REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 16: Master and Disciple
Back when he was in school. Besides Lu Yipeng’s ability to score high in theoretical exams, he ranked at the top of the class. Even in practical subjects like shooting or even self-defense against gangsters, this young police officer also scored well, until he became admired by the teachers and even the head of the martial arts instructors at the school, who commended him as the most skillful student they had ever taught.
So Lu Yipeng always took pride in his self-defense skills.
Until he met Hong Kongque…
…
“You can drop me off here, Captain.” Lu Yipeng told Duan Feng, who was driving. The subordinate then drove the car into the school’s parking lot, before
Duan Feng asked back, “Not going home yet?”
“Just going to see Master Wu for a bit.” Lu Yipeng replied, as he took out his own car, which had just come out of the repair shop not long ago, and accidentally crashed into a car belonging to a drug dealer. At that moment, while driving back home, the vehicle coincidentally witnessed a morning incident, so his car had to be taken back to the repair shop again. After delivering his final words, Duan Feng immediately drove the department’s vehicle out to escort him.
“Master Wu.” Duan Feng repeated his words, “Oh, back in school. I was often bullied by you back then. Anyway, please say hello to him, Inspector. I probably won’t be able to drop by because I have to go back on duty.”
“Um. It’s okay. I will tell him later.” said Lu Yipeng, and opened the car door, “Thanks for the ride.”
“Call a car back home, inspector.” Duan Feng replied, and drove off. Lu Yipeng then walked into the imposing building.
After submitting his card and stating his purpose of visit, Lu Yipeng went to wait to meet the teacher in the general certification room.
Wu Fan was the head trainer of kungfu here. Lu Yipeng had a suspicion that Duan Feng came to seek advice from the teacher. Perhaps to learn some techniques to use against Hong Kongque. Otherwise, he would have been handled in a few seconds like this.
After a while, Wu Fan walked in. He was not very tall, with neatly cut hair.
He should be in his forties this year. Seeing the teacher’s face, Lu Yipeng greeted immediately, “Good morning, sir. It’s been a long time.”
“Yeah.” Wu Fan said, lightly patting his shoulder, “It’s been a while, you look bigger. How’s work going? You look quite busy this holiday, scratched car and all. What’s the matter?”
Lu Yipeng chuckled sheepishly. It’s true that he frequently crashed his car this holiday.
“I caught a criminal.” The student said, and continued, “Sir, are you free? I would like to get some more instruction.”
Wu Fan raised an eyebrow, “Don’t tell me you came here just for this. Did you get beaten by someone?”
“I did.” Lu Yipeng said. He didn’t feel like explaining his situation with Hong Kongque. Wufan looked at him for a moment, then nodded, “Let’s go to the practice room then.”
…
The practice room was a wide hall. There were mats covering the floor all over the room. When Lu Yipeng walked in, there were students practicing together. When they saw him with the teacher, they stopped their practice and walked towards them.
“This is Inspector Lu, this is your senior.” Wu Fan introduced his students. The students all made big eyes and started talking at once.
“Wow, I’ve heard your name for a long time, sir. Heard you survived Hong
Kongque as well. What kind of person is he, really? A human or not?”
Lu Yipeng blinked his eyes rapidly and quickly raised his hand to stop the children before asking anything scarier than this, “Is Hong Kongque a celebrity or something?”
“He’s just a person like you and me.”
“But someone said he’s not aging. I heard he’s still young and vibrant. Is that true?”
Lu Yipeng hesitated, “Um… maybe, but he must have a way to take care of his health.”
“Oh, my father also wants to know about his methods a lot.”
“And my mother too.”
Lu Yipeng pursed his lips and remained silent. He didn’t know how to respond to these children, what to say to Hong Kongque, it would be good if Inspector-Lu could help.
“Stop asking meaningless questions and go practice. Inspector-Lu is here to practice too.”
