Chapter 4: The Country of Silk

  Li Qinxin's heart was racing wildly, and he had never thought that in this life, he would have a famous ancestor, and his ancestor had left behind a secret manual.

  At this time, it was the late Han Dynasty, the Yellow Turbans had not yet risen, and the Three Kingdoms had not yet appeared. It was an era when chaos was already showing signs of emerging, and would soon arrive. If he could master the techniques in the secret manual, he would surely have a place for himself in the chaotic world to come. Even if he couldn't control the winds and clouds, at least he could protect his own life and that of his family, and live out this life in peace - it was not difficult.

  Slowly unfolding the silk book, Li Qian saw that the silk book was divided into two large volumes. The upper volume was for martial arts techniques and the lower volume was for military tactics. And the upper volume was again divided into two large chapters, the first chapter being Daoyin technique and the second chapter being martial arts techniques. This silk book's name was named after the second chapter of martial arts techniques, it seemed that this was the most important chapter.

  Li Qin glanced over the lower scroll of military strategy, seeing that it emphasized fighting hard battles, where bravery would win in narrow encounters, but was somewhat lacking in strategic planning. Compared to "The Art of War" by Sunzi, it was inferior. However, he had read "The Art of War" before, and military strategy wasn't very useful for him now, so he rewound the latter half of the silk book and only looked at the first part.

  The previous section is about Daoyin, which is also divided into four small sections. The first small section is about Bao Fa, which is the boxing technique that Li Qian practiced in the courtyard. As for Daoyin, Li Qian was extremely familiar with it. In history, the most famous Daoyin technique was the Wuqinxi summarized by Hua Tuo.

  The second short piece is about the art of shooting, which talks about how to use a slingshot and bow and arrow, as well as how to make a good bow. For this piece, Li Qin only read a little bit, but a series of postures and techniques appeared in his mind, all thanks to the credit of the previous owner of this body. But judging from it, the previous owner understood the techniques, but didn't have the skill to hit the target at a hundred paces, otherwise Li Tian wouldn't have said that he only knew the surface.

  The third short piece is the flying body technique, which talks about how to run fast on flat ground and practice horse riding, and how to achieve unity between man and horse, and turn freely on horseback. What surprised Li QIN was that the method of practicing horse riding in Li's family was different from others, and it actually started with Cuju, first kicking a shuttlecock and then kicking a ball, which made him somewhat puzzled.

  Further down, the fourth small piece is the killing technique, which talks about how to use weapons, focusing on gun and knife techniques, emphasizing how to quickly draw a gun and how to kill with one strike. This has many similarities with modern military's rapid stabbing method and bayonet fighting.

  The next chapter of the technique is not divided into small chapters, it belongs to comprehensive improvement, and is an extension of the previous chapter. It talks about how to become a world-class general after mastering the four small chapters. For famous generals' families, this chapter is the most important, so the secret book is named after it.

  Although he only took a rough look, Li QIN found that the whole book was talking about killing enemies, how to kill enemies as quickly as possible, and how to achieve one hit, without any content of making friends with martial arts.

  Li Qinchang couldn't help but think of the national art of later generations. The national art is a respectful name for traditional martial arts, also known as martial arts. However, during the Republic of China period when the country was in danger, people like Feng Yuxiang used to encourage soldiers to kill enemies and defend the country by saying: "Only killing enemies, not performing martial arts, is called national art." This became another way of referring to national art.

  Looking at the handkerchief book, Li QIN thought: "No matter what others say about national arts. However, there is a volume of national art that only kills enemies and does not perform in front of me, it's Li's combat technique!"

  Seeing his son looking at the silk book in a trance, Li Tian said: "Son, this ancestral skill passed down from generation to generation, you should look at it often later on. However, after you finish looking, put it away and store it in a box to avoid losing it."

  Li Qin nodded and said, "The first four small chapters have few words and the sentences are also very simple. I can understand them all. Tonight, I will memorize them all, and after practicing them well, I will look at the later ones."

  He put the silk book into the jade box, got up and thought of going back to his own room. In his room, there was a small fire pit, which could be used to read books by the light of the fire at night. Although the previous four chapters of the introductory techniques had only a thousand words or so, he was familiar with the first two chapters and planned to memorize them hastily that night, and then slowly digest and understand them later. This silk book was both a family heirloom and his means of making a living, and it could not be lost in any way.

  Li Tian looked at his son who had reached the door and suddenly said: "Son, from now on you..."

  Li QIN turned around and looked at Li Tian, just as Li Tian's lips moved slightly, revealing a look of distress on his face.

  Li Tiandao: "Dad always told you to be honest and not to fight with others, saying that suffering is a blessing. You've been taught this way since childhood, although your nature is simple and honest, but also somewhat weak. But from what happened this time when you were bullied, Dad thinks that even if you don't cause trouble, trouble won't let you go. I'm the only child of the Li family, if something happens to you, Mom and Dad will have no way to live. So... so..."

  He paused, and then said with difficulty: "So if you are bullied by bad people again in the future, you must not tolerate it, but resist. If we offend the powerful, at worst we can move away from Fuping. Where is the yellow earth not buried, where is the land not producing grain? As long as the family is together, and we pass our days in peace, that is good fortune!"

  He has been honest and kind all his life, and when he was young, he also encountered great changes. For the sake of his family, he has always been low-key and believed that suffering is a blessing, and this is how he educated his son. However, unexpectedly, it almost led to his son's death, only then did he tell his son to resist. But this way of being and dealing with the world contradicts his habits over the years, so it was very difficult for him to say it out loud.

