Koji Fights The World - Chapter 9 Nighttime Visitor

After dinner, a servant led Koji back to his room. He saw the two guards standing outside and nodded at them.

The two Asian men dipped their heads lower than his.

Koji breathed a sigh of relief. He was very thankful to Zelea for intervening when King Aphraphus wanted to share wine with Koji. He couldn’t reject the offer without angering his new father-in-law, and he realized that the Caucasian man was a heavy drinker.

Koji decided to retire to bed early even though he judged the time was around six or seven in the evening. He sat down and began to cultivate. Sometime later, he heard a knock on the door.

When the guest answered, he was surprised to see the king. Koji recovered quickly and bowed deeply to his father-in-law. “Good evening, King Aphraphus,” the young man greeted politely. Suddenly, he felt a firm grip on his right shoulder.

“In private, you may address me as father or father-in-law,” the older man insisted.

“Yes, father,” Koji said with a polite smile.

“That’s better!” the king said and patted his shoulder lightly. “I ate and drank too much. I need to burn off the calories by sparring. And I chose you to be my partner. Now, come with me.” Without waiting for a response, King Aphraphus grabbed Koji’s arm and pulled the young man out of his room.

The two guards saluted the king, who didn’t seem to notice their presence at all.

The older man continued walking until he reached a courtyard surrounded by bamboo trees. The king turned around and said, “I like to train here because this place offers some measure of privacy away from prying eyes.”

Koji approached his father-in-law and waited in front of the king.

“I want you to circulate your Qi. I will check the seals while you do so,” King Aphraphus explained.

The young man nodded. He sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and started circulating his Yang Qi. He felt a big, strong palm on his chest, and a foreign but powerful Yang Qi entered his body. Koji ignored the intrusion and continued circulating his Qi.

A moment later, King Aphraphus pulled back his hand.

When Koji opened his eyes and returned to his feet, he discovered a livid expression on the king’s face.

“So foolish,” King Aphraphus muttered in a low voice and shook his head. His eyes regained clarity, and they focused on his son-in-law. “How can you fight with most of your Qi blocked off?” he grumbled.

“I just do it,” Koji answered. “When street thugs accosted your daughter and me, I had no time to worry about anything aside from winning the fight. My opponents wouldn’t hold back from using their full strength to attack me regardless of my condition.”

“Hahaha!” the king laughed and slapped him on the back. “Well said! A true warrior will find a way to win no matter the handicap.” He nodded and gave Koji an approving look. “I’m going to reduce my Qi to 500 points so that we’re an even match. Let’s spar.” King Aphraphus immediately held up his fists and spread his feet apart in the horse stance.

Koji took a few steps back and mirrored his opponents pose.

“You have guts!” the king admired him and laughed. His eyes abruptly hardened as his body lunged forward! The mighty warrior launched a jab-jab-punch combo.

Koji used his light footwork to dodge the blows, and he immediately countered the last punch with a left hook! The blow landed on his opponent’s cheek!

However, the punch lacked the power to shake King Aphraphus. “Not bad, kid,” he grinned broadly and rubbed his face. Without warning, the king started punching and kicking his opponent.

Despite the overwhelming power behind the attacks, Koji remained calm. The defender read the flow of Qi and then used the Sticky Hands technique of Wing Chun to redirect the attacks away from his body. He immediately launched a counterattack with a lightning-quick flurry of blows to the king’s chest! Pa-pa-pa-pa-pow! The last attack was Wing Chun’s One-Inch Punch, which condensed all the power within Koji’s body into a singular focal point, and the blow knocked his opponent back two steps.

Koji also hopped back, in case his opponent tried to retaliate while Koji’s guard lowered from his vicious attack.

However, King Aphraphus remained in his spot; he was impressed by this furious exchange. “If that punch had 10,000 Power rather than 1,000, it could break through my body refinement,” he admitted. “But you’re still holding back, aren’t you?” he frowned at the thought.

Koji offered a palm-over-fist bow. “I also study Dim-Mak, which attacks the opponent’s vital points. I don’t wish to hurt you by accident,” he explained.

A look of confusion crossed the king’s face. “Although I am a transmigrator, like you, I’ve never heard of Dim-Mak when I lived on Earth. Show me,” he commanded.

Koji obeyed and immediately used a burst of speed to appear before his father-in-law.

Aphraphus stood stoically and swept aside his instinct to defend himself. With higher cultivation than his son-in-law, the king easily read Koji’s move. He learned with amusement that the young man did not use any Qi at all. Thus, the king was extremely curious about Koji’s mysterious techniques.

The practitioner of Dim-Mak jabbed his index finger into a pressure point on the king’s right shoulder. While in physical contact, Koji sent his Qi to cut off the meridian lines running through his victim’s arm.

The older man immediately felt his right arm slacken. He was unable to move it! Fortunately, the numbness lasted for just a second because his more powerful Qi overcame Koji’s blockage. “One second,” he noted.

