stjorthotic Chapter 18 Tui Bei
Chapter 18 Tui Bei
It was still early; the sun had just risen.
A total of eleven people climbed the wooden stakes, some of them shirtless.
Half an hour later, four more people fell to the ground.
These people were either newcomers who had only been there a few days ago, or they hadn't yet broken through their cultivation levels. They were just there for the fun of it and didn't care about winning or losing.
After a while, it was time for breakfast.
Du Ren was also extremely bored, so he had those who weren't participating in the competition bring him rice bowls and steamed buns. He ate while watching everyone practice horse stance, and occasionally pointed and commented.
"The most important thing about horse stance is to keep your mind calm! The saying 'a beautiful woman dances on the left while her crotch remains still' perfectly illustrates this principle," Du Ren said, smacking his lips.
"I can't take it anymore!" A boy couldn't take it anymore and jumped off the wooden stake.
"Don't say that after you get married!" Du Ren laughed strangely, which made the apprentices laugh along with him, causing two more boys to fall off the wooden stakes.
As the sunlight shifted and grew increasingly scorching, one apprentice after another slowly fell off the wooden stake.
More than two hours had passed in the blink of an eye. The sun was directly overhead, and Qi Yun on the field could no longer hold on and fell off the wooden stake.
"I still have to practice!" Qi Yun rubbed his leg and sighed. He turned his back to Gao Yuan and winked at Meng Chen, indicating that it was enough.
At this moment, Meng Chen was on the verge of collapse, his legs feeling incredibly heavy, as if they were being weighed down by a thousand-pound hammer.
The midday sun was particularly glaring, and the sweat on my forehead gathered and stung my eyes.
Meng Chen's vision was blurry, but through the sweat, he finally saw Qi Yun winking at him, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.
Because they entered the martial arts school on the same day and were from the same hometown, they initially encouraged each other and gave each other massages to relax. Within a few days, they became very good friends.
Later, the two joined forces with Gong Ziming. Although Qi Yun climbed the social ladder and fell out with Gong Ziming, Qi Yun always regarded Meng Chen as a fellow villager and friend, and Meng Chen also regarded Qi Yun as a good partner.
At this moment, Meng Chen finally remembered that Qi Yun was reminding him that it was time to admit defeat.
Meng Chen was already exhausted and on the verge of collapse, so he had no choice but to admit defeat. Besides, it wasn't shameful for someone who had only knocked on one gate to lose to someone who had knocked on two gates.
Looking around, he saw that besides himself, there were only Gao Yuan and another boy who had knocked on the gate.
"Getting third place isn't bad at all."
Thinking this, Meng Chen shook his head vigorously to wipe the sweat from his eyes and looked at Gao Yuan opposite him.
But Gao Yuan stood firmly on the wooden stake, his horse stance still steady. Although there was sweat on his face, there was also a disdainful sneer, as if to say: The place you have reached with all your might is no more than a place I can reach with a single step, whether it is a horse stance or your future prospects.
Sweat condensed again, leaving streaks on Meng Chen's face, and finally seeped into the corners of his eyes.
His eyes could no longer be opened, his legs felt as if they were being pierced by thousands of steel needles, Meng Chen swayed, and his mind was in turmoil.
For a moment, all sorts of random thoughts flashed through my mind: wild eggs I found during the wheat harvest, old Chen riding a donkey to the market, Qingyu sewing shoe soles under the walnut tree, Gong Ziming practicing his horse stance in the middle of the night, Yan Bao terrified under a flash of lightning, and the pitch-black night in a downpour where I could hardly see anything.
Finally, Meng Chen saw himself holding a scythe, filled with endless killing intent.
With his eyes closed, Meng Chen felt as if hundreds or thousands of Yan Bao were hanging from his legs, and he was on the verge of collapse.
Gritting his teeth and enduring for a while longer, Meng Chen suddenly sensed something was different; the yin-yang symbol had changed again.
The yang fish that had been lit up yesterday was slowly dimming, as if its vitality was being slowly stripped away. But I immediately calmed down, and although my legs were still heavy and painful, they felt much better.
