The Legend of the Condor Heroes: Starting from the Bodyguard

Chapter 30 Hiring a Killer with a Large Sum of Money (Yellow River Gang)

As the deepest night deepens, the sound of the night watchman's drum at dawn echoes through the long street.

The courtyard was lit only by a dim, orange lamp. Zhou Yan, Yu Yangzi, and Wang Chuyi sat beside the stone table and benches. A white mist floated in the air, and although the morning air was cool as water, Zhou Yan felt a warm and comfortable sensation throughout his body.

His biggest surprise was that he could use the Quanzhen Internal Energy Technique to integrate the warm and gentle energy emanating from the Jade Guanyin into his own internal energy, making it pure and yang.

And this internal energy's nourishing effect on the twelve meridians and internal organs is no less than the internal strength generated after consuming the Great Treasure Snake, which circulates qi and blood.

What's also delightful is that Wang Chuyi provided a detailed explanation of the obscure vocabulary and terminology used in Taoist practices.

For example, the first Yang is the result of a practitioner's practice of calming the mind and regulating the body and mind, which causes new life energy to be generated in the body. This life energy is called Yang Qi, also known as the first Yang or the first phase.

Another example is the concept of "six hours." In Taoist cultivation, the Ren and Du meridians of the human body are distributed according to the twelve Earthly Branches. The Du meridian is represented by Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, and Si, while the Du meridian is represented by Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Wu, and Hai. Because these correspond to the twelve two-hour periods of the day, the period before and after them is called "six hours."

How could Zhou Yan understand such common sense? Now that they were in the world of Legend of the Condor Heroes, he couldn't just search on Baidu. The original owner was just a literate镖师 (bodyguard/escort), not a learned scholar. It was easy for him to learn external martial arts, but internal martial arts, which involved the twelve meridians and the five internal organs, were easy to misinterpret without the guidance of a master, and he would run into trouble during his practice.

Some things seem simple enough; you could just ask a Taoist and the problem would be solved. If it were that easy, the Black Wind Duo wouldn't have practiced the Nine Yin Manual incorrectly. Zhou Yan remembered that Mei Chaofeng was paralyzed in both legs, and it was Guo Jing who explained the internal cultivation methods of the Quanzhen Taoist sect. Only then did Mei Chaofeng understand what "harmony of the four elements" and "five energies returning to their origin" meant, and she practiced accordingly, eventually regaining her ability to walk.

Zhou Yan could easily imagine how difficult it would be for him to truly understand and master the "Nine Yin Manual" and "Nine Yang Manual" even if he did obtain them.

Zhang Wuji was able to master the Nine Yang Manual in the stone cave of Kunlun Mountain without the guidance of Zhang Cuishan and his wife, Xie Xun, and the foundation he laid in Wudang Mountain, and thus could not fully understand its meaning.

However, the obstacles Zhou Yan might encounter in cultivating advanced techniques have all been resolved thanks to Wang Chuyi, Hong Qigong, and Zhang Wangyue. Having mastered the methods of internal martial arts cultivation, the way of integrating form and spirit, and the detailed explanation of meridians and acupoints, his future path in martial arts may not be smooth sailing, but Zhou Yan is confident that he can "climb halfway up the mountain and stop worrying about the distance, still needing to bravely climb to the summit."

Wang Chuyi grew increasingly appreciative of Zhou Yan. Although the man spoke little and asked many questions, his gentle, courteous, and modest demeanor was truly comforting. Moreover, many of the Quanzhen Sect's most talented disciples, such as Yin Zhiping and Zhao Zhijing, took hours or longer to grasp the essential principles, yet Zhou Yan understood them thoroughly in a very short time, even asking questions that extended beyond what he had learned. Wang Chuyi finally understood why Hong Qigong had taught him the "Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms." Encountering someone with such talent, one's heart truly yearns for such a person.

In fact, Zhou Yan's outstanding analytical and insightful abilities naturally benefited from his previous life's knowledge structure and thinking patterns. He remembered a saying that said, "In an outdated thinking system, even the most advanced teaching is nothing more than meaningless repetition."

The reason why we can digest and absorb information so quickly may be due to our different ways of thinking.

Both of them were in high spirits, so Zhou Yan went to the kitchen to boil water and make tea. When he got to the courtyard, he poured tea for Yu Yangzi and then changed the subject, saying, "Does the Daoist know any disciples of the Ancient Tomb Sect?"

Wang Chuyi asked in surprise, "How do you know about the Ancient Tomb Sect?"

Li Mochou did not tell Zhou Yan about her sect, but if she told Wang Chuyi, there would be no problem.

