First Time Entering the Mountains

For the next half month, Chen Mo still went to the training ground every day.

It was still that same set of basic punches.

After practicing it over and over, his movements had become much more skilled than when he had first entered the martial academy. Yet the more he practiced, the more he felt that something was off.

The opening stance, the turn, the punch—he followed the instructor's teachings in every aspect.

His footwork was steady, and his waist could keep up as well.

But when it came time to truly exert force, that burst of power always seemed to fall just short.

When his fist shot out, it had the right form, yet it always lacked that final kick.

After finishing another round, Chen Mo could not help frowning.

"Where exactly am I falling short?"

He was in no hurry to ask anyone else.

After all, if he asked, they would probably just tell him to keep practicing.

Then he would figure it out himself.

It was not until the martial academy sent word that it would close for several days of repairs, allowing all apprentices to return home for the time being.

Chen Mo packed his things and returned to Qinghe Town.

The moment he pushed open the courtyard gate, Chen Huan's reading voice drifted out from inside.

"Brother!"

Hearing the movement, the little girl immediately ran out and grabbed the hem of his clothes.

"You're back?"

"Mm."

Chen Mo smiled and rubbed her head.

"Have you been slacking off lately?"

"No."

Chen Huan immediately shook her head.

"Mother said my handwriting has gotten much better now."

Lady Li walked out of the house.

"It's good that you're back. The food is still warm."

The family sat down around the table.

The dishes were still the same as before.

A bowl of wild vegetables, a plate of cured meat, and several coarse-grain steamed buns.

Chen Mo lowered his head and ate, feeling there was nothing bad about it.

It was only after entering the martial academy that he had begun to feel as though there was a little more to look forward to in life.

Before, he thought every day about doing more work and earning a few more coins.

Now, there was one more thing.

Practice his punches well.

Halfway through the meal, Chen Shan suddenly said,

"In a couple of days, I'm planning to go into the mountains."

Chen Mo immediately looked up.

"Your injury hasn't healed yet."

Chen Shan lowered his head to look at his shoulder and back, then smiled.

"An old injury. It's nothing serious."

"Herbs have been hard to gather lately, so I need to go in and take a look."

"And bring back some game while I'm at it."

Chen Mo thought for a moment.

"I'll go with you."

Chen Shan glanced at him.

"You're a martial academy apprentice now."

"The mountain paths aren't a training ground."

Chen Mo curled his lips.

"I know."

"It's not like I've never been into the mountains before."

Chen Shan chuckled and did not try to dissuade him further.

"Then get some rest early."

Early the next morning.

Father and son carried bamboo baskets on their backs, brought machetes and bows, and headed toward the forests in the western mountains.

It had been a long time since he had entered the mountains, and Chen Mo was somewhat excited along the way.

When he had been little, he thought a mountain path was just a mountain path.

Now that he had learned boxing, he wanted to see whether he could use what he had learned at the martial academy in the mountains as well.

But once they truly entered the forest, he quickly discovered that he had been thinking too simply.

There was no level ground.

No fixed footwork.

Fallen leaves, wet mud, and gullies carved open by rainwater lay everywhere beneath his feet.

Chen Mo had not gone far before his foot slipped.

"Ah!"

He hurriedly steadied himself.

Chen Shan turned back from ahead.

"Slow down."

"Got it."

Chen Mo was a little unconvinced.

Just moments ago, he had thought he had improved quite a bit, but now he could not even walk properly.

He adjusted his steps again.

Shoulders lowered.

Waist steady.

He tried to plant every step firmly.

But before long, he nearly stepped into empty air again.

Chen Shan, on the other hand, did not walk quickly, yet he remained steady the entire way.

Whenever they came across a steep slope, he would first examine the terrain.

Where the soil was loose.

Where there were roots.

Where he could step.

He avoided all of it in advance.

Chen Mo watched for a long while before finally asking,

"Dad, when you walk mountain paths, do you have to watch all that?"

Chen Shan looked back.

"Of course."

"A mountain path isn't a training ground."

Chen Mo nodded.

After taking a few steps, he could not help saying again,

"Then how do your feet know where to step?"

Chen Shan smiled.

"Walk them enough, and you'll naturally know."

