Volume 1 Chapter 19: A Glimpse into the Past Residence
When I was in my hometown, sometimes street performers came to the village, and they would always start with this set of boxing . If they could perform without changing their expressions or beating their hearts, the onlookers would stay to watch, otherwise they would shake their heads and leave. Therefore, Lin Jianlan was not unfamiliar with the Luohan boxing, but he was secretly wondering in his heart: "Why does Uncle Qing, who has such high martial arts skills, still keep these books that look relatively simple and basic?" He flipped through them slightly and saw that there were words written on the blank spaces on many pages of the book. Fang sat down next to the desk and read carefully page by page.
This Luohan Fist is very old. When I opened the cover, I saw a few lines of words written on the inside, but they were crossed out. I could only read them carefully: "When I was young, my father said that Luohan Fist is the foundation of martial arts. Only with a solid foundation can we make great progress. I don't think so. Tongbi Fist and Qianyuan Palm are much more sophisticated than this fist." I looked down and saw a few small words written on it: "Extremely superficial!"
Lin Jianlan thought to himself, "I guess after Uncle Qing learned the Tongbi Fist and Qianyuan Palm, he felt that there was nothing worth studying about the Luohan Fist, so he wrote it down, but later he felt that what he said was wrong, so he crossed it out. It's really puzzling."
Flipping through the pages one after another, the pages were all filled with diagrams of common boxing techniques and body movements, with occasional annotations beside them. Some said, "If this punch is three points downward, the effect will be completely different." Some said, "There are many flaws. If you use this punch, what will happen if someone attacks your ribs?" Some have been crossed out and are difficult to identify. Lin Jianlan nodded and thought to himself, "No wonder Uncle Qing's martial arts are so powerful. It turns out that learning the Luohan Fist, which is common to martial arts masters and soldiers, can lead to such insights and improvements."
There were more and more erasures at the back. Lin Jianlan flipped all the way to the last page, and then he saw that the back cover was filled with dense writing. The handwriting was not as sloppy as the front, but was written in small regular script with a neat and careful pen: "There are too many crude opinions at the beginning, I can't erase them one by one, I am really ashamed. Re-examining the boxing, I suddenly realized that most of the world's moves and sets originated from one way. The Luohan boxing here and the other boxing at that time are just slightly changed in body shape. The boxing in the world has the same meaning. Boxing is connected to swordsmanship, stick fighting, and martial arts in the world. There is no difference."
Although Lin Jianlan didn't quite understand, he thought to himself: "Oh, Brother Yue just transformed the family's stick techniques into sword techniques, so there are similarities. What Uncle Qing said is probably right." He looked down and said: "People who learn martial arts from the same school often have a solid foundation, but they tend to stick to one move and one style, without any difference, but they don't know that the moves used are different for different enemies. Sticking to old rules is the biggest enemy of martial arts!" There are a few lines of small words below: "Legend has it that the founder of Tongbiquan had extraordinary arms. I don't know if it is true. Later generations don't have this talent, but they practice hard in this way. Now every time I see people who practice this boxing, the moves are weird and strange. I feel ashamed that I used to be a monkey!"
Lin Jianlan thought to himself, "That's right. Uncle Qing must have understood this after countless battles with others and recorded it in the boxing manual. However, the boxing methods in this manual are too ordinary. No one will read it if it is just left here. So Uncle Qing's hard work is buried here. People all like some profound martial arts, but they don't know that martial arts in the world come from one place. It is better to master one and understand ten than to master ten."
The south is warm and humid, and it is not easy to snow even in winter. At most, it is a continuous drizzle. However, this winter is very abnormal. The sun and the moon alternate, the stars move, and time passes very quickly. In a blink of an eye, Lin Jianlan has been in the cold winter in Jiangnan. As soon as winter came, there was a heavy snow, which was about to melt, but it started to snow again. The weather was also much colder than usual.
The snow kept falling for several days. Most people stayed indoors, but the Kuang Yi Gang was still doing things in an orderly manner. Although the snow had not stopped, in order to avoid snow accumulation, the younger disciples of the Kuang Yi Gang took turns cleaning, while the older disciples still braved the severe cold and snow to practice. There were shouts in the martial arts arena, and a man was seen rushing across the martial arts arena, rushing all the way to Doctor Cheng's room.
"Doctor Cheng, I can't teach you anymore!"