“Wow.” The children were still interested in him. Questions kept coming, “Then come practice together with us. I heard from the teacher that you are good.”
Lu Yipeng turned to look at Professor Fann for his opinion. The teacher, after a moment’s thought, nodded, “Let’s do it together.”
The young inspector took off his jacket before walking into the training ground, “Alright, you all come in together.”
MAster Fan, standing as a referee, raised an eyebrow, “Quite a few years indeed. This one here.”
“Well, then we won’t hold back.” The children said, putting on their gear right away. Lu Yipeng blinked rapidly. He had been dealing with Hong Kongque for a while. Seeing these kids, he felt really weak.
Three minutes passed, and the children finally gave in, “You’re really good, big brother.”
Lu Yipeng didn’t know whether to take the compliment well, as he couldn’t even use one out of three techniques correctly. Master Fan came over to pat his shoulder, “You’ve improved here, have you got a special teacher or something?” “No, sir.” The young police officer quickly denied, “Maybe it’s from work experience.”
“Oh…” Master Fan nodded and changed his posture, “Well, it’s time for my turn.”
Ten minutes passed as Lu Yipeng faced off with his own teacher, sweat soaking his brow, while the other person seemed to be on the verge of giving up, but neither could find a way to defeat the other. They continued to spar for a while before finally stopping, “That’s enough.” said the teacher.
Lu Yipeng paused mid-air before letting out a sigh. The teacher took a deep breath and continued, “Your skills have improved so much that it’s impressive. Just a bit more tweaking and your technique will be flawless. In truth, your only flaw is that your breaths are a bit short. Your chest position could also use some work.”
“Can you help me with that, sir?” Lu Yipeng asked, his teacher nodding immediately, “I’m not that skilled yet.” After a moment of silence, he spoke up again, “Here’s the thing, do you know the ‘Sichuan Abandoned Ships Port?’“
“Excuse me?”
“Go there and draw a bird on a container shelf in the left corner, and come back another day. If the drawing is gone, then shout ‘Little Bird, Little Bird,’ and a special teacher will come to help you.”
“What?!” Lu Yipeng exclaimed. If it wasn’t for the fact that Master Fan was a teacher, he would’ve thought he was being made fun of. The teacher looked serious, “You thought I was making a joke, but when he told me to do this, I thought it was funny. But this person is actually quite good. If you want to find someone to help you further, I think you should meet him.”
“Who is he?” Lu Yipeng asked, puzzled. The teacher shook his head, “I don’t know either. I met him by chance. We talked about martial arts, and he volunteered to be my sparring partner. In fact, I’ve already called him my teacher because he’s so skilled. But lately, things have been busy, so I haven’t been able to go practice with him. You should give it a try; it might help.”
…
In the end, Lu Yipeng left the school and hailed a taxi. Despite how unbelievable the story that the teacher had told him seemed, he couldn’t imagine that this teacher would lie about something like that. Consequently, Lu Yipeng decided to go to the Sichuan port spot to see for himself.
When Lu Yipeng arrived at the Bird Throwing Pose spot, the sky was dark and the atmosphere was eerie. The only light came from some nearby lamps, providing some assistance, and he used his hand as a flashlight. So, Lu Yipeng found the container shelf not too difficult.
Container cabinets are really crowded. I don’t know if the last time Lu Yipeng came, it would be this crowded. Lu Yipeng chalked lines on the dusty walls of the container cabinet and the red chalk fell down. His drawing skills were decent enough, at least able to sketch a rough image to look for clues. So, drawing a bird like this is not a problem.
Lu Yipeng frowned while drawing because he felt that the birds he drew looked like doves every time. So the young detective stopped drawing, then walked back out and hailed a passing taxi.
No work tomorrow, so I’ll come by to take a look again.
…
In the evening, Lu Yipeng called a taxi to the dock again. The drawing he made yesterday disappeared, there was no rain last night and during the day. As he got closer to look, he could see some erased marks, but he wasn’t sure if it was the work of a person or maybe a monkey.
