Under the fist

Chapter 64 It's easy to subdue the bandits in the mountains, but difficult to subdue the bandits in one's heart

"Old man, are you pondering your lousy chess moves again?"

After leaving the station, Lian Youming did not go home first, but went to the ragpicker's courtyard.

For some reason, he felt that this person seemed a little different after a year apart.

It's unbelievable that he could smell tiger bones just by taking a sniff yesterday.

A cold wind was blowing, and in that small doorway, the ragpicker was still holding that wooden chessboard, playing chess with himself. The aluminum lunchbox next to him was empty, as if it had been washed.

Lian Youming chuckled, "You've got a discerning palate. So you didn't want yesterday's leftovers? What do you think? My mom's cooking is top-notch, isn't it?"

The junk collector didn't even bother to lift his head. "The red sausage and cured meat are both good. Although the taste can't compare to that of the imperial chefs, they are made with heart and have a strong human touch. That alone is better than any delicacy."

"Of course, my mom..." Lian Youming said, then suddenly widened his eyes, "You've even eaten food cooked by the imperial chef?"

The ragpicker said indifferently, "Enough nonsense. You're not even bringing food, so what are you doing here?"

"I have something to ask you." Lian Youming squatted down and took out a letter from Yan Lingyun, which contained several medicinal herbs for making tiger bone wine. He originally wanted to ask where he could get these things in the city, but seeing the old man's frighteningly arrogant tone, he decided to test him. "Take a look at these things, can you figure out what's inside?"

The ragpicker first scratched his messy hair, then picked up the letter, glanced at it, and suddenly laughed, "The letter is like a reflection of the person. You've got quite the romantic luck, kid. This girl who wrote the letter is clearly a pure and innocent girl, and she even smells of medicine... um... Polygonatum... lily... Polygonum multiflorum..."

Lian Youming's face was originally smiling, but the more he listened, the more strange his expression became. Especially when the ragpicker smelled various medicinal scents in the letter, he looked like he had seen a ghost.

He took the letter with some skepticism and sniffed it himself, but apart from the musty smell in the room, there was only the old man's stench, which almost made him faint.

This is too bizarre.

But then, the ragpicker said something astonishing: "Is this a prescription? For making tiger bone wine?"

Lian Youming was genuinely dumbfounded. "You actually recognized me!"

The junk collector curled his lip and said, "Look at you, so unsophisticated. Back in the old days of 'posi old,' I was in charge of burning those old books and ancient texts. Besides some miscellaneous things, there were also a lot of medical books, Taoist scriptures, Buddhist scriptures, pharmacopoeias, and all sorts of ancient books from the past. I would casually look at them when I had nothing else to do, and after reading a lot, I learned a bit about them."

Lian Youming asked in surprise, "Are there any left now?"

The junk collector shook his head. "It's all gone. It was all burned."

Lian Youming's breath hitched. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the Rag King call out, "Alright, I know what you want to ask. There aren't many good ones in the city for the ingredients you use to make your liquor. Come with me to Zhongnan Mountain in a couple of days, and we can probably gather them... But I have trouble walking, so you'll have to carry me up there."

Lian Youming glanced at the old man's lower body and then remembered that the man had a limp.

His father said that he was crippled by a bullet.

Suddenly, the junk collector changed the subject, "If you're bored, play chess with me for a while."

Lian Youming shook his head. "No."

The King of Trash said, "I'm afraid you will."

Lian Youming was still thinking about the book Journey to the West and had no time to waste here. "Isn't there a group of old men playing chess over at the neighborhood office? Change your clothes and join them."

The ragpicker said indifferently, "Those old guys can fight tooth and nail over a single move. They're short-sighted. My chess game is different from theirs. I'm fighting against myself... Oh well, never mind, you can go back now."

Having said a bit too much, the old man set up the chessboard by himself, and before leaving, he added, "What are we eating today? If possible, heat up yesterday's leftovers; leftovers have more flavor."

"Oh my, you've become picky... It's a promise, you'll take me to Zhongnan Mountain in a couple of days."

Lian Youming took the aluminum lunchbox and turned to leave.

Just as the boy was about to leave the courtyard, the old man glanced at him thoughtfully, his nostrils twitching, and murmured softly, "Restless mind, body exuding turbidity, must not have slept well last night... Alas, it is easy to subdue bandits in the mountains, but difficult to subdue bandits in one's heart. If you can't even pass this first test, you should just live an honest life."

Home.

Zhao Lanxiang has already gone to work, and her third aunt has also returned to the village.

As the year draws to a close, Lian Shuang is on holiday and is playing jump rope with her friends in the yard, while Lian Lei sits to the side, peeling pine nuts that his aunt brought him.

Returning to this home, Lian Youming felt completely at peace and at ease.

After tidying up the yard and giving his younger sister and brother a few more instructions, he went straight into his room.

It's still that same Journey to the West.

Ever since he started thinking about this thing, Lian Youming felt that all his thoughts were being gradually drawn in, as if he were under a spell.

Moreover, this thing is very strange; it always gives people the feeling that they are only one step away from the truth.

Whether it was the seventy-two small paintings or the final alchemical formula, they were all laid out before him, but he just couldn't decipher them no matter what.

