Chapter 946: Harmonizing Through Righteousness, Opening the Fist Altar

The group disembarked from the Southern Grand Canal.

Yang Liuqing Town, anciently known as Liukou, was a convergence point for water routes on the Southern Grand Canal and a bustling place of the first order west of Dagu. There were many temples here.

Beside Wu Ya, a man wrapped in white cloth, looking much like a countryman, stared blankly at the scenery. Before him lay the area enclosed by the Medicine King Temple, the Goddess Temple, and the True Martial Temple—an open space where villagers held large markets.

Many people came here on ordinary days, and it had gradually become an open-air market.

"Yan Yan Shixiong Jing! After so many years, can you still not forget?" Wu Ya's voice was faint.

The man in the white headcloth, Yan Yan Shixiong Jing, lowered his head upon hearing this and said gloomily: "The winds and clouds of the four seas drive the ocean tides, fighting for power, fighting for sects, and fighting for the tide. Before the west wind ends, the south wind rises; the flames of war connect, and the wild fire burns. Who is the master of the provinces under heaven? The sky is full of stars and evil demons. Where do the living souls ultimately belong? Only a single path of the bright lamp is seen!"

"Harmonizing through righteousness, practicing martial arts and fists, opening altars to worship gods, and calling each other Yan Yan Shixiong."

"Back then, this was the number one altar under heaven for us fist-practitioners. The True Martial Temple main altar was moved here by our Great Yan Yan Shixiong Zhang Decheng from Duli Town. Nearby were the Kan-character altar and the Qian-character altar of Yang Village. Once a main altar was raised, altars of the eight trigrams followed from all directions. We gathered the common people to practice martial arts and fists..."

"When the foreigners first broke into Dagu, how many people did the foreign rifle squads kill? It was only when experts from all over the north took action that three foreign rifle squads were annihilated at Dagu."

"At that time, we knew that whether it was the techniques of the heterodox paths or the spells of the orthodox sects, they all became useless when facing the evil-warding and law-breaking power of foreign guns and gunpowder. Only the True Martial Dao path was best at killing!"

"The foreigners had rifles, cannons, priests, and armies; we had divine arts to protect our bodies and the ancestors to bless us."

"The three teachings and nine schools enter the True Martial; the fist techniques of a hundred families open the Dao path!"

"The various techniques and secret transmissions passed down in the north all merged into the True Martial Dao path, transforming into fist techniques, to evade the secret gates of magic and reveal the vital points of breaking the law. Countless cultivators followed this trend to establish altars and teach fists everywhere. It was vast and mighty; fists were passed to millions of people, everyone practiced, and everyone became extraordinary."

"When the millions of our Qian Dynasty all became fist masters and all cultivated strange arts, we would counterattack the West... no rifles or cannons could stop us!"

"Unfortunately..."

Yan Yan Shixiong Jing's teeth ground together, his gaze filled with unwillingness and resentment.

"The first to betray us was the imperial court! They only wanted to use us to scare the foreigners. Once the foreigners softened, they hired foreigners to kill us first! Those so-called orthodox sects, seeing the court change its stance, also kicked us while we were down."

"Now, apart from the fist techniques passed down back then becoming some kind of martial arts foundation, who still remembers the ambition of a hundred families returning to the True Martial and the fist-practitioners conquering the West?"

The Great Yan Yan Shixiong of yesteryear, Jing Chunshan, swept his eyes bit by bit over the bustling market before him, as if he saw the time when the number one altar under heaven was opened here.

Thousands of farmers and commoners from various villages, bare-chested, red belts tied around their waists, holding broadswords and spears, followed the Great Yan Shixiong Brothers of each altar, practicing fist techniques move by move.

He saw the scene before the True Martial Temple: the copper gongs sounded, everyone shaved bamboo and cut wood for weapons, carrying swords and spears along the canal. On the road, altars gathered, a mighty force of over a hundred thousand people killing their way toward Dagu, burning churches, killing foreigners, fighting spells with the foreigners' priests and mages, dragging their men and women off the large ships, and chopping off their heads—clack, clack.

But at this moment, it was bustling with noise and excitement, no longer a large market!

It was clearly the lively appearance of a temple fair.

Everywhere there were small theater sheds, either covered with cloth or surrounded by straw mats, where a painted-face actress was singing in a high-pitched voice inside.

The plays were not grand productions, mostly domestic trifles or folk legends, such as "Counting Grain at the Palace," "Killing the Dog to Admonish the Wife," "Cui Ping Mountain," and so on.

Further in, there were even some lewd songs and tunes. The performers wore headgear, pulling and tugging in the small sheds; it was nothing decent.

Next were those selling fabric scraps, claiming they were leftovers collected from cloth shops, but in reality, they were mostly whole pieces of cloth torn apart, sold by the inch and fraction. Country folk were accustomed to being greedy for small gains, yet they couldn't calculate clearly.

This must be a temple fair; the grounds are packed with people, shoulder to shoulder, with all sorts of folk trades—gold, skin, color, hanging, flat, group, tune, and willow.

Monkey shows, horse shows, raw meat stalls, wild animal stalls, pawn ticket sellers, watch sellers, cheap fur blanket sellers, soliciting wild prostitutes, squatting gamblers, gang recruiters, used clothing sellers, and soap sellers.

More than ten years ago, let alone real foreigners, even commoners who believed in the foreign religion would have had their heads chopped off by the fist-practitioners if they passed through here.

