boyutpedia Chapter 14 Breakup
Chapter 14 Breakup
It was midday, and the sun was particularly scorching. The chirping of cicadas drifted in from outside the courtyard wall, occasionally punctuated by the faint calls of vendors.
Meng Chenben was concentrating on his standing meditation when he heard Du Ren's words, and he immediately perked up his ears.
"When did this happen?" Du Zhong sat down in his chair, his expression turning serious.
"They just pulled him out of the old dragon's pool this morning!" Du Ren's expression turned serious. "I saw him; he was completely soaked! The coroner said he'd been dead for at least eight or nine days; there were knife marks on his ribs and lumbar vertebrae!"
"Knife marks on the ribs and lumbar vertebrae? Disembowelment and brutal murder? Eight or nine days..." Du Zhong calculated the days on his fingers, then suddenly sat up. "That's roughly the night Yan Hu died! The murderer didn't kidnap Yan Bao at all; he killed him on the spot. This was just a game with the Yan family!"
Du Ren was taken aback, as if he didn't understand why his uncle was so agitated.
Du Zhong paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, saying, "They killed two of someone's own brothers in one night. One was beheaded in front of his house, and the other was drowned in a ditch in front of his old home. Isn't this just an attempt to humiliate the Yan family? This is a huge feud!"
"Who says otherwise!" Du Ren immediately agreed. "If Yan Long doesn't come back to settle things this time, he'll really lose face back in his hometown of Qingshui County."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Du Zhong said sternly, "This matter is getting out of hand! You should stay home as much as possible lately, and tell the men not to speak carelessly! I'm going out for a bit!"
After speaking, Du Zhong took a step to leave, but then seemed to remember his identity, so he looked at Meng Chen and Qi Yun again and asked, "Is there anything you don't understand about the Guiyuan Technique?"
"We understand," Meng Chen and Qi Yun answered honestly.
"Our martial arts school administers one pill every three days and one bath every five days. Du Ren will arrange it for you. You two must remember, before breaking through the first barrier, you must remain calm and not frequent prostitutes or waste your vital essence!"
After giving his instructions, Du Zhong took two steps outside, then turned back and added, "Even soliciting male prostitutes is prohibited!"
"..." Meng Chen was still thinking about Yan Bao when he heard this and scratched his head in confusion.
After Du Zhong left the gate, the apprentices stopped practicing, except for Gao Yuan, the son of the magistrate. He stopped and asked, "Senior brother, what happened? If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."
The excited expressions of the Du family father and son had already been seen by the young men. These were all young men, not seasoned veterans, and they all looked at Du Ren with curiosity.
"It's nothing serious, it's just that Yan Bao is dead." Du Ren said calmly, his hands behind his back.
As soon as these words were spoken, the small courtyard fell silent for a few moments, and then no one practiced those lousy kung fu anymore; everyone gathered around.
That's understandable. Anyone in Qingshui County who practices martial arts knows Yan Long, because Yan Long is the face of Qingshui County and the number one martial artist in Qingshui County.
Similarly, those who practice martial arts in Qingshui County also know that while Yan Long is indeed like a dragon, his two younger brothers are utterly useless.
Yan Long is a topic of conversation among martial artists in Qingshui County, and the Yan family is also discussed daily.
Everyone knows about what happened to the Yan family recently, so how could the group of teenagers not be curious?
Du Ren didn't hide anything and immediately told him about Yan Bao's death. Finally, he solemnly instructed, "This matter must not be spread around, and you must not make unwarranted criticisms! Brother Yan Long came from our Qingshui County. He was an elder brother I personally toasted, and he was also a senior in martial arts for everyone! His family is in trouble. We may not offer to help, but we must not cause any more trouble!"
After saying those polite words, Du Ren patted his butt and dismissed everyone.
The apprentices practiced diligently while chatting idly, and even after dinner in the evening, they continued to discuss it.
Meng Chen, unconcerned, served himself rice and sat down next to Gong Ziming. Qi Yun arrived a while later.
The three had known each other for four or five days. Meng Chen had grown much closer to the two of them, but the two of them were getting along increasingly worse.
The reason was simple: Qi Yun was worldly and shrewd, and wanted to curry favor with Gao Yuan. Gong Ziming disliked Qi Yun's behavior, thinking that since they had already learned martial arts, they shouldn't bother with such social niceties.
