Post by Nian Gao on Dec 2, 2020 2:08:05 GMT -8
With the chiming of the clock, the skeletal bird that sat perched over Nian Gao’s coffin opened its beak and began to caw. A loud, shrieking sound that jolted the Jiangshi upright, arms going from folded across her chest to straight out in front of her as she yelped out. “Awake! I’m awake!” The cawing of the skeletal crow ceased, ghostly blue eyes staring at the girl as if waiting for her to dare to go back to sleep and give it an excuse to begin shrieking again. “Ugh...what an alarm clock.” Nian Gao said, arms crackling unpleasantly as they bent for her to house herself out of her velvet lined casket and onto the cold stone floor of her room in the crypt. The same one she’d spent several years sleeping in, but this time it had only been for a nice, cool four hours. Undead didn’t need anywhere near the same sleep as living folks!
Salisbury had told her something about weird chemicals in the brain that induced fatigue, and the lack of that meant undead only needed a little sleep to refresh the soul, but honestly she’d already forgotten a lot of it. Well still it was nice to only have to sleep a little, and hey she didn’t even feel that tired waking up! The ‘alarm clock’ was a bit weird, just the skeleton of a bird that shrieked when the little clock set up on the table in the middle of her room chimed at a time she set. Still it was good to be up, she didn’t want to be late! After all, today she started training with Oden, and the thought of learning how to actually fight like some legendary warrior from the Earth’s storied past was incredible!
She was going to waste no time in springing forward. A small amount of furniture had been moved to her room last night. The small clock, made of dyed pale-blue wood, a wardrobe of white, bleached wood almost like bone, and a small wardrobe of...well basically the same outfit she’d woken up in, but she still appreciated it! However, she did have one special outfit, given to her by Oden that she was supposed to wear to training. It was a bit like a gi. A grey, voluminous long sleeved shirt, with matching pants and black shoes. It reminded her of what some monks wore, and of what she’d seen and read of some Crane School practitioners in the books and on rare occasions, on the TV. The black straps that went from the shoes and up to her calves, binding the pants down so there was no loose cloth near her feet were interesting, but she could get those done up easily!
Once she was dressed up she was heading out, hopping through the corridors quickly. Honestly hopping still just felt more natural to her than walking, as weird as it was, and she could hop pretty far! Along the way she passed Roscoe, one of the zombies who had been there watching her and, “Hey Nian Gao! Good morning!”
“Morning!” She said brightly to the zombie as he came down the stairs and her up.
“Hey, what’s the rush? Why not have something to eat?” He asked, offering a leg of ham to her, which she just took as she went past him.
“I appreciate the food, but I’ve gotta get going, catch!” A bite into it, and she had the lingering life energy drained, before tossing the leg back to him, which he almost dropped, laughing.
“Haha, right, Jiangshi! Well have fun with whatever you’re rushing to! I hope it’s nothing serious!”
That wouldn’t be the last time someone called out to her. Nian Gao had only been here a day but she’d already figured out that she was an important figure. Not hard to figure out when a big part of last night had been her being centered as Wake Town’s primary hope of getting their leader back, the man who was responsible for raising up this town of the dead and keeping it from just being a more normal graveyard. At least it meant her importance was for something she was actually going to do, although she still wasn’t sure just what made her so...special. Sure she looked ‘more alive’ than the others, with smooth skin that, while pale and cold, didn’t look withered or decayed, but she was still a corpse!
As she approached the steps to head topside, Salisbury came up, the fiery skull floating alongside her. “Ahhh, up and early right on time eh? Oden’s going to appreciate that.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. You’re not the first person he’s taught, and some folks are pretty sloppy about being on time and prompt. Well, for a couple days at least, usually stop not long after, haha!”
“Ooooh, he’s one of those rough masters right? Gives those students grueling punishments for being late?” Nian Gao asked excitedly.
“Hah! You sound awfully excited about that.”
“This whole thing is like some of the stories I read as a kid, both fictional stories and ‘true’ accounts of things like the great heroes of Earth’s past! I’m sure some of those are exaggerated by now, but really this is kind of like a dream come true. Now, I intend to be a good student, so, I can’t be late!”
With those words she jumped out of the entrance to the crypt, giving a good strong leap that took her down an entire terrace of the hill that was the center of Wake Town. Behind her she heard Salisbury call out one last ‘good luck’ and then she was jumping again, harder this time to see how far she could go and...boy she could go far! She got all the way to the base of the hill, soaring through the air as she smiled brilliantly...before realizing that she was right about to smash straight into a tree before she’d hit the ground and...impact.
She faceplanted directly into it, arms extended and spread out to either side of the trunk, before she just slid down and fell backwards onto her back, blinking. Well it hadn’t hurt, but the impact had felt pretty jarring! Still, she would hop back up to her feet, a hand moving to feel and make sure her nose wasn’t crooked or something as she went running through the trees, crackling emanating from her joints as she got them used to moving normally. Oden had basically just told her to go into the forest directly opposite the crypt’s entrance, which she was pretty sure was almost completely due North, either way she was doing that but what was she supposed to be looking for anywa-
Something flew directly in front of her face, so close she could swear she felt it skid across her nose. Immediately Nian Gao stopped in her tracks, her feet nearly going out from under her as both arms moved, rotating backwards to catch herself, her shoulder joints popping uncomfortably as she did so, a solid thunk of something embedding itself in wood making her head turn to see a long, wooden pole stuck into the trunk of a tree right next to her. “Hah, I didn’t think you’d actually avoid it that smoothly!” There was Oden’s gruff voice emerging from opposite the pole, where it had been thrown from. He had another in his hand, a staff, with a rounded top and bottom, the kind of staff that was thick enough and sturdy enough for beating someone around with.
“Well are you just going to lay there and stare at me? Get up and pull the pole out of that tree!” Oden bellowed causing Nian Gao to yelp and try to push herself up, only for her dislocated shoulders to finally give in as she fell flat on her back with a yelp. “Oh for...ahhh, well I suppose you are only a day old.” He grabbed her shirt to haul her up, and then just casually grabbed an arm, slotted her shoulder back into place, and did the same for the other. As usual it didn’t hurt but it sure did feel weird. “Alright, so, one of the first things you need to realize, is that without a sense of pain and an unliving body, a lot of ‘safeties’ that keep you from doing things like dislocating your joints through your own action are gone. There are other ways to tell, but it’s going to be a process you’re going to have to learn and then keep track of.”
