Republic of China: From Street Performer to War God in a Chaotic Era

The snow had just stopped, and the sky was just beginning to brighten.

A few rays of warm sunlight peeked in through the carved window, casting a slanting glow on the worn-out furniture in the backstage area of ​​the Fuju Troupe.

Lu Guan didn't want to waste a single moment.

He reached out and tore off the white cloth used to block out the light from the corner of the wall. In a few quick movements, he pulled it back between two mottled wooden pillars, and a white curtain was drawn up.

They found another lantern, lit it, and hung it behind the curtain.

The lamplight flickered, and the light and shadow swayed uncertainly on the cloth.

Lu Guan stood between the curtain and the lights, wearing only a thin short-sleeved shirt and with his arms bare.

Deep within one's consciousness, the ancient and weathered "Stage of Creation" had already begun to tremble violently.

Although the "Thirteen Styles of Shadow Puppetry" is not the kind of remnant skin and bones used to make images, it is still something that originated from the shadow puppetry industry, and it inherently exudes the essence of "drama".

[A compatible movement technique manual has been detected: "Thirteen Shadow Movements".]

The drama of fate unfolds...

In an instant, the ink characters on the ancient book transformed in Lu Guan's mind into illusory little figures holding bamboo skewers.

Running, jumping, and turning back behind the curtain, it was incredibly lifelike.

"Three inches above, seven-tenths below, never straying from the silk when looking left, never breaking the thread when looking right."

Lu Guan closed his eyes and silently recited the general principles recorded in the book.

Ordinary martial artists practice body techniques by emphasizing that power originates from the ground and is generated by pushing off the ground.

But this "shadow walking" is a completely different approach.

The shadow puppets have no weight; they are suspended above the white cloth and held up by a single main rod and two hand rods.

What Lu Guan needs to do now is to treat himself as a shadow puppet suspended by silk threads.

"call--"

Lu Guan moved, his toes lightly touching the ground, his heels slightly raised.

The powerful Qi and blood flowed through the meridians of his legs, instantly dissolving his weight of over a hundred pounds.

"Whoosh!"

First move: Pull the lever!

Lu Guan's figure suddenly disappeared from the spot, and moved straight back three zhang away. The movement was stiff, yet so fast that it defied all reason.

"Swish! Swish!"

Second move, Illusory Image!

The third move: Shake your body!

Lu Guan moved back and forth constantly within this cramped backstage area.

His movements lacked the fierce and domineering power of Bajiquan; instead, they exuded an inexplicable and sinister aura.

Under the dim yellow light of the kerosene lamp, the shadows cast on the white cloth were stretched and distorted, making one's scalp tingle just by looking at them.

The old blind man sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) was so shocked by the series of whooshing sounds in the air that his jaw almost dropped.

"Young Master... he's a fucking genius."

"This movement technique, even if an ordinary person practices diligently for ten years, might not be able to grasp its essence. Yet the young master master mastered it after just one glance?"

Little did the old blind man know that with the blessing of the [Creation Stage], Lu Guan's understanding of shadow puppetry had long surpassed the limits of ordinary people.

In just one hour, Lu Guan had mastered the first four moves.

"Fifth move...Leaves no trace."

Lu Guan stopped in his tracks, his whole body drenched in sweat, with wisps of white steam rising from his head.

This fifth move, however, is a major hurdle.

According to the book, to master this technique, one must cultivate the control of the physical body to a state of perfection, leaving afterimages during extremely rapid movements, so realistic that they are indistinguishable from the real thing.

"At my current speed, I'm still a little short of the mark."

Lu Guan narrowed his eyes slightly, then suddenly reached into his robes and touched the mid-grade rare artifact... [Fox Spirit].

"Buzz!"

Possessing another's image!

In the blink of an eye, a red light appeared deep in his eyes, and the meridians in his legs suddenly swelled.

Minor supernatural power: [Leave No Trace in Snow]!

"Shadow Walk!"

Lu Guan let out a low roar, pushing his qi and blood to their limit.

With a light touch of his toes on the ground, he seemed to transform into a wisp of weightless green smoke, crashing straight into the opposite blue brick wall.

Just as he was about to crash into the wall, his body bounced back at an unbelievable angle.

"Swish—swish—swish!"

Under the dim yellow light of the kerosene lamp, a chilling scene unfolded.

Three black shadows of Lu Guan were simultaneously projected onto the white curtain!

One punched from the left, another raised his knee from the right, and the third stood quietly in the center.

The three shadows, each breathing, each exuded a chilling killing intent!

"this……"

Although the old blind man was blind, his exceptionally sharp hearing allowed him to clearly hear the sound of clothes rustling in the air coming from three different directions.

"The shadow is the person, and the person is the shadow... It's done."

