“So boring!”
Full and satisfied, Lin Wan flopped onto the sofa, sighing, “I’ve got to stay cooped up at home for two months, lie in bed when Xiumin visits, and even when I get up, I’ve got to pretend and hide it.”
Lu Zheng thought for a moment, “How about I teach you some martial arts?”
“Martial arts?” Lin Wan blinked, then perked up, “Not that fake stuff you mentioned before?”
“This joke’s never going away, is it? Just say if you want to learn!”
“I’ll learn!”
Lin Wan nodded eagerly, then hesitated, “Um, can I actually learn it?”
Lu Zheng shrugged, “Probably not.”
Lin Wan: ヽ(⁰▮⁰)ﾉ!!!
What’s that supposed to mean, are you messing with me?
“Even if you don’t master it, it’ll boost your physical abilities,” Lu Zheng said calmly, “Like agility, strength, reaction speed, and so on.”
He wasn’t sure if Lin Wan could learn *Mountain-Bearing Eighteen Forms*, but if she grasped even half, a car accident like before wouldn’t touch her.
Lin Wan: (´◊ω◊｀)
I want to learn!
“What is it, what is it?”
Lin Wan was dying of curiosity, but since she’d promised not to pry, she hadn’t, though now that Lu Zheng offered to teach, she could dig a bit.
“It’s a tough internal martial art, few moves but strict requirements.”
Lin Wan nodded, “Got it, like the martial arts in novels!”
Lu Zheng licked his lips, truth be told, he didn’t know martial arts and wasn’t sure if *Mountain-Bearing Eighteen Forms* matched them. Even boosting his blade skills with luck only improved technique and force, not training methods.
So, enhancing Taiji or Baji would be similar, the forms might look right, but the core was still *Mountain-Bearing Eighteen Forms* and a warrior’s vitality.
“Something like that.”
Lu Zheng brushed it off, “This art is called *Mountain-Bearing Eighteen Forms*.”
“*Mountain-Bearing Eighteen Forms*?” Lin Wan repeated, “Never heard of it…”
Lu Zheng shook his head, you’d be seeing ghosts if you had.
“I’ll teach you the first form.”
“Great, great!” Lin Wan dropped her doubts, excited.
So Lu Zheng performed the eighteen forms in the living room.
Lin Wan watched, baffled, that’s it?
She couldn’t see what was impressive about it.
Lu Zheng chuckled, “Come here, feel my muscles.”
“Oh, okay,” Lin Wan got up and approached.
Lu Zheng struck the first form’s stance.
“Start from my calves,” he instructed.
Under his guidance, Lin Wan felt from his calves to thighs, from lower back to upper back, then from shoulders to forearms.
Finally, facing Lu Zheng, she stared in shock.
“Every muscle vibrates with purpose, rising and falling, relentless, mimicking a mountain borne on the peak,” Lu Zheng said with a half-smile, “When all vibrations are perfect, the first form is complete.”
Lin Wan gaped, “That’s so hard!”
“What did you expect?”
Lin Wan felt despair, “I don’t think I can even master the first form!”
Lu Zheng smiled encouragingly, “Train hard for a year, maybe you will.”
“But there’s eighteen forms!” Lin Wan collapsed back onto the sofa, “Even if I learn one a year, that’s eighteen years, I’ll be forty by then!
“No wonder martial arts declined, an obscure *Mountain-Bearing Eighteen Forms* is this tough, imagine Taiji, Baji, or Bagua, they must be impossible!
“Normal people can’t handle this, only prodigies could learn it!”
Well, Lin Wan misunderstood, but traditional martial arts did seem hard, likely akin to Great Jing’s martial techniques.
“It’s not that long, the first step from nothing is always hardest. Once you master the first form, you’ll know how to control your muscles, so later forms, even with variations, will come faster, right?”
Lin Wan considered, that made sense!
“I’ll train! I’ve got nothing else for two months, let’s see what I can do!”
Lu Zheng nodded, “Good student.”
He pulled her up, helping her into the first form’s stance.
“Here, and here, exert force, these are the key points for mimicking the mountain.”
“Half-lunge, sixty-forty weight distribution, force from your heels.”
“Brace your waist, straighten your back, sink your shoulders, drop your elbows!”
Lin’s mother emerged from the kitchen, saw Lu Zheng teaching, and quietly retreated to her bedroom to rest.
Under Lu Zheng’s guidance, Lin Wan held the stance for two hours, learning the force points.
As for muscle vibration, she’d just grasped the coordination for her calves.
But this thrilled her, “Maybe it won’t take a year?”
Lu Zheng smirked, “I don’t have time to babysit you the whole way…”
Lin Wan glanced at the guest room, pulling Lu Zheng toward the master bedroom.
Lu Zheng’s heart raced, “This isn’t good, Auntie might notice…”
“Quiet, Mum usually naps for two hours.”
“The problem is, I’m not the one making noise!”
…
That afternoon, Lu Zheng stayed for dinner before leaving.
…
The next day, with nothing pressing, Lu Zheng restocked his candy shop, then strolled to Benevolence Hall.
Just past mid-morning, the clinic was already bustling, Old Man Liu and Liu Qingyan taking pulses and treating patients, while two assistants fetched and brewed herbs, busy as bees.
Lu Zheng stepped in, catching a patient about to fall.
“Lu Lang,” Liu Qingyan looked up, spotting him.
“You focus, I’ll help out.”
“好！” Liu Qingyan’s smile bloomed like spring, stunning the patients.
…
At noon, food arrived from home, but Lu Zheng let the assistants eat more, taking Liu Qingyan to a nearby restaurant.
In the afternoon, just past noon, Hu Zhou arrived, helping around the clinic.
They worked until late afternoon, deep autumn’s early darkness bringing no more patients.
Hu Zhou finished his tasks, waving to Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan, “Master Lu! Miss Liu! I’m heading home!”
“Wait!” Lu Zheng stopped him.
“Master Lu, anything else?” Hu Zhou paused.
Lu Zheng asked, “Got anything to do at home tonight?”
Hu Zhou shook his head, “Nothing, just chat with Mum and sleep.”
Lu Zheng nodded, “From now on, after helping at the clinic, come to my place for dinner, I’ll teach you *Mountain-Bearing Eighteen Forms*.”
One student or two, no difference.
Hu Zhou was filial, honest, and helped at the clinic daily for free, teaching him would repay his kindness and protect the clinic, a win-win.
