Those words were utterly shameless!
Dou Xiaowen could not help grumbling inwardly. If the eldest young master truly had a talent for martial arts, it could only have come from his mother.
It certainly had nothing whatsoever to do with you, Master.
As the chief proprietor of the Ganzi Gang, Lu Yulin had followed the old master far and wide since his teens, crossing mountains and rivers and passing through Shaqing Pass several times. His skill with spear and staff was certainly no trifling matter.
Otherwise, the outlaws would never have given him the nickname "Saber-Wielding Ghost."
But he was still a hundred and eight thousand miles from being called an "expert."
After enjoying his delight for a while, Lu Yulin suddenly asked:
"Master Dou, you have broad horizons and extensive experience. Tell me, does Zhan'ao have what it takes to enter the martial profession and become a grandmaster?"
Dou Xiaowen took out his tobacco pipe thoughtfully. Only after taking two puffs did he say:
"Hard to say. Every step forward in the realms of the flesh is like climbing to heaven. Becoming a martial grandmaster is no easy thing."
He did not think Lu Yulin was reaching beyond his grasp. In its early years, the Lu Family had also ventured out from Shaqing Pass and encountered a great fortuitous opportunity.
Otherwise, how could there be a Ganzi Gang entrenched in Changle County and spanning the Land Beyond the Pass today?
Such an immense enterprise, enough to make anyone green with envy, ultimately needed capable descendants to preserve it.
Lu Yulin's secure position at the head of Yongning Prefecture's merchants, and even his ability to summon wind and rain in Changle County, did not rest solely on the strength of his fists.
There was another reason.
That was why, upon learning of Lu Sui's outstanding martial talent, Lu Yulin had begun thinking of nurturing his son into a martial grandmaster.
Only by subduing the martial profession with his fists and claiming the position of foremost grandmaster would the eldest young master have a chance to keep the "treasure" passed down by his ancestors.
"I was thinking too simply. Of the five professions beyond the pass, merchants can rise easily with courage and care, but rising in the martial profession is hardest. You have to stake your life..."
Lu Yulin sighed and changed tack:
"We'll take one step and see where it leads. Master Dou, teach Zhan'ao well. Just make sure nothing else goes wrong."
Dou Xiaowen exhaled a long stream of smoke and nodded:
"Master, if you need me to act, just say the word.
"Though I, Dou Lao'er, left Shaqing Pass years ago, a man has his reputation as a tree has its shadow. Our fellows beyond the pass will still show me some respect."
Lu Yulin laughed heartily:
"Don't worry, Master Dou. Unless someone comes down from the mountain, I won't need you. Of course, ideally, I won't need you at all."
Master Lu lowered his head to glance at the calligraphy whose ink had yet to dry.
-To repel threats without, first secure order within!
In the final character, "within," the blade-like brushstroke burst through its enclosing strokes, as though cleaving open a cramped cage.
Lu Yulin braced both hands against the edges of the large painting table, murderous intent spilling from his brow.
"A ghost has gotten into the household. Once I've cleaned it out, I'll take my time playing with that last surviving bastard."
Dou Xiaowen grinned. In martial skill, a hundred Lu Yulins would be no match for him;
but in scheming, cunning, and ruthless methods, a thousand of him could not compare to Master Lu.
"Wonder whose heart got smothered in lard, daring to betray the hand that feeds them? Their whole family's going to die now..."
"The protagonists in storybooks pick up a martial arts manual and master peerless divine arts. That makes no sense at all!"
After returning from Dou Xiaowen's private courtyard, Lu Sui held the booklet and studied it carefully.
He spent a full two incense sticks' worth of time on it. By the time the sky outside darkened, the despair of a failing student finally appeared on his face:
"I... actually can't understand it? How could anyone learn martial arts without a master to lead them through the door!"
The booklet was full of things like "the red dragon stirs the sea," "water and fire meet," and "sound the heavenly drum."
Lu Sui recognized every individual character, but strung together, they were beyond him.
"I should've kept Uncle Wen around and asked a few more questions..."
Before Lu Sui could feel regret, tadpole-like writing flickered into view before his eyes.
[Seeing you study the essentials of breathing and ponder deeply, "Turtle-Snake Stance" has also gained insight.] [A thread of inspiration enters your body like sweet rain, nourishing every bone.] [The turtle breathes for a thousand years, breathing and guiding, advancing once again...]
"Insight?"
Lu Sui froze slightly, looking somewhat blank, as though he had no idea what he had understood.
The next moment, countless images unfolded, turning into incomparably solid training experience that poured into his mind.
"So that's how it works!"
Understanding flashed through Lu Sui's eyes. As though wisdom had been poured through the crown of his head, he comprehended everything in the booklet.
After achieving minor mastery in breathing, he needed to train his breath, striving for four qualities: "fine, even, deep, and long."
"So fine it can't be heard, so even there are no fluctuations, so deep it reaches below the navel, so long it flows without end... that's major mastery."
When Lu Sui looked at the booklet again, many obscure passages instantly became clear.
He gently closed his eyes, sending his awareness into the ancient temple.
The little turtle before the shrine had actually grown a size larger. Its ink-black shell gleamed, and its limbs were chubby.
The stick of white incense had also burned down by more than half.
That meant the progress was gratifying!
"I'll nourish my body with Turtle-Breathing Tuna first. Once I can practice the stance, I'll learn 'Spirit Snake Circulating Qi' too."
Feeling that he had done a good job "raising" the diligent little turtle, Lu Sui looked forward all the more to raising a little snake as well.
Stillness and movement had to be combined!
Breathing and stance training-he had to grasp both, and make both strong!
Lu Sui was considering how much more time he should spend training in the future.
