「The sixty-first day of training under Guo Wei.」
Chu Lingguang finished practicing the Iron Mountain Saber Technique and checked his status panel. He saw that the technique still hadn't been added. He sheathed his long saber, then grabbed the 170-jin Stone Lock. With a furious roar, he lifted it over his head.
For the past month, while Chu Lingguang had focused on practicing the Iron Mountain Saber Technique, he hadn't neglected his Heavenward Force either, spending an hour on it every day.
Guo Wei didn't try to stop him.
He worried that if Chu Lingguang kept practicing the Iron Mountain Saber Technique without any progress, his spirit would break. It was for the best that he could use Heavenward Force to regain some confidence.
After dropping the Stone Lock, Chu Lingguang practiced a few sets of the Iron Mountain Fist.
He then found Guo Fang and told her he wouldn't be staying at the Martial Arts Hall for dinner. He went to Wine Street, where he bought four jugs of yellow rice wine and two boxes of pastries before heading to his Second Aunt's house, arriving just before dinner.
"Cousin!"
"Dad, Cousin is here!"
"He brought delicious pastries!"
Mrs. Chu of the Zhang Family had three children.
Her eldest daughter was fourteen and of marriageable age. She usually stayed at home, doing needlework to help with the family's expenses.
His two younger cousins, one ten and the other eight, both attended a private school.
This was the first time in the two months since he had joined Guo Wei that Chu Lingguang had come to his Second Aunt's house for dinner bearing gifts. He had let Mrs. Chu of the Zhang Family know two days in advance that he would be coming.
Mrs. Chu of the Zhang Family and Zhang Da were busy in the kitchen. When they heard Chu Lingguang had arrived, they both came out to greet him. Ever since he had become a student of Guo Wei, they felt his status had changed. Though they tried to act casual around him, there was always an extra layer of caution in their demeanor.
Chu Lingguang had noticed their awkwardness. It was precisely because he was worried his aunt would read too much into it that he had told her in advance he was coming for dinner.
The couple had prepared a whole table of food for him.
Chu Lingguang didn't stand on ceremony. He acted as if he were in his own home, playfully competing with his two young cousins for the best dishes. Afterward, he and Zhang Da finished two jugs of the yellow rice wine.
After eating and drinking his fill, Chu Lingguang bid them farewell. Mrs. Chu of the Zhang Family told her sons to walk him to the village entrance. Just as Chu Lingguang stepped outside, he saw two bearers carrying a sedan chair appear across from his aunt's home.
A woman with a healthy, rosy complexion bid her parents farewell and settled into the sedan chair before being carried away.
'Chun Ju,' Chu Lingguang thought to himself.
The woman in the sedan chair was Chun Ju—the very same woman his aunt had spent so long trying to set him up with, the one to whom he had once paid a bride price.
A maiden awaiting marriage.
That didn't mean she never showed her face in public.
Chu Lingguang knew who Chun Ju was.
Over a year ago, after much hesitation, he had decided to sell his land for the chance to train at the Guo Wei Martial Arts Hall. When word got out, Chun Ju's father had returned the bride price that very night and even kicked down the gate to Chu Lingguang's courtyard.
Three months later, Chun Ju married Butcher Hu from North City. The butcher was a middle-aged widower, but he was wealthy and was said to treat Chun Ju very well. Seeing her being escorted by sedan bearers on a visit to her parents, Chu Lingguang felt she had made the right choice.
Thinking back on his actions over a year ago, he had to admit that if he were Chun Ju's father, he would have returned the bride price overnight too. He might have even delivered a harsh slap across the boy's face.
After all, in the eyes of an ordinary family, pursuing martial arts was a bottomless pit.
Especially when it involved selling all one's land and using the silver taels to pay for tuition.
Chu Lingguang stopped his two cousins from walking him to the village entrance and headed out of the village alone. His own courtyard was just behind the wheat field outside the village, not far from his aunt's house.
「Under the hazy moonlight.」
Chu Lingguang cut a solitary figure, but his every step was firm and resolute.
Chun Ju's sedan chair was at the far end of the wheat field. Butcher Hu from North City lived near Wine Street, not far from the Martial Arts Hall. For the moment, both the man on foot and the sedan chair were heading in the same direction.
Suddenly, two figures shot out from the wheat field ahead, charging toward the sedan chair.
They had been hiding in the wheat, apparently lying in wait for some time.
Chu Lingguang was about one hundred and fifty meters from the sedan. After the two men burst out, they swung their hammers, knocking both bearers unconscious with a single strike each.
Before Chun Ju could even scream from inside the sedan, a large hand reached in and clamped over her mouth.
The men took out a burlap sack, intending to kidnap her.
Chu Lingguang froze, unsure of what to do.
'Although Chun Ju looks healthy, she's fairly plain. Hiding in a wheat field to abduct her... this must be for money, not for her looks. Everyone in the area knows Butcher Hu is wealthy, and that he dotes on Chun Ju after being widowed. They must have kidnapped her to demand a ransom from him.'
Chu Lingguang hesitated. Should he try to save her?
'I've developed Fist Force with my Iron Mountain Fist and mastered the Heavenward Force technique, but I've never actually been in a real fight. Besides, the men are armed and had planned this ambush. If something went wrong and I was crippled, my dream of passing the Martial Scholar examination would be over.'
With that in mind, Chu Lingguang decided to go to the Government Office.
But as he turned, he saw a dark figure behind him. The man was tiptoeing closer, a sharp dagger in hand, preparing to stab him in the back.
So there weren't just two kidnappers. A third man had been hiding behind him, acting as a lookout.
"Die!"
The shadowy figure, not expecting Chu Lingguang to suddenly turn, quickened his pace and thrust the dagger toward his heart.
As the dagger closed in, Chu Lingguang moved in a flash. One hand seized the man's wrist, the other grabbed his shoulder. With a fierce roar, he channeled his Heavenward Force and hoisted the man's body over his head.
"THUD!"
The man was slammed heavily onto the ground.
Ribs shattered. A spray of blood coated his mask as he convulsed on the ground. The blow had damaged his internal organs; it was clear he wouldn't survive.
"Second Brother!"
The two men, who had just managed to stuff Chun Ju into the burlap sack, heard the commotion and cried out in alarm.
Both men simultaneously drew the hammers from their waists and charged at Chu Lingguang.
Chu Lingguang backed away, not wanting to meet them head-on.
But they pursued him relentlessly.
In a moment of desperation, Chu Lingguang snatched the fallen dagger. As their hammers swung down, he used the blade to slash both of their wrists.
The hammers clattered to the ground.
Blood gushed from their wrists.
A memory seemed to awaken in the muscles of the hand gripping the dagger. After the two slashes that opened their wrists, Chu Lingguang followed up with four more, severing the tendons in their arms and legs.
As the two men collapsed to the ground, howling in agony, Chu Lingguang stared at the dagger in his hand, momentarily stunned. He had just used the Iron Mountain Saber Technique.
He couldn't resist checking his status panel.
Favors: None
Iron Mountain Fist (41/100)
Basic Breathing Technique (47/100)
Heavenward Force (27/100)
Iron Mountain Saber Technique (1/100)
(Remaining Lifespan: 43)
A month of arduous training had yielded no progress in his Saber Technique. He never expected that a single life-or-death struggle would awaken his muscle memory, allowing him to finally grasp the knack and log the Iron Mountain Saber Technique onto his panel.
Chu Lingguang was both shocked and overjoyed. He untied the burlap sack and found Chun Ju unconscious inside. Fortunately, they were less than two li from his aunt's village.
Before long, the Government Office and Butcher Hu from North City arrived on the scene.