"When I was escorting goods in Datong Prefecture, I encountered a woman named Li Mochou. She was traveling down the mountain and encountered the four disciples of the 'Ghost Gate Dragon King'. Those four wanted to capture her and hand her over to Ouyang Ke. I intervened at that time, and it was because of this incident that I happened to run into Chief Hong."

Wang Chuyi finally understood that the main reason Hong Qigong could teach martial arts was that virtue came first, character was paramount, and talent was secondary.

"I see." Wang Chuyi said, "I have seen Li Mochou, but people in the Ancient Tomb rarely come out, so it is really not easy to meet her."

"Aren't there many disciples of the Ancient Tomb Sect?"

Wang Chuyi would not tell Zhou Yan about the origins and relationship between the Quanzhen School and the Ancient Tomb School.

"Yes, there were three people, one of whom was a little girl."

Zhou Yan realized that Lin Chaoying was no longer alive, so the three of them must be Li Mochou, Little Dragon Girl, and Lin Chaoying's maids. They were also Li Mochou and Little Dragon Girl's masters.

"There were only three of you, so isn't that quite impoverished?"

"Of course, my fellow disciples and I have arranged for some grain and oil to be sent over, but they have all ignored us. However, it is quite common for cultivators to practice asceticism without seeing the fruits of their labor."

"To test one's will and strengthen one's body."

"The opposite pole."

"I wonder what kind of personality that girl has in such an environment?"

Wang Chuyi smiled slightly: "I've seen her once or twice, she's very cute and lively."

Zhou Yan tactfully sipped his tea to conceal his inner shock. However, as the warm tea went down his throat, he realized that his thinking had become rigid. Little Dragon Girl was still so young, in the prime of her innocent and carefree life. Could she really be as cold and aloof as the eighteen-year-old girl in The Return of the Condor Heroes? As dawn broke, the iron-gray sky gradually faded.

Zhou Yan told Wang Chuyi to rest for a moment, and then he went to the kitchen to get busy.

Yu Yangzi was not one to be pretentious; he sat in meditation with his eyes closed, waiting for the young man's breakfast.

Smoke rises several feet into the morning breeze, and the fragrance of grains intoxicates the face.

Some of the ingredients purchased when entertaining Hu Yanlei, Wang Kui and others were still there. Zhou Yan cooked eight-treasure rice with rice, red dates, lotus seeds, longan and other ingredients, and made two vegetarian dishes: Shangqing tofu and astragalus bamboo fungus.

This surprised Wang Chuyi. Yu Yangzi had a great appetite. During this time, he was thinking that when Guo Jing arrived in Zhongdu, he could get to know Zhou Yan, since they were both young heroes.

Wang Chuyi learned some of Guo Jing's deeds in the desert from Ma Yu of Danyang and admired his character.

As dawn broke, Wang Chuyi, having eaten his fill, bid farewell to Zhou Yan and departed with a flourish. Such is the wondrous nature of fate.

Zhou Yan tidied himself up and headed to the escort agency.

……

Dense, fish-scale-like clouds floated in the sky, and sunlight streamed down through the gaps in the clouds, illuminating the Sihai Escort Agency.

How is your recovery?

Upon hearing Lu's question, Su, whose finger had been torn off by Zhou Yan, felt a sharp pain in his finger, as if it were being scraped by a dull knife. His face contorted with rage as he said, "A gentleman will not leave this grudge unavenged."

At Songhelou, Lu, the bodyguard who was kicked and shoved to the ground by Zhou Yan, said, "Not only do we want revenge, but we also want to find a way to ruin Fu'an's escort mission."

Su, the bodyguard, looked at Lu, the bodyguard, and said, "Don't you want revenge? It's a disgrace to have your gun stolen."

Lu, the bodyguard, said, "I do have a way."

"Stop keeping me in suspense, tell me quickly."

Lu, the镖师 (bodyguard/escort), said, "No matter how the route is planned, Fu'an will have to cross the Yellow River on this escort mission."

"and then?"

"What if something goes wrong on the Yellow River?"

How do we get out?

Lu, the bodyguard, whispered, "I know the leader of the Yellow River Gang."

"This is true."

"What's so strange about that? Escort agencies often have to cross the Yellow River when they're traveling south or north. Without offering money to smooth things over, how can they cross the river safely?" Escort Master Lu chuckled in a low voice. "Besides, the leader of the Yellow River Gang is currently in Zhongdu."

The senior bodyguard from Sihai Escort Agency had a ferocious expression:

"Offer a large sum of money, and the Yellow River Gang will seize the goods and kill the smugglers without any problems."

"But how can we afford such a large sum of money?" Su the bodyguard asked.

Lu, the bodyguard, confidently replied, "We still have our employer!"

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(End of this chapter)