"Teach me some real skills?"
Hu Ma was a little surprised, but straightened up at once.
Amid all the unease and uncertainty about fate, nothing could have appealed to him more.
"The youngsters in our stockade follow me, Second Master, to learn how to Worship Taisui... Put plainly, they come to have their flesh cut."
Second Master sighed and spoke unhurriedly. "But the truth is, my skills have their own rules and lineage. They can teach someone to Ignite the Furnace and keep Evil Spirits from invading their body, and they also include ways to repel evil and overcome enemies."
"And the most important part of these skills is teaching you how to draw the fire inside your body out..."
"...How much of the routine I had Zhou Datong teach you have you learned?"
"..."
"The routine?"
Hu Ma thought carefully for a moment, then said, "I studied it seriously. I've memorized every move."
"Do you think I can't tell whether you've studied seriously?"
Second Master recalled how lazy and sly Hu Ma usually was. He furrowed his brow and said, "Show me the whole routine."
"All right."
Hu Ma immediately stood up and performed the routine in front of Second Master.
His movements were rounded and precise, his steps strong. Every move was indeed practiced to perfection.
"Huh?"
Second Master was astonished. "You really haven't been slacking off?"
How could he have known that Hu Ma had only been avoiding things like running through the mountains, fighting, and lifting stone weights because he didn't want to waste the furnace fire? Those activities trained the body, but they also burned off excess energy.
Still, Hu Ma understood the importance of staying alive. He took cultivation and the old fighting routines seriously, watched others practice closely, and ran through the movements in his mind countless times. Whenever he had a spare moment, he would slowly practice the steps himself.
To anyone watching, his unhurried pace looked like slacking off. But slowing down made it easier to master the finer points of the routine.
After all, in his previous life, he had at least led square-dance groups. He had a little athletic talent.
"Clever kids really are different from the stupid ones..."
Second Master shook his head helplessly, then said with regret, "Too bad you couldn't be a little more diligent."
You're thinking of Zhou Datong. I'm different...
Hu Ma kept the thought to himself and let Second Master continue.
"Have you ever thought this routine was strange? The fists and feet don't look like fists and feet, and the saber moves don't look like saber moves?"
Second Master cleared his throat and spoke earnestly. "This routine is actually another way of cultivating."
"When you cultivate normally, you draw fire into the furnace. That's internal cultivation."
"But this old fighting routine is for external cultivation. It draws the fire from your furnace and uses it to strike down Evil Spirits."
"Of course, I only teach you what I know."
"Those young people in our stockade will never need to cultivate externally in their whole lives. Even their furnace fire will go to waste once they marry and have children. So I let them practice for fun. I don't need to teach them the real thing."
"..."
So that was why...
Only then did Hu Ma understand why Second Master taught the routine but never showed them how to use it against an enemy.
When he taught them to fight, he simply had them brawl. After enough fighting, they would learn.
"In the early stages of Igniting the Furnace, the only goal is to make the fire burn as hot as possible. You absolutely can't draw it out..."
Second Master continued, "That's why I usually teach this routine only once someone has reached the right level. But ordinary youngsters don't have much talent or enough blood food. They could practice for three to five years and still not reach that point."
"They'd ruin themselves as soon as they started. Even people of your generation, with good food and Tai Sui Meat every day, couldn't reach that level in less than a year or two."
"As for you..."
"..."
Second Master suddenly seemed at a loss for words again.
He'd planned from the start to teach Hu Ma the real routine. After all, who else had the means to eat Green Ganoderma every day?
He'd figured he'd test Hu Ma after about a month. If Hu Ma had reached the right level, he'd teach him.
But who could have guessed that in barely ten days, Hu Ma had not only reached the right level, but...
...Second Master felt deflated all over again.
"Anyway, your fire has reached the right level now."
Trying to salvage a little of his dignity, Second Master pulled himself together and said, "So now it's time to teach you the real routine..."
As he spoke, he stood and demonstrated, stepping forward and drawing back his fist.
"Look at the first move. Your hands are loosely clenched as you step forward and punch. It's actually meant to imitate gripping a saber in both hands. Of course, you can clench them into fists, too. That's not important. What matters is your posture."
"When you drive your fist forward like this, exhale with a shout, and raise the fire in your furnace, you can reverse the talismanic method and draw a surge of fire out of the furnace, sending it flying with your punch."
"Without this cultivation method, your punch is just brute force."
"But with it, your strength increases, and you also stir the fire in your furnace."
"Whether it's an Evil Spirit or a ghost-burdened person, anyone struck by this won't escape without injury, if they survive at all..."
"You knocked Cui Xie'er unconscious with one punch because you accidentally stirred the fire in your furnace. Normally, it takes painstaking practice to make a punch draw out the furnace fire. But you... sigh. Your fire was so strong that it came flying out with your fist before you knew it."
