The so-called "curtain-hanging skills" were jargon in martial circles.
Though Lu Sui did not understand precisely what it meant, he knew Uncle Wen had called him inside because he did not want outsiders watching.
He told Xiaohuan to wait outside, then laboriously lifted his foot over the threshold.
Dou Xiaowen lowered the door curtain. The light dimmed, obscuring his expression.
Only his airy voice could be heard:
"Here beyond the pass, craftsmanship is worth the most money, and ability is the greatest treasure."
"Among all the crafts, martial arts come first."
Lu Sui nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing.
Whatever the trade, if you wanted to carve out territory, raise your banner, and establish yourself, you needed either fists hard enough or pockets deep enough.
"Yongning Prefecture has as many martial schools as an ox has hairs, and hundreds of years have left them with an elaborate set of rules."
"Of those, taking disciples involves the most formalities."
Dou Xiaowen fiddled with his tobacco pipe and explained:
"Those who pay to learn martial arts are called apprentices. The master teaches you once, watches you perform it once, then leaves you alone.
"After that, you practice on your own. Whether you amount to anything depends entirely on talent."
Lu Sui could not help clicking his tongue.
With such a hands-off approach, how many could ever amount to anything?
"If you catch the master's eye, he calls you inside from the courtyard, formally establishes the master-disciple relationship, and teaches you the real thing after three kneelings and nine kowtows."
"True skills are a martial artist's lifeblood and must be kept strictly secret. Even your closest family cannot watch. Even when practicing at home, you must hang a curtain to screen yourself off.
"That's why they're called curtain-hanging skills."
Understanding dawned on Lu Sui. So that was where the term came from.
"Young Master, if someone from martial circles asks whether you've hung a curtain, they're asking about your background, probing whether you're an outer apprentice or an inner disciple."
Whoa! That was something new!
Lu Sui marveled inwardly. This land beyond the pass truly was fascinating, with a novel flavor that mingled the martial world with everyday street life.
Leaning on his crutch, he asked:
"Uncle Wen, should I give you a kowtow now?"
When learning someone's skills, kowtowing and offering tea were only right.
"Young Master, that's far too much."
Dou Xiaowen broke into a surprised smile and shook his head.
"Curtain-hanging skills sound rare, but what is there beyond the pass that money can't buy?
"I eat the Lu family's food, wear their clothes, live under their roof, and draw their silver. A mere Turtle-Snake Stance doesn't warrant such a grand gesture from you, Young Master."
Tsk, being a young master really was nice.
Hearing Dou Xiaowen say this, Lu Sui happily let the current carry his boat.
Someone from the impoverished lower classes would probably have to save silver for years, enter a martial school with their back bowed, endure the long grind of seniority, and wait on their master...
Even after giving it their all like that, they might never learn true curtain-hanging skills.
Dou Xiaowen put on none of a master's airs and gestured with his hand.
"Young Master, sit down first."
The Lu family's hopes rested on this sole remaining shoot. If Lu Sui could achieve something in martial arts, the master would surely bloom with joy and spare nothing in rewarding him.
Even for the sake of that painted cake, Dou Xiaowen had to put everything into teaching him.
"The foundations of martial training come down to two things: stance training and the horse stance.
"If your lower body isn't solid, even hands that can shatter steles and split stone are wasted. Your opponent can knock you down with a single move."
Lu Sui committed every word to memory, thinking:
So you train your legs before anything else?
He sat in a southern official's hat chair, both hands resting on his knees.
In his current state, how could he hold a stance or maintain a steady horse stance?
"Don't worry, Young Master. The Turtle-Snake Stance has both moving and still sets. We'll start with stillness, then move on to motion, taking it slowly."
Dou Xiaowen's voice was airy, his delivery unhurried, making Lu Sui feel as though he had returned to a university lecture.
He asked curiously:
"Uncle Wen, what do you mean by moving and still?"
Dou Xiaowen sat beside him and tapped his pipe bowl.
"You have to look at training and skill separately. Training takes four forms: moving, walking, sitting, and lying down.
"Skill has four methods: nurturing, practicing, fighting, and killing.
"Training is the form, skill is the technique. Only together do they count as true ability."
Lu Sui listened carefully. Out in the world, this information could easily sell for dozens or even a hundred taels of silver.
