Practical Combat

"No matter what, we should go back first. That mysterious force behind it is probably still focusing all its attention on tracking that Demon Woman, with no time to worry about anything else."

Wei He thought it over, gritted his teeth, and turned back around.

Under the moonlight in the forest, he quickly returned to the spot and saw a pack of wild wolves greedily devouring the corpse.

From afar, he could only see that the body had been chopped into eight pieces and was being continuously gnawed apart by the starving wolves.

Each of those wolves was over a person's length, green light glinting in their eyes, their entire bodies covered in long black fur. Their appearance was thoroughly terrifying.

Wei He watched silently until the wolves carried away the remaining scraps of the corpse, and a group of mole-like creatures rushed over to madly lap up the bloodstains on the ground.

Only then did he quietly turn around again and hurry down the mountain.

When he returned to the escort agency's party, the group had only just begun gathering to head back at a brisk pace.

Though night had fallen and danger had increased somewhat, they no longer had any cargo with them, so the whole party could travel much faster.

And without cargo, the chances of being robbed were much lower as well. The escorts all looked far more relaxed.

Wei He pretended that he had gone to look around the area. Although no one knew where he had been, few people paid him any attention.

The old escort who had been with him did notice somewhat, but deliberately pretended not to know.

These days, everyone only swept the snow from their own doorstep and ignored the frost on another's roof. Sometimes, meddling too much only brought trouble upon oneself.

After waiting a while longer, the party slowly set off back, holding torches.

What puzzled Wei He was that few parties usually traveled at night. And did Feiye City not close its gates at night? That was strange as well.

The escort party headed back all the way, chatting and laughing. It seemed the goods they had transported earlier had been quite troublesome. Now that they had unloaded them, everyone immediately felt much lighter.

They made it back beneath Feiye City without incident.

The city gates were indeed closed. In the pitch darkness, they could only see torches moving back and forth atop the walls.

But soon, someone in the party shouted several lines.

The city gates slowly opened a crack, allowing the party to enter bit by bit.

Wei He suppressed his surprise and said nothing. Only after entering through the gates did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"What? Does it feel strange?" Chen Shiniu, who had traveled with him, said with a smile. As they were about to part ways, he no longer beat around the bush and asked directly.

"A little." Wei He nodded. Weren't wild beasts said to roam at night, making it extremely dangerous?

"There's a saying that there are many beasts at night and it's easy to be attacked, so you should travel by day. That's true, but it depends on where you are." Chen Shiniu smiled.

"Our escort route passed near cities the whole way. There were few bandits, and the wild beasts were even farther away. So this job was actually very easy."

Then why would someone spend money hiring escorts for such a short distance? Wouldn't it be the same if they delivered it themselves?

Wei He ultimately did not voice that doubt.

No matter how strange this escort job had been, he would get paid and leave in the end.

Very soon, the chief escort leading the party spoke up, telling everyone to collect their wages for this job from the main escort agency the next day.

Then they went their separate ways.

Wei He did not dare delay in the slightest and hurried home.

He still vividly remembered those Incense Gathering Cult people he had encountered that night.

After returning home, he quickly washed up, lay down fully clothed, and fell into a heavy sleep.

He slept until dawn before getting up. Rather than going to Huishan Fist, he went to the escort agency early in the morning and collected his share of the wages.

Then he brought it home and hid it away before changing clothes and heading for the Huishan Fist Academy.

Bang.

Wei He deflected Cheng Shaojiu's fist, lowered his head, and swung a hook with his right hand.

That fist was easily deflected as well.

The two exchanged blows, their Twin Fists pausing at times and suddenly striking out at others.

Driven by their blood and qi, both of them moved far faster than ordinary people.

Before long, Wei He could no longer hold on. A hook lightly knocked his guard aside, and he staggered two steps back, nearly falling.

"Alright, why are you so fired up today? Your fists are much stronger than usual." Cheng Shaojiu wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked.

Wei He's fists today were far trickier to deal with than usual. Often, both his strikes and withdrawals were much more decisive and fierce.

If Cheng Shaojiu had not practiced a few times at the small gathering, he truly might not have been able to keep up with Wei He's reactions.

Many times, he thought Wei He would use the third move of Huishan Fist, only for Wei He to suddenly leap and unleash the fifth move.

That lack of rhythm made Cheng Shaojiu extremely uncomfortable.

Wei He took a step back and wiped away his sweat as well.

He recalled his earlier fight with the person tracking the Black-character Bug. That man's eyes had clearly been blinded, and his strength was nearly exhausted, yet he had still managed to keep going for so long.

"Third Senior Brother, how should one handle real combat? What if you encounter an opponent far stronger than yourself? How do you deal with that?"

He suddenly asked.

"Hehe. Come to the training ground at my place later, and I'll explain it to you in detail." Cheng Shaojiu paused slightly, seemingly not expecting him to ask that question.

But Wei He's earlier series of actions had made him realize that this junior brother had reached the stage where he should be asking it.

Every martial artist, once their moves became proficient, would begin pondering this question: how should one fight in an actual battle?

"Although Old Zheng has explained how we should deal with different opponents, different environments, and different circumstances, and Huishan Fist has fixed routines for all of that.

"But some things cannot be understood through words alone. Once we're dismissed later, I'll explain them to you properly." Cheng Shaojiu said mysteriously.

Wei He was faintly enlightened. In this courtyard, quite a few senior brothers and sisters had secrets of their own.

Such secrets—or rather, personal little tricks—were usually experience and training methods they had figured out over many years.

But few chose to teach them to others.

