Chapter 22: Dragon-shaped Search for Bones (Part 2) 2/3

  The Great Cold has arrived, and people set up six earth oxen in the fields outside the city to bid farewell to the Great Cold. After the Great Cold comes Li Chun, which is also the time when all things begin to grow. The custom of setting up earth oxen is related to the agricultural sequence at that time, and it was also an extremely important sacrificial activity at that time.

  Deng Jia's family also had fields, but they hired people to farm them on ordinary days.

  So at the time of Li Tu Niu, Deng Jie not only had to participate but also played a major role.

  As Deng Jie's position in the county government rose, he also gradually gained the right to speak in Deng Village. This year's Li Tu Niu, he was ranked third, which also shows his current status in Deng Village. In later generations, this custom of Li Tu Niu has long been lost, and Cao Peng has never seen it either.

  So on this day, he got up early and didn't even go to practice, following Deng Jie to Li Tu Niu.

  Li Wan Tu Niu, Deng Village also has a big dinner party activity.

  In "Shi Ji - Lishu", there is also a relevant record: at the end of the year, people gather together to eat and drink, release yang energy, so it's called Chuyi.

  According to later generations, it is "Xiao Nian"!

  During the Eastern Han Dynasty, people celebrated the Little New Year with a banquet. They offered wine to their elders and wrote articles to thank their teachers.

  Generally speaking, people who write articles are big shots in the village.

  In the past, Deng Village wrote articles, mostly written by Lao Taigong himself. However, this year, it was replaced by Deng Ji...

  After dinner, Cao Peng returned home.

  After reading a book for a while, under Deng Ji's supervision, practiced writing for a while, and then returned to his own room.

  Sitting on the couch, he spread several sheets of hemp paper on the table and furrowed his brow in thought. The shape drawn on the hemp paper was that of a double-acting piston bellows.

  Cao Peng could only draw a diagram based on his own memory.

  But he didn't know how to deal with the internal structure of the bellows...

  This thing can't be shown to people easily, otherwise there will be big trouble. After all, the double-acting piston bellows only appeared in the Ming Dynasty, and it's been over a thousand years since then. If this thing is leaked, what changes will occur, Cao Peng can't say clearly. But one thing is for sure, if it can't bring enough benefits to himself, he won't take out this bellows no matter what... You should know, this is a treasure.

  Perhaps it was because of drinking two bowls of turbid wine during dinner that his head felt a bit dizzy.

  Cao Peng couldn't think of any outcome, so he hastily put away the drawings and fell asleep.

  He slept until the second day was about to dawn.

  The cold winter is going away, and the warm spring is coming...

  A thin fog has risen outside, which is a phenomenon of yin and yang alternating.

  "Ah Fu, get up!"

  Wang Mai knocked on the door outside, waking up Cao Peng from his sleep.

  Rubbed his eyes and sat up from the bed.

  Nowadays, there is a lot of vitality in this big house. After Wang Meng returned, he and Wang Mai lived together in the wing room in the front yard; Deng Ji's couple occupied a row of houses, while Cao Jing's couple and Cao Peng occupied another row of houses. Cao Peng's room was adjacent to the middle hall, with a study room in between, and then came Cao Jing's bedroom. The reason for this arrangement is also considering that Wang Mai will find Cao Peng every day. In this way, it is convenient for Wang Mai to call Cao Peng to get up, and it will not disturb Cao Jing's couple.

  Since Wang Meng brought back two horses, Wang Mai has become more diligent!

  He took the initiative to take over the task of taking care of the horses, tidying up the stables and grooming them. Every day at dawn, he would also lead the horse to the riverbank for a walk. In this way, in addition to normal training, Wang Ma added an extra task on his own initiative.

  Practice horse riding!

  Cao Peng was also dragged into it and had to practice horse riding together with him.

  The two horses brought back by Wang Meng would hardly be considered anything in the eyes of a connoisseur.

  These two horses are old horses eliminated from the army! Compared to the horse that Wang Meng rode in those years, they are really not on the same level.

  But Wang Meng said this old horse is most suitable for the current situation of Wang Mai and Cao Peng.

  The temperament is very gentle, and can understand some simple oral commands. For beginners, this old horse is undoubtedly the most suitable. Cao tried it once and felt that Wang Meng was right too. Now they have just started learning riding skills, and it's really not suitable for any precious horses.

  Put on your clothes and grab the wallet beside the pillow.

  Inside are some miscellaneous items, mainly used for practicing skills.

  "Today you walk Big Black, I'll take Big Flower."

  Dahēi and Dàhuā are the names of two horses.

  Because one was a black horse and the other was a spotted horse, Wang Ma directly gave them these two names.

  Cao Peng didn't care whether it was the big black or the big flower, anyway both horses were quite gentle, and taking either one out for a ride would be just the same. The two of them led the horses out of the stable and then out of the gate, slowly walking around the peach orchard. As they walked faster and faster, they started to run... The two horses also cleverly followed suit, at first trotting along in small steps, but later on, as Cao Peng and the other person started running, their strides also quickened.

  Ran to the riverbank, Cao Peng and Wang Mai both finished warming up, and at the same time flipped onto their horses.

