New Home

New Home

The next day, Gu Yang's family packed their belongings and entered the city together.

Gu Yang went to the Martial Academy to continue training, while the other three looked for a house. They could no longer live outside the city.

After arriving at the Martial Academy, Gu Yang immediately went to Qin Hu to thank him in person, then asked curiously, "Master Qin, what kind of meat was that you lent me yesterday?"

"That was Black Tiger Meat. Many disciples of the Martial Academy eat this kind of beast meat to nourish their blood and build their foundations. It isn't anything rare." Qin Hu waved a hand as though it were nothing, then offered Gu Yang a few words of encouragement. "Train hard. Don't waste your talent."

"Thank you, Master Qin. This disciple understands." Gu Yang lowered his head slightly and replied respectfully, yet he did not believe it inwardly. Not anything rare? Then why were those constables so shocked yesterday?

"Mhm. Go train." Seeing that all the disciples had gathered at the Training Ground, Qin Hu ended the conversation at once. Turning to the Martial Academy disciples, he shouted, "Assemble!"

At the command, the scattered disciples swiftly gathered. Gu Yang followed the flow into the formation, once more taking his place at the lower right corner and practicing the Blood Nourishing Stance Art alongside the others.

"Power rises from the feet, force travels through the waist. Keep your center of gravity steady at all times. Your movements must be clean and forceful, able to advance and withdraw freely!" As Qin Hu observed the disciples' movements, he loudly explained several small tricks for cultivating the Blood Nourishing Stance Art.

Gu Yang knew this was clearly meant for him. After all, the other disciples had heard Qin Hu explain it when they first joined the Martial Academy.

He gathered his thoughts, his hands never stopping as he continuously pondered Qin Hu's words.

"Power rises from the feet..." Gu Yang drew back his fist to store strength and pressed the soles of his feet into the ground. At once, he felt a rebounding force beneath his feet rising steadily upward.

At that moment, inspiration struck him, and he borrowed that force to throw a punch.

"Hm? This feeling..." Gu Yang's eyes lit up. With that punch, he clearly felt the process of power transmitting through his body.

"Again!" His heart surged with excitement, and he trained with even greater vigor.

Punch after punch flew out. Gu Yang did not seek speed; before every punch, he tried to plant his feet firmly against the earth and find that sensation from before.

Gradually, he seemed to have found a few clues.

His stance slowly adjusted and changed. His body rose and fell as he punched, rather than remaining rigidly planted as before.

"So the Blood Nourishing Stance Art has this many details."

The light in Gu Yang's eyes grew brighter and brighter. This time, his gains truly were enormous.

As the saying went, a true teaching took but a single sentence, while a false teaching filled ten thousand scrolls. That saying was not wrong in the slightest.

Without Qin Hu's guidance, he could still have improved by grinding proficiency, but the efficiency would have been as different as heaven and earth.

After completely practicing the entire set of stance training, all forty-eight movements, Gu Yang immediately withdrew his stance and stopped. He took a deep breath and began to rest.

At the same time, a line of small text flashed before his eyes.

Skill 'Blood Nourishing Stance' proficiency +1

As the sun set beyond the western hills, another day of cultivation came to an end.

Gu Yang withdrew his stance and inhaled. This time, instead of slowly following the crowd, he headed swiftly toward the main gate.

Leaving the Martial Academy and meeting up with Gu Dashan, Gu Yang immediately asked, "Dad, did you find a house? Where is it?"

"I found one. Your mother took Yingying over to clean it up already. We can eat as soon as we get back."

"What about the Liu Brothers? Did the authorities issue a notice?" Gu Yang asked again.

"They did." Gu Dashan's face was still bruised, but it was full of smiles. "Liu Eldest Brother and the second brother were sentenced to five years. Liu Third Brother, as the ringleader, was sentenced to ten years."

"Hmph, that's too light!" Gu Yang snorted coldly and did not mention the matter again.

The matter had passed. They needed to look toward the future.

He followed Gu Dashan northwest, and the farther they walked, the more dilapidated their surroundings became.

From the bustling city center all the way to the northwest corner of the city, what entered Gu Yang's sight was a shabby shantytown. Their new home was here.

However, Gu Dashan did not take Gu Yang straight home. Instead, he first brought him to the Ward Office to register their information.

Wan City was divided into a total of Sixteen Wards, each with its own corresponding administrators. The Gu Family's new residence was in Nine Bends Ward, one of the Sixteen Wards.

The Ward Office of Nine Bends Ward was a run-down two-courtyard compound. The person in charge was an old man whose beard had turned completely white.

