The weather in May was scorching hot in Jiangning City. When the wind chimes rang lazily, the seemingly deserted courtyard was covered with green creepers that climbed up the yellow yellow walls. Wildflowers and weeds grew densely in the courtyard. Grasshoppers jumped out and circled before disappearing. Crickets made sounds under the bricks and stones. Sometimes butterflies flew over. A bird stood on a shelf full of hanging vines, preening its feathers. As it chirped, it spread its wings and flew away. The vines swayed gently, shaking the golden leaves on the ground.
She sat under the shelf in the corner with her sword in the weeds beside her hand. It was morning. The sound of children reciting poems came from behind the wall. It was quite pleasant to listen to.
Occasionally, that person's voice could be heard. "… Hometown wishes, the thief of virtue. This sentence means …"
"… Zilu does not appreciate the behavior of the so-called hermits …"
"… About this, I remember a story I read before …"
That voice sounded a little casual. It was not full of wisdom, and there were not too many sages. It was different from the teachers she had met before. It made her feel that … it was not very steady.
His words were not as pleasant as the poems read by the group of students, but she could still understand it. Occasionally, he would tell some stories to the group of students. The undisciplined private school. The students were also not very reliable. Occasionally, they would say, "Sir, sir …" or "Mr. Liheng …" or ask some strange questions. Sometimes, they would laugh and talk about stories with the teachers.
It was too rude. If this was at home, such children would have their hands swollen and stand under the sun for a whole day!
However, even though the voice did not have the dignity of a teacher, and it was not as pleasant to listen to as the group of students reciting, sometimes she still felt that there seemed to be some truth in what this person said.
In the morning, he would come over and bring some food and daily necessities. The food was enough for a day's needs. However, if he came over at noon, he would also bring some hot food. In the afternoon, he would do some strange things in the room. Occasionally, he would speak to her, and she would reply casually.
She did not formally meet him because she could not see him clearly. Whenever he came, she would sit on the beam of the roof and watch him coldly, or she would go out through the window and into the courtyard behind. The little lass would often come over and sit on the steps of the veranda outside. She would chat with her son-in-law and talk about all sorts of things she had seen and heard. Because of this, she was able to tell that this person's family ran a cloth business.
After the little lass finished chattering, she would often pester him to tell her stories, such as the bizarre and dazzling A Chinese Ghost Story. It was a pity that she did not finish her story. Perhaps she had told it to the maidservant on the road that day. At this moment, he was talking about a novel called 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils'. The plot was vaguely similar to the current situation of the world, but in that novel, the Wu dynasty had been changed to the Song dynasty.
On such a summer afternoon, in the quiet courtyard, the man named Ning Yi was doing strange experiments and telling strange stories at the same time. The young maidservant sat in the courtyard in front while the black-clothed woman sat in the grass behind with a simple and unadorned long sword in her arms. She listened to the stories of the martial arts world, Jianghu, chivalrous men, and gangs. It was as if this world was separated from the real world.
When they left in the evening, the young maidservant turned her head and said as usual, "Lingdang, see you tomorrow."
Her voice was sweet and melted into the red sunlight that shone down from the sunset.
*****
Ever since the first two days, Ning Yi did not deliberately do anything.
There were many ways to make people feel that you were sincere enough, but the best way was usually: you were really sincere.
You did not deliberately think about anything, nor did you deliberately do anything. Although the woman would occasionally reply to him, she was not willing to meet and talk to him. He did not care. In the morning, he prepared a day's worth of food. In the afternoon and evening, if he could make it, he would try to bring some hot food. The other party's injuries were not light, but since they were taking refuge, he did not care too much.
Every day, he would also bring some necessities for her and buy an extra set of black clothes for her to change into. When they were outside, he would occasionally tell her how to pay attention to the things in the room, what she could touch, and what she could not. The other party might feel that he was strange, but for the time being, there was no need to explain anything.
After the Dragon Boat Festival passed, his rhythm of life returned to the daily rhythm of going to class, strolling, and doing experiments. On the afternoon of the tenth day of the fifth month, he returned home. Su Tan'er had not returned yet and Xiaochan had something to do. The courtyard was empty. He returned to his room to tidy up some things. When he turned his head, he suddenly saw a figure at the door. At first glance, he thought it was the taller of the three maidservants, Xing'er. It was only when he went to open the door that he realized something was wrong.
After opening the door, the woman stood there quietly. She was wearing the green robe that Ning Yi had bought for her. She looked at him, the heroic and cold figure and gaze.
Ning Yi heaved a sigh of relief. "This is too risky …"
The soldiers outside were still patrolling strictly. No matter what her purpose was, following him like this was really committing a crime against the law. After hearing Ning Yi's words, the woman seemed to frown with some doubt, then turned around and left. She seemed to want to go back the way she came and was about to climb over the wall. Ning Yi suddenly called out to her, "Wait." Then he pointed in the direction of the side door, "Go that way, I will go and drive the carriage."