  At the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, war horses were not yet equipped with stirrups and high saddles, so when riding, they mostly relied on their legs to fix themselves on the horse.

  It requires extremely strong waist and abdominal muscles, as well as a certain degree of flexibility.

  If it were a month ago, Cao Peng really couldn't have done it.

  Now... he can barely sit on the horse and slowly run. In comparison, Wang Ma's progress is great, able to gallop freely.

  It's been almost twenty days since I arrived in Deng Village!

  Cao Peng could feel his body slowly becoming stronger...

  He rode the horse for a while, then Cao Peng stopped. He threw away the reins and stood on the river embankment, starting to punch. Today was a bit strange, there was no one on the other side of the river. In recent days, the old man who appeared every day on the other side of the river did not come today. This also made Cao Peng feel somewhat uncomfortable.

  After finishing a set of boxing, he practiced Ba Duan Jin as usual.

  The old man still hasn't appeared after finishing the eight brocades!

  Maybe he has something to do today and won't come? Cao Peng also didn't know why he suddenly missed the old man. Maybe it's because he was used to the old man watching him, so when no one was there all of a sudden, he felt a bit uneasy for a while. This guy is really a bit cheap.

  I used to feel uncomfortable being watched by others, now no one is watching me, but I still feel uncomfortable.

  Cao Peng adjusted his mood and continued practicing with Wang Mai.

  "Brother Tiger Head, what I'm going to teach you today is called 'Dragon Shape Searching for Bones'."

  Wang Mai practiced until he was drenched in sweat, wearing only a sleeveless undershirt called a half-sleeve.

  He listened attentively to Cao Peng's explanation and occasionally raised questions.

  "Vigorous, emphasizing the power of bones, also known as the power of kidney yuan, innate power... In fact, this dragon-shaped search for bones contains two essential elements."

  One, hip... oh, it's this position."

  Cao Peng said, going over to support Wang Mai's waist and pelvic muscles.

  In traditional martial arts, this position is called Dantian, also known as Zhong Jie.

  "The hip can exert force, the waist and hip can open and close, which is one; the second is that the whole body's Guasha meridian is unblocked... Here, it is the Dan Tian Li I mentioned to you two days ago, which can smoothly reach all parts of the body without any internal consumption, called 'Jingluo' unblocking."

  Cao Peng has not reached that level yet, so it's naturally impossible for him to exert his strength.

  Too profound a doctrine, he and Wang Mai could not make clear, so they had to use the simplest way to teach.

  "Look, we usually can't feel the muscles in the dan tian area... unless you've strained your waist. But after practicing, you can feel the strongest power contained in these stiffest joints in the body. This power is called the primitive beast force, the true instinctual force... Tiger Head Brother, if you practice boxing and get the power of the dan tian, at least you can increase your strength by 200 jin..."

  So you might not be able to imagine it.

  You've gone hunting with your uncle, so you must have seen the tigers and leopards chasing and preying on their quarry. The speed, strength, and coordination of wild beasts when they hunt all originate from these few parts. With such power as a backing, in future battles to capture enemy commanders, you will surely be able to take the heads of the top generals."

  Wang Mai listened attentively and followed Cao Peng, occasionally making various gestures.

  Those eyes sparkled with bright light, nodding repeatedly...

  "Practicing martial arts and fist techniques, speaking of the two energies of dragon and tiger."

  "You may not have seen a dragon, but you must have seen a tiger. The strongest part of the tiger is its spine and waist. With the ability of both dragon and tiger, how can one's courage not be strong?"

  As he spoke, Cao Peng suddenly stamped his foot and twisted his waist, and with a loud "hiss", he struck out with his fist.

  Wang Meng watched from the side and saw it clearly, and couldn't help but shout: "Good fist!"

  To be honest, Cao Peng's punch didn't have too much power. But it produced a fierce aura that made people feel palpitations...

  But after one punch was thrown, his whole body seemed to lose power.

  This body hasn't been trained well after all, and simulating a punch from his past life almost exhausted all of his energy.

  Wang Mai also knew Cao Peng's situation, and hastily said: "Ah Fu, take a break. You just said so much, I couldn't understand it all at once... Take a rest, let me think about it myself... Hmm, dragon shape searching for bones, dragon and tiger energy... Is it like this?"

  Wang Mai said as he mimicked Cao Peng's earlier action, stomping his foot and throwing out a punch.

  In terms of strength, this punch was much more powerful than Cao Peng's previous one. However, Wang Mai could feel that this punch didn't have the same momentum as Cao Peng's earlier punch.

  "Ah Fu, I really regret it now!"

  "What's the regret?"

  "Why didn't I learn from that old Master Fang well when he was in Zhongyang Town at first?"

  "Alas, if I had known he was so capable, I would have followed him to learn from him. Now that I think about it, I'm really going to regret it to death!"

  Even if you learn it, you still can't master it.

  These are the essence of the summaries made by the great masters of martial arts in later generations, and even the old alchemists of this era may not understand them.

  Cao Peng could only nod awkwardly.

  "Fate... Brother Tiger Head, it's fate!"

  Wang Mai looks very dejected!