Early the next morning.
As soon as dawn broke, Clear River Martial Hall was already buzzing with noise.
On the Training Ground, the disciples had begun their morning training.
Chen Mo stood among the crowd, following Instructor Li's movements again and again.
After practicing last night, he had become much more familiar with Basic Fist.
At least he was no longer like the first time, unable to coordinate even his hands and feet.
Still, compared with Wang Lie and the others, he was a step slower.
After finishing a set of punches, Zhao Chuan shook out his arms.
"This thing looks simple, but it's really tiring to practice."
Zhou Zhan chuckled.
"Who was it yesterday that said he'd punch through a wooden post someday?"
Zhao Chuan shot him a glare.
"Then I have to practice properly first."
Chen Mo could not help laughing beside them.
"You're surprisingly self-aware."
"I'm taking it one step at a time."
Zhao Chuan said it with a perfectly serious expression.
"First I'll master the punches, then I'll break the wooden post."
Chen Mo smiled and shook his head.
"You should first make sure you don't hit yourself."
After exchanging a few words, they took their stances again.
Chen Mo raised his hands as well.
He lowered his head and looked at his fists.
That awkward feeling from yesterday was still there.
But it had improved greatly compared to when he had first started practicing.
At least during that set just now, he had not stopped because his footwork got tangled up.
Just then, a middle-aged man walked over from the side.
"The new ones, once you're done practicing, go to the storeroom to collect your monthly allowance."
Zhao Chuan froze.
"Monthly allowance?"
Someone nearby laughed.
"It's what the martial hall gives out every month."
Zhao Chuan's eyes immediately lit up.
"There's even that?"
The man glanced at him.
"You didn't know?"
Zhao Chuan rubbed his nose.
"It's my first time here. How would I know so much?"
Chen Mo chuckled beside him.
"Yesterday, you said you'd prepared quite thoroughly."
"I prepared to practice boxing, not to collect things."
"You sure have a lot of excuses."
Before long, the group followed the steward to the storeroom.
The storeroom was not large.
Several wooden racks stood inside.
The storeroom steward sat behind a table, holding a ledger.
When he saw them enter, he said nothing and merely lowered his head to check their names.
"Wang Lie."
Wang Lie stepped forward.
The steward handed him a small clay jar, a packet of medicine, and several copper coins.
Wang Lie accepted them, glanced at them once, then put them into the cloth bag he had brought with him.
Zhao Chuan stared at him.
"You're not even going to look?"
"Once it's in your hands, it's yours."
After saying that, Wang Lie stepped aside.
Zhao Chuan curled his lip.
"No fun at all."
When it was his turn, the steward handed the items over.
Zhao Chuan first picked up the copper coins and weighed them in his palm.
"There really is money."
He spoke quietly, but he was delighted.
Chen Mo leaned closer.
"What are you planning to spend it on?"
"I'll save it first."
Zhao Chuan grinned.
"If I get a chance to go to the county town someday, I can't exactly go empty-handed, can I?"
Chen Mo nodded.
"That does sound like something you'd do."
When it was the next person's turn, things slowed down a little.
The youth looked at the clay jar in his hand and frowned.
"This is the monthly allowance?"
Someone beside him asked:
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
The youth lowered his head and looked at the medicinal liquid inside.
"I heard before that the things in martial halls were all very good."
"I thought..."
He did not finish the rest.
Someone beside him smiled.
"The big martial halls in the county town are definitely different."
"It's already pretty good that we have these here."
The youth said nothing more and put the items away.
Soon, it was Chen Mo's turn.
"Chen Mo."
Hearing his own name, Chen Mo immediately stepped forward.
The steward handed the items to him.
A small clay jar.
A packet of medicinal salve for external injuries.
And several copper coins.
Chen Mo accepted them and lowered his head for a look.
"This is mine?"
"Mm."
A smile immediately appeared on his face.
There were not many copper coins.
But this was the first monthly allowance that belonged to him.
More than the money itself, he cared about that packet of injury medicine.
He quickly thought of his father.
When Chen Shan went into the mountains, he could never avoid coming back with some injuries.
In the past, he would usually just endure the minor wounds until they passed.
This could come in handy.
Chen Mo held the injury medicine separately in his hand.
Then he looked at the copper coins again.
A few coins like these could not buy much.
But if he brought them home, they would still be of some use.
"Don't use the medicinal liquid carelessly."
The storeroom steward suddenly said.
Chen Mo looked up.
"This stuff can only help you lay your foundation."
"What truly makes you stronger is what you practice every day."
"Don't think that a little medicine can save you several years of hard work."
Chen Mo nodded.
"Understood."
The steward lowered his head and continued sorting through the register.
The group left the storeroom with their things.
Zhao Chuan was still counting his copper coins along the way.
"What number is this?"
Chen Mo asked.
"The fifth time."
"Has anything changed?"
"No."
"Then why are you still counting?"
"Looking at them makes me happy."
Chen Mo could not hold back his laughter.
"You really have no ambition."
"You've got ambition, so don't look."
Chen Mo immediately turned his head away.
"I wasn't looking."
"I clearly saw you staring at my money just now."
"I was looking at your hand."
"What's there to look at?"
"It's dark."
Zhao Chuan angrily shoved him.
The two bickered all the way, and the weariness from earlier faded quite a bit.
