didn’t show any happiness on his face, remaining expressionless as always. “The skills of the gra.s.slands are good too. This was the first time I’ve witnessed such a stunning display of wrestling and fighting skills.” Because of his sincerity, his listeners could feel that he was truly praising them.

Ke’er Dada thought, though Zhe Chi’er lost, he lost because of their own martial arts skills and not because of the skills of Han; then felt a bit better. He turned to Meng Jue. “I would like to fight the second round with you.” Meng Jue thought that since Ke’er Dada was a king, and came prepared with warriors, he wouldn’t fight the next round. Contrary to expectations, he was the one to issue the challenge. Since the challenge had been issued, Meng Jue could only bow with a smile. “Thank you for your tutelage your majesty.”

Yun Ge wasn’t even looking at the stage, but instead asked Liu Bing Yi happily. “Da Ge, what kinds of martial arts are you good at exactly? There are people here studying your moves for a long time, but still unable to figure out. Da Ge, you really are too ‘deep without revealing anything’! [4]” Liu Bing Yi was still unhappy that Yun Ge had jumped out to blindly join their fight, so he said huffily. “Since you have so much time, you might as well think of how to lose with dignity.” “Why, you belittle me so! What if I win?”

Liu Bing Yi gave Yun Ge a onceover solemnly, then finally said. “After this banquet, go consult a physician, you must be having severely deluded dreams [5]!” Yun Ge harrumphed and ignored him. After a while, she heard Liu Bing Yi call her name, then reminded her carefully. “Yun Ge, this is only a game, don’t treat it too seriously. If you can’t it, remember to shout that you won’t play anymore.” Yun Ge knew he was worried for her, nodded. “I know. Thank you for your concern.”

Liu Bing Yi snorted. “There are more than enough people concerned about you, I can’t be bothered with you. With his majesty on top, of course you won’t be in danger. I’m concerned about Meng Jue’s puny life. I’m afraid he would be unable to control himself, flouting the rules into the process, rus.h.i.+ng onstage to save you.”

Yun Ge scoffed disbelievingly, and refused to talk to Liu Bing Yi anymore.

During their conversation, Meng Jue and Ke’er Dada had already started to exchange blows. One using a sword, the other, a dagger. One employed agile, nimble moves, like snow falling for nine days; the other using moves that were fierce, safe moves, like a fierce tiger moving down a mountain or a long snake out of its hole.

After observing the fight for a while, Liu Bing Yi’s brow slowly started to furrow. The Qiang had already lost one round, if Ke’er Dada lost this round, with two out of three losses, even if Aliya defeated Yun Ge, the Qiang would still lose. In order to turn the tide to their favour, Ke’er Dada was giving it his all, without a care for the cost in order to win. Their skills should be on par, but Meng Jue was smarter than most, and dueling is not only a comparison of their martial arts skills, but also their wit, so Meng Jue should have had a 70% chance of winning, but Ke’er Dada was fighting like he had burned all his bridges behind him, forcing Meng Jue to counter move for move. Even if he won in the end, the price might be…...

Yun Ge didn’t intend to watch the duel at all, but when she saw Liu Bing Yi’s face getting more and more grave, she quickly turned her gaze to the stage. As she watched, her brow slowly furrowed as well.

If it was hard for the spectators to watch, it was even tougher for those actually involved in the duel.

Meng Jue didn’t expect Ke’er Dada to be this extreme, or this aggressive, even though he was a king; he was fighting with his life on the line. How was this comparing skills ‘to a point’? This was totally a battle fought between deadly enemies. There was one other complication in this battle – Ke’er Dada could harm him but he couldn’t harm Ke’er Dada. If Ke’er Dada wounds him, or even kills him, he could just get away with a mere apology; but if he wounds Ke’er Dada, it would be giving the chance an excuse for them to gather the other tribes of Xi Yu to attack Han.

