The lamplight shone brightly, reflecting Lian Youming's face as it shifted endlessly with shock and alarm. What he saw before him completely overturned his understanding.
He saw the clear water in the vat actually begin to rotate. Not only that, the flowing water seemed to take the old man's right hand as its support, the water level rising higher and higher until it almost completely left the vat, scooped up into midair yet still swirling.
"Remember the movement of the muscles and tendons on my body. Whether you learn it or not, practice it or not, keep it in your heart. This is one of the authentic teachings of my Taiji School. Even if you don't grasp it now, one day you will understand."
As the Old Man Who Guards the Mountain spoke and exhaled, what Lian Youming saw was those quivering muscles and tendons alternating between tense and relaxed—when tense, every fiber expanded outward; when relaxed, like ripples on water.
Was this still a human body?
Capable of reaching such a level.
And all these wondrous changes unfolded around the old man's spine.
"The spine is a great dragon lying dormant within the human body, and also a bridge between heaven and earth, connecting head and body, carrying the martial artist's aspiration to stand upright between heaven and earth. It is not only the backbone of the body but also the pillar of the spirit. It is because of this great dragon that people can walk upright and draw a full breath."
The Old Man Who Guards the Mountain spoke leisurely, swaying his waist, and immediately segments of the spine emerged from beneath the taut skin and flesh. The originally tightly fitted vertebrae loosened and tightened with each long breath, as if they had come to life.
Too unbelievable.
Lian Youming had long imagined the prowess of martial arts in his heart, but never thought it could be so extraordinary.
"Just looking isn't enough. Come up and touch it."
"Ah?" Lian Youming cried out strangely, "Isn't that a bit improper?"
The Old Man Who Guards the Mountain had little patience and immediately cursed: "You ungrateful bastard. In the way of martial arts, especially internal martial arts, the true essence within can often not be described in words. Apart from oral instruction, you must experience the changes within yourself by doing it. Do you really think you can learn it just because I demonstrated it once? If that were true, back then there wouldn't have been any business with the Japanese—I'd have fucking marched on Tokyo myself long ago."
Lian Youming curled his lip, also feeling confused in his heart—was this old man trying to help him or kill him? a different attitude every day, smiling one moment and cursing the next, harder to please than an old wife.
He didn't speak anymore, just carefully extended his right hand.
Before he had fully lowered it, the Old Man Who Guards the Mountain's sinister voice rang out again: "Press down hard on this old man."
Lian Youming quickly pressed down with his five fingers.
But when he really pressed down, his expression changed again.
"Hmm?"
Lian Youming felt that within this person's seemingly lean body surged wave after wave of roaring tides, and his right hand, like a small boat, was pushed and brought to the right shoulder.
The place the force went was precisely the right hand.
So this was the change in the movement of muscles and tendons?
Amazed, Lian Youming stared in a daze for a moment, simply stopped thinking wildly, and instead closed his eyes to carefully feel that mysterious force.
He discovered that with every breath this person took, the spine was drawn, and as the spine trembled, the muscles and tendons on both sides immediately came alive, moving from inside out, extending all the way to the four limbs.
And every time the Old Man Who Guards the Mountain stirred the clear water in the vat, those swimming muscles and tendons like fish would instantly tighten, coiled like a tortoise and snake. This was tightening to release force, and along with that spine, it became tightly fitted, like a steel whip, as if truly transformed into a great dragon.
"So that's how it is."
The many doubts in Lian Youming's heart suddenly melted away, as if sweeping away the haze before his eyes, parting the clouds to see the blue sky.
So this was the mystery of internal martial arts?
He was almost completely immersed in it, immersed in that unimaginable, profound movement.
A full two-plus hours passed, and Lian Youming not only came to know every segment of the vertebrae, but also the movement of force release in those muscles and tendons, and how to tighten and release, all deepening again and again through repeated sensation.
And the Old Man Who Guards the Mountain's body grew hotter and hotter, as if a raging fire burned within him.
Until Lian Youming withdrew his right hand.
The old man's breath suddenly stopped, his lips and teeth opened, and a jet of white breath, like an arrow leaving the bow, shot straight out five or six meters, splashing against the constantly fluttering window paper.
Lian Youming didn't speak or open his eyes, but sat down on the spot. His mind was full of the ever-changing movement of muscles and tendons, as if some mystery of heaven and earth was hidden within, leaving him unable to return to his senses for a long time.
Nearly another hour passed before he slowly opened his eyes.
The Old Man Who Guards the Mountain was wrapped in his cotton-padded jacket, black to the point where not even the stitches could be seen, sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, motionless.
Lian Youming stared dumbfounded. Thinking of the scenes from martial arts novels, he suddenly extended his index finger and slowly placed it under the old man's nostrils.
"Fortunately, there's still breath."
The Old Man Who Guards the Mountain lifted his eyelids, stared straight at him, and said concisely: "Scram!"