“Understood, Shifu!” She said brightly, making him chuckle.
“I suppose Shifu works as an honorific, now, pull that staff out of the tree!”
“Yes sir!” She said, giving a salute, before she turned and gripped the staff and...jeeze looking at this it was pretty deeply embedded into the tree, would she really be able to pull it out of there? She tightened her grip, tightened her jaw, lowered her brow, narrowed her eyes and...she went flying backwards as she pulled the staff right out of the tree as if it were nothing, landing on her ass and flopping into her back as she blinked in surprise. “Wha-”
Oden just started laughing again. “Let me guess, you didn’t realize how much stronger you are now right?! Agagagagagagaga!” Once again he helped haul her up, although it wasn’t like anything was dislocated this time, before giving her a slap on the back. “You’re a hell of a lot stronger than any human Nian, and a lot stronger than most base level undead too. You’re packing a lot more power than someone your age, living or dead, should have. Sauerkraut really worked some wonders on you, I can’t imagine what you were like alive.”
“Ahhh, I wasn’t anything special.” She said brightly as she looked at the way he was holding his staff, one hand wrapped around it nearer the top, the bottom set onto the soft grassy floor of the forest. She mimicked it as she watched him and, “So! What now Shifu?”
“Hoho.” There was a gleam in his one eye as he inspected the way she was standing. “First, I need a measure of just how much work we need to do. So, we’re going to have a little test. I’m going to attack you and you need to avoid my attacks to the best of your ability.”
Honestly there wasn’t a better exercise she could have wanted to hear. She was getting thrown straight into the thick of it, that’s what it sounded like to her, and she was totally down for that! She took a few steps back, “You got it, Shifu! I’m ready whenever you are!”
“Good, then brace yourself! Your first test is to see just how much you know, and how natural your reflexes are! All you have to do, is defend yourself!” The last three words came out sharply as he suddenly stepped towards her, the end of the staff thrusting for her chest! She yelped in surprise as she tried to step to the side, the staff thumping hard into her shoulder and twisting her about. She didn’t fall over at least, managing to catch herself, but Oden just brought the staff around and clocked her in the chin, sending her reeling backwards! Her own staff lifted up into the air as she backpedaled rapidly until she hit a tree, managing to avoid falling onto her rump. “Didn’t you hear me? I said defend yourself!”
He lunged at her, the staff thrusting. Her eyes widened as she ducked, hearing and feeling the staff slam into the bark above her, embedding itself. She still wasn’t feeling any pain, but she’d still been sent reeling, she’d felt the impacts, she was getting hit! Clutching her staff tightly she scrambled, leaping off to the side as he ripped the staff free and brought the opposite end down intending to slam it into her stomach. She narrowly avoided it as she rolled, coming up on one knee as her eyes went towards him but...he wasn’t there anymore! “What-”
“Don’t get distracted!” His shouting voice was the only reason she didn’t get hit. Her head jerked up to see him descending, staff coming down in both hands to slam the shaft onto her head. She leaned backwards, and her own staff came back, the harsh clack of wood on wood breaking out as she tried to keep herself from being forced to her back! Her arms trembled, slight cracking emanating from her joints as he forced her arms closer and closer to her chest. “I can tell you’ve never fought a day in your life. That’s fine, we have time to train you, but that’s no excuse for not giving it your all!”
He slid his staff down, the tip moving under hers and forward, hooking it as he hauled upwards. She let out a shrill cry as she was flipped over his head and sent hurtling through the air, the wind pressure forcing her talisman up over her head as her eyes widened. She twisted in the air, hitting the ground before rolling and coming up to her feet, her hair a little wild as she lifted her staff up in front of her, her eyes going to fix on Oden. Fortunately he hadn’t moved this time and he nodded. “Better! You recovered easier. Now, let’s go again!”
Oden came rushing towards her, and Nian Gao stood her ground, her eyes fixed on him, unblinking. She felt like her heart should be pounding in her ears, but of course it sat unmoving behind her ribs. Nothing felt broken, she was standing fine without issues, but that toss, surely that would have broken something. She was an undead, and most undead were often portrayed as stronger than a normal man, how far did that go though? Either way the shock was wearing off and as his staff thrust towards her, she was able to dodge, stepping to the side, her eyes shifting towards the staff as he swung it in towards her in a repeat of the opening of this exercise. She ducked under it, leaning forward to start moving opposite it, to try and put distance, her body shifting to keep herself facing towards him, to try and keep herself from losing sight of him.
It was a good move, as he wasn’t holding still after swinging, bringing the staff back around in a sweep, but as he did, his grip loosened, the staff sliding forward, extending its reach suddenly! Her eyes widened and her mouth opened to gasp, before she brought her staff up, again catching it, but in a position where she slid across the grass rather than just getting pinned to the ground. “Good. Good! Let’s see how long you can keep that up!” Oden bellowed as he kept up the pressure.
Nian Gao wasn’t sure how long it went on, but as the seconds ticked by she grew more comfortable, started to get a feel for the flow of it. It was almost like dancing in a way. She started to notice just how graceful his motions were, the impressive control in those steely limbs, muscles highlighted in unreal detail thanks to shriveled, drawn taut, dead skin. Her own movements grew more graceful and refined as well as she started to get a feel for the rhythm. Slowly, Oden started to introduce new tricks and amp up the complexity of his attacks. Not just attacking with his staff, but hands and feet. A sweep from his staff would suddenly turn into a lunging elbow, one arm letting go to lift up as he surged forward a short distance. He’d strike towards her face, while his leg lifted, going for a sharp kick to her shins to knock her down.
Some of these, a lot of these, hit Nian Gao the first time, but Oden noticed something. Nian Gao adjusted quickly. A few tricks gave her more difficulty, trying to keep track of low attacks while guarding high for instance, but she was adapting on the fly with great skill. He continued to assault her, and started to increase his speed when he noticed that her only response to a few types of attack was to try and just keep far enough away that he couldn’t reach, cutting that option out. He attacked from different angles at multiple times, in quick succession, putting her to the test. She was taking hits, but she learned, she adapted. There were holes in her guard clearly born of no actual knowledge of fighting and martial arts, but it was impressive nonetheless.
