"'Panwu Great Strength True Art'-judging by the name, it should be formidable."
A trace of delight appeared on Lu Sui's face. He had not expected the Turtle-Snake Stance to be able to advance again.
If other martial arts could do the same, with multiple talents stacking and continuously transforming...
Perhaps he truly had a chance of touching the heights of "reaching heaven and plumbing the earth."
"As long as I practice diligently and build up blood Qi, I'll eventually get it flowing through all four limbs."
Lu Sui mused:
"As for tortoise shell and snake blood, they won't be hard to obtain through the Lu Family's channels.
"But where am I supposed to get 'calamity Qi'? Do I have to kill demons?"
He recalled the "demon calamities" Xiaotang had spoken of: black wolves as large as hills and weasels that spoke in human tongues.
And the deeply guarded expression Dou Xiaowen had worn when mentioning those two words.
Demons were presumably rather terrifying beings.
"I've only just touched the threshold of 'Qi and blood.' How would killing demons be any different from delivering a meal to their door?"
Lu Sui shook his head. Better to keep grinding Uncle Wen's favorability, then win Lu Yulin's trust and approval.
Once he secured his position as the Lu Family's successor, he could bring along a whole group of estate guards and martial instructors.
There was strength in numbers, and his chances of dealing with demons would be higher.
"Enemies, bandit unrest, demon calamities..."
Lu Sui leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes slightly, as though resting his mind.
"Living a peaceful, comfortable life in the Land Beyond the Pass really isn't easy."
[Seeing you sleep soundly without a single dream all night, the Turtle-Snake Stance was refreshed as well.] [Your strength increased slightly today. Your practice will yield twice the results for half the effort...]
"Eat well and sleep enough-why worry about failing to build a strong, sturdy body?"
Lu Sui's eyes shone brightly. Feeling the abundant vigor flowing through his body, he could not help finding exercise addictive.
Sure enough, whatever one did, one had to see results to become increasingly absorbed and keep at it.
If the Lu Family had not seemed to be swaying in wind and rain, he would have loved to imitate the Sword God of Ten-Mile Slope, hiding at home to develop safely and only emerging once all his martial arts had reached perfection.
"Young Master, Madam sent word that Doctor Lu will come around noon to see you and check your pulse again."
Xiaohuan carried in a copper basin and placed it on the stand. Only after testing that the water was just the right temperature did she help Lu Sui wash up.
"Mm."
Lu Sui slipped into his shoes and got out of bed. He first rinsed his mouth with a mouthful of warm tea, then took the bone-handled toothbrush Xiaohuan offered, dipped it in tooth powder, and brushed up and down.
The various everyday goods in this world were quite well developed.
Things he used in daily life, such as washing soap, scented soap, and vanishing cream, were hardly rare.
His nominal father Lu Yulin even had a chiming clock in his study...
"I wonder whether I'll get to use electric lights in this lifetime..."
After rinsing his mouth, Lu Sui warmed his face with a piping-hot towel. Steam rose around his mouth and nose, feeling quite comfortable.
"Young Master, which robe will you wear today?"
"The pale blue one. It's loose and good for practicing."
Xiaotang came in carrying several sets of clothes and helped Lu Sui change his inner garments and put on his robe.
The life of a young master was simply this plain and unadorned.
Food, clothing, daily necessities, walking, sitting, or lying down-someone prepared everything.
After breakfast, Lu Sui performed his breathing exercises as usual.
Following the Qi circulation diagram, he went through the five postures in turn.
[Seeing that you remained steady, neither arrogant nor impatient after your breakthrough, the Turtle-Snake Stance felt great admiration!] [Thus, breath circulated on its own, cycling ceaselessly through the body as strength quietly grew...]
By the time he finished a round of breathing exercises, the sun was already overhead.
Lu Sui wiped away his sweat, reckoning Doctor Lu should be arriving soon.
Sure enough, before long, Xiaohuan came to relay a message:
"Young Master, Doctor Lu is waiting in the front hall. Master has returned as well."
Lu Sui was slightly surprised. His nominal father, who had not been home for days, had actually appeared.
He went inside, changed into a black robe, and headed straight for the front hall with Xiaohuan.
The front hall.
Doctor Lu was sitting over tea. When he saw Lu Sui enter, a trace of astonishment appeared on his face.
The youth before him stood tall and elegant, his complexion rosy and his phoenix eyes dazzlingly bright.
