Breaking Limits in Martial Arts: Grinding Your Way to Becoming a Martial Saint in a Chaotic Era

The next day, before dawn.

Xu Qing then got up and practiced his boxing.

It was as if nothing had happened last night.

He practiced for half an hour, his whole body drenched in sweat, and steam rose from the top of his head, dissipating into white mist in the morning light.

The fellow apprentices came out one after another.

Xu Qing yawned, saw Xu Qing practicing his boxing again early in the morning, curled his lip, and slowly strolled over.

"You got up pretty early." His voice was sarcastic. "Practice, practice hard. What's the use of just practicing? At most, you'll only reach a superficial level of skill, stuck there for life!"

He crossed his arms, looked Xu Qing up and down with a look of disdain.

"Look at you, not only did you eat at the martial arts school, but you also ate at my second uncle's house, drank at my second uncle's house, and spent my second uncle's money. And in the end, all you've accomplished after all that training is this? How can you face the martial arts school? How can you face my second uncle?"

Xu Qing withdrew his fist and glanced at him.

That glance was calm. There was no anger, no resentment, not even any emotion. It was like looking at a tree, a stone.

Xu Qing was slightly taken aback by his gaze, but then became even more excited.

"If I were you, I wouldn't have the face to stay at the martial arts gym. You're just eating and drinking for free and getting all the benefits for nothing. Do you know what people in the gym say about you? They call you a 'meat bucket'—all you do is eat meat, you can't do any real work."

After he finished speaking, he waited for Xu Qing to get angry. He waited for him to retort with a red face and a thick neck, and waited for him to clench his fists and rush forward. That way, he could shout loudly, "Look, look, you get angry after just a few words," and he could confirm in front of everyone that Xu Qing was "immature."

Xu Qing simply wiped his sweat, turned around, and continued practicing his boxing.

"Bang, bang, bang—"

The sound of punches rang out again, one after another, neither hurried nor impatient, neither too light nor too heavy, the rhythm as steady as an old monk striking a wooden fish, as if he hadn't heard him speak at all.

Xu Qing felt like he'd punched cotton, his anger seething inside him. His face flushed red and then paled, before he finally let out a heavy "humph," turned around, and left.

......

At midday, Xu Qing left the martial arts school and jogged home.

His mother, Madam Tong, was busy in the kitchen when she saw him return. She wiped her hands and greeted him, "Qing'er, why are you back? Don't you need to practice at the martial arts school?"

"Mother, is Chen Jiang still going to Uncle's house to cause trouble?" Xu Qing asked bluntly.

Tong's eyes lit up, like a cat seeing fish. She leaned closer, lowered her voice, but couldn't hide her excitement: "You don't know yet, do you? Chen Jiang is dead!"

Xu Qing was taken aback, his eyelids twitching: "Dead?"

"Dead!" Madam Tong slapped her thigh, a hint of schadenfreude on her face. "He died last night, beaten to death! I heard he died a horrible death, his face was smashed to pieces, even his own mother wouldn't recognize him! His brother-in-law is the vice leader of the Green Dragon Hall, he's furious and is searching the whole city for the killer!"

Xu Qing's mind went blank for a moment.

Dead? Chen Jiang is dead?

His first thought... was that Wu Mingyuan had done it.

He had just told Wu Mingyuan about Chen Jiang yesterday, and today Chen Jiang died.

Who else could it be but Wu Mingyuan?

The Wu family wielded considerable power in the county, with deep roots and extensive influence, making them unapproachable to the Qingjiao Hall. If Wu Mingyuan were to simply give the order, sending his men to "teach" Chen Jiang a lesson—beating him to death or maim—it would be a matter of mere words.

A surge of heat welled up inside him, burning from his chest to his throat. Senior Brother Wu valued him! Senior Brother Wu had killed someone for him!

Xu Qing's heart started racing, and a flush of excitement rose on his face, as if he were drunk.

He told Wu Mingyuan to "keep an eye on things," but he didn't tell him to kill anyone.