When the old man saw Gu Dashan enter the Ward Office with Gu Yang, who wore a grayish-white martial uniform, he immediately smiled. "Dashan, is this your second son who trains at the Martial Academy?"

"Yes, Uncle Wei. This is my son, Gu Yang." Gu Dashan replied with a smile.

He had already brought Gu Mother and the other two here earlier that day, so Old Wei had remembered Gu Dashan's face.

There was no other reason for it. It was simply because Gu Dashan had a son attending the Martial Academy.

In all these years, this was the first time he had seen someone persist in sending a child with poor talent to the Martial Academy even while the family itself struggled to survive.

After all, sending a child to the Martial Academy not only meant losing a pair of hands for work at home, but also required spending a large sum of silver to support them. Yet even so, once the three months were up, the child would most likely have to return home.

Anyone could do the math. Gu Dashan's decision truly left Old Wei astonished.

After confirming that Gu Yang's information was correct, Old Wei pulled out the Household Register and carefully wrote Gu Yang's name after the names of the other Gu Family members on the final page. He also noted his identity as a Martial Academy disciple.

So I'm a city resident now... As he watched Old Wei register his information, Gu Yang sighed inwardly while also trying hard to memorize the strokes the old man wrote.

"Gu... Yang... So this is how my name is written..."

As he memorized it, he lightly traced the characters with his finger, practicing as he learned.

No matter what achievements he attained in martial arts in the future, Gu Yang did not want to be illiterate.

Even if he could not speak in polished phrases the moment he opened his mouth, he still needed to recognize all the common characters used in daily life, and be able to read and write without obstruction. At the very least, that would ensure he could understand martial manuals in the future.

All beginnings were difficult. Today, he had finally learned how to write his own name...

After leaving the Ward Office of Nine Bends Ward, Gu Dashan led Gu Yang toward home.

After turning through several alleys and carefully avoiding the excrement nearby households had dumped by the roadside, the two finally reached their new home in the city: a run-down little courtyard.

The courtyard had only one entrance. Aside from the mud-brick house directly facing the gate, there was a small earthen house built from yellow mud on each side of the yard.

The earthen houses were not large, only ten feet square.

Perhaps hearing the two return, the half-closed door of the earthen house on the right side of the gate was suddenly pulled open. A round little head poked out—it was their youngest sister, Gu Yingying.

"Mom, Dad and Second Brother are back!" The little girl cried excitedly, hurriedly running out of the room and throwing herself at Gu Yang.

At that moment, hearing Gu Yingying's words, the dust-covered Gu Mother also poked her head outside.

"You two wait outside for a while first. The house still isn't cleaned up. Who knows how long no one has lived here? The dust is half a foot thick. If it weren't cheap, I wouldn't have rented it."

After muttering a few complaints to Gu Dashan, Gu Mother ducked back inside and continued working.

Seeing this, Gu Yingying, in Gu Yang's arms, immediately struggled to get down and called out, "Mom, Yingying will help you."

"Mom, I'll help too." Smiling, Gu Yang set Gu Yingying down and followed behind the little girl as they entered together.

With the whole family working together, the entire house was thoroughly cleaned in less than half an hour. The price was that every member of the family ended up looking gray-faced and filthy.

Once the house was cleaned, Gu Dashan and Gu Mother briefly wiped themselves down before starting a fire to cook.

Gu Yang, however, was in no hurry to wash off the dust. Instead, his childish side rose up, and he began playing around in the courtyard with Gu Yingying.

Yesterday's fright had passed, and today Gu Yingying had returned to being cheerful.

After they finished playing, Gu Yang carefully washed Gu Yingying's face along with his own, and the family began eating their first meal after moving into their new home.

Sure enough, Gu Dashan had not bought meat today. On the old wooden table missing one leg were only a bowl of dried vegetables, some pickled vegetables, and a pot of thin porridge.

Eating the half jin of cooked Black Tiger Meat by himself, Gu Yang's good mood instantly vanished. The chewy Black Tiger Meat tasted like wax in his mouth.

The others, on the other hand, ate the vegetables with great relish. Especially the bowl of dried vegetables, which had been cooked together with the Black Tiger Meat and carried a slight bit of oil. As Gu Yingying took big mouthfuls, she said, "It's so good! I want to eat it again tomorrow."

His body grew hotter and hotter, while a stifling frustration rose in his heart, demanding to be released.

Like swallowing dates whole, Gu Yang shoved the entire bowl of Black Tiger Meat into his stomach. He set down his bowl, said, "I'm going to train," and then walked out of the room.