Chapter 29: A Youth

The 298th year of the Daliang Calendar.

The first New Year Lin Chen spent after traveling to this world.

It was also another harvest year for Poyang County.

Poyang County had had favorable weather for eight consecutive years, and the common people had surplus grain in their homes.

The New Year festival was very lively.

Every New Year, Linhu Village had the tradition of worshipping the Lake God. All the old and young in the village gathered at the ancestral hall early in the morning, and every household placed the prepared three sacrificial animals and offerings on the ground.

Inside the ancestral hall, incense smoke curled.

In previous years, youths like Lin Chen would stand at the very end, but today Lin Chen was pulled to the very front by the village chief, standing only behind the village chief and several village elders.

"Lin Chen, offer incense to the Lake God and our ancestors of Linhu Village, and pray for your protection to go further on the Martial Way."

The village chief took the lit incense and handed it to Lin Chen.

Lin Chen didn't decline. As early as last night, the village chief had come to his house to say that today he would represent the younger generation of the village to worship the Lake God.

"Today, there is Lin Chen, a descendant of the Lin clan in the village, who has joined the Jingshui Wu Tang to learn martial arts. I hope the Lake God and the ancestors of Linhu Village will protect Lin Chen so that he can have smooth sailing on the Martial Way."

A village elder chanted the sacrificial text on the side. The whole village had a solemn expression, and Lin Chen was the same.

Sacrifice!

It was an extremely solemn matter.

Lin Chen, who had lived two lives, discovered the common point between his previous life and this world: they both attached great importance to sacrificial matters.

Sacrifice is not just a ritual, but also a means of gathering people's hearts.

Sacrifice in the clan gathers the hearts of the clan members.

Sacrifice in the village gathers the hearts of the villagers.

……

Sacrifice of the country gathers the hearts of the people of a nation.

Excellent children in the village leading the sacrifice can even stir up the fighting spirit of other youths in the village.

Listening to the sacrificial text chanted by the village elder and seeing the serious expressions of many villagers, Lin Chen also felt emotional. No wonder so many rich people in his previous life were willing to spend any amount of money to compete for a stick of incense in the ancestral hall.

It was not just for face, but also a manifestation of bringing honor to one's ancestors after returning home in glory.

"Lin Chen, offer incense!"

After the village elder finished chanting the sacrificial text, he looked at Lin Chen with an encouraging smile. Lin Chen nodded, bowed three times with the incense, and then inserted it into the incense burner.

Feeling the gazes of the villagers behind him, even as a traveler, under the influence of the atmosphere at this moment, he also felt a bit hot-blooded and secretly promised that if he could achieve something on the Martial Way in the future, within his ability, he would give back to the village.

Among the crowd, the happiest were Lin Fu and Lin Mu, while the most complicated was the grandfather, Lin Chaoyang.

Since the people from the bank came last time, grandfather Lin Chaoyang had rarely left the old house, but for such a big event as ancestor worship during the New Year, Lin Chaoyang naturally wouldn't miss it.

At this moment, looking at Lin Chen standing in front, there was a moment of excitement on his old face, but then it was regret and remorse.

If he had supported Lin Chen in learning martial arts at the beginning, as his grandfather, he would now be qualified to stand in the front row and enjoy the flattery of others.

But now, looking at the gazes of other villagers around, he only felt that his old face couldn't hold up.

"Is Ming'er still not coming back?"

After the ancestor worship ended, Lin Chaoyang asked his eldest son.

"Father, after Ming'er practiced to produce Qi, he found a job in the city, thinking of saving more money to pay the tuition for the Wu Tang next year, so he won't be back this year."

Eldest uncle Lin Hai explained: "Ming'er entrusted someone to bring back a tael of silver."

"If he doesn't come back, he doesn't come back."

Lin Chaoyang waved his hand: "No need for the silver, I won't starve to death. Let him save money in the city and don't hold any resentment toward his little uncle. These years, it is indeed your family that owes the third one."

Lin Hai said quickly: "Father, Ming'er won't. No matter what, the third one is his little uncle."

"Eldest daughter-in-law, did you hear my words?"

Lin Chaoyang didn't doubt his eldest son's words, but his eldest daughter-in-law, he feared, might not necessarily think so in her heart.

"Father, how could I hold resentment toward the little uncle."

The eldest aunt's expression was a bit awkward. Lin Chaoyang stared at his eldest daughter-in-law for a while: "From beginning to end, it is only your family that owes the second and third ones. The second and third ones have never let your family down. No matter what, two trees cannot write two 'Lin' characters. Ming'er and Chen'er are cousins after all. You must understand this principle."

Seeing his eldest daughter-in-law silent, Lin Chaoyang didn't care whether she listened or not and said to his eldest son: "I'm tired, help me home."

Lin Chaoyang left. The villagers didn't pay much attention, and even if they did, they would only mock him, saying everything was self-inflicted.

Lin Chen naturally wouldn't notice that his grandfather had left at this moment. As the person who lit the first incense, there were still many rituals for him to handle.

Covering the eyes of the Lake God statue with red cloth also required him to do it.

