IRL Console 15 Ye Zhen

Ma Sa stuck closely by the side of his teacher as they approached the gate. Guan Yuang Fei showed the guard a letter and the two of them were invited inside to wait for an attendant to guide them to their destination.

After waiting only a short while, a smiling bear like figure entered the room.

"Teacher Guan!" the bear roared as he extended his paw to clap Guan Yuang Fei on the shoulder. "I was pleasantly surprised to receive your letter. I thought you'd forgotten about your old friend here!"

"Hahhh, Ye Zhu you know it's not like I'd forget about you but rather that I didn't want Kong Gui to make trouble for you out in the Jianghu. You know what sort of guy he is. Besides, you only returned a couple of months ago."

"Hahaha what can that idiot Kong Gui do to me? When he's not with his daddy he's nothing!"

Guan Yuang Fei's face paled at the mention of Kong Gui. He suppressed a shudder as he said:

"He went to great lengths to frame me for embezzlement of prefectural funds. So much so that even I would have to find myself guilty if I was the judge! The evidence was simply overwhelming! That's what makes him scary. He's a schemer of the highest order. In the Jianghu he wouldn't even approach you himself. Someone else, probably much stronger than him, would do the killing and not a trace of him would be found."

Ma Sa was curious as to how the bear-like Ye Zhu knew his teacher. He hadn't heard the backstory as to how Old Guan had ended up in the slums before. If he was found guilty of stealing prefectural funds then, as an adult, he would have been stripped of all his possessions - even the clothes on his back - and been forced to leave the settlement. To frame someone for a crime was extremely malicious. If discovered, all involved parties who were guilty of such an act would be immediately put to death or enslaved. Since they didn't care for the rights of others they would forfeit their own.

Ma Sa felt a searing rage at the injustice that befell his kind old teacher. Currently though, he was beyond powerless to seek redress.

"Enough about that. It only leaves a bitter taste for me. The reason I contacted you was to show off my bright young student!" Guan Yuang Fei turned to look at Ma Sa.

"Ma Sa greets uncle Ye Zhu!" said Ma Sa as he clasped his fists and bowed deeply.

"Oh, this brat knows how to get his elders properly alright! Hahaha! Nice to meet you little one." Ye Zhu nodded in approval before turning back to Old Guan. "But let me tell you up front that I won't be able to train him if that's what you're here for. I'm going to be heading out to the Jianghu in a few days time on a large scale hunt. I don't know when I'll be able to come back so I'm afraid that I'll have to decline. If the boy still needs a martial teacher when I return then I'll be able to spare some time. However, I'd advise you to try and find someone else if possible, my friend. Ye Zhu's face was apologetic but serious as he said so. He felt bad he couldn't be of more help to his old friend.

Guan Yuang Fei's face froze momentarily as he hadn't expected such a direct refusal. He really didn't have many options anymore as, out of all of his former 'friends', only Ye Zhu believed in his innocence.

"Why don't you just teach him yourself Old Guan? You're more qualified than most to teach." Ye Zhu couldn't help but wonder why Old Quan wanted him to teach the boy instead of doing it himself.

"I... Well, I don't really have much confidence in teaching him. As you know, my martial art is somewhat 'different' to others and requires a certain const.i.tution." Old Guan's smiled wryly as he mentioned it. Ma Sa listened with interest. He had seen Old Guan's fierce fighting prowess on the day of the zombie outbreak and it didn't seem any different to others from what his untrained eye could tell. He jumped into his inventory and scanned all of the training manuals he had for a couple of days worth of time. Eventually he came across a martial art that required a specific const.i.tution to be cultivated. Unfortunately, it was highly unlikely that Guan Yuang Fei cultivated the 'Divine Ice Nine Yin Mantra' as only those with a Perfect Yin body or Shadow Blessed bones could cultivate it. Individuals with those characteristics could only be females or demonic beasts. Frustrated but now hopeful, Ma Sa continued to read in his inventory for another week.

Eventually he found a likely candidate: 'Dark Flame Corona Spirit Art.' It could only be cultivated with a Transient Yin - Enduring Yang Soul; something that only had a chance of occurring when a child was conceived during a solar eclipse. According to 'A Comprehensive Historical Record of The Qian Continent' there was a solar eclipse in the north-east region just over sixty-six years ago. This would coincide with Ma Sa's estimate of Old Guan's age. Ma Sa wondered where Old Guan would have found the rare and ancient training manual though... His teacher certainly had a lot of secrets so it wouldn't surprise him if he truly was cultivating the mysterious art. Having satisfied his curiosity and broadened his knowledge of martial arts even further, Ma Sa exited the inventory again.

It was a little disorienting to rejoin a conversation after a more than a week had pa.s.sed in one's mind. He zoned out for a second as he listened to Ye Zhu exchange words with his teacher.

"Hmm that's a problem alright but it shouldn't be a problem for you to teach him the basics, right?"

