Chapter 10: The Talent for Martial Arts

Huang Yu's mouth hung slightly open as he watched Zheng Fa follow Butler Wu away.

He couldn't quite put his finger on the feeling in his heart.

He recalled the words he had just spoken:

"Maybe a little better than you..."

"You're not worse than him..."

Those were just words of comfort.

Could you really be not worse than him?

That faint sense of "we're on the same side" he had felt earlier vanished; if anything, he felt this "new friend" was stirring up even stronger jealousy in him than before.

Compared to his inexplicable thoughts, others' feelings were simpler: Who is this person?

Everyone had long expected Gao Yuan to be called away.

Han Cheng wasn't without background either; he was one of the three Tongsheng, but his personality was rather dull, so he wasn't as conspicuous among the three.

But Zheng Fa...

"Where did that Zheng Fa come from? Does anyone know him?"

"I remember he seemed to always sit in the corner."

"I have an impression; he looked utterly ordinary, from a not-so-well-off family. I thought he was just here to make up the numbers, but who would have thought..."

But a few people had seen how Huang Yu and Zheng Fa were talking just now.

"Brother Huang, are you familiar with that Brother Zheng?"

Huang Yu looked at the person asking him; previously, this man had been one of the group huddled around Gao Yuan.

He remembered even more clearly the moment he had said, "I didn't bring money."

The undisguised contempt in that person's expression.

Now, seeing the enthusiastic smile on the newcomer's face, Huang Yu felt it was a bit strange.

"I... I came here with him. Um, his family's conditions shouldn't be very good; they're even poorer than mine."

"A noble son from a humble family," the other man thought, but instead of showing the disdain he had earlier, he exclaimed with unusual sincerity: "Brother Zheng is indeed extraordinary."

Wait, where did that face of despising the poor and loving the rich go?

Huang Yu felt he was being discriminated against greatly.

"Brother Huang, it's not that I change quickly." Seeming to notice his gloom, the man pointed to his silk robe: "Before, we were both people clinging to a big thigh. There was only one thigh; I had money, you didn't, so naturally I kicked you out."

This speech was so candid it was almost blunt, yet it somehow possessed an alternative kind of sincerity.

"But now it's different, Brother Huang. Brother Zheng might well be another big thigh. And you, you've already latched onto him first."

Huang Yu felt somewhat enlightened.

Had he, perhaps, really lit the cold stove correctly?

"Isn't there still a third person?" Huang Yu thought, realizing something was wrong; nothing had been decided yet.

"Then it would be too late!" The man looked at him as if he were an idiot: "You came before me, so I come to curry favor with you. If I wait until he gets the position of book boy, I won't even have the qualification to curry favor."

Having finished speaking, the other man jerked his chin toward Huang Yu's back. Huang Yu turned his head and suddenly saw several more youths smiling enthusiastically at him.

He finally had a moment of realization:

This is when one person attains the Dao, and his chickens and dogs...

Hmm?

When Zheng Fa walked out of the water pavilion, the gazes he felt were even more varied.

The confusion and enthusiasm in the eyes of those youths behind him.

The scrutiny and wariness in the expressions of Gao Yuan and Han Cheng before him.

What puzzled Zheng Fa even more was Butler Wu, who had called him out; there was an underlying coolness in the man's gaze toward him.

He didn't seem to have offended this person?

Butler Wu had no intention of speaking with them either; he simply led the three of them walking briskly.

The three dared not speak, so they could only bow their heads and follow hard, having no time to look at the scenery by the roadside.

Zheng Fa felt they seemed to be heading toward the Outer Courtyard; when Butler Wu stopped, they had already arrived at a spacious courtyard.

It was called a courtyard, but it looked more like a very wide training ground.

Half the ground was paved with large, whole bluestone slabs, upon which were placed stone locks of various sizes and weights; the originally rough surface of the slabs had been trodden until it shone like it had been washed.

At the end of the stone slabs was a row of small houses, and at the door of each small house stood racks holding several weapons.