After an unknown amount of time, the yang fish, like the yin fish, finally became dull and lifeless.
After an unknown amount of time, the heavy, stinging sensation in Meng Chen's legs returned, this time like a raging river, even heavier and more painful than before.
Meng Chen gritted his teeth and persevered. After enduring for an unknown amount of time, he suddenly felt a change within his body. His flesh trembled slightly, as if it were being detached from him; his tendons and bones trembled slightly, as if they were being cleansed within his flesh.
For a moment, Meng Chen felt that if he persisted, he might see another wonderful world.
Just as he was thinking this, Meng Chen felt someone push him from behind, and then he lost his footing, lost his balance, and fell down.
Meng Chen opened his eyes in a daze. The cicadas were still chirping noisily in the distance, but the sun was already setting in the west, clearly indicating that it was already evening.
The area was surrounded by people, but their faces were not clearly visible.
Meng Chen landed on the wooden stake, and a sharp pain suddenly struck his legs, making him unsteady on his feet.
"What are you trying to prove by standing so hard!" Du Ren immediately supported Meng Chen, saying repeatedly, "If I hadn't pushed you, would you have broken your legs before getting down?"
"Senior brother..." Meng Chen was still in a daze. He looked around and saw that the disciples had different expressions. Some were looking at him, while others were looking at Gao Yuan.
Gao Yuan stood five steps away, his face pale, staring straight at him, seemingly lost in thought.
"How long did I hold out?" Meng Chen asked.
Du Ren supported Meng Chen with one hand and extended his thumb and little finger with the other, saying, "From dawn until now, it's been about four hours."
Meng Chen looked at Gao Yuan.
"He'll be here in three hours," Du Ren chuckled, "and the fat chicken is yours!"
"How is this possible?" Gao Yuan's eyes were red. He took a step forward, but seemed to be in excruciating leg pain, staggering before regaining his balance. "I've practiced horse stance since I was a child, my lower body is the most stable, how could I lose to him? He must have taken drugs beforehand!"
"You lost two battles today." Du Zhong stepped forward and stood between Gao Yuan and Meng Chen, separating the two.
Gao Yuan looked at Du Zhong with confusion and resentment, and asked, "Master Du, you don't believe I can beat him? I knocked on the gate twice, while he only knocked once, and it took him almost two months to knock once..."
"In the first realm of martial arts, just comparing stance training, even the three-stage stance is not much different from the one-stage stance. However, you still have an advantage," Du Zhong interrupted Gao Yuan.
Gao Yuan gritted his teeth and remained silent.
"So-called talent is actually divided into innate and acquired. Innate talent is given by parents. Some people are born good at running, some are born strong, some are not afraid of pain, and some are not afraid of hot or cold. These are all given by parents. Perhaps Meng Chensheng was born with a stable lower body, which is where you are inferior to him."
Du Zhong, with his hands behind his back, continued, "The acquired path involves diligent practice day after day, honing an unwavering will. Among these, mental state is extremely important."
At this point, Du Zhong pointed to the wooden stake and said, "Since noon, Meng Chen has kept his eyes closed, unmoved by the outside world. Even when Du Ren shouted loudly, he didn't hear a thing. But while he was becoming more and more stable, you became unsteady first. You not only kept looking at him, but also gradually became anxious, which ruined your state of mind, disrupted your breathing, and made you even more flustered, eventually causing you to fall off the stake. You could have held on for longer, so in terms of mental state, you lost again."
Du Zhong, with the expression of an elder looking at a junior, earnestly advised, "It's just a friendly competition among family members behind closed doors, so don't take it to heart. Gao Yuan, you need to hone your willpower more so that you can go far in the path of martial arts."
After listening to this frank and honest advice, Gao Yuan remained silent for a long time before smiling and asking, "Master Du, you divide talent into innate and acquired. So, which is more important, innate or acquired?"
This time, Du Zhong fell silent. After a while, he said, "In my opinion, for 99% of people in the world, the day after tomorrow is more important."
