Tai Chi counted as a cheat, too

Now that he had suddenly landed in a world like this, he could no longer butter up his superiors, but he had not abandoned Tai Chi Fist.

Tai Chi Fist was reputed to be an internal martial art. In his previous life, when he had been Wang Bo, he had never achieved anything with it. In this life, however, Goudanzi had begun to get a taste of its subtleties.

Especially after his Great Strength Vajra Qigong developed a sense of qi, those subtleties became even more apparent. Whenever he practiced Tai Chi Fist, he did not even need to direct it consciously. The slender thread of qi within him would circulate slowly in time with his movements and breathing, following a route entirely different from that of Great Strength Vajra Qigong.

Put simply, when he practiced Tai Chi Fist, the route this thread of Internal Energy followed through his body was much more complicated than the one used by Great Strength Vajra Qigong. According to common knowledge, the more complicated the circulation route of Internal Energy, the higher the grade of the internal art.

Clearly, when Goudanzi practiced Tai Chi Fist, this Internal Energy circulated along a far more complicated route than it did with Great Strength Vajra Qigong. And that was not the only subtlety he had discovered.

Before he developed a sense of qi, his Tai Chi Fist practice had been perfectly normal. He could even run through Chen-Style 18-Form Tai Chi for fun. But once he developed that sense and his qi began following his movements, he could only get as far as the fifth form, Single Whip, before his qi went awry. Not merely awry, either. If he did not stop, he would grow dizzy, his vision would blur, and he would become unsteady on his feet, as though every ounce of strength had been drained from his body.

At first, Goudanzi had been rather frightened. After trying it a few times, however, he discovered that although his strength was drained at the time, he felt more energetic than before after resting for a while. More importantly, the Internal Energy in his body underwent some unexpected changes. Its quantity barely increased, but it seemed much more resilient than the Internal Energy cultivated through Great Strength Vajra Qigong alone. Of course, that was only his own impression. He had so little Internal Energy that he did not know what was really happening.

Could this be one of those legendary cheats? Little Leopard secretly rejoiced, and became even more diligent in practicing Tai Chi Fist.

After practicing Chen-Style 18-Form Tai Chi for a while, Goudanzi changed his approach. The eighteen forms were still far too demanding for him. Even after a long period of practice, he remained stuck at the fifth form, Single Whip, and the circulation of his Internal Energy always felt somehow incomplete and disjointed. Eventually, he simply abandoned the eighteen forms and switched to Li Deyin's version of Eight-Form Simplified Tai Chi.

One advantage of Tai Chi Fist was that it was widespread, practiced by many, and suitable for young and old alike. All sorts of people practiced it, so there were all sorts of schools. Leaving aside the orthodox Yang, Chen, and Wu styles, numerous routines had been developed after Liberation to promote fitness among the public. Li Deyin's eight-form simplified version was one of the most widely circulated, and particularly suitable for beginners.

Goudanzi was no beginner, but practicing Tai Chi Fist with Internal Energy was still a new experiment for him. After switching through several routines, he finally discovered that only Eight-Form Simplified Tai Chi allowed his Internal Energy to flow smoothly throughout. Or rather, completing one full routine used up just about all his pitiful little reserve of internal power, leaving his whole body feeling wonderfully at ease.

Life in the little mountain village was always leisurely. After Old One-Eye appeared at the wedding, he never showed himself again. Apart from Wang Tianlei teaching martial arts to the village's young, able-bodied men during the winter lull, nothing else out of the ordinary happened. The days drifted slowly by.

Goudanzi's days drifted by just as slowly. Wang Bo had been lazy in his previous life, and Goudanzi was lazy in this one too. But what could he do? He was interested in martial arts.

To others, cultivating Internal Energy was a dull chore they had little choice but to endure. To this boy from modern China, however, it was a source of boundless curiosity.

Every day, come thunder or lightning, he practiced Great Strength Vajra Qigong for four hours, then ran through Tai Chi Fist before bed, working up a drenching sweat.

After squeezing every last bit of strength from his body, he would enjoy a lovely night's sleep. Was there anything more satisfying in the world?

Of course, someone was bound to say that a tumble with your wife was more satisfying. The trouble was that this boy was only three. Even if he had a child bride, the equipment did not work yet!

"Hey! Ha! Hey! Ha...!"

Resounding cries rose from the clearing north of the village and carried far into the distance. Even the echoes from the mountains could be heard.

Such sounds were nothing unusual in the village anymore. Plenty of little brats like Goudanzi sat beside the clearing to watch every day, and even more cheered whenever things got exciting, as though they were watching a comedy.

At first, the young men of the village had been somewhat embarrassed, but in time they grew used to it. After all, this was only a small mountain village. The children watching were all their neighbors' children, and some were even their own sons or nephews. They could hardly bring themselves to chase them away.