He had once lived in Xi Yu for a long period of time and was familiar with their feelings of giving up their land to Han. After enduring long years of war, and the previous infighting within bureaucracy in Han, the Han officials’ oppression, bullying and stripping the tribes of Xi Yu of their rights greatly enhanced their hatred for Han. If news reached them that the Qiang prince travelled far and wide to Han to offer his congratulations for the Han New Year, but was instead wounded by a Han official, he was afraid that this tiny flame might just turn into a great forest fire.

Meng Jue mainly learnt his skills from the a.s.sa.s.sins of Xi Yu, his real skills are not fit for long combat, the main point of his moves were to use the simplest, most energy saving way to kill his opponent. In terms of killing moves, Ke’er Dada’s skills weren’t as good as Meng Jue’s, but Meng Jue couldn’t employ a single one of those killing moves, he could only draw on his many years of training to soften Ke’er Dada’s killing blows.

This round got more and more dangerous with one attacking ruthlessly, the other attacking with apprehension. There were many times Ke’er Dada’s dagger just brushed across Meng Jue’s vital points, causing the women below to scream in horror.

Under Ke’er Dada’s ruthless attack, Meng Jue’s moves got weaker and weaker.

After over two hundred moves, Ke’er Dada got very restless, his eyes, his lips curled in a cruel smile, his dagger swept across with broad strokes, guarding the left side of his body where Meng Jue’s sword was pointed, preventing him from piercing his vital points, but allowing his stomach to be left unguarded, clearly meaning to kill Meng Jue even if he himself sustains major injuries. His curved dagger struck straight at Meng Jue’s neck, his speed fast. But Meng Jue was faster by a bit. That little bit was enough for him to switch his sword from his right hand to his left when the dagger brushed past his neck, unexpectedly using Ke’er Dada’s mistake to aim straight at his heart.

At that crucial instant between life and death, Meng Jue’s body made instinctively made the decision for him despite his overriding concerns. His right hand threw the sword, his left caught it. Without any fancy tricks, one could even say it was a very jagged move, but it was fast, faster than anyone could imagine, faster than anyone could see. The sword was pointed straight at Ke’er Dada’s heart.

Ke’er Dada suddenly discovered that Meng Jue could wield his sword with his left hand too, and it was then that he also realized how deliberately slow Meng Jue was fighting beforehand! The look in Meng Jue’s eyes was so calm it looked cold and ruthless. Ke’er Dada was reminded of those lone wolves the hunters on the gra.s.slands are deathly afraid of. Lone wolves are small wolves that have survived after its pack was ma.s.sacred, once they grew up, they would be the most cruel and ruthless of wolves. His eyes widened at the realization of his mistake. And the price of his mistake is……Death!

A dagger swung towards Meng Jue’s neck like a meteor, harnessing the power of thunder. A sword secretly pointed towards Ke’er Dada’s heart like lightning, with all the stealth of a poisonous snake. Suddenly confusion and hesitation appeared in the cold, bloodthirsty depths of Meng Jue’s eyes, and…pity?! Ke’er Dada couldn’t believe his eyes. Meng Jue abruptly pointed his sword down, s.h.i.+fting it away from Ke’er Dada’s heart, moving it to his abdomen instead. Ke’er Dada’s dagger was still coming down on Meng Jue’s neck. Meng Jue stopped caring about Ke’er Dada, or even about this battle, he was only calmly, quietly staring elsewhere. Just when his life was about to end, the look on his eyes was one of tenderness, of unrestrained longing.

“No!!!”

A gut wrenching, piercing scream rang out.

Ke’er Dada came to his senses, abruptly moving his dagger away. His dagger stopped at Meng Jue’s throat, blood already gus.h.i.+ng out from his wound. If he moved his dagger away just a second later, Meng Jue would have already been beheaded, and he would only sustain an abdomen injury at most, or maybe even be unscathed because the point of Meng Jue’s sword stopped when it touched his skin.

The instant Meng Jue moved his sword away the outcome was set, Meng Jue seemed to think this wasn’t even worth his time, all his emotion was written in his eyes as he stared elsewhere. Ke’er Dada stared blankly at Meng Jue, his eyes searching, contemplating the man in front of him and was stunned at the tenderness and longing in Meng Jue’s eyes.

