Chapter 87: Little Teacher

If Chen Ping An were alone, even carrying a heavy load, he could easily cover a hundred li in a day, traversing streams, scaling cliffs, and clinging to rock faces. But with the little girl in the red cotton-padded jacket, he took it easy. So, when he had nothing else to do, he began practicing his footwork. Because Li Bao Ping was with him, he didn't use the full strength and spirit of his fist form, but rather kept it natural and relaxed. To accommodate Li Bao Ping, he deliberately slowed down his pace and shortened his strides. This made Chen Ping An, who had finally felt like he was grasping the key, feel like he was back at square one, awkward and clumsy again.

They had already walked about twenty li. Li Bao Ping still had energy to spare and didn't seem uncomfortable. The little girl simply wiped the sweat from her forehead and asked, "Little Martial Uncle, are you practicing your fist?"

Chen Ping An stopped his footwork and nodded, "Yes."

Li Bao Ping asked again, "Then do you know the foundation of the fist you're practicing, where the original source of energy lies?"

Chen Ping An was bewildered, "What do you mean? I only know that there are many acupoints on the body. The main reason I memorized those hundreds of characters was to remember the names of those acupoints. But I haven't had time to ask how they relate to practicing the fist. A Miss Ning looked at my fist manual but didn't tell me. She only said that there are no shortcuts in practicing the fist, and that it requires a little bit of hard work to get through. The Miss Ruan you know said that she practices swordsmanship, and that her family's cultivation path couldn't be shared, so I didn't talk to her about it in depth at the time."

In fact, the grass-shoe-wearing boy at that time thought he was destined to live out his life in the small town, so he had plenty of time and opportunity to ask Ruan Xiu.

Li Bao Ping widened her eyes, looking incredulous, and emphasized, "Little Martial Uncle! You dare to practice the fist without even knowing this? Do you know that practicing the fist haphazardly, especially external fist techniques, can easily damage your fundamental energy? Martial arts are actually similar to geomancers searching for dragon veins and acupoints, except that geomancers are looking for mountain and river acupoints, and martial artists are searching for and excavating the treasures of their own bodies. After you find them, you still need to use the right method to truly enter the hall of martial arts. No, no, Little Martial Uncle, I must explain this to you clearly, so you can learn the fist properly!"

Seeing her determined expression, Chen Ping An thought about it and realized that it wouldn't be a bad thing. Just ahead was a crooked old willow tree, mostly leaning towards the water surface, like an unfinished arch bridge. He pulled Li Bao Ping over to rest against the tree trunk. The little girl was lively and wanted to sit down, so Chen Ping An had to lift her onto the trunk, standing next to her to prevent her from falling.

After she sat on the tree, she was like a small teacher giving her first lecture at the school, energetic and spirited. She coughed and planned to have a good talk with her Little Martial Uncle, to prevent him from going astray. If he really damaged his body, wouldn't she regret it and feel sorry for him? Li Bao Ping said seriously, "The reason I know something about martial arts is because my family has a maid named Zhu Lu. The Ancestor recognized her talent for martial arts since she was a child, and I'm very close to her. Zhu Lu is a silent person and only likes to tell me her thoughts, so I know what martial arts are all about. Unfortunately, when I was six years old, I secretly followed Zhu Lu, walking on those things called earth bull stakes. They were very fun. The highest wooden stake was almost as tall as the roof. But one time, my foot slipped and I accidentally fell down. Actually, I was fine, but Zhu Lu was still implicated by me and was severely punished by the Ancestor. After that, every time Zhu Lu practiced martial arts in the morning and evening, and when she hid in the house to soak in medicinal tubs, she wouldn't let me play anymore."

Chen Ping An felt a little guilty. The Zhu Lu sister that the little girl was talking about might be the lithe girl whose chest and head were hit by two of his tiles that day. At that time, he secretly broke into the Li family mansion and smashed two bird feeder porcelain jars with a slingshot. The maid who was protecting the little girl from Zheng Yang Mountain was the first to discover his trace and quickly climbed over the wall onto the roof, finally leaping towards the roof he was on, which Chen Ping An still thought was amazing every time he recalled it.

