Home in the Drizzle, Guests to the Sound of Gongs and Drums

The bandits' bodies were hastily buried over the next two or three days.

The townspeople knew from experience that leaving so many bodies unburied would only harm the people in town, but they still felt some resentment as they did the work.

After all, the dead had been their enemies-bitter enemies.

The bandits had been wiped out in half a night, but they had killed fourteen people and gravely injured seventeen, not counting those with minor injuries.

The bandits who had come to town in the past had either dealt directly with the wealthy households, taking hostages for ransom and following the rules of the greenwood, or had been like refugees, easily frightened off by the militia after robbing only a few homes.

After the Great Han Military Government was established, the town had been diligent about paying the city, and it had been many years since it had suffered such a painful loss.

The dozen or so dead had all been young or middle-aged adults, and those gravely injured had all been the pillars of their households.

When white funeral streamers went up outside those homes, a somewhat mournful atmosphere settled over the entire town. The wealthy families in town behaved decently enough this time.

They took it upon themselves to provide compensation for the bereaved families and the things needed for the funerals, and the gravely injured were being cared for as well.

Whenever people spoke of those fine young men, they could not help sighing. Even the way the militiamen had casually tossed things about at one stall or taken goods from another vendor without paying while on patrol now became a fond memory.

But life still had to go on.

A few days passed, and the town's main street was once again packed with vendors at sunrise, with shops opening their doors one after another.

Even a light rain before dawn, which filled the air with the chill of autumn, did nothing to dampen their cries.

A man in gray, wearing a bamboo rain hat and carrying the damp chill of the colder mountain rain, walked into town. He had yet to hear what had happened a few days before.

But he had taken only a dozen or so steps down the street when he ran into the militia.

"Master Zhong, you're finally back!"

The face beneath the hat had a broad forehead, large eyes, a high nose, gaunt cheeks and a stubbly beard. His features were somewhat fierce, but he looked languid and listless.

Only when he heard the militiamen all talking at once did his eyebrows rise and his posture straighten. "Something like that happened? How are the people who were gravely injured?"

"The injured are all doing well. That Master Chu isn't just good at fighting; he seems to be a divine physician too. Everyone he prescribed medicine for is looking better."

"Lots of people have wanted to see him these past few days," the militiaman said, "but he's staying at Shopkeeper Ma's restaurant and doesn't come out much."

"Oh, right, Shopkeeper Ma is a half-immortal who knows magic. You're pretty close to him, Master Zhong. Did you know all along?"

Zhong Jinqiu listened to their questions without answering. He pulled a strip of dried radish from his robe, took a bite, and said, "Stop prying. Let's go to the homes holding funerals first. I'll offer them each a stick of incense."

He followed the militiamen into a side street.

The sunlight grew stronger, and more than half a shichen later, Zhong Jinqiu arrived alone at Old Ma's Restaurant, his bamboo hat hanging on his back.

As soon as he entered, customers at several tables recognized him and called out greetings.

Zhong Jinqiu nodded and swept his gaze around, but did not see his old friend behind the counter.

A waiter came over. "Uncle Zhong, the shopkeeper's in the back courtyard. He hasn't been coming out much these past few days."

Ever since his knowledge of magic had been exposed, he had been treated with awe, but had also faced plenty of trouble.

People kept coming to find him: some wanted to become his disciples, some wanted to take him home and make offerings to him, and others suspected that they or someone around them had been possessed by an evil spirit.

Shopkeeper Ma was past the age of enjoying the limelight, and had deliberately kept out of sight these past few days.

The curtain between the main hall and the back courtyard was usually rolled up during the day with hemp rope and iron hooks, but today it hung down.

Zhong Jinqiu lifted the curtain and saw Shopkeeper Ma squatting in a corner of the back courtyard, sitting on a low stool made from a tree root with a long bench in front of him, drinking to ease his weariness.

"Oh, you old ghost, you're back?"

Shopkeeper Ma rubbed the tip of his nose without getting up and beckoned to him. "Come, come, have a seat. Just in time."

Zhong Jinqiu went around to the other side of the bench and sat cross-legged directly on the stone paving. He grabbed the wine pot and poured a mouthful into his mouth from a height.

"I heard all about what happened in town. It's not easy to tell where someone who uses magic is hurt. You old fellow haven't fought in years. You weren't injured that day, were you?"

Shopkeeper Ma chuckled. "I couldn't have said whether I'd get hurt, but young Chu was too fierce. He charged straight out of town and went into the woods to slaughter both leaders of the roving bandits."

"All I did was hold them off for a while, then finish things up afterward."

Zhong Jinqiu looked sideways at his old friend. "I hear he's young, knows medicine and martial arts, and was dressed like he'd studied abroad when he first came to town. His background can't be simple, can it?"

People with notable backgrounds often brought trouble with them.

"I didn't ask."

"He's a fine young fellow," Shopkeeper Ma said evenly. "Why ask so many questions?"

Zhong Jinqiu looked away. "All right. You're the better judge of people, so I won't trouble myself over it."

He smacked his lips. "This wine tastes a little different today. Did you add medicinal herbs?"

Shopkeeper Ma said, "Doctor Chu helped me change it."

"I know he's skilled in medicine, but that medicinal wine recipe of yours wasn't easy to come by. He could improve even that?"

His interest piqued, Zhong Jinqiu pulled out a strip of dried radish and tossed it into his mouth to cover the aftertaste of the wine. Then he took another swig, closed his eyes to savor it for a moment, and nodded involuntarily.

"Ah, the medicinal effect is a little different. To brew a flavor like this from a handful of second- and third-rate herbs-he's got real skill."

