[1 Month Later]
I was currently in the middle of my training, dodging the boulders that were being thrown at me by Master Ryuu.
"Try to dodge this one, young one," the old man spoke, obviously annoyed that even his new training routine was proving ineffective so soon.
This time, he decided to throw a barrage of large stone boulders my way, each at least double the size of a basketball.
Having grown bored of this training style, I decided to have a little more fun and struck every single boulder thrown my way, breaking them all perfectly down the middle in the process.
"Hmm..." said the old man, thinking out loud. I was familiar with that sound. He only made that sound when I was finished with my training and he was ready to have me experience a new level of hell. 'It gets boring, you know, staying at the same level of hell for too long.' I smirked at his thoughtful face, ready to face his next challenge.
"Kuzan, my boy, I think you're ready for the grandmaster's instructions," he said in a deflated voice, empty of emotion, obviously saddened by the loss of his favorite plaything.
As they say, you shouldn't count your chickens before they hatch because it seemed like the old man wasn't ready to let go of me just yet.
"For the next week, we will do sparring training. This will be the only time I will warn you, Kuzan, but I will be fighting you seriously in these battles, like a fellow master of the martial arts rather than as one of my students," spoke the old man in a surprisingly caring and calm tone.
"Tell Melissa that you won't be able to see her for the next week. I don't want her to blame me for your injuries," which was funny considering he was the one who was going to be inflicting said injuries.
"Understood, Master."
"You can take the day off to rest and prepare for the next week." His growing words of care only added to my worry about what I was about to face in the coming week.
I quickly ran to my sister's room, breaking the news to her instantly to ensure that she would not complain about my absence to Master Ryuu or Master Kaku. I then spoke to my uncle and aunt, who were enjoying some 'alone time' in one of the hot springs around the temple.
Then, instead of resting for the rest of the day, I did something that would surely leave all the masters and disciples confused. I left the temple.
Unfortunately, my suspicious actions were caught by Master Kaku while I was traveling down the mountain.
"Hohoho, and where are you running off to, young man?" asked the old man, genuinely curious about my actions.
"To train," I purposefully gave an ambiguous answer to the fossil of a man, hoping that it would be enough. Luckily for me, it was.
"Ok kid, have fun," was all the old man said before walking slowly back to his training area.
After arriving at the foot of the mountain, I used a taxi to drive me closer to the city. I stopped in front of a modest Chinese restaurant and entered the humble establishment that had few customers.
After choosing a table to sit at, I waited for the server to take my order. A Chinese man with a bored look on his face came to take my order after a good five minutes. "What will you be having, sir?"
"A number 59 with a side of chicken," I told the waiter without even taking a look at the menu.
"Could you repeat it again for me, sir?" asked the man, the disinterested expression still not leaving his face.
"Actually, I changed my mind. I'll do a 45 with pork instead."
"I'm so sorry, sir, but I'm not sure we have pork or chicken left in stock. I can go ask the chef to check. Would you mind following me to the kitchen in case you may need to change your order?" asked the waiter while leading me in the direction of the kitchen.
I entered the desolate kitchen, and instead of speaking with the chef about my order, I walked down the door of the hatch-frame that was within the cooler of the kitchen.
I walked down the empty underground hallway, with torches on either side as the only light sources, for over ten minutes before stopping. In front of me, I was met with a single white cloth hiding the shadowy figure of a woman behind it.
"What information do you seek?" asked a feminine voice from behind the white drape.
"The location of Master Shikai Bun. I heard the rumor that he was nearby," I spoke, not expecting the long pause of silence that would follow my question.
'To think I had spent so long tracking down this place,' I thought to myself, disappointed by the outcome. 'It's fine, I can go to a few more places; this is what I get for giving the new place a chance.'
Just when I was about to turn around and leave, I finally received a response, though not one I was expecting. "Why are you looking for him?"
Getting annoyed by having my time wasted, I responded in a somewhat harsh tone, "I am here to buy information, not to sell it."
But before I could leave, a few of the 'hidden' guards tried to stop my path.
"What?" I asked their leader with a scowl on my face, letting my killing intent drown the underground expanse.
"Wait, I'll give you the location," responded the woman behind the curtain.
I soon received a little white slip with the address of a tea shop in the city.
"You'll find him there."
I decided to trust the information, giving half of the payment now in the form of two bags full of gold coins.
"Half now, half after I confirm. Or you can take it out of my account if you don't trust that I'll come back to pay."
I received silence in return for my statements, taking it as tacit agreement judging by the guards moving out of my way, allowing me to pass without consequence.
What I did not know, however, was that soon after I left, the woman behind the sheet couldn't hold it in any longer, snickering loudly under the worried and somewhat amused gazes of her guards, her laughter filling the expanse. Soon, the shadow behind the curtain began to distort, becoming smaller by the second...
I ran around the city trying to determine the location of the specific street that was written on the little piece of paper. It took me a while, but I was finally able to find the tea shop within the crowded city street.
I walked up to the owner of the street stall, a young man looking about twenty-something years old, enthusiastically selling tea to the passersby.
"Hello! You look like you could use some tea, young man. I can give you some for free if you wanna try a sip?" asked the shady businessman, trying to lure me into purchasing his tea.