Li Bao Ping wanted to tell this guy, who refused to admit that he was her Little Martial Uncle, everything she knew. "For example, the coward Shi Chun Jia's family has a shop. If they do good business, they can make money from money and have a wide source of income. That's why Shi Chun Jia's shop is one of the oldest in our small town. But if they only spend and don't know how to attract customers, they will soon be stretched thin, and the shop will definitely have to close, right?"

As soon as he heard about doing business and making money, the money-grubber Chen Ping An immediately "opened his mind" and realized, "Everyone has some foundation. If you practice the fist well, you can make money from money. If you don't practice well, it's a losing business. If you don't practice martial arts at all, you can just honestly guard your family business?"

Li Bao Ping thought for a while and nodded, "That's about the meaning. Little Martial Uncle, have you heard of a saying called 'practicing the fist invites evil'? Especially those external fist techniques that claim to be mastered in three years and can kill people when they go out. The fist is fierce, with big chops and swings. It looks impressive, shouting 'hmm, ha' when hitting people, but it actually hurts the body the most. Because they haven't found the pulse gate at all, they are entering without the right method. Many people develop a lot of illnesses in middle age, and it's hard to say if they will have a good old age. Even if they do, it will be very miserable. Because from the first day they practiced the fist, they weren't nourishing their qi and body, but were acting like spendthrifts, squandering their family property."

In the words of the Li family Ancestor, Li Bao Ping was just a girl without sense. The little girl in the red cotton-padded jacket, getting excited, was about to stand up from the old willow tree trunk, but her Little Martial Uncle stopped her with a look, and she reluctantly continued, "So Little Martial Uncle, you must take this as a warning and find the true method of practicing the fist. There are thousands of fist techniques in the world, and the reason why there are high and low achievements, big and small prospects, depends on at least two natal acupoints of each fist technique. Whether you can find them or not. After you find them, it depends on whether you can find the best path to nourish the most acupoints along the way, like spring rain, nourishing all things. Even if the fist manual isn't high-grade, as long as it's the right way, it can still strengthen the body and prolong life. But if you go down the wrong path, the better the fist manual, the easier it is to go wrong."Chen Ping'an fell into deep thought. He could sense the presence of that energy within him, like a homeless little fire dragon wandering aimlessly within a vast furnace. Before, this fire dragon was somewhat like a headless fly, crashing around randomly, turning back after hitting obstacles. Now, its range of activity was expanding, but it always returned to the vicinity of those qi reservoirs in his abdomen, hovering hesitantly, like a child who has been out playing, wanting to go home after becoming tired, but unable to find the actual doorway.

This mysterious energy had never caused Chen Ping'an any discomfort or pain. Instead, it gave the boy a warm, sun-drenched feeling in the dead of winter. Chen Ping'an had been extremely sensitive to the condition of his internal organs since he was very young, so he could quickly detect any problems. When Cai Jinjian of Cloud Rosy Mountain said in the Mud Bottle Alley that he wouldn't live long, she probably thought the boy from the slums would take it as a joke, but Chen Ping'an had immediately confirmed her statement as true.

Since he couldn't detect anything amiss, Chen Ping'an decided to let the energy be, harboring a hint of curiosity to see which acupoint it would choose as its abode.

Li Bao Ping swung her little legs, arms crossed, "It is said that the foundation of martial arts lies in the word 'dispersing' qi, which is quite overbearing, completely different from the qi cultivation of Qi Refiners. The latter accumulate qi as much as possible, scrupulously and meticulously, while martial arts are different. Once you find that initial source of qi, it's like conquering fortresses one by one, eliminating all the qi originally residing in the acupoints and qi reservoirs, converting and replacing it with that earliest breath. Eventually, the entire body, at a single thought, becomes a unified whole, with the qi flowing hundreds of miles in an instant. Those at the ninth realm can even reach a thousand miles, instantly mobilizing the potential of the whole body. It's like a great general commanding a vast army with ease, the power of which is imaginable, no less impressive than a Qi Refiner soaring through the air."

Li Bao Ping continued, "Sister Zhu Lu said that martial arts grandmasters consider things like scaling walls and walking on rooftops as nothing special. They can even travel far distances by manipulating the wind, like Qi Refiners. Furthermore, once they reach the Supreme Grandmaster level, slaughtering those arrogant Qi Refiners is as easy as wringing a chicken's neck, killing with a flick of the finger, as naturally as breathing."

Chen Ping'an asked with a smile, "If martial arts are truly that powerful, that's of course a good thing. But why is the degree of power measured by how easily one can kill?"

