Chapter 35: The Young Man's Distant Journey, A Nighttime Discussion of Martial Arts

  The night scenery of Jianghu is rarely seen in life. This was the first night of two young men's distant travels, and the night was so quiet that the two of them couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

  "Guang Ge, have you fallen asleep?"

  Nothing

  I'm hungry

  "Haven't you eaten dinner yet?"

  "Still hungry"

  Tang Guan lay on the rocking bed and whispered to Xiao Qi, while Chen Yunsheng had already started snoring on the other side.

  Tang Guan stood up and put on his clothes, wanting to push open the cabin door.

  "Brother Guan, where are you going?"

  "Go take a look and see if there's anything else to eat."

  "I'll go with you" Little Qi also stood up and saw this, Tang Guan waved his hand and said: "You rest first"

  Having said that, he turned around and went up to the deck.

  As soon as he came out, there were several gazes staring straight at him, and when they saw it was him, they shifted away.

  "Little lord, haven't you gone to bed yet?"

  Tang Guan looked at the person who was speaking and found that it was actually the man with the eagle nose, who also had a layer of warm clothing draped over his body.

  Early spring nights are still chilly, and even though they have strong bodies, they can't bear the long, cold nights.

  "Excuse me, sir, may I ask your surname?"

  "Free surname is Chang, Chang is eagle"

  "Big Brother Chang, where are we?" Tang Guan silently recited the other person's name in his heart and asked aloud.

  Still on the river in Jiangnan, if there is no wind and rain, it will arrive at the capital of Jiangsu province in a few days.

  "Within Yangzhou?" Tang Guan continued to ask.

  Chang Ying was slightly startled when he heard this, and the young man was quite familiar with the place names.

  "It is"

  Chang Ying finished speaking and unconsciously made a strange gesture with his hand, causing his wrist to swell instantly. Tang Guan observed it carefully and noticed this detail, his eyelid twitching. He had always thought that his own strength was boundless and that he had superhuman talents. But today, Chang Ying's action made him feel slightly puzzled.

  It seems his strength is also extraordinary, could it be that this world really has something like martial arts?

  "Brother Chang, I saw that your strength in pulling up the anchor this morning was quite impressive. Why don't you go and take part in the martial arts competition to win a title?"

  "Haha, young master, you're really too naive." The eagle heard this and was taken aback at first, then shook his head and remained silent.

  Hearing him say this, Tang Guan's heart moved slightly, and he said calmly: "Can't Brother Chang pass the exam with his martial arts skills?"

  Chang Ying listened to Tang Guan's words while gazing out at the river and muttered to himself: "Martial arts are not that simple."

  Although his voice was not loud, it fell into Tang Guan's ears like a thunderclap on a clear day. It turned out that there really is such a thing as martial arts, which is quite extraordinary. To know that the so-called Chinese martial arts of later generations had already become a performing acrobatics.

  "Could it be that 'my power is boundless' refers to this?" With this thought, Tang Guan also sat down and stopped speaking.

  "After a long time, he finally spoke up: 'Chang Gege, what is martial arts?'"

  "Haha, we rough men are of lowly birth. Young Master Tang is a scholar. It's beneath your dignity to talk about this, go take a rest." Chang Ying laughed and didn't expect that Tang Guan, a young bookworm, would actually be interested in this sort of thing.

  Tang Guan heard this and became even more interested, and without standing up, he suddenly said: "I used to watch plays say that Zhang Fei drank and scared off a million-strong army, unable to advance or retreat. Is this not the way of martial arts?"

  "Hey, a million-strong army? That's just the talk of storytellers. Don't mention a million-strong army, with just a hundred strong crossbows, even an iron man would become a target in an instant."

  When he heard this, Tang Guan was taken aback at first, and then secretly let out a sigh of relief. "Scared me to death, I thought we had arrived in a fantasy world, fortunately it doesn't sound too exaggerated."

  Jiang Ying was just chatting with Tang Guan, but as they talked, he became more and more interested. Rarely did scholars ask about these things, and seeing that Tang Guan seemed extremely interested, he continued: "The term 'martial arts' is actually a name given by you scholars, young master, take a look at my hands."