In their hearts, they rather hoped people would come to watch-not these little brats, but the village's unmarried girls and young wives. Whenever a girl passed by, the entire group's cries immediately rose a pitch.

"Ah, it's good to be young!" Sitting on his little stool, Goudanzi sighed softly and unconsciously felt his tiny arms and legs. "Unfortunately, I'm much too young. In another couple of years, I should be able to join them, right?"

As time passed, more and more villagers came to practice in the northern clearing during their spare time. Originally, it had only been the young, able-bodied men, who remained the mainstay. Gradually, however, middle-aged men and boys began to appear as well. The youngest were only seven or eight.

Goudanzi wanted to join them too, but he was simply too young. All he could do was sit beside the clearing and watch.

"Goudanzi, your mother says to come home for dinner!"

Just as Goudanzi was enjoying the show, he heard someone calling from behind him.

"Coming!" Goudanzi called. He took another look at the clearing, rose from his little stool, picked it up, and pattered off toward home.

"Hey, wait for me!" Er Ya, the girl from next door who had come to fetch him, called after him. She was a little older than Goudanzi, five this year, and lived right beside his house. The two families were on good terms.

"My mother told me to come home for dinner. She didn't say you were invited! What are you running for?" Clutching his little stool, Goudanzi ran faster and faster. A soul in its thirties was trapped inside his three-year-old body, and he already looked childish enough. He had no desire to get mixed up with other little brats and end up acting like a genuine three- or four-year-old.

"Goudanzi, you're always like this! Er Ya went to fetch you, and you couldn't even wait for her!"

At the entrance to the Zhou house, Goudanzi's mother happened to see him running home with his little stool, with a panting Erya following not far behind. She could not help chiding him.

Goudanzi said nothing. He ran straight inside, expertly set his stool on the floor, sat down, and waited for dinner. Seeing the little fellow's utterly heartless manner, his mother could only sigh.

They had a guest today, so this was not the time to give the little bastard another scolding.

"Here, Second Brother, have a drink!"

The long-missed aroma of meat mingled with the smell of liquor and drifted into Goudanzi's nose. His throat bobbed as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Meat. There was meat today. They had a guest, so there was meat.

Seated on little stools at the big table, the Old Zhou Household's Sangouzi and Goudanzi stared unblinkingly at the bowl of braised venison, their mouths watering furiously.

"Come here, Third, Fourth. Come over to your Second Uncle!"

Seeing how the two little ones were drooling, the guest burst out laughing and placed a few pieces of fatty meat into their bowls.

"Thank you, Second Uncle!"

Goudanzi spoke with perfect sweetness, and those few words earned him another round of praise from his second uncle.

"Little Brother, this Goudanzi of yours is a fine boy. Clever little fellow!" Second Uncle patted Goudanzi's small head and said to Old Zhou, "Well? What about the matter I mentioned last time? Can we make it happen?"

At that, Old Zhou smiled happily. He lifted the wine cup before him and took a small sip. "The boy's still young. Let's wait a little longer!"

"That's true. Goudanzi's only three, isn't he? Heh, he'll be four after New Year. So you agree?"

"This little rascal's been clever since he was tiny. He's a good boy. With you looking after him, I'd have nothing to worry about!" Old Zhou chuckled.

Goudanzi's ears pricked up. He keenly sensed that what these two were discussing had something to do with his future.

Sure enough, as he continued listening, he finally understood. This second uncle was a cousin from Old Zhou's clan, making a living at Green Ram Market, more than fifty li away.

Goudanzi had heard of Green Ram Market. It was a market town, essentially a small town. To these mountain folk, a small town was much like a city in the eyes of country people in his previous life. They greatly admired life in such places.

This second uncle had quite a few connections in Green Ram Market. Seeing that Old Zhou's Sangouzi and Goudanzi were both promising boys, he suggested sending them to town as apprentices or something of the sort, so they could learn a trade and have a way to make a living in the future. After all, Old Zhou had four sons, and he himself was just an ordinary mountain villager. It was hard to feed four sons on a few mu of poor farmland and whatever wild game he hunted.

Old Zhou had agreed. Agreement was one thing, though; Sangouzi and Goudanzi were still too young. He wanted to wait until they were a little older. That was more or less the gist of it.

Green Ram Market, huh? After wolfing down every scrap of rice and meat in his bowl, Goudanzi picked up his little stool again and went to sit outside.

As far as he was concerned, going to Green Ram Market to work as an apprentice was neither here nor there. He had been reborn with his memories of his previous life, so his attachment to his family in this life was rather faint. Besides, the relationship between parents and children in this ancient world did not seem quite like the one in his previous life. Old Zhou had plenty of sons; one more made little difference, and one fewer made little difference either. Staying in this mountain village was not much different from staying in Green Ram Market. And it was not as though he had to leave immediately.

So, after the matter made one circuit through his mind, it vanished like smoke into thin air, and he turned all his attention back to martial arts.