Stirring the Water Vat

Early the next morning, Hong Yuan had only just stepped out of his room when he saw Yang Erhu, also neatly dressed, closing his doors and windows before walking into the training ground in the courtyard.

"Teacher!"

Hong Yuan went up and greeted him, then immediately frowned, his gaze flicking toward Yang Erhu's right arm. "You're injured?"

An improvement in innate physique was an all-around improvement in strength, speed, reflexes, the toughness of one's muscles and bones, and so on—naturally, it included the sense of smell as well.

Hong Yuan's nose twitched, and he caught a faint trace of blood on Yang Erhu.

Yang Erhu patted his right arm with his left hand and smiled. "I slipped by accident when I got out of bed and scraped a bit of skin off my arm. Nothing serious. Ah! In the end, I'm old now. Can't compare to when I was young."

"Teacher's muscles and bones are strong and healthy. There aren't many young people who can compare to you."

Hong Yuan smiled too, but in his mind he recalled Yang Erhu's room last night. The door had sounded twice, with quite a long interval between them—once when he went out, and once when he came back.

At the time, Hong Yuan had been in the middle of practicing his meditation method and had not paid much attention to it. Thinking about it now, had he gone out in the dead of night to challenge someone to a fight... or to seek revenge?

Still, seeing Yang Erhu's steady steps and his vigorous, dragon-spirited, tiger-fierce appearance, exactly the same as usual, Hong Yuan figured it really was only a minor injury and should not count as him having suffered any loss.

Since Yang Erhu was unwilling to say more, Hong Yuan did not press him.

Nothing happened that day. The martial arts hall's apprentices and nominal disciples, eighteen people in total, had all actually arrived. Before Hong Yuan reached the front training ground, the three who had not come yesterday had already heard about yesterday's events from the other apprentices.

They learned that the hall master had taken in a personal disciple, and that Senior Brother "Hong Yuan," that personal disciple, had beaten Meng Yue and the two others—the most outstanding ones in the hall—so badly the moment he arrived that he had rubbed them into the ground. The three listened until they were dumbstruck, inwardly crying what a pity it was that they had not come yesterday and had missed such a good show.

The deterrent effect had not yet faded in such a short time, so no new thorny troublemakers popped up. Hong Yuan patrolled the whole ground, corrected some of the apprentices' mistakes, scolded them with a few words, then found a corner for himself and trained alone.

The next few days were also calm and peaceful.

Hong Yuan's life was very regular. Aside from spending a little time instructing the martial arts hall's apprentices, he spent almost every day standing in the post stance at noon, practicing the guidance technique, and using the Rock-Solid Skill to strengthen his body. In the afternoon, he cultivated the Seven Waves-Breaking Slashes, the Tiger-Subduing Fist, and the breathing method.

At night, he underwent meditation training.

During this period, Meng Yue came from time to time to ask for guidance on the secrets of martial training, his attitude extremely respectful.

In truth, Meng Yue was anxious.

He was really anxious.

Because Hong Yuan's daily routine was far too simple. Over these past few days, he seemed never to have left the martial arts hall at all. If the man did not go out, how were they supposed to make a move?

Were they supposed to have Old Third Yan send men to charge straight into the martial arts hall?

Only if Old Third Yan had a hole in his brain would he do that. Forcing his way in to kill someone would not be killing one person—it would be attempting to wash the martial arts hall in blood.

How great a price would Old Third Yan have to pay to accomplish that? He would probably have to throw in more than half his own men.

And that did not align with Meng Yue's interests at all. He wanted to kill Hong Yuan to remove this stumbling block so that he could become Yang Erhu's disciple himself and obtain the "Tiger Roar Breathing Method."

If the martial arts hall were washed in blood, would that not mean both sides scattered with one clap and everything ended?

Meng Yue was so anxious his mouth was breaking out in blisters, and the men Old Third Yan had sent were also at their wits' end.

Old Third Yan truly was a man who kept his word. Even though he had suffered a sudden attack that night, he still sent men out the next day to inquire about "Hong Yuan."

Old Third Yan's subordinates did not personally go out to keep watch. As local tyrants of the county town, they naturally had better methods.

The idlers and hoodlums wandering the county town... the traveling peddlers crying their wares along the streets and the itinerant medicine sellers were all their best eyes and ears.

These people already had to pass back and forth outside the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall every day, so they would never arouse anyone's suspicion. In the end, once all the information they gathered was compiled, they would be able to obtain the target's daily movements.

Through this information, Old Third Yan's subordinates could naturally arrange men in advance to lie in ambush at places the target often passed through. When the target arrived, they would first throw lime powder to blind his eyes, then follow up with fishing nets, flying stones, rotten mud, excrement, and urine all at once. After that, many men would surround him and hack down together with chaotic blades. No matter how skilled that Hong Yuan was, he would still have to fall into their hands.

