The Lin Family courtyard.
Lin Yan and his aunt had only just returned when Xiao Cui arrived at their door.
"Miss Xiao Cui, please come in."
Liu hurriedly welcomed her inside, and Lin Yan poured her some tea. His little brother had gone out to run wild early that morning.
Children that age were such a nuisance that even sows found them tiresome. There was no keeping them at home.
Xiao Cui took a sip of tea and thanked them, then said with a smile, "When the master heard that young Master Lin had started practicing martial arts, he asked me to bring a monetary gift, to wish you an auspicious start."
Looking at the silver-filled envelope Xiao Cui produced, Liu hastily waved her hands. "Oh, we couldn't possibly."
"This is a token of the master and mistress's goodwill. If Madam Lin and the young master refuse it, I won't be able to account for myself when I return."
Seeing how firm Xiao Cui was, Liu stopped refusing, but instead of reaching for the envelope, she looked at Lin Yan. "Yan'er, you must remember this kindness from your fourth aunt."
"I'll keep it firmly in my heart and work hard at martial arts. I won't disappoint Fourth Aunt's expectations."
Lin Yan answered earnestly, though inwardly he was somewhat surprised. Given how distant their relationship with this cousin of his father's was, helping him find a Stance Technique had already been a considerable favor. Yet she had even sent twenty taels of silver.
That was the sort of treatment reserved for a true nephew.
Unable to make sense of it, Lin Yan stopped dwelling on the matter. Whatever had prompted his aunt to send these twenty taels, it was indeed a great kindness to him.
He accepted the envelope from Xiao Cui and solemnly tucked it into his robes.
"I won't disturb you any longer, then. The mistress is waiting for me to report back."
After offering a few more auspicious wishes, Xiao Cui took her leave. Liu saw her to the courtyard gate and wanted to accompany her farther, but Xiao Cui stopped her and would not allow it.
"Madam Lin, I'm only a servant. If you see me all the way to the entrance of the lane, the mistress will punish me when she finds out."
Only then did Liu stop. Standing beside her, Lin Yan watched Xiao Cui leave and could not help marveling at how capable his aunt was. Her handling of people was so watertight that not a drop could escape; even her maid had been trained to be this clever.
"Yan'er, I'm going out for a while to deliver the clothes to my employer."
After seeing Xiao Cui off, Liu went inside, collected the mended clothes, and left as well.
With nobody else at home, Lin Yan did not idle around. He began reading Rock Stance.
Rock Stance was not complicated. It consisted of four standing postures, each illustrated in detail in the book.
There was also a set of instructions for breathing and drawing in and expelling air.
According to the author, this breathing method was the true foundation of Rock Stance.
Train the stance but not the breath, and all your efforts would come to nothing.
After memorizing the postures, Lin Yan began trying them. They were not particularly difficult; after a dozen or so attempts, he had learned them.
But once he started breathing as the book instructed, his chest tightened after only a few breaths, and he could not sustain the next one. At the same time, his standing posture suddenly reached its limit. Unable to hold it any longer, he staggered several steps backward.
Lin Yan was not discouraged. If learning martial arts were easy, martial artists would not be able to leap across the divide between social classes.
He kept trying. Once, twice, three times...
Even after dozens of attempts, he still could not complete a full breathing cycle.
By then, his body was aching and drained of strength.
Was I breathing incorrectly, or was I too confident? Even if Guard Zhou mocked me, I should have thickened my skin and asked him to demonstrate it on the spot.
Lin Yan gave a bitter smile and committed this lesson to memory.
His skin still was not thick enough. He needed to work on that.
After a brief rest, he resumed practicing.
Half an hour passed, then an hour.
At the end of another breathing attempt, Lin Yan suddenly shuddered. Seemingly noticing something, he hurriedly turned his awareness toward the strange tree in his mind.
A tiny yellow-green bud was slowly emerging midway along a green branch on the left.
Within his awareness, the tip gradually unfurled into a half-curled leaf about the size of a fingernail—the beginnings of a tender leaf.
At the same time, more information about the Martial Dao Tree appeared in his mind.
Practice martial arts a hundred times, and their meaning would reveal itself!
Lin Yan's eyes lit up. So long as he practiced any technique a hundred times, he could use the bud produced by the Martial Dao Tree to reach the beginner stage.
At a thought from Lin Yan, the tender leaf trembled. An indescribable coolness seemed to flow down from the Niwan Palace between his brows, instantly suffusing his limbs and bones and reaching deep into his consciousness.
Something seemed to "brighten" before him. It was not literal sight; rather, within his mind, he clearly "saw" his earlier posture and breathing, and even the almost imperceptible movement of blood and vital energy inside him.
