After discussing some follow-up matters with Su Mei, the conversation ended in an atmosphere of mutual satisfaction.
When Su Yu returned home, a faint smell of tomato soup was already floating through the air.
Kiana was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, holding a hovering sphere in her hand—the motion-capture unit Vill-V had proudly named the Spiral Eye.
The moment she heard the door, her eyes lit up instantly, just like the little white bug from before waiting for Su Yu to come home.
One big white cat and one small white cat. That was basically what this was now.
"You're back!"
Kiana let go of the hovering orb. It was honestly pretty smart—it floated off on its own to recharge.
Su Yu changed his shoes and put down the briefcase containing the black-tech motion-capture equipment.
"It's settled."
His tone was light, though his brows still held a trace of thoughtfulness.
On the way back, he had already briefly told Kiana about Su Mei's proposal.
"No problem on Second Senior Sister's side. She's smart—she knows this deal is guaranteed profit. The difficult part now is… how we convince that little old stick-in-the-mud."
Kiana blinked and tilted her head. "Little old stick-in-the-mud? You mean… that Fu Hua?"
"Exactly. Fu Hua, the one treating you like some kind of immortal."
Su Yu sighed and sat down across from Kiana, spreading his hands helplessly.
"You know our mission is to get Fu Hua and the others to join as motion-capture actors."
"But the entire premise is that Fu Hua, the legitimate sect leader, has to agree first."
"And you know what she's like… thick-headed. She thinks martial arts are for self-cultivation, not for making games. Unless…"
He paused and looked at Kiana, hesitation flickering in his eyes.
"Unless we let her personally witness what true Taixu spirit looks like."
Kiana froze for a second, then understood what he meant.
"You mean… you want me to go to Cunjin Martial Arts Hall and demonstrate it in front of her?"
"Yeah."
Su Yu nodded and laid out his thinking.
If even Kiana—a high master in Fu Hua's eyes—was willing to participate in the game's motion capture and genuinely preserve those martial arts through that process, then there was no way Fu Hua would not be tempted.
But Su Yu's body instinctively leaned forward, like a mother hen protecting her chick from the outside world.
"But you don't have to force yourself. I already told Su Mei everything depends on how you feel first. If you don't want to meet people, or if you're uncomfortable, we can just record it at home and send her the video."
"At worst, I'll spend more time trying to talk Fu Hua around."
He rambled on and on, brows tightly knit, as though he had already played out eighteen different strategies in his head for protecting Kiana from all possible social damage.
"Pfft."
A small laugh interrupted his muttering.
Su Yu froze and looked up.
Kiana was covering her mouth, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
"Hey, I'm trying to be serious here. What are you laughing at?"
Su Yu felt a little embarrassed.
"At you."
Kiana dropped her hand and stood up.
She planted both hands on her hips, chest out, smile growing even brighter.
"Su Yu, you don't need to be so nervous. I'm not the same Kiana who could only hide behind you and couldn't even walk into a convenience store anymore."
She raised her chin slightly, a confident curve tugging at her lips.
"Since I'm this world's Little Martial Ancestor, then I should act like an elder, right? Isn't it just a matter of giving some guidance to the juniors? This young lady—cough—this Martial Ancestor can handle it!"
She clenched a fist, eyes shining with determination.
"And besides, you said it yourself. This is for our game. It's so everyone can see Kiana's story."
"Since I already promised you I'd make a change, then let this be the first step. Let Reviving Taixu be the very first thing I do in this world!"
Su Yu stared at the spirited girl before him for several seconds, then could not help laughing as well.
It seemed he really had been worrying too much.
Of course.
She was Kiana Kaslana.
In that imperfect story, she had been the one who could take an imperfect ending and turn it into the one she wanted.
Once Kiana made up her mind, there was nothing she could not do.
"All right then, Little Martial Ancestor."
Su Yu stood and flicked the ahoge on her head.
"Then let's go teach that little old stick-in-the-mud a lesson."
