Chapter 34

Once the agreement was set, Wu Zhaizhu Wu seemed even more forthright.

At the singing and dancing party in the evening, neither side mentioned a word about the Colorful Cloud Flute, just resting and enjoying themselves to the fullest.

The passionate dancing posture by the bonfire and the loud singing of men and women illuminated half the night sky.

Chu Tianshu only cared about eating, chewing one grilled fish after another, one deboned, one not deboned, changing the way of eating changed the taste.

There were originally some girls in the village who, seeing that he was the youngest among their group and had a peaceful and elegant temperament, really wanted to pull him to dance together.

It was just that once he started eating, others saw his way of eating and suspected whether this person had been too hungry, so they were embarrassed to disturb him.

Wu Tugu saw his way of eating and liked it even more, hugging a jar of wine and sitting next to him.

"Good man, the other two trials are hard to say, but the trial I participated in will definitely be you competing against me."

Wu Tugu also grabbed a grilled fish slightly longer than an adult's palm, chewed it all into his mouth in two bites, and clicked his tongue, "The three trials left by the ancestors are also performed as a kind of show every year during the New Year."

"But at those times, there were no outsiders to compete with me at all; those in the village were not as good as me, and I was tired of competing."

Chu Tianshu ground his back teeth, crushed the fish bones, and smiled: "So that's how it is, tomorrow we will have to exert some effort; don't get too drunk, and blame the wine for not being fully sober tomorrow."

Wu Tugu glared at him: "You are really arrogant, but tomorrow it won't be my turn for that trial yet."

"Tomorrow's first trial is called 'The Pillar in the Midst of the Stream', and it should be Zewa's responsibility."

Chu Tianshu pondered: "The Pillar in the Midst of the Stream, listening to this name, is it to stand in a place like a river waterfall and be washed, to see who can hold on longer?"

"Hahaha, it's not just like that; they should be preparing now, I'll take you to see it."

Wu Tugu supported his palms on the table and stood up like a house.

If Chu Tianshu stood up, his head could barely reach his chest; he wasn't used to being so close, so he waited a few steps before following.

The two bypassed the foot of the mountain and reached the mountainside on the other side.

This place was not far from the village, and there were no tall bamboo or trees, only some tree roots that were difficult to dig out, and a large area of grassland.

A river five or six meters wide rushed down from the top of the mountain, looking clear, and one could see the stones at the bottom of the river.

Wu Zewa was leading a group of people here to prepare.

They transported a large batch of green hairy bamboo from a distance, cut it into three or four feet in length, made notches on the bamboo joints, poured some gravel and soil into them, and then blocked the notches with wooden blocks.

Originally, hairy bamboo entering the water would definitely float on the surface, but with this soil and stone, it was in a state of sinking and floating when entering the water.

That is to say, if it is placed flat carefully, it can float on the water surface.

But if a little force is used and the direction is a bit off, it may temporarily sink under the water, go with the flow, and until it rushes to the foot of the mountain, it may not float to the water surface again.

Wu Zewa and the others were repeatedly trying, grasping the amount of soil and stone to be filled.

The flow rate of the river was very fast.

Chu Tianshu looked at those sinking and floating hairy bamboo, which accelerated after entering the water, and finally shot toward the foot of the mountain like a crossbow arrow, his heart also slightly shaken.

"This is..."

The next morning, the sun was in the sky.

"This is the first trial."

"Ten thousand arrows flow down the stream, the brave man is the pillar in the midst of the stream!"

Wu Zhaizhu Wu brought a large group of people to the river bank, briefly described the matter of holding the three-trial competition, and then introduced it loudly.

"Zewa, first let our guests see the power of the first trial."

Wu Zewa directed the people around him to tie several sacks filled with soil and gravel with long ropes and throw them into the river.

This river was not very deep, except for the fast flow rate.

After several sacks were thrown down, a part was still exposed to the water surface, just like a big fat man standing in the water.

Someone upstream released more than ten hairy bamboos, which accelerated with the river water, floating and sinking, drifting faster and faster.

At first, everyone could see the scene of the hairy bamboo entering the water, but in the nearest ten-plus meters, it was almost impossible to see how many hairy bamboos were shot over.

Pfft! Pfft, pfft, pfft!!!

The tips of the hairy bamboo were deeply stuck into the sacks, and sewage spread from the broken openings.

The crowd immediately pulled the ropes and dragged several sacks to the bank.

Those hairy bamboos were stuck in the sacks for a full half-foot deep, making people think about what it would be like if these hairy bamboos were stuck on a person, and they couldn't help but feel a chill down their spines.

Chu Tianshu had already seen it last night, and at this time he was still calm.

Old Yu couldn't help but look solemn, saying in a low voice: "The ones on the water surface are easy to talk about, but those hairy bamboos that shot over from under the water are very dangerous!"

After getting along on the road for a while, Chu Tianshu already knew that Old Yu's real name was Yu Zhi, and he was a wandering swordsman in his early years, quite famous.

But his right arm was broken, and his current right arm was actually a prosthetic limb carved from wood.