If Third Senior Brother intended to teach him such things, then perhaps...

Wei He's heart stirred. He began drinking water and resting instead, then switched partners to spar with someone else.

He did not mention seeking instruction again.

Cheng Shaojiu also acted as if nothing had happened and went off to spar with other, stronger senior brothers and sisters.

Senior Disciple Brother Zhao Hong happened to be there too, so Cheng Shaojiu went over to exchange moves with Zhao Hong.

Throughout the entire day of practice, Wei He's mind kept replaying his earlier clash with that tracker.

He knew clearly that although there had been a considerable difference in blood and qi between them, there was no reason why the tracker, already drained of blood and qi and unable to see, should still have kept him from taking him down quickly.

He had only won through a sneak attack.

At noon, after eating and resting for a while, he could not sleep. He stood alone before a wooden post, pondering the matter.

It was not until the afternoon, when everyone had fully dispersed, that Cheng Shaojiu took him in a carriage to Cheng Estate again.

The two removed their outer garments and faced each other on the training ground. There was no one else around.

Only then did Cheng Shaojiu speak with a smile.

"I saw you looking absent-minded all day. Have you been thinking about this the entire time?"

"Yes." Wei He nodded. There was nothing to hide. "To be honest, I took on a job at Changfeng Escort Agency earlier to familiarize myself with the escort business. When we reached our destination, I wandered around outside by myself and ran into bandits. That made me realize I lack far too much when it comes to actual combat."

"That's only natural. A teacher can't produce a true expert through instruction alone." Cheng Shaojiu lightly stamped his feet back and forth, loosening his body.

"Over this period, I've understood a key point at the small gathering." He smiled.

"What key point?" Wei He blurted out, but immediately felt it was inappropriate. Since it was an insight from the small gathering, teaching it to him privately would not be suitable.

Seemingly seeing what he meant, Cheng Shaojiu shook his head. "Don't worry. I figured this out myself. I don't need anyone else's permission."

He swayed as he walked circles around the area, remaining silent for a while as though he were warming up.

Wei He waited for his explanation, but watched the man pace around with a half-smile on his face without saying anything.

He knew this fellow truly deserved to be Old Zheng's disciple. He had learned Old Zheng's habit of keeping people in suspense without the slightest distortion.

So Wei He did not rush him. He stood silently where he was and simply refused to ask further.

After studying under Old Zheng for so long, he had long known that the old man's greatest flaw was leisurely waiting for others to press him.

What he loved most was watching people become anxious to death while he himself refused to speak.

The more anxious others became, the happier he was.

That wicked little amusement was truly vile.

Sure enough, after waiting a short while, Cheng Shaojiu looked left and right and circled around several times, yet Wei He never opened his mouth to ask.

His skill ultimately could not compare to Old Zheng's, and he could not resist any longer.

"Sigh, since you want to hear it so badly, I'll explain it to you carefully." He let out a long sigh and pretended naturally to pick up where he had left off.

"Thank you, Senior Brother, for clearing up my confusion." Wei He immediately followed along, cupping his fist in salute.

Cheng Shaojiu was choked up for a moment and immediately felt displeased. But he stopped fooling around and said directly, "In actual combat, the first priority is eyesight."

"Eyesight?"

"That's right. Observation. Look first."

Cheng Shaojiu explained, "Look at your opponent. Judge your opponent. Determine what type they are."

"First get a rough read on their type. Are they skilled with fists, legs, or weapons? If weapons, what kind?

"You must understand that people skilled with weapons are far more dangerous than ordinary people. No matter how hard your fists are, if you meet a sharp weapon and try to withstand it head-on, you will suffer. So you must anticipate."

"But anticipation is not merely what I mean. Once you have enough real combat experience, you will naturally understand that much. The key I want to talk about is intimidation."

As Cheng Shaojiu said this, his expression became solemn.

"I heard from my father and elder brother that true experts pay extremely close attention to Qi Mechanism when they fight."

"Qi Mechanism?" Wei He felt that sounded rather vague.

"That's right. It sounds mysterious, but when you put it plainly, Qi Mechanism is momentum and opportunity." Cheng Shaojiu smiled. "Imagine that dozens of servants stood behind me, all aiming crossbows at you. If you fought me, would you dare use your full strength?"

Wei He immediately understood somewhat.

"That is Qi Mechanism?"

"That's right. That is momentum. I don't understand momentum very well either, but that was the example my father and elder brother gave me. I'm merely repeating their original words to you." Cheng Shaojiu continued.

"The stronger your eyesight, the more details you can see in an opponent, the better your grasp of actual combat, and the less likely you are to make mistakes.

"And Qi Mechanism is probably about doing everything possible to keep your opponent from using their full strength, from displaying all their power. Then do everything possible to bring out your own greatest strength. Use strength to strike weakness, and victory is assured!"

"Use strength to strike weakness." Wei He's eyes lit up, and he seemed to grasp something at once.

Had that not been what he had been doing all along?

That was why he had won.

It had been the same when he killed Chen Biao, and when he killed that tracker at Mingde Temple.

The tracker had clearly been stronger than him. Had they faced each other directly, Wei He would certainly have died.

Yet the other man had still died by his hand, because Wei He had first used underhanded means to weaken him.

So this was it. To win, one had to stop at nothing, use every conceivable means to weaken the opponent and strengthen oneself.

Wei He suddenly understood.

Gratefully, he bowed deeply to Cheng Shaojiu with cupped fists.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother!"

"You understand now?" Cheng Shaojiu smiled. He clearly had no idea what exactly his junior brother had understood.

"I understand." Wei He nodded.