Gou Zai Xianwu Wenjing Search for Opportunities

In the following days, Lin Yuan went to the pavilion to report for duty on time.

The lucrative jobs in the pavilion are all controlled by Zhang Tingzhang's faction, while the odd jobs are all assigned to those without connections. Li Shi's side is quite idle now.

Lin Yuan also had some free time. In fact, if he wanted to do something, there were many things he could do, such as studying the official documents coming and going in the study pavilion, learning how to write official documents, and researching the ins and outs of various government offices.

But Lin Yuan wasn't interested in these things, because he couldn't get promoted through them. To get promoted, he needed a recommendation from a powerful family. Only with a powerful family's recommendation could he secure a stable job. Even if he skipped work every day and received a salary without doing anything, the head of the village could only turn a blind eye.

As Lin Yuan learned more and his horizons broadened, he looked down on the job of a clerk. Now he was just using the position of a scribe.

In the past few days, he has been paying close attention to news about the Zhang family. News in the pavilion is indeed more widespread than outside. He learned that the Hou family has converted Zhang Dengfeng's ancestral home in Shangwei Village into the Carp Dragon Temple, and construction is underway. They have also renovated Zhang Dengfeng's house in the town.

The Marquis's behavior was rather strange, and Lin Yuan couldn't figure it out.

Although Zhang Dengyun had fallen on hard times, he had the secret help of his relatives and clansmen. Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse, and he was still able to make a living. Life was a bit harder than before, but it was still much better than Zhou Dali's family.

The following day, March 25th.

Today is the fifth day of the month, so I have to go to the martial arts school to learn swordsmanship.

Lin Yuan had informed Li Shi in advance and did not go to the pavilion to report for duty. He and Hu Cai went directly to the martial arts field of Li's residence, both of them carrying unsharpened steel swords.

Today, there are far fewer disciples in the martial arts arena, only seven. Apart from Lin Yuan and the other three who have remained unchanged, the longest the other disciples have persisted is only four months.

At this time, the instructor and Li Si had not yet arrived.

Lin Yuan stood in the shaded pavilion as usual, setting up the barricades and tempering his physical body.

At dawn, Instructor Hong arrived as usual. Seeing Lin Yuan and the other two practicing stance training, he had no choice but to draw from other disciples.

For some reason, she's been beating Zhao Sheng quite harshly lately.

Lin Yuan guessed that she had discovered that the boy had been slacking off lately.

More than an hour later, Lin Yuan finished standing on the barricades, practiced the Eight Directions Step, and did some long fist exercises before Li Si finally arrived.

Lin Yuan immediately told Instructor Hong about learning swordsmanship, and Instructor Hong nodded and let him, Hu Cai, and Zhao Sheng pass.

Li Si didn't look for another martial arts school; he started teaching right there nearby.

Just as Lin Yuan was about to draw his sword, Li Si stopped the three of them: "We're not practicing swordsmanship today. If you want to learn swordsmanship, you have to learn footwork first. I'll teach you the footwork for the Snake-Slaying Sword Technique. It's called the Seven Steps of a Snake's Journey, the 'Journey' of walking, also known as the Seven Steps of the Snake Form. The characters are similar, but the meanings are different, and the levels of understanding are also different..."

After explaining the key points of the footwork, Li Si recited the footwork mantra: "The body trembles like a snake, the steps turn like a flick of the tail, the hands flash..."

Having said that, he calmed his mind, drew in his stomach, and stood up in the snake-like stance. Seeing that the three were still reciting the incantation silently, he interrupted, "It's okay if you can't memorize the incantation the first time. I'll teach you again when you practice later. If you can't remember it later, you can come and ask me. You can also go to Li Shi; I taught him his snake-slaying sword technique."

After saying that, Li Si didn't care how much Lin Yuan and the other two remembered, and started walking in a snake-like seven-step pattern. He walked in seven steps in a row, as if he were turning in circles, twisting and turning, as fast as lightning.

The entire sequence was completed in just a few breaths, which is only possible because Lin Yuan has a foundation in martial arts; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to understand it at all.

Even so, it would be a bit difficult for him to digest it all at once.

"Now I'll break down the footwork, the first step is Golden Snake Coiling Around the Pillar..."

After teaching each step, Li Si would have the three practice it once, then give them pointers, and only after they had fully grasped the concepts would he continue to teach the next step.

There were only seven steps to begin with, and he taught quickly, so he finished teaching them in no time. After the three of them practiced the whole thing, he gave them some more pointers.

Li Si clapped his hands one last time and urged, "Ask if you don't understand anything, I have something to do later!"

Hu Cai hurriedly asked for the mnemonic again, and Li Si explained it once. When Zhao Sheng asked again, Li Si impatiently told him to ask his companion.

Fortunately, Lin Yuan had been studying for more than a year and still had a good memory. In addition, the formula was not long, so he remembered it almost. He then went through the seven steps again and asked Li Si to give him some more pointers.

Li Si gave a few simple pointers, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, you can practice on your own from now on. I'll teach you the breathing method once you've mastered the footwork."

After saying that, Li Si patted his clothes and left.

The entire process took less than half an hour.

The three looked at each other, all realizing that Li Si's teaching was very perfunctory. However, Lin Yuan didn't expect too much; they weren't master and disciple, so it was good enough that he could teach at all.

