Chapter 3: On Military Affairs (Part I)

  The number of deaths had a big explosion before the weather turned cool. That was not because the measures taken were ineffective - basically, under such bad conditions, Yang Yingqi and others' efforts had reached the limit. However, the accumulated evil consequences in the previous period still took away nearly three hundred people's lives this month.

  However, the situation soon stabilized. Yang Yingqi visited various places every day, and the number of people in the severe and mild areas decreased day by day. The difference was that the decrease in the number of severe cases was mostly due to death, while the mild area had a certain number of people recovering every day.

  Now there are over 300 healthy people, and these people obviously have very strong vitality.

  Di Yu looked at all this and asked Yang Yingqi: "Have you heard of a kind of Gu sorcery in the southwest?"

  Yang Yingqi said, "I've heard that the principle of this Gu technique is to release countless poisonous insects into a small space and let them kill each other. In the end, only the king of poisons can survive." Many martial arts novels have described the depiction of Gu poison, but as for its authenticity, he didn't know.

  Di Yu nodded and said, "You're young but you understand a lot. That's right, it's said that the Gu poison originated from this. And our current situation is somewhat similar. More than 3,000 people, I estimate that in the end only over 500 will make it through - and each of these people won't be weak."

  As the number of healthy people increased, many shouted that they had recovered from their illness and wanted to leave the valley, but these requests were all rejected by the Khitan soldiers. Firstly, they did not quite believe the words of these lower-class Han civilians, secondly, the soldiers guarding the entrance of the valley were too low in rank and did not have the power to let people go.

  Yang Yingqi said: "This won't work, the epidemic has basically stabilized, everyone has lost their sense of crisis, and with more people doing nothing, I'm afraid it will eventually lead to trouble."

  "Have you got any ideas?" Zhang Yan asked hastily.

  Yang Yingqi said, "It seems that we should pass on the Khitan people's request for us to wait until spring. This way, we can stabilize the minds of the people to some extent and prevent them from making a fuss about going out without reason. Also, we need to find something for them to do."

  "Find something to do? What kind of thing are you referring to?"

  "Things for winter." Yang Yingqi said: "One is to build a house and thatched hut, two is to find fuel. Both of these things require people."

  Just then, the female Jurchen, Alu Ban, came over and called out: "Hey, you two come here. My master is calling for you." Over the past few days, Zhe Yan Chong and Yang Ying Qi had already learned that Alu Ban was from the Female Jurchen Ha Su Kuai tribe, because she had fled to a distant land after killing a Khitan nobleman to avenge her tribesmen, and met Di Yu at the Song-Liao border. Originally intending to rob this seemingly weak Han Chinese, who would have thought that she would instead be subdued by Di Yu? After hearing Alu Ban's story, Di Yu let her go, just as the Khitan pursuers arrived, Di Yu lent a hand and together with Alu Ban, they annihilated the group of people, but he himself was also seriously injured, leaving behind a chronic illness. Through this matter, the two formed a master-disciple relationship. Alu Ban served Di Yu at a nearby farmhouse to recover from his injuries, who would have thought that they would encounter a plague and be drawn into it as well?

  Zhe Yan Chong and Yang Ying Qi had long suspected that Di Yu's background was not simple, but Di Yu never spoke of his own life story, and the two didn't dare ask. However, they always respected his opinions greatly. At this time, after hearing Di Yu's summons, they arrived at the front of the grass hut where he lived, only to see Yang Kai Yuan and Ouyang Shi also present.

  "Ah, everyone's here." Di Yu's spirit had improved a lot and was no longer as weak as before. "I called you all together today because there's something I want to say. But before that, there's one thing I'd like to confirm first."

  "What's going on?"

  Di Yu smiled slightly and said, "You are all still young, but except for Ying Qi's age being younger, you are considered the strongest in this valley. So I want to see how far your abilities have reached!" Then he called out: "A Lu Man." A Lu Man took a step forward, and Di Yu continued: "Who among you is interested in fighting him?"

  Zhe Yan Chong and Yang Kai Yuan exchanged a glance, finding that neither of them quite understood Di Yu's meaning. Ouyang Shi said: "I fought with him before, but I couldn't beat him, his strength is greater than mine."

  Yang Kaiyuan said, "Then I'm even more no match for him." He was a scholar's son who had been drifting in the jianghu since he was fifteen or sixteen years old and had only managed to hone some skills through his experiences, but compared to Ah Ru Man, a roughneck who had received guidance from a superior master, he was still far inferior.

  "Let me try," said Zhe Yan Chong.

  Others retreated to the side, and the two men came down, making a gesture of rushing at each other. Aru was powerful and had a good momentum, but what was rare was that he had a good sense of rhythm in his movements. Zhe Yan Chong initially relied on his reaction to dodge around him, but gradually seemed to remember something, and his body became agile, his strength was not much less than Aru's, but from the start of the first round, he fell into a disadvantage, and later couldn't turn it back, gradually being forced into disorder, being caught by Aru, with his left hand inserted into his crotch, using his shoulder to press against his chest, and was thrown out entirely, losing. Zhe Yan Chong struggled to get up, and rushed up again to fight, but this time he was entangled with Aru, and it was hard to distinguish who would win.

  Yang Yingqi watched from the side, seeing clearly but not quite understanding. He thought to himself: "Even if I grow up, I'll never be able to beat them in a fight. But they're not as formidable as those depicted in martial arts novels."

  Di Yu nodded and said, "Not bad, Yan Chong seems to have practiced before." The two were about to fight for the third time, Di Yu called out, "Wait, let's stop here for today's sumo match." He took out a bow and several arrows, Yang Yingqi saw that they were recently made by Zhang Lao Yu. Di Yu said, "Yan Chong, try this one."

  Fifty paces away, a crude target had already been set up. Zhao Yan-chong picked up his bow and arrow, played with it for a while, and then, just like when he first came onto the scene, was initially somewhat bewildered, but later seemed to remember something, nocked an arrow, drew his bow, and all three arrows hit the bullseye. Yang Ying-qi loudly cheered, but Ouyang Yi said: "That's nothing, within fifty paces I can also hit a hundred shots in a hundred!"

  Di Yu said to Yang Kai: "You come and try."

  There is no good wood in the valley, and this bow has average elasticity. Yang Kaiyuan drew his bow and shot three arrows, only one of which hit the target, but it was very shallow. He smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm too weak. Arrows like these can probably only be used to shoot rabbits."

  Di Yu said: "If you have a mind to, you can also cultivate this skill."

  Yang Kai said: "But my strength..."

  Di Yu said: "Strength can also be tempered."

  "Is it okay?"

  "Of course! The meaning of martial arts lies in making the weak strong and the strong stronger. It's not just about advancing and retreating, but also about accuracy and even internal strength! Internal strength requires persistence to develop, and for martial arts to progress, one must use their brain!" He said to Zhe Yan Chong: "Your physical condition is very good, it's clear that you've practiced before. I heard that you forgot everything from the past, but your foundation is still there. With half a year of practice, it will all come back - who knows, maybe even more!"

  Zhe Yan Chong had already vaguely guessed Di Yu's purpose for calling them here today, and cupped his fists in respect: "I'll still have to ask Master for guidance in the future."