“What in the world just happened?!” Yuri shouted. To her, it had probably looked like Yuichi had just suddenly jumped back.
“I think he tried to block a Bajiquan menghu yi pashan with a Bajiquan jianglong, but he failed and had to run away?” Mutsuko replied. While didn’t she seem to be able to parse the instantaneous exchange of blows either, she did have an exceptional memory. Even if she couldn’t parse it in the moment, she’d be able to replay the exchange in slow motion in her mind.
“Oh? You are quite formidable. To be able to block my magically-enhanced strike...” The priest looked genuinely surprised; he must not have expected him to be able to block it.
“Are you a Hero, too?” Yuichi asked. “There was something weird about the way you moved just now...”
Yuichi was taking new stock of his opponent. This guy was some kind of monster; he’d have to fight him like one.
“I am no Hero,” said the man confidently. “I am merely a member of a Hero’s party. I am a Mage.”
“You look more like a Monk in that outfit!” Yuichi shouted. But the moves he’d pulled off would make sense if they had been enhanced through magic.
As if reevaluating Yuichi as a strong opponent, the priest adjusted his stance. He spread his legs in front of and behind him and dropped his hips. His weight was shifted slightly behind him, to his right leg. His upper body was facing forward and tilted slightly.
His left arm was bent slightly in front of his face. His right arm was positioned to protect his solar plexus. His palm was turned towards Yuichi. It was a traditional defensive martial arts stance, protecting one’s core.
“Is it Wei Su style?” Mutsuko wondered aloud. “Wu Tan Bajiquan, then? But it seems pretty upright... and he said he uses magic, so... oh, I’ve heard of this! This is Magical Bajiquan!”
“What in the world is that?” Yuri couldn’t help but inquire about the odd-sounding phrase.
“It’s Bajiquan that incorporates magic! You use magic to enhance less-than-perfect Bajiquan moves! Look, that stance he’s using isn’t the proper style; it’s totally improvised! By the way, I don’t think people know a lot about Bajiquan stances, but each branch has its own recognizable stance. Wu Tan uses Wei Su, or crouching posture. Northwest Ma style uses Qi Gu Shi, flag and drum posture, for its Tongbei Fanzi. Changchun style uses Shaoma Bu, pony posture. But what do you think about the Magical Bajiquan name? What about Jiangmo, or demon-conquering Bajiquan? That sounds cool! Yeah! Let’s use that!”
Ignoring Mutsuko as she babbled on and on about his opponent’s style, Yuichi began walking towards the priest. He already had furukami activated. It seemed a bit excessive to use against a human, but he had abandoned any intention of treating this priest like a human right now.
“Listen, you’d better win with Bajiquan!” Mutsuko called. “If you lose to that lukewarm Bajiquan, I’m apprenticing you to Nihao the China!”
“Don’t treat Nihao the China like punishment!” Yuichi found himself on the verge of losing his enthusiasm, but re-steeled himself and started walking.
He struck no particular stance.
He was just walking with his hands hanging naturally by his side: li shen zhong zheng, a centered upright stance. Without favoring back, front, or either side, he just walked straight forward.
The moment he was within range, the priest moved. With a powerful zhen jiao propelling him off the ground, he thrust his right fist straight at Yuichi’s face.
It was a superhuman motion, a kung fu strike with more than enough training behind it. On top of that, it was enhanced with magic.
It was likely that nobody could see the back-and-forth that ensued. Even the combatants involved were not relying on their vision, but only on ting jin — listening energy.
The battle was over in the blink of an eye.
Yuichi had stepped in and struck out with his right elbow, which had then made contact with the priest’s chest. The priest had collapsed.
Just looking at the result, it had seemed like an easy win.
But in that instant, a complicated back-and-forth had ensued that the eye could not catch.
“Exactly what just happened there?” Yuri asked, confused.
Probably the only people who understood what had happened in that instant were the two people who had fought.
“Looks like the priest went from tan ma zhang to menghu yi pashan!” Mutsuko cried. “This is the version of menghu yi pashan that the famous Li Shuwan pioneered! Yuichi fought back with ba wang dingmen and ba wang kinke, in that order!”
Yuichi had blocked the priest’s right punch with his left forearm, deflecting it, while forming his right hand into a blade and stabbing it at the priest’s face.
The priest, in a similar way, had blocked that strike with his left forearm, but Yuichi had applied downward pressure to that in an instant. And through that point of contact, he had upset the priest’s center of balance. The priest’s movements had stopped for an instant, and in that brief opening, Yuichi had lashed out with three attacks almost simultaneously.
Pushing off with a zhen jiao with his right foot, he’d brought his left leg down on the priest’s skull. His right hand, still in contact with the priest’s arm, had slid over to crush the priest’s fingertips and pull. Then he’d raised his left elbow up to hit the priest in the solar plexus.
Normally, this would have been the end of it. No one could react after having multiple parts of their body hit simultaneously. They’d be confused and unable to defend.
But the priest had abandoned his left hand and leg to respond only to the attack on his solar plexus.
Using a projection of energy from his chest, the priest had propelled Yuichi’s left elbow back.
It would normally have been a powerful enough counter to take out the attacker, but Yuichi’s attack hadn’t been finished. He had dropped his hips low to assume a horse stance, then slid his right elbow along the priest’s left arm to strike it into his heart.
“It’s also called chain elbow because it’s multiple strikes with the elbow!” Mutsuko declared. “Naturally, the thing to watch is the familiar chuangbu stepping style often seen in Bajiquan. Drop your hips low, pivot on the ball of the fore-leg’s big toe, slide the heel forward, and open the legs wide. In other words, you spin while in a horse stance! But as a single move, it’s called nian yao qie kua!” Mutsuko sounded very smug.
“Incidentally, I did have a question,” Yuri asked, curiosity in her voice. “You called the move that Yuichi Sakaki blocked at first a menghu yi pashan, and you called the latest move by that name, as well. But weren’t they both different?”
“Oh, Konishi, you know menghu yi pashan?” Mutsuko asked.
“Despite the way I look, I have quite a taste for video games. I believe that in fighting games, the menghu yi pashan is a palm strike.” Yuri performed the move, mimicking what she’d seen in a game.
“Menghu yi pashan can change quite a lot depending on the school,” Mutsuko explained. “But since the name of the move comes from the way in which it mimics a wild tiger climbing a mountain, I believe the clawing motion is the most important part. Like you’re pushing aside the enemy attacks. But there are lots of ways to end it, with a palm or an elbow or all kinds of things!”
“Stop waxing poetic about the moves and get out of here!” Yuichi shouted. He’d realized that if he let her keep going, it would never end.
“But what about the... ‘Divine Vessel’?” Yuri asked hesitantly.
“Leave it! Let the guy who wants it take it!” Yuichi shot back. If any new enemies tried to come, maybe they’d go after the priest instead. It was only a possibility, but he had to bank on it.