He walked back and forth for a while and then Lu Yipeng burst out, “Little bird, little bird.”
“I am here.”
The answering voice made Lu Yipeng startle, his hair stood on end immediately. Then someone jumped down from another container cabinet.
“Kongque!!!” Lu Yipeng shouted, then made a gesture as if he had seen a demon from hell rise up on earth. Hong Kongque wore a short-sleeved t-shirt and baggy training pants. He tilted his head and looked at him, with a puzzled expression that seemed intriguing.
“Wow, Pengpeng, how did you find me here? Went to look for Wu Fan and he said to come here.”
“Well…” Lu Yipeng dragged his voice and stared at the person in front of him, “Don’t tell me you’re the mysterious person the master talked about.”
“Correct as always, Inspector-Lu.” Hong Kongque said, then continued, “Incidentally, I ran into him at the bar that day when he was troubled about his own company’s bankruptcy issue. Strange, right? People in bars talking about bankruptcies.”
Lu Yipeng found this doctor even more strange. He went to the bar to listen to people complain, or what?
“I ended up talking to him. We hit it off, so I volunteered to be his practice partner. Of course, he has no idea who I am.”
“I think it’s a good thing he doesn’t know. His admiration towards you is obvious.” He finished speaking with a sheepish look on his face, “Why am I in such bad luck like this?”
“Hey… what is this bad luck? I’m a teacher after all, you should be calling me ‘master’ instead. And you’re not even calling me that yet.” Hong Kongque said as he stared at Lu Yipeng for a moment before continuing, “Maybe it’s better that I leave.” He made a move as if to walk away, but Hong Kongque stepped in front of him and blocked his path, “Here, you drew such a good picture of a peacock. You focused and put your mind to it then succeeded. Why feel embarrassed now?”
“I’m not embarrassed. I didn’t draw a peacock.” Lu Yipeng retorted. Hong Kongque seemed unwilling to give up and continued, “It’s clear as day that it’s a peacock.”
“That’s a paradise flycatcher.” The young police officer argued, still trying to find a point. Hong Kongque leaned in close to him and whispered in his ear.
Then he patted him on the back, saying, “Paradise flycatcher or peacock, they’re practically the same.”
“How can they be the same!!?” Lu Yipeng exclaimed in exasperation, “You stop teasing me and go back to your room. You’re like a jester, and I’ve had enough.”
“Hey, you have a good mouth on you, breathe deeply.” Hong Kongque said. Just as the young police officer was about to breathe, Hong Kongque forcefully inserted his finger into his epigastric region. Lu Yipeng staggered out, bumping into a shipping container before exclaiming loudly.
“What are you doing!!?” The young police officer recoiled and brushed off the metal shards from his body. Hong Kongque smiled and said, “I just pushed a nerve, that’s all. You have to find the right moment. Do you feel easy breathing?”
Lu Yipeng hesitated, looking at Hong Kongque for a moment before attempting to sigh. He blinked rapidly and said, “Um.. I think I’m starting to feel better.”
“Good then.” Hong Kongque said before suddenly lunging forward without saying another word. Lu Yipeng’s eyes widened, and he quickly jumped back to avoid the attack.
“Take this!!” Lu Yipeng yelled, but before he could finish his sentence, the kick came. This time, the young police officer had to muster all his strength to block the attack. He knew he couldn’t fight back, and he was about to be hit again. He really didn’t understand this peacock.
Hong Kongque’s hands and feet were fast, passing by in just a few seconds Lu Yipeng was hit both with his feet and fists. Normally, Hong Kongque would let him start out “easy” from the first five seconds, but today for some reason the opponent’s kicks were not heavy, punches not strong, or maybe they had another plan.
