Li Yundong felt a tight pressure on his left shoulder seconds after Feng Na screamed. When he turned his head, he saw Feng Ji’s fingers digging right into the flesh of his shoulder. Feng Ji looked like he was trying hard to make sure that his grip hurt (his knuckles were white and he was growling a little), though Li Yundong barely felt anything.
“Listen, freshman,” Li Yundong said with all the patience he could muster. “I’m not interested in sparring with you, okay?”
A vicious look flashed across Feng Ji’s face.
Li Yundong sighed. “Now will you please let me get back to my lunch? And besides…” Li Yundong tilted his head in Feng Na’s direction. “You’re scaring my friend here.”
Feng Na’s face was as white as a sheet.
Feng Ji didn’t let go of his shoulder.
With a sigh, Li Yundong raised his hand and pried Feng Ji’s hand off his shoulder. For a fleeting moment, Li Yundong saw the look of surprise in Feng Ji’s eyes. The guy clearly thought highly of his own strength.
Alas, Feng Ji appeared to have misconstrued Li Yundong’s action as an acceptance of his challenge because he suddenly switched his grip and tried to maneuver Li Yundong’s wrist into a joint lock.
Too slow, pal.
Li Yundong flipped his palm quickly and then wrapped his fingers around Feng Ji’s wrist, and then twisted it into an awkward angle.
Li Yundong rose from his chair and then turned around to face Feng Ji. Li Yundong eased the pressure on Feng Ji’s wrist, but he didn’t let go lest Feng Ji try anything funny again.
“You’re a liar.” Feng Ji’s eyes flashed in anger. “You said you never learned Kung Fu, and yet you just performed an advanced Chin Na technique on me.”
Ugh. Yeah. He’d picked up that technique after he saw Lin Youfa perform it once. Li Yundong did a quick scan of the canteen with his eyes. They were starting to draw the other student’s attention.
Li Yundong sighed and loosened his fingers around Feng Ji’s wrist.
However, the moment his fingers slackened, Feng Ji attempted yet another joint lock on him.
Still too slow.
Li Yundong rotated his arm in a circle, then performed a Nikajo wrist lock by trapping Feng Ji’s hand against his forearm with his free hand. There was a loud grunt. One of Feng Ji’s knee hit the ground the moment Li Yundong applied a downward pressure onto Feng Ji’s wrist.
Feng Ji gazed up at Li Yundong from the floor, and he was laughing.
“You really are as good as they say,” Feng Ji said, his eyes glinting with what appeared to be madness.
“Man, cut it out,” Li Yundong hissed. Having learned his lesson last time when he’d accidentally flung Yan Hua away, Li Yundong eased the pressure on Feng Ji’s wrist. Given how much stronger he had become after passing the Zhuji phase, he could easily crush this moron’s wrist if he wasn’t careful.
“Oh… This is good!” Feng Ji said, rising to his feet quickly. “Come! Let’s take this elsewhere. To the Taekwondo Club’s dojo or something!”
Feng Ji grabbed Li Yundong’s arm and pulled, like he was trying to physically drag Li Yundong away.
Li Yundong tightened his core and stood still.
“Come on!” Feng Ji yelled and tugged his arm again.
Li Yundong didn’t budge.
Fine. I’ll just spar with him and be done with this nonsense. Li Yundong sighed. Otherwise the idiot would just keep bugging him, or worst, do something to force his hand.
Great. Now he had another problem on his hands: how not to kill the dumbass.
Maybe he’d stop annoying me if I just let him win…
The other student might gloat and make fun of him, but whatever. Not that he gave a damn.
“Come on! Let’s go!” Feng Ji yanked Li Yundong’s arm forcefully despite how futile his efforts were—Li Yundong hadn’t budged once.
“Okay… Okay…” Li Yundong growled. “I’ll spar with you. Just let go first—”
Screams of terror shook the entire canteen.
“Ahhh!!!! Oh my God, it’s flying!!!”
“F*ck… What the hell is that thing!”
Li Yundong’s gaze snapped to his right. A dark object was hurtling towards Feng Ji.
A second later, the dark object swooped in from right side like an eagle and bumped into the side of Feng Ji’s shoulder. In a split second, Feng Ji’s large form was skidding all the way across the floor towards the far end of the canteen while Li Yundong himself stumbled to the floor—Feng Ji was still holding on to his arm when the object hit.
Seconds later, Feng Ji’s body rolled to a stop. The guy managed to climb to his feet, though his eyes were now filled with shock and horror. The dark, shaft-like object zoomed across the canteen, then came to an abrupt halt several feet from where Feng Ji stood. It rose to the air, hovering there for a split second, and then—
SNAP!