"..."
"So that's how it works?"
Hu Ma listened, his excitement growing.
That was right. This world was full of Evil Spirits, and people couldn't rely only on Igniting the Furnace and defending themselves passively.
They needed ways to strike back, too.
Seeing Hu Ma's eyes shine with delight, Second Master immediately grew rather pleased with himself.
So the kid wasn't completely unwilling to put in the work...
He'd been clever when learning to read and write. And now, learning the real routine, the eager anticipation on his face was obviously genuine.
So the kid just didn't want to waste effort on pointless exertion?
But basic training mattered, too. The more effort you put in, the hotter the furnace burned...
...No!
The thought had barely crossed Second Master's mind when he remembered Hu Ma's blazing furnace, and his spirits sank again.
"The punch I just showed you is called Mountain Cleaving."
He pushed aside his thoughts and continued with a reverent air, much like the Master Craftsman who had taught him long ago.
"Use your fist, and it's called Mountain Splitting Fist. Use a saber, and it's called Mountain Cleaving Saber."
"The second move follows the same principle, but uses a different method of cultivation. It goes from left to right, and it's called Block and Strike."
"The third move turns around and strikes upward from below. It's called... Monkey's Hard Peach Pluck!"
"..."
Hu Ma was listening with complete seriousness when he couldn't help letting out a snort of laughter.
Plucking a peach was one thing, but why did it have to be hard?
Second Master's face reddened slightly. He stopped demonstrating and said, "That's just what it's called. The Master Craftsman I met taught it to me by that name, too. Don't look down on our names just because they sound silly. These are real skills, every one of them."
"Mountain Cleaving, Block and Strike, and then that hard peach pluck—plus the True Yang Arrow I told you about earlier. Those are what I've relied on to make my way in the world..."
"Mm-hmm!"
Hu Ma composed himself and continued gazing at Second Master with admiration. "What else?"
"That's all."
Second Master slowly finished his demonstration and stood with his hands behind his back. "That's all the Master Craftsman taught me back then."
Hu Ma looked surprised. "Judging by how this routine is practiced, there should be quite a few more moves, shouldn't there?"
"Are there?"
Second Master's cheeks reddened slightly. Luckily, the room was dim and his face was dark, so it didn't show. He insisted, "Anyway, that's all I learned."
He absolutely couldn't admit that his master had thought him too stupid and only taught him those three moves.
"That's plenty."
Hu Ma immediately changed his tune. "One move can take you all over the world. We've got three. Isn't that enough?"
He stood up, excitement plain on his face. "Teach me!"
"So you're an impatient one, after all..."
Hu Ma's line about one move taking you all over the world had put Second Master in an excellent mood. He cheerfully kicked aside the little stool and said,
"Come on!"
"..."
At first, Second Master had only meant to tell Hu Ma he'd reached the right level and that he was ready to teach him. There was no need to start in the middle of the night. But now that both the old man and the young one were eager, they really did begin studying beneath the oil lamp.
Second Master patiently explained every detail, step by step: how to throw a punch and cultivate, how to give the move its full force when using a fist, and what to pay attention to when using a saber.
One taught and the other learned, and before they knew it, the sky had turned the pale white of a fish's belly.
Hu Ma had already committed all the finer points Second Master had taught him to memory. All that remained was to study and practice them himself.
Second Master was still reluctant to stop. Only when he truly had nothing more to say did he finally let Hu Ma go back.
"My body is cold, but I've eaten so much Blood Ganoderma that my fire is stronger than other people's."
Back in bed, Hu Ma continued thinking quietly. "Once I've mastered the routine Second Master taught me, won't I be able to help Old Woman?"
He understood that Old Woman was only trying to save her grandson. If she learned his true identity, she might not only stop giving him Tai Sui—she might even turn against him.
But when he thought of the elderly woman, still working hard every day to gather Tai Sui for him in the depths of Old Yin Mountain, he felt uneasy. He was enjoying all these benefits while wearing her grandson's identity, and he couldn't bring himself to feel entirely at ease.
Besides, helping Old Woman was the same as helping himself, wasn't it?
Meanwhile, in Old Yin Mountain, beneath a great tree, Xiao Hong Tang trembled as she told Old Woman what trouble she had caused.
Old Woman sat before the bonfire, her expression shifting between light and shadow.
After hearing that Hu Ma had struck and injured the Cui Family boy because he'd disrespected her, she remained silent for a long time. At last, she sighed, patted Xiao Hong Tang on the head, and murmured,
"He'd always been so careful before. Now he's done something so reckless. That shows he's learned to care about his granny..."
Before you continue