A Mere Candle, How Much Light Can It Give?

Principal Feng, carrying the cat, led the way, guiding Chu Tianshu across a small bridge on campus.

This bridge is much more stylish than the small bridges in Chu Tianshu's hometown.

In my hometown, some bridges don't have railings at all, some just have bamboo tied together as railings, and only a few have a set of hollow stainless steel railings.

Even though the bridge at the martial arts school was partially covered by snow, you could still see that every railing was meticulously carved.

Each little lion, in a different pose, crouches atop the railing, some raising their paws, some scratching their faces, and some pressing on a ball.

Some have stone swords in their mouths, while others have lotus flowers curled around their tails.

Some have thick eyebrows and turn their heads, looking adorably naive; others have protruding teeth, exuding a touch of authority.

Chu Tianshu raised his hand and wiped the snow off the head of a small lion, taking a second look at it.

The movements of these lions all possess a unique charm.

At first glance, he thought it might contain the essence of some kind of boxing technique. But upon closer inspection, he felt that many of the elements did not conform to the principles of generating power in boxing.

Principal Feng glanced back and smiled, "This is a feng shui talisman used by the internal energy cultivation lineage."

"Those who cultivate internal energy cannot master most spiritual spells, but they have their own unique insights into the art of Feng Shui."

Most spiritual spells rely on a mysterious and indescribable ethereal connection to generate unique, colorless, and formless fluctuations that manifest their power.

The principles of Feng Shui emphasize the interaction and balance of auspicious and inauspicious energies.

Tiny specks of dust, when gathered into streams, have acupoints and veins, sometimes still, sometimes moving, sharing many similarities with internal energy cultivation.

Chu Tianshu nodded slightly.

The so-called other method seems to be mostly related to internal energy cultivation and feng shui?

After crossing the bridge, there was a large building. Feng Jianhua took out his key and opened the mahogany door on the first floor.

When the door was closed, the wind was gentle, but when the door opened, it was like drilling a hole in a wooden bucket full of water.

The cold wind from all around rushed in here, howling as it blew into the room.

The wind speed was much stronger than before, making people's clothes and trouser legs flutter.

As soon as Chu Tianshu entered, the principal quickly closed the door.

"When the building was designed, a layout was intentionally created that allowed airflow to easily enter."

Feng Jianhua said, "Sometimes, people will sit here quietly and practice breathing exercises to purify their minds."

Chu Tianshu surveyed the interior environment.

My first thought was white.

The ceiling is white, the chandelier is white, all four walls are white tiles, and the floor is paved with square tiles, all as white as if it had been washed.

Several large windows were covered with thick frost.

The room was very spacious, probably intended as a place for people to get some fresh air, so there wasn't a single piece of furniture.

Only on the east wall, near the south wall, is there a small door painted in a cold white.

On either side of the small door, there was a small potted tree.

In this pale room, the small tree's brown bark, gnarled branches, and deep green leaves were striking.

Each color is exceptionally pleasing.

"Behind that door is a staircase leading to the second floor, up to my studio."

Feng Jianhua gave a slight gesture, and Bai Mei jumped out of his arms.

"I'm going upstairs to get something, please wait a moment."

Chu Tianshu didn't stand on ceremony. Seeing that the tiles were indeed clean, he took two steps and sat down cross-legged in the center of the large tile.

Bai Mei walked up to him and saw him extend a finger and stroke the cat's chin.

"Cat!"

Chu Tianshu laughed, "Quickly transform into that respectable person, then show me a set of punches."

Bai Mei wasn't intimidated at all; with a backflip, he transformed into a cat-like figure.

On its fluffy black head, two Bai Mei appeared serious. It took a lunge stance, raised one arm and spread the other out, assuming a fighting posture.

Call!!

Compared to when he had just escaped from the cage, he looked like he had expended a lot of energy.

Now, Bai Mei is clearly well-rested and full of energy, and his punches and kicks are more powerful and forceful.