The fan spread open like the tail of a peacock, tearing the dark cloth that Li Yundong had used to wrap it into shreds. A bright golden glow permeated the entire canteen, inciting more screams of terror from the students. A loud screeching sound—like the repeated drawing of a thousand swords—followed suit as the blades on the fan’s leaves began to rotate like crazy. It was as though there was a series of mini carbide saws attached to the fan’s surface. Plates, trays, and cutleries were crashing into the floor everywhere as students jostled their way towards the exit.
Li Yundong climbed to his feet and charged towards the fan, which was now inching closer towards Feng Ji.
Feng Ji was holding a wooden stool in front of his chest, apparently thinking that a miserable wooden stool was a viable defensive option against a dozen of carbide blades.
Li Yundong slipped on a tray and fell, grunting when his head crashed into the side of a table.
“No! Don’t!” Li Yundong yelled.
Too late.
Feng Ji had already tossed the wooden stool towards the fan.
The sound of wood splintering could be heard even from all the way across the canteen where Li Yundong was lying on the floor.
The attack appeared to have agitated the fan further as it suddenly released a strong gust of wind, which send Feng Ji sprawling to the floor.
Li Yundong rolled around and climbed to his feet.
The screeching sound grew louder. The fan rose higher, then reoriented itself into a new position. The fan was ready to cleave Feng Ji into God knows how many pieces and probably turned the guy into minced meat.
“Argh! F*ck it!” Li Yundong growled and stopped running. He raised his hand and aimed his palm at the fan. Li Yundong’s Zhenqi shot out from his palm just as the fan moved down in a slashing motion.
Li Yundong could feel his own feet sliding along the floor as he was dragged forward by the fan, which was still trying to cut Feng Ji despite being held back by his Qi Kinesis. Li Yundong struggled to maintain the contact of his Qi Kinesis while he inched closer towards the raging fan.
When he got close enough, Li Yundong grabbed the fan’s rivet and ended the Qi Kinesis. The fan strained against his grip, refusing to settle down. Li Yundong gripped the rivet with both hands and pulled back just as hard. Now I have to get it to calm down—
“W- Who the hell are you?”
What the fu—
Li Yundong peeked from the side of the fan’s leaves and saw that Feng Ji was still sitting there on the floor instead of moving out of the way and running for dear life. The rotating blades hovered two feet above the moron’s head.
“Why the f*ck are you still sitting there!” Li Yundong screamed and tightened his grip on the fan. “Get out of the way! Go!”
Li Yundong held on to the fan as tight as he could and watched Feng Ji slowly crawl away from the blades. Seconds later, when Feng Ji was at a safe distance from the fan, Li Yundong slid his hands along the two sides of the rivet and tried to press his hands inwards. He thought he could force the fan to close up and revert into the shape of a Bo staff. It didn’t work.
Then he tried to physically drag the fan away, but that didn’t work either—the fan wouldn’t budge at all. In fact, Li Yundong could feel as though the fan was trying to fly towards his left, where Feng Ji was still lingering around.
God, why is that idiot still here— Li Yundong released a low growl. You know what? Forget it.
Okay. Now he had one more thing to try before he officially ran out of options. He closed his eyes, and channeled his Zhenqi into the fan. As he did, he held on to the fan even tighter just in case the idea backfired. The last time he did this was back at the apartment, and the fan had started jumping around like crazy. F*ck… Maybe this is a dumb idea after all—
The fan stopped glowing. Emboldened by the sudden change in the fan’s behavior, Li Yundong channeled more Qi into the fan. About a minute later, the fan was no longer trying to fly towards Feng Ji, who was still there despite everything that happened. Li Yundong sighed in relief when the fan changed back into a dark Bo staff.
THUD!!
Tremors shook the canteen when Li Yundong lowered the fan to the floor. Pieces of broken ceramic tiles were sent scattering from the spot where the rivet was lodged a few inches into the floor. Li Yundong turned around and walked back towards Feng Ji, dragging the fan with him.
Li Yundong bent down until his face was mere inches away from Feng Ji’s fearful one.
“I suggest you rein in that cocky attitude of yours, freshman,” Li Yundong growled. “Or you’ll end up dead one day when you get caught up in things that are out of your f*cking depth.”
***
A deafening silence spread across the canteen, which was now in a state of utter devastation with ruined plates and overturned furniture scattered all over the place.
Feng Na, like pretty much everyone else who were still there inside the canteen, was watching Li Yundong as he stowed that thing inside his backpack.
That thing.
Finally Feng Na knew what that thing was, and she’d rather she didn’t know at all.
The whispers began the moment Li Yundong was out of the canteen.
“F*cking hell… What the hell just happened. That was… incredible.”
“Yeah… I never thought I’d be able to see this kind of thing in real life!”
“I know right! F*ck! It’s like CGI!”
“So now we know what that thing is…” some guy said. “People have been talking about it, you know? About that mysterious object he’s been carrying around since the start of the semester. Turns out to be a massive tessen! F*ck! How cool is that, eh?”
