The City of Terror

Wei Xiao Bei felt as if these stories were created for children at bedtime.

Well, based on this point, he also understood why the wars that occurred in Paris in the Dust World were more modern.

Not long after, the phone in Wei Xiao Bei’s room started ringing. It was directed from the hotel’s main line.

It was a call from a girl called Reannie.

Reannie called in, not only to thank Wei Xiao Bei for his help in the Dust World, but also to invite Wei Xiao Bei to her family’s dojo as a guest.

This was their promise in the Dust World. Wei Xiao Bei couldn’t break his promise, thus he agreed during the phone call.

Wei Xiao Bei rarely visited others as a guest, especially overseas.

After giving it some thought, Wei Xiao Bei searched on the internet to understand the courtesies of visiting in Western countries then went out to buy some gifts.

Reannie was riding a Citroen to get Wei Xiao Bei.

Citroen was a French car manufacturer, thus it occupied a huge fraction in the French family-use car market. It was similar to America’s Chevrolet.

Reannie’s family dojo was located in the 13th District in Paris, also known as the Chinatown in Paris.

When a Chinese dojo opens, it was very common to build it in the Chinatown of the place. It was not only convenient, but there was also the acknowledgment between culture and tradition, which made student recruitment less of a problem.

If a new dojo couldn’t recruit students, then it wouldn’t become popular. Without the popularity, future development would be a pipe dream. If those who came to learn martial arts saw a quiet dojo, then their minds would naturally form a bad impression.

He had to acknowledge that Reannie’s driving skill was pretty good, as there weren’t any incidents on their way.

Wei Xiao Bei sat in the front passenger seat while looking at the cars on the roads of Paris. He noticed quite a number of female drivers and could not help but ask, “Do you watch Chinese news?”

“Sometimes, I would browse the Chinese web.’

Reannie was really focused while she drove. She seldom spoke unless Wei Xiao Bei talked to her.

“From what I’ve noticed, French female drivers are really good. A lot better than the female drivers in the Mainland.”

Wei Xiao Bei said this thinking he was being humorous. Reannie nodded her head as she drove driving, and she said with a serious tone, “It might be due to the larger amount of cars here, which gives more opportunity to practice.”

Reannie did not understand Wei Xiao Bei’s actual message at all. This made Wei Xiao Bei lose interest.

In fact, for a girl like Reannie, even if she looked at the Chinese web, she would at most look at the situation of her father’s hometown. As for the news about other female drivers, she wouldn’t read at all, thus, she wouldn’t understand Wei Xiao Bei’s actual meaning and could only continue driving.

Luckily the 13th District wasn’t that far from the hotel that Wei Xiao Bei was staying. He soon saw a lot of yellow faces on the road.

To be honest, Wei Xiao Bei had been abroad for a while. Looking at the yellow faces made him a little excited.

The store signs in Chinese characters at the side of the streets especially gave Wei Xiao Bei the feeling that this was one of the cities in China.

It was clear that Reannie was quite popular in this area. As the traffic here was heavier, she slowed down her car. The passer-by that saw Reannie would come over and greet her.

The thing that Wei Xiao Bei couldn’t stand the most was the old ladies that started gossiping when they saw him sitting beside her.

Well, Wei Xiao Bei actually knew that these old ladies thought he was Reannie’s boyfriend. All of them carried a weird expression, as if he had stolen their husband.

Maybe they initially planned to introduce Reannie to their childrens and grandchildrens and form a family with her.

Their faces naturally wouldn’t be happy as a decent-looking young man suddenly appeared with Reannie.

Toward the end, Reannie had to forcefully accelerate.

Without a doubt, Wei Xiao Bei noticed that the blushing Reannie couldn’t withstand the old ladies’ questions anymore.

From another perspective, the shy expression on this little girl’s face made her look so pure and lovable. Wei Xiao Bei’s heart was moved as he looked at her.

Nevermind; it’s impossible.

One of them was in France and the other in China. Just the great distance was enough to destroy a lot of things.

Wei Xiao Bei also knew that after this trip abroad, he wouldn’t have much time to do so again.

Lee’s Xingyi Dojo!

A plaque with words in gold hung above the dojo’s main door.

Wei Xiao Bei, who was still in the car, looked at the sign and nodded. It is Xingyi, indeed.

The doors of the dojo opened at this moment. A fit, middle-aged man in white training attire stood at the door with two rows of more than ten hardy youths in the same attire.

Looking at this, Wei Xiao Bei didn’t want to delay any further in the car. He quickly got out of the car to greet them.

They welcomed him with extremely high etiquette!

Wei Xiao Bei didn’t dare to be arrogant. He quickly walked toward them with two bags of gifts.

Before Wei Xiao Bei could finish his words, the middle-aged man cupped his fist with another hand and said, “Descendent of Shenzhou Xingyi, Lee Kun Yang.”

