"Kill!"
"Kill!"
The militiamen roared with every thrust of their weapons, an imposing sight.
This was Mo Family Village, built by the Mo Family itself.
It was where the Bo County militia trained and stood guard.
Early that morning, Mo Zhengshang had sent thirty skilled men into the county seat to keep watch near the Mo Family residence.
Then he began his daily training.
The militiamen under him trained full-time, and the Mo Family covered all their daily expenses.
Mo Zhengshang was strict in his training and spent most of each day at Mo Family Village.
He knew very well what mattered most in times like these.
He stood on a wooden platform, watching the militiamen train below.
Suddenly, the platform beneath his feet trembled slightly.
Mo Zhengshang spun around and looked east of the village, toward the official road.
In the distance, dust billowed over the road.
Mo Zhengshang froze for a moment, then his expression changed drastically.
It would take at least several hundred riders galloping down the road to raise that much dust!
But there wasn't a single military garrison in all of Yi Province. Where had hundreds of riders come from?
"Close the gates!"
"Everyone, on alert!"
"Archers, to the wall!"
Mo Zhengshang forced himself to calm down and swiftly issued his orders.
There were mounted bandits around Bo County, so the wooden walls of Mo Family Village had been built especially high, and the militia regularly drilled for mounted bandit attacks.
All over the village, militiamen hurried into motion.
The gates soon closed.
More than a dozen archers climbed the wall and looked out from their elevated positions.
The militiamen had assembled as well.
Mo Zhengshang went up onto the wooden wall and looked toward the official road.
The cloud of dust drew closer and closer, its approach so formidable that the earth shook!
Mo Zhengshang could finally see clearly. There were indeed several hundred riders, every one of them carrying a weapon and wearing leather armor. Half of them also had bows and arrows on their backs.
These were several hundred cavalrymen!
As the cavalrymen drew near, they swiftly rode around Mo Family Village, surrounding it completely.
Cold sweat beaded on Mo Zhengshang's forehead, while the archers on the wooden wall trembled all over.
None of them had ever seen a force like this!
"May I ask which band of heroes has graced us with its presence?"
Mo Zhengshang circulated his Internal Skill, sending his voice far into the distance.
"Your grandpa's here-"
Someone in the crowd outside shouted back, his voice ringing across the fields. His Internal Skill was impressive too!
"Hahahahaha-"
A roar of laughter rose outside Mo Family Village.
23 Spirit Peak Stance
A quarter past seven in the morning.
Wu Shuangren had already completed his Sun-Observing Meditation for the day and eaten breakfast with his parents.
Wu Dongrong had gone to the county office, while Wu Shuangren stayed home to take his medicine.
Xu Nanzhi walked into the main hall. This time, instead of handing Wu Shuangren a packet of medicine, she brought her set of needles.
"You've taken the medicine for ten days straight. Now you can move on to the second stage."
Xu Nanzhi laid the needles on the table. "I'll stimulate your acupoints in place of the medicine, starting with three needles and going up to twelve. The fewer needles it takes for you to enter the state, the stronger your Mental Power is."
"All right."
Wu Shuangren took off his shirt and sat down with his hands on his knees.
Xu Nanzhi drew three silver needles and gently inserted them into three acupoints on his chest.
Wu Shuangren closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, meditating on torrents of rivers rushing freely through his body, flowing through each of his acupoints in turn...
This was the meditation method of [Nine Rivers Suppressing the Mountain], and it allowed him to better summon his Mental Power.
A moment later, just as Xu Nanzhi prepared to insert the fourth needle, Wu Shuangren's breathing quickened, his skin flushed red, and veins bulged all over his body.
He had entered the state!
Xu Nanzhi smiled faintly and put down the needle in her hand, unsurprised.
Wu Shuangren gradually calmed himself and opened his eyes.
Xu Nanzhi smiled and nodded. "Good. You've learned to summon your Mental Power."
Wu Shuangren was not surprised either. After all, he had already possessed an Internal Skill before he had mastered one, so his cultivation progress was beyond that of ordinary people.
"Remember the acupoints where these three needles were placed. When you meditate in the future, you can imagine the rivers in your body flowing into these three acupoints first, then spreading throughout your body. That way, you won't need outside help to stimulate your acupoints anymore."
Xu Nanzhi withdrew the silver needles one by one.
Wu Shuangren adjusted his meditation method as she had instructed.
Sure enough, he soon entered that state of extreme excitement again.
Reaching that point without outside help was the sign of a beginner's mastery of Mental Power!
"You've mastered the breathing method and Mental Power, and you can use the breathing method while in the Mental Power state, joining Qi and spirit. Next, you need to start practicing stance work."
Xu Nanzhi rose and led Wu Shuangren into the courtyard.
She set her feet shoulder-width apart, bent her knees slightly, and lowered her center of gravity. Her left arm curved loosely before her chest, while her right hand formed a fist and pressed against her lower abdomen.
