“Yang Xue!” Lin Youchen saw me, then shifted his gaze, spotting Yang Xue behind me, and said in surprise.
“You brought him to challenge us?” Lin Youchen said, somewhat incredulous.
“You overestimate yourself. Challenging you is my own idea…” Before I finished, Yang Xue glanced at Lin Youchen and interrupted, “You can recruit from my side, so why can’t I bring someone to challenge you?”
“You know my strength. This kid’s just here to get beaten!” Lin Youchen sneered at me.
Hearing this, I laughed, “Pretty c0cky, huh? Let me show you what real Chinese Martial Art looks like!”
With a flash, I rushed to Lin Youchen’s side and slapped his face.
The “slap” echoed loudly. I only hit once, but the dojo’s acoustics were so good it sounded like more, almost making me blush.
Everyone in the karate dojo froze, jaws dropped. Even Yang Xue and Yang Fan were shocked.
Lin Youchen touched his face, looking incredulous.
When he snapped back, his eyes burned with killing intent. He glared at me and said, “You’re dead!”
“Hey, we’ll see who’s dead! Looks like your other cheek’s itching too!” I taunted.
Lin Youchen gritted his teeth, “Sneak attacks aren’t heroic!”
“If I were an assassin, you’d be dead. Sneak attack? This isn’t a movie!” I smirked, staring at him. “Big idiot!”
Lin Youchen paused, then said, “All talk! Watch me teach you a lesson!”
He stepped forward, reaching for my shoulder.
“Idiot!” I teased shyly, then slapped him again.
Lin Youchen stumbled back, clutching his face, and pointed at me. “Fight fair, no cheap tricks!”
Uh… a slap isn’t exactly a cheap trick, right? Fine, since Lin Youchen wasn’t convinced, I’d switch it up.
“Come on!” I struck a classic Wong Fei-hung pose, beckoning him.
Lin Youchen’s eyes narrowed as he charged, but he didn’t knock me down.
Joking aside, a half-step Lunar Reflection expert like me getting floored by a mere karate black belt? That’d be embarrassing.
When his first move failed, Lin Youchen grabbed my shoulders, trying to throw me, and even snuck in an elbow to my stomach.
I didn’t resist, letting him fling me.
“YES!” Lin Youchen shouted, thinking he’d won.
But I did a somersault, landed, and turned with a smile. “You’re stronger than that vice-president.”
“You!” Lin Youchen stared, clearly not expecting me to be fine.
“Again! I’ll hit!” I bounced, mimicking Bruce Lee’s cries, eyeing Lin Youchen playfully.
Knocking him out would be too easy, but boring. Better to toy with him will until he begged for mercy—that would be more satisfying.
Also, it’d be impressive.
Lin Youchen’s a second-degree black belt. World champions are often just second or third-degree.
Kicking a world champ away? That’d be epic.
“Ah!” Lin Youchen charged again, grabbing my arms to throw me down.
This time, I didn’t humor him. I struck his stomach with my free hand, making him let go in pain.
“Kick, punch, throw, grab, toss, lock, choke, counter, pressure points—karate’s got tons of moves, and you just throw me?” I grinned at Lin Youchen.
He hung his head silently. I continued, “Doesn’t karate aim to disable instantly? How many rounds has it been?”
“Hmph!” Lin Youchen gritted his teeth and kicked at me.
I dodged back a step; he followed forward.
“Ya!” Lin Youchen shouted, trying to grapple me, but I shook him off with a push.
“Too weak, again!”
“That’s not how you kick!” I said, landing a kick to his chest.
“That speed won’t hit anyone!”
“Ugh, some president you are, embarrassing!”
As time passed, Lin Youchen was battered but still wouldn’t quit.
“President, you can’t beat him. Give up!” a decent-looking girl said to Lin Youchen.
Lin Youchen roared at her, “I haven’t lost!”
The girl shut up, scared.
I shook my head at Lin Youchen. “Yelling at girls? If you’re not convinced, let’s go again!”
“Hmph!” Lin Youchen, ignoring his bruises, came at me again.
“I’ve been holding back, but now I’ll show you!” I rushed him, raised my right arm, and struck his neck.
Hit hard, Lin Youchen started to fall, but I pulled him up, grabbed his arm, and threw him over my shoulder.
Thud!
His body slammed the floor. He coughed, looking ready to pass out.
“Convinced yet?” I squatted beside him.
Lin Youchen didn’t answer but sat up in pain, looking at me. “You know karate too and beat me at my best game. I’m convinced!”
“Who said I used karate?” I snapped.
“Only karate can down an opponent that fast!” Lin Youchen said confidently.
I smirked, standing up. “Sorry, I didn’t use karate. It’s our Chinese Shaolin orthodox martial art—Tang Shou!” (G: Tang Shou or Tang Hand is said to be the origin of Karate.)
“Tang Shou is fast, lethal, often a one-hit kill! But your Japanese style tries to blend everything, calling it ‘karate’!”
In my last days with Old Man Long, besides Dragon Battles the Eight Desolations, he taught me other fighting skills, including Tang Shou.
“This challenge was fun!” I stretched, walking to Yang Xue. “Senior, time to go!”
“Nice job!” Yang Xue punched my chest—pretty hard, too.
Yang Fan shouted, “Today’s challenger is from our martial arts club! Want to learn authentic Chinese martial arts? Sign up!”
Man, this guy was stopping me earlier, but now that we’ve trashed their dojo, he’s going all in on recruiting!