  After finishing speaking, he stretched out his hand and gently grasped it. Tang Guan stared at this long but extremely thick big hand and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

  "I've been practicing the Eagle Claw skill since I was a child, this Eagle Claw style is quite simple, every day I practice with medicine wine, grasp and lift heavy objects, and temper my strength"

  Chang Ying shouted as he spoke: "Old Cao, throw over the knife!"

  The strong man on the other side heard this and pulled out his knife, throwing it over here.

  Tang Guan hastily retreated a few steps, afraid of being injured. But Chang Ying's big hand quickly reached out and grabbed the flying blade.

  Tang Guan's heart was raised to his throat as he watched this scene, the knife under the night light reflected a cold and stern glow, it was clear at first glance that it was an extremely sharp object.

  "Bang!" In an instant, a metallic tremor sounded, and Tang Guan's eyes widened in shock.

  Only to see Chang Ying surprisingly clenched his fist into a claw and grabbed the blade without getting up.

  "Eagle Claw Xiao Cheng, throw the flying knife." Eagle often said, staring at Tang Guan who was stuck in a daze.

  Tang Guan heard this and immediately came back to his senses, clapping his hands and exclaiming: "Great!"

  Chang Ying suddenly opened his knife body, turned his hand over and threw the knife again, shooting it straight at the sturdy man. The sturdy man didn't turn around, but saw that the treasured knife had shot into its scabbard without a single mistake.

  At a distance of several meters, under the cover of night, this hand saw Tang Guan and couldn't help but burst into applause.

  Chang Ying's two moves seemed to him like a magical acrobatic performance from later generations.

  Tang Guan immediately stepped forward, grabbed Chang Ying's large hand and examined it again and again. He found that there was indeed no bloodstain on it, only a white mark at the base of his hand.

  "Little lord, are you satisfied? Go and rest now." Chang Ying stretched out his hand behind him, smiling at Tang Guan.

  "My god, that's incredible! I didn't know such a mysterious thing existed." Tang Guan was in a different state of mind at this time, and suddenly had another layer of understanding about his own unpredictable power.

  "Brother Chang is so amazing!" Tang Guan's eyes rolled around in circles, wanting to know more, and immediately started flattering.

  As expected, Chang Ying also burst out laughing upon hearing this, and being able to gain the admiration of an eight-year-old prodigy was indeed a glorious thing.

  "It's just a trivial skill, you asked me earlier why I didn't take the martial arts exam. Do you know that since the imperial court established the martial arts exam, none of us martial artists have ever passed? We are different from young masters like you, accumulating military achievements on the battlefield is the proper way."

  Tang Guan heard the words and was filled with doubts, wasn't it said that Wu Zetian created the Wu Ke? How could there be no one who could pass this to become an official. For a moment, his mind turned rapidly, suddenly remembering this previously unnoticed suspicious history.

  "Come to think of it, China's first martial arts champion was in the Ming Dynasty, and there was a gap of several hundred years in between. Why is that?" Tang Guang suddenly remembered this piece of history, furrowing his brow.

  Seeing Tang Guan's appearance, Chang Ying was not surprised at all. In fact, he was more than just curious. At first, these eager warriors who had experienced failure were also very curious.

  But when they cooled down from their frenzy over martial arts, they also realized this problem.

  In the morning, Zhongzhi has the actual power to govern the country, and most of them are literati. This is also a necessity since ancient times. How can martial artists govern the country? Even if they are given power, they will be at a loss when faced with those piles of documents.

  Of course, this is just a section. Chang Ying didn't think deeply about it. Those literary officials and family factions have been worried since the imperial examination system was established, how could they let some martial artists enter the court?

  Tang Guan thought about it while combining the current situation, and slowly came up with this idea, feeling relieved.

  "As expected, there are still many things I didn't notice." But then Tang Guan also secretly shuddered, and had never thought about these things before.

  "Brother Chang, hearing your words is better than reading books for ten years. I've learned from my mistakes."

  Chang Ying was taken aback by these words, and then laughed: "Young master, these are just rustic customs, you wouldn't understand, it's not surprising. Hurry up and rest, we still have to continue our journey tomorrow."

  Tang Guan bowed his hands and didn't say anything more, carrying a heart full of thoughts back into the cabin...