Minutes wound on, and ultimately this test ran on for nearly a full hour of Oden attacking her, forcing her to defend herself constantly and relentlessly. Then at last, their staves clashed against each other, only for him to suddenly twist his staff around, hooking it under hers and forcing it upwards with one hand, lifting her guard wide open and exploiting an opening she’d been unaware of. One hand drew back, fingers going rigid, all five pointed outwards and spread as evenly as possible as he lunged it forward to strike her stomach, the impact focused onto five points, rather than his broad palm, and sent her hurtling backwards to slam into a tree.
“And that...concludes our test.” She almost certainly had broken bones, probably ruptured organs. Of course, none of that mattered to a jiangshi or a zombie. If she was a living human she’d have died in this test, but as an undead, she was simply...exhausted and heavily damaged. He walked over to her and took her hand, helping her to her feet. He noticed how her hands were sticking forwards again and her legs were close together, not in a more naturally relaxed pose. She was holding the staff in just one hand. “Sip on a few trees, no need to kill them, there’s plenty they can share with you between them.”
“What...was that last attack...that felt like it hit way harder than anything else…”
Oden paused, his one eye blinking before he laughed. “Haha! You’ve already figured out how to tell how hard something hit you without being able to feel pain? Hahaha, fantastic! Yes, that was special. That, was the Five Pronged Palm. One of several specific techniques I’ll be teaching you over the coming months.”
“That’s...so cool.” She said, even as she hopped up to a tree and awkwardly pressed her face against the bark, shifting her head until she could get a decent grip with her jaws.
Oden folded his arms as he watched her, considering. She was a novice for sure, but this had confirmed something he’d been unconvinced of. Something Sauerkraut had told him, that he hadn’t been sure he’d believed without any real evidence beyond her being a good dancer.
Nian Gao was a natural.
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Her first day was just the beginning. Over the course of several weeks, a routine was slowly established. Nian Gao spent much of her week training with Oden, occasionally joined by other undead that practiced beneath him. Her other days were often spent helping the undead of Wake Town with the farming life. Something they insisted she didn’t have to do, but she did it anyways, seeming to take a simple pleasure in farming and raising livestock that many found quite admirable.
It became clear within Nian Gao’s first month that she was a step above Oden’s other students. The other zombies and skeletons and even a ghost, weren’t bad students. They all had varying levels of dedication and focus, but even the most determined of them soon found Nian Gao outshining and outperforming them. Within two months Nian Gao was hands down Oden’s best, most capable student. If anyone was upset about this, they didn’t vocalize it, and the community opinion was both congratulatory and assured, as if this were the natural result. Nian Gao was special after all. Sauerkraut’s greatest triumph, a special undead, the only jiangshi in Waketown. If she weren’t an exceptionally capable fighter, how could she ever compete in the World Tournament? How could she ever track down and rescue Sauerkraut?
That last was the result of pervasive speculation and rumor. Not everyone believed it, but the overriding majority was now of the opinion that surely Sauerkraut had been imprisoned by some terrible foe. Perhaps the evil, terrible tyrant Piccolo to try and torture his secrets of necromancy out of him. Perhaps by some other necromancer, possessed of a blacker heart than the noble man that had given them this wonderful, idyllic unlife. Another thing she came to expect, but was not nearly as regular as the others, was speaking with Salisbury about the world abroad, listening to a radio about world news and events. Salisbury believed it was just as important that she be prepared and somewhat wise about the world, correctly pegging her as a pretty innocent girl. It became a source of minor frustration that she didn’t take these lessons nearly as seriously as her training with Oden, or her farmwork.
As her training progressed, Oden pressed her hard, focusing on her talent and ensuring that she didn’t get to rest on her laurels or breeze through. Her exercises and training were always extremely difficult, putting her considerable talent to the test. She learned about ki, was given rigorous exercises and complex routines. Her spiritual power was put to the test and heightened, and she learned both the Five Pronged Palm, but also another technique, ‘Biidama’ or ‘Marble.’ A potent technique, a barrage of clustered spheres of ki hurled towards an opponent. It was versatile and flexible, and the primary vehicle for showing her just how versatile ki was as a resource. She could alter the ‘marbles’ of Biidama to shock, freeze, increase their impact to try and cripple, focus velocity and decrease size to give them piercing power and more, and she was expected to do all of these things.
All of this continued to build up and grow more intense, until one day, some six months or so into her training, Oden had her prepare for a special training exercise. What he said would be her first real taste of proper combat.
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Nian Gao knelt on the ridge, one knee resting easily on hard ground, her staff in one hand and sticking straight up, a little support for her weight as she looked over the road ahead of her. It was a beautiful view for sure, the ridge and short cliffs tapering off into rolling slopes towards a well traveled road, actually paved and everything, and on the other side of the road, more rolling grasslands, until they faded into dense forest ahead. It was rather picturesque and made her wish she had a camera, but no, all she had was her staff. “We’ve really been having issues with bandits here?” Nian Gao asked, shooting her master, Oden, a look.
The man was sitting a few feet away, legs folded and his one eye fixed on the scene, perusing it carefully. “Indeed. This is where they’ve been striking.”
“Weird…” Waketown didn’t just farm for its own people. They had an agreement with the Duchies of the Westlands that was pretty common in many villages. Delivering food and other goods related to their products to the duchies. Apparently the goods they provided were in enough quantity and quality that the Dukes and Duchesses didn’t even care that Waketown was a literal town of the dead. The fact that it was a town of corpses usually did a lot to help curb criminal activity such as banditry. Undead guards were harder to incapacitate than a normal living person, and often just the sight of them throwing back their hoods would make most bandits run. Occasionally though, someone showed up with the guts to keep going, and succeed, and that had been happening for the past week.
Oden didn’t like leaving bandits to fester, and so he had moved immediately to deal with the issue, and as his star pupil, Nian Gao was being brought along. The ridge they were on was a fair distance from the road, and a good, discreet location to monitor the road. Just coming into sight along the road was a caravan from Waketown. Several of Oden’s students driving a small group of trucks, loaded with ‘goods’, fake decoys, lots of rocks, firewood, stuff that wouldn’t hurt too much to be lost. Supposedly the bandits attacked by erupting from the forest past the road and rapidly closing in on the trucks. Which was also why the ridge was chosen, far away and on the opposite side, giving a commanding view of road, fields and forest.
Her grip on her staff tightened as her eyes went to the trucks driving along the road. Honestly seeing them was just a little...strange. Waketown had only a few modern conveniences, some modern plumbing for some of the barns and facilities for the farms, some electricity for the same, and much of the actual farmwork was done by hand instead of with big machines. It didn’t help that the main crypt used magic for most things, like the ever present blue flames instead of electrical lighting. “Get ready. They’re about to make a move.”
