Ink panel: Hunting the sun and surveying the sky from the bow.

Chapter 52 Calm and Calm
"I have reached the Qi-nourishing stage." Ouyang Tiezhu said with great yearning.

"Where are you, senior brother?"

"I..." Ouyang Tiezhu said, "I have just finished refining my bones and am now working on refining my skin. My master said that if I cannot complete refining my skin before I am thirty-five, it will be impossible for me to cultivate my energy in the future."

"why?"

"Master said that once a person reaches 30, their Qi and blood will begin to decline, and there is a window period of five years at most. Once this window period has passed, it will be too late to recover. When the blood is strong, you can't develop strength, and when the Qi and blood are declining, you can't develop strength either." When he said this, Ouyang Tiezhu sighed: "I am already 25 years old this year."

Shen Qing agreed in his heart.

In his previous life, he knew the saying that a man should be independent at the age of 30. In the workplace, there is even the saying that there is a red line at the age of 35, which is not groundless.

"Let's not talk about this anymore." Ouyang Tiezhu patted Shen Qing on the shoulder and said, "By the way, I don't know how old my junior brother is today?"

Poor families don’t have so many particulars. Most of them just live their lives in a muddle-headed way and have no special impression of birthdays and ages.

Shen Qing recalled for a while before calculating his age: "After the beginning of spring, I should be fifteen years old."

Fifteen?!

Ouyang Tiezhu couldn't help but smile, as if this age made him feel much better: "Junior brother, to be honest, you are a bit old. In another year, your muscles and bones will be closed. By then, it will be much more difficult to cultivate the second realm. If you want to improve in martial arts, you have to work harder."

Shen Qing was stunned for a moment.

In other words, he only needs to complete the cultivation of the second realm in the next year?
It seems like there is still... a little more time?
Shen Qing was a little unsure.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother." Shen Qing looked at the sun hanging high in the sky, cupped his hands and said, "Senior Brother, I wonder if you are free now. Can you teach me the three-stick and five-stick wooden man stance?"

Ouyang Tiezhu smiled and said, "Of course, I'll practice them all, just watch."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ouyang Tiezhu walked up to a wooden man with three sticks, took a deep breath and shouted softly.

He tapped the ground with his toes and moved his hands between the three sticks of the wooden man.

Ouyang Tiezhu's hands sometimes turned into palms and sometimes into fists. His movements were smooth and powerful. Each move accurately hit different positions of the wooden stakes, making a thudding sound.

During the whole process, his body was extremely flexible, and the three protruding wooden sticks could not even touch his upper arms.

Ouyang Tiezhu stopped the wooden man with a bang and asked Shen Qing, "How is it? Did you remember it?"

Shen Qing, who had the ability of "Photographic Memory", had just looked at it very carefully. He recalled it briefly and remembered all the details. He said, "Brother, I have remembered them all."

Ouyang Tiezhu frowned, but seeing Shen Qing was so sure, he didn't say anything.

"Then I'll practice the five-stick technique again."

Ouyang Tiezhu walked to a wooden man covered with intricate long sticks, closed his eyes, concentrated, and circulated his breath.

Then he suddenly opened his eyes and moved swiftly.

The body movements used by Ouyang Tiezhu at this time were more complicated, involving hands, feet, waist, knees, legs and other parts.

Compared with two sticks, the techniques used in three sticks are completely on a different level.

His body was like a fish swimming through coral reefs. He not only skillfully avoided the long sticks attacking from both sides of the wooden man formation, but also accurately hit the predetermined target with his fists, elbows, knees and feet in a flash. Each crisp blow was followed by the subtle sound of the wooden man being shaken.

Powerful and heavy.

While striking, he also explained the key points, which benefited Shen Qing a lot.

After completing a set of five-stick postures, beads of sweat slid down his neck and gradually soaked the back of Ouyang Tiezhu's clothes.

"Junior brother, the five-stick stance is relatively complicated. You don't need to force yourself too much. Just know the key points first. When you practice the three-stick stance, it can also be beneficial to consciously train in it."

"Okay." Shen Qing clasped his hands and said, "Thank you for your hard work today, Senior Brother."

"It's all as I should." Ouyang Tiezhu patted the wooden man and said, "That's all for today. I have other things to deal with. I'll come find you later when I have time." "Okay. Hongshan Village is a bit far from here. I'll go back after practicing for a while."

"Is Junior Brother still living in Hongshan Village?"

"Well, home is over there."

Ouyang Tiezhu tilted his head and suggested, "Wait until Junior Brother has mastered some skills. I have some connections here. Then Junior Brother can go to the outer city to take care of some local tyrants and earn some money. After saving some money, it would be more convenient to move to the city and not have to go back and forth like this."

"Brother, do you still have connections in the outer city?"

"Alas... I have a useless brother who works behind a local guy named Wang Mazi. We have some connections." When Ouyang Tiezhu said this, he seemed to be disappointed with his brother. He waved his hand and said, "I'm leaving now."

"Brother, walk slowly."

Looking at Ouyang Tiezhu's back, after he completely disappeared in the inner courtyard, Shen Qing withdrew his gaze, walked to the three-stick stake where Ouyang Tiezhu had demonstrated his skills just now, and slapped it with one palm.

The three-stick pile rolled quickly.

"Snapped!"

……

Shen Qing practiced in Linfeng Hall until 3 p.m. before he finally stopped.

Now that his aunt was not in the hall, he did not plan to stay long.

After getting today's portion of the Ten-Ingredient Tonic Recipe, Shen Qing took Shen Xiaohu and left Linfeng Hall, purchased supplies and exchanged them for some change, and headed straight to the place where they had agreed to meet Tian Xiaohu.

After picking him up as scheduled, the three of them sat on the cart and headed towards the west of the city.

Just as Shen Qing expected, the journey was smooth.

The death of Wang Qiyao's entire family did not seem to cause even a ripple in this huge peaceful city.

The three of them walked to the west city gate safely and staggered towards the shantytown.

Tian Xiaohu, who was sitting on the cart, breathed a sigh of relief as if a heavy stone had been lifted from his heart.

Many people left the city in the afternoon. Shen Qing pulled the cart and blended into the crowd, going deep into the shantytown.

Tian Xiaohu raised his butt and moved to Shen Qing's side, pulling Shen Qing's sleeve.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

Tian Xiaohu lowered his voice and said, "I went to Pinghefang for a walk today. I have something to tell you."

"What's the matter?" Shen Qing's face was calm.

Tian Xiaohu lowered his voice and continued, "Wang Qiyao's entire family is dead. Since there are no descendants, his cousins ​​are fighting over his family's inheritance, and it's getting really messy."

"The shopkeeper of Fengweilou just came to take a look and then left. As for the government, it seems that the case was decided as a robbery and the case has been closed. Wang Qiyao's father-in-law was dissatisfied and wanted to provide clues, but he was accused of provoking trouble and was beaten to death on the spot by the county government."

Tian Xiaohu told everything he knew in one breath.

"Then if we sell mountain products later, we have to change the manager?"

"It should be someone named Cai. I'll go ask around next time when I have time."

Shen Qing pulled the reins and responded: "Yeah."

As for the death of Wang Qiyao's family, both of them tacitly did not mention it again.

"drive!"

(End of this chapter)