Every tiny error, every mismatch between breath and posture, every rigid or slack muscle, tendon, and bone became as clear as stones beneath the water, illuminated by that cool current.
Almost instinctively, he assumed Rock Stance's opening posture again.
This time, the angle at which he lowered his waist and hips was noticeably more natural. His back was relaxed without sagging, and his shoulders and elbows moved with a greater sense of rounded harmony.
Most importantly, guided by that cool current, he smoothly completed an entire breathing cycle without even realizing it!
Lin Yan's heart jolted, but he dared not entertain a single distracting thought for fear of breaking this wondrous state. Following the cool current's guidance, he practiced again and again.
Before he knew it, dozens of cycles had passed.
Hunger and exhaustion slowly pulled Lin Yan out of that absorbed state in which both self and surroundings had vanished. As he finished and straightened up, his whole body felt pleasantly warm, and an exceedingly faint trace of heat seemed to settle in his lower dantian.
He had reached the beginner stage of Rock Stance!
And his stomach was utterly empty.
Dragging his hungry body toward the stove inside, Lin Yan's eyes shone.
His Martial Dao Tree truly was miraculous. It could actually guide him to the beginner stage of a martial technique.
His cheat had finally started giving him a little advantage.
After a bowl of rice mixed with lard, his stomach was half full. His aunt's voice came from outside.
"Yan'er, come help me."
Lin Yan hurriedly set down his bowl and went to the courtyard gate. A handcart stood outside with two sacks on it.
The man pulling it was an assistant from a grain shop in town. While his aunt paid him, Lin Yan helped carry the sacks into the house.
"I heard that you need to eat well when practicing martial arts. Otherwise, your blood and vital energy won't keep up, and you'll wear your body down instead. These two sacks are polished rice. That's what martial artists' households eat."
His aunt Liu also carried a bag of pork offal. With the Lin Family's means, they could not afford meat at every meal, but they could still buy some cheap offal.
That evening, Liu had just finished cooking when Lin Mo returned.
"It smells so good! Mom, did you buy meat today?"
Smelling the meat, Lin Mo reached for a piece on the plate.
Smack!
Liu brought her chopsticks down on his hand. Lin Mo pulled back in pain and looked at his mother with an aggrieved expression.
"This is for your older brother's martial arts training."
"Aunt, it's fine if he has some. I can't finish it all anyway." Seeing his little brother staring longingly at the pork offal, Lin Yan spoke with a smile.
"No."
Liu remained firm. "Yan'er, our family can only afford to support one person learning martial arts. If two people share this, you won't get enough nourishment for your blood and vital energy, while Mo'er will only be satisfying a craving. If you care about him, work hard and make something of your training. Then you can look after him in the future."
Liu knew little of lofty principles, but she acted decisively.
An ordinary woman would never have borne to close her shop, much less undertake something as momentous as moving house. Yet she had done both, simply because she was certain it would be better for the two children's growth.
Now that Yan'er wanted to learn martial arts, the same principle applied. The family only had so much money, so every coin had to go toward his training.
"Brother, Mom's right. You need to eat more to practice martial arts. Once you get good, just help me beat up Wang Dachui."
Lin Yan looked at his aunt's resolute expression, then at his little brother. At last, he reached out and ruffled the boy's hair. "Aunt, I'll remember that."
"That's more like it." Liu smiled again, then warned Lin Mo, "Mo'er, don't tell anyone outside that your brother is practicing martial arts."
After dinner.
With his strength restored, Lin Yan resumed practicing his stance in the courtyard.
Lin Mo watched curiously from the side and copied him. Lin Yan did not stop him.
Without the breathing method, knowing the standing postures alone was useless.
Because of Guard Zhou's warning, he dared not teach his little brother the breathing method. Still, he made up his mind that once he achieved something, he would find a martial technique for the boy.
Over the next few days, Lin Yan stayed home and devoted himself to training.
Though there was little change in his physique or strength, he was not discouraged at all, because the tender leaf in his mind was steadily growing.
Its growth was slow, but it was unmistakably growing.
According to the information about the Martial Dao Tree that had appeared in his mind, this bud corresponded to the Rock Stance he was practicing. When it grew into a full leaf, he would have mastered Rock Stance.
Aside from training, he also pondered many things over those days.
Chief among them was recalling the martial arts novels he had read in his previous life.
No matter how different those novels were from the world he now inhabited, some principles were universal and worth drawing upon.
The lime-throwing Martial Saint, the cautious Martial Saint, the Martial Saint others imagined into greatness...
After several days, he combined those ideas with this world's circumstances and settled on several rules of conduct for himself.
Bang, bang, bang!
