>>38059800
Yay! Wulin Hero Quest! Are we playing as Bro? or, dare I say, Genshu?

You feel the familiar crunch of fist-on-face and he falls down bloody, spinning once in the air and spitting up blood and teeth where he falls.

"Next time when someone asks you politely to do something, you should probably do it," you say simply to the fallen xia, walking past him and his friends, too stunned to stop you.

You're pretty sure they didn't expect you to drop him in one punch, which might explain why they're all too flabbergasted to do anything about you.

The towering figure at your side winces as he follows you as you pick up your luggage sack and haul it over one shoulder.

"Man Xuedi, you kinda wailed on that guy harder then you needed to, don't you think?" he says, his deep voice and intimidating musculature not matching his hesitant words.

>WDYS?

>"He asked for it. I asked him three times." [Brush Off]

>"He pissed me off and was rude. I don't NEED a better reason." [Irritated]

>>38059873
The answer to both is "no".

You are as of yet unfamiliar with all of these characters, but they will indeed play a part in the main storyline in time, so this isn't totally unrelated.

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>>38059923
>>"He asked for it. I asked him three times." [Brush Off]

>>38059923
>"He asked for it. I asked him three times." [Brush Off]

>>38059923
>"He pissed me off and was rude. I don't NEED a better reason." [Irritated]

>>38059923
>>"He asked for it. I asked him three times." [Brush Off]

"When some guy asks you for directions to the Red Crane Inn, do YOU tell him to go screw himself because he looks, and I quote our toothless friend 'a know-nothing country bumpkin who doesn't need such finery'?" you ask dryly.

Chai Hu shakes his head, his dirty and well-used clothes similar to yours, making him stand out even more, which is saying something since he's several inches over six feet tall.

"No...I'd give him directions I guess?" he says, scratching the back of his head. You sigh.

Chai Hu is a mountain of raw muscular power and your younger Schoolbrother but he's got the self-confidence of a toothless tiger, which perhaps is a more accurate moniker then would normally apply in this case.

"Hu, you gotta make sure people don't walk all over you. The Ming in the capitol city think they're all big and important and rich, and maybe they are, but we're XIA, not peasants. Strength and skill is what we respect, not fancy clothes and fans with stupid poetry on them and weird smells all over people.

"Xuedi, you haven't bathed in forever. YOU'RE the one who smells weird....," he adds, slouching a little with the awkward, careful gait of someone who's too tall in a world of small, breakable objects.

>WDYS?

>"Oh shove it. You haven't either." [Joking]

>"It's not like we're doing anything that needs me to be clean, right?" [Confident]

>>38060189
>"It's not like we're doing anything that needs me to be clean, right?" [Confident]

>>38060189
>"Oh shove it. You haven't either." [Joking]

>>38060189
>>"Oh shove it. You haven't either." [Joking]

>>38060189
>"Oh shove it. You haven't either." [Joking]

>>38060189
>"Oh shove it. You haven't either." [Joking]

>>38060189
>>"Oh shove it. You haven't either." [Joking]

"Well if I smell bad you must smell worse," you decide, lifting up the collar of your shirt to check if he's right.

"Why? We're both just as dirty," he points out.

"Yeah, but you've got more VOLUME, so obviously there's more of you to get dirty," you say, confident of your flawless logic.

"Oh, come on Xuedi...," he whines.

"I'm joking, Hu, jeez," you say, immediately feeling bad for picking on him. "Grow thicker skin, man! And seeing as it's you I'm talking to the irony of that statement should be pretty obvious to you."

"Sorry Xuedi. Sifu always says I need to be tougher if I'm expected to succeed him, but I'm not sure I'm cut out for it really," he admits. "I think I'd rather be a scholar, or maybe a poet or something."

"That's...," you say, looking up at him with a confused facial expression. "That's...such a waste I can't even...I'm trying to art...arti....what's that word?"

"Which one?"

"The...fancy one where that means 'say shit good'."

"Articulate."

"Right, art-clate how much of a waste that would be," you finish.

"Articulate."

"What?"

