Chapter Ten: Brave Fight Against Bandits

  The gleaming dagger that stretched out from behind the old tree trunk suddenly stunned Li Guoting. Before he could react, a person turned around behind him. Li Guoting fixed his eyes and saw that the one holding the knife to his neck was a half-grown boy, who looked about the same age as himself, only with a slightly shorter head and a fatter body.

  "Hand over the silver dollars in your hand, or I'll kill you."

  The young man grasped the knife handle tightly, his round eyes wide with vigilance, staring at Li Guoting's eyes, while the other hand stretched out, ready to snatch the white cloth package containing silver coins from Li Guoting's hand.

  Li Guoting tightly grasped the white cloth package in his hand, he knew that he had encountered a robbery. It was just strange that the person robbing him was a young man about his own age. He couldn't help but think that there must be someone behind him, otherwise, a half-grown child, no matter how brave, wouldn't have the guts to rob someone alone on the road.

  Li Guoting learned some martial arts from a Sichuan man who cut lacquer in the mountains when he was at Fengshuping. The Sichuan lacquer cutter lived in a stone cave on the back of the mountain all year round. There were two other people living with him, one older, over 50 years old, and the other slightly older than Li Guoting, around 17 or 18 years old. They were relatives. Every year, when it was time to cut lacquer, they would come to Fengshuping.

  It was Li Guoting who went into the mountain to cut firewood with his village companion Er Mao. At noon, Li Guoting, carrying a large bundle of firewood on his back, did not follow Er Mao on the main road, but took a shortcut that was closer to home, although it was more difficult to walk, and hurried towards home, walking halfway up the mountain. Tired, Li Guoting put down the wood on his back, sat on the ground to rest, and heard a sound coming from the woods, like a human shout. Li Guoting felt curious, so he ran into the woods to take a look.

  This is a lacquer forest. In the middle of the clearing in the woods, there was only one middle-aged man with bare arms and a waistband around his waist, his body strong, his legs wrapped in horse hooves, left and right fists flying, practicing martial arts.

  Li Guoting didn't dare to go forward and watch, he secretly hid behind a thicker lacquer tree to watch.

  Only the middle-aged man was seen advancing and retreating, turning left and right, dodging up and down, with both fists striking each other. On that empty land, a cloud of dust was stirred up, leaving Li Guoting, who was hiding behind the lacquer tree, staring blankly.

  A middle-aged man practiced his fists and feet for a while, then picked up a wooden stick on the ground. He wielded the stick, like a flying dragon whizzing by, dancing in front of him, behind him, to his left and right, above and below. Li Guoting couldn't help but exclaim "Good!"

  Just as Li Guoting's "good" had not yet fallen, he saw that the middle-aged man in front of him who was practicing his skills bent down, put down the wooden staff in his hand, reached into his waist and pulled out a flying dart with a red tassel, and with a flick of his wrist, the dart flew straight towards the lacquer tree where Li Guoting was hiding, hitting it squarely and accurately.

  This startled Li Guoting who was hiding behind the tree. He knew he had been discovered by the qigong master, so he ran out from behind the tree.

  That middle-aged man looked like a young boy and walked up to ask: "What are you doing? How did you end up here?"

  Li Guoting didn't dare lie to the master, so he honestly told the middle-aged man his name and the village where he lived.

  "Oh, it's the people from Maple Tree Village up front, I know, I've been to your village." The middle-aged man said, turning around to pick up the wooden stick that had been thrown on the ground.

  "Master, I want to learn from you." Just then, Li Guoting suddenly knelt down at the middle-aged man's feet.

  The middle-aged man turned his face and looked at Li Guoting with great surprise, saying: "Follow me to learn? What do you want to learn from me?"

  Li Guoting said with some trepidation: "Master, I'm learning boxing from you, and also that stick."

  The middle-aged man burst out laughing after hearing "haha".

  "Wanna learn martial arts from me? I'm not teaching."

  "Master, I beg of you to take me as your apprentice. I will study hard." Li Guoting knelt on the ground, his face devoutly addressing the middle-aged man.

  "You'd better go home quickly. I'm a woodcutter, and I don't take on apprentices." The middle-aged man put away his own things, slung his jacket over his shoulder, and headed into the woods.

  Li Guoting saw the middle-aged man leave, and hastily got up, forgetting that he still had a bundle of firewood there, following behind the middle-aged man, begging bitterly all the way.

  Through the woods, I came to a hillside below. Before me was an open space. On the opposite side of the open space was a stone cave with two old broken doors embedded on it.

  It wasn't until they reached this point that the middle-aged man turned around and said to Li Guoting, "Since you want to learn martial arts, then come find me here in the future. When I have time, I'll teach you. You seem like a kid who can endure hardship."

  Li Guoting was overjoyed when he heard the middle-aged man's words, and hastily knelt down in front of him, knocking his head on the ground: "Master, thank you for accepting me."

  "Hey, don't call me Master. I'm not capable of being anyone's master, I'm just a poor woodcutter. I know some martial arts, but it's only for self-defense. I don't have any great skills. My surname is Liang, from now on, you can just call me Uncle Liang." The middle-aged man stretched out his hand to help up Li Guoting, who was kneeling on the ground.