Li Bao Ping was stunned for a moment, then shook her head honestly, "I haven't thought about that. That's what Sister Zhu Lu said. When she said those words, she was very envious, just like how I dream of catching a fish every day."

After a moment's thought, the little girl said, "But thinking about it carefully, according to Sister Zhu Lu, martial artists and cultivators seem to be naturally at odds. The latter like to look down on the former, considering martial arts a lowly profession, for pitiable wretches without the talent for cultivation, therefore regarding them as inferiors, and scolding martial artists as the watchdogs of secular dynasties. The former, on the other hand, think that those cultivators are all arrogant, their nostrils pointed to the sky, and are not good people. Why should martial artists struggle in the martial world, only to be deemed 'using martial arts to disrupt the law'? Those Qi Refiners are clearly just a small group of people, yet they occupy countless famous mountains and blessed lands, still smugly calling themselves immortals of the mountains, cultivating longevity with magic and supernatural powers, receiving the respect and offerings of mortals and martial artists, as if it were their birthright."

Li Bao Ping suddenly smiled, "But you don't need to worry about these disputes, Little Martial Uncle. They're really quite meaningless."

Li Bao Ping suddenly hesitated, as if recalling something, yet reluctant to speak of it, a bit guilt-ridden. Finally, she decided to be frank, unwilling to deceive her Little Martial Uncle. The little girl apologized with a distressed look, "Sister Zhu Lu and her father, Uncle Zhu He, were originally going to travel to the southern border of the Great Sui with us, but I was afraid that you wouldn't like them, so I tricked them into waiting for us at the east gate of the small town. If Uncle Zhu He were here, he could teach you martial arts. Because Sister Zhu Lu has been practicing martial arts with her father since she was young. Our Ancestor privately told me that although Zhu He's martial arts talent is limited, he is very skilled at teaching martial arts, deserving to be called a 'wise teacher'. Even if he were placed in those 'Prefecture Head' mansions in the Great Li capital, he could become a guest of honor. Now Uncle Zhu He is gone, and Sister Zhu Lu is gone..."

Chen Ping'an quickly comforted her, "It's okay, it's okay. Although I don't have a master for practicing martial arts, I only have a martial arts manual. Now, I haven't even recognized all the words in the manual, so I don't dare to practice blindly. I only practice one walking stance and one standing stance, but I have confirmed that it can nourish my body without causing harm. As for how to achieve any accomplishments, I guess I'll have to wait until I can understand the manual. There's no rush. I practice martial arts not for any realm, but only to survive. I haven't thought so much about it."

However, Li Bao Ping had clearly gone off on a tangent, and her thoughts ran wild. The more she spoke, the more guilty she felt, her mouth turning downward, showing signs of tears, "For martial artists learning martial arts, the master leads you through the door, but the cultivation depends on the individual. But the master is very important. The threshold of the door that the master leads you through can be high or low. And after the master leads you through the first gate, whether they have to let go because their abilities are limited, or whether they can lead you all the way to the backyard gate, the situations are completely different. So, the master must be a wise teacher, not just a famous one."

The little girl sniffled, tears about to stream from her eyes, "Little Martial Uncle, you are a once-in-a-century, once-in-a-millennium martial arts genius. What if I delay you from becoming a master? What should I do?"

Chen Ping'an couldn't even bother with her absurd conclusion that he was a genius. The urgent matter was to prevent her from crying. When the little girl became sad, it felt like her heart was truly broken, completely unlike the usual childish tantrums. Chen Ping'an had a flash of inspiration and suddenly raised his hand, placing his palm in front of the little girl, gently clenching it into a fist, and loudly said a single word, "收! (Shōu! - Collect/Receive/Stop!)"

Li Bao Ping was a clever child with a very quick mind. She was immediately stunned, stopping the tears from bursting forth, "Little Martial Uncle, what are you doing?"

Chen Ping'an shook his fist and laughed, "How about it? Your Little Martial Uncle is amazing, right? He stopped you from crying instantly."

In order to comfort the little girl, Chen Ping'an had gone all out, officially acknowledging himself as her Little Martial Uncle for the first time.The little girl immediately burst into a smile through her tears.

She felt not that her sadness had disappeared, but that her happiness had outweighed it.

