The next day.
At the first faint light of dawn, Lu Sui opened his eyes of his own accord, as though someone had woken him.
"Isn't it enough for you to work hard? Why drag me into it? Since when does an employee make the boss buckle down and strive for greatness?"
Lu Sui gazed helplessly at the diligent little turtle poking its head out of the shrine.
After he grumbled a little, the maids in the side rooms bustled about, helping Lu Sui wash up.
A short while later, Lu Sui stepped outside in loose training clothes.
He assumed his stance, shifted his feet, and slowly moved through his stance practice!
Despite last night's rain making the morning chill all the more biting, heat steamed from his entire body like a furnace blazing away.
Xiaohuan stood beneath the veranda, blinking her large eyes.
"Young Master moves so slowly. What sort of martial art is he practicing?"
"It's a health-nourishing art, meant to strengthen the body and prolong life, not for fighting and brawling."
Xiaotang answered softly, cradling a hand warmer against her chest.
"No wonder! Young Master's getting sturdier by the day!"
Xiaohuan nodded.
"Last time I helped Young Master bathe and change, those arms, that waist and belly-they looked just like a painting. So pretty."
Xiaotang frowned and asked:
"What paintings have you been looking at? What paintings show people without clothes..."
Xiaohuan's mouth moved faster than her brain, and she blurted out:
"Those little pictures you keep under your pillow, Sister Xiaotang. Xiaoyu and the others said they're fairies fighting... ow! That hurts!"
This girl actually dug out the erotic pictures that old woman gave me in private!
Xiaotang's ears instantly flushed crimson. Tucking the hand warmer under one arm, she curled a finger on her other hand and flicked Xiaohuan smartly on the forehead.
"You little hussy! Keep spouting nonsense and I'll tear that mouth of yours!"
Xiaohuan clutched her forehead.
"I won't, I won't do it again, Sister Xiaotang."
So even bedchamber maids who teach men about sex have to study erotic pictures to learn the positions?
How professional!
Beneath the grape trellis in the courtyard, Lu Sui let out a long breath.
It still held together without dispersing, straight as an arrow.
Lu Sui thought he ought to have a proper exchange with Xiaotang sometime and test the results of her studies!
"Once a health-nourishing art reaches major accomplishment, daily progress is barely better than nothing. No wonder so few people practice it. There's far too little positive feedback."
Lu Sui came out of his stance, unable to help grumbling inwardly.
The little turtle and snake within the shrine had grown increasingly solid and lifelike.
The stick of white incense had long since burned away, leaving not a speck.
This martial art already showed every sign of great perfection!
Lu Sui felt some regret. Even if he persevered in studying the Turtle-Snake Stance for ten years without wavering, day after day,
at most, he would be light as a swallow at sixty, brimming with vitality and possessed of bright, keen eyes.
Beyond that, it could scarcely offer anything else.
Uncle Wen's ability to keep his golden spear standing and battle ten women in a night came more from the Iron Crotch Art.
"I can't be everywhere at once. Once I've pushed 'Strengthen Qi and Blood' to great perfection, I'll discuss this with Uncle Wen."
His morning practice finished, Lu Sui went back inside, removed his upper garments, and sat on a couch warmed with a brazier and hand warmers.
"Young Master, bear with it. Chief Steward Dou said this really hurts."
Xiaotang took out a copper jar, spread the blood-activating ointment evenly over her palms, and gently rubbed Lu Sui's back, waist, and hips.
Further consolidating the results of his stance training!
"Young Master, we're going to the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School at noon today to hang your curtain. Master Tan has everything ready. All that's left is for you to arrive."
Lu Sui had always been quite interested in the Five Great Trades, which covered the sky with one hand beyond the pass.
His bargain father, Lu Yulin, was chairman of the Yongning Prefecture Merchant Guild, the equivalent of the boss of a leading local enterprise.
His business spanned both Guandong and Guanzhong, monopolizing eighty percent of the mountain-produce channels. A single word from him could leave tens of thousands of herb gatherers and mountain crew bosses without a livelihood.
"I wonder what sort of ability you need to become chairman of the martial trade. Fetus Embracing?"
Lu Sui pondered.
A merchant guild chairman needed wealth and influence. Naturally, a martial trade chairman would be judged by whether he could fight.
But who decided who occupied the top seats of the Five Great Trades?
Did the previous generation's venerable elders and old hands shut the doors and vote for a leader?
As Lu Sui's thoughts wandered every which way, the gluttonous little snake residing in the shrine feasted on the blood-activating ointment, absorbing its medicinal effects almost perfectly.
The large muscles throughout his body quivered slightly, every blood vessel plainly visible, like a crisscrossing network of rivers.
His Qi and Blood surged like a rushing river, roaring as it poured into his arms.