…
Ten minutes later.
Su Yu took out his phone and opened the chat with the contact saved as Office Warrior Ah Hua.
Su Yu: Fu Hua, are you free tomorrow? I want to bring Kiana to Cunjin Martial Arts Hall. She heard about the dojo's current situation and wants to come take a look in person.
Less than three seconds after the message was sent, the words The other party is typing… appeared at the top of the screen.
That line flickered on and off for a full minute, as though the person on the other end were undergoing some enormous internal struggle and carefully weighing every last punctuation mark.
At last, a reply popped up.
Fu Hua: I'm free! I'm free anytime! I'll notify Zhaoyu right now to clean the dojo from top to bottom! Um… may I ask if Little Martial Uncle has any food she avoids? Or any particular preferences? Should I prepare some… offerings? No, wait, a gift? A meeting gift?
Even through the screen, Su Yu could feel Fu Hua's flustered panic.
This was not like receiving a martial aunt.
This was more like the Jade Emperor descending to inspect mortal affairs.
Su Yu looked back.
Kiana was sprawled on the sofa, drinking soda and watching TV.
The corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably.
His fingers flew over the keyboard.
Su Yu: No need for anything too formal. Just prepare more iced black tea and soda. Ice-cold if possible. And if you can, some fried chicken and pizza too.
There was a five-second silence on the other end.
Just as Su Yu was starting to wonder if Fu Hua might find the request insufficiently "immortal" and dignified, her reply came.
Fu Hua: I understand! Returning to simplicity—ultimate vulgarity is ultimate elegance! Little Martial Uncle is using common worldly objects to temper the heart. This is the highest level of entering the secular world for cultivation! Thank you for the guidance, Senior. I'll go buy them right away!
Su Yu stared at the screen, the corners of his mouth twitching.
As expected of you, Ah Hua.
That reading comprehension of yours was truly wasted outside a Chinese literature classroom.
He had no idea what heaven-shaking principle Fu Hua had managed to extrapolate from all this, but there was one thing he was sure of—
Tomorrow, when Kiana came back from that visit, she was probably going to be carrying a pile of gift packs like some holiday return haul.
A bit later that evening—
In order not to embarrass herself tomorrow, Kiana began imagining all sorts of possible entrances in her head. She tossed the empty bag of chips aside and jumped to her feet.
"How about this? Does this work?"
Kiana took a deep breath, forced a stern look onto her face, clasped her hands behind her back, lifted her chin at a forty-five-degree angle, and tried her best to imitate that sort of profound, detached calm one saw in those "above mortal affairs" masters.
Unfortunately, because she still had chips in her mouth, her cheeks were puffed out.
Rather than dignity, she looked more like a hamster storing food for winter.
Forget majestic.
She was hilarious.
"Ahem… disciples of later generations, rise."
She lowered her voice and waved a hand in a deliberately solemn manner.
Su Yu, who had been looking at his phone, glanced up and nearly burst out laughing.
"How is it? Do I have that… what's the phrase? That ethereal immortal aura?"
Kiana broke character in under a second and rushed over eagerly.
"The way Fu Hua usually looks isn't it basically like this?"
Su Yu's mouth twitched. "That's called having a poker face, not an immortal aura."
He looked her up and down.
She was wearing a training uniform a little too large for her. Though her figure was lovely, there was no way she could hide that irrepressible air of silliness and vitality.
She and the word "immortal" belonged to entirely different species.
What kind of role was this?
This was the truest possible definition of a nonsensical character.
"And honestly, I don't think you need to act."
After a moment's thought, Su Yu spoke in a serious, earnest tone.
"Think about your setup. You're supposed to be a hidden master who spent years in deep mountains and old forests, cut off from the world, pursuing only the peak of martial arts."
He lifted one finger.
"What's the essence of that kind of character? Purity."
"To put it bluntly: someone who understands nothing except fighting, has zero common sense, and says everything directly."
