On the way home, Cui Hao glanced around and saw refugees from Xitang County in every corner of the street.
Xitang County lay along the western border of the Da'an Dynasty. Its people were rugged, and many practiced martial arts. Wary of provoking an expert, Cui Hao quickened his pace and soon reached home.
"Brother Hao," Su Yun said, bracing the courtyard gate shut with practiced ease. "Are you tired?"
"I'm all right. Have you eaten?"
"I had a piece of flatbread..." As his wife, Su Yun could tell his tone was a little different from usual. "Did something happen?"
They went together into the main room. Needlework lay on the table. Sitting down on the bench, Cui Hao told her what had happened with Xiao Li and Li He.
"Brother Hao..." Su Yun hugged his arm. "Maybe you're not as talented as some people, but in my heart, you're a great man who stands tall between heaven and earth. You're my hero, the pillar of this family. No one can compare to you."
Cui Hao gently lifted Su Yun's hand and looked at it. She no longer went out to work. She stayed home each day, cleaning, cooking, and mending clothes, and sometimes went out to gather firewood. Her hands were covered in calluses, with a few tiny cracks in the skin.
"Sister Yun," Cui Hao promised her—and set himself a goal, too—"I'll pass the Martial Xiucai examination and make you the wife of a Xiucai!"
Su Yun threw herself into Cui Hao's arms. In the bitter cold of early winter, she nestled against her husband, warmth spreading through her whole body.
"Bang!"
Someone kicked the little courtyard's wooden gate hard from outside. Su Yun's heart lurched, and her body stiffened.
Cui Hao picked up the hatchet leaning against the wall and went into the yard.
Bang! The person outside kicked the gate again. "Open up! Open up at once! The authorities are investigating a case!"
Cui Hao tossed the hatchet beside the courtyard wall and went to open the gate.
Three constables in dark red uniforms stood outside. The one in front held a small book and stared at Cui Hao. "Are you Cui Bao?"
"Cui Bao is my father."
"Where is he?"
"He went into the mountains to hunt more than half a year ago and never came back. He's probably dead."
The constable understood. To collect more taxes, the clerks in charge of household registration had deliberately left the deceased on the rolls. "Tell me, did you hear anything last night?"
"Sir, I didn't."
The lead constable raised his voice, throwing his weight around. "Think carefully!"
Cui Hao pretended to think for a couple of breaths, then shook his head. "I didn't."
The three men turned and knocked on the neighboring gate.
Cui Hao shut the gate, wedged it with a sturdy wooden pole, picked up the hatchet he had tossed aside, and returned to the main room. "They're investigating a case. Don't worry about them."
Su Yun nodded gently. People were always knocking, kicking, and banging on the gate. They frightened her so badly that she kept it shut even during the day, living in constant anxiety.
Su Yun brought over the food she had kept warm in the pot and said tactfully, "Brother Hao, Lingdang came by with wild greens at noon. I brought up the idea of you taking a concubine, and I think she's willing."
With the pressure of breaking through weighing on him, and people in the village always looking for trouble, Cui Hao had no interest in taking a concubine. His voice turned a little irritable. "Don't bring that up again."
Hearing how distracted and troubled her husband was, Su Yun stopped at once. She brought hot water to wash his feet, carefully cleaning between every toe.
Realizing he had snapped at Su Yun, Cui Hao set down his chopsticks and reached out with both hands to lift her bowed head. He saw that she was already in tears. "Sister Yun, I just want us to live our lives together in peace."
Su Yun didn't dare look at him. She turned her gaze aside and said, "People in the village gossip, saying I can't bear children. They even say the Cui family will end with me."
"Who said that?!"
Of the three unfilial acts, having no descendants was the greatest. Saying "the Cui family will end with me" was a grave accusation. Cui Hao slapped the table. "I'll tear their mouths apart!"
Her husband's defense warmed Su Yun's heart. "They're just idle gossips. There's no need to stoop to their level."