A knife was hidden in the prosthetic limb, and the wooden palm was the hilt; when necessary, he held the "right hand" with his left hand and drew a knife directly from the "right arm", his killing method was sharp and not to be underestimated.

But after all, his figure was unbalanced, and this kind of underwater combat was extremely disadvantageous for him.

Little Huo was a gunman, named Huo Ming, from a military background; when he was studying at the Military Academy, he practiced fist techniques and had a breakthrough, and his assessment was excellent, so he became Cai Shanjun's guard; his marksmanship and shooting still had progress and were very impressive.

When he was best equipped, he had eight good guns hidden all over his body, and a suitcase beside him was full of magazines, but now, only the two guns in the holsters under his left and right ribs still had full bullets.

Facing this trial of the pillar in the midst of the stream, he also had fine lines between his eyebrows, pursing his lips without speaking.

"After this trial begins, three hundred such hairy bamboos will be released in batches from upstream, and the challenger must stand on the riverbed in front of us, ensuring from beginning to end that they are not stabbed."

"But this is just the requirement for the usual New Year's performance; now we have to compete for victory or defeat, and if neither side is injured, it's hard to say who is higher or lower, so one more rule must be added."

Wu Zhaizhu Wu pointed his arm downstream and continued to introduce.

"Downstream, we have spread five layers of hemp rope nets, with increasingly fine meshes, which can block the bamboo rushing down from upstream."

"The challenger carries no weapons, relying only on their own hands and feet, and must break or snap the hairy bamboo while ensuring they are not injured; afterward, the people downstream will catch them, distinguish the good from the bad, and calculate the number of hairy bamboos the challenger has obtained."

Chu Tianshu's eyes moved; this rule was something he hadn't heard of yesterday either.

It is harder for a person to break bamboo on the water surface than to break it on the bank.

With one strike, the bamboo sways, and the force is dissolved by the water flow.

And wanting to hit those hairy bamboos under the water requires the fist to penetrate the flowing water first, and the loss involved is no small matter.

The clansmen usually watched these performances during the New Year and didn't find it strange, but hearing that a rule had been added, they started discussing it, heads moving, and many people wanted to squeeze to the front row.

There were also people who couldn't squeeze through and simply walked to the sides of the crowd, distributing themselves along the river banks upstream and downstream, looking forward to it.

Wu Zewa walked to Cai Shanjun's side and saluted: "Benefactor, I admire you, but these three trials are conducted under the witness of the Spirit Cave Goddess and the ancestors, and I will definitely do my best."

Cai Shanjun only said: "Doing your best is a matter of course; that hairy bamboo is indeed dangerous, you must also be careful."

Wu Zewa shrugged his eyebrows and couldn't help but smile: "Good!"

He turned around, took off his coat, long pants, and shoes, walked into the water, untied the hemp rope wrapped around his forearms, and threw it on the bank.

As soon as the person's bare feet stepped on the stones, the clear waves constantly washed over the hair on his calves.

When Wu Zewa reached the center of the river, the water surface reached his chest, and the river water actually splashed white water in front of his chest.

It made people see more clearly how fast the river flow was!

Wu Zewa breathed deeply, stood on his tiptoes a few times, then stood steadily, raised his arms, and shouted upstream: "Release!"

Batches of green bamboo were released into the water upstream.

On the sparkling water surface, those green colors appeared and disappeared, walking faster and faster.

Even though they were opponents, Chu Tianshu and the others were a bit more nervous for the person in the river at this time.

The clansmen on the bank were even more quiet, concentrating, without a sound, for fear of disturbing Wu Zewa.

Whoosh!!

Wu Zewa's arm suddenly split into the water.

White waves, scrambling and making crisp sounds, burst and splashed around his body.

The hairy bamboo was constantly pulled away and broken by him.

In the spray, even broken bamboo pieces bounced onto the bank, and those who were too close avoided them one after another.

Chu Tianshu flipped his palm, used his fingernail in front of his cheek to flick away a bamboo piece, his gaze focused, not giving an inch.

He saw that Wu Zewa's hands were not in the form of fists and palms, but were pinched into a snake-fist gesture to counter those bamboos.

Such a gesture, when piercing into the water, caused bubbles to surge and burst, and could even bring out a whistling sound like a bamboo whistle blowing underwater.

The resistance of the flowing water was not as thick as imagined for Wu Zewa.

His arms sometimes swayed like a poisonous snake, and sometimes pierced into the water like a water bird catching food.

I fear this set of fist techniques is specifically able to develop charm only in the water.

After a while, there was no more hairy bamboo floating over from upstream.

And downstream, in addition to those intact hairy bamboos, a large number of bamboo pieces were spread out on the water surface.

The clansmen responsible for catching downstream began to collect the nets and count.

Chu Tianshu closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and said: "One hundred and forty-four!"

After a while, the clansmen over there reported the number loudly, excluding the intact ones, and it was indeed one hundred and forty-four hairy bamboos that had cracked.

Three hundred floating arrow hairy bamboos, it seemed that less than half were broken, but it made Chu Tianshu feel no small pressure.

This river, at least, had a certain width, and those hairy bamboos that were not broken were not because Wu Zewa couldn't break them, but because he didn't have the opportunity to touch them.