  Li QIN nodded and said, "I understand!" Seeing Li Tian lower his head and wipe away tears with his sleeve, he felt sad in his heart and wanted to comfort him, but didn't know what to say. He couldn't accept the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Li were his parents so quickly, and the words "dad" and "mom" were really hard to say.

  Back in his own room, Li Qian started reading the silk book, memorizing it silently in his heart. The first small chapter on beating techniques was the most familiar to him. Looking at the text and comparing it again, he could get confirmation, and his understanding ability was much higher than that of the previous owner. Moreover, as a Chinese medicine practitioner, he knew the characteristics of Daoyin technique, so this small chapter didn't feel like it took much effort, and he quickly grasped it, remembering it in his heart. He only needed to practice diligently later, and it would truly become his own martial skill.

  However, the second short piece on archery was not well understood. The previous owner could shoot arrows, and compared to ordinary people, he could be said to be proficient, but compared to the requirements put forward by the silk book, it was far from enough. After all, the archery techniques recorded in this silk book were left behind by the best archers of the Cold Arms era, and the technical aspects were much more profound. Due to Li Tian's loss of an arm, and he himself was not very skilled in archery, lacking experience, so he couldn't give his son too much guidance, making Li Qin also not very clear about archery, unable to understand the principles like the combat technique in a short period of time.

  Li Qin looked at the silk book and said softly, "When drawing a bow, you need to lower your left arm, rotate your elbow inward, and push the bow with your tiger's mouth. I didn't know there was such skill involved, I thought it was just a matter of pulling open the bowstring."

  He turned his head to look at the wall, where a large bow was hanging, left by the previous owner. He put the silk book on the couch and got up to take down the bow, which was a single-wood bow made with fine workmanship, but not excellent, probably due to limited financial resources. A poor family might know how to make a bow, but without materials, they couldn't do it. As the saying goes, "A clever wife cannot cook without rice."

  Li Qin pulled the bowstring and found it to be very hard, lacking elasticity, with a feeling of stagnation. He had just seen in the silk book that good bowstrings are not made solely from cow tendon, but must also include high-quality silkworm silk, which requires skill when mixing with cow tendon. This is different from modern archery bowstrings. The bow he was holding did not have silkworm silk mixed into its string, but it had been well-maintained nonetheless.

  Just then, Mrs. He came in from outside with a bowl of hot water and said: "Son, your injury has just healed, you can't stay up late, go to bed early. I'll put this bowl of water on the edge of the fire pit for you to drink if you're thirsty at night." She placed the bowl on the edge of the fire pit and went out again to fetch some firewood, adding it to the fire pit.

  Li Qin looked out the window and didn't realize that it had already darkened outside. He was so engrossed in reading his book that time flew by quickly. He said, "You... you should also get some rest early!"

  He smiled and walked over to touch Li QIN's occipital bone again, saying: "It seems that it is really good, heaven bless!" Only then did he turn around and go out, closing the door.

  Li QIN pulled the bowstring again, and his former master's memory told him that this bow's range was around 100 steps, which meant it was still quite good. However, compared to the bows made according to the ancient book, it was still far from perfect.

  He put the bow back on the wall, and Li Qin began to look at the silk book again. After seeing three methods of making bows, he wrote another method with small characters and marked it with red ink. He leaned closer to the firelight and saw that the beginning of the small characters read: This method can only be used when life and death are at stake.

  Li Qian furrowed his brow, the first three methods of making a bow, the first two methods to make a good bow, both require more than two years of time, the third is even more exaggerated, not only requires extremely high material requirements, but also takes more than three years. So how can this last method be said to be at the juncture of life and death?

  If it's described as a matter of life and death, then it can't be just two or three years. It should be at the time of war, and there is also a possibility of defeat and death. At this time, such methods are used! But the battle is imminent, how can an arrow be made? This method is not only recorded in the silk book, but also marked in red. What kind of method is this?

  With doubts, he was about to look down when suddenly he heard someone outside shouting: "Li brother, Li brother, something's happened! A wild beast has entered the village and taken away my family's sheep!"

  The east house immediately made a sound, Li Tian opened the door and asked: "Is it Brother Zhao? The sheep in your family was taken away by wild animals? Can you see clearly what kind of wild animal it is, is it a wolf?"

  The man outside was Zhao Ba Jin, who had lent Li Tian bran. He was named after his birth weight of eight jin and was about ten years younger than Li Tian. As the village head, Li Tian immediately ran over as soon as something happened.

  Zhao Ba Jin shouted with a sob: "I don't know what it is, the sky just darkened and it rushed into the village, taking away my family's sheep! It was a ewe, how can I do?"

  Li Tiandao said, "Now that winter has just passed, the wild beasts in the forest are hungry and scarce of food. It must have been driven by hunger to rush into the village. As long as people are fine, I'll go with you to find the sheep!" He picked up a wooden spear with an iron tip and was about to leave the door.

  Li Qin immediately put the silk book into the jade box, took down the bow and arrow, came to the east house, handed the jade box to He Shi, and said: "First keep it well, I'll follow... I'll go take a look!" Followed Li Tian out the door.

  "Ah, son, be careful, your wound is just healing..."

  Li Tian turned around and looked at Li Qin, saying: "My son, how can you be so delicate? Good son, follow your father!" He took Li Qin out of the courtyard.

  ——

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