In comparison, Coach Hong taught more carefully and diligently, and most importantly, she was patient. She was willing to find out even the smallest mistakes and help me correct them.

He was even willing to give me extra training sessions for free. What a kind person!

He couldn't help but turn around and glance at Coach Hong not far away. Seeing her whipping Wu Yong, he secretly encouraged her, "Give it your all!"

Coach Hong suddenly turned around and looked at him. Lin Yuan was startled. He thought of lowering his head, but his long-standing conditioned reflex and muscle instinct made him raise his chin, narrow his eyes and look at her with a slight smile.

Lin Yuan thought to himself, "Oh no, how did I end up acting like this and turning it into something instinctive?"

I'm not that kind of flamboyant person.

The Red Instructor immediately swung his long whip, which cracked loudly in mid-air, startling Wu Yong so much that he trembled and fell to the ground.

The Red Instructor ignored him, stared at Lin Yuan, and then pointed to the open space in front of him, the meaning of which was clear: come here and stand still.

Lin Yuan suddenly wanted to change his bad habit of acting to provoke her. At this moment, he felt heavy-hearted, his legs felt like lead, and he began to stagger.

"Junior brother, the instructor wants you to come over!" Hu Cai quickly helped and pushed him over.

"Don't help me, I can walk by myself." Lin Yuan slapped his hand away, his eyes showing disdain.

Lin Yuan stopped a few body lengths away from Instructor Hong and immediately began practicing the Snake Steps. Hu Cai'er also stopped and followed suit.

For some reason, he had just practiced it once, but in a short time, it had become a little blurry. As he practiced, Lin Yuan suddenly didn't know which leg to use for the fifth step, "Snake Spits Tongue," so he had to pull both legs back and turn around to look at the two of them.

Good heavens, Hu Cai and Zhao Sheng were imitating him, pulling their legs back and turning their heads. Judging from their posture, they were completely imitating him.

Lin Yuan was both amused and annoyed, and had no choice but to give up on the two of them and figure it out on his own.

At this moment, the Red Instructor walked up to him and immediately lashed out with a whip, striking his left leg.

Lin Yuan's calf suddenly ached and went numb. He gasped and forced himself to endure it. At the same time, he glanced at her and immediately realized that he should step with his left leg.

How did she know about the snake's seven-step movement?

She studied it too? If she did, why wouldn't she teach me?

"Crack!" A whip lashed his buttocks. The Red Instructor gave him no time to think and urged him to continue practicing.

But what should we do next?

"Snapped!"

Under Lin Yuan's urgent encouragement, it was as if he had undergone memory recovery surgery. With the long whip acting as a scalpel, he quickly remembered Li Si's footwork, and it was incredibly clear to him.

Hu Cai and Zhao Sheng both hunched over, secretly imitating Lin Yuan's footwork, a smirk playing on their lips as they did so.

……

Suddenly, the sound of gongs rang out outside the martial arts arena.

"get out of class is over!" a disciple cheered softly.

The Red Instructor immediately put away his whip and left, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Lin Yuan felt somewhat exhausted, so he simply lay down on the ground and relaxed. After being whipped for a long time, he not only memorized the seven steps of the snake movement, but also performed them quite well. Even Hu Cai and the other man were able to learn them fairly well.

Seeing that Instructor Hong had left, Zhao Sheng quickly came over to help him up, chuckling, "Uncle, wanna ride horses this afternoon?"

"Ride!" Lin Yuan roared in fury.

"Junior Brother Zhao, take me with you," Hu Cai said with a smile.

"Sure, is Senior Brother Wu coming? I'll take you guys for a stroll this afternoon." Zhao Sheng was very interested in having fun.

"I'm not going. I need to go home and practice my swordsmanship, otherwise I won't be able to catch up with you guys!" Wu Yong refused outright.

……

At noon, the three of them went to the Hu family's house and ate a special meal together, consisting of three dishes and a soup, which was slightly better than usual.

During this period, Hu Dongjia was even more enthusiastic towards Lin Yuan and the others. Things were different now. Lin Yuan and Zhao Sheng had both gotten jobs at the Carp Pavilion. Even Hu Dongjia had to give face to the clerks and thieves, not to mention that they had a good relationship.

Manager Hu also intended to take this opportunity to find Hu Cai a job catching thieves at Lishui Pavilion, which would make things much easier for him in town. Therefore, the hospitable Zhao Sheng also moved into the Hu family's house.

After finishing his meal, Lin Yuan had nothing to do, so he asked Uncle Gu if there were any coffins being ordered recently.

Uncle Gu was sitting in the courtyard, basking in the sun, chatting and drinking tea with his apprentices.

For the past six months, Lin Yuan would occasionally come over to inquire, and among them were quite a few families where someone had passed away. However, sometimes the timing was unfortunate and he couldn't find the time, and sometimes the Hu family held the ceremony in advance and didn't remind him in time.

Despite this, he still managed to find two or three opportunities to deliver the coffin, but unfortunately, he did not encounter any ghosts when he arrived at the funeral parlor.

Gradually, Lin Yuan lost interest in this folk remedy, only asking about it occasionally when he remembered it.