Feng Na stared at the guy in disbelief. Are these knuckleheads for real? That thing practically turned a wooden stool into dust!
The chatter continued on despite the withering glare that Feng Na was shooting them.
“Holy shit!” another male student yelled.
Feng Na turned and saw a guy studying the ruined ceramic tile on the floor.
“Yo… How much do you guys think that thing weighs?” the guy asked.
“Well, he kinda slammed it down pretty hard, so that must have caused the crack,” some other guy replied. “His backpack could still withstand the weight, so I guess it can’t be that heavy right?”
“A hundred pounds, you reckon?”
“Maybe, I don’t know…”
“The Hero of Tiannan University indeed. Damn. What a guy.”
“Oh, shit… Bro…Oh shit! I-I badmouthed him a couple of times… Shit… Am I gonna reach the end of my life when I’m just a fourth year university student?”
“Yeah well, I bet nobody would dare mess with him now…”
Feng Na rolled her eyes as a feeling of disdain rose inside her. Mindless idiots…
The students’ tittle-tattle became even more ridiculous minutes later when Feng Na was busy looking for her handbag among a litter of overturned chairs. Those idiots had launched into a discussion about how they all wanted to join Zhenren Li’s Taoist school.
Feng Na kicked a broken plate away. God. Where on earth was her handbag? Had someone snatched it during the chaos?
“Um… Guys… There should be a registration fee right? How much do you think it would cost?” Some girl had apparently joined those idiots’ conversation. “I mean… If I wanna join Zhenren Li’s school…”
Shouldn’t you ask Zhenren Li that question? Feng Na rolled her eyes inwardly. Why are you asking those idiots? Right. Of course. Because you’re an idiot too.
“I don’t think you’ll be asked to hand in your registration fee at all, cutie pie. He’ll probably just ask you for your… um… measurements!”
The guys burst into laughter.
Feng Na just felt like throwing up.
The silly girl giggled. “Mine is 36D, 25, and 36. Think he’ll accept me?”
Just then, Feng Na’s handbag came to her salvation by revealing itself under an overturned table. She might pull an eye muscle if she rolled her eyes every time one of those idiots uttered a sentence.
She grabbed her handbag and stormed away from the group.
On her way out, she walked past the freshman who had tried to pick a fight with Li Yundong earlier. The idiot was sitting on the ground, completely dazed.
Feng Na stepped around the guy and exited the canteen.
She saw Li Yundong sitting alone on a bench in the small garden beside the academic building. She walked over and sat down beside him.
Li Yundong sighed and turned to face her.
“Yes? Do you have any new directives for me, Madam Prez?” he said with a wry smile.
A surge of pity rose inside Feng Na’s chest. This guy couldn’t catch a break at all, could he? She smiled. “Tomorrow afternoon at the media room.”
Li Yundong raised his brows.
Feng Na chuckled. “The rehearsals. Make sure you be there.”
Li Yundong just stared at her. He didn’t look excited at all.
“Come on,” Feng Na said enthusiastically. “Just come along. Who knows you might actually enjoy yourself and forget about that crappy incident earlier!”
Li Yundong chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fine. I’ll be there. Happy?”
Relief coursed through Feng Na. “Okay then. I know you’re a man of your word.” She smiled. “Seriously though. It might actually be fun.”
Li Yundong waved her off. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there.” He rose from the bench and picked up his backpack.
Somehow, Feng Na found herself unable to take her eyes off that metallic thing jutting out of the top of the bag.
“See you around, Senior Feng Na.”
“See ya…”
It wasn’t until Li Yundong had already gone beyond her sight that Feng Na finally came to. That man… He was like a stranger to Feng Na now. So unlike the guy she thought she knew when they first met at the Taekwondo Club’s dojo. Over the months, he had drifted further and further away from what Feng Na knew and understood. The stuff he was capable of, and the things that he knew, they all gave her the impression that he was from another world.
Feng Na sighed and stared up at the afternoon sky. What on earth is so special about you, Li Yundong…
***
Back at the canteen, Feng Ji was still sitting on the floor.
“Brother Feng… Are you alright?”
A guy’s voice shook him out of his stupor. The guy moved in and tried to help him up. Feng Ji shrugged him off and climbed to his feet on his own.
Ignoring the chatter inside the canteen, Feng Ji pulled out his phone from his pocket and moved to a quiet corner of the canteen.
His hand trembled as he swiped his finger across the screen.
“Senior,” Feng Ji spoke into the phone. Feng Ji shook his head. “No, it hasn’t been taken care of… I’m not a match for him… He looks like an inner disciple, senior… Mm-hmm… Yeah… Okay. I understand…”
Feng Ji hung up the phone. Something flashed inside his eyes as he stared at the ruined state of the canteen.
A minute later, he walked out of the canteen like a man on a mission.