Doctor Cheng was in the room, studying a wall chart with a book in his hand. When he heard the words, he turned around and saw Qin Tianxiong standing at the door. There were still snowflakes on his hair and he looked angry. Doctor Cheng knew something and walked over to Qin Tianxiong, pulled him into the room and sat him down, saying, "It looks like Lan'er has made you angry again." Qin Tianxiong said angrily, "I had hoped that he would be neither stupid nor dumb and would fight for us. Now it seems that he is hopeless!"
Doctor Cheng patted Qin Tianxiong on the shoulder and said, "Tell me slowly, how did he make your master so angry today?"
Qin Tianxiong said: "We martial artists practice martial arts in the hottest days of summer and the coldest days of winter. What matters is that we have solid skills, and it is inevitable to endure some hardships. We and the brothers in the gang have high expectations for him, so I have never spoiled him because he is a gang leader. On the contrary, I am very strict with him. However, although he is smart, he always looks reluctant when learning martial arts. I teach him martial arts, but he still points fingers at me in return. Look, today he said a lot of foolish and stupid things to the snowflakes. I had a headache after listening to him, so I quickly let him go back. Doctor Cheng, I really have no way!"
Doctor Cheng said, "Alas, Brother Qin, I have been trying to find a way to train his internal strength for more than half a year, but I have not succeeded. He can only practice some external skills. You have the most solid and outstanding external skills among our brothers, so I asked you to teach him. Although Lan'er doesn't say it, he must be sad that he can't practice internal skills. If what he said is unpleasant, you should be tolerant."
Qin Tianxiong said, "You underestimate me. Would I stop teaching him just because I said something offensive? Ever since I decided to teach him martial arts, he has not been very serious about it. He always has objections when learning martial arts. At first I thought it was because my words were not elegant enough. Later I asked Master Fang and Zhang the Dharma Protector, but the result was the same. You know all this. Could it be that we brothers are not tolerant? You must know the reason at all, right!?"
Doctor Cheng sighed, "At this point, I know how difficult it is to teach him. But now I can only teach him step by step. He can't practice martial arts like Yin Yin did since he was a child, and he can't cultivate internal strength. Even if he studies seriously now, I'm afraid he will be defeated. In the past, because of the favors of Cao Zongguan, all the hall masters in the Kuangyi Gang tried their best to hunt down the gang leader. Lin Jianlan was the gang leader's adopted son, and he was innocent. He was dragged into the fight between the gang leader and his wife. If he doesn't learn some martial arts to protect himself now, I'm afraid he will be killed in the future."
Qin Tianxiong said, "Doctor Cheng, you are kind-hearted, but even if we are willing to teach, he must be willing to learn. Well, I will protect him from harm with my life in the future. Old Cheng, I also advise you that you don't need to study any internal skills for him. If he is unwilling to learn the moves well, what can he do even if he has internal skills? Will he just hit randomly when facing the enemy? If we really want to teach, you... you should ask someone else!" After saying that, he stood up and left, but was pulled back by Doctor Cheng, who said, "Don't worry, let's go find Brothers Fang and Zhang to teach Lin Jianlan together, so that he can understand our painstaking efforts."
Although Qin Tianxiong was still angry, after Doctor Cheng had tried to persuade him with kind words, he could not deny him any face and could not lose his temper again. He followed Doctor Cheng out of the house in a depressed mood.
Lin Jianlan was in a daze in the room at this time, thinking to himself: "This morning I was just talking about Uncle Qin's move of whale mouth closing, with the two wrists twisting and entwining each other. It should be that one wrist should hold the opponent's wrist and twist it, and the other wrist can be free to hit the opponent with the welcoming palm. But he looked unfriendly and asked me to go back to the room to practice first, but he left in a hurry. I don't know why. Alas, maybe he wants to ask Grandpa Cheng to teach him again." Thinking of this, he shook his head, walked to the window and pushed it open.
Since he moved into Lin Longqing's house, he often opened the window to look out at the clear water of the lake. At first, the willow trees by the pond were covered with catkins, which often flew into the window and covered the ground. Later, as the weather gradually cooled, the willow leaves were like strings of money, hanging on the water, reflecting the entire lake in golden yellow. Now the leaves of the willow trees have fallen, and the cold wind of winter has blown them away without a trace. It snowed, and the branches were crystal clear. Through this scene, Lin Jianlan could slightly feel the shadow of winter in the north. A gust of cold wind blew over, but it was not cold. Lin Jianlan thought to himself: "Only in this place in the south of the Yangtze River can I dare to open the window like this. After all, that kind of bone-chilling cold can only be found in the north. Although there are silk quilts, precious heaters, and trees that don't turn yellow in winter, this is not my hometown after all, and I can't like it no matter what."