Chen Mo lowered his head and looked at the ground beneath his feet.

"If I walk them enough, can I do it too?"

"You can."

Chen Mo immediately perked up.

"Then I'll walk through the mountains a few more times from now on."

But Chen Shan shook his head.

"Don't start thinking about that yet."

"The most important thing in the mountains isn't how steadily you can stand."

Chen Mo looked up.

"Then what is it?"

Chen Shan pressed his foot into the soft mud beneath him.

"Follow the mountain."

"This place won't lay out solid ground for you to step on."

With that, he continued onward.

Chen Mo stood behind him, pondering it as he took two steps.

He tried not to rigidly maintain one posture anymore.

But the instant he relaxed.

His foot slipped.

"Ah!"

Just as he was about to fall, Chen Shan grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Don't rush."

Chen Mo awkwardly steadied himself.

"I really thought I could do it just now."

Chen Shan smiled.

"Take it slowly."

"At the martial academy, you practice punches."

"Here, first learn how to survive."

Chen Mo did not stubbornly argue any further.

He lowered his head and looked at the footprints in the mud.

But he remembered it in his heart.

Father and son wandered through the outer forest for half a day.

Chen Shan gathered several medicinal herbs and also found a few traces of beasts.

Near noon.

Chen Shan suddenly stopped.

He raised a hand, signaling Chen Mo not to move.

Chen Mo immediately shut his mouth.

The forest was very quiet.

So quiet that it made him uncomfortable.

Chen Shan slowly removed the bow from his back.

Chen Mo tightened his grip on the machete as well.

"Dad?"

Chen Shan did not answer.

He merely stared fixedly ahead.

A moment later.

The bushes suddenly began to shake.

A wolf slowly emerged.

Chen Mo's brows immediately furrowed.

This wolf was too thin.

Its fur was disheveled, its belly sunken in, and it even staggered a little as it walked.

Yet those eyes made one's blood run cold.

They were nothing like the wild wolves they usually encountered.

Chen Mo unconsciously swallowed.

"Dad..."

Chen Shan's expression changed.

"Back off."

The next instant.

The wolf lunged forward.

Almost on instinct, Chen Mo stepped in front of his father.

"I'll handle it!"

He raised the machete horizontally.

But the wolf charged too fast.

Just as he was about to strike, the soil beneath his feet suddenly gave way.

His body lost its balance.

The wolf's claws raked viciously across his arm.

"Hiss!"

His clothes tore open at once.

Blood immediately seeped out.

Chen Mo hurriedly retreated.

Chen Shan drew his bow at the same time.

Whoosh!

The arrow tore through the air.

The wolf suddenly twisted aside.

Yet as if it could not feel pain, it pounced again the moment it landed.

Chen Mo gritted his teeth and raised his knife.

The blade collided with the wolf's claws.

His arm immediately went numb.

"Such incredible strength!"

The impact sent him staggering back several steps.

Back when he trained boxing at the martial arts school, he had never encountered anything like this.

The opponents there followed the rules.

They stopped.

They retreated.

They gave him a chance to catch his breath.

But wolves did not.

One pounce.

Then another.

Chen Mo could only keep backing away.

The sloping ground beneath his feet left him even more flustered.

Once, he tried to sink his stance and exert force the way he had learned at the martial arts school.

But a loose stone rolled beneath his foot.

"Damn it!"

Chen Mo staggered.

The wolf pounced at once.

In that instant.

His heel struck a patch of bluestone jutting out of the ground.

His foot suddenly planted firmly.

His body steadied with it.

His shoulders, waist, and legs unexpectedly linked into a single line in that moment.

Even Chen Mo froze for a second.

So...

That was how it was?

He did not continue holding the stance from the martial arts school.

Instead, he glanced down at the ground.

Rocks.

Slope.

Wolf.

They could all be used.

The wolf pounced again.

Chen Mo sidestepped and did not take it head-on.

The wolf's claws brushed past his clothes.

The firewood knife in his hand came slashing down with the motion.

The blade cut across the wolf's body.

A bloody gash immediately appeared.

The wolf spun around in pain.

Chen Mo did not pursue.

He began retreating.

As he backed away, he watched.