A person's arm span is only so large; if you are busy breaking this part of the hairy bamboo, you will inevitably not be able to block the bamboo on the other side of the river.

Wu Zewa walked to the bank, his hands were red, and he hurriedly picked up the hemp rope and tied his forearms tightly; he seemed very used to this kind of training.

Wu Zhaizhu Wu was also happy that he had developed such a skill and said to Cai Shanjun: "Who among you is coming?"

Chu Tianshu was about to set off, but Zhong Jinqiu took a step forward: "I'll come."

Chu Tianshu said in surprise: "Uncle Zhong, your hand hasn't fully recovered yet."

Zhong Jinqiu touched a piece of dried radish, his cheeks bulged twice: "Did you forget what I practice?"

Chu Tianshu's eyes moved, looking at Cai Shanjun.

Cai Shanjun just smiled: "Could my understanding of you in these few days compare to your own?"

Chu Tianshu patted Zhong Jinqiu on the shoulder: "Then let Uncle Zhong go and try; you must be careful."

Zhong Jinqiu chewed the dried radish and walked silently into the water, without taking off his clothes or pants, just folding his cuffs up to his forearms.

The clansmen of Wu Family Village saw him go into the water in this appearance and were puzzled; some shouted kindly, telling him to be careful, as clothes are a thousand jin heavy in the water, which is not a joke.

Such a layer of clothes and pants couldn't block the hairy bamboo, and only had disadvantages, no advantages.

Zhong Jinqiu glanced at those people, revealed a dull smile, and shouted upstream: "Release!"

Wu Zhaizhu Wu raised his voice and repeated it, and the people on the bank stopped talking immediately.

Just as the hairy bamboo upstream entered the water, Zhong Jinqiu separated his feet on the spot, swiveled his body slightly, and actually started boxing in the water.

The first move is to lazily tie the clothes left and right, and push the single whip with both hands. Raise your hands to look into the void, and the white crane spreads its wings and flies into the sky.

Step forward and hit the palm in front, move and block the hammer to the chest. Like sealing and closing, press forward, withdraw the body and hold the tiger to push the mountain...

Zhong Jinqiu's movements were not fast, his limbs were stretched, his figure rose and fell, and his head even sank into the water from time to time; everyone was confused and worried for him.

Suddenly, a touch of green had reached his side.

The floating bamboo was like an arrow, but it was just lifted by his palm, swept crookedly on the water surface, drifted to the side, blocked the two hairy bamboos behind, and made a clapping sound.

A large batch of hairy bamboo shot over in a chain, but heard the sound of bang, bang, clap, clap, which was endless.

Batch after batch of hairy bamboo bumped to the side, staggered, and moved with the trend, actually forming a circle around Zhong Jinqiu.

Once this circle was formed, everyone saw that the water level around Zhong Jinqiu seemed to be slightly lower than elsewhere.

When he boxed, his figure went back and forth, actually creating a whirlpool in the river water.

The cloud hand fist defends the whole body, and the legs and feet under the water can also shake and push away the hairy bamboo.

The second batch of hairy bamboo had also shot over, hitting that circle of hairy bamboo, but it only increased the number of hairy bamboo.

Zhong Jinqiu did not break the water flow, nor did he chase the hairy bamboo.

He only followed the trend, wiped, pressed, and rotated with his cloud hands, driving those hairy bamboos, and the whirlpool became more obvious; the impulse from upstream reached here, just pushing this heavy hairy bamboo whirlpool to continue rotating.

A large amount of hairy bamboo rotated and rubbed, making a loud clattering sound.

"Therefore, use the void to control the real, use softness to overcome hardness, use slowness to hit fast..."

Zhong Jinqiu's waist and abdomen vibrated, chanting loudly, walking the yin and yang steps in the water, and hitting the cloud hand method on his fist.

All the hairy bamboos floating on the water surface were lightly patted away by his palms.

The notches blocked by wooden blocks on the hairy bamboo suddenly burst open, and the cracks directly penetrated from the beginning to the end, breaking the bamboo into two pieces, with mud and stones falling down.

The clear water upstream rushed here and encountered a green whirlpool, and the river water also turned from clear to turbid.

A blue-clothed boxer in the whirlpool, his fist technique went smoother and smoother, like clouds and flowing water, and it was a natural success.

After a long time, at least four or five times the time used by Wu Zewa, the hairy bamboo was still rotating in this section of the river.

Zhong Jinqiu jumped suddenly, stepped on the bamboo pieces that were crowded on the water surface, and actually borrowed force from them to jump onto the bank.

The whirlpool in the water immediately deformed, collapsed rapidly, and a large pile of bamboo pieces rushed downstream.

Zhong Jinqiu turned around slowly, white steam rising from his forehead, and even though he was soaked, it could be seen that he was sweating like rain, and his hands closed the move.

"Cloud hands borrow force, wind and water rise."

"And it's done, Tai Chi!"

The people on the bank were silent for a moment.

Chu Tianshu's smile could no longer be hidden; he raised his left hand, held up his thumb, index finger, and middle finger, his voice loud.

"Uncle Zhong got it, three hundred!"

(End of chapter)