Gou Zai Xianwu Wenjing Search for Opportunities

In the days that followed, whenever it rained...

Lin Yuan walked around the mass grave twice, checked in, and looked for the wandering spirits.

I went three or five times in a row, but didn't get anything.

This is all about luck.

The sky was overcast that afternoon.

As usual, Lin Yuan went to Yuxu Mountain and circled around twice, but found nothing. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly saw a whirlwind next to a mound of earth not far away, and the wind kept swirling around the grave.

The key is that this whirlwind remained condensed and did not dissipate.

He immediately became alert; it was somewhat like a ghost.

So he ran over, and the closer he got to the whirlwind, the colder he felt. He became more and more certain that this was probably the yin wind gathered by the spirits.

"Hey bro, come on, get me!"

Lin Yuan spoke to the yin wind as he walked towards it.

But a surprising thing happened: the gust of wind was avoided.

"Huh? I gave you a chance, and you still ran away?"

He chased after it again, but the yin wind swirled and disappeared, avoiding him once more.

"I gave you a chance, but you failed!"

He gave chase, but Yin Feng fled again, circling the mass grave for most of the time.

Lin Yuan was utterly puzzled: "No, are you afraid of me? A ghost like you is afraid of people?"

He found it very interesting. After thinking for a moment, he had a slight realization. He had been practicing martial arts all this time, which had nourished his blood and qi, and also cultivated the masculine energy of a young man.

According to Hu Cai, body-refining martial artists have the ability to resist ghosts, and the higher the level of the martial artist, the more they can even suppress ghosts.

He encountered ghosts several times, which should mean there are plenty of ghosts in the world, but he rarely heard of Taoist priests or monks coming to perform rituals for the deceased. Usually, only wealthy people would hire them; ordinary people rarely do.

Even spirits are living beings; they also bully the weak and fear the strong. They will instinctively avoid strong people and pounce on weak people.

I used to be too thin and weak, lacking in energy and vitality, which is why I was always visited by evil spirits.

It's because the spirits aren't actually that powerful; they also fear the scorching sun and powerful humans, and they can even perish on their own.

Having understood these things, Lin Yuan gained a deeper understanding of the spirits in this world.

There are indeed too many intricacies here; I need to do more research to understand them.

So he immediately ran towards Yin Feng, shouting, "Brother, don't go! Let's talk!"

In the end, Lin Yuan still couldn't catch up, because the yin wind hid in the bushes in the mountain hollow.

It was a secluded place, often inhabited by snakes, insects, and wild animals.

Lin Yuan, a novice in martial arts, didn't dare to force his way in: "Fine, brother, I'll let you go this time since you value your life so much!"

……

Time flies like water, and the days of studying and practicing martial arts have passed in the blink of an eye.

In early August, the White Dew solar term arrives.

As the seasons change, dew condenses on autumn nights, and the mornings and evenings gradually cool down, with each night getting colder than the last.

The floodwaters of Yuanhu Lake have finally receded by more than half, and the refugees outside Taoli Town are gradually returning to their villages. However, the rice paddies that were submerged by the flood have lost their vitality, and the thatched houses in the countryside have also collapsed due to the flood.

I got home, but I no longer had a home!

Lin Yuan didn't pay much attention to these things, only occasionally chatting about them when his elder brother came over every few days to deliver firewood, game, and salted fish.

His life revolves around going back and forth between two points, leaving him very little time to think.

In the past month, he has been studying and has written thirteen lectures on arithmetic, covering the most practical accounting methods such as the collection, gold, and granary.

In martial arts training, he mastered the barricade and learned the eight-step method of the Eight Directions. He could not only stand on the standard barricade for half a day, but also perform the Eight Directions method with relatively smooth movements.

As he ate meat, drank tonics, and practiced martial arts to temper his body, he gained weight and grew taller, his figure matured, and he became increasingly dashing.

At the same time, he became more and more familiar with Hu Cai and Zhao Sheng, and their relationship became much closer.

Hu Cai did indeed, as he had said before, focus on practicing martial arts and stop seeking pleasure. In his words, he had to live up to his elder brother's support and the money his father had spent.

