Thirty Days of Classes, part 13 (after battle)

So... are you going to teach us any techniques?

Hah hah... it's only been a few days since your training began, yet...

Tsk... my other martial arts masters would teach me their secret techniques.

So that's what got you two pouting all lesson.

Hoo-ie... now, that's some good wine. Very well, I'm in the mood! Let me teach you a useful trick.

R-really?!

Tell me. What did I teach you to do as you swung your sticks?

Forget all those things that put pressure on me, and face nothing but myself and my movements.

And that's only the start of it.

First: emptiness of sound.

The slight friction from the tips of your toes, the ruffle of your clothes, your breaths... erase them all, erase every ripple and echo you leave upon this world.

The Night Drifter stands before us, but his presence becomes as hazy as mist.

Despite the wild movements, we hear... nothing.

Second: emptiness of form.

To have a form is to provide your foes with clues to predict your next move. Forget the weapons in your hands. Forget your structured forms. Break the mold, become the flow, let only your will remain.

Randomness seeps into his movements, until all semblance of pattern becomes lost.

There was something clownish about his unpredictable movements, but they were also so hypnotic and floaty that Jia Xichun and Sinclair couldn't look away.

Last: emptiness of mind.

Try not to force the direction of your heart; empty your desires and intentions both. Stab without thinking; penetrate without gazing.

Both Jia Xichun and Sinclair's necks were marked by small imprints of the twig that pressed their skin...

and Zilu, who had been standing next to me all along, had leaped a small distance away, seemingly deep in thought.

And my neck hurts, too... Guess I wasn't spared from the lesson. I wonder if this fits that saying Yi Sang utters from time to time - "to lose one's nose with eyes open."

Immerse yourselves; make sure your descent is slow and gradual. We've been focusing entirely on the self with your swings thus far, so you should find it quite easy to reach the state of emptiness of mind -

…….

Tsk tsk, didn't I just say that one must take it slowly and gradually? To empty your mind already... Ah, I'd have taught you my everything had you entered under my tutelage long ago.

A-am I doing this right...? No, wait. I need to relax more...

So, our new Hierarch has found herself the clue to the emptiness of form.

What technique... is this?

Tsk tsk, it's all just movements at the end of the day. I find it entirely unnecessary to give them those flashy names; a truly secret technique should come without one.

Phew...

W-well, it's still supposed to be our ultimate move, right? Wouldn't it be more... official, to give it a name?

Hmmh... well, in that case... whewie, that's some good wine indeed! I guess I'll go with something like... "Plastered Sleep, Unrestrained Ripples(醉睡浪浪)"?

That name sucks...

The class comes to an end with an ultimate move that was probably named in haste.

Zilu, who'd been observing the class from a distance, approaches the Night Drifter.

... Been a while since I saw someone give a lesson like this starting from its very fundamentals.

Heh heh, hardly can one find a pupil willing to slowly learn from the very fundamentals in a world of infinite technological advancements like the 'veil'. I am only fortunate enough to have found two pupils who are indeed willing.

... Your gait... your tone...

Were you, among the Ten Blades of the East -

Now, now! It seems entirely unnecessary for you to dig, as I don't quite recall putting anything on your tab. Put your futile questions to rest, for I have no answers to give.

The past is like smoke; I've long emptied any history worth delving into.