"Brother Lin, are you home?"
Hearing the familiar voice outside, Lin Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression turning cold. By the time he opened the door, however, his face was natural again.
"Brother Zhang, what brings you here?"
Seeing Zhang Dahai standing at the door with a food carrier, Lin Yan looked surprised, though inwardly he felt not the slightest ripple.
Since Zhang Dahai had laid a trap for him, he certainly knew where he lived. He had probably been watching outside for some time, only knocking after confirming that his aunt had gone to deliver clothes to her employer.
"Brother Lin, you haven't come to collect your medicinal decoction for two days. I was worried something had happened to you, so I asked around and finally found your home."
"I see. Sorry to have worried you, Brother Zhang."
Lin Yan looked enlightened, then indignant. "Brother Zhang, a few days ago I told my aunt I wanted to learn martial arts, and I even quit my job at the shop for it. That made her angry. She's shut me up at home, forbidden me from going out, and cut off my money."
"You didn't tell your aunt about me giving you the decoction, did you?"
Zhang Dahai's heart skipped a beat. The Lin Family widow was a sharp one. If the boy had told her, she might well have realized that her nephew had been drawn into a trap.
"Don't worry, Brother Zhang. My word carries the weight of nine bronze cauldrons. Since I promised not to tell anyone, I certainly won't."
Lin Yan thumped his chest loudly, but then his face fell again. "Brother Zhang, could you ask that martial artist to visit my house? If he comes in person, my aunt definitely won't stop me from learning martial arts anymore."
Visit your house, my ass.
Zhang Dahai cursed inwardly. The martial artist at the teahouse that day was his accomplice. Their gang consisted of just two people, specializing in fleecing fat sheep like Lin Yan. Two fat sheep in all had fallen for this particular scheme.
"Brother Lin, think of that gentleman's status. How could he possibly visit your home?" Zhang Dahai shook his head. "We have to wait until you've built up your body, then I can take you to see him."
"All right."
Lin Yan looked dejected, but Zhang Dahai paid no mind to that. He opened the food carrier, revealing a bowl of medicinal decoction that had already been brewed.
"Brother Lin, I specially brewed this and brought it over for you. You mustn't interrupt the treatment. Once you stop, all the effects are lost. Sign your name and leave your thumbprint, then drink it while it's hot."
When Zhang Dahai took out the ledger, Lin Yan signed and pressed his thumbprint onto it without hesitation. But he merely held the bowl without drinking.
"Brother Lin, why aren't you drinking?"
"Brother Zhang, I... could I ask you a favor?"
"What favor?"
Lin Yan looked somewhat bashful. "Brother Zhang, since you're willing to let me buy the decoction on credit, could you lend me some money too? Once that martial artist accepts me as his disciple, I'll pay it all back together."
Now he wants to eat his fill and take something home too?
Zhang Dahai wanted to refuse outright, but he feared that doing so might scare off this fat sheep. His lips twitched. "What do you need the money for?"
"Brother Zhang, my aunt's birthday is coming up. I thought I'd buy her some jewelry to soothe her anger, so she'll let me go out." After explaining, Lin Yan thumped his chest loudly again. "Don't worry, Brother Zhang. Same as before—once I've succeeded in my training, I'll repay you many times over."
Jewelry?
Zhang Dahai considered it. Any jewelry the boy bought would remain with the Lin Family widow, and eventually it would end up in his hands anyway.
"How much do you want to borrow?"
"Ten taels."
Zhang Dahai's eyes widened.
"Eight... or seven would do."
"Three taels, no more. If you want to borrow it, you have to put in writing that you'll repay twice the amount."
Zhang Dahai cut him off. He did not demand repayment several times over for the decoction because it was merely Blood-Activating Decoction costing a few copper coins. But the silver he lent out would be his own hard cash.
"Fine, then. Three taels it is."
Lin Yan looked a little dissatisfied, but ultimately signed and left his thumbprint on the paper without fuss.
After confirming that Lin Yan had written down double repayment, Zhang Dahai took a money pouch from inside his robes. He counted his silver fragments for quite some time, but they still fell short of three taels. Finally, he took half a string of copper coins from his waist to make up the difference.
Lin Yan saw Zhang Dahai off with a smile, then closed the door and sank into thought.
His job at the medicine shop had provided lunch and paid three hundred copper coins a month. Zhang Dahai had needed copper coins to scrape together three taels of silver. Even if he was not carrying all his money, his total wealth probably did not exceed ten taels.
By the look of it, Zhang Dahai's gang was not powerful. At most, they were on the level of street thugs.
He had asked Zhang Dahai for a loan partly because he really did need money, and partly to probe the strength of his gang.