The ground not paved with stone was overgrown with grass; at the end of the grassland was a row of upright targets.

A large man was galloping on the grass, drawing his bow and nocking an arrow amidst his leaps and bounds.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Zheng Fa couldn't even make out how many arrows he shot at once; he only heard Butler Wu beside him clap his hands and laugh loudly: "Xu Jiaotou's divine archery!"

Hearing these words, the large man turned the horse's head and galloped straight toward Zheng Fa and the others.

Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter.

The sound of the horse hooves striking the bluestone slabs grew closer and louder.

This man showed no intention of slowing down at all; instead, he leaned forward, adopting a posture of a charge.

His chin was covered in black, messy, disordered beard; his build was large, and as he charged toward the four of them, his momentum was terrifying.

"Whoa!"

Zheng Fa felt the hot breath of that fine horse blowing on his face only when the large man suddenly yanked the reins, causing the horse's hooves to leap into the air.

That huge black hoof, larger than his face, was less than three inches from his forehead!

Han Cheng, standing beside Zheng Fa, fell backward with a thud, letting out a cry of pain, "Aiyo!"

The big man flipped off his horse, grabbed Han Cheng by the collar, and said with some displeasure, "This kid won't do; his courage isn't enough!"

"This isn't about hiring bodyguards to serve under you, Xu Jiaotou," Wu Guanshi said with a smile; when Xu Jiaotou had charged over just now, he hadn't even changed the curve of his smile.

"Hmm?"

"These are candidates for the Seventh Young Master's personal attendant. The Lady said to have you take a look at them."

Only then did Wu Guanshi explain to Zheng Fa and the others, "The Seventh Young Master's attendant must not only study literature under Mr. Shen in the future but also learn martial arts under you, Xu Jiaotou. Please assess the aptitude of these three."

Upon hearing this, Xu Jiaotou placed Han Cheng on the ground, then used his large hands to pinch and press several times on Han Cheng's shoulders, back, and waist-hip area.

"No good! This child has the lowest possible aptitude for martial arts."

Before anyone else could speak, Han Cheng grew anxious; even a man as silent as he knew this statement could ruin his future: "Instructor, you can determine my aptitude just by pinching me a few times?"

"Ha!" Xu Jiaotou actually smiled at him now: "You have some courage after all. You don't accept it?"

"I don't accept it!"

Han Cheng said through gritted teeth.

"I have examined every bodyguard in the Zhao family. As for their aptitude and whether they have a future in martial arts, I can say I have never been wrong."

Han Cheng still looked unconvinced.

"Then let me ask you: do you usually dislike eating? Do you especially dislike greasy meat?"

Han Cheng's face went pale; he looked as though he had been exposed.

"Martial aptitude, in the end, is decided by two things: being born well and eating well!"

"From the moment you are born, whether your frame is large, your bones hard, whether you have any disabilities or imbalances, and whether your muscles and tendons possess strength—these determine most of it! If you have this talent, its greatest manifestation is: the ability to eat!"

Han Cheng was left speechless.

"Of course, good talent alone is not enough; you must have food to eat!" As if carried away by the topic, Xu Jiaotou continued, "If someone has good talent but no food to eat, it is even worse than having poor talent! Wu Guanshi, you are also a martial artist; you should understand what I mean."

Wu Guanshi nodded: "Of course. Talent is a double-edged sword. Those with good talent require more nourishment and have a naturally higher consumption. If they do not eat enough, let alone practice martial arts, even their lifespan will be shorter than that of ordinary people."

"Exactly! It is like those precious flowers and plants; in some places, while weeds can grow, they cannot even sprout!"

Zheng Fa felt again that when Wu Guanshi heard these words, his gaze occasionally fell upon himself, as though these words were meant for him.

He was not mistaken.

In Wu Guanshi's mind, the Lady had sent Zheng Fa and the other two to Xu Zheng specifically to use Zheng Fa to warn him.