Then she slowly turned her upper body to the right. Her left hand moved as if pushing a millstone, while her right fist rose from her lower abdomen to her chest.
"This stance method is called the Spirit Peak Stance. It's a 'moving stance.' When you practice it, first combine it with the Mountain-Moving Method. Once you're proficient, summon your Mental Power and enter the state... In the end, the breathing method, Mental Power, and stance method become one. Qi joins with strength, essence joins with Qi, and Qi joins with spirit. Once essence, Qi, and spirit are perfectly integrated with the body, you'll have achieved a beginner's mastery of Internal Skill."
As Xu Nanzhi explained, she guided Wu Shuangren through the Spirit Peak Stance.
The key to stance work was unifying one's strength, and Wu Shuangren had plenty of experience with that.
Compared with the breathing method and Mental Power, his progress in stance work was the fastest of all!
Xu Nanzhi had only shown him a few times before Wu Shuangren got the hang of it and began practicing with proper form.
I should be able to attain a beginner's grasp of [Nine Rivers Suppressing the Mountain] soon. When that happens, [Match for One Person] will give me a brand-new Internal Skill without any hidden dangers. What should I name it?
Wu Shuangren began to consider a name for his first Internal Skill.
A series of urgent knocks interrupted his thoughts.
"Brother Wu, are you home?!"
It was Zhang Li's voice.
Wu Shuangren hurried to open the door and saw Zhang Li drenched in sweat. "What's wrong?"
Zhang Li said, "Brother Wu, Constable Liao wants you at the constables' office right away!"
Wu Shuangren's expression changed. "What happened?"
Zhang Li shook his head. "I'm not sure either. It sounds like something happened at Mo Family Village outside the city."
"Mo Family Village..."
Wu Shuangren turned to Xu Nanzhi. "Mother, I'm going."
Xu Nanzhi stared at him. "Shuangren, be sure to stay safe. Don't act on impulse if something happens."
"All right."
Wu Shuangren nodded, then left with Zhang Li.
The two jogged all the way to the county office. Wu Shuangren arrived without a change in his expression, while Zhang Li was panting for breath.
When Wu Shuangren entered the constables' courtyard, he found dozens of constables and assistants gathered there, talking among themselves.
They all greeted Wu Shuangren when they saw him.
Wu Shuangren nodded in response and strode into Liao Yu's office, where he found Wu Dongrong as well.
"Father, Uncle Liao."
"Shuangren, come sit down."
Liao Yu beckoned him over.
Wu Shuangren went over and sat down. "What happened?"
Liao Yu's expression was grave. "Something happened at Mo Family Village. Someone escaped from the village and said it was under attack by several hundred cavalrymen!"
"Several hundred cavalrymen?"
Wu Shuangren's eyes widened.
His predecessor had studied at a private school for nearly ten years and knew the history of the Wu Dynasty.
At the beginning, the Wu Dynasty's military forces had been divided into three parts: the imperial guards, the border armies, and the local garrisons.
The local garrisons consisted of military posts across the land. At the height of the Wu Dynasty's power, there had been more than eight hundred such posts throughout the country.
Later, as the dynasty weakened and could no longer pay its troops, nearly ninety percent of the military posts were gradually abolished, partly because of local corruption and other problems.
Now, in the vast majority of provinces, there were only militias and no military posts.
Yi Province was one such case.
And almost all militia members were part-time soldiers and farmers, tending their fields in peacetime and being called up only in war. They could barely handle swords and sabers, let alone fight on horseback.
A family like the Mo Family, which had its militiamen train full-time, was already quite extravagant.
As for forming a cavalry force, if the Mo Family were several times stronger, it might be possible.
"Who in Yi Province could have several hundred cavalrymen?"
Wu Shuangren asked, puzzled.
Liao Yu shook his head. "We thought it was strange too, but the man who escaped was absolutely certain. Now the Mo Family is asking the county office to send men with them to Mo Family Village to save the people there."
Wu Shuangren froze. "We're going to save them?"
"Save them, my ass!"
Liao Yu couldn't help cursing. "If there really are several hundred cavalrymen, our men wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between their teeth!"
Wu Dongrong said from beside him, "I think it's very likely a force formed by a dozen or so bands of mounted bandits joining together. They say several hundred riders, but it might only be a little over a hundred."
Liao Yu shook his head. "That would still be a hard fight. You don't really mean to take men out of the city, do you? Even if you want to repay Mo Zhengshang's favor, there's no need to risk your life for it!"
Wu Dongrong's expression was grave. "It's not just about repaying a favor. I'm also afraid that if the Mo Family is completely crushed, outside forces will move into Bo County. When that happens, life won't be easy for us either..."
Hearing this, Wu Shuangren's heart stirred.
He himself was eager to cross swords with an expert again!
"Uncle Liao, if it really is a force of just over a hundred mounted bandits, couldn't we gather our men and fight them?"
Wu Shuangren asked.