Nothing mattered more than the breakthrough looming over them. After dinner, beneath the covers, Cui Hao and Su Yun shared a warm, bashful intimacy.
The result was good: his allocatable progress points increased by nine.
The next day, just as the sun peeked over the horizon, Cui Hao stepped outside and ran into Lin Da, who was blowing on his hands and stamping his feet by the gate.
"Brother Hao," Lin Da said cheerfully. "Let's go to the martial arts school together."
Seeing the innocent smile on Lin Da's face, Cui Hao felt as if he had returned to childhood, walking to school alongside his friends. He smiled and agreed. "Let's go."
"Brother Hao, constables came knocking last night and asked my father a lot of questions about Zhou Mengyue's death. My father didn't know a thing."
"They came to my house, too. They questioned everyone in the village."
"My father said the Zhou family has two other brothers. If they come back, the constables will probably come asking again."
The four Zhou brothers—Dragon, Tiger, Dragon, and Leap.
Tiger and Leap were dead. That left Dragon and Dragon. Cui Hao hoped the other two were good people... But the odds were too low. That made him even more eager to break through.
At the martial arts school, he changed into his training clothes and quietly went to a corner of the courtyard to warm up. He practiced the plum-blossom stance and drilled his moves, building and tempering his qi and blood through these basic methods.
Once the sky was bright, Liu Yan came over. "Junior Brother Cui, remember the method for the stance and footwork."
"Yes," Cui Hao replied respectfully. "Please teach me, Sister Liu."
"The stance is the body at rest; the steps put it into motion. Without a stance, the steps are unsteady; without steps, the stance is rigid. A student must constantly reflect on this to unite movement and stillness and attain clarity in their body... Persevere, and you'll glimpse the vast world in the smallest details. Only then can you see it through to the end."
Cui Hao cupped his fists. "Thank you for passing on the teachings, Sister Liu. I'll remember them."
Thinking well of him, Liu Yan added, "You can think of stance training as saving money and footwork as spending it. Only by saving a little every day can you draw on it freely in a fight."
"That's all for now. Train hard. Once you reach the Mortal Martial Realm, I'll teach you the complete fist and footwork techniques."
Cui Hao cupped his fists again.
Liu Yan turned and left. She had troubles of her own, and her brow was furrowed with worry.
Cui Hao warmed up by practicing the Broken Fist three times, then swung the stone staff three times to loosen his muscles, and finally went to the stance to practice the footwork.
Before he knew it, another two weeks had passed. Only seven days remained before the breakthrough deadline, yet Cui Hao still hadn't reached the threshold of the Mortal Martial Realm.
Meanwhile, Xiao Li, who had started at about the same time as him, had already reached minor mastery in the Mortal Martial Realm.
He took a moment to glance at the panel.
[Broken Fist (Incomplete): Beginner (275/300)] [Effect: Physique +5, Resistance to Blows +5]
The footwork didn't have its own panel; its progress was added to the Broken Fist. Judging from the other senior brothers and sisters' daily training, Cui Hao guessed that the Broken Fist and stance training had originally been one whole.
He planned to max out the Broken Fist that night. He had a feeling there would be a surprise.
"Senior Brother Cui," Wang Nian said quietly while doing odd jobs and wiping the floor. "I'm using Qi and Blood Powder tonight."
Cui Hao offered no opinion. Using Qi and Blood Powder meant giving up on reaching Clear Force.
If he didn't have his golden finger, Cui Hao would use Qi and Blood Powder, too.
There were two reasons. First, the martial arts school taught according to a student's progress. Without reaching the Mortal Martial Realm, he couldn't learn anything truly useful.
Second, practicing martial arts cost a great deal. He might as well invest a little more in Qi and Blood Powder, find a way to enter the Mortal Martial Realm, and then at least get a job guarding a household.
After finishing his chores in the dark, he parted from his fellow disciples and hurried back to the village. From far off, he saw someone standing by his front gate.
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