Kiana blinked. It sounded kind of reasonable, though something about it still felt subtly wrong.
"So just play yourself."
"However you usually act—ahem—however you usually speak, just do the same tomorrow."
"Even if you look like an idiot, it won't matter. In their eyes, that'll be called great wisdom appearing foolish. It'll be called a childlike heart."
Silence filled the room for two seconds.
"Suuu—Yuuu—!"
Kiana realized what he meant, grabbed the nearest throw pillow from the sofa, and hurled it at him.
"You're the idiot! Your whole family are idiots! This young lady is very smart!"
Su Yu caught the pillow and leaned back with a thoroughly shameless grin.
Ding-dong.
Right as the two were in the middle of their usual bickering, the phone on the tea table lit up.
Su Yu glanced at it and raised a brow.
It was that extremely well-informed Su Mei again.
Su Mei: Su Yu, bad news.
Su Mei: There's going to be a troublesome person at the dojo tomorrow besides Master.
Immediately afterward, she sent a photo.
The background looked like an underground boxing gym.
A buzz-cut man with muscles bulging like granite was roaring at the camera. Behind him hung a sandbag that had clearly been smashed open.
Even through the screen, he radiated peak chunni energy.
Su Mei: Ma Yanqing, though everyone calls him Ma Feima. My Sixth Junior Brother. The biggest troublemaker in Cunjin Martial Arts Hall.
Su Mei: He's a real practitioner, and a complete hothead. These past few years he's been all over the internet exposing fake traditional martial artists—picking fights with everyone. He hates frauds who use the title of "master" or "grandmaster" to swindle people. In his eyes, Master has real skill yet is stuck guarding a broken-down dojo, while liars make fortunes. It drives him mad.
Su Yu tapped the link Su Mei sent. It opened one of Ma Feima's viral videos.
Onscreen, the Sixth Disciple jabbed a finger at the camera, practically spraying spit as he shouted:
"What Taiji master? What qigong grandmaster? Why don't they get on a ring and fight me? One punch from me and they'll learn what physical transcendence means! As long as I, Ma Feima, draw breath, the Taixu Sect will never tolerate frauds hiding behind our name!"
Good lord.
This was not exposing frauds.
This was trying to overturn the entire martial world.
Watching the man on the screen—with that vicious stare and brutally direct fighting style—Su Yu did not feel troubled in the least.
On the contrary, he found it… rather interesting.
Sure, he was flamboyant and foul-mouthed, but there was something admirable about the way he was willing to offend the whole world to protect his sect's reputation.
The phone buzzed again.
Su Mei: I've already heard the rumors. Old Ma has a hundred kinds of dissatisfaction written on his face when it comes to this Little Martial Ancestor. Tomorrow he'll definitely make trouble on the spot. He may even try to "expose" her by force.
Su Mei: Are you sure Kiana can handle it? Old Ma may not be Master, but his horizontal training is the real deal. If things go badly tomorrow…
Su Mei did not finish the sentence, but the meaning was obvious.
If Kiana got "exposed" tomorrow, then the entire Reviving Taixu plan would die on the spot.
But when Su Yu saw her worried messages, his mood did not waver in the slightest.
If anything, he felt like laughing.
Old Ma exposing Kiana as a fraud?
Seriously?
How was that any different from saying, I'll fight Sukuna?
Su Yu looked at the line of text and began typing with cheerful ease.
Su Yu: Relax.
Su Yu: Oh, and Senior Sister, please pass one message to that Junior Brother Ma.
Su Mei: What? That he should go easy on her?
Su Yu: No.
The smile at the corner of Su Yu's mouth turned increasingly wicked.
Su Yu: Tell him to eat well tonight. A proper meal. Don't be stingy.
There was a pause on the other end.
Su Mei: …Why?
Su Yu: Because I'm worried Kiana might knock him out with one punch tomorrow, and then he'll lie there hungry all day. Low blood sugar is bad for the body.
Su Mei: ?
....
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