Even Zhao Sheng, influenced by the two, completely gave up prostitution and would often go to the Hu family's house. Seeing that he was diligently practicing martial arts, Li Shi only asked him to check in at the pavilion and come back.

The three of them practiced martial arts together, sparred, wrestled, demonstrated their skills, joked, and played around...

……

August 5th.

Today is the fifth of the month, marking the first time this month we'll be visiting the Li family's martial arts training ground.

Before dawn, the eldest brother brought firewood, in which he hid a wild deer and five large carp. When he saw Lin Yuan come out in his training clothes, he suddenly grinned foolishly.

"Erlu, when you went to the dock yesterday, your uncles all said they didn't recognize you. They said you didn't look like my brother, but more like a young master from the city."

As he spoke, the older brother rolled up his sleeves and showed his arm to Lin Yuan for comparison—one was dark, the other fair—then chuckled, "Fair skin just looks good!"

He gestured to show Lin Yuan's height and laughed, "You're almost as tall as me! There are a lot of short people in our family, so at least you're not short anymore."

"I'm eating well. It's my family who suffers!" Lin Yuan sighed.

"Honestly! We're brothers, why are you talking about how hard it is?" The eldest brother looked displeased when he heard him being polite again. He picked up his carrying pole and left. "Alright, I'm going to the docks to find work."

After his elder brother left, Lin Yuan went out with Hu Cai, where Zhao Sheng was already waiting.

The three arrived at the martial arts training ground of the Li residence.

There are only nine teenagers in the martial arts arena today, far fewer than at the beginning. Of these nine, only Wu Yong and Lin Yuan are still the original three; the rest are new additions.

Under the constant spurring of Coach Hong, most people simply couldn't endure it; those who could bear it each had their own unique characteristics.

Wu Yong is competitive and unwilling to admit defeat, Lin Yuan is afraid to lose, Hu Cai is afraid to lose and has a masochistic streak, and Zhao Sheng follows the crowd for fear of being ridiculed and dares not fall behind.

Before Coach Hong arrived, the nine men had already lined up in three rows and started practicing their boxing ahead of time.

Wu Yong stood firmly in the first row, while Lin Yuan and the other two were originally supposed to stand in the last row. However, the new disciples all hid behind them, making the three of them the second row instead.

At this moment, Coach Hong entered the arena. Lin Yuan didn't dare to look at her again, but he heard a series of loud gasps behind him.

In a month, all four of them had changed significantly. The only one who hadn't changed was Coach Hong, who was still dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, wearing a mask and gloves, and holding a long whip.

At this moment, Li Si led another boy in and exchanged a few words with Instructor Hong.

She nodded slightly, pointed her whip in the direction of the nine people, and Wu Yong immediately stepped forward.

But this time, Coach Hong shook his head unusually, cracked his whip in mid-air, and made a loud bang in front of Wu Yong. Wu Yong didn't dare to run into it and froze there, not knowing whether to advance or retreat.

She then pointed in the direction of the eight people.

When Lin Yuan saw that Hu Cai and Zhao Sheng were both looking at him, he immediately felt a tightness in his chest. He didn't want to take on this task; there was no good in it, and it would only delay his boxing practice.

"You, come here!" The Red Instructor's voice was calm and collected, but Lin Yuan knew that this was the prelude to her anger, because she usually didn't speak.

Lin Yuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and run forward, his mind filled with confusion. Wu Yong was the best among the youths in both martial arts and body tempering.

Wu Yong calls himself the senior brother, which isn't really wrong. Although he has a bad temper, he is indeed capable.

Why would you choose yourself?

Lin Yuan glanced at him, and the other man was also looking at him. Both of them saw confusion in each other's eyes.

"Teach him!" Instructor Hong pointed at the boy and said to Lin Yuan.

"Yes, Instructor!" Lin Yuan respectfully clasped his hands in greeting, thinking to himself: Aren't you just making trouble for me? You won't let those who want to do it, and you force those who don't want to do it. Honestly, you have no sense at all.

"Snapped!"

