"I'll need some time to think...for now go and do some people watching." They say. You give them a look.

"You know I can memorize pretty much anything I see. If this is about focus, it won't be an issue." You reply.

"Well that's the issue. Unless there's danger, it's kinda hard to force you to not care about anything that's not the mission. I mean, there is the tried and true method everyone else used to kinda do it but I'd never make you do it." Xin Lan says.

"I'm gonna regret asking but...what is it?" You say exasperated.

"Go kill Ming." They say simply. You glare at them.

"That's not funny Xin Lan. Not even remotely." You growl.

"I wasn't joking." They continue tonelessly before speaking with full range. "It was common to have recruits to fall in love with someone then have them kill them as a final test. It's meant to teach them to put aside everything for the mission. Barring someone not falling in love, they'd kill their partner. Someone they grew up with, trained with, and even did some jobs with. Stripes never told you about that did he?" You stay silent for a moment.

"No." You say.

"Well...how about some kind of test?" You suggest, eager to get away from the subject.

"Well...I mean it can't be pain because you'd just ignore it and you're always willing to get hurt to get things done." Xin Lan furrows their brow as they think hard. "Well...I guess we can make you meditate on your anger while you focus on dodging stuff?" They snap their fingers. "You can fight Tigress and do it. I'm sure she'd be willing to dislocate a few of your limbs." You give Xin Lan another glare. "No no! Think about it. You need someone who can fight you while you while you let go of your feelings right? The two of you have tons of tension. If you can fight her while being able to let go, you we might be able to I dunno...go find bandits and try it."

>What do you say?
>Tell Xin Lan this is a terrible idea. There's no way Tigress would agree to this.
>Say that you don't really have a choice but you're unsure how you'd convince Tigress to spar with you.
>Agree with their plan but say that Xin Lan has to be the one to set up the fight.
>Try and come up with your own training method. (Write in)

I do apologize for the absence anons. I fell ill with a fever over the last few days and was bed ridden for most of it. Dragons know what I caught but I'm finally up and about.

>>5987772
This is a terrible idea. Just. . Absolutely abysmal. Effectively using somebody else to clean our mental state out, when that person wishes to clobber us.
I'm still gonna do it. And dare the other anons to stop me, because Xin cannot be trusted to not antagonise Tigress into a rage.

>Accept the idea.
>Not sure how we would do it, but maybe being direct? Asking to Spar out of a desire to Ease the gulf, Or if she is being obstinate, Directly claim to give her the shot at validating her training. We know that we are the best master on the mountain and she trained to overcome us. Why not take the chance to surpass herself.

This second method is going thermonuclear, and will absolutely piss her off. But if it works, She might work through her shit with her fists.
Doubtfully. But she might.

>>5987776
Fuck man, Had something similar about two weeks ago.

Hope you are recovered and took your meds Luo.
Renshu also made a decent showing in the husbando catagory. 6 or 7 votes, I think it was.

>>5987772
>Tell Xin Lan this is a terrible idea. There's no way Tigress would agree to this.
>Do it anyways.
This is the way to do it with peak comedy.

>>5987954
Whoa that's awesome. Not sure how far our boy has gotten but I'm glad he got some votes. Appreciate whoever threw out his name there. Tried to keep up with the thread for a day or so but I saw everyone else's characters and imposter syndrome hit real quick but I'm glad everyone else's quests are thriving. I should take a peek at them.

Also thanks for concern. I pretty much had to drop everything that entire week. Now i'm playing catch up.

>>5987953
>>5988265
Gonna go pick a fight with our younger sibling. Like all good families do...right?

"Xin...that's a terrible idea." You say. Xin Lan somehow manages to shrug while laying down despite the extra weight on them. You sigh and shake your head, "Alright. I guess we have no other ideas do we." You say as you stand up. Xin Lan raises their arms and wiggles their fingers for help which you ignore. "You're staying here and continuing your training. Once you're done you can come watch." You add.

"What?! But it was my idea! How am I gonna teach you stuff when I can't see you?" They protest while working to get up.

"You didn't think I'd let you skip out on training just so you can see Tigress get mad did you?" You smirk. In truth, you were a bit worried that Xin Lan's presence would probably make things a bit more awkward when you approached Tigress. More importantly, you were worried they'd try and antagonize her. "Make sure you clean up once you're done or I'll send Ming after you." You say as you walk off just in time to see a pebble miss your ear.

---

It takes a surprising amount of time to find Tigress. Despite the fact that you traveled with two assassins, you never took her to be the kind of person who liked hiding although it shouldn't be a shock that sneaking around would be part of her training. Eventually, you do track the lone tiger down and find her quietly meditating stop a series of precariously stacked chairs. It reminds you of when you spent a few days atop the large trees of the forest when you were being chased by the monster of the woods. You approach and come to a stop. You weren't sure how to ask her to fight you.

