Chapter 8: Mysterious New Instructor (III)
“The demon race have already murdered tens of thousands of our compatriots, causing these compatriots’ blood to stain the grounds. Over the last three thousand years, we six temples have never shown remorse for them and have done the most that was possible for the survival of mankind so that, one day, we will be able to recapture all the lost territory and expel these cruel and vicious demons. We will work until our last breath.
Long Hao Chen, you must keep firmly in mind, that the demon race is the enemy we have the most intense and deep-seated hatred towards.”
Xing Yu’s voice was full of power and even the only nine years-old Long Hao Chen was incredibly influenced by his words and his blood seethed with excitement.
“The demon race is the enemy we have the most intense and deep-seated hatred towards.” Long Hao Chen’s firm tone copied the way Xing Yu said this sentence.
Xing Yu nodded, “We will concentrate all of our efforts to expel them from our homeland, to recapture our lost territory, and to protect our important ones. Ask to yourself: one day, if we can’t block the demon race’s progress anymore, what will happen to our town Odin? Your friends, your mother, what sort of catastrophe will they face?”
As the clever Long Hao Chen did so, he shivered uncontrollably, and his look became ferocious.
Looking at him, Xing Yu’s eyes revealed a satisfied expression, he could naturally see that this little child had already kept everything he told to him firmly in his mind.
“Today, I will teach you only this much of historical knowledge. From tomorrow on, I will tell you about the origin of the six big temples. Then, I will teach you about writing as well as some knowledge regarding the demon race.”
After a whole morning, Long Hao Chen was immersed in the various stories that Xing Yu told him. Compared to his former Instructor, Balza, the things this new Instructor taught him were completely different. He instructed every kind of lesson to him, sometimes in an allusive way, sometimes in a straightforward way. It was as if his knowledge was boundless. On a mere morning, Long Hao Chen finds that he had already learnt a lot, which made him instantly like his teacher, Xing Yu.
“Tomorrow morning, I will give you an examination about everything I told you today. Now, let’s eat. You will have a half-hour rest afterwards.”
Saying this, Xing Yu seemed more normal than usual, and he walked immediately to the wooden table.
A scorching hot energy surged out from Xing Yu’s hand and, under Long Hao Chen’s dumbfounded gaze, the food immediately sent out some hot and dense steam.
A large bowl of rice completely filled that seemed as if it was sparkling, with four very large portions of cooked dishes: two of meat and two of vegetables. Because his family has always been lacking in money, he has never eaten such a good meal. Only from seeing it, Long Hao Chen’s eyes seemed dazzled.
Xing Yu took out two pairs of chopsticks, “Eat. When you are finished, you can rest for a little while.”
Long Hao Chen suddenly hurries to stand in front of Xing and suddenly knelt before him, letting out a ‘Puff’ sound.
“What are you doing? Don’t tell me that you don’t know men have gold under their knee[1] , how can they easily kneel down before others?” Xing Yu scolded him with fury.
Long Hao Chen lowered his head, speaking haltingly: “Teacher, I, I… …”
“What ‘I’, ‘I’ after a little favor, you will kneel down before others like this, don’t tell me I am teaching to a submissive bug?” Xing Yu’s voice becomes even stricter.
Long Hao Chen nods: “Teacher, I want to request, can I eat less every day, so that when I go home I can bring some food for Mother? Mother has also never eaten such good food.”
Xing Yu’s ferocity suddenly became dull, from his original anger there was nothing left, and he now seems somewhat sluggish. Because Long Hao Chen was still lowering his head, he didn’t notice that, at this moment, this mysterious new teacher’s lips unexpectedly trembled slightly with both of his eyes sparkling even more [2] .
Slowly standing up, Xing Yu pushed the door and was leaving, but his voice was sent back: “Stand up and eat. I promise you that as long as you will seriously follow my practice and meet my requirements, I will make someone deliver a meal for your mother every day.”
“Thank you teacher.” Long Hao Chen was overjoyed, his knees were rotating towards the door, that made some Ping Ping Ping sound before closing, then he got up, about to start eating this attractive meal.
Xing Yu stood right behind the door, looking up to the sky. He was the only one who could hear these words he let out: “Modesty, honesty, compassion, courage, fairness, sacrifice, perseverance, love, justice, what does he lack? Is he truly an inborn knight?”
When he returned to the cabin, Long Hao Chen had already finished eating lunch, but each of the meals had a half part left, and a bowl of rice was put in front of the seat of Xing Yu. As he saw him come back, he hurried to stand up and respectfully greet him.
“The room on the next door is yours, go there and rest. I will call you at the fixed time.”
“Yes.” Long Hao Chen truly thought that Teacher Xing Yu was a gift brought by heaven to him, and went to rest in great delight.
After a half hour, Xing Yu called for Long Hong Chen.
“From the afternoon to the evening, you will practice. This is for you.” Xing Yu gave Long Hao Chen a pair of dark green bamboo swords.
The bamboo swords were way lighter than any wooden swords Long Hao Chen had ever used and the handles, although light, were still quite tough.
Xing Yu dragged him by the arm, jumping once more towards the mountain peak and, in a little while, he had taken Long Hao Chen to some place half way up the mountain.
Pointing at a large rock in front of them, Xing Yu said: “This is a natural owl-ant nest. Inside, there will be thousands of owl-ants. Although these insects are not magical beasts, they are very aggressive, particularly to intruders. Don’t forget to use these bamboo swords to protect yourself.”
With such a simple explanation and without even waiting for Long Hao Chen to understand the matter, Xing Yu kicked him towards the huge rock and Long Hao Chen cried in alarm as he was sent into a pitch black cave.
Long Hao Chen’s body landed on something soft and although having fallen from a height of five meters, he was still conscious.
The large rock at his top that used to block the entrance until Xing Yu moved it to push Long Hao Chen inside of the cave was put back, and now he could faintly see up to ten meters around him.
Also at this moment, with a buzz sound, Long Hao Chen could feel around him some numerous close creatures which were flying from all directions.
At this moment, he understood what Teacher Xing Yu meant and brandished the pair of bamboo swords.
However, what he learnt at Odin Hall were only the most basic cuts, chops, and thrusting skills and before him were uncountable owl-ants that were in a frenzy. In an instant, his body was bitten and stung by a lot of them.
A violent pain was transmitted to his whole body, making Xiao Long Chen utter some pitiful cries and the bamboo swords in his hands immediately scattering.
“This is one of the practice methods I’ll instruct you and also your first examination. If you are unable to withstand this, you can leave tomorrow.”
Xing Yu’s voice spread to Long Hao Chen’s ears, making him panic and lose his firmness, but the severity of his body’s pain was even greater than the effects of these words. His clothes couldn’t restrain the bites of the owl-ants any longer and the bamboo swords in his hands that were waved in disorder were clearly hitting a large number of bodies.
“I can withstand this.” Long Hao Chen shouted. Thinking of his mother and of Xing Yu’s words, his courage began to exceed his fear and he went all out to keep waving the bamboo swords in his hands, trying to drive away these owl-ants that was attacking him unceasingly.
“The current you cannot see, but you have merely lost your sense of vision. You still have your sense of hearing, your sense of touch, and even your sense of taste. Use everything that can assist your abilities to feel everything around you.”
1. It means men should have enough honor to never kneel down before others, unless it is really necessary (for something even more important than your life, like your family’s life)
2. Proofreader Note: Every time he kowtows, my proofreading speed halves. Tearing up so badly…
