Match One: Yiling
The crowd roars with laughter when you are introduced. You step onto the stage with your mask firmly in place, casually waving both your hands in the air. The Emei nun, Yiling, is scowling at you, her sword at the ready. From what you have heard, she is a couple of years older than you and this could be her last youth tournament. Yiling will be taking this match seriously – she is out to win it.
The tournament official raises his flag, signalling for the fighters to get ready. The both of you settle into a stance – she keeps her sword close to her body but pointed upwards, in the typical Emei fashion. You leave your sword tucked into the sash again, deciding to adopt a basic fighting stance; fists balled and raised.
“Are you underestimating me?’ asks the nun, slightly perturbed that you don’t seem to take her seriously enough to adopt a proper stance. You shake your head vigorously but say nothing in return, causing her to frown.
The flag falls, and the gong is sounded.
The nun begins stepping sideways warily as she tries to find a weakness in your position. You turn to follow her, keeping her within your field of vision at all times. The mask limits your view, and you will have to be more careful when fighting with it on.
Cao’er has said that this particular nun is not as skilled as Yifang, but that means little to you. You had watched Yifang’s match with Gu Dipeng of Kunlun. Her moves were precise and executed without hesitation, a far cry from her fearful performance against the bandits. However, you did not realize what it truly meant until Cao’er told you that Yifang’s skill in the Emei swordplay, the Qingcheng Stab (倾城刺, Alluring Stab) was perfect. Apparently, she does every move flawlessly, unerringly, purely as it is supposed to be; speaking solely in terms of that particular technique she has reached the level of a master. The Emei swordplay is comprehensive enough to provide a basic solution for most situations – in a tournament setting such as this, the relatively inexperienced fighters that make up most of the participants would get their defenses pried open and defeated in just a few moves. The Kunlun disciple had fallen within three minutes.
You understand what it will take for you to beat Yifang, should you advance that far. You would have to think of a way to defeat the Qingcheng Stab. The Emei swordplay will be your real enemy, not its wielder. Cao’er had noted that Yifang executes all the moves by rote, with no variation of her own.
This match against Yifang’s senior will be a good way to test it.
You graciously allow Yiling to make the first move.
With a single bounce the nun closes the distance, demonstrating her skill with Emei’s qinggong. The jabs and stabs come rapidly from all angles; Yiling appears to be a more forceful fighter than Yifang, putting more strength behind her blows. You duck and evade her attacks with sheer speed, but find no opening to retaliate without using your techniques. Just when you think you can strike back, Yiling would twist her body around gracefully and follow up with a thrust that keeps you off balance. Rather than swordplay, it would be more fitting for an onlooker to call it a sword dance.
You can do nothing but step back for the moment. A few more seconds of this and you would be stepping off the stage. The nun’s face is still serious, determined not to let her guard down until you have lost. You can hear the crowd continuing to laugh. It looks like you are living down to their expectations.
“Stop running, pig!” shouts a heckler.
“Stay still and get stuck!” laughs another man.
You tilt your head from side-to-side, wiggling the floppy pig’s ears in acknowledgement and eliciting another round of raucous laughter.
There’s nothing left to do but to take a riskier approach. The tournament swords are blunted; they won’t cut you apart, but a strong attack will still hurt. Stepping into the path of the nun’s strikes, you lunge forward. The sword scrapes your side painfully – that is going to leave a mark – but you surprise Yiling long enough to land a light kick in her abdomen.
The crowd gasps as she staggers back. You take a stance again, while Yiling looks at the tournament official and the panel of observers from the Eight Sects – you see Miecao amongst them. The official shakes his head; that would not have been a lethal hit even if it had been a real sword. You are still allowed to fight.
Yiling closes her eyes, muttering some prayers. When she turns back to you, she is calmer, falling back into the standard Emei stance. In a split second she resumes the match, stabbing at you faster than before. You begin to perceive slips in her technique, as she begins to get hasty. Leaping over a low thrust from the nun, you throw a quick jab at an opening. She is forced to block it – you can see her wince as your fist hits her arm. You land with both feet on her sword while she is distracted, forcing it from her grasp. With a sweeping backhand you force the nun away, long enough for you to kick up her sword, grab it, and point it at her.
The crowd is shouting in disbelief now, as angry punters begin screaming at the heavens. With a scowl, Yiling pounces at you, attempting to retrieve her sword. Moving quickly, you keep it from her grasp, shifting the sword from hand to hand in between defending against her attacks. Seeing no way to grab it from you, she steps on your foot hard, pinning it to the ground. Then, she makes to reach for her sword again. You toss it in the air, over her head.
To your surprise, she ignores it, going after the sword tucked at your waist. Your hand intercepts her just as her fingers close around the hilt. Grabbing the nun by the wrist, you spin her about before she can draw your sword. Yiling makes use of the opening to withdraw, twirling back to where her sword has fallen and picking it back up in one fluid movement.
You put one hand on your piggy chin, posing in a thinking position. The crowd is silent, waiting with bated breath to see what you will do next.
After exchanging blows with Yiling, and with your experience facing Emei techniques, you think you might be able to overcome the Qingcheng Stab, though it would definitely require you to use your own techniques to have a chance of succeeding.
***
A. You utilize the Shouwang Claws. Instead of using your fingers to rend flesh, you will use it to grasp weapons and wrest them from the enemy. You would have to devise a new form of movement to intercept the Qingcheng Stab successfully, but as the weapon is blunted at least you won’t be losing your fingers if you fail.
B. You perform the Chuzhan Fist, changing your target to hit the opponent’s hands and arms instead of their body, as the technique was originally meant to do. You would have to control your strength to avoid breaking her limbs as your aim is to attack with just enough force that their hands will be numbed by your attack, leaving them unable to grasp a sword or even form a fist.
C. You had almost broken the Emei’s Guihe Formation with your sword; Abbess Miecao had left behind a sentence of advice for you then. A fish hiding in water is closer than it looks. You think you can apply that saying to this situation, developing a sword technique of your own that draws in an opponent and counters their attack.
D. You give up and surrender. You don’t want to attract any more attention than you already have or reveal any of your techniques.