Nian Gao’s head lifted up, turning towards him as her mouth opened to ask how he knew that...and then she saw it. Faint puffs of smoke in the distance by the trees, her blue eyes focusing in, barely making them out. That...that was capsules! That was how they kept the vehicles hidden! Now she could see them, small dots and shapes growing larger as a series of jeeps and aircraft started to hurtle over the hills. She counted...two aircraft, and three ground vehicles, two sturdy jeeps, and one large truck, probably for loading up the ill gotten goods! “There’s our cue Nian, let’s get moving!” With those words he leaped off the cliff as Nian nodded, standing up herself.
She perched one foot just on the edge, before tilting forward, dropping down the face of the ridge, before she pushed off and went hurtling through the air. The wind rushed wildly through her hair, pressing her talisman firmly against her face as she moved her staff behind her, holding it in one hand as she landed on the top of another short cliff before springing off. A few months ago, moving at speeds like this, precariously landing and leaping off of surfaces with no waiting had felt incredible. It still did, it was a rush like nothing else and she loved it, but she’d adjusted and gotten used to it. It was as natural and easy as walking or running, and just like running, doing it still felt damn good. She was faster than the trucks on the road, in fact, she seemed to be faster than the actual bandits in their fancy vehicles. At least, that was the impression she got given she hit the paved road first and went leaping across it!
Oden was just ahead of her, his staff held similarly behind him in one hand. “Nian! Take that one on the left!”
“Yes Shifu!” She shouted, before she went sprinting ahead, one hand held ahead of her, body angled to the side as she went hurtling towards the jeep. As she did, she saw someone lean out of a window, and the faint shine of light on a rifle. Her eyes narrowed slightly and when the gun fired off she jinked to the side, the bullet rushing past her. Even that felt amazing. When she was alive the idea of dodging a bullet was a thing of fiction or distant events. Yet not only could she dodge it, but her eyes could even follow its path! She wove around successive shots as she approached the jeep, and then right as she was in front of it?
Her staff spun in her hands, one end going beneath the jeep right next to a wheel before she hoisted up! She heard cursing and yelling, before the jeep was tipped up and onto its side, wheels spinning fruitlessly. Without missing a beat she leaped up onto the side, staff rapping the chin of a man trying to climb out the window. Oddly he went limp immediately and slid back into the vehicle, but then a shout from Oden made her head turn, and the sharper, higher pitched whoosh as from one of the aircraft, a missile was sent hurtling off towards the trucks! They had a rocket launcher up there!
Yet, Nian Gao just pointed one hand, and a thin sliver of blue-light shot from her fingertips and struck the missile mid-path, detonating it in mid-air. Then, a gunshot rang out, extremely close, as a faint impact struck Nian Gao’s stomach. She blinked, looking downwards at the bandit who had shot her from within the jeep, staring at her wide eyed as he realized no blood was welling up from where the bullet had passed through her. Nian Gao just shrugged at him, before she flipped off of the jeep, pressing her feet firmly into the edge to send it rolling over the grasslands! That ought to keep those bandits busy for a few seconds! She needed to do something about that aircraft first.
Landing on the ground she pivoted, tossing her staff up into the air before catching the butt of the weapon in the palm of her hand. Her left pointed forward, fingers straight to help her aim as she drew her right back, letting the staff slant downwards as one leg lifted, before going down as her body rolled, sending the staff hurtling through the air like a spear. It turned into a streaking black bolt that struck the underside of the aircraft, the entire thing shuddering and shifting to the side. Keeping her eyes on it, she started running forward, her eyes turning to the truck, that had paused, the driver and passenger coming out, weapons in hand and aiming towards her. A casual flick of a hand sent a ki blast to slam into the front of the truck and detonate, the shockwave knocking them both down.
With that taken care of, her knees bent, before she jumped. She was really good at jumping. Hurtling through the air, she grabbed the bit of her staff that was sticking out of the bottom of the aircraft, a pretty standard flyer, big and bulky with jets on the back propelling it, and a bubble like windshield to give a wide field of view to the pilot. This thing could probably hold a lot of goods too...or a lot of people. Gripping the staff, her ki flooded the thing, the reason it hadn’t broken hitting the aircraft, and then she dragged her hands forward, her staff tearing through the metal and ripping out the front, creating a massive gaping gash in the aircraft and cutting through important internals. Falling to the ground, she rolled deftly and sprang up to her feet, the aircraft now on a crash course with the ground. Quickly surveying the field, she realized that...no one else was around that was an immediate threat.
With nothing immediately at hand, she turned her attention to the crashed aircraft, moving to see if anyone on board was still fit to fight or needed help. When she arrived, Oden landed on top, his staff resting on one shoulder as he gave her a big grin. “Good work Nian Gao. You did better than I was expecting.”
“It’s over?” Nian asked, blinking. “That…”
“Was surprisingly easy?” Oden replied, “I expected it might be. Being brave doesn’t mean being strong.” He hopped down and pried open the back hatch of the craft with one hand, a few people within stumbling out. No one was uninjured, or in a fit state to fight. “That’s to be expected, I’ve explained to you the gulf between talented ki users and normal folk, and you’ve seen how much better you are than my other students.”
“Yeah I know I just...I mean, I thought my first fight would be jarring, or shocking or something but...it just felt like a really light training exercise.”
“That’s because I’m a good teacher.” Oden replied, helping one bandit out of the craft and gently laying him on the ground. “Compared to the kind of intense explosions and ground shaking impacts of our sparring, a few fools with guns and rockets is kid stuff. I’ve made sure you’ve grown used to serious harm being thrown at you after all.”
“Fair enough. So what do we do with them Shifu?”
“Well the living ones will be taken to the nearest town to deal with. Those that died will be taken to Waketown and given a chance to join our community and make a better life for themselves than one of banditry.”
Oden smiled, turning back to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. “You just relax, and take a few minutes to sit back. I want to make sure no actual shock hits you. Alright? If in a few minutes you’re still feeling fine, you can help us bring these folks back to Waketown.”
Nian Gao’s eyes went to some of the men groaning on the grass. Some of them didn’t look...great. Oddly it didn’t affect her much though. It was far more...visceral than an old, withered corpse but...death was kind of a very mundane part of her life. Was she supposed to have a stronger reaction?