>What do you do?
>Call out to her and tell her you want to Spar. Be direct about it.
>Tell Tigress you want to train with her. Say that if you were going to travel together you should learn to fight with each other. Plus she won't improve by practicing alone.
>Kick the chairs from under her. A real threat wouldn't come up and ask for her permission. Try and take her by surprise.
>Write in

>>5988414
>Be direct.

We can be domineering if we want but. . I dunno. Adopting the mask of a villain and a manipulator seens unneeded here.

>>5988414
>"I'm here to challenge you to a fight, Tigress. It's going to happen whether you accept it or not. Show me your progress, and prove that you've improved since last time."
Still in awe at how thoroughly outmatched she was the first time they fought. Bro had been outright sprinting for days and he STILL beat the ass of the entire furious five without breaking a sweat. If we're being honest, Tigress never stood a chance. But I'm curious to see if she stands one now.

>>5988426
>>5988832
Just being direct. Writing

>>5988832
Don't forget he also fought her with a 5v1 handicap and still won. Not only that but he built up enough momentum to turn the thick bridge ropes into a whip to flick himself across a canyon midfight. Now that strength is being used to hug his loved ones.

"Tigress! I'm here to challenge you to a spar! I want to see how much you improved before we leave." You call out. Tigress furrows her brow in annoyance as your voice rings out. You half expected her to ignore you or perhaps to claim that she has nothing to prove to you. Instead she opens her eyes and gives you an ice cold glare. "Why?" She asks.

"There's far better ways to train than using the spare kitchen set." You say.

"I would use the training hall but I'd rather be able to focus than to listen to you and the rabbit prattle on." She replies coolly.

"It wouldn't hurt to join us." You half lie. In truth, you thought that it would end in disaster if Xin Lan and Tigress were in the same room. Xin Lan's rejection of authority combined with their dislike of Tigress was a powder keg waiting to go off and Tigress's anger was just the spark to ignite it. You wonder how you're going to deal with this on the road. To Tigress you continue with, "If we're going to travel and fight together then we'll have to become comfortable with how we all fight. Even you know how badly things can go if we're not synchronized." Tigress continues to stare at you with her piecing gold eyes. The two of you stand there looking at one another for a long while neither making a move. Eventually Tigress makes her move. Either realizes she has nothing to refute you with or perhaps she sees it as an opportunity to hurt you, you cannot say but she leaps from her perch with a chair between her legs. She glides through the air for a bit before kicking back and knocking over the stack behind her. The chairs rain down and land in two neat stacks as if placed there by hand before Tigress lands before you ready to fight.

>How do you engage?
>Use your strength to grapple her and pin her down.
>Try and throw her back into the chairs, make the area difficult to navigate.
>Use your speed to try and overwhelm her.
>Write in.

>>5990560
Tigress! Tigress! TIGRESS!

>Knock her back into the chairs, use them for maneuverability and to disrupt her footing.
>"There are better ways than using the kitchen set, Such as the living room furniture, hahaha."

Engage Yakuza style martial arts. Furniture style.

>>5990764
Dad is gonna yell at his kids once he finds out the chairs are broken because of their fighting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7FLlQGXErY

Without missing a beat you move to engage with Tigress following suit clearly intending for the two of you to clash. You leverage your speed and dip under a spinning kick and following up with a swift kick behind Tigress's knee. It buckles slightly but your primary goal was to prevent her from turning back around to face you as wrap your arms around her waist to hold her. She struggles to break free from your grip but without any kind of leverage or something to grab on the attempt is impossible allowing you to follow up with a suplex. Midway through, however, you loosen your grip and let go causing your opponent to fly forward and allowing you to plant your hands on the ground and spring upwards once more.

You plant your feet into her back and kick outwards rocketing Tigress into the tower of neatly stacked chairs and toppling them. "There are better ways of using the kitchen set you know. Mishandling them could cause...accidents." You taunt as you channel a bit of Xin Lan. You feel of twinge of guilt as you try to goad Tigress but if she lost her cool in the heat of a real fight then it would only cause trouble...at least you tried to justify it that way. The pile of chairs explodes as Tigress bursts out of them with a growl and hurls several at you forcing you to bob and weave through them to close the gap. You leap over one, duck under another and slip to the side to avoid the oncoming furniture. Just as you clear last one, Tigress grabs you by the shirt and hooks her leg behind you having used the chairs to create a blind spot for her to slip through. She roughly pulls you down as she pulls your leg up for a take down.

Time seems to slow all around you as you both trade blows during the brief seconds the two of you spend in the air before crashing into the hard stone floor. You feel an elbow driven into your ribs when you twist to avoid it hitting you just under the sternum and driving the wind out of you. Despite your best efforts, Tigress refuses to let go of one of your arms as she holds it in a vice grip and is attempting to deny you any space to fall back to or open up a gap.

>What do you do?
>Slam her into the ground. If she doesn't want to let go then you'll simply use your strength against her.
>Close the gap further and attempt to get her into a lock. If she can't move then she can't attack.
>Grab something nearby from the environment to try and pry her off or make her let go. (What do you grab?)
>Write in.