Lian Youming gave an embarrassed smile, didn't waste words, turned and pushed the door open to go out.
When he returned to the dormitory, the others were already asleep.
Lian Youming stuffed some firewood into the kang stove, lit it, then shrank into the quilt that was like an ice cave.
Feeling the warmth gradually rising beneath him, the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.
Had he guessed wrong before?
At first he thought the other party wanted to use him, but now they suddenly went to great trouble to teach him such a supreme skill—what exactly were they after?
Had their conscience been stirred?
Or were they missing their wits?
Why was this person so conflicted?
Wrapped in his bedding roll, Lian Youming listened to Yu Wen and Yu Wu's teeth-grinding and Wu Kui's snoring, and in confusion heavily closed his eyes.
In the following days, he still went into the mountains to hunt as usual in the morning, and chopped firewood at the forest farm at noon.
Now the timber at the forest farm had basically been moved. Aside from stockpiling food for winter, only firewood remained, used for daily heating and cooking and drinking water.
The female educated youths were also idle, enthusiastically preparing their rehearsed programs.
Wu Kui, relying on his accordion, went to fawn over the female educated youths every day, making Yu Wen and Yu Wu jealous to the point of red eyes.
But unlike everyone's laughter and joy, Lian Youming's sense of crisis grew heavier in his heart.
Logically, this matter had nothing much to do with him. If he pretended not to know anything, could he stay out of it?
No.
Lian Youming instantly dispelled this thought.
Although he didn't know the grudges between Xie Laosan and the Old Man Who Guards the Mountain, nor what extraordinary thing was buried here, he could still tell who was good and who was bad.
At least this one on the mountain wouldn't kill innocents indiscriminately; furthermore, he had saved him and Liu Dabiao.
But the one down the mountain wasn't necessarily so.
"Even if we die, we can't be completely unprepared when things happen."
With his mind set, Lian Youming went into the mountains more frequently. Even as the weather grew colder and more severe, he instead ran all over the mountains, freezing every day until he hissed and gasped, until finally even Xie Laosan was too lazy to follow.
Until late November.
Tahe County was struck by an indescribable white-haired wind, mixed with scattered frost, biting cold as a knife, whirling and howling.
Where the wind and frost passed, it was dark sky and black earth; dripping water froze into ice, even the Tahe River down the mountain froze over.
All the educated youths at the forest farm hid in the dormitory; even Platoon Leader Yang and the others were no exception.
But even so, Lian Youming still faced the cold wind and circled the forest farm several times before returning to the dormitory.
"Damn, it's too cold. I was taking a leak in the toilet and it froze before it even flowed."
Yu Wen, with a runny nose, sneaked into the dormitory from outside like he was fleeing for his life, then burrowed into his bedding, shivering for a long time.
Several kang were packed with educated youths, all surrounding Liu Dabiao. This kid from Tianjin was truly eloquent; after finishing clapper talk in the daytime, he started telling Water Margin. He had just finished telling of Wu Song angrily killing Ximen Qing, and was now drinking brown sugar water contributed by a group of listeners.
Seeing Lian Youming return covered in frost, someone immediately exclaimed: "In the whole forest farm, the only one I truly admire is our captain. Out there it's thirty-something degrees below zero, but our captain still goes into the mountains to hunt, earning us some extras... My goodness, if it weren't for the small space, I'd definitely kowtow to you."
A group of them were all young at heart, and with leisure time, their natures all became lively.
As for the captain title, it was started by someone after Lian Youming saved Liu Dabiao.
Over time, ironically, no one used his name; they all called him Captain.
Lian Youming took off his military greatcoat, and understandingly pulled half a bag of pine nuts from his pocket and threw them to the crowd. "A reward for you all."
Immediately Liu Dabiao shouted in a show-off tone: "Thank you, Grandpa, for the reward!!"
The others laughed until they couldn't close their mouths, all imitating him, and for a while it was a pandemonium.
Lian Youming laughed along, listening to Liu Dabiao continue his storytelling while sitting on the edge of the bed wiping his rifle.
Today was a bit unusual.
He hadn't seen Xie Laosan on the mountain.
Looking at the frost flying all over outside the window, it seemed he was preparing to make a move.
Thinking of this, Lian Youming instead breathed a sigh of relief.
Sometimes, being on constant guard was instead distracting; better to face danger directly.
Had he come down the mountain?
At this moment, Lian Youming was no longer nervous, just quietly waiting for nightfall.
Looking at these educated youths who noticed nothing, he couldn't help but sigh.
If not for having unintentionally seen that world difficult for ordinary people to reach, perhaps he would still be oblivious now, and would be one of them.
Many things were right before their eyes, but because of different understandings, they were regarded as ordinary and seen as nothing.
Lian Youming suddenly remembered a sentence Xie Laosan had said.