But Wu Mingyuan killed him!

What does this tell us?

This shows that Wu Mingyuan treated him as one of his own, as a brother, and was willing to go to great lengths for him!

He became more and more excited as he thought about it, his palms were sweating, and he wished he could run to Wu Mingyuan right now and express his loyalty.

"Mother, I'm going back to the martial arts school!" He turned and ran. Tong called after him, "Eat before you go." Before her voice even finished, he had already dashed out of the courtyard gate without looking back.

......

Xu Qing ran all the way to the entrance of the martial arts school, still out of breath, when he saw Wu Mingyuan coming out of the courtyard, followed by Tao Qing and two other senior brothers.

Wu Mingyuan was still dressed in a moon-white outfit with a dark belt around his waist, walking with ease, just like usual.

"Senior Brother Wu!" Xu Qing rushed forward, his face beaming with smiles, bowing lower than usual. "Senior Brother Wu, you really... you're so incredibly kind! From now on, I, Xu Qing, am your man. If you tell me to go east, I'll never go west; if you tell me to..."

Wu Mingyuan stopped, his brow furrowing slightly, and glanced at Xu Qing: "What did you say?"

Xu Qing thought he was pretending to be confused. After all, murder is something that can't be said openly, because walls have ears.

He leaned closer, lowered his voice, and said with gratitude and flattery, "About Chen Jiang. You just agreed to help yesterday, and today he... Senior Brother Wu, I will remember your kindness to me for the rest of my life!"

Wu Mingyuan's brows furrowed even more.

He glanced at Xu Qing, his eyes filled with disdain.

"I don't know anything about Chen Jiang." His voice was indifferent. "You've thanked the wrong person."

After saying that, he walked past Xu Qing and continued forward. Tao Qing and the others followed behind. They glanced at Xu Qing with a hint of amusement in their eyes, a slight upturn of their lips, but said nothing and followed.

Xu Qing stood there, stunned, his smile frozen.

Senior Brother Wu doesn't know Chen Jiang is dead? How is that possible? Who else could it be but him?

But then he thought about it again. It made sense. Although the world was chaotic, there were still officials in the county town. Admitting to murder openly would always be troublesome. Wu Mingyuan was right not to confess. No one else would have confessed; only a fool would.

Xu Qing watched Wu Ming's departing figure, his back straight, and the enthusiasm in his heart not only did not diminish, but burned even brighter.

Far from being disappointed, he became even more determined. Senior Brother Wu was protecting him, not wanting to drag him into it. That's a true brother! He did the job for him, but wouldn't let him get away with it, not even saying "I did it," taking all the risks himself.

He rubbed his hands together; his palms were sweaty. Watching Wu Mingyuan and the others disappear into the alley, his eyes darted around, and after thinking for a moment, he happily ran home.

......

"Qing'er, why are you back again?" Tong was setting the dishes on the table when she looked up and saw her son running in with a grin. She was completely bewildered.

What's wrong with this kid today? He suddenly came back and then left, and now he's back all happy. Is he even home for dinner?

"Mother." Xu Qing approached, his voice extremely low, but he couldn't suppress his excitement. "I resolved Chen Jiang's matter."

Tong, still holding half a scallion in her hand, paused for a moment, then asked, "You solved it? What do you mean?"

Xu Qing leaned closer, his smugness almost overflowing: "Yesterday I told Brother Wu about General Chen Jiang causing trouble at Second Uncle's shop. That's the Brother Wu I told you about. The young master of the wealthy Wu family, the kind whose family can do whatever they want in the county."

"When I mentioned it to him, he agreed immediately, without even a moment's hesitation. I didn't expect him to have it done that very night. That's what you call decisive action! That's decisive action!"

The scallions in Tong's hand fell to the ground with a "thud," her mouth gaped open wide enough to fit an egg, and it took her a while to come to her senses. Her voice even changed tone: "Really...really?"