Meng Jue quickly recollected himself, smiling at Ke’er Dada, all the tenderness and longing swallowed in the murky depths of his eyes; his eyes unreadable once again. Ke’er Dada couldn’t figure him out at all. In just an instant, so many emotions crossed this man’s eyes, and he couldn’t believe the man in front of him was the same man he glimpsed just a moment ago. Immediately, he turned to look at where Meng Jue was just looking at.

A girl stood frozen at the bottom of the stage, her eyes wide, her gaze fixed on Meng Jue, her mouth still half open. She must have been the one who cried out.

In her eyes, there was fear, worry and even the glimmer of tears.

The scene of Ke’er Dada’s dagger headed straight for Meng Jue’s neck kept playing in Yun Ge’s mind. She didn’t know whether she screamed, she only remembered that she seemed to have jumped up, rushed out, then…

She didn’t know why she was suddenly standing alone in front of the area either. What did she see in his eyes? She only knew that in that instant, everything she saw in his eyes, felt like a thousand knives stabbing at her heart. But when she looked again…. There was nothing. His eyes were the same as always, calm, tender, but no warmth in those dark depths.

She quickly turned away, but her gaze clashed with someone else’s.

Liu Fu Ling sat alone, high above the rest, silent gazing at her.

He probably saw everything that happened just now right? He saw her forgetting herself, saw her losing control, saw everything. She couldn’t see his expression, but she was afraid to see crack in his eyes. That crack would be imprinted on her heart.

She suddenly felt that she was attracting too much attention standing there, quickly retreating back to her seat, regret and sadness pressing down hard on her heart, cutting off all air. Then she saw him shake his head slightly at her, indicating that she didn’t need to be this way. He understood, she could almost feel the comfort emitted from his eyes.

Yun Ge felt bitter, touched and an indescribable mix of emotions.

The whole hall was so quiet, one could hear a pin drop.

Most people didn’t see what just happened, either because they didn’t know martial arts, or because of distance or the angle in which they saw the battle unfold; they only saw Meng Jue’s sword pointed towards Ke’er Dada’s ribs and Ke’er Dada’s dagger at Meng Jue’s neck. Only Yu An, high above everyone else, had a clear view of what just unfolded, and Liu Bing Yi seated nearby managed to hazard a pretty good guess.

Aliya didn’t understand, her brother had won, but why was he still standing dazedly on stage? She stood and turned to Liu Fu Ling. “Your majesty, my brother’s dagger was at Meng Jue’s vital point, if he didn’t stop, Meng Jue would definitely have died, so even if Meng Jue’s sword pierced my brother, it would only inflict a minor injury.”

Liu Fu Ling shot a look at Yu An, who nodded. What Aliya said was absolutely correct, except for one part, but besides Meng Jue, no one else would truly know what exactly happened. Liu Fu Ling announced. “The Qiang prince has won this round. I truly thank you for your act of mercy.”

Meng Jue coldly saluted Ke’er Dada, turned and left the arena. The physician rushed forward, tending to his injury. Ke’er Dada’s mouth moved, but nothing came out of it. He jumped off the arena without any sign of elation, moving back to his seat.

Liu Bing Yi looked at Yun Ge, whose face was white as a sheet, still in a daze, then at the expressionless Liu Fu Ling looking in her direction, then sighed and said. “Yun Ge, can you still compete? If you can’t….”

Yun Ge took a deep breath, composing herself, then smiled. “Don’t be ridiculous! Everyone is now counting on me! Without me, how are you going to win?” Liu Bing Yi laughed bitterly, what he thought would be a sure win round turned out to be wrong.

“Yun Ge, don’t force yourself!”

Yun Ge nodded, then floated to the arena with a fluid motion; as she stood on one foot, her hands using the stage for leverage, her body flew gracefully like a magical crane, landing smoothly on stage.

Aliya nodded slightly when she saw the way Yun Ge landed on stage. Her moves were very pretty and graceful, obviously trained under experts, a worthy opponent indeed. But if she only knew the truth was…..

