yasinovel Chapter 449: Wing Chun
Chapter 449: Wing Chun
Qiao Jiajin’s reflexes were lightning-fast. Just as Qiu Twenty was about to collide with the wheelbarrow, he grabbed hold of his leather jacket.
Before anyone could react, Qiu Twenty was yanked to the side like a ragdoll, and then Qiao Jiajin steadied him securely.
“Irritant lad...” Qiao Jiajin glanced at the still shaken Qiu Twenty and smiled. “Your reflexes are decent, but your balance still needs work.”
“N–No, Qiao ge...” Qiu Twenty shook his head. “My footing was a bit slippery... I’ll pay more attention next time.”
Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Keep your eyes fixed on the opening, and lower your center of gravity.”
Qiu Twenty rubbed his forearm, still smarting as if from a hard punch. “Understood, Qiao ge.”
The two men stood guard at the wheelbarrow’s flank, matching its gradual advance.
Meanwhile, those pushing the wheelbarrow gradually found their rhythm, and the speed steadily increased.
Discover more
Language learning resources
Webnovel subscription
Webnovel author interviews
But when they reached the finish line, they encountered another problem.
According to Terrestrial Horse’s instructions, they needed to push the wheelbarrow for a full lap. The simplest approach would be to push it to the end and then pull it back intact, but that would transform {pushing} into {pulling}. Reluctantly, they had no choice but to turn it around, however turning the wheelbarrow was far more complicated than they had imagined.
The track was narrow, and the wheelbarrow wide, so they had to rotate it carefully while avoiding the sharp glass underfoot. Almost everyone had to step across the ice to maneuver around the deadly shards.
During the process, Ning Eighteen nearly slipped, but thankfully Luo Fifteen steadied her in time.
If anyone slipped here, the danger extended far beyond their feet—glass could slice across their entire body.
As the group rotated the wheelbarrow, Qiao Jiajin and Qiu Twenty remained cautiously focused on the wooden box in the distance. Yet it made no sudden moves, only continuously twisting, keeping its opening aimed steadily at them.
“Damn...” Qiao Jiajin shielded the {Cats} members behind him, glancing at the wooden box with a hint of puzzlement. “How the hell does that thing even move? It’s just wood, yet it's able to keep turning itself?”
Discover more
Novel reading app
Novel genre guide
Webnovel merchandise
After roughly ten seconds, the entire {Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse} was fully turned around. Everyone now faced the starting line, where Terrestrial Horse stood expressionless, watching them.
They all knew that the first round would be the easiest of the entire game. If they couldn’t survive even this round, the following stages would be nearly impossible to overcome.
“Same tactic as before,” Qiao Jiajin said. “Irritant lad and I block the ice balls; the rest of you focus on pushing the wheelbarrow.”
“Understood!” they responded in unison.
The wheelbarrow had moved less than half a meter when {War Conqueror} sprang into action.
A muffled {crackle} rang out as the ice balls inside appeared to be reloaded.
But for Qiao Jiajin, this was far from ideal. {War Conqueror}’s positioning was much closer to the finish line than the starting point, meaning they were now dangerously near it.
In an instant, Qiao Jiajin raised both hands in front of him, planted his feet firmly in a Yee Ji Kim Yeung Ma*, and braced his upper body, assuming the dual-guard posture of Wing Chun.
(TLN: Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma is the foundation stance from which all variations and the Wing Chun fighting stances and footwork are derived. It is essentially this position that influences the footwork of how a Wing Chun fighter moves and generates power. Explanation will be elaborated in the tl note below.)
“Not sure if what I’ve learned will even work...” Qiao Jiajin exhaled deeply. “With the opponent this close, it has to be {Wing Chun}.”
“Q–Qiao ge...” Bai Nine looked on with concern. They were no more than five meters from the box.
At such a distance, could an ordinary person really intercept a high-speed projectile?
“I’ll handle this,” Qiao Jiajin said firmly. “No one else should be distracted; push the wheelbarrow with full focus.”
“Huh...?” The others stared at him in disbelief.
“Just act as if the {balls} don’t exist,” Qiao Jiajin continued. “I think I’ve found a way to crack this game...”
A faint smile slowly appeared on his face as he began to understand the confident expression Qi Xia always wore during the games.
Confidence, he realized, stemmed from the certainty that every obstacle could be handled.