Under this repeated scouring, Lu Sui felt his strength increase a little more.
"The Land Beyond the Pass really is interesting."
A short while later, Lu Sui slipped on his outer robe and said with a smile:
"Xiaotang, get an outfit ready for me. It's time to pay the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School a visit."
"Freshly steamed buns! Big, soft meat buns!"
"Flatbread! Wu's flatbread! A century-old shop, and no heartburn!"
"Roasted chestnuts! Sweet, delicious roasted chestnuts..."
All manner of hawkers' cries drifted into the carriage. Lu Sui raised a hand, lifted the curtain, and looked outside.
His curious-child manner struck Xiaotang as rather odd.
Why does Young Master look like a villager coming into town for the first time?
"Changle County probably counts as one of the better-developed second-tier places beyond the pass?"
After looking around, Lu Sui reached this conclusion.
The straight main street was broad and open, wide enough for three carriages abreast. Shops lined both sides: eateries, taverns, variety theaters, teahouses, and brothels stood shoulder to shoulder, offering everything one could want for food, drink, and amusement.
The carriage wheels rolled over blue flagstones rather than yellow dirt, while pedestrians and traders passed in an unending stream.
For some reason, it reminded him of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, which he had seen during his school days. It was just as bustling.
From the small, one could glimpse the whole.
The lands beyond the pass were no barren backwater. Trade here was highly developed, prosperous even.
"Marten pelts, ginseng, deer antler... Changle County's main business is raw mountain produce of all kinds, along with further processing.
"The Lu Family had quite a keen nose for business opportunities to put down roots here. As long as they control this trade route, raking in gold by the bushel every day is no problem."
Lu Sui pondered as he observed the details.
Before he knew it, the carriage had stopped outside the gates of the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School.
"Young Master, we're here."
Lu Sui bent down to step out of the carriage and planted his feet firmly on the ground.
According to Uncle Wen, Changle County had only four martial arts schools of any real renown.
The Hundred Victories Martial Arts School was one of them.
However, its master, Tan Jingzong, had come from inside the pass. He was an "outsider" with relatively little seniority.
Thus, the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School counted as a rising newcomer and had only just managed to establish a firm footing a few years earlier.
"In the martial trade beyond the pass, the greater your fame, the greater your skill. Few enjoy reputations they haven't earned."
This was something Dou Xiaowen had explained to Lu Sui.
For beyond the pass, there was never any shortage of martial artists willing to stake their lives on rising from obscurity to win both fame and fortune.
And in the martial trade, the easiest way to gain fame and fortune was to challenge a school on its own doorstep!
The greater the opponent's fame and prestige, the richer the rewards for winning!
All it took was for the challenge to be accepted, for them to step into the ring, and for the challenger to win a single bout!
All the fame and glory the opponent had accumulated over half a lifetime would belong to the victor!
It could certainly be called a fine way to seek wealth and honor amid danger!
And what if you lost?
You merely paid with this wretched life of yours!
Surely that was no worse than suffering in poverty, worked like an ox or a horse!
"Competition in the martial trade is fierce."
Lu Sui sighed inwardly. Any martial artist who could open a school, plant his flag, and establish a name in this environment absolutely had some genuine skill.
Otherwise, someone would have smashed up his establishment long ago.
"Young Master Lu!"
Seeing Lu Sui climb the steps, the young man in fitted martial attire waiting by the side gate hurriedly cupped his fists in greeting.
"I am Tan Chuanjie of the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School. Greetings, Young Master Lu! When my father learned you wished to join us and hang your curtain, he ordered me to wait here for you bright and early."
Tsk, the school master's son welcoming me in person?
The 'admissions treatment' for a saber-gun-cannon really is different.
Lu Sui likewise observed every courtesy, his manner warm.
"Greetings, Brother Chuanjie. My apologies for keeping you waiting."
Tan Chuanjie was unremarkable in appearance, with a broad nose, small eyes, and prominent cheekbones, but he certainly knew how to speak.
"Not at all! Your choosing to hang your curtain at the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School is an honor to us!"
Leading Lu Sui through the entrance, he said with a smile:
"Chairman Zhou of the martial trade summoned my father early this morning. He said an evil calamity might have broken out in Changle County, and they needed to intensify patrols and find its source."
An evil calamity?
Lu Sui raised an eyebrow, thinking of the jade cicada Luo Dongsheng had given him.
It contained a trace of Calamity Qi.
Feigning surprise, Lu Sui asked:
"Is it that serious?"
Tan Chuanjie shook his head.
"Haven't you heard, Young Master Lu? At the Zhenyuan Escort Agency in Gong and Drum Alley to the west, three people have been dying every day. Chief Escort Lin was so frightened he fled overnight with his family, but he still couldn't escape..."