>>5991985
>Substitute your arm for your tail, assault her with more limbs than she can keep up with thanks to one of her own being occupied by your arm.
Sorry Tigress, but unless you've been training that tail up like Tai Lung has, you're at an innate disadvantage. There's virtually no difference between a tail and an arm or a leg as far as he's concerned.

>>5991985
I'll support >>5992025

Fuck it, we got 5 limbs fools!

File: Double_bunny_kicking_kittens.gif (2.01 MB, 320x180)

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>>5992220
The cats are fighting! But our cat is bigger. Writing

>>5992722
I come back to see that my post did not go through...damn.

You were impressed by Tigress's plan at least in concept. She was attempting to deny you the advantage you had for being taller by preventing you from being able to draw back and strike. In staying this close, you had less options and attempts to attack would leave you open with no ability to dodge or evade. Such a tactic would have served well to lock down an opponent while maintaining a full on attack. However, you weren't just any opponent and her strategy came with an obvious drawback. It was a double edge sword and in denying her opponent room to maneuver and defend so did she lose her ability to do the same.

You use your legs to lock Tigress's down before shifting your body to pin her arms under the one she was clinging to. It was a bit of a mess and it looked more like you were simply trying to sit atop her but the awkward positioning allowed you to drive your only free elbow between her shoulders. Tigress was no fool and she headbutts you with the back of her head and begins to shift her position. The two of you roll around the ground attempting to get the upperhand. You strike with everything you had arms, legs, knees, elbows but Tigress returns equal fervor. Even on the ground, the two of you knock chairs arounds, topple vases, and crush some plants. It was clear that something needed to change or the two of you were simply going to spend the rest of the day giving one another cuts and bruises.

>What do you do?
>Aim for the steps. Falling down them would probably cause the two of you to split in an attempt to break your falls.
>Turn it up a notch and simply tear Tigress off of you. You're not really supposed to escalate a spar but you don't really have anything else.
>Just hug Tigress. Fighters are more than just who's stronger. There's also the mental aspect. Simply hugging her would probably confuse her enough to throw her off her game.
>Write in.

>>5993326
>Down the stairs.

Scene transition! Get em outside! More space to move and more time to fight.
More spectators to increase the emotional tension as we meditate.

>>5993401
We're throwing ourselves off the nearest stairs. Not the dumbest thing we've done. Writing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlEGflonuZA

The two of you continue to continue to tumble around the ground and you pull up your mental map of the palace to devise a new strategy. Clearly the two of you were not going to concede in this grapple so the only way to make some breathing room for you was to forcibly separate the two of you. You begin to try and shift the fight towards the closet ledge or stairs you can remember. If the fall was bad enough then you both would have to let go lest you wanted to risk breaking your necks. Doing this was easier thought up than done as you receive a elbow to your jaw for your troubles. It seems like Tigress had the opposite intention and didn't want to give up ground nor shift around. Perhaps in her mind, her plan was going exactly as she wanted it.

You blink back tears as your eyes begin to water involuntarily from the strike. Falling off a ledge on purpose and without proper foot was dumb enough as it is but you suppose a bit more of stupid decisions wouldn't hurt...much. You drop your guard slightly and feel the first of the many hits. Tigress's fist bounces off your rib cage the instant you begin to loosen your guard but you being to put your plan into motion. You shove your opponent to the side only to have her pull you along with her just as you anticipated. You begin to put you plan into motion and slowly hiding your maneuvering towards the stairs behind the hits you were taking. With one last push the two of you go flying off of the stairs. You bounce once and mercifully the two of you part as you fall.

Landing gives you no time to spare as you catch your fall and see Tigress break her fall and sweep her leg to fling a loose tile at your face. You catch it between your fingers, spin, and hurl it back just in time for it to crash into a second tile, shattering the two. The two of you close the distance once more but Tigress hops on the steps to try and get the higher ground. You take the chance to leap back and create some space, nearly bumping into Ming and some of the Brotherhood. "What are you and Xin up to this time? We can hear you smashing things from across the courtyard." She scolds.

"I'm not doing anything. It's the big guy who's being a very bad boy." Xin Lan calls out as they leap down from a nearby roof and land next to you. Ming confused for a moment before she notices Tigress who's fur was messy and ruffled just like yours.

>What do you do?
>Write in.

>>5997808
>Write in
>Explain that you were trying to develop a technique that requires fighting an opponent without getting angry and sparring with Tigress was the least bad idea you two had.

>>5997808
>"Will explain later! Sparring!"
>leap into the air and strike from above, she has the high ground but we have a power to leap.

>>5997913
Best not say that straight up.

>>5997998
>>5997913
Looks like we got a method of attack but do we wish to spill the beans or keep quiet for now?

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>6000998
Keep quiet is mine.

But if no consensus arrives.
Quiet =1
Spill = 2

>>6001111
I will honor the dice roll. Writing.

