Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
In the yard, two women were preparing a meal. When they saw the old man leading Xunuo inside, they came over to ask. After hearing the old man's introduction, the elderly woman quickly said, "This poor child hasn't eaten yet, has he? Hurry and prepare some food; we can't let the little one go hungry."
The younger woman promptly agreed and called into the house, "Ling'er, bring a basin of water for Brother Lu to wash his face."
After a while, the little girl in the green shirt came out, tugging at Xunuo's hand as she led him into the house. She giggled as they walked, leaving Xunuo feeling quite confused.
Once inside, the girl named Ling'er took a copper mirror and held it up for him to see. "Brother Lu, are you an actor? Why do you have so much color on your face?"
Xunuo laughed upon seeing his reflection; after a day of travel and sweating, he had absentmindedly wiped his face with his sleeve. Now, his face looked no different from that of a painted performer. The two of them were of similar age, and as they washed their faces and chatted, they quickly became familiar with each other.
Before long, the two women brought out the food—just a few vegetable dishes and half a wild rabbit.
The old man invited Xunuo to sit down and said, "There isn't much to eat in the countryside; you must be hungry, Young Friend. Please eat up."
Having traveled all day with an empty stomach, Xunuo felt even hungrier upon seeing the food. After exchanging a few polite words, he began to eat ravenously.
As they ate, the old man introduced his family to Xunuo. It turned out that his surname was Qiao; the elderly woman was his wife, the younger one was his daughter-in-law, and Ling'er in the green shirt was his granddaughter.
His son had been hired by a wealthy family in town to do some carpentry work and wouldn't return until he finished.
While they were eating, people began to arrive in the yard. In such a small village, news of a newcomer spread quickly. Especially since it was a young boy who seemed lost; curiosity drew people in.
Seven or eight women came in dribs and drabs at first to observe from outside. Eventually, they entered the house to point and chatter among themselves.
Xunuo sat there feeling increasingly uncomfortable as these people surrounded him. It felt like being a monkey on display; no one could sit still under such scrutiny. Blushing, he turned to the old man and said, "Tai Gong, I've had enough to eat."
The old man understood the young man's restraint and said to his daughter-in-law, "Young Friend is tired; please arrange for him to rest."
The young woman smiled in response and took Xunuo's hand, leading him to another room where she lit a lamp. The room was small and simply furnished, with a fragrant pouch hanging on the wall and a few cloth dolls scattered about. It was clearly the bedroom of the Green Shirt Girl.
"This is Ling'er’s bedroom; she will sleep with me tonight. You can rest here at ease," the woman said.
Xunuo quickly expressed his gratitude, and the woman stepped out.
Only then did Xunuo let out a sigh of relief, thinking to himself: Being treated like a monkey for others to watch is indeed less enjoyable than being the monkey itself.
He carefully examined the room. Although it was not filled with many items, it was clean; the window paper and walls were spotless, and the bedding was neat and free of dust.
Looking at himself covered in dirt, Xunuo stood for a long time, hesitant to get into bed. He could only sit on a stool, finding it somewhat amusing.
After sitting for a while, he remembered the scriptures he had obtained from his ancestral home. He had shown this martial scripture to Lu Duhou as well. After reading it, Lu Duhou told him that it was a manual for internal energy cultivation but noted that there were some peculiarities he did not fully understand.
Lu Duhou came from a military background and understood martial arts; internal energy was fundamental. No matter how impressive one's punches or kicks were, if their internal energy was unstable, they might struggle against a skilled opponent. Even if you landed ten punches on someone, you might not defeat them; one strike from them could very well cost you your life.
Internal energy involves cultivating a sphere of True Qi in the Dantian, allowing this True Qi to flow through all the body's meridians. When perfected, it opens up all Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Meridians, along with all three hundred sixty-five acupuncture points in the body.
Even Lu Duhou himself had only managed to open up the Taiyang Meridian. Yet this advancement significantly boosted his power compared to his peers who had not opened any meridians—he was at least two or three times stronger.
In martial arts, opening even one meridian made a world of difference. If an ordinary sect had a master who had opened two or three meridians stationed there, they could dominate their region. Lu Duhou's master had only opened two meridians but was already quite renowned within Suzhou.
However, this Huayang Classic merely instructed practitioners to cultivate True Qi in the Dantian without opening up the body's meridians. This aspect contradicted traditional martial arts principles. Yet its methods of cultivation appeared exceptionally profound.