Nian smiled and nodded, “Alright Shifu. I’ll go sit down and make sure I’m alright.”
He nodded, before turning to check on the survivors and really inspect their injuries. Even if Nian Gao wound up showing some issues later, he was quite pleased. Nian Gao was proving to be a fantastic student. By the end of her training, she would be a warrior worthy of the World Martial Arts Tournament...and a jiangshi worthy of Sauerkraut’s goals.
(5,688)
Salisbury had told her something about weird chemicals in the brain that induced fatigue, and the lack of that meant undead only needed a little sleep to refresh the soul, but honestly she’d already forgotten a lot of it. Well still it was nice to only have to sleep a little, and hey she didn’t even feel that tired waking up! The ‘alarm clock’ was a bit weird, just the skeleton of a bird that shrieked when the little clock set up on the table in the middle of her room chimed at a time she set. Still it was good to be up, she didn’t want to be late! After all, today she started training with Oden, and the thought of learning how to actually fight like some legendary warrior from the Earth’s storied past was incredible!
She was going to waste no time in springing forward. A small amount of furniture had been moved to her room last night. The small clock, made of dyed pale-blue wood, a wardrobe of white, bleached wood almost like bone, and a small wardrobe of...well basically the same outfit she’d woken up in, but she still appreciated it! However, she did have one special outfit, given to her by Oden that she was supposed to wear to training. It was a bit like a gi. A grey, voluminous long sleeved shirt, with matching pants and black shoes. It reminded her of what some monks wore, and of what she’d seen and read of some Crane School practitioners in the books and on rare occasions, on the TV. The black straps that went from the shoes and up to her calves, binding the pants down so there was no loose cloth near her feet were interesting, but she could get those done up easily!
Once she was dressed up she was heading out, hopping through the corridors quickly. Honestly hopping still just felt more natural to her than walking, as weird as it was, and she could hop pretty far! Along the way she passed Roscoe, one of the zombies who had been there watching her and, “Hey Nian Gao! Good morning!”
“Morning!” She said brightly to the zombie as he came down the stairs and her up.
“Hey, what’s the rush? Why not have something to eat?” He asked, offering a leg of ham to her, which she just took as she went past him.
“I appreciate the food, but I’ve gotta get going, catch!” A bite into it, and she had the lingering life energy drained, before tossing the leg back to him, which he almost dropped, laughing.
“Haha, right, Jiangshi! Well have fun with whatever you’re rushing to! I hope it’s nothing serious!”
That wouldn’t be the last time someone called out to her. Nian Gao had only been here a day but she’d already figured out that she was an important figure. Not hard to figure out when a big part of last night had been her being centered as Wake Town’s primary hope of getting their leader back, the man who was responsible for raising up this town of the dead and keeping it from just being a more normal graveyard. At least it meant her importance was for something she was actually going to do, although she still wasn’t sure just what made her so...special. Sure she looked ‘more alive’ than the others, with smooth skin that, while pale and cold, didn’t look withered or decayed, but she was still a corpse!
As she approached the steps to head topside, Salisbury came up, the fiery skull floating alongside her. “Ahhh, up and early right on time eh? Oden’s going to appreciate that.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. You’re not the first person he’s taught, and some folks are pretty sloppy about being on time and prompt. Well, for a couple days at least, usually stop not long after, haha!”
“Ooooh, he’s one of those rough masters right? Gives those students grueling punishments for being late?” Nian Gao asked excitedly.
“Hah! You sound awfully excited about that.”
“This whole thing is like some of the stories I read as a kid, both fictional stories and ‘true’ accounts of things like the great heroes of Earth’s past! I’m sure some of those are exaggerated by now, but really this is kind of like a dream come true. Now, I intend to be a good student, so, I can’t be late!”
With those words she jumped out of the entrance to the crypt, giving a good strong leap that took her down an entire terrace of the hill that was the center of Wake Town. Behind her she heard Salisbury call out one last ‘good luck’ and then she was jumping again, harder this time to see how far she could go and...boy she could go far! She got all the way to the base of the hill, soaring through the air as she smiled brilliantly...before realizing that she was right about to smash straight into a tree before she’d hit the ground and...impact.
She faceplanted directly into it, arms extended and spread out to either side of the trunk, before she just slid down and fell backwards onto her back, blinking. Well it hadn’t hurt, but the impact had felt pretty jarring! Still, she would hop back up to her feet, a hand moving to feel and make sure her nose wasn’t crooked or something as she went running through the trees, crackling emanating from her joints as she got them used to moving normally. Oden had basically just told her to go into the forest directly opposite the crypt’s entrance, which she was pretty sure was almost completely due North, either way she was doing that but what was she supposed to be looking for anywa-
Something flew directly in front of her face, so close she could swear she felt it skid across her nose. Immediately Nian Gao stopped in her tracks, her feet nearly going out from under her as both arms moved, rotating backwards to catch herself, her shoulder joints popping uncomfortably as she did so, a solid thunk of something embedding itself in wood making her head turn to see a long, wooden pole stuck into the trunk of a tree right next to her. “Hah, I didn’t think you’d actually avoid it that smoothly!” There was Oden’s gruff voice emerging from opposite the pole, where it had been thrown from. He had another in his hand, a staff, with a rounded top and bottom, the kind of staff that was thick enough and sturdy enough for beating someone around with.
“Well are you just going to lay there and stare at me? Get up and pull the pole out of that tree!” Oden bellowed causing Nian Gao to yelp and try to push herself up, only for her dislocated shoulders to finally give in as she fell flat on her back with a yelp. “Oh for...ahhh, well I suppose you are only a day old.” He grabbed her shirt to haul her up, and then just casually grabbed an arm, slotted her shoulder back into place, and did the same for the other. As usual it didn’t hurt but it sure did feel weird. “Alright, so, one of the first things you need to realize, is that without a sense of pain and an unliving body, a lot of ‘safeties’ that keep you from doing things like dislocating your joints through your own action are gone. There are other ways to tell, but it’s going to be a process you’re going to have to learn and then keep track of.”
“Understood, Shifu!” She said brightly, making him chuckle.
“I suppose Shifu works as an honorific, now, pull that staff out of the tree!”