"Articulate. You said-"

"Forget what I said!" you bark as you cross over a bridge suspended over a tranquil stream, bending to pick up a stone.

You toss it and it skips once. Twice. Three times. Four Times. Six times. Seven. Ten...

"Good arm," Chai Hu compliments as you smile in self-satisfaction and crank your arm.

"Art-clate that, right?'

"Articulate."

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This city is huge.

It's hard wrapping your head around how big it actually is, and though you've been to the city before (not the Capitol, but a city nonetheless) you much prefer the mountains and wilderness.

You bet most of these "superior men" of the capitol would starve and die within the week out there.

"So...," Chai Hu says as you take another turn.

"So what?"

"What do you think she's like?"

>WDYS?

>"She who? Help me find this stupid inn." [Ignore]

>"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" [Irritation]

>>38060588
>>"She who? Help me find this stupid inn." [Ignore]

>>38060588
>"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" [Irritation]

>>38060588
>>"She who? Help me find this stupid inn." [Ignore]

>>38060588
>"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" [Irritation]

>>38060588
>>"She who? Help me find this stupid inn." [Ignore]

"Who now?" you ask, looking at your map with a confused expression on your face.

"Your wife, Xuedi. What do you think your wife is like?" he clarifies.

"How should I know? I never even met her," you say glumly, looking at the map sideways and narrowing your eyes...before turning it right side up.

"Yeah I know, that's why I asked you what you THINK she's like," Chai Hu says with a grin, which just annoys you more.

"What's the point of speculating on what I think she's like when I'll met her in a few hours? Assuming we get there on time I mean."

"You have no imagination at all, do you?" Hu says with a sigh.

"Can you eat your imagination?"

"No."

"Can you hit people with it?"

"No...literally I suppose."

"So basically I'm not missing out on anything at all useful, am I?"

"So you never wondered what your wife was going to be like? Even once?"

"It's more like 'I knew I didn't have a choice in the matter so I decided to ignore it.' I'm probably going to ignore her once we get married too," you flatly admit.

"B...but Xuedi, that's insulting to your wife!" he says, flabbergasted.

"Kinda like being married off to some imaginationless guy like me who she's never met because of some stupid ancient tradition neither of us ever agreed to?" you say, and you can't help but feel bitterness creep into your voice.

You never really realized how much it bothered you until today.

You walk past the Red Crane Inn twice before figuring out it's the right place.

"Okay, so this is it," you say, but you're not sure if it's more to yourself or Chai Hu. You kinda don't want to meet her.

You hear laughing nearby as you approach the inn, and perhaps looking for an excuse (ANY excuse) to not go inside, you decide to check it out, Chai Hu awkwardly following you, confused as to why you aren't going inside.

You see a group of queerly-dressed people all surrounded by a gang of handsome and finely dressed young men with fans and swords. They appear to be harassing them, especially this smallish girl who's mostly dressed in white with a black headdress that covers most of her hair and a veil over her face.

Her clothes and the clothes of the others are covered in heavy jewelry, making them look wealthy but somewhat gaudy to Han tastes.

"You sure you won't let us see underneath?" one of the men fanning himself says.

The girl says nothing but grips something in her left hand, a straight jian sword in it's scabbard, tighter.

"I bet it's worth looking at for a foreign barbarian...how's about you let us take a peek underneath? Promise we won't hurt you!" another asks, and they all laugh.

>WDYD?

>[Ignore it. You're here for your wedding.]

>[Intervene Verbally]

>[Intervene Physically, no Verbs Necessary]

>>38061207
>[Intervene Physically, no Verbs Necessary]

>>38061207
>>[Intervene Verbally]
So these are capitol "men." I fail to see how anyone could consider them superior to ..... well anything.

>>38061207
>[Intervene Verbally]

>>38061207
>[Intervene Verbally]

>>38061207
>[Intervene Verbally]
>"Your next words are: "Who the hell are you, you smelly yokel?"