Chen Pingan, feeling relieved, placed his hands on the old willow tree trunk, then leaned against it and sat down beside the little girl.

At their feet were two woven baskets, one large and one small.

Li Baoping said softly, "Uncle Zhu He often tells Sister Zhu Lu, 'Practice boxing without truth, and a ghost will possess you in three years. Find the truth in boxing, and one punch will kill a god.' Once a martial artist falls ill, it's much more difficult to treat than an ordinary person. Sister Zhu Lu nearly didn't make it through twice. After the first time, it took her half a year to recover. She was like a sickly seedling, unable to even lift a bucket of water. The second time was even worse. I heard the commotion and moved a small stool over, secretly poking a hole in the window paper. I saw Sister Zhu Lu writhing in pain on the bed, unable to be held down. In the end, her fingernails were torn off, bloodied and gruesome. Finally, the shopkeeper from the Yang family's store was invited to bring medicine, and only then did she stop hurting and gradually calm down. But the ancestor stood at the courtyard gate, without entering, shook his head, and turned away, seemingly with some regret and disappointment. When I asked about it later, the ancestor only said that her life was saved by the medicine, but the hope of the eighth realm was lost. In the future, she shouldn't be cultivated too much, otherwise it would harm her. If she was lucky enough to have great fortune, she might enter the seventh realm, but if she was unlucky, even the sixth realm would be doubtful."

Li Baoping turned her head, looking worried, "Little Martial Uncle, you mustn't get sick like that, I don't know anything and would definitely be dumbfounded!"

Chen Pingan laughed, "It won't happen, and even if it does, I mean, just in case, don't be afraid. I can withstand pain very well. I'm not bragging."

Li Baoping was skeptical, and reached out to gently pinch his arm, "Little Martial Uncle, does it hurt?"

Chen Pingan patted her little head, then looked towards the path they had taken, "Do you know when Little Martial Uncle felt the most uncomfortable?"

The little girl shook her head vigorously like a rattle.

Chen Pingan put his hands on the tree trunk, crossed his legs, and swayed them gently like the little girl, the young man squinting his eyes, and laughed softly, "It was the second time I went into the mountains alone to gather herbs. I was only four years old then, not even five. When I went out, I wanted to gather the most herbs possible to bring home, so I deliberately chose the biggest basket. But before I even left the town, I was exhausted. When I finally reached the point where I could see the mountains, it was a sunny day. The ropes of the basket were burning my shoulders, and my back even more so. Actually, the pain wasn't the worst part, it wasn't that scary. What made me despair was that the mountain looked so far away, like I could never reach it in this lifetime. And because it hadn't been long since my first time entering and leaving the mountains, the blisters on my feet quickly rebelled. So Little Martial Uncle, I gritted my teeth, walked and cried, and kept secretly asking myself, 'I haven't even reached the foot of the mountain yet, should I just go home? I'm still young, the basket is so big, the mountain road is so far, it's not shameful to go home, Mother definitely won't blame you.'"

Li Baoping listened intently, and asked in a low voice, "Little Martial Uncle, did you give up in the end?"

The straw sandal-wearing youth smiled and shook his head, "No, I suddenly thought, no matter what, I'll just walk to the foot of the mountain, and turn back there. Then I really reached the foot of the mountain. When I sat on the ground crying, I thought again, 'Why don't I go up the mountain, pick one herb, and then go home?' And then I started climbing the mountain again. As I climbed, when I saw those herbs, I felt like I suddenly had strength, it was a very strange thing."

Li Baoping exclaimed, praising, "Little Martial Uncle, you must have picked a basket full of herbs before going down the mountain and returning home, right?!"

The little girl's face was filled with pride as she said this.

Chen Pingan shook his head, "No, the sun was about to set, and the herbs still hadn't covered the bottom of the basket, so I went down the mountain. First of all, the herbs weren't that easy to find, it was very difficult. Being so small, carrying a big basket on the mountain road, was actually harder than picking herbs. Secondly, I was really tired. And I was also thinking that if I didn't leave, I would have to stay on the mountain alone after dark, and of course I was very scared back then. But what I was most afraid of..."

Li Baoping waited for a long time, but didn't hear what came next, and asked curiously, "What was Little Martial Uncle most afraid of?"

"It's nothing."

The straw sandal-wearing youth shook his head, and said softly, "I wasn't afraid anymore later."

