A Baffling Training Session

After Master Yan Zhijie took Su Ziyang to the clinic, he looked at the sign for Jingchengdao Medical Clinic and sighed softly, "There's such a place in this city? I've never heard of it before!"

"Master Yan, thank you for bringing me back!"

Su Ziyang politely cupped his hands in greeting to Master Yan.

"No, no, no, young senior, just call me Zhijie!" Master Yan now treats Su Ziyang with the utmost respect.

Looking at the man in front of him, who was about the same age as his father, Su Ziyang suddenly found his humility somewhat endearing.

"No, that won't do. Based on age, I should call you Uncle Yan. How can I address you by your first name!"

Su Ziyang said with a smile.

The Dao does not concern itself with lifespan, the Dao does not concern itself with lifespan!

Master Yan held his fan, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and muttered repeatedly.

"Senior Su, aren't you going to let me sit in your consultation room for a while?"

Seeing that Su Ziyang was standing at the door, showing no intention of inviting him to sit down, Master Yan shamelessly asked to go up and sit down.

"Alright! Let's go upstairs and have a seat then."

Su Ziyang was at a loss for words when faced with this somewhat roguish Master Yan. Helpless, he could only invite Master Yan upstairs. Su Ziyang led Master Yan upstairs and saw Yang Tianzheng standing at the door of his clinic.

"Oh no... this is bad."

Su Ziyang suddenly remembered that he had arranged for Yang Tianzheng to give him a lecture during his lunch break today.

"..." Su Ziyang saw Yang Tianzheng's dark face and immediately started to walk along the wall.

Upon seeing Su Ziyang's reaction, and then glancing at Yang Tianzheng standing at the door, Master Yan whispered in Su Ziyang's ear, "Young Master Su, are you afraid of him? Who is he anyway?"

"Master, please don't speak. I..."

Su Ziyang looked at Yang Tianzheng's dark face and suddenly felt a cramp in his calf.

"Master..."

Su Ziyang lowered his head, not daring to look at Yang Tianzheng.

Yang Tianzheng tilted his head to look at Su Ziyang, then at Master Yan in a Tang suit behind Su Ziyang, and grinned. "Young Master Su, where have you been? I've been waiting for you here all afternoon!"

No one expected that Yang Tianzheng had such good hearing; Master Yan had only whispered a sentence, yet he had heard it. Upon hearing Yang Tianzheng's words, Su Ziyang was completely stunned.

"Master, please let me explain. I went to treat someone else's illness."

Su Ziyang forced himself to explain.

"Oh, then why is my phone off when I call?"

"No way!"

When Su Ziyang turned on his phone, he found that it wasn't switched off; rather, he hadn't saved Yang Tianzheng's phone number, and the system had automatically blocked it.

Not having my master's phone number saved...

If word gets out, I'll probably get a beating soon.

Yang Tianzheng's family values martial arts, so Yang Tianzheng raised by his master. Before leaving, Mr. Mengfei specifically instructed Yang Tianzheng that if Su Ziyang disobeyed, he should be severely beaten.

Yang Tianzheng a straightforward person, so Su Ziyang is now afraid of getting beaten up.

To get beaten up in front of so many people would be the end of me.

"Senior, it's true that Senior Su went to treat someone else. I can vouch for that, please don't be angry!"

Master Yan's profession destined him to have a keen and resourceful mind, so he quickly stepped in to help Su Ziyang out of the predicament.

After Master Yan interrupted, Yang Tianzheng really didn't say anything more.

He gestured for Su Ziyang to open the door, then went in first.

Su Ziyang didn't dare to breathe and stood quietly to the side. Yang Tianzheng also didn't speak, looked at Master Yan, then at Su Ziyang, and then sat quietly to the side.

The atmosphere in the room became extremely awkward. It was like you were a schoolboy, the king of your grade, and you brought home a little brother, only to get a spanking from your mom in front of him.

"Excuse me, senior, are you the master of Senior Su?" Master Yan shrugged his shoulders as if shaking off the embarrassment, and broke the silence of the room by speaking first.

"Yes."

Yang Tianzheng did not deny it, but simply nodded.

"Did you teach this young senior Su your acupuncture techniques? Few people know about the Eight Methods of Flying and Soaring! Seeing you today, you are indeed full of energy, which I greatly admire!"

Master Yan was all praise and flattery, spewing out compliments as if they were free.

"Who are you? You exude a demonic aura."

Unexpectedly, Yang Tianzheng was completely unmoved by that, and his words struck a chord with Master Yan.

Su Ziyang covered his face and sat to the side, not knowing what to say, silently chanting Amitabha Buddha in his heart.

Yan Zhijie, Yan Zhijie, why are you saying such nonsense? You could have just stayed for a while and left, why did you have to provoke him?

Master Yan's face turned red and bruised from Yang Tianzheng's words.

"Master, it's my fault. I did go on a house call this afternoon and didn't answer your call. Please don't be angry with me. This is a friend I met on the house call this afternoon."

Su Ziyang lowered his head and apologized to his master.