"Absolutely true." Xu Qing raised his chin slightly and puffed out his chest. "Mother, you absolutely mustn't tell anyone about this. It's true that Senior Brother Wu's family is powerful, but it's never good for the story of murder to get out. Just pretend you don't know, keep it to yourself, understand?"

"I remember! I remember!" Madam Tong nodded repeatedly, but the light in her eyes could no longer be hidden, and the smile on her lips could not be suppressed no matter what she did.

Xu Qing repeated the instructions twice: "Don't tell anyone," and "Nobody will do it," before returning to the martial arts school with peace of mind. This time, his steps were as light as if he were walking on cotton, and he was humming an off-key tune.

But no sooner had he left than Madam Tong washed her hands, changed into clean clothes, and rushed out the door without even eating.

She didn't tell outsiders; she knew what she was doing, and the murder couldn't be spread around. But her second brother's family, who had benefited from the crime, surely needed to know who their benefactor was, right?

We can't keep people in the dark, so they receive a favor but don't know who to thank.

Besides, if we ask them for money in the future, how can we not have a reason? This favor is right here, like a mountain, it's hard to get a few taels of silver out of it.

She went straight to Xu Cheng's steamed bun shop.

Xu Cheng was kneading dough, his arms covered in flour, kneading the dough repeatedly, making the cutting board creak.

Xu Yan was making steamed buns beside her, her fingers flying, pinching each bun into a pleat with practiced ease.

When the two men saw Tong Shi burst in with a beaming smile and an undisguised smugness on her face, their hearts tightened. Every time this sister-in-law came, it was either to borrow money or to cause trouble; there was never a good time for her.

"Sister-in-law, what's wrong?" Xu Cheng wiped his hands and forced a smile.

Tong glanced at the two of them, a smirk playing on her lips: "You've both heard, haven't you? Chen Jiang is dead! He was beaten to death last night!"

"I've heard about it." Xu Cheng nodded, his eyes filled with undisguised joy. It was genuine joy, like a stone that had been weighing on his chest for half a year had finally been removed, making him feel much lighter.

Seeing this, Madam Tong smiled smugly, leaned closer, and lowered her voice, saying, "Let me tell you, this was all done by our Qing'er!"

Xu Cheng paused for a moment. Xu Yan also raised her head.

"He has a senior brother at the martial arts school, the young master of the Wu family, who is very powerful and influential. Qing'er told him about what happened here, and without saying a word, he had Chen Jiang dealt with that very day!"

Before she knew it, Madam Tong's voice had risen, and she spoke with great enthusiasm, spittle almost splattering onto the steamed buns: "Tell me, isn't Qing'er a good child? Isn't he well-loved? Haven't you wasted all the money you've spent on him?"

Xu Cheng and Xu Yan were stunned after hearing this. They snapped out of their daze, looked at each other, and were filled with disbelief.

Chen Jiang, who would cause trouble and lay hands on them every now and then, making them live in fear for more than half a year, was beaten to death by Xu Qing's men.

Xu Yan's eyes immediately reddened.

She recalled the time Xu Qing kicked over the food box and yelled at her, "Do I need your steamed bun?" and felt a pang of bitterness in her heart. But if he really had someone settle things with Chen Jiang... this child still cared about her, his second aunt. He might not say it, but he felt it in his heart.

"Sister-in-law, is it really Qing'er...?" Xu Yan's voice was choked with emotion.

"Of course it's true!" Madam Tong patted her chest. "Qing'er told me himself! His Senior Brother Wu treats him very well, like a brother! From now on, don't say Qing'er is being unreasonable. He may not say it, but he feels it! We're all family, how could he stand by and watch you get bullied?"

Xu Cheng stood to the side, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back.

Aside from what happened last time, his impression of Xu Qing had never been bad. The kid was quite lovable when he was young, but he was spoiled and became somewhat willful and ungrateful.

But this time... if it really was him who did it, then the child certainly put his heart into it.

He couldn't quite describe the feeling in his heart; it was both sweet and bitter, like biting into a half-ripe persimmon.