You give Ming a quick grin. "Will explain later! Sparring!" You blurt out as you rush forward and leap as high as your legs can get you. Tigress might have the high ground but when you can jump as high as you can height become negligible. You flip forward and aim a kick as you come down. As your soaring through the air, your opponent changes stances. Tigress simply stands as if waiting for you to land your attack. Equally puzzled and curious, you decide to indulge her. Only a fool would play into their opponent's plan but you weren't known for taking the optimal route when it came to strange situations.

You swing at Tigress's head only for her to dip down suddenly and avoid it. She doesn't take advantage of your miss allowing you pivot and aim another strike. Again and again, Tigress bops and weaves around your attacks at the last fraction of a second. Her movements reminded you of the Drunken Masters style which was the last thing you expected her to use let alone learn. The style was well known for it's user to disregard their own dignity in lieu of unpredictability and opportunistic attacks. Neither which seemed in line with her personality. Nevertheless, her movements were not completely in line with the style either. There was none of the exaggeration or faux overextending that gave the art it's edge.

Tigress's movements were efficient and tight yet were also fluid and loose. Like water being channeled. It provided adaptability and restraint without giving up too much for one or the other. It also helped conserve energy though you doubt the fight was even remotely close to have forced her to do it out of necessity. You take a step forward to close the gap and Tigress mirrors your movement to step behind you and pivot so that the two of you were back to back. Instinctively you lash out and strike behind you with a kick only to feel it connect with nothing. Your mind races as you wonder what Tigress's end goal was. Was it to taunt you? Humiliate you somehow? You doubted it. Despite her hatred of you, you did not think of her the kind of person to stoop so low for such petty goals. She also couldn't have been trying to wear you out. At your current level, it would take days perhaps even weeks if not months for these kinds of games to do that assuming you were even willing to swing your limbs nonstop like this. Perhaps she was attempting to study you? Find some kind of weakness. That seemed the most likely but a small arrogant part of you reminded you that you had no weakness. With so many styles, so many options, such a situation in single combat was an impossibility.

So what was her game?

>What do you do?
>Break away and attempt to used ranged attacks. There are plenty of objects to throw.
>Try and go for a grab again. She can't dodge if she can't move although that will bring you back to square one.
>Move away and begin retreating. See if she goes after you.
>Write in.

>>6003728
>Begin to Lull her into a sense of security. Start a pattern of hit, beat, hit, beat, beat, hit, beat hit, beat, beat, beat, hit. Once she is nice and comfortable in the slightly obscured pattern, we can knock her out of it. "I'll pick up steam now"
>While she isnt throwing return fire, Start to meditate on our Anger.

Time to get down to why we instigated this. Ponder our anger, let it flow and drain.

>>6003773
Gonna get her into a habit before unleashing our real strength. Small correction though, TL's not mad at Tigress it's the other way around. But the exercise is still the same at it's core. Let go of our feelings. I'll get to writing in the morning.

You were nothing if not persistent. If this was what Tigress wanted to do then you would simply have to beat her at her own game or at least get her into a false sense of security. You continue to press the attack though this time it was far more coordinated. You pace your attacks, making them more flamboyant, and attacking a lull in between strikes. Each attack had a gap between then to set up a pattern of strike and pausing obfuscated complex maneuvers to stretch the gap between attack out without making it seem like you were waiting. You do manage to force Tigress to move by simply stepping into her spot and attempting to "close" the gap.

"Just wait, I bet he's gonna throw her off the side of the mountain." You hear Xin Lan doing their best to have their whisper heard. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Tigress was not so easily distracted thus you had to continue your charade. You continue for as long as you can risk it without Tigress catching on then you give her a taste of her own medicine. You throw a punch and overextend into a fall. To everyone watching it seemed like you had lost your balance or perhaps had tripped on nothing. In reality, you land on your side and immediately throw out a pair of kicks that almost looked like you were flailing such was the intent for Drunken Style Kung Fu. You switch forms so seamlessly and quickly that Tigress didn't have time to reposition herself for another dodge nor did she ever see it coming to dodge in an appropriate manner. You connect a heel to her side then another kick to her shoulder and send her sprawling to the ground. You twist and roll back into a standing position then start stomping down on your opponent the way a panicked person would as if you were trying to stomp out a fire.

Tigress rolls out of the way but another simple fall extends your reach for you to hit her in the back with your fist. You hear clapping below you as the onlookers are enthralled with your fight. You don't blame them for mistaking your spar with some kind of show given how you were fighting. There was none of the brutality or ferociousness from your usual style of fighting and it wouldn't surprise you if those that did know how you fought might have thought you were not taking this seriously. A thought that Tigress must share as her eye squint and she some of her fur stands on end. She leaps forward into a kick but you bend over backwards to dodge her then fall over to bring your legs up and kick her as she lands. Tigress spins around and moves into a sweep in hops of catching you with a wide attack but you simply roll over and down the stairs. She leaps after you and starts a flurry of attacks, each of which you dodge in an over the top, drunken manner. It seems like the crowd had started to grow as you see villagers begin to arrive some of which begin to laugh at you. While their arrival confuses you, you pay it no mind and continue your fight.

You being to slowly pull away from the fight and start to allow your instincts to take over as you start to meditate inward.