The door was pushed open from outside, and a gentle voice rang out:
"Young master, it's time to eat."
Compared with Xiaohuan's crisp voice, this one was softer and sweeter, carrying the accent of Jiangnan's waterside country.
"Why have you brought a food box? Isn't Father home?"
Lu Sui looked up. The newcomer wore an apricot-red blouse cinched around a slender waist. With sloping shoulders and a long neck, she had an excellent figure.
His gaze moved upward to an oval face, gentle brows and eyes, and cool, pale skin like the finest porcelain glaze.
She was Xiaotang, the bedchamber maid in Lu Sui's rooms.
"The master went out. He told the concubine's household to prepare the meal and send it to your room."
Xiaotang set down the food box, opened the lid, and placed the dishes on the table.
"Black chicken stewed with old mountain ginseng, snow frog jelly soup with rock sugar, pigeon eggs steamed with bloody velvet antler slices... they're trying to nourish me to death."
Lu Sui eyed the spread. Every dish was expensive.
This tableful had to cost dozens, maybe a hundred taels of silver?
"The black chicken broth was enriched with ginseng slices and simmered over a low flame for six hours. It greatly replenishes vitality;
"the snow frog jelly soup nourishes the lungs and Yin, counteracting the drying heat of the velvet antler blood."
Xiaotang said softly:
"Those little hussies in your rooms have grown lazy now that you're better. It's dark, and they haven't even thought to light the lamps. They deserve a scolding."
Xiaotang unfastened a brass-cased fire tube from her waist, removed its cap, cupped it in her palm, and shook it gently.
Before long, the dark-red ember flared into flame.
"Tsk. Whatever else you might say, the original owner had some serious self-control."
Lu Sui sighed in admiration.
His bedchamber maid's looks and bearing would have ranked her among the "top beauties" in his previous life.
Yet he had actually managed to remain a virgin.
Xiaotang lit the candleholders one by one, then took silver scissors and trimmed the wicks.
With a few soft pops, the charred wicks burst, and the whole room grew bright.
Xiaotang said:
"Young master, let me serve you some soup first. When the concubine heard your legs were better, she had this black chicken stewed especially for you."
Lu Sui nodded slightly. Previously, he had been bedridden, unable to get up, and too weak to take nourishing foods.
Now that he had achieved minor mastery in breathing and could move freely, his daily training consumed a great deal.
He truly needed medicinal meals to nourish him and replenish his deficiencies.
"Next time you go to the concubine's courtyard, thank her for me."
Lu Sui lifted the bowl. The slowly simmered chicken soup tasted rich and mellow, its gelatin clinging to his lips.
Once he finished the bowl, warmth traveled down his throat into his stomach, then slowly spread from there through his limbs and bones.
Even the wisp of Qi three inches below his navel grew slightly warm.
[Seeing you nourish yourself properly, "Turtle-Snake Stance" is thoroughly satisfied and works even harder to guide your breath!]
"[Diligence Rewarded] really is a good mark. The little turtle is exactly the kind of subordinate I need."
Lu Sui felt his appetite surge. Like a gale sweeping away clouds, he devoured the medicinal dishes until his belly bulged.
"The concubine will certainly be happy if she sees you've eaten everything, young master."
Xiaotang smiled faintly.
When Lu Sui had been bedridden, he had struggled to swallow even water or rice.
After waking and managing to get out of bed, he still had not eaten much.
Only now could he be considered seventy or eighty percent recovered.
"Martial artists need to eat plenty."
Lu Sui felt a little regretful. If he learned Spirit Snake Circulating Qi and practiced the moving stance exercises, not only would his appetite grow, but his digestion would speed up too.
That way, his body could absorb more nourishment, growing sturdier by the day, with strong sinews and firm bones.
Having once possessed a healthy body, he found it truly hard to endure a weak one.
This was also one reason Lu Sui yearned to succeed in his training.
Having eaten his fill, he casually asked:
"Xiaotang, how long have you been in the Lu household?"
"Quite a few years."
Xiaotang tidied the bowls and plates with lowered brows and a docile expression:
"The master brought me back when he went to Yongning Prefecture to purchase goods once. There was a snow disaster that year. The roadsides were full of refugees."
Fragments of memory surfaced in Lu Sui's mind.
-Xiaotang was two years older than him and had been placed in his room to teach him "the ways of men and women."
Apparently, she had originally been a young lady from a wealthy, distinguished family inside the pass.
They had fled beyond the pass to escape trouble, only to be robbed by mounted bandits halfway there...
No wonder she speaks so well and has such outstanding bearing, without that silly streak Xiaohuan has.
Lu Sui's thoughts turned. Bandit troubles in the Land Beyond the Pass really were as numerous as hairs on an ox. It did not sound peaceful at all.
"Xiaotang, are those mounted bandits all highly skilled martial artists? Can they pluck leaves and send flowers flying, hurting people without a trace?"
He had stayed in the residence ever since waking, never once going out, and was deeply curious about the world outside.
Xiaotang lowered her head:
"This servant has never seen experts like that. When Father brought Mother and me beyond the pass, he hired a famous escort agency to protect us along the way. They fought off several bands of mounted bandits... but later, we ran into a demon disaster, and that was how..."
A demon disaster?
Lu Sui, who had been feeling lazy and drowsy, suddenly jolted.
He turned sharply toward Xiaotang:
"What does a demon disaster mean?"
Xiaotang replied:
"Don't you know, young master? Since ancient times, beyond the pass there have been many disasters, and within the pass, many calamities.
"Demon disasters are one of them. With my own eyes, I've seen a black wolf as big as a small hill, and a weasel that spoke human words..."