>>38061207
>>[Intervene Verbally]
A distraction! maybe we can justify being late and they'll call off the wedding. [desperate]

>>38061354
unless she IS our wife

>>38061407
Well, they just called her a foreign barbarian. I'm not sure some traditionally-minded family would arrange a marriage with one.

"Hey," you say as you tap one on the shoulder.
He stops and slowly turns over to you, a look of disgust on his face.

"Can I HELP you?"

"Sure. Know where Red Crane Inn is?" you ask, politely, while glancing at the veiled girl. You can only see a bit of her face through the veil, but even that looks beautiful. Her eyes are actually BLUE.

"Right over there you simpleton," he says, fanning himself still. "Now shove off, we're busy."

"Xuedi, maybe we should...," Chai Hu begins, but you hold your hand up without looking to stop his words as you tap the man on the shoulder again.

The fancy man turns back to you in irritation. "What? Can't you read either?" he says in obvious disgust.

"No I can read. I was wondering if you knew how much they costed?" you ask, still polite.

"If you don't know, you can't afford it," he says dismissively, then goes back to harassing her.

You tap him on the shoulder again, and this time he rounds on you.

"WHAT?!"

>WDYS?

>"Also, could you leave her alone?" [Polite]

>"Nothing. I'm deliberately annoying you now." [Troll]

>>38061541
>"Also, could you leave her alone?" [Polite]
Be the better man, and THEN be the better fighter.

>>38061541
>>"Also, could you leave her alone?" [Polite]
This was actually a difficult choice.

>>38061541
>"Nothing. I'm deliberately annoying you now." [Troll]

>>38061541
>I have a -insert absurd amount of currency here- with me. Wouldn't that be enough to pay for a couple of nights?

>>38061541
>>"Also, could you leave her alone?" [Polite]
Be ready to knock him out.

>>38061541
>"Also, could you leave her alone?" [Polite]
Priorities, we came here to make sure a beautiful girl wasn't harassed... and avoid our future wife.

>>38061617
Unless said girl is our wife.......

>>38061629
But that would be a cheap and predictable plot development...

>>38061629
See
>>38061527

>>38061604
No, write-ins, please.

>>38061541
>"Nothing. I'm deliberately annoying you now." [Troll]

>>38061663
Why the heck not? It's not like it's a write in to snap her neck.

>>38061541
>>"Also, could you leave her alone?" [Polite]
Followed by
>"Nothing. I'm deliberately annoying you now." [Troll]
just to annoy him a little bit more after he inevitably tells us to shove it.

>>38061541
>>"Nothing. I'm deliberately annoying you now." [Troll]

"Just going to ask you to stop harassing her," yo say with a shrug, and Chai Hu cringes (or cringes as much as a big guy like him CAN cringe).

The dandy turns around fully this time, and his friends follow, leaving the veiled girl alone and taking up a position that lets them quickly surround you if they need to.

"You've got a lot of nerve, peasant," he says dismissively, venom dripping from his words.

"Not a peasant, and yes, I do," you clarify.

"You certainly DRESS like a peasant," he notes, and his friends laugh in a forced, practiced way. "Do you know who I am?"

"Someone with an inflated opinion of himself?" you ask, unimpressed. You're just waiting for him to give you a reason, honestly.

"I am Len Linqi of the Junzi Society," he says proudly. "Do you know that name?"

"No, which just further suggests you're not nearly as important as you think you are," you respond dryly.

He grimaces in anger. "And who are YOU to speak to me this way?"

"A xia. Like you," you clarify. "I know the Junzi Society, and yaou aren't very gentlemanly so far. Are you sure you're not from the 'inbred rich twit society'?"

A hush falls on the group, and you hear Chai Hu facepalm behind you.

"Do you know what the penalty is for speaking to me this way?" he asks darkly, his face clouding over with the intent of violence.

You sure HOPE you do. You thought this guy was just an asshole, but the look on his face and the feel of his killing intent makes you think he seriously means to hurt you.

You say nothing but smile a little, and he suddenly unfolds his fan and swings it close enough that you can see the sharp edges built into it, and you lean your head back to dodge a slice that would almost certainly have blinded you if it hit!

