"This... isn't exactly by the book..."
Wu Jie trembled as she said something Chen Ying had never imagined would come out of her mouth.
"Hong Kong-Kowloon City has laws."
"Why should foreign devils' laws govern us Chinese?"
Wen Ruzhi looked at Chen Ying and pointed at the pistol in his hand.
"Keep it on you. Consider this your first lesson."
Chen Ying looked around Wen Ruzhi's study.
Was this an arsenal disguised as a place of learning?
When it came to playing dirty, these old religious organizations really took the prize.
Wen Ruzhi looked at Chen Ying and explained.
"There are two uses for martial arts. One is fighting and killing. Most schools today developed from weapon techniques. They were originally all armed arts. Bagua uses the palm as a saber, and its actual sabers have much longer, heavier blades than those of other schools. The Xingyi School turns spear techniques into fist techniques. Its skills are all rooted in the long spear. These are weapons for fighting and killing."
"Though we call them fist arts, we mustn't neglect either unarmed combat or weapons. In this day and age, the most powerful weapons in the world are the foreign devils' guns. Sabers, spears, swords, halberds, all eighteen traditional weapons-unless they carry a touch of supernatural power, they all have to step aside."
"Since you're making your way in the world, you must learn how to use this thing, and think about how to carry it around. Though I'm teaching you martial arts to treat your illness, I'll teach you everything you ought to learn."
Wen Ruzhi certainly knew how to make things sound good.
"From now on, come here once every three days, and I'll teach you a few things. Here are three boxes of ammunition. Once you get home, fire off one box every day. That's how you'll practice your marksmanship."
"In this world, you need to guard against people as well as ghosts and monsters. The cops in Hong Kong-Kowloon City are in cahoots with the local gangs. They're rotten from top to bottom. The local gangs all wave watermelon knives around for show. None of their fighting is real."
"Since you're learning martial arts from me, your second lesson is learning to conceal a gun without letting the cops catch you. Don't worry. If they do arrest you, there's no need to trouble your granny. I can get you out myself."
Wen Ruzhi's words carried a powerful confidence.
"To train your fists, first train your courage."
"That's one aspect of martial arts. Beyond that, you must also focus on internal training. What do you train? Stance work and footwork, techniques and forms, and, above all, essence, qi, and spirit. A true expert forges essence, qi, and spirit into one. When they strike, baleful energy sweeps out in every direction. Demons, monsters, and ghosts alike must give way."
Wen Ruzhi looked at Chen Ying. "Today, I'll start by teaching you stance work and footwork, then a short free-fighting form."
The big shot Wen rose to his feet and quickly slipped into teaching mode.
Chen Ying began practicing along with him.
For Wen Ruzhi to have reached his present position in an organization as long-established as the White Lotus Sect, his skill naturally went without saying. Before long, he was explaining the essential principles of martial arts to Chen Ying in clear, accessible terms.
From how force rose from the ground to how to channel and release it through the bones, tendons, and fascia, he made complex matters easy to understand.
Chen Ying, too, patiently applied himself, asking whenever he did not understand something. He studied until around noon, when Wen Ruzhi finally raised his tea to see his guest off, bringing the day's lesson to an end.
Before leaving, Chen Ying naturally made sure to thank his teacher properly.
Once in the car, Chen Ying was still thinking over every move he had learned.
"Surely you aren't planning to carry that gun everywhere, husband?"
Beside him, Wu Jie was very concerned about the gun.
"Since Mr. Wen said so, I'll do as he says. Besides, they've already attacked me once. There could well be a second time. Carrying this gun gives me something else to defend myself with."
"Even in the worst case, if the cops arrest me, didn't Mr. Wen say he could get me out?"
"I'm worried this Mr. Wen might have something else in mind."
There was a trace of worry on Wu Jie's face.
"If he steps in, I'm afraid we'll become even more entangled with the White Lotus Sect. Then three hundred pounds won't settle it."
"By the way, A-Jie, just how much money is three hundred pounds?"
"I haven't explained it properly to you yet, husband. Hong Kong-Kowloon City was ceded to the foreign devils over a hundred years ago. The money used here is called Hong Kong currency. The locals usually call it 'mun,' meaning a string of cash. Pounds are the foreign devils' money, called gold pounds. Though there's gold in the name, you generally can't exchange them for gold these days."
"I see."
"At the current rate, about a thousand mun will get you one gold pound. Three hundred pounds is roughly three hundred thousand mun."
"Three hundred thousand. Is that a lot?"
"It's quite a lot. A clerk at our trading firm only earns three or four hundred mun a month. An ordinary person would have to save for a hundred years without eating or drinking to put together that much."
Whew. Wen Ruzhi really was asking a lot, though it wasn't all that much either.
At that thought, Chen Ying relaxed a little.
That price for his life actually said a great deal.
"Do we have that much money?"
"We don't have that much in the accounts right now, but Teacher Wen probably won't be in a hurry for it. We can pay him gradually."
Wu Jie smiled.
"It's only because Granny has so many rules that we can only do legitimate business. Otherwise, a few jobs would bring in those three hundred pounds easily."
"Jobs?"
"Demons and ghosts run rampant. People often have to hire someone to deal with them. Say you pick out a plot of land and plan to put up a tall building, only to run into a few unclean things. Naturally, you'd hire someone to help."
"There's business like that?"
"It's not just wealthy merchants. Even ordinary people need those services. But most of Hong Kong-Kowloon City's rich have their own connections. Ordinary people can't become tycoons. Of course, any ordinary person who does become a tycoon certainly isn't ordinary anymore."
After hearing Wu Jie's explanation, Chen Ying gained a deeper understanding of the world before him.
Those mysterious, or perhaps sinister, powers were not hidden behind the scenes. They showed the tip of the iceberg, enough for everyone to sense them.
The car first returned to the small building. Chen Ying got out but did not go upstairs.
"Could you take a walk with me?"
"Why?"
"Mr. Wen just explained that Bagua emphasizes moving stance work. All the skill lies in the legs. I'd like to practice as I walk, so I won't have trouble answering to him when he tests me in a few days."
"You really have changed, husband. You would never have been this diligent before."
"Don't praise me yet. I'm just afraid this might alert those people."
Chen Ying looked around the small building. It was far too secluded here. He still had no idea who exactly had attacked him back then.
"It's all right."
"Hm?"
"If you want to go for a walk, husband, then let's go."
Wu Jie smiled as she said, "Actually, Granny left instructions. If you wanted to look around outside, we were to let you do as you wished."
"Granny means..."
"It's a good chance to let them see that you're back."
"I see. But if they..."
"Granny will protect you."
Wu Jie looked toward the woods in front of the small building. At some point, more than a dozen crows had perched there. Their pitch-black eyes were open, staring at Chen Ying and Wu Jie.
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