Kang opened his eyes, feeling completely refreshed.
There was no one beside him, Lena had already snuck away.
Yeah, snuck away was the perfect description. Unlike the bold and daring way she had come, when she left she was like a thief who had just stolen something precious and slipped off into the night. Kang had pretended to be asleep, too tired to move, not wanting to make her feel embarrassed.
That Razorgirl, that hot-blooded gang leader... she was just so damn cute.
After that, he had taken a nap for about an hour. Ever since he woke up in this era, he hadn't really needed much sleep. One or two hours a day was enough for him to completely recover.
He looked at his IDB, it was almost 5 AM now. Normally, he would already be up for morning practice, but today he allowed himself a well-deserved rest. Yesterday had been like a storm... especially last night.
It was still a little dark outside. They had tried to simulate sunlight here, maybe to give the slummers a unified sense of time. Still, unlike the outside world, the climate here didn't change—morning, noon, or night all felt the same. Kang missed that crisp chill of early mornings. Well, you can't have everything you want, he guessed.
Kang jumped up and changed his clothes. A bath would've been nice, but since he didn't know where to take one, that could wait.
He stepped out of the temple courtyard into the large square in front of it, then started jogging along the stone road to the right. It was perfect for a warm-up and a good way to learn the area.
One thing he liked about this place was the number of trees. Since it was literally built on a hill, there was plenty of soil and greenery. A place with this much nature up on the City would definitely be a high-class residential area for the rich.
After about fifteen minutes, Kang was running past a narrow trail when he heard faint sounds coming from deeper inside. The familiar rhythm of punches and kicks. Someone was training, and he immediately knew who it was. There was no mistaking those sounds.
He followed the trail until it opened into a small clearing, where a girl in black sports tights was leaping and striking at a few crudely made wooden dummies. Just as he had guessed.
It was Xiao Yun—his junior sister, and the current Master of the Hidden Tiger Dojo.
-----
Xiao Yun kept striking the wooden dummy in silence, her mind a complete mess.
She just couldn't fall asleep last night. Everything that happened felt like a dream. The fight with that ugly Big John, the sudden appearance of Liu Kang, her senior brother, and then his unbelievable story that somehow turned out to be true.
A senior disciple of her Dojo, from three hundred years ago.
For the past three months, she had been living in a nightmare. Even with the support of Lena sis, the Orphans and the kind people from the School, she still struggled to adapt to life down here in the Slum.
The change in environment was one thing, but what truly broke her was the realization that she was now totally alone. The last successor of the Hidden Tiger Dojo, with no one to lean on. That truth, along with the crushing responsibility that came with being its current Master, haunted her every single day.
Until yesterday. When Kang appeared like a miracle before her, just as she was about to give up everything.
Not only did he save her life, but he also gave her hope again. Her senior brother, and her great-great-great... grandfather. The last member of her family she didn't even know she had.
It felt like a mountain had been lifted from her chest. His presence alone gave her strength she didn't know she still had.
She couldn't sleep, her heart restless with excitement, waiting for morning to come so she could ask him more about their Dojo, about their techniques, so he could teach her to become stronger. Strong enough to take back what had been stolen from her.
She thought about talking to Lena sis, but when she went to her room, Lena wasn't there. Then she remembered—after every big fight, Lena would always disappear from her room that night, for unknown reason.
Xiao Yun tossed and turned until three in the morning before giving up. She got up early, started her morning jog around the mountain path, and ended up in the big square in front of the temple gate.
She couldn't help herself. Maybe Senior Kang was already awake too. Maybe he was just as restless as she was, and they could start morning practice together...
With that thought, Xiao Yun approached the guest room.
And then, what she heard instead was...
Xiao Yun's face flushed as she remembered Lena's lustful moans. She never imagined Lena sis could be that... that immoral. And with her partner being none other than Xiao Yun's grandfather of all people.
Wait, did that mean she had to call Lena sis grandmother now?
No, that didn't even make any sense!
Xiao Yun poured all the confusion and frustration swirling inside her head into her fists, taking it out on the wooden dummy in front of her.
Crack!
The crudely made dummy couldn't take the abuse any longer and decided to quit its job by breaking apart into fragments.
"That was a rather malicious strike. Is something bothering you?"
A voice suddenly came from behind.
Xiao Yun turned toward it—only to see Liu Kang, the main culprit behind all her frustration, slowly walking closer with a contemplative look on his face.
-----
To Kang's surprise, his adorable junior sister was glaring at him with fury in her eyes.
"Erh... just to be sure... did I do something?" He pointed at himself.
Xiao Yun nodded.
"You slept with Lena sis, didn't you?"
Her fastball hit him straight in the head. Kang coughed a little, buying himself time to think of an excuse. Wait, why did he even need an excuse?
Looking at the fuming Xiao Yun, her face a splitting image of Xiao Lin, Kang suddenly laughed. They might look alike, but their personalities were completely different. Now that he was free from the weight of his past, he could finally see Xiao Yun as herself, not as a reflection of his deceased wife. She was simply his adorable junior sister and the current Master of their Dojo.
"Well, in my defense, I have two things to say." Kang spoke up and raised two fingers.
"First," he bent one down, "she came onto me."
While Xiao Yun's jaw dropped in disbelief, he continued and lowered the other finger.
"And second, I did protect my chastity to your grandmother for three hundred years. Does that count?"
"You... you... shameless!" Xiao Yun shouted, unable to believe what she'd just heard.
"Guilty as charged~"
Kang raised his hands in a surrendering gesture. What's done was done, and he wasn't about to deny it. That just wasn't his style.
Xiao Yun still looked angry, but now that the topic was out in the open, she seemed to calm down a little—accepting, though reluctantly, that this was simply the kind of man her senior brother was.
Kang took the opportunity to ask her.
"Speaking of which, why aren't you practicing the Core Forms? Or were you already done with them before I came here?"
Xiao Yun stayed silent for a moment. Then, after some hesitation, she finally spoke.
"I... don't practice those anymore."
Kang immediately frowned. That was something he couldn't just let slide.
"And why is that?"
Xiao Yun noticed the sudden change in his tone. It was the same stern voice her grandfather used whenever she'd done something wrong. She trembled a little but still met his eyes defiantly.
"Because they can't make me stronger!"
After saying that, she closed her eyes tightly, bracing herself for the scolding she knew was coming.
But nothing happened.
When she opened her eyes, Kang was still looking at her—his brows furrowed, deep in thought.
"My junior sister... why are you so impatient?"
He raised a hand, stopping her before she could respond, and continued, speaking more to himself than to her.
"That fight yesterday too. You was too aggressive, too rushed. You kept putting yourself in danger. And now... you want strength so badly that you'd abandon our Core Forms. There must be a reason for this..."
He stopped thinking out loud and met her gaze again, eyes sharp and searching.
"Tell me... who, or what drove you to this?"
Xiao Yun could see the anger flickering behind his eyes. It wasn't directed at her, but at whatever had pushed her into this state. She covered her face, trying to hold back her tears.
"You found your way down here, so you must already know what happened to our Dojo?"
Kang nodded silently, listening.
"But do you know the real reason it all turned out this way? Everything was because of..."
Xiao Yun clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her voice trembled as the words slipped through her teeth.
"...a traitor."