>What do you focus on?
>Focus on your embarrassment. You do look like the fool and though you can ignore people laughing at you, you still feel the shame from the display.
>Try and focus the people around you and try to let go of being aware that you're being watched. All that matters now is the fight between you and Tigress.
>Try and goad Tigress to fight harder. You want to be under real duress before you start to fully let go.
>Write in.

>>6007115
>Try and goad Tigress to fight harder. You want to be under real duress before you start to fully let go.

>>6007115
>Push it furtheŕ.
"Looks like we have an audience. Care to make it look good?"

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Thank you all for your participation in the King & Queen of /QST/ event! We chipped in, and Olympus QM made you a Renshu!

>>6009019
Thank you very much for having our bun in your event! Picture looks awesome! What were the results if you don't mind me asking. Seems like I can't find the thread anymore.

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You flip back onto your feet and dust yourself off. "Looks like we have an audience. Care to make it look good?" You ask as you dust yourself off and adjust your shoulder. Tigress stands up straight and shoots a glare at you.

"I should have known you couldn't take this seriously." She growls.

"I take all my fights seriously. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy them either. Someone doesn't just dedicate their entire life to a single art without finding some joy in it." You muse before immediately leaping forward to strike. The two of you resume your fight with an extra air of ferocity. Neither of you were pulling punches or testing the waters for a nice warm up. More and more people arrive but they all keep their distances as a ring forms around the two of you. It almost reminded you of the advancement demonstrations you used to hold for the other students of the Palace. Everyone in the Valley would arrive to watch their friends and family members earn their new ranks or to simply watch the students break boards and spar. All that was left was-

"Get her teach! Put her in an arm lock!"

"You can't cheer for him! He's a murderer! Besides, Tigress is the greatest fighter of the Valley, no all of China!"

"What do you guys know? You ran off Tai Lung before giving him another chance. The Library saw his real potential and helped him hone it. If you had been to his classes then you'd know."

There it was. The people taking sides and arguing. You couldn't lie, however, it was heartwarming to hear the citizens of the Library come to your defense not to mention it was a nice for them to have something to think of other than losing their homes. The cheering and shouting rises as the fight goes on and more people are sucked in to the excitement. Try as you might, it was difficult to meditate or even pull back to fight on instinct now that things were in full swing. You weren't used to fighting some at this level on pure instinct and every now and then you had to stop and put your full attention into the fight lest you were cornered or caught in some kind of feint.

>What do you do?
>Write in.

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>>6009127
They're at https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2024/5961634/, but the long and short i that Renshu got a decent number of votes, but was sadly eliminated during the qualifiers. We had a loser's bracket, too, but he got knocked out by Ruby... Which isn't a bad way to go, given she's the main character of pretty much the first 4chan drawquest ever.

>>6011144
As much as I would have liked Ren to win, I'm happy that he even got votes. And being a runner up against one of the OG quest leads, even in loser's bracket, is delightful.

Thanks again for having us and give OlypmusQM my thanks for the art!

>>6009204
>Block out everything but the fight now. It's time to try what you were aiming for.

>>6009204
>If we need to even the score out, then go full throttle with the style and Chi strike a limb of hers. With an arm out of the picture, she can still fight very very well and we can go to instinct.

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Came here just to post this, and I think it fits.

>>6014486
Sorry, but you're wrong. Tai Lung mastered the Rolling Roach Burning Leaf style, as dictated in one of the thousand scrolls of martial arts, by the time he was twelve. His blunts would be immaculate, yet soulless and to-the-letter.

>>6014579
>>6014486
After a week of gruelling exams. This is what I needed to come back to. But here's the question, are blunts enough of a food item that TL can only do them with perfectly mimicked instruction or is it enough of an art that it falls under his martial arts side of the brain and he can flawlessly preform and improvise upon the technique? Riddle me that anons.

>>6014589
>>6014579
To quote where I got it from

>"Po worked food industry for a good chunk of his life, far longer than he's been doing martial arts. He'd roll the most immaculate blunts know to man and the Valley."

>"Tai Lung as a warrior rolls devious blunts soaked in fent to defeat his enemies".

>"Tigress is a basic bitch white girl, and can't roll shit."

File: Shin_Rider_1_Kick.png (1.7 MB, 4096x1714)

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It had been a long long time since you had to center yourself and put your full focus on learning something new within the realm of martial arts. Especially for something that has never been done before. You do your best to try and focus on your emotions, use your subconscious to handle what was going on in the material world but try as you might you just kept getting pulled away. Perhaps you needed to take smaller steps and learn how to actually use your new technique on an strong opponent. You don't have much time to think about it as you feel Tigress's fist collide with the side of your face followed by half the crowd cheering around you.