“Step to the left.” Hong Kongque said as he chased after Lu Yipeng who could only dodge. The young police officer didn’t have time to step, his legs were kicked by the other person until he fell flat. Once he fell to the ground, the tips of his toes followed in. If he couldn’t dodge in time, Lu Yipeng was sure to lay down counting stars.
Dodging behind the fence twice, that damn peacock chased after him again.
Lu Yipeng wonders if Hong Kongque getting tired of him or not.
“Pengpeng, if you don’t fight anymore. I will take off your shirt.” Hong
Kongque said. Lu Yipeng wanted to shout out that much. Even if he didn’t fight, he was getting his shirt taken off.
As they chased each other for a while, Lu Yipeng felt like he had been pinned down by a needle since who knows when. Another moment and he was already in the hands of Hong Kongque, who smiled a bit at the corner of his mouth, and then used different needles to continue poking at him.
That damn bird!!
With just his bare hands, Lu Yipeng could hardly dodge. And now there were more needles added. What a bad day it was for him today.
“Do you want your shirt taken off or not?” Hong Kongque said, and then started using the needles to poke the young police officer funnily. Then Lu Yipeng felt his pants tearing.
That old man will pay for this!!
Lu Yipeng was so angry that his face turned red and black. He stopped jumping and instead kicked Hong Kongque for the first time. Of course, the kick wasn’t effective, and he ended up getting poked in the butt with the needles.
“Stretch your legs longer than this.” Hong Kongque said, and then kicked his leg to twist Lu Yipeng’s leg again. Lu Yipeng’s face hit the concrete, but as he tried to stand up, he stumbled and fell, then turned around and jumped to kick Hong Kongque again.
“That’s what they call kicking where I come from.” Hong Kongque said.
Then he tilted his body slightly, dodging Lu Yipeng’s punches and kicking him in the middle of the body, causing the young police officer to stagger back a few steps. When he managed to stand up, he saw his foot floating.
“Hey, try kicking me, and you’ll see what kind of kick it is.” Hong Kongque continued. After dodging a kick from him, Lu Yipeng, the young police officer wanted to curse, but he held back. There was hope that if he wasn’t kicked, he would definitely be punched.
The fight continued in the format where Lu Yipeng was losing at every turn, but at least Hong Kongque had stopped stripping his clothes off and now if only Lu Yipeng could make the guy stop hitting him.
Lu Yipeng decided to take his belt buckle first, to plug loose hooks, so the target after dodging Hong Kongque’s kicks was that belt buckle.
He had bought that belt buckle with his own money, but it was now being used by that annoying bird to play around instead. Not only that, but he also hit him with it. It seemed like it was really worth it, so don’t let him catch you, he might hit him in the butt, even the crack.
Before knowing, Lu Yipeng snatched his belt buckle back from Hong
Kongque’s hand like a cat catching a chicken feather that its owner used to lure it. No matter how many times he tried to snatch it, he didn’t succeed. The young police officer was frustrated.
When he couldn’t snatch the belt buckle in his hand anymore, Lu Yipeng jumped back, using an old container near him as a base to send himself off. He lunged forward to Hong Kongque, blocking his hands on both sides. He looked into his eyes, seemingly about to lunge forward and hug Hong Kongque like that.
Hong Kongque found this sudden lunge. To the point where he had to quickly jump back, both of Lu Yipeng’s hands gathered strength and he pushed the man down on the floor before using both hands to press his body up, spinning a screwdriver in the air on one side, and then lunging at Hong Kongque again.
It was the first time Lu Yipeng had seen Hong Kongque’s eyes widened with surprise.
Now, I want revenge!!
He thought this time the lunge must hit Hong Kongque for sure. If not, revenge must be taken. The price for ordering revenge had been brewing for many years.
But suddenly Lu Yipeng lost his balance in mid-air and then realized that
Hong Kongque had tied the belt buckle around his arm securely. Then Lu Yipeng felt a tremendous force pulling him, and his body floated and flew away several meters before rolling and almost hitting another container.
