Chapter 37: Ye Wuwen

“To be honest, I’m a little disappointed that all I have to fight is you two weaklings.” Ye Wuwen said. “I’ll just finish you both off quickly and get into the main action.”

“We don’t have to do this,” Jiahai said. “We eman you no ill will. We just want the girl and we’ll leave.”

Ye Wuwen laughed at this. “You knowingly bring a man who wishes us harm to our doorstep and yet you say you don’t mean us harm? You’re a joke and after I’m done with you, I’ll kill this traitor, Jun Nee!”

Yu Wuwen moved quickly, closing the distance between him an d the boys fast before trying to kick them. almost as one, they leapt to the side, dodging the sweeping kick. Jiahai moved too far back but Zen stayed close, dashing forward while making his qi flow to activate Blits Punch. Yu Wuwen made a motion with his hand, as if he was commanding something to rise from the ground and sure enough a screen made of murky white qqi grew from the ground. Zen’s fist hit the screen, not making a dent in it. Yu Wuwen thrust his other hand out, his palm striking the screen, sending it curving into Zen. He was sent hurtling back past Jiahai, who simply stared as Zen landed some distance behind him.

Jiahai whipped his head forward to see Yu Wuwen coming closer to him. He clenched his fist, activating his qi technique, causing qi to shape and spike around his fist like a knuckleduster. He thrust his fist out and was met with the same qi screen Zen was. He had no time to be confused before the barrier slammed into him. He crashed next to Zen, who was still getting up.

“That hurt almost as much as the block barrier,” Jiahai said as Zen helped him to his feet.

“Tell me about it.”

“He’s strong and fast,” Jiahai noted.

“The speed comes from a qi technique,” Zen said, thinking back to when he had seen Jun Nee use the same technique. “I think it lightens the body to make him move faster, so fleeing is useless. Our best bet is to stick close to him.”

“O-Okay,” Jiahaid said.

“Arrogant nobles,” Yu Wuwen spat as he sped forward. “It’s not bad enough that you’re better off than us, now you have to push your prissy noses into our business!”

Yu Wuwen thrust his knee out. Jiahai leapt back but Zen stood his ground, guarding the knee with his forearms held before him. Zen countered with an uppercut to Yu Wuwen’s face. The boy pursued, trading punches, kicks and blocks with the older boy. Zen was fairing much better against the older boy a she landed more hits and blocked even more. It seemed out of the two, he was the better at hand-to-hand combat.

Yu Wuwen leapt back from the unexpected beating he was receiving. Zen gave him no quarter, immediately comig after him. Zen kicked out but his leg was stopped dead in its tracks by the qi screen.

“Not this again,” Zen said before Yu Wuwen thrust his palm out and sent the screen blasting into him. Zen flew back and crashed into one of the boulders in the stone garden, his back curling sickeningly around the boulder before it snapped straight, allowing him to fall forward onto his face.

“Master Wang!” Jun Nee cried out from her position on the rock.

Jiahai ran to him but found his path barred by Yu Wuwen, who punched him into the ground.

“You will fail and I will kill your precious Jun Nee!” Yu Wuwen said.

“How… could… you…” Wang Zen said, lifting his upper body of the ground with shaky hands. The dust from the stone garden was caked on his face. “How could you treat someone like the way you’re doing?”

“Hah! You’re one to talk!” Yu Wuwen said. “You nobles, you treat us commoners like trash, just because we don’t have a legacy of blood on our hands!”

“My friend and I don’t treat anyone like trash,” Zen said.

“Really? So are you trying to tell me that you’ve never treated anyone bad because they were a commoner? Because you believed they were beneath you!”

“I… No?” Zen said, thinking of all the commoners he has met, his friend Yin Zheng, his guards Ding Wu and Yin Bhiki and Jun Nee. They were all commoners and people he cared about and treated well. Then, he thought of Deng Ai and Li Ao, who he had mistreated; he thought of Jun Nee, who he had made a promise t and then carelessly forgot about; he thought of Chen Jian, the commoner prodigy who he hated more than anything. His eyes filled with shame and he gazed at Jiahai’s whose eyes mirrored his.