The idea was beautiful. Unfortunately, the other party did not play by the usual rules!

The strategist among Old Third Yan's subordinates was a scholar who had repeatedly failed the imperial examinations. Before the court had abolished the exams, he had already thrown in his lot with Old Third Yan. After many years, he had also gained the nickname "Poison-Heart Scholar."

This Poison-Heart Scholar was almost sixty years old, with a goatee and a smiling appearance that even carried a touch of kindness. He found Meng Yue and got straight to the point. "If that kid surnamed Hong doesn't leave the martial arts hall, we have no way to act. You need to think of a way to lure him out."

"Fine!" Meng Yue had no other good ideas either, so he gritted his teeth and nodded. "I'll handle this. But that Hong fellow's skills truly aren't weak. You'll have to arrange enough men too."

"Third Master has overawed the county town for so many years. There have been plenty of blind so-called jianghu experts who came seeking provocation, and as for how those people ended up... hehe! What does one mere greenhorn amount to? You just focus on luring him out. Leave the rest to us."

The old scholar unfolded his feather fan and swayed it lightly, a smile on his face and his tone relaxed.

Meng Yue returned to the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall. Before he had even entered, he heard a burst of shouting coming from inside the training ground.

He quickly hurried in and saw the apprentices gathered on the left side of the training ground, clustered into a crowd, each of them stretching their necks to peer inward.

On the sandy ground in the middle of the area stood a huge wooden barrel. Even someone as tall and sturdy as him would still find it spacious if he curled up inside.

The wooden barrel was filled with water, ripples spreading across its surface.

Meng Yue's gaze shifted, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes, and he caught sight of Hong Yuan on the other side of the ground selecting a stone ball and lifting it with one hand.

Meng Yue also often used the stone balls in the martial arts hall for training, so he naturally knew their weight. The stone ball in Hong Yuan's palm weighed more than fifty jin.

But that was nothing in itself. Meng Yue could also grab one with a single hand. Yet Hong Yuan extended his arm straight out, opened his palm flat, and supported the stone ball only with the center of his palm. His body did not sway, his hand did not tremble, as if the stone ball in his palm were nothing more than an egg. With an easy expression, he walked slowly over to the side of the water barrel.

Meng Yue's expression darkened, and he turned to tug at an apprentice beside him. "What is Senior Brother Hong doing?"

The apprentice smiled and said, "Senior Brother Hong said he created a body-strengthening technique himself and is just about to teach it to us."

"Oh? Senior Brother Hong is truly amazing!" Meng Yue expressed his admiration at just the right moment, his eyes fixed on the middle of the ground.

Then he saw Hong Yuan hold the stone ball in one hand and toss it into the water barrel at an unhurried pace. With a "plop," it fell in, and just as a large spray of water was about to splash up, Hong Yuan suddenly spread both hands, like two sharp blades stabbing into the water.

Splash!

Hong Yuan spread his arms and slowly stirred the bucket. The water inside moved with the force of his motion, turning into a whirlpool.

Everyone looked at one another, somewhat at a loss. As the motion of Hong Yuan's hands gradually quickened, the whirlpool spun faster and faster, and in an instant it was like a powerful current in the vast ocean, bringing with it an immense, surging force.

Immediately after, the stone ball that had sunk into the bucket, weighing over fifty jin, was also driven by that swiftly whirling force and flew rapidly into Hong Yuan's palms, spinning there.

At that moment, as Hong Yuan guided it, the stone ball seemed to become a rubber ball, spinning faster and faster with the current. Suddenly, Hong Yuan's arms shook, and he thrust upward.

With a pfft, accompanied by a long spray of water, the stone ball was flung up to a height of about a zhang.

As cries of surprise rang out across the entire field, the stone ball spent its momentum and fell back down. Hong Yuan stirred the spray, canceling out a bit of the impact, then supported it with both hands and threw it up again.

While the stone ball hung in midair, his arms abruptly exerted force. The water inside the wooden bucket suddenly shuddered, countless droplets splashing up from the surface. With a thunderous crash, the wooden bucket burst apart, and the water inside poured out in every direction.

The next instant!

The stone ball dropped straight down, smashing hard onto the sandy ground. Amid the violent tremor, it pounded like the hearts of the many apprentices present.

"Senior Brother Hong!"

"Too strong!"

After a brief stretch of silence, the apprentices suddenly erupted into cheers. Only Meng Yue wore a slightly stiff smile as he clenched his fists. "This Hong Yuan absolutely cannot be allowed to stay!"