"Little Dragon Elephant Art"

"Er Gou, are you home?"

Xu Chuan stepped into Chen Ergou's courtyard.

With the busy farming season over, Chen Ergou was lounging in a chair beneath the eaves.

At the sight of Xu Chuan, he sprang up. "Brother Chuan! What brings you here? Shouldn't you be home with your wife?"

"I gave her the Qi-Blood Pill you brought. She's almost recovered."

"I see."

"Daniu, Fangfang, Uncle Xu is here. Come on out."

Two children about the same age emerged and called out in clear voices, "Uncle Xu!"

"Good children." Xu Chuan smiled.

"Go on back inside and play."

At Chen Ergou's words, the two children scampered inside, brimming with joy.

Xu Chuan silently took out a banknote worth a hundred taels and handed it over.

"Brother Chuan, what's this?"

"Payment for the Qi-Blood Pill. I know those pills aren't cheap. Without connections to a Martial Arts Hall, you couldn't buy one even if you had the money. You must take this, or don't call me Brother Chuan again."

That stopped everything Chen Ergou had been about to say.

"Then I'll take it."

Once Chen Ergou had put it away, Xu Chuan asked, "Last time, you said there was something you wanted my help with. What is it?"

"My elder brother wants to trade an Inner Force Manual for your method of cultivating Jade Pears. What do you think?"

Chen Ergou hesitated for a long moment before speaking.

When Xu Chuan had first decided to grow Jade Pears, no one thought he would succeed.

But last year, they heard he had sold quite a few Jade Pears to the Xu Lineage. Only then did they learn he had managed to grow them.

Many ordinary folk in Dongxi Village envied him.

"Is that what Uncle Chen wants?"

"No, no."

Chen Ergou waved his hands hurriedly. "My father disagrees. It's my elder brother's idea."

"He probably heard you've planted ten mu of Jade Pears and earn a fair bit of silver from them every year, so..."

His voice grew softer and softer. By the end, he could not even meet Xu Chuan's eyes.

Chen Ergou felt helpless about it too.

But he had feared his elder brother since childhood, and now that his brother was a martial artist, he feared him even more.

All he could do was come and plead his case.

Still, he understood that even if Xu Chuan had such a secret method, it would be a golden hen that laid eggs. How could one Inner Force Manual compare?

"Brother Chuan, don't be angry. I just thought I'd ask."

"Honestly, I already regret speaking up for my brother. This is your own special skill, the foundation of your livelihood. Trading it for a single manual would be a terrible loss."

Xu Chuan thought of Xu Yan.

Chen Ergou was honest, but Xu Yan was shrewd.

She was the sort who would not exchange more than a few words with you unless there was something in it for her.

Xu Chuan was indeed her cousin, but their families had long since passed beyond the fifth degree of kinship. They had barely kept in touch since his grandfather's generation.

Her family had prospered and moved to Qingjiang County Seat, where they ran a shop or two.

In the years before Xu Yan married Chen Ergou, she had hardly associated with the Xu Household.

When they met, she would merely nod, offer a greeting, and chat for a moment.

Xu Chuan had not even known she was a relative.

It was only last year that she began acting familiar.

She came by to visit from time to time.

Then she acknowledged the family connection.

"For your sake and Uncle Chen's, I could consider the trade."

"Brother Chuan, do you mean it?" Chen Ergou was overjoyed.

"Er Gou, hear me out first. I have conditions."

"Go ahead, Brother Chuan."

"First, Uncle Chen must witness the exchange. It must be a fair trade, willingly made by both sides."

"Second, just as five or six out of ten people might fail to master an Inner Force Manual, the Jade Pear cultivation method I provide cannot guarantee success. If it fails, you must not trouble my family afterward."

"Third, the Inner Force Manual must teach a superior martial art, and I want ten Qi-Blood Pills on top of it."

"Understood." Chen Ergou nodded. "Brother Chuan, tomorrow—no, I'll go to the county seat and find my elder brother today."

After Xu Chuan left,

Chen Ergou went to his father's house and asked Xu Yan to come back and watch the children. Then he set out for the county seat.

Black Tiger Martial Arts School.

