Martial Talent

Martial Talent

Huang Yu stood there with his mouth slightly open, watching Zheng Fa follow Steward Wu away.

He could not quite describe the feeling in his heart.

He thought back to what he had just said:

"Maybe a little better than you..."

"You're no worse than him either..."

I was just trying to comfort you.

Did you really think you weren't inferior to him?

The faint feeling he had just had—that the two of them were in the same camp—vanished. In fact, this "new friend" of his stirred up even stronger jealousy in him than before.

Compared to his inexplicable thoughts, everyone else's feelings were much simpler: Who was this person?

Everyone had long expected Gao Yuan to be called away.

Han Cheng was not without a background either. He was one of the three scholars, but his reserved personality made him less conspicuous among the three.

But Zheng Fa...

"Where did that Zheng Fa come from? Does anyone know him?"

"I remember he seemed to have been sitting in the corner the whole time."

"I remember him too. He looked completely ordinary, and his family did not seem well-off. I thought he was just here to make up the numbers. Who would have thought..."

Yet several people had seen Huang Yu talking with Zheng Fa earlier.

"Brother Huang, are you acquainted with Brother Zheng?"

Huang Yu looked at the person asking him. Earlier, this man had been one of those gathered around Gao Yuan.

He remembered even more clearly the undisguised sneer on this man's face when he had said he had not brought any money.

Now, looking at the warm smile on the man's face, Huang Yu found it rather strange.

"I... I came here with him. Well, his family circumstances probably aren't very good. They're even poorer than mine."

"A noble child can rise from a humble gate." To his surprise, the other man not only showed none of his previous disdain, but praised sincerely, "Brother Zheng truly is extraordinary."

No, where was that snobbish face you had earlier?

Huang Yu felt profoundly discriminated against.

"Brother Huang, it's not that I changed too quickly." Seeming to notice his gloom, the man pointed at his silk clothes. "Before this, we were both people looking to cling to a thigh. There was only one thigh to cling to. I had money and you did not, so naturally I kicked you out of the game."

The words were so frank they were nearly blunt, yet they somehow carried an unusual sincerity.

"But things are different now, Brother Huang. Brother Zheng may also become a thigh worth clinging to. And you have already gotten there first."

Huang Yu felt as though he had suddenly understood.

He had apparently... really burned the right cold stove?

"But aren't there still three people?" Huang Yu thought something was off. Nothing had been decided yet.

"Then it'll be too late!" The man looked at him as though he were an idiot. "You got there before me, so I came to curry favor with you. If I wait until he secures the position of bookboy, I won't even be qualified to curry favor with him."

After saying that, the man gestured with his chin behind Huang Yu. Huang Yu turned around and was startled to see several more youths smiling warmly at him.

At last, he understood:

When one man attained the Dao, even his chickens and dogs...

Hm?

When Zheng Fa stepped out of the waterside pavilion, he felt a greater variety of gazes upon him.

Behind him were the puzzled and eager looks of the youths.

Before him were the scrutinizing, wary expressions of Gao Yuan and Han Cheng.

What puzzled Zheng Fa even more was the faint coldness in Steward Wu's eyes as he looked at him.

He did not seem to have offended this man?

Steward Wu had no intention of speaking to them. He merely led the three of them onward at a brisk pace.

The three did not dare speak. They could only lower their heads and hurry after him, with no time at all to admire the scenery along the way.

Zheng Fa felt that they were heading toward the outer courtyard. By the time Steward Wu stopped, they had reached a broad courtyard.

It was called a courtyard, but it resembled a spacious training ground more.

Half the ground was paved with massive slabs of blue stone. Stone locks of varying sizes and weights lay atop them, while the originally rough stone surfaces had been trampled until they gleamed as though washed by water.

At the end of the stone paving stood a row of small houses, with several weapon racks planted with weapons outside their doors.

The unpaved ground was covered in grass, and at the far end of the lawn stood a row of targets.

A burly man galloped across the grass, drawing his bow and nocking arrows as he wheeled, leaped, and maneuvered.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Zheng Fa did not even see how many arrows he had fired at once. He only heard Steward Wu beside him clap and laugh. "Instructor Xu, what divine archery!"

Hearing this, the burly man turned his horse's head and charged wildly toward Zheng Fa and the others.

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

The sound of hooves striking the blue stone slabs grew closer and louder.

Yet the man showed no intention of slowing down. Instead, he lowered himself, taking on the posture of a charge.

His chin was covered in unruly black stubble, and his large frame carried a terrifying force as he rushed toward the four of them.

"Whoa!"

Only when Zheng Fa could feel the horse's breath spraying across his face did the man sharply yank the reins, sending the horse's hooves into the air.

Those enormous black hooves, each larger than Zheng Fa's face, were less than three inches from his forehead!

Han Cheng, beside Zheng Fa, fell backward to the ground with a pained cry.

The burly man leaped down from his horse, grabbed Han Cheng, and lifted him up. Somewhat dissatisfied, he said, "This kid won't do. He doesn't have enough nerve!"

"He isn't here to serve as one of Instructor Xu's estate guards." Steward Wu smiled pleasantly. When Instructor Xu had charged at them just now, even the curve of his smile had not changed.

"Hm?"

"He is a candidate to become Seventh Young Master's bookboy. Madam told you to take a look at them."

Only then did Steward Wu explain to Zheng Fa and the others, "Seventh Young Master's bookboy will not only study literature under Teacher Shen in the future, but also martial arts under Instructor Xu. Take a look and see what aptitude these three have."

Upon hearing this, Instructor Xu set Han Cheng down and used his huge hands to pinch Han Cheng's shoulders, back, waist, and hips several times.

"No good! This child has the very lowest aptitude for martial arts."

Before anyone else could speak, Han Cheng grew anxious. No matter how taciturn he was, he knew that one sentence could ruin his future. "Instructor, you can determine my aptitude just by feeling me a few times?"

"Ha!" Instructor Xu smiled at him instead. "You've got a bit of courage, at least. You refuse to accept it?"

"I refuse!"

Han Cheng said through clenched teeth.

"I have examined every estate guard in the Zhao Family. As for what aptitude someone has and whether they have a future in martial arts, I can say that I have never misjudged anyone."

Han Cheng still looked unconvinced.

"Then let me ask you this. Do you usually dislike eating? And do you dislike greasy food and meat even more?"

Han Cheng's face went pale. He had clearly been hit right on the mark.

"When it comes down to it, martial talent depends on only two things—being born well and eating well!"

"The moment you are born, whether your frame is large, whether your bones are sturdy, whether you have any disabilities or imbalances, and whether your muscles and tendons are strong already determines more than half of it! If you have this talent, its greatest sign is this: you can eat!"

Han Cheng could not say a word.

"Of course, good talent alone is not enough. You also need food to eat!" Seemingly growing more animated as he spoke, Instructor Xu continued, "If someone has good talent but nothing to eat—he is worse off than someone without talent! Steward Wu, you are also a martial artist. You should understand what I mean."

Steward Wu nodded. "Of course. Talent is a double-edged sword. Those with better talent require more nourishment and have greater innate consumption. If they cannot eat enough, forget practicing martial arts—even their lifespan will be shorter than that of ordinary people."

"Exactly! It's like those precious flowers and grasses. In some places, weeds can grow, but they cannot even sprout!"

Zheng Fa again noticed that as Steward Wu heard these words, his gaze kept falling on Zheng Fa from time to time, as though the words were meant for him.

He was not mistaken.

In Steward Wu's heart, Madam having Zheng Fa and the other two come to Xu Zheng was meant to use Zheng Fa to keep him in line.