"Heh. I was kinda hoping you'd do that," you say with a grin.

>WDYD?

>[Break His Face]

>[Break His Dick, THEN his Face]

>[Break his arm for the swing, his dick for being one, and his face because you don't like it.]

>>38061639
... you're new to the wushu genre aren't you?

>>38062020
>>[Break his arm for the swing, his dick for being one, and his face because you don't like it.]

>>38062020
>>[Break His Dick, THEN his Face]
Best possible route!
Disrupt the foe's yang energy to ensure his defeat!

>>38062020
>>[Break His Dick, THEN his Face]

>>38062020
>[Break His Dick, THEN his Face]
Let's be vindictive, but not TOO vindictive.

>>38062020
>[Break His Dick, THEN his Face]

>>38062020
>[Break His Dick, THEN his Face]

>>38062020
>[Break His Dick, THEN his Face]

>>38062020
>>[Break His Dick, THEN his Face]
A gentleman and a scholar.

>>38062020
>[Break His Dick, THEN his Face]

By the way WulinSage, just going to say since I just recently finished reading through the archives, I've really enjoyed your quest so far. It's pretty great.

>>38062195
Thank you very much!
I honestly never expected to be as well-received as it was when I started it, but I've enjoyed doing it quite a bit.

This little gaiden story actually came to me last night as sort of an apology for the long hiatus it went through.

Sage, are we are in the same city as Sky right now?

>>38062246
You didn't expect it to be good?
You have actual good characters, and actual plot, you put effort into your writing, and it's not another stupid animoo crossover kawaii desu desu moe shitstorm.
Actually, that last one might have been a deal breaker with /tg/

>>38062020
>>[Break His Dick, THEN his Face]

>>38062246
Well, your writing is rather enjoyable, which probably contributed.

I actually started reading your quest because of the Mass Effect quest you ran while on hiatus.

>>38062249
This seems to be set in the Capital city, rather than Chengdu, which is where Sky is. My guess? No.

>>38062020
>[Break His Dick, THEN his Face]
After that, can we break his everything?

>>38062249
No, this is the Capitol City of the Ming Empire, Nanjing to be specific, which is part of the Central Plains region.

Sky is in Chengdu, the capitol of the Sichuan Province father south and west. If you're a Dynasty Warriors fan, Sky is where the Shu Han was located, while Nanjing is around where Eastern Wu was located.
>>38062282
Well as a constant writer I'm mentally conditioned to NEVER automatically assume my writing is good (otherwise I don't try to improve), but I specifically meant well-received.

I kinda thought it'd just be another quest and nobody would care and I'd get maybe three or four guys at most posting and I'd quietly drop it.

Cue thread 7 which ended up having over 40 individual posters. Kind of a shocker to me.
>>38062322
I'm sorry to have dropped that, but I honestly wasn't sure what to do with it.

I'm pretty good at characterization and complex relationship tree stuff, but event-driven plotlines like Mass Effect uses I'm admittedly lousy at.

I'm a shitty D&D GM, hah.

>>38062246
I started reading this JUST BEFORE you disappeared for the hiatus.

As you could guess, waiting till February to see this continued drove me nuts. Consider that a complement to you, that you wrote something that had me checking your twitter twice a week for updates like a junkie looking for a drug dealer.

You bend back enough to dodge the strike from his fan and pop back up, catching his right arm with your left hand before he can make a back-swing!

He tried to make a kick at your shins with his left foot but you party it aside at the ankle with your right before shouting your newest, and most deadly technique of all.

>"YANG SHATTERING KNEE!"

Your right knee comes up after you party his kick, right into his balls as you grin like a shark with a bleeding man swimming in front of it and watch his face make an expression only possible when hit in a very specific place.

>"UGLY-MAKING ELBOW!"

You shout, letting go of his arm and spinning with your left elbow out right into his face like a a bolt of thunder hitting a tree.

He FALLS like a tree too, actually.

Two more to your side draw their Jian swords and thrust at you, too close and too fast to dodge or party at this range (okay, you admit that their swordsplay isn't BAD)!