It spun around, swept its leg, threw a series of punches, then suddenly spread its legs wide, pressing them completely to the ground. One of its punches almost slammed into the ground, then instantly transformed into a cat's paw.

A gentle yet firm press sent the cat soaring into the air.

During its descent from the sky, it unleashed more than twenty rapid punches and kicks, leaving afterimages in its wake.

The fact that a cat could shrink its bones and twist its muscles to resemble a human and could exert tremendous force was what intrigued Chu Tianshu the most.

Under the influence of the Insight Technique, Chu Tianshu seemed to have gained some insights as he watched the kitten finish its entire set of fist techniques.

"Bone-Shrinking Art, in the end, is just about controlling muscles and bones."

Chu Tianshu stretched out his right hand and suddenly trembled.

A hand technique as gentle as a wave is merely a basic skill.

With this shake, he also added a spiral twisting motion, his foremost hand twisting a full circle from the middle finger upwards.

The middle finger was still pointing upwards, and the palm was facing forward, but the feeling throughout the arm was indescribably strange.

Bai Mei stood on the ground, having finished a set of punches, and was now performing the final fist-and-palm salute.

Suddenly, a dark shadow descended from the sky, wrapped around its body, from its waist to its neck.

The dark shadow was as agile as a python, already coiling around its body twice.

The finger acting as the "snake's head" gently pecks at the kitten's ear tip.

Bai Mei was stunned, staring wide-eyed as the "python" coiled around him stretched its tail all the way to Chu Tianshu's shoulder.

Chu Tianshu smiled, his arm lashed out like a whip, retracting into his sleeve, his palm resting on his knee.

The cat-man spun around in place several times before finally stopping.

"I've learned a little bit about how to make muscles and bones still generate powerful force even in abnormal states."

Chu Tianshu thought to himself, "Unfortunately, although I can control the bones in my arm, they're temporarily as flexible as bamboo."

"But the Guanyin Bone technique is not yet fully mastered. In this state, my muscles are putting a lot of pressure on my bones, wasting a lot of energy."

The cat-man's tail reached out and hooked Chu Tianshu's hand.

Chu Tianshu snapped out of his daze, pinched Bai Mei's tail between his fingers, and saw the expectation in those cat eyes.

"Expect?"

Chu Tianshu felt something was off and tried to shake his hand.

Meow!!

Bai Mei transformed back into cat form, lying on the ground with its limbs supporting it, its fur standing on end.

The long fur at the end inevitably droops slightly downwards, making the whole cat fluffy and imposing, with a deep, muffled growl echoing from its body.

Chu Tianshu understood.

"You like it when I pinch your tail and give you a little Palm Thunder vibration?"

The Bai Mei cat nodded repeatedly.

"I see. Although you've gained wisdom and mastered the art of shrinking your bones, you're already considered old among cats, and your muscles and bones are gradually weakening."

"When I grabbed you, it was just an unconscious use of the force of a Palm Thunder, but you felt the benefit afterward."

Chu Tianshu also found it very subtle.

The practice of "Toad Art Palm Thunder" is said to be able to purify one's qi and blood and rejuvenate oneself, but this effect is mainly for the practitioner.

If you use the force of Palm Thunder to hit someone, even without the intention to harm them, it won't do much good.

The Bai Mei cat is not only an intelligent and clever cat, but it has also mastered the Bone-Shrinking Art, creating a coincidence that allows the Palm Thunder to benefit it.

Chu Tianshu shook her cat tail a few more times.

The Bai Mei cats all opened their mouths, showing their teeth, and were full of energy.

But after shaking a couple more times, its legs gave way, and it collapsed to the ground, letting out a dizzy groan.

"It seems that even with this method, there's a limit to the number of times you can handle it each day."

Chu Tianshu pondered, "You seem to have such a strong affinity with the Palm Thunder, and you've even mastered it. I wonder if you could learn the Palm Thunder on your own?"

