It was forbidden to drink while on duty at the Criminal Defense Division.
"That Hou Wuchun fellow is a big, burly guy. Just look at him—he must eat a lot. Young Master Chu Ming, eat faster. In a bit, I'll teach you the Tiger Python Force. I guarantee you'll be able to eat another bowl of rice tonight."
Half an incense stick later.
"Brother Chu, why aren't you done eating yet?"
Hou Wuchun, who had already rested his stomach, sat on a rock and watched Chu Ming calmly fill his third bowl of rice.
"I'm hungry." Chu Ming pressed down the food in his bowl, then went to eat beside them.
"Ha ha, good! That's how you should eat." Shao Pengshu picked up some firewood and gestured toward the iron pot. "Heat some more?"
"Sure."
"...You're really eating more?" Shao Pengshu's expression shifted. He'd only been joking. There was enough left in the pot for one more bowl.
Could this frail young master really eat four bowls?
Chu Ming looked up at Shao Pengshu and Tan Hong. "If the two Constables aren't eating anymore, you can heat up less."
"...Tan Hong, heat up some more."
A little while later.
"Brother Chu, my mother's cooking is delicious, but you can't just keep eating."
Hou Wuchun was starting to get anxious, because Chu Ming was on his sixth bowl.
"Young Master Chu Ming, I was just talking nonsense. You don't have to eat a lot to be a man..."
Shao Pengshu held his cold, empty bowl, his eyes fixed on Chu Ming and unable to look away.
For some reason, even though he was already full, watching Chu Ming eat one bite after another, slow and steady, made him feel hungry again.
He couldn't understand how that little body could put away a sixth bowl... no, a seventh.
Tan Hong stared at the iron pot, scraped clean, and regretted reheating the food. "Young Master Chu Ming... You can leave some if you can't finish it."
"Young Master Chu Ming, you're not planning to keep eating just to put off practicing the Tiger Python Force, are you?"
Shao Pengshu's mind turned. His years of casework at the Criminal Defense Division helped him spot the key point.
"..." Chu Ming said nothing and continued eating.
Seven bowls wasn't that much, since the bowl Shao Pengshu had given him was tiny—only half the size of the ones Xiao Shan prepared. Even after seven bowls, he was barely full.
As for practicing the Tiger Python Force, he truly had no intention of doing so.
Hou Wuchun sat on the boulder. At the mention of the Tiger Python Force, his eyes suddenly shifted, and he trotted over to Shao Pengshu. "Lord Shao, how about giving me some pointers?"
"You?" Shao Pengshu's eyes flashed. "Come on, show me what you've got."
Giving pointers to Hou Wuchun in front of the young master—wasn't that the perfect way to teach?
Overjoyed, Hou Wuchun stepped back several paces and moved to an open space. He took his stance and began performing the movements.
"Good. Your horse stance is solid. You must practice a lot. Keep going," Shao Pengshu praised.
"The second and third movements are good, too. It's just... your force is too weak."
He stepped beside Hou Wuchun and lowered into a horse stance. "Watch closely. You should exert your strength like this."
But Hou Wuchun acted as if he hadn't heard him, continuing his own movements.
Chu Ming looked up. His hand paused as he scooped rice, and a strange expression flickered across his brow.
Hou Wuchun was practicing the Tiger Python Force, but it wasn't quite the same.
That set of Tiger Python Force movements was what Hou Wuchun had bought with silver a few days ago.
"Kid, your later movements are seriously off... Hm?"
Shao Pengshu was about to correct Hou Wuchun's form, but when he saw the more fluid movements that followed, it was as if lightning had struck his mind.
That fluidity... why did it seem even more refined than the Tiger Python Force?
This kid, Hou Wuchun...
"Lord Shao, Hou Wuchun's Tiger Python Force..."
Tan Hong looked shocked, too. He had also noticed that the Tiger Python Force Hou Wuchun was practicing was unusual.
"Let's watch first."
Shao Pengshu stopped holding his horse stance and simply watched in silence.