Wei Xiao Bei knew this was the greeting when martial artists first met.

In ancient times, communication was not developed. To avoid misunderstandings, both parties would report their school of martial arts. Of course, it was also to intimidate the enemies.

When the criminals heard the name of a famous school, they wouldn’t dare to do anything, even if they originally had the intention.

These martial arts schools and families had the culture of defending each other.

If one was wrong and was caught, then nothing could be done. However, if one was bullied, the bully would be in trouble when the school and family find out.

This culture still remained. It had its practicality.

Wei Xiao Bei also knew that Heibei province, Shenzhou was where Xingyiquan was founded. The recent Xingyiquan master, Lee Luo, was from this place. He was an apprentice of Dai Long Bang, a master of the Dai Clan’s Xingyiquan. Lee Luo mastered it after ten years. Then he went back to his hometown. Using the Xingyiquan that he learned as the foundation, absorbing Taoists’ life perspectives, philosophical thinking, and personal experiences, he turned Xinyi (feelings) into Xingyi (form), and created the school of Xinyiquan, a subsidiary of Xingyiquan.

He impressed the field of martial arts and was known as the God Fist Lee, having the same position with Dong Hai Chuan of Baguaquan and Yang Lu Chan of Taijiquan.

One of the compliments that Lee Luo deserved was that he changed the conservative thinking of the field of martial arts and spread his martial art. This, in turn, made Xingyiquan stand out, eventually becoming one of the top three martial arts that used inner energy in China.

At this moment, Reannie was surprisingly well-behaved. She quickly came and took the gifts that Wei Xiao Bei brought to avoid an awkward situation.

Without the burden of the gifts and his blushing face returning back to normal, he cupped his fist and said loudly, “Cangzhou Baji Wei Xiao Bei pays respect to senior.”

The name reporting wasn’t for fun.

Cheng Bi Wu warned him when he had just started learning.

Reporting names was to tell others what school a person came from. He couldn’t say things like Cuihu Baji Wei Xiao Bei or Baita Baji Wei Xiao Bei. It would be a joke if he said so.

At least before Wei Xiao Bei became famous, these were all jokes.

The formal way of reporting names should be reporting the place where one’s martial art was inherited from.

Also, one could not report their name in such a way if one’s name wasn’t recorded into the scroll of the school.

Luckily, before leaving the country, his Master Cheng Bi Wu called and informed Wei Xiao Bei that his name was already recorded into the scroll of Cangzhou’s school.

In other words, Wei Xiao Bei was considered as a disciple of Cangzhou Baji from that moment! He then had the right to pray to the ancestors of the school.

This shouldn’t be underestimated.

A lot of people might think that praying to the ancestors was too traditional and old, or who still cared about this in modern society, and that it was such a feudalistic, conservative thing to do.

However, for a martial artist, the inheritance of the school was extremely important!

The other disciples in the school would only treat one equally when one truly became a disciple of the school.

From the perspective of benefits, becoming a disciple gave one the entire social network of the school.

In fact, for the school and families of the martial arts that are still kept, which of them didn’t have an impressive background?

In modern society, the disciples of these martial arts schools and families did not have simple identities. There were also many businesses that were under these schools and families.

His second senior apprentice brother, Zhang Zhi Long’s initial reason to be a disciple under Cheng Bi Wu was not only his passion for martial arts but also to establish his position in his family with the power of the school.

To be brutally honest, if one wasn’t recognized by the school and wasn’t recorded in the scroll, one would only be an outer disciple, even if the master thought highly of one. If one didn’t succeed, no one would spare a look at him or her.

However, if one was recorded into the scroll, the school would announce it to most schools and families. When one bumped into disciples from other schools, they would respect you, and you would be given an equal right.

One might not like it, but it was actually really important.

As for Wei Xiao Bei’s visit, Lee Kun Yang already called back to China to investigate Wei Xiao Bei’s background and found out that Wei Xiao Bei was indeed recorded in Cangzhou Baji’s scroll, thus, he presented in a way appropriate to welcome the direct disciple of Cangzhou Baji.

If it wasn’t, merely with the favor of saving Reannie, Lee Kun Yang would at most give him some cash and drink some tea. He would not waste so much energy to welcome him.

“Truly talented! Martial Uncle Cheng really didn’t lie to me.”

Lee Kun Yang was really passionate. He dragged Wei Xiao Bei and introduced the disciples under his school.

The only question that Wei Xiao Bei had was, why Lee Kun Yang called his master a martial uncle?

Lee Kun Yang came to Paris and founded this dojo. After all these years, he had recruited a number of personal disciples and they were the ones who welcomed guests at the door with him.

Maybe it was because Wei Xiao Bei brought gifts, and it made him look like a son-in-law, but half of the disciples showed looks of displeasure.