Then Chai Hu interposed himself between them, and you grin.
The twi thrusting swords fly at what would be your neck but his his lower sternum, and make a sound like steel hitting a thick metal plate!

His skin, right where they impacted has turned black and hard as iron, and Chai Hu wraps his arms around the thin swords, his mighty thews turning a similar color, and using just his elbows and biceps he snaps the swords like they were dry kindling!

>>38062766
never knew that party was so strong

>>38062766
#rekt

>>38062766
>party
I thought it was a typo the first time. But you did again right after. What with partying blows?

>>38062766
He is partyin' so hard.

>>38062823, >>38062927
Shitty phone spellcheck.

>>38062766
>"YANG SHATTERING KNEE!"
This is genius. The deadliest technique in all of the Wulin.

>>38063060
You're a bit late to that vote.

>>38063060
You're so late bro.

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>>38063060
How embarassing.

You smile at Chai Hu, who simply has to glower at his enemies as they look at their ruined weapons, the iron-like skin of his body going back to normal.
NANOMACHINES SON!

"I'd rather you not make me hit you please," he asks politely. They both turn and run, apparently not having much loyalty to their currently Yang-challenged leader.

You turn to the last two only to see them have already fallen, twitching in agony with her beautiful blue eyes looking coldly down upon them.

Damn. You kinda wanted to hit more stuff.

"Nice work," you say with a nod, turning to leave.

"Why?" she asks. Her Han is remarkably unaccented.

"Why what?" you ask, half-turning back.

"Why did you intervene?" she sounds a mixture between annoyed and genuinely curious.

"Uh...because I felt like it, mostly?" you admit. "Nothing special I guess."

"Uh, Xuedi?" Chai Hu says, pointing as a large number of city guards begins to approach.

"Shit. Okay, get ready; I'm going to start breaking their legs so it's harder for them to maneuver!" you say, and the foreign girl stands next to you, hand on her sword.

"I'll sever their weapon hand tendons to keep them from harming us!" she says confidently.

"I'll distract them while you both eacape because I'm invulnerable and not as quick as either of you," Chai Hu says.

There's a pause.

"That...doesn't really synch up with the other ones Hu...," you note.

"No, but it DOES resolve the situation without a dozen maimed and dead guards all over the city when you're here for your WEDDING," he notes.

>>38063343
>Wait, new idea, we're Xias, right? And the guards are just, y'know, normal people? So what if we tried running away REALLY FAST?

>>38063395
B-but... that doesn't involve fighting.

"Oh...yeah...," you say lamely, having been caught up in the moment.

You can hear by the clucking in her teeth that the foreign girl is kinda disappointed too.

>WDYD?

>[Escape across the rooftops]

>[Escape into the alleyways]

>>38063491
>>[Escape across the rooftops]

>>38063491
>[Escape across the rooftops]
Because fuck subtlety

>>38063491
>[Escape across the rooftops]
The high ground!

>>38063491
>[Escape across the rooftops]

>>38063491
>>[Escape across the rooftops]
Like any true Xia!

>>38063491
>>[Escape across the rooftops]
Swoosh.

You turn to leap before looking back at your Schoolbrother.

"You gonna be okay?" you ask; mildly concerned. You ARE his senior; he's your responsibility.

"Oh, sure," he says, brushing it off. "I mean what are they gonna do, stab me?"

"Alright. Meet you later!" you say and leap off with the foreign girl across the street onto the rooftops, following her as you both run and leap above the streets below.

She's not as fast as you of course, but her Lightfoot skills are still damnded good, and she keeps up well enough as you both leave the area well behind and land on top of another nearby rooftop.

"Nice footwork!" you compliment.
"You as well. Will....he be alright?" she asks uncertainly, looking back where you came.

"Chai Hu? Oh sure. Probably won't even hurt anyone. They'll probably just arrest him and put him in jail," you say casually with a shrug, sitting down on the high rooftop overlooking the capitol, the Forbidden City visible in the distance.

"They will?!" she says, obviously alarmed. "And then what?"

"He'll escape later, I guess."

