"I don't know."
Chen Ying had answered honestly.
"'I don't know' won't do as an answer."
Mr. Wen shook his head.
"Aren't many things in this world like that? Everyone takes one step and sees what comes next. Besides, I believe Granny has plans of her own. As her juniors, we need only follow her arrangements when the time comes."
At this, Mr. Wen spoke pointedly.
"A man without foresight is bound to have troubles close at hand."
"You have to stand high to see far. Someone like me can't even see the road ahead clearly. How can I speak of what the future should hold?"
"Ha ha ha! Those words do have something of your father's old flair."
Mr. Wen smiled at that. "Are you blaming me for not teaching you?"
"I wouldn't dare. I'm only speaking the truth."
"In that case, I'll teach you a thing or two."
As he spoke, Mr. Wen looked toward Wu Jie beside them.
"Miss Jie, I've changed my mind. But it isn't out of regard for your elder. Rather, this young Master Ying has stirred a little appreciation for talent in me."
Hearing this, Wu Jie naturally understood what he meant.
"Thank you for granting our wish, sir. As for Granny..."
"I said, I'm not doing this out of regard for Granny..."
At the mention of Granny, Mr. Wen's face darkened.
"A-Jie, the gentleman has already thanked Granny."
Seeing Wu Jie still invoking Granny, Chen Ying could not help finding it a little funny. Wu Jie had presumably seen little of the world and could not hear what lay between the lines.
"The White Lotus Sect has strict rules, and Granny's departure back then wasn't entirely amicable. If he were acting at Granny's request, it would put him in an awkward position within the sect later."
Chen Ying explained from the side, "If he says he appreciates my talent, that gives him an explanation for the sect too. It's the same thing, but phrased differently, everyone has an answer they can give."
"In truth, anyone would know that without Granny, we could never have entered Mr. Wen's study."
"He's the one in a difficult position, taking such pains to accommodate all sides."
Chen Ying had roughly guessed what Mr. Wen was thinking.
Since Mr. Wen knew Granny Chen, he naturally could not be an ordinary member of the White Lotus Sect.
Yet the more outstanding a person was, the less freedom they had in many matters.
There were too many things to take into account.
Wu Jie's expression changed at his words. She had never considered this aspect.
She turned to look at Chen Ying. She had always regarded him as a child, never expecting that today he would be the one to unravel this puzzle for her.
Heaven favored the Chen family after all, granting her husband wisdom at such a juncture.
Even the way Mr. Wen looked at Chen Ying changed a little.
"Wu Jie thanks you, Mr. Wen."
"Young man, you have a clear understanding of things. Here, hold out your wrist. Let me take your pulse first."
Mr. Wen finally let out a breath.
"Thank you, sir."
Chen Ying held out his hand. Mr. Wen closed his eyes and rested three fingers on his wrist.
"Both yin and yang are deficient, with severe cold reversal extending beyond the knees."
Mr. Wen raised his eyes to look at Chen Ying.
"Granny told me what happened to you. In truth, the injury to your soul is secondary. It merely needs gradual recuperation. The real problem lies in your body."
"His body?"
A-Jie looked quite tense at this.
"There are what we call the five declines of heaven and man. When one's allotted years run out, even those with great supernatural powers are no exception, let alone an uncultivated body like yours. After what happened before, the innate qi you brought from your mother's womb has dispersed. Your body is now like a ruined temple. From a distance, it still looks somewhat imposing, but inside, it has long since rotted hollow."
Mr. Wen explained.
"A person is like a great tree, with the flesh serving as its trunk, branches, and roots. The soul and the mind are all fruit borne upon that tree. What happened to your tree is not as simple as someone plucking its fruit. After all that turmoil, it has become completely hollow inside. Its branches, trunk, and roots have all rotted; it simply doesn't show on the outside. In two or three years, when that internal decay shows on the surface, your end will have come."
At this point, he could not help frowning.
"Difficult. Very difficult."
"But Granny thought my husband was all right, and he..."
There was some panic in Wu Jie's words.
"I'm speaking in medical terms, of keeping your husband human. Granny has many methods, and naturally she has other ways. But those may not be what you want, nor what she wants. That is why she sent you to me."
Dead wood?
Hearing this, Chen Ying had gained a rough understanding of his current condition.
Perhaps it was just as Mr. Wen said: this body had reached its end. He already stood on the threshold between human and ghost. But the analogy was interesting. If the human body was a great tree, what did that make him in relation to it?
A grafted demon tree? Or an insect gnawing away at its roots?
"We might as well try treating a dead horse as though it were alive. Please advise me, sir. At this juncture, what can I still do?"
Chen Ying steadied his frame of mind and asked.
"When cold enters the interior, push it into circulation; when the channels sink, apply fire; when the network vessels knot and tighten, fire is the treatment."
Mr. Wen looked at Chen Ying.
"First, borrow a little fire."
"Fire?"
"This is a method of internal strengthening. Use boxing as the guide and the body as the furnace. Turn your own essence, qi, and spirit into fuel, and your internal organs into glowing coals. Draw the bow, brace the crossbow, rouse your spirit. Do all that human effort allows, and leave the rest to Heaven."
Mr. Wen sighed at this.
"No wonder Granny sent you to me. I happen to have just such a path for you to try. But let me make this clear first: whether it succeeds or fails, I am treating your illness. Whatever I pass on is a physician's medicine, absolutely not a master-disciple inheritance."
Hearing that Mr. Wen had a solution, Wu Jie was feeling delighted.
Chen Ying, however, heard the implication.
He had not expected the old grievances between Granny Chen and the White Lotus Sect to run so deep. Mr. Wen was unwilling to leave even the slightest opening, afraid of inviting further trouble.
Mr. Wen rose, took something from inside the desk, and slipped it into his sleeve.
"Since I'm going to teach you a style of boxing, I must first make its background clear. My surname is Wen, my given name Ruzhi. I am an incense master under the White Lotus Sect. The sect has Three Mountains, Six Halls, and Eighteen Incense Pillars. I head one of them."
"Since you are learning this art of mine, you must yield somewhat to members of the White Lotus Sect if you encounter them in the future. If a fight truly breaks out, do not use what I teach you to harm them. Consider it honoring what has passed between us today."
"Can you agree to that?"
Chen Ying did not answer. Growing a little anxious, Wu Jie gently pinched his waist.
"Husband..."
"I can agree to that."
"Good. If this succeeds and truly extends your life, I won't ask you to repay the favor. We are not master and disciple. I am merely a physician treating a patient. When you have the means, pay me three hundred pounds for the consultation."
Three hundred pounds? Chen Ying had no sense of money and truly did not know how much that was.
Beside him, Wu Jie agreed at once.
"You are generous, Mr. Wen. Our Chen family thanks you for this great kindness."
"Good."
Mr. Wen tossed the object in his sleeve straight into Chen Ying's hands. It was a revolver with an ivory grip.
"This style of boxing did not originate in my sect. It has something of a reputation in the martial world. It is called Bagua. But with me, if you want to learn boxing, you must learn this first."
Wen Ruzhi pointed at the revolver in Chen Ying's hands.
"Learning this teaches you the principles of boxing. In the past, a skilled practitioner who trained properly could easily keep a dozen or more men from getting near him. If he wanted to kill, it was like the blazing sun brushing away dew, effortless and silent. But things are different now. However accomplished your training, once someone closes in on you, within three feet, this is both fast and accurate. Unless they have trained to the very pinnacle, by the time you've fired all six rounds, they'll be meeting the King of Hell."
"That is the principle of boxing."
Before you continue