Devouring Evil Martial Arts, Eliminating Demons from All Heavens

Chapter 226 Chenjiagou

The boxing style of Chenjiagou is said to have been passed down from the Ming Dynasty, and has a history of several hundred years.

However, because of its past closed-mindedness and refusal to accept disciples from outside the family, it has not produced many masters throughout history, and its reputation is not great.

During the Daoguang era, a man named Chen Changxing emerged, and the reputation of Chen Family Boxing gradually grew.

At that time, there was a pharmacy apprentice named Yang Luchan in Guangping Prefecture. He met a boxing master from Chenjiagou and was amazed by the exquisite boxing skills, so he had the idea of ​​learning boxing.

This man visited Chenjiagou three times, and Chen Changxing was amazed by his perseverance and talent, so he passed on his true teachings.

Yang Luchan later entered the capital and competed with others, winning every battle, which caught the eye of Prince Duan.

Prince Duan had him teach martial arts in his palace and recommended him to join the Banner Army. He ordered him to teach only Bannermen and not Han Chinese, and only the Eight Banners and not the Eight Banners outside the Banners.

Many princes and nobles also became his apprentices.

However, the vast majority of these Manchus could not endure hardship and could not learn the essence of the art.

After much thought, Yang Luchan modified the boxing style, creating a new set of forms. He removed the difficult and arduous parts, making the style more open, graceful, and free.

It's not too strenuous to practice, yet it has some health benefits, and it looks quite impressive when demonstrated.

Unexpectedly, this set of fancy stands became even more popular among Beijing residents, and quickly became a trend.

If others question whether these princes are just putting on a show, they will have their guards swarm them. If the other party is also someone of high status, these people will not be able to resort to underhanded tricks.

At worst, we can let the experts on the other side find Yang Luchan and have a match with him.

In comparison, the other side was indeed no match for Yang Luchan.

These Manchus then became even more emboldened and boasted even more about the boxing techniques they had learned.

Yang Luchan's reputation thus truly reached its zenith.

Who would have thought that the Chen family boxing style of northern Henan would be passed down through the Yang family of southern Hebei?

Chenjiagou took advantage of the situation and benefited greatly, attracting a large number of people to learn boxing, and the village became wealthy.

Although not many people who come to learn boxing can stick with it.

But once the village has a foundation, it becomes much easier to explore other avenues, enabling everyone in the village to learn boxing, and ensuring that medicinal wine and baths are readily available without worrying about shortages.

Today, Chenjiagou is mostly filled with brick-walled and tile-roofed houses.

Even in this small village, a white stone archway stands at the entrance. The gilded characters on the plaque are clearly wiped clean frequently and are free of dust.

The three characters in the center are "Chenjiagou", the left side has "Tai Chi Orthodox", and the right side has "A Long and Flowing History".

Two people are stationed at the base of the archway every day to guard it.

It is convenient to receive anyone who comes to seek instruction or fellow martial arts practitioners.

The sun is setting in the west today, and the sky is still bright.

At the end of the dirt road outside the village, a wisp of dust rose as someone carried a large object over.

The two gatekeepers didn't pay much attention at first, but after a while, when they could see what the man was carrying on his shoulder, their expressions became serious.

It was a huge, grayish-white rock, about half the height of a person.

The newcomer, still holding a sheathed longsword in his left hand, casually carried the boulder on his shoulder using only his right hand.

Especially on that boulder, there are four large characters carved in a vigorous and elegant style, about an inch deep.

—Golden Toad Tai Chi!

The martial arts practitioners in Chenjiagou may not know much about other schools, but they have certainly heard of the various styles of Tai Chi.

They had also heard of the Golden Toad School of Tai Chi.

Bringing such a huge rock to the door without any gifts clearly indicates their intention to cause trouble.

When Chu Tianshu was still a hundred meters away from the archway, a gatekeeper hurriedly ran into the village.

When Chu Tianshu was only ten steps away from the archway, dozens of people from the village came out to greet him.

People from all the households kept coming out to watch and join the crowd.

Life in Chenjiagou is usually quite monotonous, so it's rare to see such a lively scene.

Chu Tianshu glanced at the group of people, then lowered his right arm, letting the boulder fall to the ground.

Boom! !

Chen Pinde, the clan chief of Chenjiagou in this generation, was about to speak when he was slightly startled by the voice.

The dirt roads in Chenjia Village were all tamped down very firmly, so even when this huge rock fell, it still sank in by more than two inches.

This weight was heavier than anyone had estimated.

This person must have mastered the Dragon Embrace Technique, and not just reached the full level of Dragon Embrace.

It should be noted that the Tai Chi Chuan of the Golden Toad School primarily focuses on the path of becoming an immortal through food.

"Gentlemen, let's cut to the chase."

Chu Tianshu patted the stone beside him.

He picked up the stone randomly on the road and carved a few large characters on it with his hand.

"You should understand now by looking at these four words. I am a successor of the Golden Toad School of Tai Chi. My master always regretted that he never had a proper contest with the Tai Chi of Chenjiagou."