Not long after, the carriage left the side door of the Su Mansion and went in the direction of the school. On the way, he heard the woman say, "I already know where your house is …" She could be considered a person who lived on the edge of a knife and had a cautious personality. There was no need to say more after this sentence. When the carriage arrived at the side of the small courtyard, there was no one on the road under the setting sun. The woman lifted the curtain of the carriage and directly jumped over the wall of the small courtyard. She left behind a quiet voice, "My name is Lu Hongti."
In this way, they could finally be considered to have gotten to know each other.
When the next day passed, the woman no longer avoided meeting with Ning Yi. From then on, they were able to talk about trivial matters. A few days later, in the afternoon, Ning Yi was doing his experiment outside. The sky outside was getting dark, and lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. It started raining, and the heavy rain seemed like it was going to drown the entire Jiangning City. The house leaked under such heavy rain. Ning Yi took a few buckets inside and outside the house to catch the water, making a tinkling sound. Xiaochan did not come today. Ning Yi sat on a chair outside the house to rest for a while and casually asked about martial arts.
Only separated by a wall, Lu Hongti was sitting on the bed inside the house looking at the rain through the window. She smiled and said, "Do you really want to learn martial arts after listening to those historical stories? What kind of place is the Song Dynasty? "
Ning Yi laughed, "No matter what, it is still very interesting."
"Interesting, really interesting." Lu Hongti was silent for a moment, "But it is a historical story after all. In this world … there are no big sects, there are not many heroes in Jianghu, there are not many gentle and elegant Jianghu rules. There were only bandits and bandits from the underworld. What you say may sound nice, but in fact, a group of desperadoes do not have so many rules. If they meet the poor and weak, they will rob and kill them. If they meet the soldiers who are bullying the good, or if they meet the same kind of bandits, they will let them go and avoid them … Chivalrous heroes, where is there any chivalrous heroes who serve the country and the people? "
"Not even one?" Ning Yi asked lightly.
"… Maybe a few."
Ning Yi smiled and changed the topic, "How powerful are you in Jianghu?"
"I have heard of a few people, but I have never fought with them. The rest … are all bullies and hooligans. What kind of Jianghu is it?" There was some pride in her tone, but there was also some displeasure. It wasn't directed at Ning Yi. "If you can beat a few dozen, if you can't beat a few dozen, if you can't beat a few hundred. In a military formation, you're nothing."
"So you have been to the battlefield …"
She paused and then laughed, "Do you really want to learn martial arts? My martial arts? "
"Uh, if you can learn …"
"If I teach you, do you know what will happen?"
From the first sentence, Ning Yi knew something was wrong. He asked tentatively, "Is your martial arts only suitable for women to learn?"
"No, if a man learns it, he will be more powerful." She smiled and said it in a relaxed manner.
"Then … I don't want to become a master. Although I am past the age, I am talented and knowledgeable. Can I become a second-rate master?" Since the other party did not seem sincere, Ning Yi fantasized and made up a few words.
"Heh." She laughed, "If you learn my martial arts, but you don't have enough perseverance and give up halfway, you will be lucky. If you really have the perseverance and practice diligently, then I can guarantee you that you will not live to five years later … "
Ning Yi was silent for a while, "What is this inner force?"
Lu Hongti said, "The so-called 'neigong' is nothing more than breathing techniques. Ordinary breathing techniques can strengthen the body over a long period of time. But the truly profound neigong's breathing techniques are extremely extreme. They control the human body through the rhythm of breathing. If you let a child practice, over time, the child's body will adapt to the breathing method. His body is malleable, and his internal organs will change accordingly. In the future, he will be able to use some extreme methods to exert his strength and adapt to the huge burden of exerting strength … "
"However, the body of an adult is fixed. If you want to exert your strength in an extreme way, it will cause great damage to the body. If you have the perseverance and practice the breathing method that is contrary to your current method, after a few years, your organs will shift, and you will die of weakness from coughing blood. Others think that children can achieve twice the result with half the effort while adults can achieve half the result with twice the effort. In fact, that is not the case … Now you understand. You said that adults can also practice martial arts in the historical novels, and that they can become masters after obtaining good martial arts. It is all just a fantasy … "
It was raining heavily outside, and the sky was gloomy. Ning Yi sat there in a daze for a long time before he understood what inner force was all about. Controlling one's breathing method from a young age could in turn transform one's body and organs. Practicing martial arts from a young age was because children could adapt to the transformation. He had some thoughts in his mind. After a while, he took the notebook and pen, "Write it down, write it down …"
Lu Hongti felt a little puzzled when she felt that Ning Yi did not seem to be depressed. However, she did not intend to get to the bottom of the problem. After a while, she felt bored and asked, "Now that we have nothing to do, why don't you tell us the follow-up story of the demi-gods and demi-gods?"
"It's all speculation. Let's not talk about it …" Ning Yi said casually. There was silence on the other side. After a few seconds, he laughed and said, "I'm just joking. But it seems that the martial arts in my story is indeed more interesting. Haha, alright, I win today. Yesterday, we talked about the story of the Six Pulse Magical Sword and The Buddha's Palm … "
"… Flaming Blade." After a while, Lu Hongti's voice came faintly from inside the room. It sounded like a spirit with resentment behind her back.
Ning Yi moved the stool away to prevent another sword from stabbing at him from the other side of the wall …
*****
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