At this time, the lake surface was still unfrozen, but it was clear, cold, and dark, making the white snow on the shore even more dazzling. Lin Jianlan thought to himself, "No wonder Uncle Qing often stares out the window every day, and would be in a daze for hours. I didn't quite understand it at that time, but now I am also in a foreign land, and I finally understand that Uncle Qing misses Jiangnan the same way I miss that small village in the north." While he was daydreaming, he heard footsteps outside, and someone called out, "Lan'er?"
Lin Jianlan thought to himself, "Sure enough, Uncle Qin has called Grandpa Cheng again." He closed the window and ran to the door with a worried look on his face. When he opened the door, he saw Doctor Cheng followed by Master Fang others, all with serious faces. He put away his smile and bowed to the side. Several people came in one after another and sat down. Doctor Cheng stared at Lin Jianlan and thought, "In the past six months or so, he has grown a lot. He is no longer the country boy who knew nothing. I just don't know where his mind is." After thinking about it, he couldn't help but show a worried look on his face, and said to Lin Jianlan solemnly, "Lan'er, come here."
Lin Jianlan slowly walked to Doctor Cheng and sat down, whispering, "Grandpa Cheng, what do you want?"
Doctor Cheng said, "In the past six months or so, Hall Master Fang, Dharma Protector Zhang, and Dharma Protector Qin have all taught you, but when they mention you, they all sigh and complain that you are undisciplined. These three are all outstanding martial artists in the gang, and are also top-notch masters in the martial arts world. How could none of them be qualified to teach you?"
Seeing that Doctor Cheng looked unhappy and his tone was full of reproach, Lin Jianlan did not dare to sit down anymore and stood up and said, "Lan'er dare not."
Doctor Cheng saw that he was in a state of panic and sighed, "I have been unable to sleep or eat well recently. I have been thinking about how to let you practice internal skills day and night. Qin Hufa and the others are responsible for teaching you external skills. Once you learn the internal skills, they will be integrated with each other. You should understand everyone's sincere hearts, so why do you make them unhappy again and again?"
Lin Jianlan was about to speak, but stopped, thinking: "I have read all the basic boxing and sword techniques left by Uncle Qing, and most of them are different from what Uncle Qin and others taught. Comparing the two, it is obvious that Uncle Qing has a different perspective and is more brilliant. When Uncle Qin and others taught me, I would always show them what Uncle Qing said, but they said that I did not lay a good foundation and was impetuous, just like today, I made Uncle Qin unhappy again. Alas, I thought that if someone holds a different opinion, people who learn martial arts will definitely be happy to hear the emperor's words, even if they argue. But they ignored me and sometimes even criticized me, just because I was just their apprentice. In their eyes, I was still a teenager who knew nothing." Thinking of this, he lowered his head and said, "Lan'er knows he was wrong. Next time the elders teach me martial arts, I will definitely not make the uncles unhappy again."
Qin Tianxiong frowned and said, "Young Master, when have you not apologized to us in this pitiful manner? But after a few days, you are back to your old ways! Just take today for example, you pointed out the moves I taught you before we even practiced them. I told you kindly not to be impetuous, but you kept nagging Feixue. How can this not make us all feel disappointed?"
Seeing that Qin Tianxiong still remembered what happened in the morning, Lin Jianlan felt pity for him. Although he could not practice internal strength and was not interested in martial arts, he felt that the book left by Uncle Qing was very much to his liking. He often read it at night and often felt something, and admired Uncle Qing's attainments even more. It was only in the past six months that he truly realized that people who practice martial arts are actually very different. If you practice internal strength properly and have exquisite moves, you can become a first-class master through hard work. However, this is just "martial arts"; there is "martial arts" above it, and there are even fewer people who can go up to the next level. They can often comprehend a higher level through "martial arts", call themselves a school, and create their own martial arts. Uncle Qing created his own martial arts when he was more than 30 years old, and Brother Yue also created a set of swordsmanship based on his own stick method. At this point, Uncle Qing often lamented in the book that he could never understand "martial arts". I'm afraid that since ancient times, there have been few people who can reach this level, because after they have their sudden enlightenment, they rarely appear in the world. It's probably because it's hard to find an opponent, and masters are lonely.