You block the next strike and lift Tigress above you head to toss her to unbalance her and close the gap. You press the attack in hopes of keeping enough of an advantage to fight without thinking. If you didn't give her the opportunity to regroup and fight back then that was one less thing your mind had to process. You begin to try and push everything away from your mind except the fight. Nothing mattered but the fight. Not the cheering crowd, not the heat of the sun that had just crested the mountains, Tigress tries to return fire but with your size and speed, you don't give her enough of a reprieve to regain her footing. Despite your best efforts, you can't fully push away the sounds of cheering all around you. There was enough people that the air seemed to vibrate from the shouting it self and while you push it away, the feeling was just subtle enough to start the spiral that led you back to thinking again. You'd want to continue practicing but Tigress attempts to leap out of your reach in desperation during one of your moments of zen and your body leaps and attacks to meet her.

You extend your leg and kick Tigress right in the stomach. She's knocked back and crashes into several vases knocking dirt and flowers everywhere. She rises with fury in her eyes, all sense of sportsmanship gone. She hunches over ready to leap but a voice cuts clearly and sharply through the crowd.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Your father shouts as he approaches, hands behind is back and an icy fury in his eyes. "This fight has gone long enough. Or do you two plan to tear the palace to pieces?" He asks motioning to the broken tiles, ruined flowers, and shattered chairs. "Tigress you will go and grab the cleaning supplies and begin cleaning up this mess. Tai Lung I want not only the training hall spotless by this afternoon, I want the steps to the Jade Palace fully cleaned as well. Once the two of you are done with that report back to me and we'll see what else we can find for the two of you to do."

It takes you a few moments to process that someone was giving you orders and a few more that those orders were chores trainees were punished with. Just as your poor overworked mind has come to that conclusion you finally realize that your father was the one punishing you.

>What do you do?
>Write in.

>>6014682
>Compose ourselves, give a minute to master the frustration at the chance slipping away and give the traditional wnd of fight formalities [a bow or something like it] "That was a good spar. Thank you."

>"Yes, Father."
There are people around, we are in his house, and he has made it clear thst we cannot continue. So take our lumps, secure his position and get to work. Xin Lan eill have a field day teasing us over it.

The time can be spent replaying the fight and speculating on a better route of learning. Maybe we shouldnt have isolated the feelings but instead focused on tigress?

>>6014589
Hmm. I mean. Hmmm

>>6014589
Blunts are closer to bombs of ancient china, and the technique is like origami

The actual foodlike process is preperation of the tabacco and "tabacco", which he woild be uninvolved in producing. However he does have to handle the tabacco, which is a food item and not a tool like a knife, so my verdict is that his rolls are flawlessly done and can innovate on the principles of packaging and even to an extent what to coat the paper in. However he is always messy with it, as the contents escape his fingers, and any adaptation to taste is for the worst.

My ruling.

I have survived. We're going to do our chores. Wrting. Xin's not helping.

"Yes, sir." You reply out of a deep seated habit you forgot you ever had. You feel your face grow warm as the snickers and laughter breaks around you. Maintaining your composure, you turn to face Tigress and give a bow. "Thank you for going easy on me." You say in traditional politeness. Tigress looks like she was going to burst into flames but she stiffly returns the gesture without the reply. Your father seems unfazed at the both of you and simply motions for the two of you to get to it.

---

"You missed a spot."

A pair of legs swing idly from both your shoulders as you are hunched over a training dummy. Xin Lan idly plays with your ears as you scrub the dummy with a small brush making sure the get the snake scales out between the dummy's joints. You wonder how often the Five even took the time to maintain them. Then again much of the equipment was much more advanced than what you grew up with almost gratuitously so. Were saw blades, large gouts of fire, and spinning spike dummies really necessary?

"It builds character." Xin Lan says as if reading your mind. You glance up at them. "You got that look on your face." They explain with a smirk. "I figured you were wondering why you were even doing this and the answer is to build character. After all, you're a baaad boy." They snicker before swinging around your neck and locking their legs to hang off of it. "I can't see why we all fell for you. All three of us are into bad boys. 'We can change him. He's a good guy deep down! You just don't understand him!~'" They sing out before bursting out into laughter. The rabbit does a sit up to meet you nose to nose. "You have use twisted around your little finger and you don't even know it." They tease before giving you a peck on the nose. They let go and drop to the ground before you can instinctively snort and rub your nose. You barely have enough to turn and see their tail vanish from sight as they run out cackling madly.

You sigh and rub the embarrassment from your cheeks as you attempt to steady your rapid heart beat before going back to your task. Your mind slowly turns from Xin Lan's teasing to the fight you just had. You're not sure if you made progress but you at least think you found a bit of a problem with your subconscious fighting ability. Because it relies on your instincts and habits, you don't have much control over the method of fighting you'll employ. Being used to do simply day to day tasks isn't an issue as you've long since stopped seeing others as beneath you so your natural instinct is to simply avoid others rather than force your way through. However, for fighting all you really know is to go all out and to employ the most efficient methods to defeat your opponents. You're certain that against opponents whom you don't truly wish to harm, such as innocent people in a panic or someone under emotional distress, you will do your best to leave no lasting injuries but against foes that wish to do harm to you or those under your protection your first instinct has always been to fight them without mercy.