The best martial arts skill that Yun Ge had mastered was that very ‘light body skill[6]’ she just displayed, and of the many ‘light body skill’ moves, her best move was only those used to climb trees and walls. Also, that move she just used, looked very effortless, but actually was chosen by her when she sat on her seat, contemplating the stage, estimating the distance, height, running over all that she learnt from her parents, brothers, friends, and everyone that taught her, finally landing on this move that will best display her charm.

She’d bet if Aliya knew all these, she would probably beg Liu Fu Ling to let her switch opponents, to someone worthy of her, refusing to belittle herself by sparring with Yun Ge. Aliya lightly waved her whip, and the whip in her hands made a loud ‘crack’ sound. “This is my weapon. What about yours?”

Yun Ge scratched her head, deep in thought with her brow furrowed, looking very troubled. Aliya asked with some impatience. “Is my question that hard to answer? Use whatever weapon you use normally.” Yun Ge shot her an apologetic smile. “I know how to wield too many weapons; it is hard to settle on one at such a short notice. Umm…..I’ll use a curved knife!”

Although the curved knife was the most common weapon used by nomadic tribes, it was also one of the hardest to master. Since Yun Ge dared to use a curved knife against her, her skills must be very good. When she understood the underlying meaning of Yun Ge’s words to be that she possessed a broad set of skills too, Aliya knew she had met an expert, immediately going on guard, not daring to make a wrong move. Yun Ge added with a smile, “Han people rarely use curved knives, and I’m afraid it would be hard for them to procure one at such a short notice. Princess, do you have a suitable one to lend me?”

A curved knife hung from Aliya’s hip, when she heard that, she untied the curved knife on her hip and pa.s.sed it to Yun Ge. She told herself to be even more careful of this opponent, for not only is Yun Ge an expert, she is also very meticulous, taking care not to create unnecessary chances for her opponents

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Liu Bing Yi felt like fainting. Yun Ge wasn’t luring her opponent to make mistakes, but provoking her so aggressively? He turned to Meng Jue who just came back to his seat after his injury was tended to,

“What is Yun Ge trying to do? Is it not enough that her opponent’s skills are so good, that she must provoke her so?”

Meng Jue lost his usual smile, and answered “I don’t know” with a straight face

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Yun Ge played with the curved knife in her hands. “Princess, the previous round was truly terrifying. Princess, you are

gifted with such beautiful features, I’m sure you wouldn’t want a scar to be left on your face by accident. I have just reached my prime too, the love songs I’ve learnt have yet to be heard by the man I like! Whether he accepts me or not, I don’t want to die without first expressing how I feel for him. Let us have a civil fight instead? Not only can we compare our respective skills, we can also ensure that no harm will befall us.”

When he heard the female guests scoffing and laughing scornfully, Liu Bing Yi truly, totally felt like fainting because of Yun Ge.

What was she trying to do? Also, this was the first time he realized that this girl was so good at talking nonsense. If she sang a love song, how could anyone reject her?

Liu Bing Yi smiled bitterly.

Aliya thought of her brother’s earlier fight, stole a glance at Meng Jue’s neck wound, feeling fearful now. Although she was good at using the whip, whips could never cut as deep or as sharp as curved knives could. The curved knife in Yun Ge’s hand was gifted to her by her father on her thirteenth birthday as a coming of age present, and was forged by the best blacksmith of the Arabs. Based on Yun Ge’s moves just now, her ‘light body skills’ must be very good, and because Aliya was always travelling on horseback from a young age, she was very weak when it came to skills making use of her leg strength. If Yun Ge left a mark on her face…… she’d rather die! Furthermore, Yun Ge’s ‘the love songs I’ve learnt have yet to be heard by the man I like’ line really resonated with Aliya. She felt herself getting lost in thought, half feeling bittersweet, and the other half coming to the shocking realization that although she had never sung a love song to the person she liked either, she should at least try it once, regardless of whether or not he accepted it.