Where was even the slightest sign of illness?
Compared with the Lu Family's eldest young master who had lain in bed several months ago, his breath as faint as a thread, he was practically another person!
"Young Master Lu..."
Doctor Lu hurriedly rose and looked him up and down.
"When Master Lu said you had recovered, I found it somewhat hard to believe. After all, even injuries to sinew and bone take a hundred days to heal, let alone your depleted vital Qi... I never imagined you would truly be as lively as a dragon and vigorous as a tiger, with your lingering illness entirely gone.
"It must be Master Lu's good deeds accumulating virtue, bringing an unbroken stream of blessings to shelter his son."
Why was everyone so good at saying auspicious things?
Lu Sui laughed inwardly and cupped his hands in a bow.
"I owe my survival to your miraculous skill and compassionate heart, Doctor Lu. You kept that last half-breath in me with dose after dose of fine medicine, then taught massage techniques to help move my legs and spare me from becoming crippled."
"I don't deserve such praise. Not at all."
Doctor Lu repeatedly demurred, though his heart was already churning like rivers and seas. In his decades of medical practice, anyone with a pulse like Young Master Lu's, one foot already through the gates of death, would have been fortunate simply to survive.
Yet now he brimmed with tigerish vitality, nothing like someone newly recovered from a grave illness.
How extraordinary!
"Please extend your hand, Young Master Lu, and let this old man check your pulse again."
Once Lu Sui sat down, Doctor Lu rested three fingers on his wrist.
Good heavens!
After a while, Doctor Lu's brows climbed higher and higher, both astonished and bewildered.
His pulse was deep and steady, its beat powerful. His blood Qi was actually thirty percent more vigorous than an ordinary strapping young man's!
After pondering a moment, Doctor Lu withdrew his fingers and rose to bow to Lu Yulin, who sat in the seat of honor.
"Congratulations, Master Lu! With the eldest young master's pulse as it is now-forgive this old man for saying so-I fear I'll never have cause to enter the Lu estate again."
Lu Yulin set down his teacup. His gaze rested on Lu Sui for a moment before he smiled.
"You saved my son, Doctor Lu. I have no way to repay such tremendous kindness. Someone-"
A man beside him was already holding a tray and quickly stepped forward.
He lifted the red cloth covering it, revealing two rows of gleaming fine-silver ingots.
"A small token of my gratitude. Please accept it, Doctor Lu."
"How could I possibly! Treating the sick and saving lives is merely this old man's duty..."
Doctor Lu made a show of offering a few polite protests before having his accompanying apprentice accept them.
"There is another matter I would ask of you."
Lu Yulin said:
"My son has recently begun practicing martial arts and tempering his body. I hope you can prescribe a few medicinal meals and nourishing recipes for him."
With the reward in hand, Doctor Lu was smiling so broadly he could hardly close his mouth. He hurriedly replied:
"That's simple enough. The instructors of Changle County's major martial schools buy medicines from my shop year-round to prepare 'Bone-Strengthening Decoction' and 'Qi-Boosting Powder.' I'll write out the ingredients, proportions, and cooking instructions and have someone deliver them."
"Sorry for the trouble."
After a few more pleasantries, Lu Yulin instructed the steward to see Doctor Lu out.
The front hall fell quiet in an instant.
Lu Sui sat properly in the lower seat to the right, studying his nominal father.
Perhaps the robbery of five large cartloads of goods had left Lu Yulin deeply troubled.
Compared with usual, an unconcealable trace of weariness had appeared between his brows, and his temples had grown somewhat whiter.
It seems the hurdle facing the Lu Family this time is no small one.
"Father, about the trading firm lately..."
Lu Sui ventured.
"You're a child. You needn't concern yourself with these things."
Lu Yulin waved a hand, paused, then raised his eyes to Lu Sui.
"I heard Uncle Wen say your talent for martial arts is exceptional-one in a hundred?"
"Uncle Wen flatters me. I merely..."
"No need for modesty. I rarely hear him praise anyone like that."
Lu Yulin interrupted:
"Since you wish to practice martial arts and possess considerable talent, naturally, as your father, I'll support you."
"In a few days, I'll arrange for you to enroll at a martial school and properly learn some fighting skills. What do you think?"
Lu Sui could not have asked for more and promptly agreed.
"Also."
Lu Yulin lifted his teacup.