Knowing this is, you surmise that is the entire point of learning this new style. To have multiple options in a fight and if it is combined with your ability to act on pure instinct then you won't need to worry about hurting any person you don't wish to harm. You replay the fight in your head once more.

Perhaps in order to alleviate this issue you should focus on your opponent some more. If your fighting style before is fueled by your fury, righteous or otherwise, then it's obvious that this new one should be focused on empathizing with your opponent. Perhaps reaching out with your chi could work? But you've only ever really tried to do so with people you were very close to. You're not sure what would happen if you tried to peer into the energy of an opponent and even if you could you don't know if you could maintain that and fight at the same time. Whatever the path you took, it was clear that learning to push away your emotions was a step in the right direction. You had to let go of any anger or hate you had against your opponent to allow yourself to feel empathy.

You'd have to talk to Xin Lan later about it. For now, you had a hall to clean.

---

"How long is this going to take you?"

You're about a 3rd of the way done cleaning the 10,000 steps that lead from the village at the base of the mountain all the way up to the Jade Palace when you see Ming leap down beside you. It was a bit surreal to see her jumping and doing various acrobatics to get around given that you almost always traveled with her in your arms or on your back. You think you might miss doing so in the future. You look at the steps you had cleaned and then at those that you have left.

"Well, if I remember correctly, I used to be able to clean all of the steps in about...2 or 3 hours?" You reply with a grin.

"I don't know what I find harder to believe. The fact that you've done this enough to have the time memorized or the fact that you even got in trouble in the first place." Ming says as she adjusts her dress to sit down off to the side before reaching down and motioning to pick something up. She places the invisible object on her lap and begins to pet and poke it. You watch for a moment, slightly confused before answering.

"Is it really that hard to imagine me as a troublemaker?" You chuckle. "Aren't you always giving me and Xin a hard time for never listening to the rules?"

"You're...complicated." Ming says, thinking. "I'm not sure if you'd be a good student and that's how you learned or if you were a rebellious kid and just learned whatever you wanted."

"I think that's the first time anyone has ever called me anything other than an open book." You say with amusement. "However, I think the point of this punishment means I shouldn't be talking to you. Are you ok with breaking the rules?" You chuckle.

"You're a good teacher but you're also a bad influence." Ming replies. "So if I'm doing bad things, then it's your fault."

"That's something Xin would say. I think my innocence has been proven." You laugh.

>What do you say?
>Ask Ming about the upcoming travel. You're curious what she's been doing to prepare.
>Ask Ming what she's doing. There has to be a reason behind it. She was never one to play pretend.
>Talk to Ming about something. (What do you talk about?)
>Write in.

>>6020008
>What are you doing?
>Are you starting to imagine how to keep Xin stuck? Put on a lap and given head massages?

We can tease too!

"Speaking of Xin," You say as you go back to scrubbing the stone steps. "What exactly are you doing? Planning on trapping Xin with head pats?"

"I don't have to. I get to do that as much as I want on our dates." Ming replies and you stop wondering if you heard right.

"Dates? As in plural?" You ask. You had a hard time imagining Ming going on a date at all let alone two. "How long...?"

"On and off for about a few months before everything went down." Ming says after thinking for a bit before giving you a grin. "Since we've arrived here though, almost every day."

"A-and the two of you are..." You stammer as your face grows hot. You know you had been asleep for several months but you're not sure how you managed to miss this. You'd think Xin Lan would be rubbing it in your face almost every day. Then again, maybe not if it meant that they could tease you nonstop. Ming lets out a laugh.

"Maybe...maybe not." She says trying to stifle her laughter at the utter shock on you face. It takes her about a minute or so before she manages to go down to giggles. "You have to remember that Xin wasn't raised like us. They don't really subscribe to the normal ideas of dating and relationships." She explains.

"Oh...so they're just teasing then. Like always and here I thought I was their one and only." You joke, as you find the heat leaving your face. The feeling doesn't last long as Ming replies with a quick,

"No. We were really on a date. They know what they are and what they mean." You look at her once again dumbfounded and expected her to have a mischievous look on her face. Instead, you find her with a thoughtful look mixed with some fondness. "It's actually very interesting. Like I said, Xin doesn't subscribe to social norms on dating and relationships. We were raised seeing and being taught that people find the one person they love and spend the rest of their lives with. Xin wasn't taught that, never learned to feel shame about not following the rules and thus they wouldn't feel pressured to do that. Simply put, they like who they like. Or to put it in more extreme terms, they love who they love. So to them, why can't they date more than one person? Or marry someone and date another? Why not even marry two, or three, or even four people? After all marriage is just another rule, another weird thing normal people do, and they certainly don't feel like they like only one person so why limit themselves?" Ming goes from petting something invisible and beings to play with her hair like she always does when thinking.

"But...but..." Your mind reels as the information and Ming gives you a smile.