Lu Duhou was discerning enough to recognize that this was an extraordinary text. He suspected that it might be only half of a scripture—the first half teaching how to cultivate and nurture energy while the second half would instruct on how to open acupoints and meridians.
Lu Duhou pondered that he had not yet reached such heights, so he asked Xunuo to take the book to the Wuhua Sect to consult a master. With nothing else to do, Xunuo took it out to read.
The book was made from an unknown beast's skin, and despite being passed down for dozens of generations, it showed no signs of damage. The cover was brown with only the words "Huayang Classic" inscribed on it. Inside, there were only seven pages, each containing a layer of cultivation techniques.
As Xunuo flipped through the pages, he noticed that aside from the internal cultivation methods, there was nothing else. He returned to the first page to examine it again.
The first layer taught how to use the Cultivation Method to generate True Qi, while another instructed on sitting in meditation to expand the Dantian. The purpose was to allow the Dantian to store more True Qi in the future.
After reading through the incantation, Xunuo felt it was not too complicated. He sat cross-legged on the ground, formed a hand seal as instructed in the book, closed his eyes, and began meditating on the position of his Dantian.
Xunuo thought that the larger his Dantian, the better; ideally, it would be as large as this room so that it could hold plenty of True Qi. He let his thoughts drift. After a while, he felt a warm sensation in his Dantian, which was quite comfortable. He secretly thought: It seems I am on the right path. He recited the incantation again and focused intently on his meditation.
After some time, he felt a sudden swelling sensation in his Dantian as if something had increased within it. Xunuo was overjoyed; he hadn't expected it to be this easy to expand his Dantian. Naturally, he worked even harder.
However, before long, the young man could no longer feel joy. He realized that along with his Dantian expanding, his body also felt a sense of swelling. The warm current within his Dantian had become hot and was rolling around as if it wanted to burst out.
Xunuo quickly ceased his practice and found himself drenched in cold sweat. After checking his body and finding nothing unusual, he felt slightly relieved.
He tried to sense his Dantian again; the warm current was still swirling inside but was no longer as intense or scorching as before.
Xunuo thought: There must be something wrong somewhere or perhaps I am being too impatient. Practicing recklessly without a master is indeed somewhat inappropriate.
After this thought, he intended to put away the book but then reconsidered: The journey to Wuhua Mountain is far; I can't waste this time for nothing. If I don't work hard now, when will I be able to avenge my parents? If I practice carefully, surely I won't go astray. Besides, this scripture is the best teacher; perhaps if I look at it closely once more, I might find a way to resolve this issue.
With that in mind, he began reading from the beginning again.
The Huayang Classic had only seven pages; after reading it four or five times, Xunuo had memorized it.
Closing the book, she began to ponder deeply: the text mentioned several times the idea of moving with one's heart and going with the flow.
Could it be that she was a bit too eager for quick success, wanting to achieve everything at once? Perhaps it would be better to take things slowly to avoid overindulging.
Just as she was thinking, there was a gentle knock at the door.
Xunuo hurried to open it and saw that it was the young girl, Ling'er. She said, "Sister Ling'er, I feel uneasy taking your room. I'll just make do on the floor for one night; I won't dirty the bedding, so you can rest easy."
Ling'er smiled upon hearing this. "I saw you didn't eat enough, so I brought you some buns. I'm not that petty."
Xunuo's face flushed slightly as she accepted the buns and replied, "It's still not good to dirty the bedding; sleeping on the floor is no trouble."
Ling'er said, "My mother has gone to boil water; she'll give you a bath later."
This left Xunuo speechless. She had come to stay at someone else's home but was being treated like a guest of honor. All she could do was thank her repeatedly.
Sure enough, not long after, a young woman came to call Xunuo for her bath. Knowing that this family meant well, Xunuo felt grateful but also somewhat anxious about how to repay their kindness.
After washing up and changing into clean clothes, she returned to her room. Xunuo thought to herself: since she needed to travel tomorrow, it would be best to rest early. So she lay down and tried to sleep.
However, she found it impossible to drift off; as soon as she closed her eyes, images of her parents appeared before her. Unlike the previous days when she could fall asleep after a long day of travel, now she pondered for a while without knowing why. With nothing else to do, she sat cross-legged on the bed and began practicing her techniques with her hands in a series of gestures.
Comment 0 Comment Count