"It's time for the trading firm to distribute dividends. The head managers from various branches will be arriving in Changle County one after another, some bringing their children along.
"They'll visit the estate after noon. Entertain them on my behalf.
"They're not much different from you in age. Try getting to know them. It won't hurt."
He wants me to entertain the second generation and do some public relations?
Lu Sui froze briefly, then nodded.
"Don't worry, Father. I'll receive them properly and uphold the Lu Family's bearing."
In the past, Lu Yulin would never have entrusted something like this to Lu Sui.
For him to break precedent and give him this responsibility-was he testing him?
Seeing whether he could be a good "young proprietor"?
"Go on."
Lu Yulin waved a hand and leaned back in his chair again.
"Take care of yourself, Father."
Lu Sui left the front hall. As he rounded the corner, he could not resist looking back.
Lu Yulin sat all alone. Sunlight streamed through the doorway, lending this towering tree of a man the look of a lone timber struggling to hold everything up.
Has this upheaval already driven my nominal father and the Dacheng Trading Firm to this point?
Lu Sui's heart sank slightly.
As far as he knew, Lu Yulin had held sway in Changle County for years, with deep roots and great influence. He should not have been so easily toppled...
I need to hurry and transform the Turtle-Snake Stance, or find another suitable martial art to record in the ancient temple and place in a shrine.
Once Lu Sui disappeared around the corridor's corner, the steward who had escorted Doctor Lu out returned as well.
"Master."
Lowering his voice, the man approached with a smile.
He was the Lu estate's second steward, Duan Fusheng.
He was around forty, with a round face, small eyes, and an amiable appearance, offering everyone the beginnings of a smile before anything else.
The estate had two stewards in total. Dou Xiaowen guarded the household and seldom appeared, while Duan Fusheng most often accompanied Lu Yulin and handled matters both large and small.
"How was my performance?"
Lu Yulin straightened and lifted the cooled tea, draining it in one gulp.
"Your trips to the Auspicious Cloud Opera Troupe to hear Boss Shen perform certainly weren't wasted, Master."
Duan Fusheng praised him.
Then he pursed his lips toward Lu Yulin's temples.
"Only, might it be a little overdone?"
"It's only been a short while. How could your hair have gone white already?"
Lu Yulin flicked his temples and rubbed away a thin layer of powder.
"If I don't lay it on thick, how would they dare bare their teeth at me?
"Don't worry. This is only the warm-up. The grand finale is still to come."
Duan Fusheng understood and said no more.
A moment later.
Lu Yulin spoke in an even tone:
"Fusheng, have you found anything on the matter I asked you to investigate?"
Duan Fusheng bowed.
"We followed the vine to the melon and found the den holding those five cartloads long ago. We're only waiting for you to draw in the net, Master."
Lu Yulin tapped his knuckles twice against the grand armchair.
"The Lu Family's banner has stood for decades. There's never been a shortage of people who bite the hand that feeds them, with wolves' hearts and wild ambitions."
"But after all these years, the banner of the Ganzi Gang still bears the name Lu."
Duan Fusheng stood with his hands at his sides and sighed softly:
"Shopkeeper Luo... he's been with you for quite a few years, Master."
"Which is why."
Lu Yulin's face was expressionless:
"I was willing to let him keep his dignity."
Outside the window, cicadas clamored noisily. The front hall was very quiet.
With that matter settled, Lu Yulin changed the subject:
"Before Zhan'ao left, he told me to take care of my health."
"The eldest young master has always been filial."
Duan Fusheng smiled as he spoke.
Lu Yulin shook his head:
"He used to be like a mouse spotting a cat whenever he saw me, wishing he could take a detour around me."
A look of nostalgia surfaced in his eyes, as though he were remembering Lu Sui as a child.
"This illness... it's as if he's become a different person. He's even learned to care about his father."
Duan Fusheng glanced up and saw that, as his master said this, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and he could not suppress them.
Taking his meaning, he said:
"Master, the eldest young master has grown up and learned some sense. Then, as for what comes next..."
Lu Yulin grew calm again:
"Let's wait and see a little longer. Changle County isn't peaceful. Even if Zhan'ao practices martial arts, he'll struggle to protect himself.
Sending him back to the settlement, with his godmother looking after him, would be safest."
Duan Fusheng fell silent. That might be true, but once a living person stayed in the settlement too long, leaving again would be difficult.
Unless there was absolutely no other choice, his master probably would not make that move.