Unfair

Originally,

Fang Hu had discovered the "deal" between his son, Fang Ergou, and Fang Yue.

Of course, he had asked about it. Fang Ergou had not taught out the Breathing Technique Fang Hu had repeatedly warned him not to share.

So Fang Hu had not taken it to heart.

Without the Breathing Technique, merely lifting stones for exercise could never cultivate real strength, nor would the lack of Secret Medicine damage one's body.

Thus, he had paid it no mind.

Though the Breathing Technique was precious, even at a Martial Arts School in the city, one could not receive instruction without paying ten taels of silver.

And that was only the beginning.

Practicing the Breathing Technique could greatly increase one's strength, allowing one person to face ten, even a hundred.

At profound levels, one could stand against a thousand men, against ten thousand.

Yet no matter the Martial Arts School or family, whether their Breathing Technique was high-grade or low-grade, they were all excessively overbearing!

If one practiced without the aid of Secret Medicine, it would severely drain the body. At best, one would be plagued by grave illness; at worst, crippled or dead.

And naturally, the various Martial Arts Schools did not provide Secret Medicine for free. One had to spend money to buy it.

If not for that, how could his family have fallen into ruin back then?

For this very reason, in all the years since returning to the village,

he had gone hunting in the mountains almost every day and brought home no small amount of game, yet the family's circumstances could only be called decent.

Because most of his hunting income had been spent on purchasing Secret Medicine for Er Gou's martial training.

Even talented people could end up losing everything when practicing martial arts.

Those without talent could not even enter the gate.

So, at the very beginning, he had flatly refused Fang Yue.

Later, when he saw Fang Yue fishing, he noticed that the boy's movements were balanced and effortless. His aptitude for martial cultivation was middling at the lower end.

That met the foremost requirement for martial cultivation, and Fang Hu had been tempted at the time.

But in the end, he had done nothing.

Because scholarship impoverished, while martial arts enriched.

Given Fang Yue's family circumstances, they simply could not support him on this path.

If Fang Hu taught him martial arts, then what awaited Fang Yue would be bankruptcy, crippling, and death.

But now, he had discovered that Fang Yue had developed strength comparable to that of a beginner Martial Disciple through nothing more than simple Stone Lifting, the most rudimentary method of Force Cultivation.

What did that mean? It meant that Fang Yue, this farm boy, this junior of his own clan, must possess extraordinary talent for martial arts.

The talent had not shown itself before, perhaps because he had lacked food and nutrition.

But recently, Fang Yue's talent for fishing had come to light. He had eaten more meat, his nutrition had caught up, and thus his body's natural gifts had revealed themselves?

"This truly is difficult to decide!"

Fang Hu opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but he hesitated.

It was the joy of a hunter spotting prey.

He had studied martial arts for many years and taken the Martial Imperial Exam several times, yet failed every time.

His family had declined, and his parents had died with their eyes unclosed.

His wife, to whom he had been bound since their hair was tied together, had even divorced him because of it. It could be said that his entire life had been changed by learning martial arts.

As the saying went, one should not stumble in the same place twice.

But how could he resign himself to it?

Now, with the joy of a hunter spotting prey, seeing such fine jade in the rough as Fang Yue, he saw hope in the boy.

Yet when he thought of how difficult this path was, even harder than pursuing scholarship,

once one stepped onto it, failure meant ruin, and there would be no turning back.

He hesitated once more.

"Uncle Fang Hu, are you here looking for Er Gou? He didn't come today."

Just as Fang Hu wavered, a youthful, vigorous voice called out.

Fang Yue set down the Stone Lock beside him and looked toward the broad-backed, bear-waisted, sturdy man, assuming he had come for Fang Ergou.

"Oh, Er Gou?"

"I'm not here for him. I'm here for you."

Fang Hu looked at the youth before him, at his bright eyes. There was a certain light in them, shining brilliantly.

He seemed to see the shadow of that person in this youth.

The same youthful vigor, the same hopefulness.

That had been his senior fellow disciple, whose talent had been twice Fang Hu's. He should have achieved something on the path of martial arts.

But his family background had been poor, so he had no choice but to join an Escort Agency to earn resources for martial training.

Later, while escorting a shipment, mountain bandits had hacked off one of his arms, crippling him completely.

Fang Hu still remembered asking that senior brother, the last time he saw him, whether he regretted it.

He had said he did not.

"Uncle Fang Hu, you came for me?"

Fang Yue could not help but freeze for a moment, but soon came back to himself.

"Ah, Uncle Fang Hu, what did you want with me?

You could have just had Er Gou pass along a message. Why come in person?"

"I heard Erhu mention the 'deal' between you two. I think this deal is very unfair."

Fang Hu's voice was low, his expression solemn. His eyes were round as bronze bells.

If he grew another ring of beard, he would truly be Black Zhang Fei reborn.

Perhaps it was because he had hunted year after year and taken too many lives.

Looking at Fang Hu now, Fang Yue actually felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck.

When he heard Fang Hu's words, his heart gave a thump.

Trading fishing techniques for Stone Lifting—it was unfair?

He had not even learned archery yet. He had merely cultivated strength for a few dozen days. How was that unfair?

He had never noticed before that Uncle Fang Hu was such a petty man.

Had he misjudged him?

With those thick brows and big eyes, he looked like Black Zhang Fei, but in truth, he was narrow-minded to the extreme!

"Er Gou hasn't even learned it himself. How could he teach you? So this is very unfair. I just saw that your strength has reached the standard. From now on, I'll teach you hunting and archery myself."

Before Fang Yue could continue letting his thoughts run wild, Fang Hu's voice rang out again.

"Ah, Uncle Fang Hu, what did you just say?"

Fang Yue felt as though the situation had twisted and turned so suddenly that his mind could not keep up.

"What, you don't want to learn? Then forget it. I can't be bothered teaching you." Fang Hu snorted coldly, flicked his sleeve, and turned to leave.

"I do. I'll learn."

Whether it was hunting or archery, Fang Ergou could certainly not compare to his father, Fang Hu.

Since Fang Hu was willing to teach him personally, nothing could be better.

How could Fang Yue refuse?

Besides, he had never intended to remain tied to the fields for his entire life.

If he could learn archery and hunting from Uncle Fang Hu, then even if he did not learn Fang Hu's martial arts, he would still master a fine skill.

With his current aptitude, Fang Yue believed he could live well by hunting in the future.

"Since that's the case, come to my house tomorrow morning. I'll teach you the basics first."

"Ah, morning? I still need to help my family harvest the rice."

"Why are you dawdling like an old woman? I'll speak to your father myself. Just come without worry."

Watching Fang Hu gradually walk away, Fang Yue could not help feeling excited.

He vaguely sensed that the hunting and archery Uncle Fang Hu spoke of were anything but simple.

Otherwise, over all these years, who knew how many people in the village had wanted to send their children to Fang Hu to learn hunting.

But all had been turned away by him.