Bone Transformation

Liu Yuanzhou arrived at Liu Chuang's home and shouted as soon as he entered the courtyard, "Hu Wa, come out quick."

The curtain over the Cave Dwelling door lifted, and a little head poked out. "It's Brother Second Child. My brother and dad are chopping cattle fodder." The speaker was a girl of about ten, with pigtails looped like ram's horns, yellowish hair, and a sallow face. She was Liu Chuang's younger sister, Xiao Hua.

"Xiao Hua, you're home alone? Didn't you go play with Fangfang and the others?" Liu Yuanzhou walked over and smilingly rubbed her head.

"Don't touch my head. I just combed it." Xiao Hua twisted her head away, pouting. "I still have to cook."

"Hehe, all right. I'm going to find Hu Wa." Liu Yuanzhou laughed. Xiao Hua was around ten, with a big head, big eyes, and a thin body like a bean sprout. Whenever Liu Yuanzhou saw her, he wanted to tease her.

"Wait, carry this jar of water down." Xiao Hua turned around as she spoke and brought out a jar.

Liu Yuanzhou smiled and took it. This Xiao Hua really knew how to order people around.

Leaving Liu Chuang's courtyard, he went down a slope to another yard. Beside it stood several abandoned, dilapidated Cave Dwellings, long uninhabited. This was Liu Chuang's Cattle Pen. Liu Yuanzhou spotted Liu Chuang and his father chopping fodder at once. He walked over and said, "Uncle, let me do it. You take a rest." As he spoke, he set the water jar on the ground.

Liu Chuang's father, Liu Dalong, smiled when he saw Liu Yuanzhou approach. "Second Child, no need. We're nearly done." A strip of cloth covered his nose and mouth, making his voice muffled.

But Liu Yuanzhou would not hear of it. He went over, pulled him aside, and said, "Uncle, let me do it."

Unable to argue with him, Liu Dalong sat down on the ground nearby and picked up the jar to drink.

"What brought you to see me today? Are you better?" Liu Chuang leaned on the fodder chopper, panting heavily. "And you have to explain the drinking thing to me today. You made Auntie wrongly blame me." He spoke angrily.

"All right, all right. I'll tell you the whole thing in a bit. Here, switch with me. I'll chop, and you feed in the grass." Liu Yuanzhou said, rising to his feet.

The two switched places. Liu Yuanzhou chopped the fodder while Liu Chuang fed the grass in.

"Haha, Hu Wa, aren't I especially strong today? Aren't I chopping especially fast?" Liu Yuanzhou felt as though he had strength to spare, and he laughed heartily.

"Hehe, yeah. Not even a martial artist could chop faster than you." Liu Chuang rolled his eyes at him.

"Huff, huff. I may not be a martial artist yet, but I'm close." Liu Yuanzhou panted, grinning. This feeling of being unable to speak of his joy was truly stifling.

Liu Chuang rolled his eyes at him again. Before long, they finished chopping the cattle fodder. The three returned to Liu Chuang's courtyard. Liu Dalong went off to busy himself, while Liu Yuanzhou and Liu Chuang sat on stone stools in the yard and chatted.

"Now can you tell me? What exactly happened that night?" Liu Chuang asked right away.

"Ah, don't mention it. I was terribly depressed that day because of Li Laocai, so I ran to Third Master's house alone that night to drown my sorrows. You know what happened after that. As for getting sick, maybe I caught a chill." Liu Yuanzhou sighed deliberately. He absolutely could not tell outsiders about Miss Qin.

"Li Laocai is truly wicked. He deserves a terrible death," Liu Chuang said bitterly.

"Ah, forget him. It's all in the past." Liu Yuanzhou said.

Liu Chuang suddenly laughed. "Haha, there's some good news you might not know about. It happened just these past few days."

"What is it?" Liu Yuanzhou asked curiously.

"Li Laocai's house is haunted." Liu Chuang's face was full of mystery.

"Oh? What happened?" Liu Yuanzhou asked.

"I only heard about it, but these past few nights, strange noises have kept coming from Li Laocai's house in the dead of night. The next day, his family checked and found that lots of things were missing—White Flour Buns, beef, mutton, and the like."

"At first, they thought thieves had come. Li Laocai had several hired hands and his son keep watch at night, swearing they would catch the thief. But after everyone stood guard all night, they did not see so much as a shadow. The next day, they found even more things missing."

"Li Laocai was scared badly. He even invited that White-Haired Taoist from Crouching Tiger Slope to perform rites and drive away the ghosts."