In such a situation, no matter how determined Lu Yipeng was, there was no way he could stand up in five seconds for sure. So when the young police officer raised his head, Hong Kongque came and stood smiling in front of him.
“I am proud of you, disciple Pengpeng.” He said, reaching out to grab his chin, but Lu Yipeng avoided with a clear look on his face, “Since when did you become a disciple of yours.”
“Huh…” Hong Kongque moaned, “Pengpeng, you really don’t know how to be grateful at all. How did you manage to graduate with honors like this? Just used the moves I taught him and now you dare to say you are not my disciple.”
Lu Yipeng wanted to argue, but the move he used to avoid was a move secretly learned from Hong Kongque when they went to the sea together.
“You can’t argue, just confess that you’ve wanted to be my disciple for a long time.” Hong Kongque said to Lu Yipeng with a stern look, “There is no way even if you become the last kungfu master in the world. I will never agree to be your disciple.”
Hong Kongque shook his head, “It’s a pity, it’s a pity. By chance I am not the last kungfu master, but Pengpeng, you have become my disciple without even realizing it.”
“Don’t let your mind wander around. I’ve never bowed down to you as my master.” The young police officer nodded, “It’s true, but you are my disciple’s master, so according to tradition, I am your master’s master.”
Lu Yipeng tried to argue, “How long have you been my master’s master?”
“Oh.” Hong Kongque looked puzzled, “Wu Fan didn’t tell you that I am your master. What did he say to you?”
Lu Yipeng looked stunned. Finally, he said, “All right. I don’t accept it.”
“Why don’t you think I am a good master, disciple.” Hong Kongque said, sitting down and leaning towards the young police officer, “Or do you want something else?”
“I don’t want anything to do with you.” Lu Yipeng said as Hong Kongque looked at him and spoke nervously, “But really…”
The young police officer remained silent, then blushed, “I’m going back now.
It’s getting late.” Lu Yipeng said, trying to push Hong Kongque away. The other person then continued speaking.
“Well… where are you rushing off to? The car is still in the garage… Want to have dinner with me? Today we have snow fish grilled with your favorite soy sauce.”
Lu Yipeng looked at the person inviting him with a gaze that did not fully trust, “I’m not going. You’ll just make me do something else.”
“There’s lotus roots boiled in ginseng.” Hong Kongque continued speaking with a calm expression, “There’s also freshly picked oolong tea.”
“…”
“Are you going or not?”
“…”
“Don’t be so hesitant. You have no car, and don’t have good fish soup. You don’t really get to eat well anyway, right? Or do I have to carry you there?”
“I’ll go by myself.” Lu Yipeng quickly spoke before looking at Hong
Kongque again, “What did you bring along?”
“Nothing. I didn’t bring a car, I brought a jet ski.”
“What?!” The young police officer exclaimed, staring at the man in front of him as if he had seen something strange. Hong Kongque returned his gaze and spoke again, “What. I can’t ride a jet ski? It’s near a bay area here. Going by land will waste time.”
Lu Yipeng stared as if trying to figure things out before speaking up, “You’re going in this outfit.”
“Of course. Is there a problem?” Hong Kongque almost raised his hand to scratch his head. This guy is wearing this outfit to ride a jet ski. Believe it…
In the end, Lu Yipeng had to ride behind Hong Kongque on the jet ski because the oolong tea and snow fish soup were the real reasons for the invitation.
“I’ll drive better.” The young police officer said as Hong Kongque shook his head, “No, I’ll do it. Pengpeng,, you will cruise and hit a boat then things will get messy. I’ll be the rider here. You hold onto me tightly, so you won’t fall off.
Or should I tie your feet and drag you down, just for fun.”
“Alright. I’ll ride behind you then.” Lu Yipeng quickly said. Then he moved to sit behind Hong Kongque and hugged him tightly.
Hug tightly like this, that house my birds won’t slip off the bay for sure.
…
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