"I'm not angry. I'm going home now, let's talk about it tonight!"

Yang Tianzheng left a message and quickly departed.

"Master Yan, my master has a bit of a temper. I just stood him up today, please don't take offense!"

Su Ziyang quickly explained to Master Yan again.

"It's alright, it's alright. Senior Su's master is indeed a master, and masters often have eccentricities. Now that I've witnessed the brilliance of Junior Senior Su's master, I'll head back now. Let's exchange contact information and exchange ideas more often in the future!"

After Master Yan and Su Ziyang exchanged contact information,

Master Yan left, and Su Ziyang sat in the consultation room scratching his head.

"I completely forgot about that! What a disaster!"

While thinking about how to apologize to his master, Su Ziyang also thought about how to make his master happy.

It wasn't until he finished work in the afternoon that Su Ziyang saw Yang Tianzheng again.

"Master, I really didn't mean it at noon. Please don't be angry with me. I used the Eight Methods of Flying and Soaring you taught me..."

As soon as Su Ziyang saw Yang Tianzheng, he started babbling on and on, afraid that his master would get angry again.

"It's alright, it's alright."

To everyone's surprise, Yang Tianzheng waved his hand and smiled as he listened to Su Ziyang's endless chatter.

"Hehe, Master, you're not angry anymore!"

Seeing Yang Tianzheng's simple and honest smile, Su Ziyang's worries instantly lessened.

"From now on, avoid associating with those shady people, understand?"

Yang Tianzheng's words sounded just like his own parents, which warmed Su Ziyang's heart.

After the two left the clinic side by side, they walked to the square in front of the Daoist Medicine Clinic. Yang Tianzheng suddenly said, "Ziyang, how's your Baguazhang practice going?"

"It's alright, I practice every day anyway. I don't know exactly how well I'm practicing."

Su Ziyang didn't know why Yang Tianzheng asked him that, so he just answered casually.

"I see the weather's nice today, so I'll test your skills. When Lao Jin gets back, he can give you some pointers."

Yang Tianzheng put his arm around Su Ziyang's shoulder, and Su Ziyang nodded happily. "Okay, thank you, Master!"

Su Ziyang had always wanted to know how far he had progressed in his Baguazhang practice, but every time he asked Daoist Jin, Daoist Jin would just say, "Practice hard, you still have a long way to go," and then send Su Ziyang away.

Su Ziyang was naturally overjoyed to hear that he would be receiving instruction in Tai Chi Sanshou today.

The master and apprentice found a secluded corner and immediately began their fighting stance.

Su Ziyang attacked first, but Yang Tianzheng simply dodged lightly and then grabbed Su Ziyang's wrist.

Upon seeing this, Su Ziyang knew it was the same move Yang Tianzheng had used to throw Yang Jinguang that day. He knew he was in trouble, so he stomped his left foot hard and pulled himself out of Yang Tianzheng's grasp.

As soon as Yang Tianzheng saw Su Ziyang dodge, he grinned and pressed his body tightly against Su Ziyang's.

There's a saying in China martial arts, "To hit someone is like to kiss them," which refers to striking someone at close range.

After Yang Tianzheng pressed himself against Su Ziyang, his whole body suddenly trembled, and Su Ziyang felt a numbness all over his body, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

"This won't do; I lack combat experience! I need to practice more!"

Yang Tianzheng has been practicing martial arts since he was 8 years old, for 50 years. Su Ziyang has been practicing Baguazhang for less than a year, how could he possibly be a match for Yang Tianzheng?

Su Ziyang lay on the ground, his whole body numb. Before Su Ziyang could react, he saw Yang Tianzheng pull a baton out of his waist with a snap.

"... Master, what are you doing!"

When Su Ziyang saw Yang Tianzheng walking towards him with a wicked grin, he was so frightened that he jumped up from the ground.

Before he could even run, Yang Tianzheng threw him to the ground again, then took a steel baton and struck Su Ziyang's buttocks three times.

These three blows were real, not faked; Su Ziyang was in so much pain that he was twitching after they were finished.

Some people say Su Ziyang isn't Golden Bell Shield or Iron Cloth Shirt.

But that was against other people. Yang Tianzheng used special force to hit Su Ziyang. If Su Ziyang hadn't practiced the Golden Bell Shield and Iron Cloth Shirt, those few blows would have left Su Ziyang bedridden for half a month.

"Master, you're using your position to settle personal scores."

Su Ziyang, clutching his buttocks and with tears welling in his eyes, shouted at Yang Tianzheng.

To everyone's surprise, Yang Tianzheng didn't directly respond to Su Ziyang's question. Instead, he said, "Starting tomorrow, we'll spar here every day. Every time I knock you down, I'll hit you three times. Of course, if you can run away or get up before I hit you, then I won't hit you!"

Su Ziyang said with a sob in his voice, "Yes, Su Ziyang said with a sob in his voice."

Why?

"This morning, Lao Jin called and asked me to train you. I don't know why. If you want to hate someone, hate Mengfei. It was Mengfei's idea to have me beat you up; he said it would help you improve faster."