As he thought this, he heard footsteps on the stairs.

Feng Jianhua carried down a large pile of things.

He carried a dozen rolls of fine cloth, a large pile of candles, and a bag of suction cup hooks in his right hand, while holding a large floor-length mirror between his left and right hands.

Place the full-length mirror facing south.

Feng Jianhua muttered to himself, seemingly measuring the distance with his footsteps.

The candles were all piled up in front of the full-length mirror, and the fine cloths were temporarily placed on the ground. Suction cup hooks were used to press them high up on the four walls.

"Two meters off the ground, half a meter apart."

He walked around the entire large room, making sure the hooks were firmly attached to the tiles.

Then he picked up the fine cloth.

The white, yellowish fabric was rolled up in bundles, each with a wooden stick inserted horizontally in the center.

When Feng Jianhua hung the two ends of the wooden stick on the hooks and pulled down, the entire piece of cloth unfolded, and only then did the onlookers see that it was covered with various images.

These fabrics were originally paintings.

Chu Tianshu stood up and looked at them. He saw that each canvas was very large and contained many figures.

The first painting depicts a blood-red setting sun above a field overgrown with weeds.

On the hillside, a group of bandits, wearing hats askew, carrying rifles, and with ammunition belts on their backs, were charging towards a village below.

A fire has broken out in the village, houses have been burned down, doors have collapsed, and many people, young and old, are fleeing for their lives.

Others, armed with Great Saber, spears, and hunting bows, fought back against the bandits.

Chu Tianshu could tell that the painting was done with various colors of ink.

The ink inevitably follows the fibers of the fabric, creating some horizontal and diagonal lines that make the outlines of the objects appear somewhat rough.

This type of fabric is not suitable for painting.

However, the villagers' blood from being shot, their tears during their escape, the bandits' arrow wounds, and their shocked and angry expressions all looked too real at first glance.

Chu Tianshu almost thought he had returned to the world of the Republic of China, standing on a mountaintop, watching such a fierce battle unfold.

He saw a Great Han, incredibly fierce, wielding a long sword, charging into the ranks of the bandits.

The heads of the surrounding bandits were chopped off by the man's Great Saber, and a few drops of blood splattered from the man's body.

There was also a bandit leader hiding behind the bandits, aiming his gun not far away.

Chu Tianshu twitched his finger and frowned slightly.

Even though he knew it was a painting, he had just had the urge to slap the bandit leader to death.

But this is just a painting.

Chu Tianshu calmed himself down and looked at the other scenes.

On a dark and windy night, a large group of soldiers were making hand signals as they moved and lay in ambush through the mountains and forests, approaching the brightly lit village on the mountaintop.

Flustered figures stood on several small boats at the ferry crossing; some had already been detained on the shore, boxes of antique bronzes lay overturned on the ground, and gun barrels spat fire.

Inside the pharmaceutical factory with its blurry signboard, a man with slicked-back hair leisurely watched the groups of gaunt workers below, pointing to the leader among them.

In the ruins of the demolished houses, mangled limbs were exposed, and a crying person knelt beside them. There was also a knife that had cleaved the car behind the excavator in two.

Upon seeing this, Chu Tianshu suddenly recalled the previous paintings.

Sure enough, the middle-aged man who wielded the knife and chopped down the car Zhongdu appeared in previous footage, only younger.

A young man hiding in a corner of the pharmaceutical factory, a young soldier carrying a gun and a knife, and a mud-footed boy from the village running away with a child in his arms.

That looked just like Feng Jianhua when he was young.

After the middle-aged man, there are many more paintings.

Against the backdrop of the exploding speedboat, the battlefield on the riverbank is illuminated, and he is throwing a long knife.

Inside a crowded, old-fashioned green train, he strangled a woman holding a dagger and a child to death...

The last few paintings, however, seem to depict the same event.

It was inside a large shopping mall, with shattered shop windows everywhere and ribbons broken off from mid-air.