Lu Guan slowly withdrew his movements, and the [Fox Enchantress] shadow puppet pressed against his heart fell silent.

The three afterimages twisted briefly in mid-air before vanishing like bubbles, leaving only Lu Guan's tall and imposing figure standing firmly in the ground.

With the combination of "Shadow Without a Trace" and "Treading Snow Without a Trace," his current movement technique is absolutely unbeatable in the realm of internal energy.

Even if he couldn't win, if he wanted to leave, there wasn't a single person in the Tianjin garrison who could stop him.

After a night of deliberation and refinement, Lu Guan finally grasped the essence of "Thirteen Shadow Movements".

"I see."

He grabbed a coarse cloth shirt and draped it over his shoulders, a sudden realization dawning on him.

I originally thought that this unique skill, which originated from shadow puppetry, would be like the "fierce tiger climbing the mountain" in Bajiquan, a powerful and fierce movement technique specifically designed to kill enemies.

But he was wrong.

This "Thirteen Shadow Movements" is not something for "fighting" at all.

It's used for "stealing" and "escaping"!

What is the essence of shadow puppetry? It is the "people" hidden behind the screen.

No matter how fiercely the shadows on the stage fought, the hand manipulating the bamboo skewer remained hidden in the shadows, untouched by any cause or effect.

These thirteen body techniques emphasize "using light to conceal shadows, like silk threads pulling wood."

It allows martial artists to conceal their weight and the sound of the wind while moving at high speed, creating the illusion of "invisibility" and "teleportation" by taking advantage of the surrounding environment, light, and even blind spots in the enemy's line of sight.

"With this movement technique, all my skills can finally be considered complete and in full swing."

Lu Guan walked up to the old camphor wood opera box and gently stroked the lid with his fingers.

Gathering intelligence and infiltrating enemy lines, they possess the stealth, night vision, and keen sense of smell of the "Rat Shadow" shadow puppet.

To counter the bewitching spells of evil cultivators, one must possess the exquisite mind and unparalleled skill of the fox spirit shadow puppet, capable of leaping across rooftops and scaling high walls without leaving a trace.

The "Thirteen Shadow Movements" are a skill that allows one to maneuver and maneuver among the enemy ranks, and to escape unscathed even if one misses a strike.

But once he gets close and finds a weakness...

Those unparalleled "Eight Extreme Killing Moves" are death warrants sent to the underworld by demons and monsters!

"Intelligence, infiltration, raid, retreat."

"In this Tianjin region where life is cheap and evil spirits run rampant, my lone wolf tactics are enough to keep anyone awake at night."

As Lu Guan was secretly making plans, a noisy sound of footsteps treading on snow suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

It wasn't just a few passersby crossing the road, but a dozen or so pairs of thick-soled cotton boots stepping neatly on the frozen ground, making a "crunching" sound, exuding a menacing aura from afar.

Immediately afterwards, the dilapidated wooden door of the Fuju Classroom was slammed shut with a loud "bang".

"Is Young Master Lu of the Fuju Troupe here? Zheng Sanye, the Green Stick Master of the Southern Market Branch of the Cao Gang, has come to pay his respects!"

The voice outside the door was full of energy; it said "paying respects to the master," but it sounded somewhat arrogant.

The old blind man, who was resting on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the inner room, twitched his ears slightly and immediately found the Browning pistol under his pillow. He lowered his voice and spoke.

"Young Master, he's from the Canal Gang. Greyhound just died, and these bastards have already come knocking on our door."

"Hey, put your gun away. Don't show your face unless I tell you to."

Lu Guan, with a calm expression, casually stuffed the bronze-green "Zhaoxin" ancient mirror into his wide sleeve and straightened his clothes.

He walked slowly through the courtyard and reached out to open the gate.

Outside the door stood a dozen or so muscular men dressed in black short-sleeved shirts.

Despite the freezing weather, these people were all shirtless, revealing the blue tattoos on their chests.

Although they didn't carry spears, each of them had a large, ghost-headed sword with a hilt wrapped in red cloth on their shoulder, the blade gleaming coldly in the snow.

Surrounded by this group of thugs in the center was a fat man with a bloated figure, looking like a mountain of flesh.

The fat man wore an elegant gray squirrel fur robe, a small otter fur melon-shaped hat, and held two glossy lion's head walnuts in his hands.

His chubby face was red from the cold, but it was full of smiles, making him look just like the Maitreya Buddha enshrined in a temple.

But in Lu Guan's eyes, the fat man's smiling eyes revealed nothing but a chilling aura.

Master Zheng, the newly promoted "Green Stick" of the Canal Gang.

With Greyhound's death, the position of Red Stick in the South City branch became vacant.

This young man, who was originally ranked third among the top three, was naturally eager to establish his authority in front of Master Pan and secure his position.