"I'm here today for only one thing: to defeat the masters of Chenjiagou. I don't care if it's a series of attacks."

"If you lose, you must remember to say whenever you mention Tai Chi in public that my Golden Toad School of Tai Chi is the best in the world."

Chu Tianshu was arrogant and domineering, striking a pose with his left hand holding a sword behind his waist, while only extending his right hand.

"Who wants to go first?" Those who practice martial arts all have a temper.

The boulder put a lot of pressure on everyone, but normally no one would bother to move a boulder for no reason.

They didn't actually have a precise estimate of how big a stone they could lift.

In addition, they relied on their numbers and boasted of their superior skills.

Immediately, some people wanted to go into battle.

Chen Pinde quickly stretched out his arms to stop those people, cupped his hands and said, "The Golden Toad Sect has few successors, and has not been known in the martial arts world for more than ten years."

"Nowadays, with guns and cannons running rampant, martial arts have lost their ancient glory. It is a blessing for our martial arts world that your sect has produced a master like yourself."

"Please come to my Chen family home for a while, so that we can host a banquet to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey."

"As for the matter of exchanging skills, there is plenty of time in the future, and there is no need to rush."

Wow, she's got such a good temper?

Was he planning to put some kind of poison in the food, or was he simply frightened by the stone?

I should have chosen a smaller one.

"Ha ha!"

Chu Tianshu pretended to be rough and rude, and laughed loudly, "You don't need to talk to me about these empty words. If you don't want to fight, you can just admit defeat, and I won't have to lift a finger."

Chen Pinde continued to smile, but his eyes couldn't help but dart around.

The onlookers were too busy to look at the weight of the boulder.

Chen Pinde had been watching Chu Tianshu's breathing from the moment he appeared.

When this person was carrying the boulder and throwing it down, his breathing showed almost no change.

Given this performance, his true power ceiling is probably more than ten times greater than the weight of this boulder.

This is probably... probably someone who has reached the pinnacle of all three paths.

Or perhaps they are divine beings who eat immortal food, possess the bones of Guanyin, and are born with superhuman strength.

“In Chenjiagou, all the men of prime age have gone out to make their way in the world. Those who remain are just people who are not skilled enough.”

Chen Pinde said earnestly, "Even if you defeat us, you may not be worthy of being called a hero."

"Well then, there are three old men in our valley. They may not be as strong as they used to be, but their martial arts skills are still quite profound."

"If you really want to compete, then spar with these three."

Chen Pinde's words caused an uproar among the crowd behind him.

Although the three old men were old, they took a medicinal bath every two days to keep their muscles and bones strong.

As long as they don't leave Chenjiagou and the supply of medicinal baths isn't cut off, any one of them is far stronger than Chen Pinde, the clan leader.

Chu Tianshu, who was already trying to attract attention, immediately said, "Then let the three of them come out quickly."

Chen Pinde immediately sent someone to invite him.

When the villagers heard that the three elders were to be invited to fight, even those who didn't usually like watching a spectacle couldn't resist joining in.

Chen Xuewen, wearing frameless round glasses and with a handsome appearance, sat on a rocking chair in front of his house, his left leg crossed over his right, flipping through an old blue book.

Hearing the commotion in the village, he called out to a passing boy and asked him a few questions.

"It actually took the three elders to make a move."

Chen Xuewen seemed to be deep in thought, and called over the maid beside him, "Chun'er, go and tell half of the foreign gun squad guarding the ancestral hall to go to the clan chief."

"Okay, call your partner over here."

Chun'er smiled and asked, "What has Young Master noticed this time?"

"I didn't see anything, but one should always be wary of others."

Chen Xuewen said, "The butterflies on the flowers will not let their guard down just because passersby have not hurt them."

"There should always be some kind of response when a stranger approaches."

Chen Xuewen thought for a moment and then instructed, "The gunmen who are sent to the clan chief should not get too close or aim at the gun. In short, they must not fire first."

"Even the experts who can get the three elders to come out are not entirely confident in using a gun formation. If the other side does not intend to go to extremes, but is forced to kill by the muskets, then we will have brought trouble upon ourselves."

Chun'er smiled and said, "I understand."

Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly heard a series of car horns coming from outside the village.

Huo Ming, standing on the side path outside Chen Xuewen's high wall, also frowned.

Outside the village, a long convoy of cars kicked up dust.

Several black sedans and green troop transport trucks arrived, with fully armed soldiers, some sitting inside and others clinging to the windows, standing on both sides.

"Oh dear! What am I doing here?"

After the car stopped, a middle-aged man with thick hair got out of the middle car.

"I've come to invite the masters from Chenjiagou to be our instructors. This is because..."

The man took a few steps forward, saw the boulder, and touched his hairy chin.

"Golden Toad Tai Chi, is it a martial arts competition?"

He then looked at Chu Tianshu and said, "Brother, you're clearly no ordinary person. How about this, if you can win a few matches, you can become an instructor in my Zhen Song Army. There's plenty of money to be made. What do you say?"

(End of this chapter)