Swarms of bats, like zombies, swarmed through the sky, lunging at the well-trained soldiers.

The soldiers fought bravely in groups of three or five, while others nearby were not in uniform and were carrying cold weapons, some even holding prayer beads and wooden swords.

The enemy they faced had firepower no less than that of the soldiers, and there was an eerie, malevolent aura everywhere.

In every corner of the mall, tiny skeletons formed altars, upon which sat a blind man wearing sunglasses.

The pregnant corpse was buried in a cement pile, and a strange man with a right claw like a blue ape's paw reached out and plunged his hand into the cement pile.

"These are all experiences from my past. When you get old, you either sleep or overthink."

"When I thought of certain things that left a deep impression on me, but couldn't find anything to commemorate them, I had the idea to draw them myself."

After hanging the last painting, Feng Jianhua took a few steps back, clapped his hands, and looked around.

"I've painted many, but the ones I paint with the most intensity and focus, the ones right in front of me, are the ones I paint with the most killing intent and the most concentration."

Chu Tianshu did not answer.

Feng Jianhua laughed, "We've just met, so I doubt you're interested in listening to this old man's old stories. But at least you should take a close look at these paintings. I'm about to unleash my killing intent..."

Chu Tianshu suddenly pointed to a painting and asked, "Whose work is that?"

Feng Jianhua looked over and pressed his finger on the painting.

You mean this?

That was outside the mall, where a group of wounded soldiers were receiving emergency treatment.

Chu Tianshu was referring to the person next to the stretcher.

Feng Jianhua recalled for a moment, "This was our team doctor at the time, named Chu Guodong, a very energetic young man. Hmm?"

The principal, as if struck by a thought, looked at Chu Tianshu, "You both have the surname Chu, could you be related to me?"

Chu Tianshu stared at the scene and smiled.

"They even have the same name, so it's most likely my grandfather."

Feng Jianhua was a little surprised. "So the spiritual medium in your family is actually Ghost Gate Witch Doctor."

"That's true. In the major battle that destroyed those Ghost Market, almost everyone in the Jianghuai Greater Region with a bit of courage and reputation participated."

Feng Jianhua looked at the canvas, his voice low.

"Unfortunately, many people got involved because they deserved to be killed."

Chu Tianshu asked curiously, "My grandfather only briefly mentioned these things. Could you tell me more about them, Principal?"

Feng Jianhua hesitated and said, "Ah, although I have some impression of your grandfather, I'm not particularly familiar with him."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be about what happened to my grandfather; I also want to know about the people and events he witnessed back then."

Chu Tianshu said sincerely, "Let's talk about the great battle in the Ghost Market."

Feng Jianhua met his gaze for a few seconds and then laughed.

"Alright, although it's business, if you're willing to listen, I'll tell you."

Feng Jianhua looked at the canvases and began to narrate, starting from Grandpa Chu's position.

"If you were to ask what your grandfather witnessed back then, he would definitely have a deep impression of this guy with the wine gourd."

"He was clearly more casual than many of us, but he was the official representative at the time and later became a veteran of the Special Investigation Bureau."

"A drunken farewell to a close friend in the Jinghua. That guy later went to the capital to take charge, and we lost contact for many years. I wonder if he's become more mature since then."

"These are the Three Mo Brothers. They are incredibly coordinated and possess superb skills. They charged forward the fiercest at the time, and many people have a deep impression of them."

"And then there are these evil cult leaders who run the Ghost Market..."

Each time Feng Jianhua spoke a passage, the scene he pointed to would change to a different one.

As the old headmaster moved slowly, he recounted the scenes on the canvas piece by piece.

Chu Tianshu listened quietly, as if the people on the drawing paper had come to life.

Although Feng Jianhua's paintings all feature himself.

But he wasn't alone with his enemies.

In fact, he is not even a main character in many scenes.

