Chapter 58 Persuading Duan Yu

  That's why Wu Ming directly brought it up. Firstly, the Book Immortal system had already given out a task called 【Six Pulse Divine Sword】; secondly, Wu Ming had already considered Duan Yu as an elder brother in his heart and felt that he possessed extraordinary skills but couldn't use them at will, which was really a pity, simply wasting his talent.

  Facing Wu Ming's kindness, Duan Yu shook his head and smiled: "I appreciate your kind intentions, third brother, but my aspirations are not in this area. As for martial arts, it was never something I hoped to learn, so not learning is also fine."

  Wu Ming had seen through Tian Long, and naturally knew that Duan Yu did not want to practice martial arts. However, Qiao Feng was unaware of this and was extremely surprised, asking in confusion: "Second Brother, why don't you want to learn martial arts? With your talent and internal energy, as long as you're willing to learn, your future achievements will be boundless."

  Duan Yu said: "Big brother, third brother, I have been taught Buddhist scriptures since I was young. Father not only asked teachers to teach me the Four Books and Five Classics, poetry, songs, and fu, but also invited a high-ranking monk to teach me Buddhist scriptures. In these ten years or so, what I learned were Confucianism's benevolent heart, empathy, Buddhism's prohibition on killing, anger, and compassion. I always felt that learning martial arts was not right. Before, Father had suggested teaching me martial arts, but I didn't agree and even debated with him for three days in a row, then ran away."

  Qiao Feng sighed: "Second brother's benevolent heart is truly admirable."

  "Big brother's praise is not bad, and for Second Brother's sorrowful and compassionate heart, I am also very admiring. However..." Wu Ming first praised a sentence, then suddenly changed the subject and said, "Second Brother, have you ever heard of this saying?"

  "What did you say?"

  "A heart that wishes to harm others is impermissible, but a heart that defends against others is indispensable."

  Wu Ming's words come from the Ming Dynasty Hong Yingming's "Cai Gen Tan", Duan Yu naturally had never heard of it, and shook his head: "Ashamed, although brother considers himself well-read in all the poetry books under heaven, he has never heard of this sentence."

  Wu Ming continued: "This sentence is simple in language, but it contains the philosophy of doing things. I think Second Brother understands its meaning."

  He nodded and said, "This sentence is not difficult to understand. In my understanding, it roughly means that one should be kind when dealing with others, cannot think of harming people, but at the same time cannot blindly trust others, must have a guard against them."

  Wu Ming nodded and said: "Second brother understands very thoroughly. Then forgive me for asking, do you have a heart to harm people?"

  Duan Yu shook his head and said, "There shouldn't be."

  Wu Ming smiled and said, "Since Second Brother doesn't have a heart that harms people, then what's wrong with learning martial arts? Anyway, you won't harm anyone. Just like an extraordinary precious sword, can you say it's too sharp and might hurt others so it shouldn't exist? That's clearly not right. Moreover, learning martial arts isn't just about competing to be the strongest; it can also temper your body. As the saying goes, 'The body is the capital of revolution.' Without a strong physique, everything else is empty talk. Just like how you used the Six Pulse Divine Sword to force out the wine energy earlier, could you have done that if you didn't possess such martial arts? Furthermore, although you say you don't want to learn martial arts, in reality, you're already a high-ranking martial artist. Not only do you have abundant internal energy and extraordinary body techniques, but you also possess the Six Pulse Divine Sword, an extraordinary skill in the world. Do you really want to abandon these martial arts? If that's what you think, I can fulfill your wish right now."

  "This..." Duan Yu, although he disliked learning martial arts, was hesitant to deliberately forget what he had learned before, and suddenly froze for a moment.

  Wu Ming smiled and said, "Second brother, you don't need to tell me the answer anymore. From your hesitation, I actually already know the answer. Although you say you don't like practicing martial arts with your mouth, in fact, your heart still enjoys some benefits brought by martial arts, right?"

  Duan Yu hesitantly said: "Perhaps it's really as you said, little brother... I indeed find it somewhat hard to let go..."

  Wu Ming pressed his advantage, laughing and saying: "Second Brother's thoughts are completely normal. If you could casually abandon it, then you wouldn't be considered human anymore. Moreover, this defensive mindset, if you possess extremely powerful martial arts skills, then you can stand in an unbeatable position. Others want to capture you, even if you don't want to fight them, you can still run away. Just like that Ji Mo Zhi, who coveted your possession of the Six Meridians Divine Sword and captured you in Jiangnan. If your martial arts skills were higher than his, able to easily subdue him, how could you have been caught by him? Therefore, whether from a perspective of harming others or defending oneself, Second Brother doesn't need to have any resistance towards martial arts."

  Duan Yu was left speechless by Wu Ming's words, and more importantly, after going through the numerous hardships before, he also understood the mistakes in some of his previous notions.

  Otherwise, just relying on Wu Ming's words, it is probably still not enough to convince Duan Yu, this slightly pedantic bookworm.

  It is true of a saying: "One cannot become a man without experiencing poverty and hardship; one cannot be mature without being tempered by heaven."

  Duan Yu sighed and said, "Indeed, hearing your words is better than reading books for ten years. Third brother, you have enlightened me. I promise that from now on, as long as you are willing to teach, I will follow your guidance in learning the way of martial arts."

  "Haha......" Qiao Feng burst out laughing: "Second brother, you can understand this reasoning, big brother is very pleased. And third brother, your mouth is truly able to talk, big brother admires it greatly."