“Yes sir!” She said, giving a salute, before she turned and gripped the staff and...jeeze looking at this it was pretty deeply embedded into the tree, would she really be able to pull it out of there? She tightened her grip, tightened her jaw, lowered her brow, narrowed her eyes and...she went flying backwards as she pulled the staff right out of the tree as if it were nothing, landing on her ass and flopping into her back as she blinked in surprise. “Wha-”
Oden just started laughing again. “Let me guess, you didn’t realize how much stronger you are now right?! Agagagagagagaga!” Once again he helped haul her up, although it wasn’t like anything was dislocated this time, before giving her a slap on the back. “You’re a hell of a lot stronger than any human Nian, and a lot stronger than most base level undead too. You’re packing a lot more power than someone your age, living or dead, should have. Sauerkraut really worked some wonders on you, I can’t imagine what you were like alive.”
“Ahhh, I wasn’t anything special.” She said brightly as she looked at the way he was holding his staff, one hand wrapped around it nearer the top, the bottom set onto the soft grassy floor of the forest. She mimicked it as she watched him and, “So! What now Shifu?”
“Hoho.” There was a gleam in his one eye as he inspected the way she was standing. “First, I need a measure of just how much work we need to do. So, we’re going to have a little test. I’m going to attack you and you need to avoid my attacks to the best of your ability.”
Honestly there wasn’t a better exercise she could have wanted to hear. She was getting thrown straight into the thick of it, that’s what it sounded like to her, and she was totally down for that! She took a few steps back, “You got it, Shifu! I’m ready whenever you are!”
“Good, then brace yourself! Your first test is to see just how much you know, and how natural your reflexes are! All you have to do, is defend yourself!” The last three words came out sharply as he suddenly stepped towards her, the end of the staff thrusting for her chest! She yelped in surprise as she tried to step to the side, the staff thumping hard into her shoulder and twisting her about. She didn’t fall over at least, managing to catch herself, but Oden just brought the staff around and clocked her in the chin, sending her reeling backwards! Her own staff lifted up into the air as she backpedaled rapidly until she hit a tree, managing to avoid falling onto her rump. “Didn’t you hear me? I said defend yourself!”
He lunged at her, the staff thrusting. Her eyes widened as she ducked, hearing and feeling the staff slam into the bark above her, embedding itself. She still wasn’t feeling any pain, but she’d still been sent reeling, she’d felt the impacts, she was getting hit! Clutching her staff tightly she scrambled, leaping off to the side as he ripped the staff free and brought the opposite end down intending to slam it into her stomach. She narrowly avoided it as she rolled, coming up on one knee as her eyes went towards him but...he wasn’t there anymore! “What-”
“Don’t get distracted!” His shouting voice was the only reason she didn’t get hit. Her head jerked up to see him descending, staff coming down in both hands to slam the shaft onto her head. She leaned backwards, and her own staff came back, the harsh clack of wood on wood breaking out as she tried to keep herself from being forced to her back! Her arms trembled, slight cracking emanating from her joints as he forced her arms closer and closer to her chest. “I can tell you’ve never fought a day in your life. That’s fine, we have time to train you, but that’s no excuse for not giving it your all!”
He slid his staff down, the tip moving under hers and forward, hooking it as he hauled upwards. She let out a shrill cry as she was flipped over his head and sent hurtling through the air, the wind pressure forcing her talisman up over her head as her eyes widened. She twisted in the air, hitting the ground before rolling and coming up to her feet, her hair a little wild as she lifted her staff up in front of her, her eyes going to fix on Oden. Fortunately he hadn’t moved this time and he nodded. “Better! You recovered easier. Now, let’s go again!”
Oden came rushing towards her, and Nian Gao stood her ground, her eyes fixed on him, unblinking. She felt like her heart should be pounding in her ears, but of course it sat unmoving behind her ribs. Nothing felt broken, she was standing fine without issues, but that toss, surely that would have broken something. She was an undead, and most undead were often portrayed as stronger than a normal man, how far did that go though? Either way the shock was wearing off and as his staff thrust towards her, she was able to dodge, stepping to the side, her eyes shifting towards the staff as he swung it in towards her in a repeat of the opening of this exercise. She ducked under it, leaning forward to start moving opposite it, to try and put distance, her body shifting to keep herself facing towards him, to try and keep herself from losing sight of him.
It was a good move, as he wasn’t holding still after swinging, bringing the staff back around in a sweep, but as he did, his grip loosened, the staff sliding forward, extending its reach suddenly! Her eyes widened and her mouth opened to gasp, before she brought her staff up, again catching it, but in a position where she slid across the grass rather than just getting pinned to the ground. “Good. Good! Let’s see how long you can keep that up!” Oden bellowed as he kept up the pressure.
Nian Gao wasn’t sure how long it went on, but as the seconds ticked by she grew more comfortable, started to get a feel for the flow of it. It was almost like dancing in a way. She started to notice just how graceful his motions were, the impressive control in those steely limbs, muscles highlighted in unreal detail thanks to shriveled, drawn taut, dead skin. Her own movements grew more graceful and refined as well as she started to get a feel for the rhythm. Slowly, Oden started to introduce new tricks and amp up the complexity of his attacks. Not just attacking with his staff, but hands and feet. A sweep from his staff would suddenly turn into a lunging elbow, one arm letting go to lift up as he surged forward a short distance. He’d strike towards her face, while his leg lifted, going for a sharp kick to her shins to knock her down.
Some of these, a lot of these, hit Nian Gao the first time, but Oden noticed something. Nian Gao adjusted quickly. A few tricks gave her more difficulty, trying to keep track of low attacks while guarding high for instance, but she was adapting on the fly with great skill. He continued to assault her, and started to increase his speed when he noticed that her only response to a few types of attack was to try and just keep far enough away that he couldn’t reach, cutting that option out. He attacked from different angles at multiple times, in quick succession, putting her to the test. She was taking hits, but she learned, she adapted. There were holes in her guard clearly born of no actual knowledge of fighting and martial arts, but it was impressive nonetheless.
Minutes wound on, and ultimately this test ran on for nearly a full hour of Oden attacking her, forcing her to defend herself constantly and relentlessly. Then at last, their staves clashed against each other, only for him to suddenly twist his staff around, hooking it under hers and forcing it upwards with one hand, lifting her guard wide open and exploiting an opening she’d been unaware of. One hand drew back, fingers going rigid, all five pointed outwards and spread as evenly as possible as he lunged it forward to strike her stomach, the impact focused onto five points, rather than his broad palm, and sent her hurtling backwards to slam into a tree.