“’No?’” Yu Wuwen said. “It doesn’t sound like your sure. No matter, you won’t live to mistreat another commoner again.”

Zen flipped his feet up against the boulder, every movement sending ain flaring at his spine.

“You can still move?” Yu Wuwen said in disbelief.

Zen pushed off the boulder, shooting for Yu Wuwen. His kick was stopped by another screen but he pushed off that, dodging its main force but his body was clipped, sending him spiralling in the air. His spiral came to a stop when he was caught by Jiahai, who placed him gently on the ground.

“Are you okay?” Jiahai said.

“I’ll live for now,” Zen answered. “Jiahai, why aren’t you fighting?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t have my back and you don’t support me when I attack.” he said. “Why aren’t yu fighting?”

“I… I…” Jiahai clenched his fist. “I’m afraid.”

“I’m afraid too but I know we can beat him.” Zen said. “Remember when we hunt together? We’d sometimes come across a powerful beast but together we’d beat the beast. We can also beat this guy, together. I can’t do it alone. We can only do it together. Will you help me?”

Jiahai took a moment before nodding.

“Thank you,” Zen said. “I have a plan and enough qi for a few more of my blits punches. Of the both of us, you’re technique has the greatest striking force, so this is what I’ll need you to do.”

Yu Wuwen narrowed his eyes at the whispering boys. “No amount of scheming can help you two!”

Zen gazed up at Yu Wuwen and ran for him. he punched out but his fist was blocked by the qi screen.

“Fool, this will only lead to the same result!” Yu Wuwen thrust his palm to te screen, sending it into Zen.

Zen activated his Blits Punch, dispersing the energy of the attack but still landed on his back. He clenched his teeth as he moaned, feeling like his spine was threatening to snap. Forcing himself onto his feet, he charged again. His leg was met with another qi screen that was pushed into him.

“I won’t lose,” Zen said as he activated his Blits Punch to disperse the energy. “I won’t lose to you!”

He was able to disperse the energy without being knocked over, but he was being pushed back, his feet tracing twin paths into the sand. He dashed forward again, slamming his fist against another qi screen. The screen was pushed into him and he met it with another volley of Blits Punches. As he was being pushed back, he felt his technique coming closer to end. He gritted his teeth and poured more qi to sustain the attack. This happened instinctively, much like what happened with using his qi in tandem with his sword to escape the water bubble. He was able to fully dissipate the qi and pushed forward into another hastily made qi screen.

Zen felt exhaustion creep up on him as he pushed himself to his limits and that is when it happened. His acupoints opened up and the surrounding mana took to him like water to a dry sponge. The mana was quickly refined into qi, added to his dwindling qi pillar and increasing its energy potential. The pressure from the low qi pillar broke the immediate barrier around it in the dantain. Zen had done it! He had broken through into Intermediary. Zen stopped with a fist on the screen, as he took a moment to take in his new strength.

“Hey,” Yu Wuwen whipped his head to where Jiahai was, standing behind the qi screen. Jiahai slammed his qi knuckleduster fist into Yu Wuwen, sending him airborn.

Regaining his bearings, Zen leapt up after him, using his remaining qi to blits punch Yu Wuwen higher into the air. Jiahai jumped onto Zen’s shoulde before pushing off to get higher, slamming his other qi knuckleduster fist down at Yu Wuwen, bringing his flight to a stop and sending him spiralling down. Acting on instinct, Zen twisted his body in midair, which made it feel like his spine would break, but ignoring the pain, he slammed his heel into Yu Wuwen’s falling form, increasing the speed of his fall. Wuwen crashed into the floor, a ring of dust rising from his body, however, his ordeal was not done as Zen fell down after him, slamming his knee into the older boy’s chest. Zen rolled away just before Jiahai also fell down, slamming his knuckleduster fist into his forehead before he too rolled to the side.

They both knelt at either side of Yu Wuwen’s body, preparing for a counter, but the downed teen stood still. Zen and Jiahai looked at each other, excitement shining in their eyes.

“We did it,” Zen said. “We won!”