However, the murderous aura gathered by different characters, along with Feng Jianhua's growth, runs through one scene after another.

As Chu Tianshu listened, he looked at each painting in turn, starting from the first one.

When the old principal put pen to paper, he drew different figures, and the emotions in his heart must have been different as well.

But the killing intent that ultimately formed was so pure.

That murderous aura couldn't be described as growing stronger or more intense.

Or should we say it's becoming increasingly... bright?

It wasn't as desolate and decadent as becoming Blind Cheng, nor as aloof and extravagant as Hai Donglai, indifferent to reputation.

This gleaming killing intent carries with it a tenacious spirit born of shared ideals and beliefs, making them indomitable in the face of adversity.

Because it is so hard-won, it evokes a sense of cherishing and self-love.

Feng Jianhua has finished explaining what can be contained on those canvases related to the Ghost Market.

He remained silent for a long time, still savoring the lingering emotions.

Chu Tianshu murmured to himself, "Why can killing intent also be luminous?"

Why did Grandpa become dejected and tormented after such a glorious and victorious campaign?

Is it just because Grandpa wasn't among the most prominent figures? That's just a bit of a shame, isn't it?

Even murderous intent can have a bright side.

Feng Jianhua repeated these words, laughing heartily, "It's probably because we, those of us who carry knives and guns, have truly accomplished so much."

"They created many things that are better than before."

"It's a cause deeply rooted in reality, openly displayed under the sun, making even the sunlight more beautiful. Why can't it be bright?"

The sunlight from the snow outside the window shone on the old man's face.

Chu Tianshu looked at his face and saw a touch of desolation in his impassioned words.

"Unfortunately, if our killing intent were truly pure and luminous, these paintings alone would be enough to dispel your distracting thoughts, and we wouldn't need these incense candles and mirrors to enhance our light."

Feng Jianhua sighed, "You'll feel it soon enough; there's still a dark and powerless part to our killing intent."

Even though we once shared the most precious unity and determination, and were willing to clash with many things, there is still so much darkness in our lives—for the most part...certainly...absolutely!

"You can't possibly kill them all!"

Feng Jianhua said with a smile, "Sometimes, even things that have been done are treated as if they weren't."

Chu Tianshu raised his eyelashes and looked at the young doctor in the canvas.

So, is that the most important reason?

Grandpa, there are so many things to do in this world, why burden yourself with such grand ideals?

You people, what's wrong with that...?

"But I refuse to accept Laozi."

Feng Jianhua uttered these words and waved his hand dismissively.

The pale blue internal energy surged out like a stream of air, yet it combined both strength and gentleness.

The pile of candles in front of the mirror all bounced into the air and fell down, perfectly arranging themselves into a unique pattern.

Immediately, the azure energy swept past like a flowing stream.

With a hissing sound, all the candles were lit.

Chu Tianshu turned his gaze in that direction and was surprised to find that the candlelight was reflected in the mirror.

It happens to be the word "kill"!!

"As long as Laozi 'm not dead, I'll keep killing. Otherwise, these canvases will think I'm a disgrace to them."

Feng Jianhua strode towards the door and pulled open the wooden door with both hands.

"Little Chu, look, if I weren't here, would the killing intent here be enough to help you practice your skills?"

A cold wind rushed in, making the canvas on the wall tremble. The wind blew all the way to the south wall, and although it was much weaker, it still made all the candles flicker.

Chu Tianshu looked at the constantly flashing "kill" character reflected in the mirror, and couldn't help but take a step to the side, blocking the doorway between the mirror and the mirror.

He wanted to preserve that passionate writing.

The gloomy, powerless aura of killing intent seemed to dissipate even from the candlelight and the CD player.

Chu Tianshu smiled helplessly, closed his eyes briefly, then suddenly opened them again.

That's enough.

You've done enough. It's not your fault we can't kill them all; it's just reality's fault, and...

Don't we still have each other?

This is our world too!

(End of this chapter)