"Alright, disciple remembers." Gao Yuan forced a smile, glanced coldly at Meng Chen, and without saying another word, limped out of the martial arts school.
Du Ren looked at Gao Yuan's retreating figure, pouted with disdain, and whispered in Du Zhong's ear, "Lack of magnanimity, this is the third time you've lost."
Upon hearing this, Du Zhong glanced at Du Ren with displeasure and said, "Help Meng Chen to the main hall. Everyone else, disperse!"
Du Ren dragged him to the lobby, where Meng Chen sat down and rubbed his legs, but he couldn't feel anything at all, as if his legs weren't his own.
He tried to stand up by holding onto the chair, but before he could even take a step, he winced in pain.
"You know what pain is now? There's more to come." Du Ren took a sip of her cold tea and laughed. "I told you long ago, Gao Yuan was just bored and wanted to have some fun. When Qi Yun fell, you should have followed along and said, 'Senior Brother Gao is strong, Senior Brother Gao is tough,' and that would have been the end of it, right? Now look what happened, he's really not happy about you!"
Meng Chen pressed his legs and said helplessly, "That's what I thought at the time, but when I saw his contemptuous and disdainful smile, I thought that his disgust for me was like weeds in the field. If you weed this patch, there will be another patch. If you weed the spring weeds, there will be the summer weeds. You can never weed them all in a lifetime."
"Isn't that just being aloof!" Du Ren laughed heartily. "Junior brother, since you were recommended by my elder brother, I'll teach you a trick. Go and apologize to him properly tomorrow, otherwise you won't be able to farm in peace. Clerk Gao won't be transferred for at least two or three years. He's a second-stage cultivator who has reached the third level of the second realm. He's a big shot in our Qingshui County, with connections in both the legitimate and underworld circles!"
Meng remained silent.
"Sigh. It's not easy for a person to hold their head high, nor is it easy to lower it, and it's even harder to raise it again after lowering it." Du Zhong suddenly sighed and said, "When I was young, I was arrogant, unwilling to admit defeat, and combative. In my thirties, I had accomplished nothing. If it weren't for Xiang Sheng's father summoning me to run a镖局 (bodyguard agency), teaching me many great principles, and helping me break through my limitations, I might be reduced to a gangster in the South City by now."
Meng Chen originally thought that Li Xiangsheng was following in his father's footsteps, but he never expected that his father was actually the head镖师 (bodyguard)!
"Alright, you haven't eaten all day, go get something to eat and get some rest for the night. Don't worry too much about anything else, at least in my house, no one can touch you." Du Zhong waved his hand and said no more.
"Yes." Meng Chen stood up, supporting himself on the chair, and bowed to Du Zhong.
Just then, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly rang out outside the courtyard gate.
The sound of horses' hooves faded, followed by a loud bang as the martial arts school's door was kicked open, and two constables carrying knives walked in.
The two constables entered the courtyard, glanced around, their gazes sweeping over the faces of the apprentices, and finally looked at the main hall, demanding, "Where is Meng Chen?"
Then the two constables walked to the front of the hall, looked at Meng Chen, and said sternly, "Meng Chen, you've been caught!"
Meng Chen's legs are immobile, but his brain isn't. He knows he's an innocent person, so what could possibly happen to him? Besides, even if something did happen, killing Yan Bao is no small matter, so how could it be that only two constables would come?
Du Ren looked at the two constables, then at Meng Chen, who had a frown on his face, looking puzzled and somewhat bewildered. He then looked at his godfather, Du Zhong.
At this moment, Du Zhong, a usually mild-mannered believer, turned ashen-faced. His gaze passed over the two constables and saw Gao Yuan walk into the martial arts school gate that had been kicked open.
Du Zhong remained silent, but the teacup in his hand had already been crushed.
"So they lost four matches." Du Ren's face was also very grim, but he kept talking, muttering in a low voice, "Father, you just said that innate talent isn't important, and that you have to make up for it with hard work and diligence. Look at this guy, he's shown off the real innate talent that our parents gave us. Yan Long was so talented back then, but he still didn't have this kind of talent!"