Training 014

  Wang Wei took a step forward, facing the soldiers below, and saluted. "At ease, please. My name is Wang Wei, and I will be your training instructor from now on. Some of you may have seen me before, and I also believe that I left a deep impression on him." As he spoke, Wang Wei glanced at where Gou Wa and Zhao Guotang were standing.

  "I hope that in the days to come, we will get along very happily and also hope that everyone can learn real skills to survive on the battlefield. I won't say anything else, please welcome Commander Gao." Wang Wei took a step aside and made a welcoming gesture towards Gao Jiancheng.

  "Now that everyone has met, all subsequent training will be led by Instructor Wang. Instructor Wang's orders are my orders. Does everyone understand?!"

  "I understand!"

  "Speak louder, haven't eaten yet?"

  "I understand!!!"

  "To hit others, you must first practice falling!" Instructor Wang Wei shouted at the soldiers under his command.

  At the first command, everyone falls forward straight down, no matter what's under your body, you must lie down, and there should be no extra movement.

  Shout "two", and give your imaginary opponent across from you a vicious over-the-shoulder throw, then pounce on him and press down on his body with all your might, locking his throat in the process.

  Every day, the action that is repeated the most is falling down. Either you are pressed on top of him or he is lying on top of you. It's either you fall down yourself or get knocked down by others. Fall down once, then get up again and continue to be knocked down. Every time, I would be knocked until I'm dizzy and disoriented, unable to tell the directions. Only after this day's training can it be considered a conclusion.

  By the time they rested at night, their backs were all bruised and battered, and nothing could be touched. Even a slight movement would hurt for half a day. Zhao Guotang and others would apply medicinal liquor to each other's injuries; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to withstand the training the next day. When sleeping, they all lay in unison on their backs, without covering themselves with quilts. The whole room was filled with strange smells, and everyone slept face down, collectively "hissing" as they sucked in cold air through their mouths.

  Combat, the contest on the battlefield is about either you die or I live, a single blow to kill, absolutely no dragging on.

  Gouwa used to envy those martial artists in the Jianghu stories who could fly over rooftops and walk on walls, but that was just a story. When it was his turn to undergo real training, Gouwa wanted to tell those storytellers: "You guys talk better than you perform."

  Left straight fist, right straight fist, left hook fist, right hook fist, non-stop punching. To increase the speed of punching, each person's arm is tied with a sandbag, facing the sandbag in front of them, using all their strength to strike. Once, twice, three times... ten times... hundred times... until the sandbag is pierced, then replaced with a new one.

  Always hitting the fist until the blood blisters burst, and then being ground again, gradually becoming a callus; the bruises on the body turned purple and disappeared, and then bruised again, gradually becoming raised muscles. The military uniform on his body didn't know how many holes were worn out, and how many patches were sewn on, Dog Wa and others jokingly called this armor.

  Every day, they fell and punched, repeating endlessly. Until they could get up at the fastest speed no matter how they fell, and minimize their injuries no matter where they fell. Until they tied five-kilogram sandbags to their arms and still managed to punch out 500 times, breaking a sandbag with each punch. Coach Wang Wei finally announced the end of training.

  "Congratulations, you've successfully mastered the lost martial art of the Wulin for thousands of years, including the Golden Bell and Iron Cloth Shirt as well as the Arhat Fist." Wang Wei cracked a joke that wasn't too big or too small, "I see that all of you have become punching bags. I don't want to see any of you on the battlefield being like a wooden stake - you punch me, I punch you back. We're not performing an opera; we're killing people, not putting on a show. We don't need to leave anyone a way out because no one will give us a way out. If you've learned how to throw and hit, but can't dodge, then you're just a wooden stake."

  "Turn back." Wang Wei pointed to the pile of logs and sandbags in front of Zhao Guotang, "These hanging sandbags, each with unequal intervals, and the logs below, also known as plum blossom logs, have a diameter of only 10 cm. This is where you will stand, that is, you will stand on the logs to avoid those sandbags that will swing back and forth, left and right. On those sandbags, I will gradually replace them with stones, insert knife blades, daggers, and steel needles. Good luck."

  Everyone was like a driven duck being chased up the tree stump by Wang Wei.

  He had just stepped out and hadn't yet stood firm when a huge sandbag heavily struck the left side of Zhao Guo's body, instantly knocking him off the tree stump and sending him tumbling into a muddy pit on the ground.

  "Whoever falls down will have a one-kilogram sandbag tied to their body." Wang Wei ordered the guards to tie a sandbag to Zhao Guotang's body and push him onto the plum blossom stake. Zhao Guotang shook his dizzy head, gritted his teeth, and continued to charge forward.

  People kept falling down and others kept going up with sandbags tied to them. No one made a sound, nor did anyone fall behind.

  "Hurry up, don't dawdle, even an old lady with bound feet can walk faster than you."

  "Remember to dodge, I let you go up there not to practice your ability to withstand a beating."

  The entire training ground could hear Wang Wei shouting, and from time to time the sound of sandbags colliding with people.

  The sandbag was pushed back and forth, the figures on the plum blossom pile fell down one by one, and then climbed up again, falling down and climbing up.

  Just as Gao Jiancheng said, behind every soldier, it is repeated in one action after another, and getting up again in one fall after another.