Flying Dust - Chapter 9

He Yunfeng frowned, thought it was funny and said, “What do you mean by ‘Finger Flicking Skill’? Just now, that is only the most basic of ‘form the sword’. If you are willing and eager to learn the internal strength1[内功 (Neigong) :refers to any of a set of Chinese breathing, meditation and spiritual practice disciplines associated with Daoism and especially the Chinese martial arts. ] properly, you could do much more than just ‘forming your sword’.”

“That’s enough! There are so many Shi Xiong who are more diligent than me and they have been practicing for more than ten years, but still that’s all to it. There are only two to three hundred disciples in martial arts society who are able to ‘form the sword’.” Mo Fei Chen found a tree branch and pushed the fish back to the shore.

“You’re not like them, you have the talent.”

“Hey, indeed that’s also what Yu Shi Xiong has said that I have the talent to make people furious to death.” Mo Fei Chen burst into laughter as he carried the fish.

“Didn’t you already say that you wouldn’t think about that Shi Xiong of you anymore?”

“Habit, I’m used to it!” Mo Fei Chen laughed ‘He he’, “Moreover, I wasn’t thinking about him when I mentioned him just now. But Shi Fu, when everything is perfectly all right, why do you suddenly mention practicing martial arts? Didn’t we agree that I wouldn’t need to practice martial arts if I accompanied you to eat, drink and have fun?”

“I’m bored ah! I’m teaching you to practise martial arts, it can also be counted that I am looking for something to do.”

“No, don’t wanna! It’s such hard work to practice martial arts, I can’t endure the hardships.”

“Who said that practicing kung fu is such hard work?” He Yunfeng flicked his fingertips on the tip of Mo Fei Chen’s nose, “The harder a fool tries, if he doesn’t reach the point, then his every effort is useless. Naturally, it won’t work.”

“Even if I have mastered it, I also don’t want to go through Jiang Hu…”

“Both of us master and disciple can play and practice the moves of a martial art with each other.” He Yunfeng paused, there was a little childishness in his eyes.

It was that bit of naivety, especially precious in those untroubled eyes.

“Okay then…” Mo Fei Chen immediately regretted it after saying these two words and hurriedly changed the subject, “I’ll go and give the fish to the kitchen staff before we talk about it again!”

In the evening, fish cooked in sweet and sour sauce smelled so good that the two master and apprentice moved the table and chairs out and sat on the cliff path. The cooks also gave them a bottle of good wine, so how could one eat the fish without wine?

He Yunfeng was holding a glass of wine and smelling it gently on his nose. The hair at his forehead lightly floating in the wind, messy but with an elegant figure, “What are you looking at?”

“Look Shi Fu, you are really a handsome man…” Mo Fei Chen accidentally said what was in his mind.

“You have two more years to grow up, I’m afraid there will be a lot of young girls who will fall in love with you.” He Yunfeng moved his glass of wine back and forth in front of Mo Fei Chen’s face, “Can you drink?”

“Not really.”

“Drink with me, it’s lonely to drink alone.”

“Who said there is only one person? There are obviously four.” Mo Fei Chen pointed at the shadow on the ground, “This time, Shi Fu, you won’t be lonely,right?”

Under the moon, He Yunfeng smiled. Even though he didn’t drink the wine yet, Mo Fei Chen felt that he was already drunk.

The next day, Mo Fei Chen deliberately stayed in bed, hoping that He Yunfeng wouldn’t remember their appointment at the pool yesterday. In the distance the sound of the young disciples practicing their swords could be heard. He was sitting at the table, playing Gobang by himself.

Until it was noon, when Mo Fei Chen’s stomach rumbled, only then he stretched himself out of bed and got up.

“What would you like to eat for lunch?” He Yunfeng’s voice was indifferent. All of his energy was focused on the paper on the table that was covered with squares.

“Corn flour steamed buns, if only there were some pickles too then it would be better.” Mo Fei Chen rinsed his mouth with the plain boiled water and came up behind He Yunfeng, “Shi Fu, do you play by yourself?”

“Wrong, I’m bored at the moment.” He Yunfeng raised his eyes and rubbed his chin, “Because certain someone doesn’t want to practice.”