If she got injured during this battle, her face disfigured, then all the more she wouldn’t have the courage to sing her love song. For the rest of his life, that person would never know that there was someone else that……

Aliya asked coldly. “How do we go about doing it?”

Yun Ge said happily. “You stand at one end, I stand at the other. You make a move, then I’ll follow with one, exchanging blows with each other that way. Not only can we compare our skills that way, we wouldn’t injure ourselves.”

The moment he heard this, Meng Jue knew Yun Ge had lured the princess in, hook line and sinker. He turned to the still frowning Liu Bing Yi. “If there are no unexpected mistakes, Yun Ge wins.” “With her lousy set of skills, how could she…” Liu Bing Yi suddenly realized. “Yun Ge’s teacher or close friends are experts? So no matter how terrible her skills are, since she had been exposed to them from a young age, plus she is smart, so she had probably committed a lot of those moves to memory. Therefore, as long as she doesn’t have to draw on her internal strength, and isn’t forced to move by her opponent, she could mime those moves out perfectly.”

Meng Jue smiled coldly. “In her family, she’s the only stupid one. Even the maid by her third brother’s side could easily defeat Ke’er Dada.” Liu Bing Yi was stunned. Although he had already guessed that Yun Ge wasn’t of common birth, but this was the first time he knew how extraordinary her family was! He was suddenly very curious as to who her parents are and why she came to Chang An alone.

After mulling it over, Aliya thought this was an interesting proposal, and seemed feasible too. “During the fight, not only do we compare moves, we must also consider speed. No matter how brilliant your moves are, if you react slowly, it will still lead to death.” Yun Ge quickly said. “Princess, what you just said was absolutely reasonable.” Then her brow knit as she thought again. Aliya couldn’t be bothered to wait any longer, saying. “We shall use your Han way of measuring time by . You must make your move within three water droplets, automatically losing if you don’t.” Yun Ge smiled. “Good idea. We shall do it this way then. Which end would your highness choose?”

Aliya froze, I haven’t agreed yet right? We seemed to be only discussing the feasibility of a civil fight, when did this lead to an agreement? Then again, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with this proposal, so she nodded after thinking for a bit, moving to one end of the stage. Yun Ge moved back to the other end of the stage.

Two eunuchs carried the bronze water clock over, placing it at the side of the stage, to measure time. Yun Ge smiled as she asked. “Who goes first? Why don’t we draw lots? Of course, to maintain impartiality, we each nominate one person to make the lots…..” The straightforward, proud Aliya couldn’t stand Yun Ge’s extreme carefulness, as she said impatiently. “This trivial matter won’t determine the winner. I’ll let you go first.”

This was exactly what Yun Ge had been waiting for.

If Aliya made the first move, Yun Ge would really have no confidence in herself. Although she could remember a random variety of moves, but she had only witness others making such moves, never actually using them against an opponent, not even sure which moves would counter which; and with only three water droplets of time, this moment of uncertainty would certainly cause her to lose.

But, if she made the first move, everything would be completely different. Aliya thought that it didn’t matter who made the first move, or it should be that Aliya’s line of thought was completely true, but this set of moves had been created by her third brother when he was sparring with Ah Zhu.

[1] gra.s.slands would refer to the nomadic tribes; Central Plains the Han

[2] Taken from the translation posted

[3] See Yun Ge's lousy skills on display - Chapter 16

[4] An idiom meaning a person who was talented but introverted, not wanting to flaunt his talents in front of others.

[5] The actual word was ‘sleepwalking’ but it didn’t fit into the context so I took the liberty to tweak it slightly to convey the meaning it was meant to.

[6]'The skill of light body' is a soft way to strengthen the internal. It is not simple to acquire the skill of ”light body”. Thanks to the knowledge of the skill even the people whose bodies weigh over 50kg can easily take a rest on the branch of a tree like a b.u.t.terfly or a bee. It is not complicated for them to fly like a swallow but it is not easy and quick way to achieve such a result. Taken from ”Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin” - Jin Jing Zhong, Andrew Timofeevich . It basically refers to those flying skills displayed by wuxia in those wuxia/fighting dramas too.

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