While Wu Shuangren was pondering internal cultivation, Mo Zhengshang walked over.
The local militia commander looked at Wu Shuangren. "You look a little unfamiliar, young man. Might I ask who you are?"
Wu Dongrong, who was being carried on someone's back nearby, spoke up. "He's my son."
Mo Zhengshang was even more surprised. "You're Warden Wu's son? I remember your son was studying at my family's private school before."
Wu Dongrong said with feigned nonchalance, "He neglected his studies and picked up a few moves from someone. Sorry to make you laugh, Commander Mo."
"..."
Mo Zhengshang fell silent for a moment. "So your son has had a master guiding him. No wonder he's so capable."
He deliberately offered a few words of praise, thinking that a young man who cared about face wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut. To his surprise, Wu Shuangren remained quiet throughout, showing no intention of boasting in the slightest.
Mo Zhengshang wanted to ask more, but seeing that neither father nor son was willing to say much, he could only say, "Warden Wu, you have a fine son."
With that, he turned and walked away.
Wu Dongrong, still riding on someone's back, wore a smile he couldn't hide.
Wu Shuangren turned to look at him, and he immediately put on a stern face and scolded him. "Don't think you're a master just because someone praised you a few times. If your Uncle Liao and the others hadn't wounded Peng Tianlang, you wouldn't have been able to kill him!"
Wu Shuangren curled his lip but said nothing.
"Kid, how did it feel to kill someone for the first time?"
Liao Yu walked over and asked.
Wu Shuangren was silent for a moment. "It was all right."
"Hahahaha-"
Liao Yu suddenly burst out laughing and patted the back of Wu Shuangren's head. "You're better than your dad. The first time the two of us killed someone on the battlefield, your dad nearly pissed his pants in fright!"
Wu Dongrong's weathered face reddened. "Bullshit! I was at least better than you back then!"
Liao Yu waved a hand. "I'm not arguing with you."
Wu Dongrong gave a cold snort and fell silent.
The corners of Wu Shuangren's mouth lifted slightly.
"You killed Peng Tianlang this time. You're going to be famous."
Liao Yu said to Wu Shuangren, "Peng Tianlang was a notorious bandit throughout Yi Province. He'd been on the authorities' wanted list for years."
Wu Shuangren said, "There's a hefty bounty for killing him, right?"
Liao Yu laughed. "You little rascal, you're a money grubber too."
After laughing, he lowered his voice. "Yi Prefecture City put a bounty of a hundred taels of silver on Peng Tianlang. But once the bounty is collected, the county yamen will take a share, and the Mo Family will take a share too. You'll probably end up with about thirty taels of silver."
"Thirty taels..."
Wu Shuangren nodded, fairly satisfied.
One trip out tonight had earned him more than ordinary people could earn in decades!
Scholars could be poor, but martial artists had to be rich. That was especially true of martial artists in this world.
Wu Shuangren had been poor enough since childhood to fear poverty, so he placed even greater importance on money.
"The silver is a small matter. The important thing is to get your achievement confirmed and reported once we get back."
Liao Yu spoke.
Wu Shuangren, however, wasn't interested. As he saw it, given the Wu Dynasty's current state, it was doomed sooner or later.
Rather than rise through the official ranks, he would prefer to become a local power like the Mo Family.
It wasn't until the fifth watch, when dawn was just breaking, that the group returned to the county town.
Wu Dongrong was injured, so he didn't go to the county yamen. He went home with Wu Shuangren.
Xu Nanzhi hadn't slept all night, waiting for father and son to return.
When she saw the injured Wu Dongrong, Xu Nanzhi's face filled with distress. She helped Wu Shuangren support him into the house and lay him down, then went to prepare medicine for his wounds.
After a flurry of activity, Xu Nanzhi applied medicine to Wu Dongrong's wounds and bandaged them.
"Help Shuangren have a look."
Wu Dongrong spoke.
Xu Nanzhi hurriedly looked at Wu Shuangren. "You're hurt too?"
Wu Shuangren shook his head. "I'm not hurt."
Wu Dongrong said, "He used internal cultivation tonight. Check whether it left him with any hidden problems."
With internal cultivation practiced by adults, each time they used it, they would be left with certain hidden problems in their bodies.
Although Wu Shuangren said he had never practiced internal cultivation, he had indeed used it when he fought Peng Tianlang that night.
Hearing this, Xu Nanzhi grew serious. She immediately took Wu Shuangren's wrist and checked his pulse, then pressed several acupoints on his body and asked if they hurt.
Wu Shuangren shook his head and said they didn't.
Still worried, Xu Nanzhi went to fetch her needles. She inserted silver needles into several of Wu Shuangren's acupoints, then observed his reactions and checked his pulse.
"Did he really use internal cultivation?"
After finishing her examination, Xu Nanzhi asked Wu Dongrong with a puzzled look.
Wu Dongrong laughed in exasperation. "I'm not so blind that I couldn't tell even that!"
Xu Nanzhi looked at Wu Shuangren. "You learned internal cultivation? From whom?"
Wu Shuangren knew he couldn't brush the matter aside, so he gave the explanation he had prepared long ago:
"Last year, I met a master who taught me martial arts, but he didn't teach me internal cultivation. Tonight, when I saw Dad was in danger, I struck in desperation. Somehow, I ended up using internal cultivation."
Last year, he hadn't yet become a constable and had been studying at the private school. During that period, he had had time to himself.
"How could you possibly use internal cultivation without learning it?"
Xu Nanzhi immediately shook her head. "Who was the person who taught you martial arts? What kind of martial art did he teach you?"
Wu Shuangren said, "I can't say."
"You child!"