Covering the eyes of the Lake God statue was to let the Lake God, who had protected the villagers for a year, rest for a period of time. During this period, he could eat offerings in every household in the village.

And then, after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month next year, he would have to lift this red cloth and invite the Lake God into the lake to protect the villagers so that their fishing could be smooth in the new year.

After finishing the whole ritual, it was already noon when he returned home.

After a hurried lunch, Lin Chen called Gu Fei, and the two began to practice martial arts on the hill behind the village.

Gu Fei practiced the Warm Sun Fist, while he practiced the Qingfeng Palm.

Calling Gu Fei was to supervise this guy, to avoid him being lazy at home during the New Year. The path of the Martial Way cannot be slacked off. If Gu Fei wants to produce Qi within two years, he must practice diligently and bitterly.

【Qingfeng Palm: Not Yet Entered (60/100)】

【Qingfeng Palm: Not Yet Entered (61/100)】

……

……

After the New Year, the third day of the first lunar month.

Lin Chen didn't go to visit relatives with his parents but stayed at home to focus on practicing martial arts.

For other students who had entered the Wu Tang, visiting relatives during the Spring Festival would inevitably lead to praise from relatives, which could satisfy a youth's vanity.

Lin Chen knew clearly that if he visited relatives, he would have the same treatment, but by comparison, he wanted to seize the time of the Spring Festival to strive for a breakthrough in the Qingfeng Palm.

The instructor was right. He couldn't compete with others in stage, so he could only rely on the Qingfeng Palm to make up for his weakness.

Looking at the progress of the Qingfeng Palm on the panel, a smile appeared on Lin Chen's face.

After eight days of bitter practice, his Qingfeng Palm finally entered today.

【Qingfeng Palm: Entered (1/200)】

With the Qingfeng Palm entered, Lin Chen could clearly feel that the sharpness and accuracy of his palm strikes were much stronger than before.

Now, with one slap, he could send Gu Fei flying.

Without the Qi and blood panel, the progress of martial arts techniques was his daily motivation.

As for the Martial Way stage, he was still at the first stage of the Aperture-Opening Stage.

Just as Lin Chen was preparing to continue practicing as usual, a voice came from outside the courtyard gate.

"Little Chen, your classmates from the Wu Tang have come to see you."

Lin Chen pushed open the door and saw the village chief leading several figures walking toward his home not far away.

"Lin Lin Shidi Lu, Lin Lin Shidi Zhao, Lin Lin Shidi Cheng…… why are you here?"

Looking at Lu Yongfeng and the other two, Lin Chen was very surprised. He was truly surprised that these three would come to Linhu Village.

"Lin Lin Shixiong, we are about to go to the Wu Tang. Once we reach the county town's Wu Tang, practice will be busy, and I'm afraid we won't have much time to gather. We all came out of the Wu Tang in Qiaohe Town, so we thought we would gather before going to the Wu Tang."

Zhao Jingchuan smiled. This was his proposal, and Lu Yongfeng and Cheng Ying also readily agreed.

The three of them were easy to contact in town, while Lin Chen lived in the village. After discussing it, they simply decided to make a trip to Linhu Village.

Lin Chen understood. Coming from the same Wu Tang, contacting each other to deepen their feelings and reporting to keep warm in the county town in the future—this kind of grouping based on hometown was very normal.

But why was it only Zhao Jingchuan and the other two? What about Xu Botao and Yan Dexing?

Seeming to see Lin Chen's confusion, Zhao Jingchuan smiled bitterly: "Xu Lin Shidi and Yan Lin Shidi didn't get the quota for the Wu Tang's Aperture-Opening Pill. I'm afraid they are in a bad mood, so after thinking about it, we didn't invite them."

"Xu Lin Shidi and Yan Lin Shidi didn't get the quota for the Aperture-Opening Pill?"

Lin Chen was surprised. Were there so many students who produced Qi in this batch? The competition was actually so fierce.

"Xu Lin Shidi was found to have borrowed money from the bank while at the Wu Tang, and Yan Lin Shidi was a day late, and the quotas for the major martial halls were already full."

The village chief who led the way on the side asked curiously: "Martial halls don't allow students to borrow money?"

"Village Chief Wang, in the past, martial halls naturally didn't care, because there were plenty of quotas. But this time, the quotas were insufficient. In the eyes of the martial halls, if you need to borrow money even at the Wu Tang stage, I'm afraid you won't be able to support the subsequent Martial Way expenses." Zhao Jingchuan explained patiently.

"It's also fortunate that Lin Lin Shixiong produced Qi earlier, otherwise I'm afraid……"

Cheng Ying added from behind, but the final words weren't said, but the meaning was also very clear. If Lin Chen had produced Qi a few days later, I'm afraid he wouldn't have gotten the quota either.

Lin Chen smiled and didn't argue.

His experience of obtaining the Aperture-Opening Pill had twists and turns, but there was no need to publicize it.

The old village chief on the side looked thoughtful after hearing this.

PS: Thanks to the brothers for the ten thousand rewards. It's been ten years, and I've followed every book for so many years. Thank you! Continuing to ask for follow-up reading!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 30 =====