"...how?"

"Through the wall probably. If he busted up the bars then he'd have to fight the guards, and Hu doesn't like fighting very much."

"I....see...," she says, her blue eyes confused as she sits down. "Truly the martial arts of the Central Plains are strange."

"Hah! You'd be hard-presses to find anyone else like Chai Hu or me. We're kinda unique."

>WDYS?

>"So what are you doing here?" [Inquire Girl]

>"Sorry about butting in earlier if it offended you." [Apologize]

>>38063865
>"So what are you doing here?" [Inquire Girl]

>>38063865
>"So what are you doing here?" [Inquire Girl]

>>38063865
>"Sorry about butting in earlier if it offended you." [Apologize]
>"So what are you doing here?" [Inquire Girl]
They don't seem mutually exclusive, in this order at least.

>>38063865
>"Sorry about butting in earlier if it offended you." [Apologize]

>>38063865
>>"So what are you doing here?" [Inquire Girl]>"Sorry about butting in earlier if it offended you." [Apologize]

>>38063865
>>"So what are you doing here?" [Inquire Girl]

>>38062766
METAL CHI TECHNIQUES, SON

inb4 we're playing as a young Feng Renshu

>>38063865
>"I mean what are they gonna do, stab me?"
>quote_from_man_stabbed.secretmanual

>>38064066
Only if he changed his name to Feng Renshu before he revealed himself to the Wulin.

>>38064193
That wouldn't be that unusual. Not a lot of people are born with names like Sword Dawn or Storm Dragon.

You earn that shit.

>>38064066
>>38064193
Why would you not change your name to something appropriate after discovering your god-like hax skill?

"Sorry about that back there," you apologize awkwardly.

She shakes her head. "It's alright. I rather appreciated it actually. I've been treated rather poorly ever since I arrived in this country since I came here."

"Where are you from anyway?" you ask curiously.

"Xiyi," she answers, and you give a low whistle.

"The Western Regions? And I thought I was far from home," you say, impressed. "What are you doing all the way out here in the Central Plains?"

"I am here to research the local scholars of the Prophet Ma," she says, which doesn't really mean anything to you. "Also, get married I suppose," she says sullenly.

Huh. Weird coincidence.

"Oh. Well, congratulations," you say awkwardly. "Wait...not to that guy?"

She laughs musically, her eyes closing above her veil. "No, no. I wish! He was just some ruffian who thought my veil was an invitation!"

You laugh with her. "Oh good, because I thought....yeah, that would be SUPER awkward!"

You both laugh, enjoying the moment.

"To who then?" you ask finally

"Someone from the Kongtong Sect," she answers, her laugher dying off.

"I don't know that group," you admit.

"They're far to the west, in the Kunlun Mountains, close to my homeland."

"Why are you in the capitol?" she asks.

"To get married," you admit.

"Oh. How curious," she says in amusement.

"Right? I thought so," you agree.

"Whom to?"

"Some girl I was promised to before I was even born," you say, shrugging. "Part of some super ancient tradition bullshit I couldn't give a crap about."

"Oh. I am sorry," she says, sounding like she means it.

"Nothing to be sorry for, it's not your fault."

"Nevertheless, I am still sorry," she says again.

"....Thanks," you say quietly, and you both sit together, looking at the blue sky.

"I don't want to get married," you reveal, saying it aloud for the first time.

"I don't want to get married either," she admits, sounding pained even as she says it.

"It's not my choice. They're MAKING me," you say, mostly to yourself.

"They are making me as well," she agrees.

Another long pause, and to the both of you looking up there is only the wind, clouds, and sky.

"Want to not get married together?" you ask her, jokingly.

"What does that even mean?" she asks laughing.

"It means...I dunno what it means. But wanna?" you ask. You're not even sure what you mean yourself.

She pauses, her gorgeous blue eyes looking at you.

"Yes. I would like that," she says finally.

"Sweet. We'll have to have a not-married ceremony and have Chai Hu as our not-witness," you note, standing up, offering your hand to help her.

You lift her to her feet, staring into her blue eyes.