  "Haha, thank you for the compliment." Wu Ming laughed and then said to Duan Yu, "Second brother is being modest. We are now sworn brothers, and I will certainly teach you everything I know. In fact, second brother's current martial arts foundation is already very strong, not inferior to mine or big brother's. As long as you grasp some more martial arts principles and techniques, you'll quickly become a top-notch master, and even if you encounter Murong Fu, you won't lose to him."

  In fact, Wu Ming thought in his heart that as long as he truly mastered the Six Meridians Divine Sword, defeating Murong Fu would only be a matter of minutes.

  Of course, Wu Ming also knew that it was better not to say such things now, lest Qiao Feng and Duan Yu found them too exaggerated.

  "Really?" Duan Yu was extremely excited. These days, the most he had heard in his ears was Murong Fu. Due to Wang Yuyan's relationship, he actually had a lot of resentment towards Murong Fu in his heart. Now hearing Wu Ming say that as long as he learned martial arts quickly, he would soon be on par with Murong Fu, he naturally felt extremely excited.

  Wu Ming nodded and smiled: "Of course it's true, there's no need to doubt it. Just wait and see from now on."

  Qiao Feng laughed and said, "Haha, let's go, we'll walk and chat while heading back to the city to continue drinking. Second brother, if you can't drink much, then just have a little less, but Third brother, you must accompany big brother in having a few more bowls."

  Wu Ming's forehead broke out in a black line, thinking that with Duan Yu's explanation, the other party would not bring up drinking again. Now it seems that there is still some whispering about the other party's fondness for wine, so he can only bitterly smile and say: "Big brother, I'll tell you the truth too, when we were drinking before, not only did second brother cheat, but little brother also cheated, it's just that none of you noticed."

  Duan Yu laughed and said: "Haha, Third Brother, it turns out you're not very good at drinking either. But how did you cheat?"

  Wu Ming smiled and said: "My internal strength is quite special, it can dissolve the wine's fumes and expel them from my body through my pores, outsiders can't see anything."

  Wu Ming said it lightly, but Qiao Feng knew that it was not easy to achieve this point, and even he himself would find it difficult. Duan Yu, who still didn't quite understand how to use internal energy, also thought about it and felt that it was a very challenging task. Both of them admired Wu Ming greatly.

  "Third Brother is formidable, I admire him as an elder brother." Qiao Feng praised, but immediately sighed: "It seems that the two younger brothers cannot accompany me to continue drinking."

  "Wu Ming's face turned serious and he said: 'Big brother, good wine is fine, but it also harms the body. One must know when to stop.'"

  Qiao Feng burst out laughing and said, "Younger brother's advice is good. However, I'm physically strong like an ox, and since childhood, I've loved drinking wine. I've never been drunk before, every time I drink more, the more energetic I become. If one day I don't drink, I feel uncomfortable. Alas, this habit is probably hard to change."

  Duan Yu laughed and said: "Good wine and beautiful women are what gentlemen like. Since Big Brother likes it, it's not a bad thing, so there's no need to change."

  Three people chatted while walking back to Wuxi City, but they didn't walk as freely and quickly as they did on the way there, so it naturally took a lot more time.

  On the way, Duan Yu asked Qiao Feng why he misunderstood him as Murong Fu. Qiao Feng did not hide it and immediately explained the reason. It turned out that Qiao Feng came over this time to investigate the cause of death of a close friend. According to what he said, this friend was very likely to have died at the hands of Murong Fu.

  Wu Ming had read "The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" after all, although it was many years ago and he couldn't remember clearly, but roughly still had some impression, knowing that it wasn't Murong Fu's poisonous hand, so immediately said: "Use his own way to deal with him. Big brother, didn't your close friend die under his own famous ultimate skill?"

  Qiao Feng nodded and said: "That's right, the fatal wound this friend of mine suffered was inflicted by his own signature move."

  Duan Yu said: "In that case, it's likely that Murong Fu was behind the poisoning."

  Qiao Feng shook his head and said, "Second brother must not make rash judgments. The affairs of the Jianghu are strange and unpredictable, difficult to anticipate, and one cannot simply rely on hearsay to determine a person's guilt. My foolish brother has come to Jiangnan this time precisely to investigate the truth."

  Wu Ming secretly admired him. Although Qiao Feng appeared rough and reckless on the surface, he was actually very meticulous in his heart, indeed worthy of being a dragon among men.

  Duan Yu hastily said, "Big brother is right, little brother was wrong."

  Just as the three were talking, two beggars in tattered clothes rushed towards them from the main road and arrived in front of Qiao Feng. One of them bowed and said: "Reporting to the leader, four people have entered my 'Daiyi Branch', their skills are quite impressive. Jiang Zhen, the branch leader, thinks they seem to be up to no good and is worried that he can't resist them, so he sent someone to find support from the 'Daren Branch'."

  Wu Ming had long known that Qiao Feng was the leader of the Beggar Gang, but Duan Yu did not know and upon hearing this, he couldn't help but feel slightly startled.

  Qiao Feng hesitated for a moment before asking: "Who is Dianzi? Do you know?"

  The beggar replied: "Three women and one man. The man was a middle-aged person, tall and thin, who spoke very rudely."

  Qiao Feng hummed: "Jiang Duozhu is being too cautious, the other side has only one person, are you afraid of not being able to handle it?"

  The beggar muttered: "Those three women seem to know martial arts too."

  "Alright, then you don't have to go to Dà Rén Branch. I'll just go with you all and take a look."

  Two beggars were overjoyed and said: "With a master coming to our aid, nothing could be better."

  Qiao Feng turned his head and asked Wu Ming and Duan Yu: "Two brothers, are you going with me?"

  "That's for sure." Wu Ming and Duan Yu looked at each other and smiled, both replying in unison.