The little girl thoughtfully didn't ask further.

Chen Pingan came back to his senses, turned to her and smiled, "I'm not telling you this to show you how amazing Little Martial Uncle is, actually, the poor children in town all grew up like this, it's nothing special. I'm saying this because I think you spoke very well today when you told me about the intricacies of martial arts, it reminded me of how Master Qi looked when he was teaching when I secretly went to the school when I was little. Didn't you say that there are no female teachers? I think that after you go to Cliff Mountain Academy and read enough books, you might become the first teacher to teach at the academy."

After hearing what Little Martial Uncle said, the little girl in the red cotton jacket suddenly burst out with high morale, raising her fists, "Li Baoping, you can do it! You definitely can!"

Chen Pingan watched silently, feeling that if Master Qi was still alive, he would definitely be very happy.

But then the little girl said something that gave the youth a headache, "Because Li Baoping has the most amazing Little Martial Uncle in the world!"

The youth had no choice but to pretend that he hadn't heard anything.

During the beautiful season of lush grass and flying orioles, the youth and the little girl sat side by side, each cherishing beautiful wishes.

On the other side of the stream, in a hidden place, a man and a young woman sat cross-legged, eating dry rations.

The young woman, whose eyes were full of sharpness, said unhappily, "Dad, is it really possible for Miss to reach our Great Li border smoothly with such a simple-minded, foolish guy? I heard that there are often wars over there, and there are also many bandits, it's very unsafe."

The man teased, "Have you forgotten who taught you a lesson? Your first battle after learning martial arts, you not only lost, but you lost so awkwardly."

The young woman said angrily, "That's because you wouldn't allow me to circulate my Qi at will, fearing that I couldn't withstand the pressure. Now I can knock that guy from Mud Bottle Alley over with one hand."The man chuckled, "You, a martial artist of the Second Realm, are you truly certain?"

The girl loudly interjected, "Father, it's the peak of the Second Realm!"

The man took a sip from his water gourd and shook his head. "You can't defeat him, unless it's a light spar. Only then would you have a chance."

The girl clearly didn't believe him. That boy, at best, had just stepped through the door of martial arts. When they faced off on the roof of the Li family mansion, he only gained an advantage due to the terrain.

The man teased, "You're an ungrateful one. When he faced you in the mansion and you fell towards the ground, he still remembered to pull you back. If it were your father fighting someone, I wouldn't consider it unkind of me to add a roof tile to your head!"

"That's why he's foolish."

The girl coldly sneered, "A martial artist with the kindness of a woman will not live long!"

The man looked surprised. "You're just a little girl, with mediocre martial skills and a low level of martial cultivation, yet you spout such grand principles one after another. Who taught you that? I certainly never told you those things."

The girl raised her chin. "Our Second Young Master said it! Although the Second Young Master is a scholar full of strategies, he never spouts empty benevolence and morality. He only says that kindness does not command soldiers and that one must be decisive and ruthless."

The man frowned. Just as he was about to give this thoughtless daughter of his some proper advice, he suddenly stood up and said in a deep voice, "Cross the river!"

The girl followed suit. "Father, what's wrong? Weren't we just supposed to follow Miss quietly?"

The man's tone was not relaxed. "Someone's coming. Be careful in a moment!"

The father and daughter pair leaped across the river and rushed away.

Chen Ping'an and Li Baoping had just left the old willow tree and resumed their journey when they noticed a figure appearing at the edge of their vision.

Chen Ping'an first put down the bamboo basket and then had Li Baoping stand behind him.

If they encountered anyone east of the small town, even gods, demons, ghosts, or monsters, Chen Ping'an wouldn't be surprised.

But on this southward route where even the road would soon disappear, Chen Ping'an wouldn't dare to be careless, no matter who they met.

In the distance,

A man of neither tall nor stout stature was approaching Chen Ping'an and Li Baoping. He was leading a white donkey, wearing a bamboo hat, with a cloth bag slung across his shoulder, leggings wrapped around his legs, holding a bamboo staff, and a green... bamboo-sheathed long saber hanging at his waist?

The man stopped five or six steps away, without getting any closer. He took off his bamboo hat, revealing an unremarkable face, and smiled. "You're Chen Ping'an, right? Hello, my name is A'liang, 'liang' as in 'kindness'."

Finally, the man added, "I am a swordsman."