{Whoosh!}
A muffled thud sounded as the ice ball hurtled toward them at terrifying speed; the distance was so short they could not possibly predict where it would land.
Qiao Jiajin took a step forward, raising both hands. One forearm shielded his face while the other executed an outward horizontal strike, and by instinct, thrust a palm toward the ice ball.
Because he had never struck a projectile with an open palm before, the blow was slightly off-center, yet it nevertheless altered the ball’s trajectory.
As chance would have it, the redirected ice ball flew straight back toward Terrestrial Horse. She gave a cold snort and did not so much as flinch; the next instant, the ice ball struck her squarely and shattered into powder.
{Crack}!
Countless glittering shards exploded around Terrestrial Horse like a brief snowstorm.
“Attacking the umpire?” Terrestrial Horse wiped the fragments of ice from her hands and asked in a stern tone, “Do you have the faintest idea of your actions?”
“Who?” Qiao Jiajin shook out his aching palm. “Who attacked the umpire?”
“You tell me.”
“Me?” Qiao Jiajin scratched his head. “If you ask me, it was {War Conqueror}. Why is it firing indiscriminately? Should we take it apart?”
“Wha...?” Terrestrial Horse was clearly taken aback, struggling to follow the logic of the man before her. “What nonsense are you talking about? Wasn’t it your doing that the ball came flying this way?”
“Is that so?” Qiao Jiajin blinked in surprise. “The ball came from {War Conqueror}, didn’t it? I can’t help it. The rules say the {rider} cannot be knocked down; I’m just following the rules.”
Finding it impossible to reason with him, Terrestrial Horse merely shook her head. “I’ll let it pass this time, but if it happens again—”
“I’ll continue to apologize,” Qiao Jiajin interrupted. “I promise I’ll give you another proper apology then.”
“You!” Terrestrial Horse grit her teeth, choosing not to argue further. More precisely, she simply didn’t want to deal with this sleeve-tattooed man.
The wheelbarrow continued to move forward slowly, gradually putting distance between itself and {War Conqueror}. After about six meters in, the next ice ball shot toward them.
This time, Qiu Twenty stepped up and blocked it with both arms.
It might hurt to be hit, but in the end, it was only ice; no real harm was done.
Qiao Jiajin had expected Qiu Twenty to falter again from the slippery surface, but he seemed to be gradually getting used to the smooth ice. Clearly, no one among {Cats} was ordinary.
Bai Nine watched the scene and nodded slightly, feeling somewhat relieved. No matter what, the first round shouldn’t involve any casualties; only then could their chances of passing be maximized.
She sat on the {Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse}, ready to encourage the others, when a familiar voice rang in her ears.
“Xiao Nine, where are you guys?”
“Six jie?”
TL Note: Yee Ji Kim Yeung Ma (二字钳羊马) is the Cantonese name of the basic stance in Wing Chun, which describes very accurately how the stance should look and, to a lesser extent, feel when being practised. If the name is broken down into two parts, it is easier to understand what it is telling us in terms of how the stance should appear.
The expression Yee Ji means “the character for the number two (二)” and this describes the correct position of the feet. With the toes turned inwards in the classic “pigeon-toed” position, a line drawn between the toes of both feet would represent the shorter, top stroke of the character, while a line drawn between the two heels would represent the longer, bottom stroke of the character. The other half of the name, Kim Yeung Ma, translates as “goat-gripping stance” and is meant to conjure up the image of a person bending their knees inwards and forwards so as to squeeze a goat (or sheep) to prevent it from getting free, in much the same way as Australian sheep-shearers might keep control of a sheep as they remove its fleece. Another contemporary image that parallels this shape is the so-called “snow plough” position used by skiers to slow down when going down the ski slopes.
Source: https://wingchunhull.wordpress.com/articles-and-video/
YEE JEE KIM YEUNG MA (Siu Lim Tao Ma)
Pull in the chest, push out the upper back, and bring in the tail bone.
Fill the Tan Tien with Ch’i and distribute the strength to all parts of the body.
Point the knees and toes inward.
Form a pyramid with the center of gravity in the center.
Fists are placed by the side of the ribs but not touching the body.
Sink the elbows, the shoulders, and the waist.
Hold the head and neck straight and keep the spirit alert.
Eyes are level, looking straight ahead, and watching all directions.
The mind is free of distractions and the mood is bright.
There is no fear when facing the opponent.
Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma is the main stance.