A few days later, on the martial hall's rest day.
Chen Mo returned home with a bundle on his back.
When he pushed open the courtyard gate, Chen Shan was chopping firewood in the yard.
Hearing the sound, he paused with his axe.
"You're back?"
"Mm."
Chen Mo set the bundle down to one side.
Lady Li heard the sound from inside and came out as well.
"Why are you back so soon?"
"The martial hall is closed today."
Chen Huan ran out from the house.
"Brother!"
Chen Mo smiled and gently rubbed her head twice.
"Have you been studying properly?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Of course it's true."
Chen Huan wrinkled her little nose.
"Mother can prove it."
"Fine."
Chen Mo smiled and glanced at her.
The courtyard was still the same courtyard.
The house was still the same house.
It seemed that after he had entered the Blue Martial Arts Hall, nothing much had changed at home.
Yet when he came back now, it felt different from before.
At the very least, he had truly gained a foothold in the Blue Martial Arts Hall.
At dinner that evening, Chen Mo took out the packet of wound medicine.
"Father, keep this."
Chen Shan froze for a moment.
"What is this?"
"Wound medicine issued by the martial arts hall."
Chen Mo pushed it over.
"When you go into the mountains later, if you get hurt, use this."
Chen Shan took it and looked it over.
"The martial arts hall even gives out this?"
"Yeah."
Chen Shan fell silent for a moment.
"Keep some for yourself."
"No need."
Chen Mo shook his head.
"I haven't been hurt much lately."
"Besides, you're much more likely to get hurt in the mountains than I am."
Chen Shan glanced at him and did not push it back again.
He merely put the medicine away.
Lady Li looked at the copper coins beside them.
"Were these issued by the martial arts hall too?"
"Yes."
Chen Mo handed the copper coins over.
"Mother, keep them."
"Keep them for yourself."
"I eat and sleep at the martial arts hall, so I don't need them for now."
Chen Mo thought for a moment.
"They can come in handy at home."
Lady Li held the copper coins without speaking for a long while.
In the end, she accepted them.
"Then we'll keep them at home for now."
"Mm."
Chen Mo nodded.
Dinner continued.
Holding her bowl, Chen Huan stared at Chen Mo as she ate.
"Big Brother, are you very strong now?"
"Not at all."
"Didn't you already enter the martial arts hall?"
"Entering the martial arts hall doesn't make you strong right away."
After saying that, Chen Mo deliberately put on a stern face.
"When I'm truly strong someday, I'll show you then."
Chen Huan immediately perked up.
"Then I want to learn too!"
"First, work on writing your characters properly."
"I already write very well."
"That 'person' character you wrote last time—its arms were practically running away."
"No, they weren't!"
The whole family burst into laughter.
After dinner, Chen Mo sat with Chen Huan by the table for a while.
The little girl took out a sheet of paper.
It was filled with crooked, wobbly characters.
She pointed at one of them.
"Big Brother, look at this."
Chen Mo leaned in and studied it for quite a while.
"What character is this?"
"'Mountain.'"
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
Chen Mo held back a laugh.
"Then why does your mountain have an extra leg?"
"Big Brother!"
Chen Huan angrily moved to shove him.
Chen Mo hurriedly dodged aside.
"Alright, alright, mountain it is."
Laughter rang through the room again.
Only after Chen Huan lowered her head and resumed writing did Chen Mo quiet down.
His father sat to one side, sorting through things.
His mother cleared away the bowls and chopsticks.
Everything was still the same as before.
Not long after, Chen Shan suddenly spoke.
"Things in the mountains have been somewhat restless lately."
Chen Mo looked up.
"What happened?"
"A few days ago, a hunter was scratched by something wild."
Chen Shan spoke evenly.
"The injury wasn't too serious."
"It's just been happening more often than before lately."
Lady Li frowned.
"Wild beasts again?"
"It looked like it."
Chen Shan paused.
"But when going into the mountains lately, we still need to be careful."
After hearing that, the smile on Chen Mo's face faded somewhat.
"Father."
"Mm?"
"When you go into the mountains from now on, try not to venture too deep."
Chen Shan glanced at him.
"I know."
"This isn't my first time going into the mountains."
Chen Mo nodded.
"As long as you know."
Chen Shan smiled.
"You brat, you're starting to manage me now."
"I'm reminding you."
"Fine."
Chen Shan waved a hand.
"I'll listen to you."
Late at night, the family gradually went to sleep.
Chen Mo sat alone beneath the old locust tree in the courtyard.
He held that small clay jar in his hand.
He looked at it for a while, then put it away again.
Before, he had always felt that life should change greatly after entering the martial arts hall.
But now that he looked at it, it was not all that dramatic.
There was an extra monthly stipend.
A few more copper coins.
A packet of wound medicine.
These things could not be called especially precious, yet they truly could make life a little easier for the family.
At that thought, the corners of Chen Mo's mouth could not help but lift.
At least this trip had not been for nothing.
Yet his father's words from earlier still lingered in his heart.
He raised his head and looked west.
Beyond the houses and fields, he could see nothing.
Chen Mo sat there for a while, then finally rose to his feet.
"I still have to practice my fists tomorrow."
He patted the dust from his trouser legs.
"I should sharpen my own skills first."
With that, he turned and went back inside.
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