With a crack of the whip, Lin Yuan felt a sharp pain in his buttocks and a numbness in his lower body. He immediately collapsed to the ground, clutching his buttocks with both hands, panting heavily, and sweating profusely.

Is this person sick? Why would they hit someone for no reason?

Lin Yuan was very puzzled. He glanced over out of the corner of his eye and found that Instructor Hong had walked away.

She ignored Wu Yong standing beside her and went to whip Hu Cai with her long whip.

This person is really strange!

Lin Yuan was hit many times, and although he was a little confused, he didn't mind since he was not seriously injured. He planned to teach the new boy how to practice meditation.

"My name is Lin..." Lin Yuan had just opened his mouth when the boy, who looked to be about ten years old, turned around and ran away with a look of terror on his face, frantically chasing after Li Si.

Li Si sighed, bowed respectfully to Instructor Hong from afar, and then led the man away.

What a mess! I got whipped for nothing. Who can I complain to?

Lin Yuan looked at Wu Yong, and the two exchanged glances before silently returning to their positions to continue practicing their boxing.

For some reason, Coach Hong's whip was unusually sharp today, cracking loudly and striking more often than usual.

Every time it was Lin Yuan's turn, he would not stop until he had knocked the person out of their skin and they could no longer get up.

However, Lin Yuan discovered that she was indeed targeting the areas where his martial arts training was inadequate. After nearly a month of observation, he realized that she was using this as an excuse to vent her frustrations.

But didn't he realize he had offended Coach Hong?

But Lin Yuan wasn't the only one who got hit the most; Wu Yong was also among them, making them the biggest victims of the morning.

This made Lin Yuan even more confused. Wu Yong took the initiative to help her teach her disciples, but she not only disagreed, she also slapped him.

This made Hu Cai, who had a masochistic streak, look envious and disappointed. However, given his pursuit of martial arts, he would never deliberately practice incorrectly to invite a beating, so he felt very regretful.

Martial arts practice ended in the morning.

Lin Yuan was helped by the two men to Doctor Meng's courtyard.

He came here to get a prescription for a medicinal diet for martial arts training, and today happened to be the deadline for paying the first five taels of silver consultation fee.

As usual, Doctor Meng took his pulse, examined his face and complexion, and nodded: "Your blood and qi have been well nourished this past month, and your body is in good shape. You're an obedient child. Today I've prescribed some martial arts-infused medicinal cuisine. Take it for a while, and when you feel the effects are not enough, I'll come back for a fresh prescription."

As he spoke, he wrote a prescription for him on the spot. The main ingredient was still a prepared herb, but the difference was that last time it was a powder, and this time it was a pill—a body-tempering pill.

Lin Yuan quickly asked, "Isn't there also an ointment?"

"Just get that from the Martial Arts Pharmacy. It's all pre-prepared; they'll know your prescription at a glance," Doctor Meng explained, then took Zhao Sheng's pulse and nodded, "He's doing well, and he's an obedient child! Here, this is your medicinal diet!"

The two took the prescription, thanked Doctor Meng, and went to the Wutang Pharmacy to get their medicine.

"You can only get ten doses of the medicinal diet at a time. If you run out, bring the prescription back for more. You can get a maximum of twenty more doses. Each dose costs five qian of silver, so that's five taels in total. Do you still want the body-tempering ointment?" The shopkeeper prepared the medicine for Lin Yuan and asked him for the money.

"Yes, I'll get ten sets!" Lin Yuan felt a mix of emotions upon hearing the price. It was fifteen taels a month, and his forty taels would only last for a little over two months.

"The ointment comes in bottles, one bottle at a time, I can't split it for you. Take one bottle, and you won't need to buy it again next time you need medicinal food. Just come back when you run out. There are no prescription restrictions. Even if you don't practice martial arts, it can treat sprains and bruises."

"How much silver?"

"That's five taels too, ten taels in total!" the waiter said quickly.

Lin Yuan paid the money readily and retrieved the medicinal food and body-tempering ointment.

But he felt more respect for Hu Cai because he had been using Hu Cai's ointment frequently for the past month, and Hu Cai had never said anything about it.