"Senior Brother Daming, someone outside the school is asking for you. He says he's your younger brother."

"My younger brother?"

Chen Daming went outside and found Chen Ergou waiting there. "What brings you here?"

Deep down, Chen Daming looked down on his mediocre younger brother.

"About the matter you asked me to raise last time—Brother Chuan agreed, but he has three conditions."

"Oh? What did Xu Chuan say?"

Chen Ergou faithfully repeated Xu Chuan's words.

Chen Daming pondered for a moment.

Xu Chuan is just as Father said. He won't let himself come out on the losing end.

He wants Father to witness it because he thinks we'll make trouble for him if we fail to grow them?

Chen Daming had also asked around about Jade Pears. He knew they were difficult to grow, but success would give a Lineage a foundation lasting generations.

The same was true of an Inner Force Manual.

And he wants a superior Inner Force Manual?

What an ignorant farmer!

The more advanced an Inner Force Manual was, the greater the aptitude it demanded.

"Fine. I happened to acquire a superior Inner Force Manual not long ago. I can trade it to him. As for the Qi-Blood Pills..."

"Er Gou, go back and tell Xu Chuan that I'll take leave in seven days, return home, and make the trade."

"Understood, Elder Brother."

Seven days later.

At Uncle Chen's house.

Xu Chuan had brought the Jade Pear cultivation notes he had written from memory to trade with Chen Daming.

"Have you both thought this through?"

Xu Chuan looked at Uncle Chen and smiled. "Uncle Chen, I want an Inner Force Manual, and Brother Daming wants the cultivation method. We both stand to gain."

"Father, stop going on about it. I have a family and a career now. I can make my own decisions."

Uncle Chen pursed his lips. "Then get started. First, check that you've each got what you want. If there's no problem, sign and press your thumbprints."

The two exchanged their items.

Xu Chuan first opened the porcelain bottle and sniffed it. He poured out all the Qi-Blood Pills to inspect them, then promptly put them back.

Next, he looked at the Inner Force Manual. The words "Little Dragon Elephant Art" were written on its cover.

"An impressive name."

Xu Chuan opened it and began reading with relish.

Chen Daming glanced up at him and found it amusing.

A farmer who's never trained in martial arts and has no martial artist to teach him thinks he can learn from a book?

"Xu Chuan, this Inner Force Manual came from the Dragon Elephant Sect. They were wiped out a few years ago, and their manuals found their way into other hands."

"Though this is only a handwritten copy, I guarantee it's a superior manual. There's even a follow-up art called the Xiantian Dragon Elephant Art."

"But you should know that studying an Inner Force Manual doesn't mean you'll become a martial artist. It depends on your talent and resources too."

"Thank you for the advice, Brother Daming. Everything looks fine to me," Xu Chuan said.

Chen Daming also flipped through the notes. They were indeed detailed, covering site selection, humidity, climate, fertilizer, and more.

"Everything looks fine to me too."

"Then sign and press your thumbprints."

Uncle Chen took a puff on his pipe and exhaled a curling cloud of smoke.

Both men did as he said.

After Xu Chuan left, Chen Daming said, "Father, you should make a copy too. We have wooded land at home. You could give it a try."

"No need. Let Er Gou copy it."

"San Shu is a clever man. If he says the odds aren't good, then the chances of success really are low. I don't have the energy to grow them."

"Father, aren't you giving him too much credit? There are plenty of capable people in the world. With these cultivation notes and a few fruit-tree experts from Qingjiang County, I refuse to believe I can't grow them."

"He's the one overestimating himself, thinking he can learn martial arts."

"The Little Dragon Elephant Art isn't so easy to master."

"Is the Inner Force Manual a fake?"

"Of course it's real. I paid a lot of silver for it."

Somewhat reassured, Uncle Chen clasped one hand behind his back, held his pipe in the other, and headed out for a stroll.

"I can tell you and San Shu both have your own schemes. But Daming, in all these years, I've never seen San Shu come out the loser."

Chen Daming dismissed that. Under his breath, he muttered, "How many people have you ever met, old man?"

"What kind of remarkable person could come out of little Dongxi Village?"