Crane Bones

"Old Zhong, you're here."

In a small courtyard of the Zhang residence, a chubby-faced child was speaking to Zhong Xuan.

I just finished speaking.

I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, and my head was buzzing.

"What a bunch of unruly bastards! Call me 'sir'!"

Pei Yong glared at his son and said fiercely.

"Mr. Chung."

The little boy named Pei Wen, under pressure from his father's authority, could only respectfully address Zhong Xuanli.

But deep down, he didn't think much of it.

He lived with his parents in the Zhang family mansion for five or six years. As the family's martial arts master, the Zhang family patriarch treated Pei Yong with great courtesy. The guests who came to the mansion were all of high status. Under the influence of this environment, his standards rose, and he naturally looked down on Zhong Xuan, an old scholar who didn't even have the title of Xiucai.

Pei Yong saw the expression on his son's face.

I sighed softly to myself.

What I fear most is that this situation will occur in my offspring.

Pei Yong came from humble beginnings. If he hadn't made a name for himself in martial arts, he would still be the village's second-ranking official. So if his son develops a tendency to be ambitious but lack practical skills, he will not only be unable to support the family business he has worked so hard to build, but may even cause a major disaster.

"Brother Zhong, please don't mind, please come in."

Pei Yong invited Zhong Xuan into the house.

Despite his seemingly glamorous life as a martial arts master who guards the house, he is actually not well-off.

Her own son, Pei Wen, was not yet old enough to attend a private school, but she felt it would be too expensive to hire a live-in tutor, so she approached Zhong Xuan.

Decades of weathering.

Zhong Xuan had long since stopped caring; he glanced at Pei Wen:

"Today we will learn the Three Character Classic."

One hour later.

Zhong Xuan, who taught Pei Wen the saying "Learn in youth, act in adulthood. Serve the ruler above, benefit the people below," left him with the task of copying a thousand characters before leaving the room.

All that remained was the boy, Pei Wen, muttering dejectedly.

"Wasn't it always 500 words before?"

Zhong Xuan arrived at the front yard.

Then they saw that Pei Yong's wife, Pei Zhao, had already warmed a pot of wine and prepared a few side dishes in the courtyard.

This is Pei Wen's tuition fee.

Although wine in Baisha City is not cheap and ordinary people can't afford it, it is still much cheaper than the monthly tuition fee of a home tutor, which is often a hundred coins.

"Brother Zhong, please have a seat."

Pei Yong had spent his early years wandering the martial arts world, so as long as money wasn't involved, he was known for his generous and open-hearted nature, and he was extremely warm and welcoming to everyone.

Zhong Xuan took a sip of wine.

A burning sensation surged within the roar.

In my younger years, I didn't understand why my elders liked to drink. Only when I got older did I realize that it was simply a way for them to escape reality for a moment.

"Brother Pei, are you familiar with the concept of innate talent?"

We chatted for a while.

Zhong Xuancai found an opportunity to ask the question discreetly.

"Inherent talent?"

Pei Yong took a sip of wine, then picked up a salted soybean and crunched it down.

Don't be fooled by the storytellers' tales of martial arts heroes drinking with braised beef; in reality, even a martial arts master like Pei Yong, who is known for his martial arts prowess, can only afford to eat meat every few days, let alone beef.

Generally, salt and pepper soybeans and mustard tubers are served with wine.

This relates to the previous purchase of the Eight Pieces of Brocade exercise.

Pei Yong understood that Zhong Xuan had developed a desire to learn martial arts.

This time he didn't try to persuade him again.

Having spent many years navigating the world, he knew all too well that giving advice was a pointless endeavor and might even turn someone into an enemy.

Although Zhong Xuan posed no threat to him, he still had to be invited to teach at home.

Moreover, the matter of one's physical constitution is not a secret.

Pei Yong said, "For martial arts practitioners, the most important thing is physical constitution. It may seem mysterious, but it is not difficult to understand. Just like some people are born with stronger bones than others, they are less likely to get injured when practicing martial arts."

"Although there are people who can become martial arts grandmasters from ordinary bones, it is only possible for them to have a slight chance due to a combination of good fortune and opportunities."

"The great swordsman in our Qing Kingdom's Shu region was born with sword bones."

According to his disciples, the great swordsman knew he would be invincible when he touched his sword.

"Sword bone?"

Zhong Xuan's eyes lit up.

Pei Yong nodded: "People have appearances, and their bones also have form. For example, if it weren't for the wolf bones my parents gave me, I would probably have starved to death long ago, let alone have the chance to become a martial arts master."

"However, my wolf bone is only the lowest grade of grass-like bone, and I only started practicing martial arts at the age of thirty, so I won't have much of a future in this life."

Pei Yong gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Zhong Xuan seemed to be deep in thought.

Pei Yong's bone structure is wolf-shaped, while his is crane-shaped.

Besides its shape, a person's physical attributes also have a grade.

The "grass step" that Pei Yong mentioned should be the lowest level of root bone.

Just as Zhong Xuan was about to ask how to determine the grade of one's innate talent, Pei Yong answered without being asked: "To determine the grade of one's innate talent, one would need to consult a bone-reading master. However, it doesn't actually need to be that complicated. In the martial arts world, it is generally accepted that if one cannot cultivate one's strength to a hundred jin after three months of training, then there is no need to test it; it is an innate talent that does not qualify for a grade."

Pei Yong's original intention was to dissuade Zhong Xuan from practicing martial arts.

But based on Pei Yong's words, Zhong Xuan roughly guessed that his innate talent was probably at the grass level.

Even grass steps are extremely rare in Baisha County.

Moreover... his physical constitution will continue to grow stronger.

By the time Zhong Xuan left the Zhang residence, it was already dusk.

Xiahe Village is not far from Baisha County.

About half an hour later.

Zhong Xuan arrived at his own door.

A large crowd had gathered at the entrance, and the stench of excrement could be smelled from ten feet away.

"Old Zhong, you're finally back."

An elderly man stepped forward from the crowd.

This man is Old Wu from the village; the two had a good relationship when they were young.

"What happened?"

Zhong Xuan frowned.

Looking through the crowd, I saw that my front door had been splattered with filth.

Old Wu sighed softly, "Old Zhong, did you hit that kid from Masanjia?"

"Yes."

Zhong Xuan nodded, already having some guesses in his mind.

Old Wu: "When Ma San's wife heard that her son had been beaten, she started yelling that she wanted to find you and demand an explanation. When she came to your door and found you, she threw a bucket of pig manure at the front door. Luckily, you arrived late and didn't get caught. If you're feeling unwell, you should stay at my house for a while."

"Ma San..."

Zhong Xuan felt a chill in his heart.

In almost every village in Qing Kingdom, there is a rule.

That means families with fewer members will definitely be bullied by families with more members.

Not to mention an old scholar like him, all alone.

In the past, Zhong Xuan would have had no choice but to endure it.

But things are different now.

Zhong Xuan shook his head: "No need."

"Everyone, you can leave now."

Upon seeing the host return, the villagers who had been watching the commotion dispersed.

By the time he had used seven buckets of clean water to clean the filth in front of the door, it was already late at night.

Zhong Xuan was not in a hurry to go to sleep.

Since his physical constitution improved, his body has become noticeably stronger than before.

Moreover, as people get older, they don't get as much sleep.

So he started practicing Baduanjin (Eight Pieces of Brocade) in the house.