"I wouldn't worry about it, really. Like I said, their definition of love is completely different than ours. It's almost impossible to compare it beyond just knowing they're very very fond of us. You can still be their big fluffy husband." She giggles. "If you want my honest opinion, this is probably the healthiest attitude they can have towards love. Indifference to the norms and just doing what makes them happy. As much as they say they'll steal you away, they don't care about you having feelings for someone else. Unless of course your decision is hurting you or someone else they care about." Ming waits a moment before frowning. "You...don't have any issues with that do you?" She asks tentatively. You shake your head as you try not to fight off idea that all of Xin Lan's actions and words towards you recently having some kind of double meaning.

"N-no...It's just..." You let out a long breath. "It's just not something I have much experience with and frankly this is a lot to take in." You admit. "I guess I'm just not as smart as you are. Did they tell you all this?"

Ming nods, "Yeah, we've had a lot of discussions about it. I'm sure they would have told you-"

"No. I'm glad they talked about it with you because I'd have no clue how to help them." You interrupt.

"Well...Xin put it more as 'The Big Guy is pretty hopeless when it comes to feelings' but I didn't know how to put it politely." Ming winces. "We're been working through their feelings and coming to terms with them since we got here."

"And what about you? How do you feel about it?" You ask. "Are you two actually together?"

"I find this all fascinating. This is the first time I've ever seen something genuine like this. Of course, there's always the story about teens saying stuff like this just to upset their parents but of course they never mean it." Ming thinks for a moment and lets out a giggle. "I guess we are together. Which means absolutely nothing since it's Xin and the concept holds no real meaning to them. Xin's my girlfriend or my wife. Ehh...Xin can be my girl or boyfriend for now. They're going to need to work harder if they want to earn the wife or husband title. Maybe I'll make those two seperate." She let's out another giddy laugh. "I can kind of understand their reasoning if I see it like that. I love Xin Lan be it as a sister, a girlfriend or a wife. Whatever label I put on it doesn't change the fact that we really like each other and like to spend time with one another."

"Is it that easy?" You ask. "What about a family or your lineage? Don't you want a husband or to find like you said, that special someone?" To your surprise Ming looks rather sad about that.

"I don't think I can anymore." Ming admits. "I've been through so much. Done so many things. I'm not sure if I could find anyone who I can connect with deeply. I mean who can relate with nearly dying, running a city, seeing the dead rise, or even fighting a criminal organization? I'm sure I could find someone nice maybe even good looking but I don't think they could ever understand." Her frown turns into a smile. "But I've come to terms with it thanks to Xin and you. I've found happiness in saving lives, I learned that there are people who love and understand me and it doesn't need to be romantic. My family is found through the lives we lived together and the hardships we faced not because we have the same blood."

"I feel the same. Then again, I think you have a greater chance at finding someone to marry than an exiled mass murderer." You tease trying to lighten the mood.

"Says the mass murderer who is in a relationship right now?" Ming jokes back. "Thank you. I feel so much better."

"So are you going to tell me what you're doing or are you going to distract me with more major reveals?" You chuckle and move to another step.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ming asks slightly confused. "I'm petting this cute little earth spirit." She says holding up her arms as if you presenting something to you. "They're kinda shy but if you can get them on their side and pet their tiny bellies then they like to flop and relax."

You tilt your head. "Ming I can't see what you're holding."

"Huh? I know they're these little guys are not that common but they tend to follow us almost everywhere." Ming says as she puts down the spirit she was supposedly holding. You shake your head.

"I can't see them. At least not without having to some time to center myself and meditate. More importantly, I've never seen anyone physically be able to interact with them. None living at least and the only exception is no longer mortal." You say. "I'm not even sure my old master could accomplish something like that and he was the most spiritual person I knew."

"It's not that big of a deal is it?" Ming asks. "I mean, you said you can go to the other side. Some of the spirits even said that they've seen you there."

>What do you say?
>Say that it is a very big deal. Not to mention the fact that Ming can even talk to the spirits. You can only speak to half of them and barely understand a third.
>Say that perhaps you've done deeds that sound greater. Those took a long to time to learn and still require some effort to do. Ming's ability seems to be effortless on her part and more readily available.
>Say that you might be somewhat of an expert on the subject but the fact you've never heard or seen something like this only means it warrants more study. Something only the two of you can do. You'll need to set aside some time to study this.
>Write in.

>>6021774
>Say that it is a very big deal. Not to mention the fact that Ming can even talk to the spirits. You can only speak to half of them and barely understand a third. Even then, you had to rely heavily on the fact that you died and came back AND have Shenlong's blessing to make things considerably easier for you.

>>6021774
I support >>6021827
Add
>I think we should write about the phenomenon before we leave. How long have you been able to do that? Just after you assumed the position of exarch? Might be a hightening of your natural abilities through the assumption of responsibility in one of the holiest, former holiest, sites in china.

We can do it because of fortune, circumstances and a post-death experience.
This kind of witchery buissness is. . . Quite amazing.

Also, With someone else doing the hard part of grasping Xin's internal landscape and emotional balance, I think we can be safely contented in that they won't go axe crazy at some later time and start having weird superiority complexes like an anon was concerned about during the library arc.

Xin understands what friends are, Love is and how to stave off loneliness. Perfect.