The world says there are no true Buddhas under heaven, but even if a true Buddha stood before them, how could it be seen by the vulgar mortal eye?
The reason they couldn't see was that they couldn't discern.
Who would have thought that in such a place, a middle-aged mountain-goer and an unremarkable old man would be peerless masters of the martial world?
Who would know that under their very noses, killing intent was quietly sprouting, and martial world grudges were waiting to be settled.
The white-haired wind outside the window wailed and blew, blowing until noon. The originally dim sky completely disappeared; goose-feather snow fell from the sky, mixed with clumps of cold frost in the whirling fierce wind, sweeping over the entire forest farm, covering the sky and earth.
Within a few breaths, heaven and earth had all turned silver-white.
Under the originally empty eaves, within an hour or two a string of icicles froze, growing longer and longer.
The snow outside the window piled up visibly to the eye, from several inches to several feet.
Finally, aside from places like the dormitory, the deep snow was almost waist-high.
Lian Youming, upon seeing this, took a deep breath.
No wonder the Old Man Who Guards the Mountain didn't let him tell Platoon Leader Yang.
In such a situation, walking was extremely difficult for people, let alone mounting an attack.
Even with a gun, how many bullets could be fired?
Whether they could hit anything was beside the point; if they broke a sweat and then were blown by the cold wind, it would immediately turn to frost, surely freezing them half to death.
Lian Youming also understood.
This was a battlefield chosen by those extraordinary people themselves, aimed at guarding against ordinary people like them.
This time no one went to the canteen because Platoon Leader Yang had earlier had people pan-fry plenty of cornmeal flatbreads and distributed plenty of cooked meat. When hungry, they could warm it on the heated kang and eat. Even the water buckets were filled with cooled boiled water.
"Could they be waiting until nightfall to strike? That way everyone would be asleep, and they could strike without anyone knowing."
Lian Youming looked at the white expanse outside, calculating the time in his heart, and took two bites of the flatbread in his hand.
The flatbread entered his mouth: hot on the outside, cold and hard on the inside, like a stone.
The others scooped water with porcelain bowls, chopped the flatbread and meat, and soaked it all in.
Lian Youming thought that was too troublesome and likely to cause diarrhea, so he only ate a few cornmeal flatbreads.
But sitting there, a sudden, inexplicable drowsiness struck him, and his eyes widened.
Looking at the others on the kang, they were all fast asleep, with not a sound.
Lian Youming's mind was hazy; he struggled to stand but found his hands and feet weak and sore, unable to muster any strength at all.
"Was he drugged?"
He suddenly remembered something: there was also an internal martial artist hidden among the educated youths.
"It's over."
Only this one thought flashed through his mind before Lian Youming collapsed onto the kang.
No one knew how long passed.
In a daze, Lian Youming suddenly smelled a pungent stench, truly indescribable, rushing straight to the top of his head.
As his eyes opened, Lian Youming saw a figure quickly slip out of the dormitory.
It seemed to be Shuang'er.
So this person also knew martial arts.
Lian Youming with some difficulty propped himself up, shook his dizzy head, and after his consciousness recovered a bit, he got up and walked outside.
In the vast white world between heaven and earth, the whistling strange wind was gone; the great snow whirled with the wind, boundless and vast.
Feeling the bone-piercing cold assaulting him, Lian Youming completely woke up, then shivered.
Cold, cold that penetrated everywhere,
But as Lian Youming regulated his breath and moved his hands and feet, his pupils suddenly contracted, as if he had seen something extraordinary.
In the snow-white whiteness, several figures came from far to near: some ran with quick steps, some stepped on branches and trunks, leaping and tumbling through the forest, walking on snow as if on flat ground, with extremely fierce momentum.
At first still tiny, but they closed in at a terrifying speed.
Invisibly, as if a sky-reaching killing intent arrived with the wind, crashing against Lian Youming's chest, causing his breath to tremble and the blood to drain from his face.
So Xie Laosan really had helpers, and not just one or two, but four.
Without hesitation, he quickly crouched down and then retreated bit by bit back into the dormitory.
"My goodness, this is truly exciting now."
Lian Youming's face first shifted between dark and bright, then he nimbly climbed onto the bed, closed his eyes, and simply pretended to be asleep.
Only in the anxious wait, not long after, a different sound came from the wind swirling outside the window.
They're here.
"Heh heh, after so many years, we've finally truly set foot on this mountain... Old Ghost Yang, today we'll settle old and new grudges together."
This was Xie Laosan's voice.
But what shocked Lian Youming was that Xie Laosan said another sentence.
"Go check if there are any with their eyes open. If there are, kill them."
One after another, they entered. Lian Youming felt a cold wind squeeze into the dormitory, along with a pair of cold, sinister eyes, like gouging flesh, slicing across his face.
Familiar killing intent.
Xie Laosan.
Chapter 11