A Hand Reached Down

Yijin nodded his head to his master's statement and affirmed his desire to deepen his internal cultivation. There was no way he would let a chance like this go to waste. Juanbei had been given something special, the ability to transpose whomever he was talking to into the space that Yijin calls the subconscious.

In reality, the subconscious that he is describing is the vessel for the enlightenment that he has yet to receive from the Gods above. In lay terms, Yijin is a damnable, uncultured swine that had not done a single reputable thing in his life so as to deserve the attention of those above him in terms of wit and intelligence. He was, in essence, a complete moron in terms of philosophical revelations.

But, as you all know, people try their best no matter the circumstance. Of course, Yijin was in possession of the consciousness of one of the strongest warriors in history. On a side note, I would just like to convey how much it pains me to describe Huanzhi as one of the greatest warriors in the ancient past, but as the populace nowadays would state, "Them's the breaks."

Juanbei smiled warmly at his students affirmation and spoke quietly to him, "Allow me to complete my prior pressing matters with the children present and we shall discuss what you may try to attempt to reach closure with your past and walk on the lofty realms of the awoken people of the past. You would do well to heed my words soon, but until then enjoy watching the next generation of junior disciples."

Yijin beamed and looked up at his masterful teacher as the man rose from the bench he had been sitting on and began to shout at the children for not being disciplined enough with their palm movements. He then proceeded to demonstrate the motion in quite good context, considering that he had no inkling of the idea of what Ancient Cultivated Qi was.

Yijin had not felt not even the slightest essence of Qi from within Juanbei's body since he had first arrived at the training facility a few days prior. The only time he had felt it was when he was stopped by Juanbei just before falling into Xiangliu's darkness.

He did, however, have complete faith in Juanbei's mental enlightenment. For he had felt he had been talking to a sage ever since he had first met his descendant. The students continued their practice as Juanbei continued shouting commands and disciplining the ones that were slacking off. To Yijin, it felt as though he were back at Guanzi Sect again.

Yijin eventually became bored just watching, as was the case with many of the disciples of the Great Sect Leader of Guanzi. He stepped up and began to demonstrate as well. The martial art being practiced at this academy was not that of the Unknown Swordsman, of course. However, it was an art that Yijin had known quite well. Tai Qi. Yijin stepped up and began by starting off with deep breaths.

He circulated his Qi once more in his central meridian points and began a delicate and gentle interpretation of the great Sword Dance of Dongtian Wu, one of his close friends in his past life. He gently wafted, almost like a leaf being blown about in a soft, summer breeze.

His hands danced as he began to joust with an imaginary opponent in front of him. Thrust, retreat, whirl and intensely attack once more before having a gracious leap and flipping oneself to land on their feet.

His attire could have accentuated the mental battle better, but the gray hoodie he wore would have to do.

Upon finishing, he was quickly asked by Juanbei just what the hell that act was. The second question. Why the hell would he start sword dancing without a sword and in the middle of Juanbei's lesson. The kids in the group of disciples laughed and jeered. I'll put what they said into nicer terms. "That looked so 'feminine." If you catch my drift there friends.

Yijin was embarrassed of course. That was not his intention in conveying such emotion. He was only attempting to show off, but it seemed to have turned against him. He sat back down and Juanbei sighed. "Yijin, come over here."

He held up his hand and beckoned him quickly. Thus, Yijin rose once more after just having sat down and found himself as an example. "What you just witnessed was a sword dance of the ancients. It is an art. Be grateful that you have seen it. Now, Yijin. I want you to show these kids how ruthless you actually are. Kids! You see that dummy over there? Yijin made that mess of the being."

Almost each face conveyed the most shock that Yijin had ever seen in his incredibly long life. "This bony, little shitter did that?" Came a voice from the back of the three rows of disciples. Yijin broke into hearty laughter. "That's what I was waiting to hear! Step forward please." Yijin said. The kid who had spoken out stepped up to Yijin. "Tell me your name, boy."

"My name is Da Haoran, boy." Said the kid. He didn't treat Yijin as an elder. That was a mistake right there. A pretty big mistake if I do say so myself. Despite his name meaning "Vast Intelligence," I truly doubt that Da Haoran had thought that statement through enough. Yijin beamed maliciously. "Well then, perhaps you'd like a demonstration?"

"Hey, believe half of what you hear and half of what you see... eh, what are you doing?!" Yijin pulled on Da Haoran's collar lightly. Juanbei spoke, "Yijin..."

"Don't worry master, nothing is going to happen. I'm only a bony, little shitter." He beamed at Juanbei and Juanbei was slightly frightened. He began a nervous, lighthearted laughter. Yijin brought Da Haoran to a sparring mat. He was roughly three years older than the kid, but he couldn't care less. "Didn't your mother teach you not to insult strangers. Let me show you what that can do to you."

Yijin smiled and focused his qi. "Attack me."

Da Haoran looked slightly confused for a moment. "What?" Yijin sighed and narrowed his eyes on Da Haoran in disappointment . "I said attack me, you little shitter."

"Oh! That's it, bone-sack. I'm going to rip you apart." Da Haoran shouted and charged forward. He dashed pretty quickly but Yijin smiled and waited for any attack that might come his way. Haoran jumped and sent a flying kick towards Yijin's head.