Koji smiled wryly. “My cultivation is far too low compared to yours. One second is already respectable against a Martial King,” he noted and cupped his hands.

“That’s true,” the king agreed and laughed. “Well done!” he praised. As an experienced warrior, Apraphus understood that causing paralysis for even one second could have deadly consequences in a fight! He assessed that Dim-Mak was indeed a frightening martial art!

Koji offered a respectful palm-over-fist bow at the praise. “Father, how long have you lived in this country?” he asked with a serious expression.

“This spar has made me thirsty. Let’s talk over tea. Follow me,” the king ordered. When King Aphraphus left the courtyard, he motioned for a servant to approach. “Prepare some refreshments in the Tea Room,” he ordered.

The girl in white robe bowed deeply and ran off.

King Aphraphus walked at a leisurely pace in the same direction, and Koji followed him. Eventually, the two entered a small room with a table and two chairs.

The servant girl stood attentively with a teapot. Once the king and his son-in-law sat down, the servant poured hot tea for the two men. She then stepped back.

The king took a sip of the hot green tea. His mind returned to the day when he stepped into this world. “I’ve been here for over three decades,” King Aphraphus said. “There seems to be a portal connecting Earth to the Four Winds, as this world is known to its inhabitants. Every month, men and only men drop into the arena. Sixteen of us arrived, and we were forced to fight a deathmatch. I happened to have some fighting experience in my youth. I was fortunate to emerge as the last survivor.”

“Why must we fight to the death?” Koji interrupted with his question.

“Population control,” Aphraphus replied succinctly. “The residents of this kingdom worried about having too many newcomers to feed. If they allow all the transmigrators to live, that’s 192 additional mouths to feed every year with no assurance of our allegiance to the kingdom. Making us fight each other to death ensures that only the most outstanding fighter will join this kingdom. The people of Nephosia admires strength and power; the deathmatch gives the audience in the stands an opportunity to witness our fighting capabilities. And none would dare begrudge food and other resources given to the survivor.”

“There is another reason,” the king continued. “When we are pulled through the vortex and travel through space, our bodies receive a bombardment of unknown energy which strengthened our bodies and minds. Thus, we became more powerful compared to the native inhabitants. If too many of us transmigrators remain alive, we could band together and overthrow the world. Thus, people have even more incentive to reduce our numbers before we turn our fangs on them.”

Koji considered the king’s explanation carefully. While he understood the logic behind the deathmatch, he strongly disagreed with this tradition. Killing off mighty warriors because of what they might do someday felt too barbaric to him. “You can’t change this policy as the king?” Koji asked solemnly.

His father-in-law shook his head. “The deathmatch is too ingrained into the culture of this society. The people will not permit this tradition to change. If I attempt to do so, the people will riot and protest against me.”

Koji’s face turned disheartened at this answer.

Aphraphus understood how the young man felt. Before Herecia chose him as her Bonder, Aphraphus was half-crazed with bloodlust from experiencing the deathmatch first-hand. His mind almost broke until a healer, at the queen’s command, used her Yin Qi to heal him. Furthermore, his survival in the arena raised his status tremendously and opened many doors for him.

The world of Four Winds followed the Darwinian concept of the survival of the fittest. In that sense, this society was no different from Earth’s.

The two men sat quietly and enjoyed drinking more tea. Finally, the king stood up. “It’s getting late. And my wife will most likely summon you tomorrow to test you. You need to rest and prepare,” he said.

“Yes, father,” Koji replied as he stood up.

The servant quickly crossed the Tea Room to open the door for the king. Guards standing outside the room saluted.

King Aphraphus ordered, “Take Koji back to his room.”

“Yes, my King!” the guards saluted again and followed his command.

Once Koji exited the small room, the two guards led him back to his guest room. However, as he walked through the door, Koji felt a hostile stare at him from down the hall. He took note of it and entered his guest room.

Koji’s mind was restless. The sparring session with his father-in-law gave Koji an excellent opportunity to measure his strength against the kingdom’s best fighter. Frankly, he wouldn’t be returning to his room without aid from the servants if King Aphraphus used his real power to fight Koji.

The son-in-law was in awe of the king’s might. Although Aphraphus possessed a muscular physique, he trained hard to refine his body and toughen it. The flurry of blows which Koji landed on the king’s chest could have easily broken the ribs of a lesser opponent while knocking his body a few feet away. But Aphraphus only took two steps back; this showed how tough the man was!

Furthermore, the notion that 16 men are plucked from Earth and arrive in the arena every month made Koji highly suspicious. This event can’t be a natural phenomenon. Some entity with the power of a God must have selected Koji to enter the world of Four Winds. Koji was not overly religious, and this idea made him very uncomfortable.

Koji decided to spend some time practicing his martial art forms. Only through training can he restore serenity to his distressed mind. Koji practiced Wing Chung until close to daybreak. Then he went to bed and caught a nap.