The more Lian Youming thought about it, the more anxious he felt. The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became, and the more uncomfortable he became, the more he thought about it. He then became entangled in his own thoughts, wasting his energy in vain.

He didn't sleep well last night, he had all sorts of strange dreams, he even dreamt of watching Journey to the West.

"Could it be that Li Da is lying to me? Or is this just an ordinary novel?"

However, as soon as this thought arose, Lian Youming quickly dismissed it.

Given their methods and ambition, they would never do such a thing.

"Could it all be an illusion?"

He forced himself to suppress his restless emotions, exhaled softly, and walked around the room, trying to understand the contents of the book from other perspectives.

But no matter how I look at it, my gaze always involuntarily drifts to the monkey in the painting. That damn monkey.

Lian Youming frowned deeply; he couldn't sleep soundly until he figured this out.

It took most of the day to finish looking around, until the third brother ran in and said he was hungry. Only then did Lian Youming snap out of his trance and feel a throbbing pain in his head and his temples throbbing.

After reheating yesterday's leftovers for the two children, Lian Youming sent a bowl to the ragpicker, but this time he didn't even want to speak. The old man was also engrossed in playing chess and didn't say a word either.

As dusk approached, Lian Youming rubbed his temples and let out a long breath.

"No, I can't look at this anymore. If I keep looking at it, I might go mad from the power of my cultivation."

But if one doesn't understand the intricacies of it, how can one compete with Xue Hen?

Since you've decided to embark on the path of martial arts, how can you give up halfway? Giving up would be tantamount to admitting that you're inferior to others.

His mastery of the Netherworld Technique is certainly no less than that of others.

In that case, what's the point of practicing any kung fu?

not.

At this moment, Lian Youming's aura trembled and became unstable.

He pressed the novel down heavily in his hand, and suddenly stretched out his body. Instead of practicing his fists and feet or inhaling and circulating his energy, he began to practice the Five Animal Frolics in a small space.

The five animals are tiger, bear, bird, deer, and monkey.

Compared to those strange muscle movements, the Five Animals' movements are simple and clear, and pose no difficulty for him at all.

As Lian Youming stretched his arms, legs, and waist, his unstable breathing gradually calmed down, and his fierce and sharp moves became gentle and soothing.

Birds fly, tigers pounce, bears sway, monkeys pluck...

Originally, the Five Animal Frolics required repeated practice, but Lian Youming gradually began to perform them at will, without being bound by any particular order. When his mind was calm, he would perform the Bear Frolics, and when his mind was relaxed, he would perform the Monkey Frolics.

He suddenly stopped, stood still for a few seconds, then looked at the Journey to the West book lying on the bed and uttered a single word, "Damn."

Whether or not Xue Hen can be defeated is not something that can be determined by a novel.

If that were the case, what would be the point of those martial artists' decades of hard training? Wouldn't that make them a laughing stock?

Lian Youming narrowed his eyes, looking at the monkey leaping and bounding in the painting, and raised his right hand, "You damn monkey, you really can jump around."

Clap it with one palm.

The air seemed to freeze, and the room fell into a deathly silence.

Lian Youming sighed, feeling a pang of regret. Li Da had entrusted the task to the wrong person; he had ultimately failed to obtain it…

"Ok?"

Suddenly, the thought of sighing abruptly stopped. He paused, his expression froze, and he clenched his fingers, completely obscuring the monkey in the painting.

Then, looking at the remaining master and disciples, his eyes gradually narrowed.

The figures in the painting were behaving strangely; they weren't practicing any kind of martial arts stance or stance, but rather all were looking in one direction, as if an unseen person was standing there talking to the master and his disciples.

Even if Lian Youming covers the monkey, it doesn't seem out of place, as if the monkey shouldn't have been in the painting at all.

Lian Youming was startled. He looked at the blank space where the master and his disciples were pointing. There was nothing there, but there was an outline pieced together by the bodies of the monk, the pig demon, and Sha Wujing.

It looked like a monkey, an invisible monkey.

And this outline looked vaguely familiar to him.

Lian Youming busily flipped through the seventy-two small paintings, comparing the monkeys in the paintings with their outlines one by one, and surprisingly, one of them matched.

"The correct order?"

Lian Youming took a deep breath.

He looked at it again from beginning to end and discovered that there were actually two monkeys in each painting, one visible and one invisible.

Swallowing hard, Lian Youming began to piece together the monkeys from the paintings one by one, following the outline of each page.

As Lian Youming gazed at the scene in the seventy-second painting, a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

The painting depicts a scene of a monkey becoming an apprentice.

The monkey danced with joy, seemingly overjoyed. Before the monkey stood a Taoist priest with an indistinct face, sitting cross-legged on a bed, holding a whisk, wearing wide robes and exuding an air of otherworldly elegance.

Lian Youming glanced at the painting and found nothing unusual, but he soon noticed that there was a moon hanging in the painting.

The window in the painting is wide open, and the moon shines through it, casting its light on the monkey.

Lian Youming's eyes darkened, and he held the page up to the lamp, examining it carefully.

Then, six small characters faintly appeared on the yellowed paper.

"Heavenly Gang Force! Earthly Fiend Stance!"

(End of this chapter)