"I don't even know your name," you realize with a laugh.

"I am Ma, after the Prophet, Suzheng. Ma Shuzheng," she says, smiling behind her veil. "It is nice to meet you Hero Xuedi."

"Oh! Hah! No, my name's not Xuedi. Xue di means 'School Brother' in the Han language. Chai Hu always calls me that!" you say with a laugh.

"Oh! I apologize! I am new to this tongue," she says, embarrassed at her mistake.

"It's okay you speak it pretty well anyway," you say smiling.

"My name is Renshu. Feng Renshu."

>>38064743
Knew it!

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>>38064743
>Feng Renshu
This thread has gone up a million points

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>>38064743
>Feng Renshu

Awesome

>>38064743
Called it.

Xuedi had the feel of a title or nickname.

>>38064743
Looks like Chai Hu could be ANDAAAAA

>>38064743
Oh boy here we go.

[Hype Intensifies]

>>38064743
>"Want to not get married together?"
Second best pickup line ever behind "I like your face."

>>38064880
brilliant

>EPILOGUE

>TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER

You feel the wind on your face as you train with your saber, feeling the wind flow freely through your hair as Zhu'er and Zhengzhu watch while Lei pours drinks in the Yuan Palace.

"I can't get over them," Zhu'er says.

"Over what?" you ask, pausing and looking at her.

"She means your eyes, Lord Sky," Zhengzhu clarifies.

"What's wrong with them?" you ask, tilting your head to one side in confusion.

"They're BLUE!" Honglan says, almost squealing it out.

"So? Your hair is green," you point out, feeling a bit self-conscious.

"Yeah, but I have extenuating circumstances," she points out. "You don't! So why are your eyes blue?"

You think on it, looking up into the sky and the clouds above in thought.

"I dunno," you admit. "I guess I get them from my mom."

>LEGEND OF WULIN HERO SIDE STORY END

I wonder...she comes from the Kunlun mountains and is named after the prophet Ma. That sounds like the Ming Cult to me. And Ba fought the Holy Flame Doctrine, which are sort of a reference to the Ming Cult. Perhaps this is the start of Renshu's feud with Flame Doctrine, when he interrupted a marriage they had arranged.

I can't remember, has Sky ever said anything else about his mother before?

>extenuating circumstances
Why do all these women keep speaking in such long words? Sky was raised on a MOUNTAIN, ladies. He can't follow all your high-level verbiage.

>>38065162
>Prophet Ma
Glad someone picked up on that at least.

"Ma" for those who don't know is the Mandarin name for Muhummad.

>>38065197
No, he can't remember her at all.
He's making a basic assumption based on the fact that he has blue eyes and his father does not.

And give Sky some credit; he's a bit cleverer then his dad!

Apologies for the short length of the side story, but it was always meant to be a brief one.

Folks kept asking about Sky's mother, so I wanted to reveal at least a LITTLE bit before her overall role in Sky's story came into play, as an apology for the long hiatus between WHQ updates.

>>38065254
>And give Sky some credit; he's a bit cleverer then his dad!
But didn't his dad teach him everything he knows?

Like, almost literally; I don't really imagine Sky having been able to pick that much up from the limited time he spent down in the village.

>>38065347
Well thanks for running! I take it their marriage caused a lot of shit that Sky will have to deal with eventually right?

>>38065410
>marriage

But anon, weren't you paying attention? They got not-married!

>>38065410
I think we can assume so. It's wuxia. There has literally never been a marriage in the genre that hasn't done that.

>>38065410
Also who might have a traditional claim of marriage to Sky

>>38065410
A solid guess, but that's almost a given; there isn't a single wuxia relationship that doesn't come with overwhelming complications.

I can't reveal much more except that you haven't even really met or heard of all the players and consequences of everything this single meeting caused and effected.

I CAN reveal that in this timeline five years later Renshu at the age of 25 revealed himself to the collected Wulin as the Flame Doctrine ravaged southern China and gave them the infamous beat-down that earned him his legendary moniker.

Earlier that same year, Sky was born.