“And that...concludes our test.” She almost certainly had broken bones, probably ruptured organs. Of course, none of that mattered to a jiangshi or a zombie. If she was a living human she’d have died in this test, but as an undead, she was simply...exhausted and heavily damaged. He walked over to her and took her hand, helping her to her feet. He noticed how her hands were sticking forwards again and her legs were close together, not in a more naturally relaxed pose. She was holding the staff in just one hand. “Sip on a few trees, no need to kill them, there’s plenty they can share with you between them.”
“What...was that last attack...that felt like it hit way harder than anything else…”
Oden paused, his one eye blinking before he laughed. “Haha! You’ve already figured out how to tell how hard something hit you without being able to feel pain? Hahaha, fantastic! Yes, that was special. That, was the Five Pronged Palm. One of several specific techniques I’ll be teaching you over the coming months.”
“That’s...so cool.” She said, even as she hopped up to a tree and awkwardly pressed her face against the bark, shifting her head until she could get a decent grip with her jaws.
Oden folded his arms as he watched her, considering. She was a novice for sure, but this had confirmed something he’d been unconvinced of. Something Sauerkraut had told him, that he hadn’t been sure he’d believed without any real evidence beyond her being a good dancer.
Nian Gao was a natural.
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Her first day was just the beginning. Over the course of several weeks, a routine was slowly established. Nian Gao spent much of her week training with Oden, occasionally joined by other undead that practiced beneath him. Her other days were often spent helping the undead of Wake Town with the farming life. Something they insisted she didn’t have to do, but she did it anyways, seeming to take a simple pleasure in farming and raising livestock that many found quite admirable.
It became clear within Nian Gao’s first month that she was a step above Oden’s other students. The other zombies and skeletons and even a ghost, weren’t bad students. They all had varying levels of dedication and focus, but even the most determined of them soon found Nian Gao outshining and outperforming them. Within two months Nian Gao was hands down Oden’s best, most capable student. If anyone was upset about this, they didn’t vocalize it, and the community opinion was both congratulatory and assured, as if this were the natural result. Nian Gao was special after all. Sauerkraut’s greatest triumph, a special undead, the only jiangshi in Waketown. If she weren’t an exceptionally capable fighter, how could she ever compete in the World Tournament? How could she ever track down and rescue Sauerkraut?
That last was the result of pervasive speculation and rumor. Not everyone believed it, but the overriding majority was now of the opinion that surely Sauerkraut had been imprisoned by some terrible foe. Perhaps the evil, terrible tyrant Piccolo to try and torture his secrets of necromancy out of him. Perhaps by some other necromancer, possessed of a blacker heart than the noble man that had given them this wonderful, idyllic unlife. Another thing she came to expect, but was not nearly as regular as the others, was speaking with Salisbury about the world abroad, listening to a radio about world news and events. Salisbury believed it was just as important that she be prepared and somewhat wise about the world, correctly pegging her as a pretty innocent girl. It became a source of minor frustration that she didn’t take these lessons nearly as seriously as her training with Oden, or her farmwork.
As her training progressed, Oden pressed her hard, focusing on her talent and ensuring that she didn’t get to rest on her laurels or breeze through. Her exercises and training were always extremely difficult, putting her considerable talent to the test. She learned about ki, was given rigorous exercises and complex routines. Her spiritual power was put to the test and heightened, and she learned both the Five Pronged Palm, but also another technique, ‘Biidama’ or ‘Marble.’ A potent technique, a barrage of clustered spheres of ki hurled towards an opponent. It was versatile and flexible, and the primary vehicle for showing her just how versatile ki was as a resource. She could alter the ‘marbles’ of Biidama to shock, freeze, increase their impact to try and cripple, focus velocity and decrease size to give them piercing power and more, and she was expected to do all of these things.
All of this continued to build up and grow more intense, until one day, some six months or so into her training, Oden had her prepare for a special training exercise. What he said would be her first real taste of proper combat.
------------------------------------
Nian Gao knelt on the ridge, one knee resting easily on hard ground, her staff in one hand and sticking straight up, a little support for her weight as she looked over the road ahead of her. It was a beautiful view for sure, the ridge and short cliffs tapering off into rolling slopes towards a well traveled road, actually paved and everything, and on the other side of the road, more rolling grasslands, until they faded into dense forest ahead. It was rather picturesque and made her wish she had a camera, but no, all she had was her staff. “We’ve really been having issues with bandits here?” Nian Gao asked, shooting her master, Oden, a look.
The man was sitting a few feet away, legs folded and his one eye fixed on the scene, perusing it carefully. “Indeed. This is where they’ve been striking.”
“Weird…” Waketown didn’t just farm for its own people. They had an agreement with the Duchies of the Westlands that was pretty common in many villages. Delivering food and other goods related to their products to the duchies. Apparently the goods they provided were in enough quantity and quality that the Dukes and Duchesses didn’t even care that Waketown was a literal town of the dead. The fact that it was a town of corpses usually did a lot to help curb criminal activity such as banditry. Undead guards were harder to incapacitate than a normal living person, and often just the sight of them throwing back their hoods would make most bandits run. Occasionally though, someone showed up with the guts to keep going, and succeed, and that had been happening for the past week.
Oden didn’t like leaving bandits to fester, and so he had moved immediately to deal with the issue, and as his star pupil, Nian Gao was being brought along. The ridge they were on was a fair distance from the road, and a good, discreet location to monitor the road. Just coming into sight along the road was a caravan from Waketown. Several of Oden’s students driving a small group of trucks, loaded with ‘goods’, fake decoys, lots of rocks, firewood, stuff that wouldn’t hurt too much to be lost. Supposedly the bandits attacked by erupting from the forest past the road and rapidly closing in on the trucks. Which was also why the ridge was chosen, far away and on the opposite side, giving a commanding view of road, fields and forest.
Her grip on her staff tightened as her eyes went to the trucks driving along the road. Honestly seeing them was just a little...strange. Waketown had only a few modern conveniences, some modern plumbing for some of the barns and facilities for the farms, some electricity for the same, and much of the actual farmwork was done by hand instead of with big machines. It didn’t help that the main crypt used magic for most things, like the ever present blue flames instead of electrical lighting. “Get ready. They’re about to make a move.”