Xu Nanzhi raised her voice, her brows tightly furrowed.
"All right, stop asking. Even I couldn't get it out of him."
Wu Dongrong's face darkened. "Did it leave him with any hidden problems or not?"
Xu Nanzhi shook her head. "No. At least, I couldn't find any."
Wu Dongrong breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged a glance with his wife. They both had the same question in their hearts-
Unless someone practiced internal cultivation from childhood, no matter how advanced the method, learning it as an adult would inevitably leave hidden problems.
Not only would it harm the body, but it would also limit how far their internal cultivation could progress, preventing them from becoming a true master.
Hearing Xu Nanzhi's conclusion, Wu Shuangren's heart stirred.
Did this mean that the internal cultivation granted to him by [Match for One Person] wouldn't harm his body?
If he could learn this internal cultivation method, he could become a martial arts master without being left with hidden problems!
14 Mountain-Moving Method
Xu Nanzhi looked at Wu Shuangren and said gently, "Shuangren, do you know why your father and I never let you practice martial arts growing up?"
Wu Shuangren said nothing.
Xu Nanzhi sighed. "Most people who drown know how to swim. Some people learn a half-baked martial art, think they're formidable, and stir up trouble everywhere. Few of them come to a good end. Even if you really have a talent for martial arts, to become a master, you must still face trials of life and death again and again. Out of a hundred talented people, perhaps only one will become a master in the end. The rest die along the way. That's why your father and I never planned to teach you martial arts. We only hoped you could live your life in peace and safety."
Wu Shuangren knew Xu Nanzhi was right, but he wouldn't be swayed. "But I've already set foot on this path. Rather than wait to drown halfway across, I'd be better off working hard to master my skills and swimming to the other shore.
"Besides, since I was able to use internal cultivation tonight without being left with any hidden problems, perhaps that master already taught me internal cultivation, and I just haven't grasped it yet."
"..."
Xu Nanzhi's brows knitted tightly. She didn't understand why her son seemed to have suddenly become a different person.
Wu Dongrong said irritably, "Go back and get some rest first."
"All right."
Wu Shuangren left the room.
"What on earth is going on?"
Xu Nanzhi looked at her husband.
Wu Dongrong described in detail what had happened during the interrogation in the prison that afternoon, as well as how Wu Shuangren had killed Peng Tianlang that night.
Xu Nanzhi looked astonished. "We see Shuangren every day, yet we didn't notice the slightest change in him?!"
"Yes..."
Wu Dongrong had mixed feelings too. "At his age, he's managed to hide it so well. How could he possibly listen to us? We can't stop him. We might as well do as he said and help him master his skills, so he doesn't drown halfway across."
Xu Nanzhi fell silent.
"Who do you think taught Shuangren martial arts?"
After a moment, Xu Nanzhi asked.
Wu Dongrong recalled the sight of Wu Shuangren standing in front of him that night. "When Shuangren fought Peng Tianlang today, he didn't rely solely on internal cultivation. His saber skills have completely surpassed mine..."
In front of Wu Shuangren, he hadn't offered a single word of praise, but now he spoke with pride of how his son's saber skills had surpassed his own.
"It's hard to imagine what kind of master could teach him to this level in just one year."
Xu Nanzhi nodded. "What surprises me even more is Shuangren's internal cultivation. He clearly missed the best age to begin training, yet the internal cultivation he practiced didn't leave the slightest hidden problem! And Shuangren says he never learned internal cultivation... Just how was it taught to him?"
Wu Dongrong said in a low voice, "I think it might be because Shuangren has a special constitution. Otherwise, why would that master have taught him martial arts for no reason?"
As a prison warden, he had seen too much of the ugliest side of human nature in prison, so he didn't believe there was such a thing as love without reason in this world.
A sharp glint flashed in Xu Nanzhi's eyes. "You think that master has designs on Shuangren?"
Wu Dongrong was silent for a moment. "There's no use worrying about that now. I can only hope it turns out to be a good connection."
Early the next morning.
Wu Shuangren rose early out of habit. He had barely stepped out of his room when Xu Nanzhi called him into the main hall.
"Shuangren, I didn't sleep a wink last night. I kept thinking about your martial training. Tell me, what exactly are your plans for the future?"
Xu Nanzhi looked at Wu Shuangren, her face full of concern.
Wu Shuangren said seriously, "I haven't thought that far ahead for now, but there's one thing I'm certain of-I won't stay in Bo County all my life!
"Right now, I just want to master my martial arts. Whatever I want to do in the future, the world is so chaotic these days that it can't hurt to become skilled."
Xu Nanzhi was silent for a long time.
At last, she sighed. "You've grown up. Since you've made up your mind, I won't stop you."
Wu Shuangren breathed a sigh of relief.
Even if his parents had done everything they could to stop him, he would still have continued practicing martial arts, but having one less obstacle was always a good thing.
Xu Nanzhi continued, "Since you've already managed to use internal cultivation, that means the master must have taught you already. You just don't know how to use it.
"I've never encountered anything like this before... I plan to teach you an internal cultivation method, but not so you'll actually practice it. I want you to draw connections between them. By learning it, you may come to understand internal cultivation better and see whether you can grasp what that master taught you-the internal cultivation method with no hidden problems."
Internal cultivation in this world involved nothing like internal force or True Qi, so practicing several methods at once wouldn't cause conflicts in the early stages.
Only in the middle and later stages would conflicts arise, as the different ways of exerting force "reshaped" the body in different ways.
That was why Xu Nanzhi had decided to teach Wu Shuangren another internal cultivation method, so he could draw connections between them.
Wu Shuangren looked taken aback and asked in surprise, "Mother, you know internal cultivation?"