  From then on, Li Guoting went to the mountain every day to chop firewood, actually to learn martial arts from Mr. Liang, without his family knowing. His mother even praised him for being obedient, sensible and willing to suffer hardship, helping with household chores since he was a child.

  This Sichuan-born varnish worker, Old Liang, lived in this cave with one of his paternal uncles and a distant uncle. In his spare time from varnishing, he taught Li Guoting some basic martial arts skills. When Old Liang was busy, Li Guoting would also help them with some auxiliary work. Every time Li Guoting came, he would save the cornmeal cakes his mother had prepared for him and bring them to Old Liang and the others to eat. He knew they were also short of food and clothing living here.

  Sometimes he would also steal some of his own vegetables and bring them to Liang Shu and the others, making all three of them very fond of him.

  Half a year has passed, and Liang Shu has also taught Li Guoting the basic skills of martial arts and several sets of boxing routines. Like Wulüguandeng, Xiaohongquan. Li Guoting learned them quickly.

  By the second year of cutting lacquer, Liang Shu and others came to this place from Sichuan again. Li Guoting followed Liang Shu to practice martial arts once more.

  Liang Shu saw that Li Guoting was intelligent and studious, and could also endure hardship, so he taught him how to fight with fists from a distance, basic qigong, and even taught him several sets of basic knife, gun, stick and staff routines. He even learned how to throw flying darts.

  This time, Liang Shu and the others left and never returned to Fengshuping. Later, every time it was time to cut lacquer, Li Guoting would often go to that stone cave. But where had become a deserted cave with weeds growing wildly.

  Although Liang Shu and the others left, Li Guoting didn't know where they went. However, the martial arts routines and basic skills that Liang Shu taught him were still firmly etched in his mind. Whenever he had time, he would run to the empty space on the mountain slope to practice his kung fu. Although there was no one to guide him, by following Liang Shu's methods, he still gained a lot from it.

  Today, hey, I actually met a bandit who is about the same age as me, what a coincidence. Li Guoting thought to himself. I burned down Chen Guangfu's house in Panlong Town, stabbed Chen Guangfu, and was chased by people thinking I'm an assassin all the way. I ran to that Red Rock Village, stole some radishes, and was even chased for being a thief. Today is great, an assassin and a thief actually met a bandit! He really wanted to laugh. But looking at the bandit holding a dagger with a fierce face, he intended to rob the cloth package and the silver coins inside that Yan Hong girl gave him, so he held back his laughter and said: "If you want the silver coins, just take them."

  As he spoke, he wrapped up the silver dollars in his hand and handed them over.

  The bandit saw Li Guoting obediently hand over the silver dollar in his hand, so he relaxed his vigilance, pulled out the dagger that was placed on Li Guoting's neck and stretched out his hand to take the silver dollar.

  Just then, Li Guoting spotted an opening and sprang up. With a swift movement of his sleeve, he jumped out from beside the young man and spun around to deliver a whirlwind kick that landed squarely on the young man's wrist, which was holding the dagger. The young man let out a cry of "Ah!" as his hand loosened its grip, and the dagger clattered to the ground with a loud "clang".

  The young man withdrew his hand, shook the wrist that Li Guoting had kicked, and said through gritted teeth: "You dare to resist, are you looking for death? Look at me." He swung his fist and hit Li Guoting's face. The young man's punch was very fast, and Li Guoting dodged too late. His nose took a punch from the young man. Blood gushed out of his nostrils with a "whoosh".

  Li Guoting didn't even have time to wipe the blood from his nose, but at this moment, he remembered Liang Shu, who had taught him martial arts. He had taught him a pair of mandarin duck legs and a linked foot routine, which was said to be the same one Wu Song used when he drunkenly beat Jiang Meng's gate god. It was especially effective. Li Guoting had learned it, but had never used it before. Firstly, those who bullied him were all strong and powerful adults, and with his own two or three ounces of strength, even if he used martial arts, he wouldn't be a match for them. Secondly, the ones he fought with were all half-grown children, and if he didn't fight well and ended up killing someone, he would also have to pay with his own life. So he had never used it before. Today was a good opportunity to try it out in front of this arrogant guy.

  Thinking of this, Li Guoting waved his hand and threw a virtual punch at the young man's face, then turned around and left. The young man saw that Li Guoting's nose was bleeding from his own punch, so he thought Li Guoting was afraid, and immediately chased after him.

  Li Guoting saw the young man chasing up, and suddenly made a somersault in mid-air, punching out a fist towards the young man's face. The young man saw Li Guoting swinging his fist at his own face, and hastily dodged to the side. But Li Guoting's punch was also a feint, intended to make him focus on the top while neglecting the bottom. Seeing that the young man had fallen for the trick, he covered his face with both hands and dodged the punch. Li Guoting secretly smiled: "Good kid, today let you taste the flavor of 'Sea Bottom Plucking Moon'." Thinking this, Li Guoting suddenly crouched down, made a hook shape with his right hand, and swiped at the young man's groin from behind. The young man was seen clenching his teeth in pain, covering his groin with both hands, and jumping up on the spot.

  Li Guoting, seeing that he had succeeded, made another big movement with his legs and pressed the young man to the ground. With one leg bent and pressing on the young man's chest, he shouted: "Who are you? Why did you want to rob me?"