Yang Tianzheng slammed the baton to the ground, put it away, tucked it into his waistband, and left without paying any attention to Su Ziyang.

Su Ziyang lay on the still slightly cool ground for about five or six minutes before slowly getting up.

"What did I do to deserve this? Ugh..."

Su Ziyang gritted his teeth and limped back home, immediately taking out some wound medicine and applying it to his buttocks.

After applying the wound ointment, Su Ziyang immediately dialed Mr. Mengfei's number. "Why did you let Master Yang beat me up?"

"What are you saying, kid? Who hit you!"

Mr. Mengfei was a little confused by Su Ziyang.

Judging from Mr. Mengfei's tone, Su Ziyang felt that Mr. Mengfei was genuinely unaware of the situation.

You really don't know?

Su Ziyang asked in surprise.

"What's wrong? Tell me quickly, I'm quite busy here. What's going on?"

Upon hearing Mr. Mengfei's words, Su Ziyang concluded that it was most likely Yang Tianzheng settling a personal score, probably because Su Ziyang had stood him up.

Su Ziyang then told Mr. Mengfei about how Yang Tianzheng had beaten him up earlier that day.

Mr. Mengfei burst into laughter on the phone. "Serves you right! I'd beat you up too. Serves you right! Are you calling to complain about me? I'll call Zhengzai and have him go beat you up again!"

"Okay, okay, I was wrong, forget I said anything!"

Su Ziyang quickly laughed it off and hung up the phone.

As soon as Su Ziyang hung up the phone, Mr. Mengfei called Yang Tianzheng from the other end, "Zhengzai, you're so unreliable! I told you to beat him up, not to tell him it was me who said it! Why did you tell him the truth?"

On the phone, Yang Tianzheng snorted, "Mengfei, I can't be the only bad guy. You guys are training him, and I'm supposed to be the villain? Such a good apprentice, who would bear to beat him up every day? Only a scoundrel like you could come up with something like this. I still need to leave a good impression on my precious apprentice. Our Yang family's acupuncture is counting on this kid to carry on the family tradition."

"Hey, so you've become my precious apprentice again! It's not like we're going to refuse to take you on when you're not talented enough!"

Mr. Mengfei smacked his lips while making sarcastic remarks about Yang Tianzheng.

"It's none of your business!"

Yang Tianzheng has consistently been at a disadvantage in his verbal sparring with Mr. Mengfei.

"Haha, Zhengzai. Let me tell you, you're definitely going to play the villain. Now Little Ziyang thinks you're taking revenge on him. Hahaha!"

Mr. Mengfei laughed heartily as he hung up the phone.

"... Fuck your grandpa, Mengfei!"

Yang Tianzheng seemed to realize something and cursed loudly, but all he heard on the phone was the sound of the call being disconnected.

"Mengfei, you're so mean!"

Yang Tianzheng was amused by Mr. Mengfei's words, then quickly found a jar of medicinal wine for bruises and sprains in his bag and went out.

Su Ziyang's buttocks were sore, and he lay on the bed, idly looking at the news on his phone.

"Ding ding ding"

Hearing the knock, Su Ziyang quickly put on his loosest pajama pants and went to the door.

Looking through the peephole, Su Ziyang saw Yang Tianzheng standing at the door, knocking.

Coincidentally, the medicinal wine Yang Tianzheng was holding was in a bag, and Su Ziyang was immediately stunned when he saw that Yang Tianzheng seemed to be holding a stick.

Then he crouched down behind the door, not daring to make a sound.

"Holy crap, is it really that serious? I just stood him up once. Did Mr. Mengfei really stir things up, and now he's coming to beat me up again?"

Su Ziyang was terrified of Yang Tianzheng's beatings; his voice trembled as he muttered to himself. Those three blows were truly a pain that penetrated to the very soul.

"Ziyang!"

Yang Tianzheng knocked on the door, and Su Ziyang didn't dare to breathe loudly inside.

Yang Tianzheng knocked on the door for a while, and when he felt that no one was home, he put the medicinal wine he was carrying in front of Su Ziyang's door.

Then he took out his phone and called Su Ziyang.

Fortunately, Su Ziyang's phone was on silent. Seeing the caller ID, Su Ziyang quietly returned to his bedroom, slowly closed the bedroom door, and then answered the phone.

"Ziyang, aren't you home!?"

"Ah, Master, I have another patient here. I'm on my house call."

Su Ziyang casually told a lie.

"Okay, alright then. I got you a bottle of liniment for sprains and bruises, and left it at your door. Remember to take it inside when you get back, don't lose it!"

"Okay, okay! Thank you, Master!"

"Good."

Yang Tianzheng hung up the phone and went downstairs.

Su Ziyang waited for about ten minutes before slowly opening the door. There was indeed a bottle of brown medicinal wine placed at the door.

"Is it really a delivery of medicinal wine? Or have I really misunderstood Master Yang?"

Su Ziyang looked at the medicinal wine in his hand and muttered to himself.