Mo Fei Chen grinned, “Fine, okay, I’ll practice then…” As long as I keep looking like a piece of shit2[The original one used this: 爛泥巴扶不上牆. The literal meaning of it ; the mud is too watery to stick to a wall. This usually implies that the said person is totally hopeless or fucking useless and incompetent that any effort trying to teach him or groom him for that position/skill is better spent on any other less useless activity.], even if you have a good temper, you’ll also eventually beg me to stop practicing.

So, after lunch, Mo Fei Chen followed He Yunfeng to an open field, surrounded by trees and occasionally a few hares poking their heads in and looking around.

He Yunfeng casually broke two branches and threw one to Mo Fei Chen, “No matter what kind of kung fu you practice, you don’t have to grit your teeth and get up early and stay up late to get the result.”

“Oh?” Mo Fei Chen shrugged his shoulders, “Then I’d like to see how Shi Fu is going to teach me?”

Back then, even Yu Jin was so angry with him that he vomited blood.

“Come and attack me! all you have to do is….” He Yunfeng picked up a dead leaf from the ground and stuck it at his waist, “Just to let this leaf fall.”

Mo Fei Chen looked at him. The difference between him and He Yunfeng was not just a little bit, Although it was only a withered leaf, he was afraid that it would take him eight or ten years to make it fall.

“I won’t use my internal force on you. How about treating it as a game?” He Yunfeng touched the ground with the tree branch.

When Mo Fei Chen heard him say that, he was energized and rushed forward with the branch in his hand, “I’m coming——”

He Yunfeng smiled and dodged him easily. The way he blocked Mo Fei Chen looked simple, but in fact, it had a hidden secret, even a single turn, jump, or tug were both offensive and defensive.

Mo Fei Chen was played and tricked by him, running around in circles. He directly threw away the branch and lay down on the ground, “No more, this young master is tired.”

He Yunfeng was not angry when he saw he deliberately behaved in an unreasonable way again. Instead, he got down beside him and reached out to hold his wrist, shaking it in the air and pressing his fingers between his wrists to show him how to apply the force, “Look, you only need to do this to block my move. Just like that, that one move that makes you fall before. With this, then you will be able to take my belt…”

At first, Mo Fei Chen didn’t want to pay attention to him, but although He Yunfeng’s voice wasn’t very powerful and majestic, it had an elegant, deep and sonorous voice that gradually drew his mind to it. As Mo Fei Chen felt the other party move his wrist, he realized that every move and every stance of He Yunfeng was worthy for him to figure it out carefully.

“Are you sure you don’t want to play with me anymore?” He Yunfeng turned his face to the side, like a smile yet not a smile.

Only then did Mo Fei Chen come to his senses, climb to stand up, pat his own buttocks and said, “Who said that? This disciple is just resting!”

“Are you really rested?” He Yunfeng laughed, and before he could sit up, Mo Fei Chen rushed forward with a branch in his hand.

“Look at this——!”

He Yunfeng turned to his side. The branch spun around Mo Fei Chen’s wrist and he blocked it then, “You, this shameless naughty monkey!”

The afternoon passed just like that. Mo Fei Chen still hadn’t swept the fallen leaves off the ground, but it was undeniable that he was intrigued by the game.

In the evening, after dinner, Mo Fei Chen was drenched in sweat and sticky, while he fanned the fire that used to boil the hot water, he couldn’t help but recall He Yunfeng’s movements in his mind. When the water was ready, he foolishly tried to grab it with his hand, but fortunately his hand was held down by He Yunfeng.

“Don’t be silly, be careful,okay? Your hand will turn into monkey’s paw braise in soy sauce!”

Mo Fei Chen raised his eyes, this was the first time he had seen He Yunfeng frown.

He poured the hot water into the tub and then poured some cold water over it, “Shi Fu, you go wash first ba! I’ll go and boil another bucket of water for myself.”

He Yunfeng turned his back to him and took off his outer clothing, the tall and slender curve of his back made Mo Fei Chen gulp, just as he was about to turn around and leave, he was called and stopped by him, “Why bother to boil another one? You’re so small, why don’t you wash with me? ”

“Take a bath…together…?” Mo Fei Chen was dumbfounded, “Better… Better not then… it’s quite weird…”

While he was talking, He Yunfeng already stepped into the bathtub, “You’re not even a little girl, so what’s the point of being shy? Ah, I know it! You are actually a little girl?”