"Master Shikai Bun, I would like to have a serious discussion with you regarding some important matters if you have the time." I asked the man in disguise. 'You can hide all you want, but those eyes are a dead giveaway.'
"I sheee" said the tea seller, his actions completely unlike his mannerims from just a moment ago. "And why should I listen to-cha young-myan?" slurring the last part of his question.
"I can give you many things, especially money if that's what you want. The most valuable thing I can give you, hmm, would probably be myself and my skills."
"And what-chia looking for little-myan?" again asked the old master, mimicking the mannerisms and speech patterns of a cat.
"Your teachings." I responded to the old master, bowing my head lightly to acknowledge his strength and skill.
"None of that stuff's gonna work for cha. Come follow mye." the man gestured for me to follow him, telling me to drop my formalities.
I followed him to the back of a Chinese restaurant, into an open courtyard. I sat on the small round table across from the man, gently petting the cat that was seated next to us in her own special little chair, and waited for him to speak.
"I've heard of cha young-myan, but since you've already made one of my little feline's very angry, your fate rests in the hands of Miss White nyan." said the old man.
"And who's Miss White?" I asked the master the important question first, although curious about how I had unknowingly offended one of his disciples.
"She's sitting right in front of cha, don't you see?" said the renowned master of Iai Kenpo, pointing to the cat I was currently in the middle of giving a neck scratch.
I had expected a lot of things, but this wasn't one of them. I quickly shook out of my shock, a thing I had gotten recently used to doing unfortunately, and adapted to the situation.
"Any tips on how I can convince her?" I asked the man who was feared across the Chinease underground fighting league.
"Well, you're half way there you-shee." replied the martial arts master, "she's nyaver this nice around strangers normeowally. Now all you need to do is have her-"
As if mocking her owner, as cats loved to do, the little feline jumped into my lap and started purring loud enough to match the engine of an airplane.
"Ok, ok, I'll train cha, just stop seducing Miss White, she's just a little kitty" screamed the man in jealousy, while grabbing the cat from my lap and putting her into his arms.
"You can come meowt now Xiao Li," spoke the man to an empty corner of the courtyard. Soon, an underground hatch opened from the ground, making dirt fly far into the air. "see, even Miss White agrees, it's two against one."
A figure of a short Chinese girl with black eyes and her long black hair tied in the shape of two buns on top of her head, held together by two long orange sewing needles, came into view. She was wearing a traditional Chinese outfit, mimicking the style of master Shikai Bun to the letter. She was also wearing a small frown on her face.
"Chee," she only clicked her tongue in response to master Shikai Bun's statements.
"This is my granddaughter, Xiao Li. I believe that you have already met," said the martial arts master turned cat-lover turned grandpa.
'She looks about Melissa's age I would say. Now where would I have met her previously? I don't remember anyone looking like her in the previous Kuzan's memory, but she sounds familiar. Ah!'
"So you were the one who sold me that confusing information. Do you know how long it took me to find that tea stall with all the other ones around it?" I asked the little girl, furious at her unprofessionalism.
"I don't really care. Does that satisfy you, dear customer? Wanna lodge a complaint? How about you take it up with our customer service director?" responded the girl while pointing to Miss White.
"Let's get down to business, ok?" interrupted the master of martial arts, stopping our catfight.
"So, explain to mye what you currently know?"
[2 hours later]
I had finished explaining my current skills to Master Shikai Bun and had also finished my discussion regarding what I wanted to learn under him. He wasn't too happy that I would be receiving training from another master at the same time, but when I hinted at Master Kaku's identity, the man immediately stopped complaining.
We made a training schedule that would work for me around Master Kaku's teachings, and Master Shikai Bun even gave me some training materials like books, medicine, and poisons that would be necessary for my training.
He even made Xiao Li travel back to Balin Temple with me to help me carry and properly store the dangerous equipment.
While ensuring that the poisons were hidden safely within a special compartment in my room, away from Melissa's reach, I was caught off guard by the quiet knave once again.
"What are you hiding, Kuzan? And who's this girl?" asked my sister, having somehow successfully snuck behind both of us, even the apparent master assassin Xiao Li.
"This is the granddaughter of one of my new martial arts masters, Xiao Li."
"And this is my sweet little sister, Melissa. Now come on, be friends." I initially encouraged the two little girls to get along together before my senses started screaming at me about the potential danger of the situation.
I realized my mistake all too late. 'I can't let my sweet little Melissa get corrupted by this little assassin.' However, before I could separate the two, they already began getting to know each other more...
"How did you sneak up on me?" asked Xiao Li, clearly impressed by my sister's concealment skills.
"Hehe, I can teach you if you want! But you have to teach me how to tie your hair like that, it looks so cute!" replied my sister, excited that she was finally able to interact with someone her own age since the start of the trip.
"Sure!"
"By the way, do you like candy, Xiao Xiao?" asked my sister, already giving her new best friend a nickname, much to my dread.
"Of course I do, Milli!" giving a similarly sweet nickname to my sister.
"Good, I'll share a bunch with you. I have a whole stash hidden away in my room. I can even teach you how to get the most candy from those grandpas," exclaimed my sister, revealing her secret arts to her friend.
She even pulled out a list ranking the martial masters by candy ratio, with Master Ryuu currently taking the first spot.
'Scratch that, I have to make sure poor little Xiao Li isn't led down the wrong path by this little devil.'