"A lot of people in the village have been talking about it. Everyone says Li Laocai has done too many wicked things and brought evil ghosts upon himself." After speaking, Liu Chuang smacked his lips, dissatisfaction in his voice. "Ah, you tell me, what's wrong with this ghost? Why didn't it take all his silver and ingots? Why only steal food? Could it be a starving ghost?"

"Maybe it was a female ghost," Liu Yuanzhou muttered. He roughly understood what had happened, and he did not know whether to laugh or cry. A dignified martial artist, doing something so sneaky and petty. Yet he was deeply moved as well.

The two chatted a while longer before Liu Yuanzhou took his leave. When he returned home, Liu Yuanbo and his wife had indeed come back.

"Second Child, these are fruits I brought from home. Have a taste." As soon as he entered, his sister-in-law Li Shi took out two apples for Liu Yuanzhou. Zhang Shi had already begun cooking Helao Noodles, using the meat stewed that morning as topping.

Liu Yuanzhou took one and bit into it. It was truly sweet. He asked Li Shi, "Sister-in-law, are these fruits grown by your family? They sell for very high prices at the market. No one in our village grows them yet."

"We only started planting them two years ago. This is the first year they've borne fruit, and we didn't bring any to sell. They're just for us to eat," Li Shi replied.

"Dad, Mom, doesn't our family have several mu of mountain land too? I was thinking that when spring comes next year, we could plant some fruit trees as well. I've already asked my brother-in-law clearly about how to grow them." Liu Yuanbo cut in, his tone quite excited.

"I'm afraid they won't survive, and it'll waste our effort." Liu Da took a drag on his cigarette, slowly exhaled, and spoke.

Zhang Shi said nothing. She did not particularly approve either, but with her daughter-in-law present, she could not say it outright.

Liu Yuanzhou strongly approved. In his view, those few mu of mountain land produced little grain anyway. It would be better to plant fruit trees. Liu Yuanzhou understood that his parents' opposition was actually an instinctive rejection of something they did not understand.

"Dad, Mom, I think planting fruit trees is good too. First, Sister-in-law's family has already succeeded, so we have experience to learn from and won't be groping around in the dark. Second, those few mu really aren't suitable for grain. You know that better than anyone. Third, no one in the village grows them yet, and fruit sells for a high price. If we succeed, selling them might be better than growing grain." Liu Yuanzhou laid out his analysis.

"You're the one with all the words." Zhang Shi rolled her eyes at Liu Yuanzhou, then said to her husband, "Then should our family try planting some next year?"

Liu Da pondered for a long while before saying, "Then let's give it a try?"

Liu Yuanbo and his wife showed delight when his parents agreed to try planting fruit trees. Li Shi happily helped her mother-in-law cook, while Liu Yuanbo told his father about things at his father-in-law's home. Liu Yuanzhou could not join the conversation and was not interested in what they were saying, so he returned to the Cave Dwelling where he lived.

Once inside, he felt unbearably itchy to practice. He assumed the posture of the Limitless Stance and began standing the stance. Circulating the breathing method, he quickly entered that mysterious state and entered samadhi once more. This time, he did not wait until the pain became unbearable. He woke early instead, and his body no longer felt as painful and exhausted as it had that morning. This session lasted a little more than seven cycles of the breathing method. Only then did he let out a long breath of relief. He had finally mastered the method of entering samadhi; he had not simply stumbled into it by chance.

During his first time entering samadhi that morning, Liu Yuanzhou had been too excited to notice. In truth, while in samadhi, he had not been asleep. He retained awareness of the outside world, and his understanding of his own physical state was as clear as if he could see fire through a hole. Yet in that mysterious state, nothing could stir a ripple in his emotions.

There was another matter that excited him greatly: the time he could stand the stance had leaped from four cycles to seven. He felt that his strength had increased a little. As for the rest of his physical condition, he noticed no changes for now. Perhaps because he had only recently recovered from a long illness, the changes in his body were not obvious.

"Mm, I'll ask Miss Qin tonight whether increasing the time I stand the stance will make me stronger and toughen my body." Liu Yuanzhou thought. "Mm, I should also ask her about Li Laocai. How did she do it?"

"Second Child, come eat." Liu Yuanbo called from outside.

"Oh, I'm coming," Liu Yuanzhou answered.

After Liu Yuanzhou finished dinner and arrived at Third Master's house, Miss Qin had already eaten and washed the bowls and chopsticks clean.

Liu Yuanzhou had just been about to ask about the questions that had puzzled him when Miss Qin spoke first. "Liu Yuanzhou, my body has recovered. I'm leaving here tomorrow."