But neither of them were actually bad people, and they took good care of Meng Chen, their fellow villager and junior.
"Xiao Meng, congratulations! We came on the same day, and we're learning Bahequan and Guiyuangong on the same day. What a coincidence!" Qi Yun said with a smile as he ate. "Senior Brother Gong is the most diligent in the courtyard, so we can't lag behind."
Having been at the martial arts school for five days, Meng Chen could clearly see that if Gao Yuan was the most outstanding among the disciples, then Gong Ziming was the most diligent and hardworking.
Gong Ziming was simply eating and ignored Qi Yun.
Qi Yun, a lively and good-natured man, shoveled food into his mouth as he said, "Xiao Meng and I both took almost five days to master the Eight Harmonies Fist. Brother Gong, you arrived earlier than us, how many days did it take you to master the Eight Harmonies Fist?"
Generally speaking, Bahequan is for opening up muscles and bones and loosening skin and flesh. Most people can master it in four or five days, and some can even do it in two or three days.
"A day and a half." Gong Ziming finally managed to utter a sentence, but his face showed no pride; instead, it looked quite ugly.
Upon hearing this, Meng Chen couldn't help but feel a deep respect, while Qi Yun simply nodded.
"But what's the use?" Gong Ziming raised his eyes, and seeing the surprise in his two fellow villagers' eyes, his expression grew even more unpleasant. He sneered, "You say I arrived early, but do you know how long I've been here? Five months! I loosened up my muscles and skin in a day and a half, but after five months I still haven't broken through the first barrier!"
Meng Chen had already inquired with Du Ren and found out that this tapping of the Qi and Blood Barrier was not particularly difficult.
If you practice at home without using elixirs or medicinal baths, and your diet is poor, you might only be able to pass the first level in three to five years, or even in old age.
But for apprentices who practice diligently day and night at the martial arts school, with constant medicinal baths and pills, and guidance from their teachers, they can master the skills in one or two months if they are quick, and no more than four or five months if they are slow.
If one hasn't succeeded in mastering the martial arts after half a year, then one probably really can't make a living in the martial arts world anymore.
Six months is the bottom line.
Of course, only one or two out of ten people can succeed in passing the test within six months.
Most people who haven't succeeded after four or five months of practice will stop wasting their money.
Very few people who come to the martial arts school are from wealthy families; most have emptied their savings or even sold their land in hopes of gaining a chance.
In this way, if you spend ten taels of silver a month, or even several months in a row, but still don't hear any results, you will inevitably become more and more anxious as you practice, which will ruin your mood.
Therefore, the further one goes, the less hope there is of success.
After Gong Ziming finished speaking, he stared at Qi Yun and said, "You've gotten to know everyone in the martial arts school these past few days, so you must have already secretly inquired about me. Since you already knew, why did you still have to ask? Did you want to mock me?"
"That's right." Qi Yun also sneered, "I didn't laugh at you for not succeeding in five months, so don't laugh at me for trying to climb the social ladder! My family is from a butcher's background, your family is from a herbal medicine farming background. We're both peasants, so neither of us should laugh at the other!"
"Senior Brother Gong, Senior Brother Qi..." Meng Chen was caught in the middle, truly unsure how to persuade them.
Gong Ziming looked very unhappy. He picked up his rice bowl and went to eat it at the corner of the wall in the outer courtyard.
"Look, his path today is our path." Qi Yun was also somewhat disheartened. He looked at his fellow villager and senior brother whom he had met when he first entered the martial arts school and said, "Some people can have their families arrange other ways for them if they can't make it, but we don't have anyone to back us up. If we can't succeed, we'll be laughed at when we go back to our hometown."
He picked up his rice bowl, about to leave, but left with a parting remark: "Did you really think I wanted to curry favor with them? I just know I can't become Yan Long, so I'm just trying to secure my own survival!"
Meng Chen remained silent. The hometown group, which he had only known for five days, had fallen apart just like that.
After dinner, some of the teenagers went out to buy meat, some found a place to rest, and some chatted and laughed idly.
Only one boy was standing in a horse stance in front of the wooden dummy, punching and striking the human-shaped wooden stake with his fists and palms. It was Gong Ziming.
It was already dark, and the hanging lanterns swayed in the wind, casting flickering light on the faces of the young men, as if their future was also shimmering between light and shadow.