Nian Gao’s head lifted up, turning towards him as her mouth opened to ask how he knew that...and then she saw it. Faint puffs of smoke in the distance by the trees, her blue eyes focusing in, barely making them out. That...that was capsules! That was how they kept the vehicles hidden! Now she could see them, small dots and shapes growing larger as a series of jeeps and aircraft started to hurtle over the hills. She counted...two aircraft, and three ground vehicles, two sturdy jeeps, and one large truck, probably for loading up the ill gotten goods! “There’s our cue Nian, let’s get moving!” With those words he leaped off the cliff as Nian nodded, standing up herself.
She perched one foot just on the edge, before tilting forward, dropping down the face of the ridge, before she pushed off and went hurtling through the air. The wind rushed wildly through her hair, pressing her talisman firmly against her face as she moved her staff behind her, holding it in one hand as she landed on the top of another short cliff before springing off. A few months ago, moving at speeds like this, precariously landing and leaping off of surfaces with no waiting had felt incredible. It still did, it was a rush like nothing else and she loved it, but she’d adjusted and gotten used to it. It was as natural and easy as walking or running, and just like running, doing it still felt damn good. She was faster than the trucks on the road, in fact, she seemed to be faster than the actual bandits in their fancy vehicles. At least, that was the impression she got given she hit the paved road first and went leaping across it!
Oden was just ahead of her, his staff held similarly behind him in one hand. “Nian! Take that one on the left!”
“Yes Shifu!” She shouted, before she went sprinting ahead, one hand held ahead of her, body angled to the side as she went hurtling towards the jeep. As she did, she saw someone lean out of a window, and the faint shine of light on a rifle. Her eyes narrowed slightly and when the gun fired off she jinked to the side, the bullet rushing past her. Even that felt amazing. When she was alive the idea of dodging a bullet was a thing of fiction or distant events. Yet not only could she dodge it, but her eyes could even follow its path! She wove around successive shots as she approached the jeep, and then right as she was in front of it?
Her staff spun in her hands, one end going beneath the jeep right next to a wheel before she hoisted up! She heard cursing and yelling, before the jeep was tipped up and onto its side, wheels spinning fruitlessly. Without missing a beat she leaped up onto the side, staff rapping the chin of a man trying to climb out the window. Oddly he went limp immediately and slid back into the vehicle, but then a shout from Oden made her head turn, and the sharper, higher pitched whoosh as from one of the aircraft, a missile was sent hurtling off towards the trucks! They had a rocket launcher up there!
Yet, Nian Gao just pointed one hand, and a thin sliver of blue-light shot from her fingertips and struck the missile mid-path, detonating it in mid-air. Then, a gunshot rang out, extremely close, as a faint impact struck Nian Gao’s stomach. She blinked, looking downwards at the bandit who had shot her from within the jeep, staring at her wide eyed as he realized no blood was welling up from where the bullet had passed through her. Nian Gao just shrugged at him, before she flipped off of the jeep, pressing her feet firmly into the edge to send it rolling over the grasslands! That ought to keep those bandits busy for a few seconds! She needed to do something about that aircraft first.
Landing on the ground she pivoted, tossing her staff up into the air before catching the butt of the weapon in the palm of her hand. Her left pointed forward, fingers straight to help her aim as she drew her right back, letting the staff slant downwards as one leg lifted, before going down as her body rolled, sending the staff hurtling through the air like a spear. It turned into a streaking black bolt that struck the underside of the aircraft, the entire thing shuddering and shifting to the side. Keeping her eyes on it, she started running forward, her eyes turning to the truck, that had paused, the driver and passenger coming out, weapons in hand and aiming towards her. A casual flick of a hand sent a ki blast to slam into the front of the truck and detonate, the shockwave knocking them both down.
With that taken care of, her knees bent, before she jumped. She was really good at jumping. Hurtling through the air, she grabbed the bit of her staff that was sticking out of the bottom of the aircraft, a pretty standard flyer, big and bulky with jets on the back propelling it, and a bubble like windshield to give a wide field of view to the pilot. This thing could probably hold a lot of goods too...or a lot of people. Gripping the staff, her ki flooded the thing, the reason it hadn’t broken hitting the aircraft, and then she dragged her hands forward, her staff tearing through the metal and ripping out the front, creating a massive gaping gash in the aircraft and cutting through important internals. Falling to the ground, she rolled deftly and sprang up to her feet, the aircraft now on a crash course with the ground. Quickly surveying the field, she realized that...no one else was around that was an immediate threat.
With nothing immediately at hand, she turned her attention to the crashed aircraft, moving to see if anyone on board was still fit to fight or needed help. When she arrived, Oden landed on top, his staff resting on one shoulder as he gave her a big grin. “Good work Nian Gao. You did better than I was expecting.”
“It’s over?” Nian asked, blinking. “That…”
“Was surprisingly easy?” Oden replied, “I expected it might be. Being brave doesn’t mean being strong.” He hopped down and pried open the back hatch of the craft with one hand, a few people within stumbling out. No one was uninjured, or in a fit state to fight. “That’s to be expected, I’ve explained to you the gulf between talented ki users and normal folk, and you’ve seen how much better you are than my other students.”
“Yeah I know I just...I mean, I thought my first fight would be jarring, or shocking or something but...it just felt like a really light training exercise.”
“That’s because I’m a good teacher.” Oden replied, helping one bandit out of the craft and gently laying him on the ground. “Compared to the kind of intense explosions and ground shaking impacts of our sparring, a few fools with guns and rockets is kid stuff. I’ve made sure you’ve grown used to serious harm being thrown at you after all.”
“Fair enough. So what do we do with them Shifu?”
“Well the living ones will be taken to the nearest town to deal with. Those that died will be taken to Waketown and given a chance to join our community and make a better life for themselves than one of banditry.”
Oden smiled, turning back to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. “You just relax, and take a few minutes to sit back. I want to make sure no actual shock hits you. Alright? If in a few minutes you’re still feeling fine, you can help us bring these folks back to Waketown.”
Nian Gao’s eyes went to some of the men groaning on the grass. Some of them didn’t look...great. Oddly it didn’t affect her much though. It was far more...visceral than an old, withered corpse but...death was kind of a very mundane part of her life. Was she supposed to have a stronger reaction?
Nian smiled and nodded, “Alright Shifu. I’ll go sit down and make sure I’m alright.”
He nodded, before turning to check on the survivors and really inspect their injuries. Even if Nian Gao wound up showing some issues later, he was quite pleased. Nian Gao was proving to be a fantastic student. By the end of her training, she would be a warrior worthy of the World Martial Arts Tournament...and a jiangshi worthy of Sauerkraut’s goals.
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