"You don't get it. My art deals with the soul and not the Qi. I could conceivably teach him beginner soul arts but that's only when he gains access to his soul plane."

"Ah... Oh, right! Why not let my nephew Ye Zhen show him the ropes then. Little Zhen is only a few years older than Ma Sa but he has a very good grasp of the basics."

Ma Sa snapped back to reality as he heard these words. "Uncle Ye Zhu! Please introduce me to older brother Ye Zhen! If it's as teacher says and I'm really unsuited to learning the Dark Flame Corona Spirit Art then I would like to learn the basics of Qi refinement anyway I can. If big brother Ye Zhen is willing to teach me I'd be extremely grateful!"

Ma Sa stared at his uncle Ye Zhu ardently as he waited for a response. He didn't notice that, by his side, Old Guan was about to have a seizure. He'd never told anyone other than his wife about the martial art he was cultivating, not even his closest friends.

"Oi, Old Guan! I thought you wouldn't say no matter what and now you've told the brat? Did our friends.h.i.+p mean so little to you??" Ye Zhu acted heartbroken. He didn't really care what Art his friend practiced and it was generally a taboo to probe when someone was unwilling to reveal their martial secrets. Ma Sa then realized his slip up.

"That..." He was about to speak but then decided against it. He might just make things worse in his ignorance. Old Guan looked at him with a confused and conflicted expression. Just how did the boy know of his Art? Was Ma Sa planted at his side by a powerful ent.i.ty to steal the Art? All sorts of paranoid thoughts ran through his mind. He grasped at any idea for an explanation but none was forthcoming.

"Ummm, Master. Sorry for prying but when you mentioned your art needed a special const.i.tution I was curious so remembered the books I had read about them. Also, I had read in 'A Comprehensive Historical Record of The Qian Continent' that there was an eclipse in the north-east around sixty-six years ago... Is it bad that I guessed?"

Old Guan remained stoic as he screamed "Oh for f.u.c.k sake! He f.u.c.king guessed it?? Guessed? This kid's going to kill me at this rate..." inside his mind. His lips twitched as he a.s.sured Ma Sa that it was fine but to keep it a secret in future. Ye Zhu watched on with amus.e.m.e.nt at the changing faces of Old Guan. It seemed like a child was a good addition to the old man's life. He had rarely ever gotten to see his old friend so emotional!

"Please, Old Ye, if you wouldn't mind could you send for Ye Zhen? Ma Sa is really eager to meet someone who could teach him." Old Guan sighed as he made his request.

"Sure, hold on a moment. I'll be right back!" Ye Zhu seemingly vanished. A few seconds later he appeared again.

"Put me down s.h.i.+tty bear! Help! Kidnap! ****!"

Ma Sa could hardly stifle his laughter as he looked at the wet, naked older boy hanging upside-down by the ankles from his uncle's grip.

"Hohoho! You little rascal! Who's a s.h.i.+tty bear, huh? Who told you to go take a bath with your maid instead of properly training? You're never going to get strong like me if you slack off now!" Ye Zhu's face was plastered with obvious amus.e.m.e.nt as he berated his nephew.

Ye Zhen was then dumped unceremoniously on the ground before Old Guan and Ma Sa.

"This kid here is Ma Sa. From now on he's gonna observe you train and you'll have to teach him the basics. If you can't make him a martial warrior in one year you can say goodbye to your maid!"

"You s.h.i.+tty b-"

Before Ye Zhen could respond, Ye Zhu had vanished again. His voice called rang out from afar: "Sorry I couldn't see you out Old Guan. Things to do!"

Ma Sa looked at the fuming Ye Zhen and figured he'd better introduce himself properly.

"Greetings big brother Ye Zhen. My name is Ma Sa. I hope we get along well from now on. I'll be in your care!"

**********************

Ma Sa later questioned what the h.e.l.l he'd been thinking when he started this 'playthrough'... He'd been running behind Ye Zhen for over four hours up and down a steep hillside. He was utterly exhausted and Ye Zhen hadn't uttered so much as a word to him since his surprisingly chipper naked greeting earlier. It turned out that Ye Zhen was quite a friendly guy! When Ma Sa's stamina reserves had pretty much run dry, the now clothed Ye Zhen finally came to a stop.

"Sit." he ordered. Ma Sa certainly wouldn't object. "You're pretty good for someone who's never trained before! Now, concentrate! Feel your blood pumping through your body. Feel it quickly or we'll have to run again tomorrow. Now, breathe like me." He sat down in the lotus position opposite Ma Sa and began to breathe in a specific pattern.

Ma Sa could now guess where this was going. He paid great attention to his pulse as he matched his breath to Ye Zhen's. He blocked out everything else and simply focused on his blood. He had no idea what to expect but he was rapidly recovering his stamina and was afraid of having to run more. He was frantically trying to find something special about the blood but nothing stood out! Suddenly, just as he recovered to his peak stamina, his vision met a wondrous sight.

[Magicka Increased to 1]

[Level Progress -------- 1]