The farther Hou Wuchun went, the stiffer his movements became, but the more shocked Tan Hong and Shao Pengshu looked.
The two even began copying the movements, as though they were starting to grasp something.
Since Hou Wuchun moved slowly, the two grew anxious, yet could only move more and more slowly themselves.
Chu Ming ate while watching the three men standing in a line.
Mm, quite harmonious. They looked just like three old men practicing tai chi in a park in his previous life.
A little while later, Shao Pengshu and Tan Hong were watching so intently that when Hou Wuchun swung his leg, then suddenly stopped, they were startled.
"Keep going! Why'd you stop?" Shao Pengshu urged him.
Hou Wuchun glanced at the two men, then at Chu Ming, and slowly turned red. "I haven't memorized the rest yet..."
"You haven't memorized it?"
Shao Pengshu immediately felt miserable. He'd gained a great deal from these movements. He felt that if he kept watching, he might even find answers to many of his questions about the Body Forging Technique.
Getting stuck here was like drinking halfway through a bottle and running out of wine; eating a few bites and running out of food;
or listening to music at a brothel when it suddenly stopped.
"Mm, Lords, wait a moment. I'll go look."
Hou Wuchun ran to the carriage behind them and rummaged through it, pulling out a blue-covered booklet. Its cover looked new, as if it had only recently been bound.
He held the booklet carefully and opened it with great reverence.
Shao Pengshu and Tan Hong crowded around, watching eagerly.
The booklet opened to reveal just three thin pages.
Three pages?!
"Why are there only three pages?!"
Shao Pengshu and Tan Hong stared wide-eyed. The breath they'd been holding sank away in an instant.
Three pages, and you bound it into a booklet?!
No, how could a technique more advanced than the Tiger Python Force be only three pages long?!
Hou Wuchun scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly. "It was only one page at first. I was afraid I'd lose it, so I copied it onto three pages."
Well, three pages was still something.
Shao Pengshu's eyes lit up as he stared at the booklet. "Let me see."
"That won't do. I took a beating for this... No, I spent two..." Hou Wuchun's eyes shifted. "Twenty taels of silver to buy it."
"Twenty taels?" The two Constables' expressions changed.
"Too expensive?" Hou Wuchun tucked the booklet behind his back. "Fifteen taels would work, too."
Expensive?
Shao Pengshu and Tan Hong exchanged a glance.
A technique more advanced than the Tiger Python Force, no matter how few movements it had, was worth far more than twenty taels of silver.
Shao Pengshu reached into his robes and took out ten broken silver pieces. "Kid, this is all I have. Take it if you want, and let me see the technique. If you think it's too little... heh, just wait until we get to the Criminal Defense Division..."
"Deal!" Hou Wuchun handed him the booklet at once and stuffed the ten taels of silver into his pocket.
"You've got some sense, kid."
"Thank you for the praise, Lord Shao." Hou Wuchun turned and ran to the carriage, then pulled out another similar booklet.
Shao Pengshu and Tan Hong stared at him, then paused. "What are you holding?"
"A technique."
"The same one?"
"Of course it's the same. If you don't believe me, take a look for yourselves, Lords." Hou Wuchun obediently opened it and added,
"I was afraid I'd lose it, so I had several copies bound. If you need another, the second one is still ten taels."
"..."
The two drew in a shallow breath and began reading the technique.
There were only three pages, so it didn't take long—less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
After reading it, Shao Pengshu and Tan Hong performed the movements.
"Lord Shao, I can feel the blood and qi in my bloodline growing stronger. It's subtle, but if we could get more..." Tan Hong said excitedly.
Shao Pengshu's eyes flickered, and he, too, could barely contain his excitement.
It was far too little—not enough!
His expression turned solemn as he looked at Hou Wuchun, who was practicing the movements. "Kid, which master taught you this technique? Could you copy some more of it?"
A master?
Hou Wuchun looked toward the carriage in front. Chu Ming had finished eating and was sitting inside, reading.
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