“Who….Who said that?! I respect you as my Shi Fu so I feel it’s not refined and elegant to be stark naked in front of you!”

“Ha…ha ha ha…” He Yunfeng raised his head and laughed. That unscrupulous side of him made Mo Fei Chen once again dumbfounded, “You this lazy monkey, you’re still talking to me about elegance? Come, come, come on! How about this master help you to undress and let me see if there is something ‘elegant’ on you?”

“I’m still…”

“Do you need to beat around the bush so much? I’m not going to eat you, at most I’ll ask you to rub my back.” He Yunfeng shook his head.

“If you want me to take it off, then I’ll just take it off!” Mo Fei Chen pulled off his outer clothing and threw it away, then stretched out his legs to step into the tub.

He Yunfeng stretched out his hands and pulled off his obscene pants, “Why are you being shy? What kind of person takes a bath and still wears trousers?”

Mo Fei Chen was tugged by him, and half of his white and soft buttocks were exposed. With a red face, he threw his obscene pants out and hurriedly sat down in the bathtub.

He Yunfeng’s legs were so long that they almost encircled Mo Fei Chen.Their bodies were so close to each other that Mo Fei Chen hardly dared to look down, but He Yunfeng was relaxed, his head resting on the edge of the barrel. His face was tinged with red from the heat of the water, a haze of mist that made a person’s heart beat faster.

Mo Fei Chen dared not look any further, he could only swallow his saliva while looking away.

He Yunfeng reached out and put a piece of thatch into the water, “Fei Chen, look!”

Mo Fei Chen lowered his head and saw that underneath the thatch was He Yunfeng’s base of thigh, “Look…look at what…?”

He Yunfeng slowly straightened himself up and pushed his palm on the surface of the water, causing the grass to ripple, “Everyone says that ‘water’ is the highest level of martial arts. For example, the ideal is to be like water3[上善若水 : the ideal is to be like water (which benefits all living things and does not struggle against them) (quotation from the “Book of Dao” Dàodéjīng [道德经])], take out your sword and cut off the water, it’s ‘like floating clouds and flowing water’, natural and spontaneous. Whatever vessel the water is being put in, then it can be whatever shape. Give it a gap and it will come out. It is also said that ‘water flows downwards’ which means that water knows how to judge the situation.”

“Shi Fu, what do you want to say?” This time, Mo Fei Chen now understood that He Yunfeng was not trying to seize this opportunity to tease him or ask him to rub his back, but he wanted to teach him something.

“Just like this thin thatch, it also moves the way the water moves. The so-called ‘drift with the tide or current’. If you follow the flow of the water…in learning the martial arts, you will be able to handle any situation with ease no matter what condition you have encountered…The same in being an upright person, rather than insist on going against the current, you might as well go with the flow and be at peace with yourself, as long as you can let go of your greed, anger and obsession.”

“This disciple understands.” Mo Fei Chen nodded his head.

“Let’s play a game, each of us can only move the water but we can’t touch the grass. Whoever touches the grass first, he loses.”

“Okay! Interesting.” Mo Fei Chen’s finger moved around at the surface of the water, but the thatch just wavered and stopped where it was.

He Yunfeng’s fingertips flicked slightly, seemingly without force, as he sent the thatch moving towards Mo Fei Chen.

“Well…it’s really interesting!”

Just like this, Mo Fei Chen’s attention was once again drawn to this game. There were many times when He Yunfeng could have beaten him, but he saved half of his strength. With one hand on his head, seemingly having something in his mind as he looked sideways at Mo Fei Chen, who was completely focused on the water.

It was only when the water became a little cold that, with a flick of his fingertips in the water, did the straw crash into Mo Fei-chan’s arms, “Get up! Don’t catch a cold!”

Mo Fei Chen watched resentfully as He Yunfeng brought his own clean clothes to his side with just a flick of his arm, while he had to crawl on the floor to pick up the dirty clothes he had already worn.