"Where is he? Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Shopkeeper Ma picked a few peanuts from a dish on the bench, leisurely rubbed off their skins, and tossed them into his mouth.

"He's in his room practicing. That fellow really does love his fist arts. That bloody battle the other night must have been harrowing, but he didn't even take a break the next morning. He started practicing again."

"But don't worry. He'll definitely come out when it's nearly lunchtime. Let's keep drinking."

Holding his wine cup, Shopkeeper Ma lowered his voice. "I've also been thinking these past few days, about that thing we got back then..."

Zhong Jinqiu waited for him to continue, but after a long while he said nothing more. Zhong Jinqiu frowned. "What thing? Speak clearly."

"There's no hurry."

Shopkeeper Ma considered it, took a sip of wine, and changed tack. "Let's wait until you two have spent some time together."

In Chu Tianshu's room, he was indeed practicing.

It was different from his usual fist practice, with its rising and falling, leaping, shifting and turning.

Now he stood on his left foot, his right leg bent with the foot resting against his left knee, his palms pressed together high above his head. From his ankles, knees, waist and hips to his shoulders, back, neck and arms, every joint and every stretch of muscle twisted in one direction until taut.

His skin was stretched tight like steel wire, trembling faintly with each breath.

Dust drifted through the sunlight in the room. Only after a long while did Chu Tianshu change poses, moving very slowly, his every movement like the dance of a divine or demonic guardian in a temple.

His toes gripped the floor, his body arched backward, and his palms and soles touched the ground at the same time. The movement of his muscles exerting force traveled from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, over and over.

He spread his fingers and pressed his arms against the empty air. He exerted himself so fiercely, rising and falling repeatedly, that his knuckles protruded like joints of bamboo.

The stretching and expansion of each movement seemed to challenge the limits of his muscles.

It was also like a monster, half man and half ape, unfolding its limbs amid barren mountains and wildfires, dancing slowly in prayer, its movements deep and powerful, its shadow cast upon the mountain rocks, quiet and enduring, yet forceful and ferocious.

It looked less intense than his former method of practice, but in truth, the muscles all over his body twisted and pressed together like blocks of copper, drawing every part into motion. Heat surged through him, while his skin remained taut and his pores closed, turning redder and hotter all the while.

This was the product of his second deduction using evil spirit materials.

The stance training method, Mountain Ape Subdues Tigers in Eight Directions!

The evil spirit materials he had obtained from the fight with the bandits were all fairly useful. In particular, there were Worm-Belly Leopard Cat and Youngster Inside the Crocodile. The former clearly focused on strengthening the muscles and sinews.

The latter's ability to swim underwater and hold its breath for so long might have been related to heart and lung function, but it could also have been a special ability that let a water ghost breathe underwater.

Chu Tianshu had hesitated a little at the time, but the next day he had chosen to use the leopard cat as the primary material for the deduction.

The technique material he used was Gluttonous Tongbei Fist.

After the deduction was complete, the overall name of the fist manual had not changed. Only its footwork had been refined into a set of stances.

After practicing it for the past few days, he felt that the stances were exceptionally effective. There was a sense that the strength throughout his body was growing increasingly concentrated.

From the outside, his muscles had not grown any thicker, but the force he could unleash with the same range of motion had increased noticeably.

However, according to the token, the potential of the Qi Family Old Tongbei fist manual had been almost exhausted after two rounds of deduction and refinement.

He could continue using evil spirit materials to deduce and refine it, but the gains would not be worth the cost.

So, for the next deduction, it would be best to gather new technique materials.

Chu Tianshu had asked Wang Fu about it and learned that Master Zhong of the militia was also a formidable martial artist, who must have received the true teachings of an advanced fist art and was also close to Shopkeeper Ma.

If he had the chance, he would see whether they could exchange techniques. Otherwise, becoming his disciple would also do.

He had also heard what seemed to be an acquaintance of Shopkeeper Ma's arrive in the courtyard today, but he did not rush out. He patiently continued practicing until his stomach protested loudly, and only then did he end his session.

At an exhale, dense beads of sweat the size of soybeans raced to emerge from his skin. No sooner had he wiped them away with a towel than more sweat formed.

Fortunately, he had kept eight towels and two buckets of clean water ready in his room these past few days, so washing up had become easy. Before long, he had wrapped himself in his clothes.

Creak!

As soon as the door opened, the two old men in the courtyard looked over at the same time.

Shopkeeper Ma had been savoring his pot of wine slowly and still had not finished it by noon. He smiled and said, "You're out! We'll eat lunch in the courtyard, so we can talk while we eat and get acquainted. This is Old Zhong!"

Chu Tianshu smiled. "So this is Master Zhong. I should address you as senior."

He bowed slightly as he cupped his fists, but Zhong Jinqiu's expression suddenly changed. He stood and reached out to make Chu Tianshu straighten up, then cupped his own fists and bowed even lower, giving him a formal salute.

Chu Tianshu was taken aback and somewhat bewildered.

"I was hired for a great deal of money as the militia's weapons instructor, yet I wasn't here when the bandits attacked. We were fortunate to have you."

"No matter what, you shouldn't be the one saluting me," Zhong Jinqiu said solemnly. "I'm the one who should bow to you."

Chu Tianshu said, "I've been living well in this town, so of course I couldn't let the bandits run wild..."

Zhong Jinqiu was about to say something else when a clamor of gongs and drums rang out from outside.

Soon, the footsteps and noisy voices of a crowd nearly drowned out the gongs and drums.

The waiter lifted the curtain, his face full of astonishment, and said excitedly, "Shopkeeper, Doctor Chu, come out quickly."

"I hear someone has come from the city to commend us for wiping out the roving bandits and defending the town, especially you two. The town chief asks you to come over quickly!"