svetikya Chapter 8 The Fire-Worker Monk
Chapter 8 The Fire-Worker Monk
Inside a simple thatched hut.
Qi Ming is roasting wild boar... Even starving people hang themselves, so there's no reason why the protagonist shouldn't encounter wild boar.
Many people say that wild boars are quite formidable fighters, but the power of 9mm pistol bullets is also considerable.
So after three gunshots, the 200-pound wild boar became his meal.
His underlings, such as Wang Zhenyuan and Li Polu, admired him even more…
Hu Bugui, accompanied by two henchmen, stormed angrily into the tent and shouted:
"Brother, those two Taoist priests guarding the mountain gate were very rude when they heard we wanted to join Wudang. They said they didn't accept disciples and kicked us off the mountain!"
He's only sixteen years old and 1.7 meters tall, but he's already lost all his childishness...
His family is all dead. If he doesn't mature by now, he won't survive.
Qi Ming laughed and said, "Don't be angry. They're not a rebel army. They won't accept any more disciples once they've finished accepting them. What's so strange about that? Hurry up and sit down, have some roasted meat, and drink some hot tea."
Hu Bugui and the other two sat down.
Wang Zhenyuan and Li Polu cut off pieces of meat and poured tea for them.
Qi Ming looked them over and then revealed his plan:
"Our goal is not to become Wudang disciples, but to learn martial arts and then join the righteous army... So, it's not necessarily a must to formally become a disciple! I have two plans: one is to become a fire-tender and secretly learn martial arts, and the other is to sneak up the mountain and learn directly! The problem is, I'm afraid you'll encounter difficulties after I leave."
Li Polu said, "Brother, don't worry about us! This morning, my second brother and I met the manager of Taihe Restaurant. He listened to us and thought we were very clever, so he suggested that one of us work as his waiter and the other watch the stables... With this kind of work, we can at least make a living."
That's incredible! Such good luck?
Qi Ming was somewhat incredulous, but still breathed a sigh of relief:
"That's good! Anyway, whether I can learn martial arts or not will be clear within ten days to half a month. You all should take care to keep warm and not wander around. Things will get better when spring comes."
Wang Zhenyuan laughed and said, "With the brothers working together and you guiding us and teaching us to read, things will surely get better and better."
The illiteracy rate at that time was naturally unimaginable to later generations.
Not to mention the common people at the bottom of society, even high-ranking officials were often illiterate.
The Fan Meng he mentioned earlier, who, despite being a minor official, conspired with his associates to forge an imperial edict and use physical means to purge all the high-ranking officials in Henan Province.
He even wrote a rebellious poem: People all say I don't get things done, but how many people actually do things now? My sword, which I wield to slay dragons and slay serpents, has been buried for twenty springs.
Some high-ranking officials are illiterate; how can they possibly get anything done?
So to be fair, Fan Meng's talent was indeed buried.
The Heaven Sword, which Zhang Sanfeng seized and kept in Wudang for seven or eight years, was actually buried in obscurity.
It's rightfully Qi Ming's to take it and use it to start a great career!
The next day, at the first light of dawn.
Qi Ming carried enough dry rations and dried meat to last him a week, along with two pistols and a dagger, and walked into the back mountain of Wudang.
He is not a headless fly.
In the movie, the place where Zhang Wuji and Xiao Zhao fell off the cliff together was the back mountain of Wudang.
Of course, they weren't that close to the main buildings of the Wudang Sect, since they had to flee for a while under the pursuit of Song Qingshu and Zhou Zhiruo.
Therefore, Qi Ming's specific route was quite clear: he would aim for the direction of the Wudang rear hall and walk there until the Fire-Worker Monk would take the initiative to find him.
The mountain road is difficult to travel.
To avoid danger, Qi Ming sometimes takes a detour instead of climbing directly.
In fact, there is no proper path at all.
This place is sparsely populated; otherwise, the Fire-Worker Monk would have survived for so many years without anyone noticing him.
Besides the pistol, Qi Ming also had a handy wooden stick, a dagger, a windproof lighter, plenty of food, and plenty of firewood in the mountains, making it easy to keep warm.
But the first night was still very difficult to get through.
Fortunately, it didn't rain, otherwise it would have been even more troublesome.
The next morning.
Qi Ming boiled water in a bamboo tube, ate some dry rations, and then, feeling refreshed, continued on his way.
It was noon.
Four gunshots rang out from the woods, clearly Qi Ming was hunting.
He wasn't good with guns, but he was incredibly lucky; he got a pheasant with just four bullets.
Compared to that wild boar, it was undoubtedly at a disadvantage.
But it should taste even better.
After all, wild boar is too smelly. Wang Zhenyuan and the other boys didn't mind eating it, but Qi Ming couldn't accept it.
As for horse meat, it's even more unpalatable.
In the few days since Qi Ming transmigrated, the most painful places for him have been his tongue and stomach.
After cleaning and gutting the pheasant, Qi Ming continued walking forward.
They didn't arrive until the sun was setting in the west, when they reached a sheltered mountain hollow. Seeing that the terrain was flat, they set up camp and began roasting chicken.
Qi Ming's grilling skills were actually pretty bad, but he wasn't stupid enough to grill them so burnt.
He has a good grasp of the basics of cooking temperature.
It gets dark quickly in the mountains.
In less than half an hour, before the sun had even dipped below the horizon, Qi Ming's surroundings had become dark.
The weather is clear tonight, and you can see a sky full of stars.
Qi Ming didn't know much about astronomy, but he did recognize the Big Dipper.
As he roasted the chicken, he gazed at the magnificent starry sky and couldn't help but feel a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, deep emotion/reflection).
He was quite interested in the starry sky when he was a child, but after moving away from the countryside to study in the city, he gradually looked at it less and less, or even stopped looking at it altogether.
Seeing this starry sky now, free from any light pollution, I can't help but be moved by its depth, vastness, and mystery.
The thought that he could not only learn divine skills, but perhaps also cultivate immortality, soaring through the starry sea with his physical body and achieving infinite freedom, filled him with longing and wonder.
So the chicken burned...
At the same time, a strong, yet slightly regretful voice suddenly rang out:
"Who grilled this meat? I can smell it burning!"
Rumbling--
The ground shook, and a gust of wind, not so cold, rushed into the windless valley.
Qi Ming suddenly stood up, holding a half-burnt roasted pheasant in his hand, and looked at the entrance of the valley with a "surprised" expression.
His surprise was feigned, of course.
After all, apart from the Fire-Worker Monk who has mastered the Nine Yang Divine Skill to perfection, no one else in this place has such a presence!
Sure enough, what came into view was a large stone sphere about three meters tall, constantly rotating and moving forward.
Because the light was dim, and the Fire-Worker Monk didn't use his divine powers to emit light, Qi Ming couldn't see him spinning with the stone ball.
Nevertheless, he was genuinely taken aback at this moment.
This scene was no less significant to him than seeing dump trucks dancing.
If he loses control, he will inevitably be smashed into a small pancake, the kind that can only be produced with a shovel.
The amazing thing about martial arts is that it can make a fat pig-like person fly and make a pig-slaughtering sound.
The amazing thing about the movie version of Nine Yang Divine Skill is that it allows an old man who is so disabled that he is completely paralyzed to play with a stone ball weighing tens of tons with exquisite strength.
The wind suddenly stopped.
The stone ball stopped rotating.
The Fire-Worker Monk, who silently channeled his divine power to make his body glow, appeared before Qi Ming with a smile.