He watched the wolf's feet.

He watched the direction of its pounces.

He watched where beneath his own feet he could stand.

For the first time, he realized.

The mountains did not require a perfect foothold at all.

As long as he could keep up with the terrain, that was enough.

Another pounce.

Chen Mo stepped aside in advance.

The wolf missed.

He flashed to the side with the momentum.

His next step landed on the slope.

His body tilted with it.

Yet he did not fall.

Instead, he used the slope to draw the wolf toward a patch of jagged rocks.

Chen Shan understood as well.

He immediately nocked an arrow.

"Duck!"

Chen Mo lowered himself.

The arrow split the air.

The wolf sharply turned its head.

At that very instant.

Chen Mo rushed forward.

He grabbed the wolf by the neck.

But the wolf struggled fiercely.

Its claws kept raking across him.

Chen Mo was dragged straight to the ground.

Dirt filled his mouth and nose.

The wound on his arm burned fiercely.

"What a troublesome thing..."

He gritted his teeth and held on with all his strength.

The wolf struggled madly.

Man and beast were both fighting for their lives.

Chen Shan nocked another arrow.

But just as he was about to release it, an old injury in his shoulder and back suddenly flared up.

His arm trembled.

The arrow flew wide.

Chen Mo's heart sank.

"I can only rely on myself."

He clenched his teeth.

Using the slope, he dragged the wolf bit by bit toward the jagged rocks below.

The wolf was still struggling.

He was nearly out of strength as well.

Just then, Chen Mo felt a stone beneath his hand.

Without a second thought.

He smashed it down hard.

Once.

The wolf struggled violently.

Again.

Until the strength in his arms slowly weakened.

The surroundings finally fell silent.

Chen Mo lay sprawled on the ground, panting for a long while.

"I nearly really died here..."

He rolled over and looked at the sky.

Only after quite some time did he slowly sit up.

His arm hurt badly.

His body was covered in mud too.

But he did not feel that he had grown stronger.

He had merely survived.

Chen Mo stood up.

He lowered his head and took a step.

There were loose stones beneath his feet.

His body adjusted naturally.

Another step.

He crossed the slope.

His knees bent slightly, and his center of gravity followed the lay of the land.

This time.

He did not wobble.

Chen Mo stopped.

Then he tried taking two more steps.

"So I don't have to stand rooted in place."

He looked down at his feet and spoke softly.

"I just need to move with it."

As soon as he said that, he felt what he had said actually made quite a bit of sense.

The corners of his mouth could not help but curl upward.

"Looks like I'm not that stupid after all."

Just then, Chen Shan walked over to the wolf's corpse.

He did not look at the prey first.

Instead, his gaze fell on the wolf's belly and back.

There were several wounds there.

They had not been left just now.

The wounds had already scabbed over and had clearly been there for some time.

Chen Shan crouched and reached out to touch them.

The expression on his face gradually changed.

Chen Mo noticed his expression.

"Dad?"

Chen Shan did not answer immediately.

After a moment, he finally said in a low voice:

"These wounds..."

He raised his head and looked into the distance.

Mountain mist was slowly rising.

"I've seen them before."

Chen Mo frowned.

"What left them?"

Chen Shan did not answer.

He simply stood up.

"Let's go back first."

Chen Mo glanced at the wolf carcass.

"What about this wolf?"

"Leave it."

"Leave it?"

Chen Mo found it rather strange.

Such a huge wolf could usually be traded for at least some money if they brought it back.

But Chen Shan shook his head.

"It wasn't out looking for food."

Chen Mo froze.

"Then why did it come out?"

Chen Shan fell silent for a moment.

"It escaped."

Chen Mo followed his gaze toward the depths of the forest.

The mist there was growing thicker and thicker.

He subconsciously shrank his neck.

"What exactly... is in there?"

Chen Shan still did not answer.

He merely slung the bamboo basket onto his back.

"Go."

Chen Mo stood where he was and took one last look.

Then he followed after him as well.

"Dad."

"Mm?"

"Are we really not allowed to go any farther in from now on?"

"No."

Chen Mo thought for a moment.

"Then I'll remember that."

The figures of father and son gradually disappeared along the forest path.