Yijin clutched the boy's foot and dropped Haoran softer than usual to the ground. The boy groaned as Yijin whirled him around twice before finally setting him on his feet and pushing him in Juanbei's direction.

The boy was dizzy from the swerving vision he had just been a part of and as such walked as though he were a drunkard. His friends broke into laughter as he toppled to the ground right next to Juanbei.

"Alright, enough slacking. Back to work." Juanbei said, slightly smirking at Yijin's ingenious idea of making Da Haoran an example. The class soon finished and Yijin sat down with Juanbei in the office on the way out he heard a loudly whispering voice speak, "Screw you, bony." Yijin grinded his teeth once before quieting down and sat down with Juanbei who began to discuss with him.

"Yijin, you're obviously an expert fighter. As you know, there is nothing I could possibly teach you physically as you already are at a point of mastery far beyond my own. The only thing that I do request of you is that you listen to me on the terms of psychological enlightenment." He paused for a moment and sipped from a coffee cup that was in fact filled with hot tea.

"See, Yijin. Your consciousness is much like this coffee cup. It is filled partially with memories, but not much with the philosophy that could bring you to a higher realm of understanding. Now, what I do know is that most people have a past that they are afraid to return to. It seems to me that you are one of these people. Despite being so young, you are incredibly mature. It is almost as if I am speaking to a man around my age. Now then, if we can get past the flattery. My main idea for you to be able to reach the goals that you want to achieve is that you must relive and receive closure from your past. Perhaps there is someone you know that you have wronged and wish to correct what occurred or perhaps something in your past... I don't know. Whatever it may be, Yijin, you must figure out a way to see your past from an entirely different perspective and to fix whatever it is that is holding you back."

Ere Juanbei took another drink from his cup and swallowed once loudly before speaking once more. "Yijin. I assume that you already experienced one of these memories before? Am I correct? They usually occur after outbursts of the Dark Qi that I felt within you that night. Which is why I must be present whenever you are about to have one of those releases. I suggest you to find a way to safely have this sort of release in the proximity of me so that I could easily keep tabs on what is occurring within your body. I also know that some malevolent spirit is possessing your meridian points. I am not sure which spirit that may be, but it is a concern to me. You will most definitely have to eradicate this spirit after you become stronger in your conscious mind."

Yijin nodded in understanding. "Then, for me to relive those memories, you want me to have those Dark Qi outbursts?"

"Yes, Yijin. But it would be far to dangerous to do it alone. Once I sense that spirit close to enveloping your mind, I will pull you out of that state. Of course, the Dark Qi only emerges when there is something you desire deeply. I assume you desired powerfully to protect me when you saw the thugs that night which is why the spirit was able to control you in the short term. It was good that I was there to pull you back, otherwise the being would have controlled you permanently."

Yijin nodded and once more thanked Juanbei.

"Now then, how will we deal with this issue of the release. You said you are being hunted by a gang recently. Is that correct?" Asked Juanbei.

Yijin nodded in reply.

Juanbei continued. "Perhaps if you ever encounter one of those enemies when I am around, then you should let the spirit out for a while. Let it wreak havoc on your enemies and then I will bring you back to your normal self. You will, of course, go into an unconscious state after my interference. Hopefully by then the enemy has exhausted all of his ploys and decoys."

Yijin nodded once more. It was perfect then that Kayegawa was watching and waiting for a perfect opportunity to strike. He had been keeping tabs on Yijin since he had volunteered to free Lu Gongfen of the stressful existence that was Yijin. Yijin had no idea of this, and had not even known that Lu Gongfen was even near to him.

But he obviously had more important things to do than worry about Lu Gongfen's dastardly schemes. As such, he now listened to the rest of Juanbei's lecture. Eventually he headed home. The martial arts academy was completely empty of people and Juanbei was the last person within. Kayegawa was currently placed above the nearby convenience store rooftop and watched in silence as Yijin and Juanbei spoke.

Once Yijin had left, Kayegawa grinned sadistically and leaped from the rooftop. He landed softly on the ground. Another cultivator, Goddamn it. He stepped up to the door and opened it quietly. The bell did not ring upon his entry.

"Hey, sorry sir. We're closed. If you'd like to discuss your child coming by to start training here, we will be open tomorrow from nine in the morning until eight in the evening."

"Oh believe me, I know. I don't have a child, Master Juanbei. Nor would I bring said child to such a shabby martial artist such as yourself." Kayegawa pulled a blunt weapon and stepped forward. "I think you can guess why I'm here now."

"Well, it's either protection money or you're one of the guys hunting Yijin. Well, I'm not exactly totally useless."

Juanbei lifted his fists and a burst of Qi rushed through his body. "So you are a cultivator, Juanbei. I knew something was amiss with you. You have much circulation of Qi around your head but your physicality lacks. I will show you the difference between your third-rate martial arts and that of a true master." Kayegawa dropped his weapon and put up his fists, entering the hengdangbu stance of the Shaolin school.

One way that an assassin can cause injury to a target without actually striking? Take the people closest to the person in question hostage.