>>38065515
...If anybody show up with this claim, they're probably getting horribly murdered.

>>38065634
Sky isn't the type to kill someone over a marriage claim.

Though he'd be awfully confused.

>>38065730
I think he meant by all the other girls, murdering anybody with a marriage claim to Sky.

>>38065730
I wasn't talking about Sky.

I was talking about the crowd of suitors already present.

>>38065730
Sage, I don't think anon was saying Sky would.

>>38065754
The real question is, who gets there first?

>>38065628
now I guess we know who that big guy who could barley speak calling us 'brother' is

>>38065839
Actually, no.

Chai Hu speaks perfect Mandarin (better then Renshu did) while the other guy had a broken accent.

>>38065872
what? no, clearly not Chai Hu, his son

>>38065872
I'm still going to suspect that ANDAAAAguy is a relative of Chai Hu.

>>38065409
No, but Sky is a great deal more intelligent and imaginative then his father is, learning new things and applying them much faster.
He also sees value in knowing things that don't involve hitting or eating things.
>>38066000
>>38066008
Nope.

>>38066076
You know, I'd rather not know who he is. Because whoever he turns out to be, it can't live up to the mental image of a giant flying Mongolian just randomly deciding to befriend us.

>>38065872
Does Qiu Qiang know Chai Hu? Is he his sensei or related to the Iron Palm Sect?

>>38066076
I'm gonna guess ANDAAAA!!!'s from the Ryukyu Kingdom, or whatever your Imperial Japan equivalent is called.

>>38066128
Let's see.

Iron Body != Iron Palm, amirite, Sage?

>>38066158
Ryukyu isn't Japan, it's Okinawa. It was an actual place. Until the Japanese conquered it, anyway.

>>38066158
Also, isn't Anda mongolian?
he's probably from mongolia.

>>38066182
Yeah, but Iron Palm kinda has whole body invulnerability thing.

However, it doesn't seem to have that NANOMACHINES, SON visual effect, so I think they are in fact different sects with the same basic idea.

>>38066128
Obviously he practices the Seven styles of Strong Arm!

>>38066121
Good, because I ain't telling yet.
>>38066128
No.
>>38066158
No, and Japan is called "Wa" by the Chinese.
>>38066182
Yeah, not the same.
Chai Hu's technique isn't even called Iron Body even.
>>38066191
Correct.
>>38066266
No he's not and it's a Mongolian word for "Brother", not necessarily a blood brother.
>>38066279
The Iron Palm Sect's principles are actually quite different from Chai Hu's skill.

The thread where he fights Qiu Qiang explains a bit of it.

>>38066354
>The Iron Palm Sect's principles are actually quite different from Chai Hu's skill.
I mean the basic idea of BEING FUCKING INVINCIBLE. With different approaches to implementation.

>>38066393
Sorta, yes.
They both are about making you harder to put down, but from a king fu physics standpoint they're about as related as dodging and parrying are; both are about not getting hit, but how you get there is quite a bit different.

This thread has been archived BTW.

>>38066354
How would we compare to our dad at the same age? Would be in the same league as him?

>>38067083
About the same, though he was always much more straightforward in his application of pretty much everything.

>>38067361
Did he also get some wicked sweet tiger pit training?
And I don't suppose you would know when you're next going to run the thread? I enjoy just reading through them, but I also enjoy the voting in as well; I've missed the last few threads.

>>38067413
This makes me wonder, how did Ba's training compare to ours?

>>38067413
I'm trying to set up a regular schedule, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Expect them to show right around that time from now on, otherwise I'll do my best to alert you via Twitter.
>>38067466
Not as severe, but still very intensive, especially compared to the lackadaisical training some xia can have. Heaven's Blessings training has two grades; pass or fail.

If you are capable of achieving the intense physical and internal energy requirements, you pass. If not, you fail.
No middle ground.

The lack of severity comes from differences in teaching/learning methods; Renshu was something of a straightforward individual who waxed on waxed off when he was told, by Sky is much more intuitive and learned faster, so Renshu had difficulty teaching him the same way.