Now, the small steamships of the foreign vessels tooted as they docked. Several men and women with golden hair and blue eyes, wearing Western attire, walked off the ship. On the shore, there were only idlers watching the fun and businesses soliciting them.

Drummond walked off the ship and heard the shouting, the sound of gongs and drums, and the noisy, bustling sounds carrying a scent of human life, which couldn't help but make him smile.

Beside him, Kadoorie covered his nose, driving away the smell of livestock, and muttered: "What a bunch of barbarians. I heard they even want to discuss medicine with us? Western medicine has entered a whole new world since the great development of anatomy two hundred years ago. I don't think we have anything to communicate with a group of witch doctors who still boil witch medicine with roots and bark!"

"Don't say that..."

A Western woman beside him grabbed his arm and smiled: "The country estates of Camelot are just like this; I don't think there's anything superior to this."

"In fact," she looked around and smiled, "it's more vibrant here!"

Drummond just said calmly: "This was the headquarters of the fist-practitioners back then. Archbishop Thomas was dragged out of the church by them and brought all the way here to have his head chopped off..."

He pointed to the stone steps in front of the True Martial Temple and said: "At its peak, here, including the extraordinary and pre-extraordinary practitioners of fist techniques, there were over one hundred thousand people. They gathered an extraordinary army. Third-rank fist masters could even catch bullets with their bare hands and possessed all kinds of strange abilities!"

"Father of Lamps!" The woman covered her mouth and exclaimed: "They look so simple and honest now; you can't see the madness of the past at all!"

"Yes!" Drummond nodded: "Even their Emperor thought they were crazy!"

Drummond turned his head and met the gaze of Wu Ya on the shore. Seeing the man in the headscarf beside her, a trace of wariness flashed in Drummond's eyes, but he still walked up pretending to be friendly, took off his hat, and bowed: "Madam, I hope we are not late!"

"In fact, you arrived a bit too early; we just arrived as well." Wu Ya nodded.

Drummond, a great lawyer, smiled: "Madam, our exchange shouldn't be like the fighting you had with the local ruffians earlier, right? If it's that crazy, I'd rather admit defeat. After all, those who came with us are all gentlemen who have made great contributions to medicine, not sorcerers who desecrate the human body. Medicine and mysticism, although related, are quite different..."

Wu Ya said calmly: "The Sect Master is very curious about the development of your surgery and anatomy."

"I am willing to personally introduce our developments to your Sect Master; medicine has entered a new era because of this..." Drummond said respectfully.

Wu Ya showed a strange expression, looked him up and down, and her eyes revealed a pure look of examining flesh: "The Sect Master should be willing, but I'm afraid you will find his research method difficult to accept."

Hearing this, Drummond looked at Wu Ya's examining gaze, and inexplicably, his back felt a chill.

At this time, the Western woman also walked up and reached out her hand: "Hello, Madam! I am Shilin, a Doctor of Medicine from Miskatonic University, specializing in anatomy and epidemiology. In the East, I have rarely seen such an outstanding woman as you."

Wu Ya also reached out and shook her hand, saying: "The West is the same!"

"Yes." Shilin smiled: "According to tradition, they wouldn't even let me join the Miskatonic Spiritual Cultivation Society, nor would they allow me to join societies like the Tower of Omniscience or the Secret Library. Women should join the Gardening Association or the Kitchen Hermit Society! That's what they said."

"Gardening Association?" Wu Ya felt like she had heard of this association.

The Sect Master of Miskatonic University had mentioned it several times, and it seemed to be among them.

"The 'Secret Transmission of Flowers'? The Pure Flower of Ekatolin?"

She glanced at the white flower worn on the pocket of Shilin's small suit and asked.

A look of surprise appeared on Shilin's face. She smiled, concealing the doubt in her eyes, and said: "I thought you had never left the Eastern Continent! I didn't expect you to be so familiar with our extraordinary heritage."

"The Sect Master is very familiar with you. Inviting you here for an exchange this time is also his idea." Wu Ya said honestly.

"I wonder when we can meet your Sect Master?" Drummond took the opportunity to ask.

Wu Ya prevaricated: "There will be an opportunity."

Escorted by Yan Yan Shixiong Jing and several former fist-practicing disciples, the group entered the Medicine King Temple.

The venue had long been cleared. Wearing long gowns, a row of old men with long beards, aged but spirited and robust, sat in front of the temple hall. The Three Emperors Society was originally a guild established by doctors of Dagu medicine shops.

Because they worshipped the Three Emperors and took the Yellow Emperor as their ancestor, it was called the Three Emperors Society.

But in recent years, churches and several Western hospitals also treated illnesses. Many legitimate doctors were squeezed out, though the medicine shops survived quite well. However, with fewer doctors, their influence weakened. They had no choice but to let in a few who treated teeth and eyes or engaged in specialized folk remedies.

Hearing that the Profound Heaven Sect had invited Western doctors for an exchange, the Three Emperors Society originally wanted to drive them out.

If it weren't for the fact that we can't afford to offend you, I would...

Foreigners are doctors after all, but what is your Profound Heaven Sect?

Exchange, what can we exchange?

Burning incense and worshipping Buddha, or drinking talisman water and dancing like a shaman?

The foreigners also had something to say!

The Profound Heaven Sect really dissects people! They are a truly major mystical secret sect.

Isn't the essence of Traditional Chinese Medicine just mysticism?

If we don't exchange talisman water, bone setting, acupuncture, anatomy, meridians, and meditation with the Profound Heaven Sect, are we supposed to exchange herbalism with you? ===== CHAPTER 947 =====