âYang Xue!â Lin Youchen saw me, then shifted his gaze, spotting Yang Xue behind me, and said in surprise.
âYou brought him to challenge us?â Lin Youchen said, somewhat incredulous.
âYou overestimate yourself. Challenging you is my own ideaâŚâ Before I finished, Yang Xue glanced at Lin Youchen and interrupted, âYou can recruit from my side, so why canât I bring someone to challenge you?â
âYou know my strength. This kidâs just here to get beaten!â Lin Youchen sneered at me.
Hearing this, I laughed, âPretty c0cky, huh? Let me show you what real Chinese Martial Art looks like!â
With a flash, I rushed to Lin Youchenâs side and slapped his face.
The âslapâ echoed loudly. I only hit once, but the dojoâs 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, âYouâre dead!â
âHey, weâll see whoâs dead! Looks like your other cheekâs itching too!â I taunted.
Lin Youchen gritted his teeth, âSneak attacks arenât heroic!â
âIf I were an assassin, youâd be dead. Sneak attack? This isnât a movie!â I smirked, staring at him. âBig idiot!â
Lin Youchen paused, then said, âAll talk! Watch me teach you a lesson!â
He stepped forward, reaching for my shoulder.
âIdiot!â I teased shyly, then slapped him again.
Lin Youchen stumbled back, clutching his face, and pointed at me. âFight fair, no cheap tricks!â
Uh⌠a slap isnât exactly a cheap trick, right? Fine, since Lin Youchen wasnât convinced, Iâd switch it up.
âCome on!â I struck a classic Wong Fei-hung pose, beckoning him.
Lin Youchenâs eyes narrowed as he charged, but he didnât knock me down.
Joking aside, a half-step Lunar Reflection expert like me getting floored by a mere karate black belt? Thatâd 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 didnât resist, letting him fling me.
âYES!â Lin Youchen shouted, thinking heâd won.
But I did a somersault, landed, and turned with a smile. âYouâre stronger than that vice-president.â
âYou!â Lin Youchen stared, clearly not expecting me to be fine.
âAgain! Iâll hit!â I bounced, mimicking Bruce Leeâs cries, eyeing Lin Youchen playfully.
Knocking him out would be too easy, but boring. Better to toy with him will until he begged for mercyâthat would be more satisfying.
Also, itâd be impressive.
Lin Youchenâs a second-degree black belt. World champions are often just second or third-degree.
Kicking a world champ away? Thatâd be epic.
âAh!â Lin Youchen charged again, grabbing my arms to throw me down.
This time, I didnât humor him. I struck his stomach with my free hand, making him let go in pain.
âKick, punch, throw, grab, toss, lock, choke, counter, pressure pointsâkarateâs got tons of moves, and you just throw me?â I grinned at Lin Youchen.
He hung his head silently. I continued, âDoesnât karate aim to disable instantly? How many rounds has it been?â
âHmph!â Lin Youchen gritted his teeth and kicked at me.
I dodged back a step; he followed forward.
âYa!â Lin Youchen shouted, trying to grapple me, but I shook him off with a push.
âToo weak, again!â
âThatâs not how you kick!â I said, landing a kick to his chest.
âThat speed wonât hit anyone!â
âUgh, some president you are, embarrassing!â
As time passed, Lin Youchen was battered but still wouldnât quit.
âPresident, you canât beat him. Give up!â a decent-looking girl said to Lin Youchen.
Lin Youchen roared at her, âI havenât lost!â
The girl shut up, scared.
I shook my head at Lin Youchen. âYelling at girls? If youâre not convinced, letâs go again!â
âHmph!â Lin Youchen, ignoring his bruises, came at me again.
âIâve been holding back, but now Iâll show you!â 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.
âConvinced yet?â I squatted beside him.
Lin Youchen didnât answer but sat up in pain, looking at me. âYou know karate too and beat me at my best game. Iâm convinced!â
âWho said I used karate?â I snapped.
âOnly karate can down an opponent that fast!â Lin Youchen said confidently.
I smirked, standing up. âSorry, I didnât use karate. Itâs our Chinese Shaolin orthodox martial artâTang Shou!â (G: Tang Shou or Tang Hand is said to be the origin of Karate.)
âTang Shou is fast, lethal, often a one-hit kill! But your Japanese style tries to blend everything, calling it âkarateâ!â
In my last days with Old Man Long, besides Dragon Battles the Eight Desolations, he taught me other fighting skills, including Tang Shou.
âThis challenge was fun!â I stretched, walking to Yang Xue. âSenior, time to go!â
âNice job!â Yang Xue punched my chestâpretty hard, too.
Yang Fan shouted, âTodayâs challenger is from our martial arts club! Want to learn authentic Chinese martial arts? Sign up!â
Man, this guy was stopping me earlier, but now that weâve trashed their dojo, heâs going all in on recruiting!