Take the seven or eight sturdy men in the courtyard. To learn martial arts from Uncle Wen, they had to treat him like their own father, attending him day and night, offering gifts at festivals, and enduring every hardship without complaint, all to beg a move or two and a few words of guidance.
Yet even a chance to toil like oxen and horses was beyond the reach of countless eager people.
"Those rough fellows in the courtyard were picked from the household guards. I only teach them the fighting method. Normally, they toss stone locks to build strength and practice moving stances to strengthen their muscles and bones."
With his eyelids drooping, Dou Xiaowen spoke slowly:
"Grind away for eight or ten years, and with a spear or staff in hand, they can take on ten men. More than enough to fend off petty thieves and bandits."
From what Uncle Wen was saying, the Turtle-Snake Stance he would learn seemed more advanced?
The anticipation in Lu Sui's heart grew stronger.
Dou Xiaowen said softly:
"The Turtle-Snake Stance is a martial art I obtained in the mountains. I started training too late, after my muscles and bones had already set, so my achievements in this lifetime are limited.
"I don't seek to reach heaven and pierce the earth. I only want these old bones to live a few more years."
Lu Sui studied Dou Xiaowen. At sixty, he was still vigorous and bright-eyed, his voice resonant. He looked barely past fifty.
He certainly counted as hale and hearty in old age.
Then Lu Sui caught the key words in what he had said.
-Reach heaven and pierce the earth!
Could martial arts really be that powerful?
Before Lu Sui could ask, Dou Xiaowen continued:
"Unfortunately, I've indulged in women, tobacco, and drink all my life, and practicing hard-body skills depleted too much of my original essence. I can't bring the Turtle-Snake Stance to great mastery.
"Young Master, I can tell you're still a virgin. You're just right for learning this health-nurturing art."
He could even tell that?
How did he check?
Lu Sui's expression turned odd, then he found it amusing. The original owner of this body had mingled in opera circles, yet really had done nothing but sing opera and listen to tunes?
"Young Master, we'll begin with sitting and lying down, and learn the nurturing method."
Dou Xiaowen stopped dwelling on it and went straight to the point:
"The essence of the Turtle-Snake Stance lies in these words: turtle and snake coiled together.
"It has two sets of skills: Turtle-Breathing Tuna and Spirit Snake Circulating Qi.
"The former requires neither walking nor stance training. You seek a sense of Qi through breathing."
As he spoke, Dou Xiaowen stood, circled behind Lu Sui in a few steps, and lightly prodded him with his tobacco pipe.
"Young Master, straighten your lower back, relax both shoulders, and let the breath you exhale through your nose sink downward..."
The pipe stem touched Lu Sui's shoulders, lower spine, and other places in turn.
Breathing... inhaling and exhaling... finding a feeling? This was far too abstract!
Lu Sui obediently followed along, gradually adjusting his sitting posture and breathing rhythm to Uncle Wen's instructions.
"Ordinary people breathe mainly through the mouth and nose. Turtle-Breathing Tuna uses the chest and abdomen instead."
Dou Xiaowen broke down the obscure breathing method and explained it to Lu Sui piece by piece.
"First, join your broken breaths into one continuous whole, like twisting a rope, tightening it little by little..."
Lu Sui concentrated fully, bringing out the same seriousness he had shown when studying for the civil service exam, chewing over and digesting every word Dou Xiaowen said.
It took roughly an hour before he had learned and memorized the entire method of breathing and circulating Qi.
But that was only his mind grasping it; he had not truly understood it.
"Young Master, you really are an educated man. What a fine memory."
Dou Xiaowen was quite pleased. Many servants in the Lu household could not read a single word and had heads like blocks of elm. Teaching them was terribly laborious.
They were nothing like Lu Sui, who could remember something after hearing it once and needed no lengthy explanations.
"Uncle Wen, how long does it take to master this Turtle-Breathing Tuna?"
Lu Sui asked.
"Stillness skills depend more on comprehension. For slower learners, taking six months or a year just to enter the threshold is perfectly normal. As for the quick ones..."
Dou Xiaowen said slowly:
"They still need eight or ten days. Anything faster, I've never seen. It only exists in stories passed from mouth to mouth."
Lu Sui quietly watched the white incense stick that appeared before his eyes. Wisps of blue smoke drifted from its tip, and two lines of small text flashed beneath it-
[Recording "Turtle-Snake Stance" (Mortal)] [Time required: four hours]