"Practicing martial arts depends on comprehension, perseverance, and resources."
"Your physical foundation is far too poor. You need to nurse your body back up before anything else."
Liang Song took the tea Lin Zheyu offered him, ate a pastry Lin Zheyu had brought along, and spoke with keen interest.
He was quite fond of the stories Lin Zheyu told; they were engaging, and many of the characters suited his taste.
The only problem was that they reeked too much of a scholar's sentimentality. The protagonists were always scholars—indecisive and grating to listen to.
If you asked him, making Yan Chixia the protagonist was the only proper way to go.
"Yes, yes. I've earned some money lately and have already started nursing my health," Lin Zheyu said, nodding.
"Not enough. Nourishing the body requires proper eating, but it also requires training."
Liang Song said nonchalantly, "Your foundation is abysmal. You've never touched martial arts, and you rarely exercise. Your waist, legs, and feet are soft as mush."
"A ten-thousand-zhang tower rises from the level ground. If you want to train well in martial arts, you must start from the most fundamental stance work."
Liang Song walked into the middle of the courtyard.
He loosened his shoulders, sank into a half-squat, and pushed both hands forward. His body moved subtly, rising and falling like ripples stirred by a gentle breeze.
"Learn from me."
"This is one of the fundamental stances: the horse stance."
Lin Zheyu walked over and imitated Liang Song—sinking into a half-squat, extending his arms forward, and rising and falling as if riding a horse.
"Your form is wrong."
"As the name implies, the horse stance was conceived from riding a horse. When standing in it, you must also rise and fall, conjuring the feel of a horse beneath you from thin air."
"You have to imagine yourself riding a horse, galloping at full tilt. Let your feet become that galloping steed, rising and falling, fusing the horse into your waist and legs," Liang Song instructed softly.
His body rose and fell; in that measured dip and lift, he truly looked as if he were mounted on a fine steed, galloping freely.
He demonstrated for a while before walking over to Lin Zheyu's side to offer guidance. "Grip the ground with all five toes. Keep your knees naturally braced..."
"As your body rises and falls, constantly shift your center of gravity..."
Following Liang Song's pointers, Lin Zheyu gradually found the proper rhythm.
Whenever any part of his posture slipped, Liang Song flicked a small pebble, striking the spot where the force was misapplied.
Before long, Lin Zheyu had learned how to hold the horse stance properly.
When he first held the stance, he lasted less than ten minutes before his entire body began trembling violently, and he collapsed onto his rear.
"Go back and practice."
"Come back to me whenever you can hold the horse stance for an entire shichen."
"If you can't manage it within a month, you don't need to come back."
Liang Song waved his hand, dismissing him.
He didn't just teach anyone. He found Lin Zheyu agreeable, so he had granted him a chance.
However, whether he would truly take him on as a student depended on Lin Zheyu himself.
If the boy lacked even the perseverance to hold the stance for an entire shichen, there was no point in teaching him.
"Yes, Master."
Lin Zheyu stood up on trembling legs.
His physical condition was far too poor; he couldn't even hold the horse stance for ten minutes before giving out.
Lin Zheyu did not leave immediately. Instead, he asked respectfully, "Master, are there any medicinal brews or medicinal bath formulas that can help the body recover quickly?"
Mastering the horse stance to the point of holding it for an entire shichen within a month was daunting.
A shichen was equivalent to two hours; right now, even running for thirty minutes was pushing his limits.
Moreover, his physical foundation was so weak that achieving it without the aid of medicinal baths or decoctions would be extraordinarily difficult.
"There are, but formulas like that are very expensive. Preparing a single dose costs more than a tael of silver, and that's just for the most basic recipe."
"I'll give you a formula to replenish qi and strengthen blood. You can take it to a medicine shop and have them fill it."
"The ingredients should come to just a bit over one tael of silver. Don't let them overcharge you," Liang Song said.
He had Lin Zheyu fetch brush and paper from the house, then wrote with grand, sweeping flourishes.
Liang Song's handwriting was just like the man himself: wildly unrestrained, laced with a bit of messiness, and in that messiness... well, there was no point dressing it up.
Liang Song's handwriting was terrible.
Who ever said an expert's calligraphy had to be handsome?
Lin Zheyu stared at Liang Song's chicken scratch, taking quite some effort to decipher what was written.
"Thank you, Master!"
Lin Zheyu took the prescription and thanked him respectfully.
Taking his leave of Liang Song, he headed straight for a medicine shop.
"It really is true that 'poverty breeds scholars while wealth breeds warriors.' A single dose of medicine costs an entire tael of silver," Lin Zheyu sighed inwardly.
It was only because he had made a name for himself as a storyteller that earning money had become somewhat easier.
An ordinary person earned roughly one tael of silver a month—barely enough for a single dose of medicinal brew.
Adding the three hundred-odd copper coins earned today, Lin Zheyu had accumulated over one thousand eight hundred coins.
At the current exchange rate, over one thousand five hundred copper coins converted to one tael of silver. The money on Lin Zheyu was just enough to fill one prescription.
Passing a medicine shop, Lin Zheyu went in to purchase a dose of medicinal herbs.
For a basic formula to replenish qi and enrich blood, the herbs could be found in almost any medicine shop.
Just as Master Liang had predicted, the batch of herbs cost him one tael of silver plus one hundred and twenty copper coins.
The shopkeeper had initially asked for one tael of silver and five hundred coins, but after some hard bargaining, Lin Zheyu had brought the price down by more than three hundred coins.
That was equivalent to more than a full day's earnings for him.
Back at home, he washed the newly purchased medicine pot, filled it with clean water, added the herbs, and set it to simmer over a gentle flame.
Decocting medicinal soup was not as difficult as he had imagined; as long as one managed the heat properly and waited patiently, it would do.
A single packet of qi-replenishing, blood-enriching herbs could be simmered three times, though after each brew, the remaining medicinal potency would drop rapidly.
Decocting the brew took a long time. Taking advantage of the interval, he went into the courtyard and assumed the horse stance.
Gripping the earth with his toes, he rose and fell as if riding a horse, his gaze fixed on the distance.
With his frail body, he could only manage about three to four minutes at a stretch.
Each time he held out until his legs turned to jelly and he could not help but collapse onto the ground, he would stretch his sinews and rest for a spell.
Once he regained some strength, he resumed his stance work.
Chapter 4