Chapter 29: To Save or Not to Save, Do Not Save

"Sixth Brother, Ninth Sister."

Hua Sanlang walked into the room and saw his younger brother and sister with their heads together reading a book, occasionally pointing at and discussing its contents; finding this curious, he immediately approached to take a look.

Seeing that the two were actually reading the martial arts manual *Mount Wuzhi*, he couldn't help but find it amusing.

"Ninth Sister, why have you started reading martial arts books again? Do you want to practice martial arts once more?"

Hua Changxi was only three years old when she learned that martial arts experts from novels truly existed in the Great Jin Dynasty; at that time, Hua Liulang had just begun practicing standing postures to build his foundation.

By the time Hua Changxi turned five, she pestered Hua Minghe, insisting she wanted to practice martial arts; unable to shake her off, Hua Minghe trained with her for about half a year.

However, practicing martial arts was simply too arduous; she could not persist in standing postures day after day, practiced intermittently for a while, and ultimately gave up in helplessness.

Because of this, Hua Changxi suffered no small amount of mockery from Old Lady Hua, who said that a young lady imagining she could practice martial arts like a man was truly overestimating her own abilities.

Hua Changxi looked at Hua Sanlang and said, "Third Brother, after I went to the Labor Hall, perhaps because I did so much work, I feel as though I've opened my Ren and Du meridians; I must pick up martial arts again, and who knows, someday I might even become an expert."

She did not clearly understand the difference between cultivation and martial arts practice, but she felt that the internal force cultivated by martial artists should be quite similar to the spiritual energy surging within her body.

If martial artists could concentrate their internal force in their feet to practice the Wave-Treading Subtle Steps, then could she not circulate the spiritual energy within her body to her feet as well?

As for this *Mount Wuzhi*, she would find an opportunity later to try it out and see what effect concentrating spiritual energy in her hands would produce.

Seeing her utterly serious expression, Hua Sanlang hastily said, "Don't act recklessly; practicing martial arts is very dangerous, and if done incorrectly, it can harm your body."

Hua Liulang interjected, "Third Brother, I think Ninth Sister has some real insights regarding martial arts; whenever she explains things I don't understand, I immediately grasp them."

Hua Sanlang was truly speechless; Ninth Sister and Sixth Brother were truly a pair where one dared to speak boldly and the other dared to believe blindly.

"There have been countless cases where martial artists practiced incorrectly and ended up crippled or even killed."

Hearing this, fear appeared on Hua Liulang's face as well.

Hua Changxi said nothing and continued to diligently flip through *Mount Wuzhi*, but unexpectedly, Hua Sanlang suddenly snatched the book from her hands.

Hua Sanlang looked at his younger brother and sister and said, "Second Sister and Second Brother-in-law are sitting in the courtyard, and Cousin Shen and the others are all there too; since everyone has finally gathered together, you should go out and chat with them for a while."

Upon hearing this, Hua Changxi and Hua Liulang helplessly exchanged a glance and resignedly followed Hua Sanlang out of the room.

Hua Wuniang's marriage was, in any case, a major occasion, but since she was becoming a concubine, the Hua family did not invite guests, hosting only Hua Sangu's family and the couple of Hua Erniang.

Because Old Master Hua had lost face due to Hua Changxi, his expression was extremely grim; the younger generation, not daring to linger long in the main hall, had all moved to the courtyard to chat.

Seeing Hua Sanlang bring Hua Jiuniang and Hua Liulang out, Hua Erniang immediately smiled and beckoned to Hua Jiuniang, "Ninth Sister, we were just talking about you; come over and join our conversation."

Hua Erniang, the eldest granddaughter of the Hua family, had married a year ago into the Cao family, which also consisted of low-ranking officials; her husband, Cao Jingnian, served as a patrol constable in the Five Cities Military Command.

Hua Changxi walked over with a smile and asked, "What were you all saying about me?"

Hua Shieriang glanced at her and said, "We were saying you have audacity that reaches the heavens."

Hua Changxi rolled her eyes in return and said, "Those who think I have audacity that reaches the heavens are themselves cowards as timid as mice."

Hua Shieriang immediately bristled with anger, "Who are you calling a coward as timid as a mouse?"

Hua Changxi smiled and replied, "Whoever admits to it is the one I'm talking about."

Hua Erniang watched with amusement as her Ninth and Twelfth Sisters, who always bickered upon meeting, and pulling one sister in each hand, she realized that only after marrying did she discover how comforting those days of bantering with sisters in the boudoir had been.

"You two should cherish each other well; once you marry in the future, you won't even have the chance to bicker anymore."

Upon hearing this, Hua Changxi and Hua Shieriang simultaneously fell silent.

Hua Changxi glanced at Cao Erjie, who was chatting enthusiastically with Hua Sanlang and the others, then lowered her voice to ask, "Second Sister, does Second Brother-in-law treat you well? Are your in-laws easy to get along with?"

Hua Erniang smiled, glanced at her husband, and nodded, saying, "Your Second Brother-in-law is quite caring; as for the in-laws, we are just living together as a household—if others can manage, so can I."

Hua Changxi fell silent for a moment; this clearly meant the in-laws were not easy to get along with.

Hua Erniang smilingly removed the pouch from her waist, took out three pairs of silver earrings, and handed them respectively to Hua Qiniang, Hua Changxi, and Hua Shieriang.

"You girls are old enough now; it is time to have your ears pierced."

The three of them—Hua Changxi and the others who received the earrings—were quite delighted, saying, "Thank you, Second Sister."

"Go, Sixth Brother!"

"Go, Third Brother!"

The Hua sisters turned their heads to see Hua Liulang sparring back and forth with Shen Mosheng, the third son of Hua Ergu, while everyone else cheered them on from the side.

"Let's go over and watch too."

After Hua Changxi approached and carefully observed the two fighting, she was surprised to discover that their movements appeared exceptionally slow in her eyes.

If their duel were recorded as a video, what she saw would be like a video played at 0.25x speed.

With the increase in her realm points, she had indeed felt all five senses enhancing, but she had no intuitive concept of exactly how much they had improved.

But now, she knew.

"Sixth Brother, why are you striking with your palm? Just form a claw with your five fingers and grab Cousin Mosheng's shoulder directly."

Hua Changxi directly pointed out the flaws in their spar.

Hearing Hua Changxi's voice, Hua Liulang subconsciously did as she said, and indeed managed to grab Shen Mosheng's shoulders, followed by a side kick that knocked him straight to the ground.

"I won!"

Hua Liulang cheered joyfully, looking excitedly at Hua Changxi, "Ninth Sister, your eyesight is impressive; I didn't even realize I could grab Mosheng's shoulder."

Hua Changxi smiled without saying anything; she intended to learn *Mount Wuzhi* and *Wave-Treading Subtle Steps*, planning to copy both books to take back to the Labor Hall for gradual study.

Seeing that Hua Erniang had Hua Qiniang and Hua Shieriang to keep her company, and that the cousins had Hua Sanlang and the others with them, she secretly slipped back to her room to begin copying the books.

Since Hua Sangu's family and Hua Erniang's couple were all returning home, dinner time was moved up by half an hour.

After dinner, holding the copied versions of *Mount Wuzhi* and *Wave-Treading Subtle Steps* along with a package of food prepared by Lady Yao, Hua Changxi left the Hua family after Hua Sangu's family and Hua Erniang's couple had departed.

Hua Liulang walked Hua Changxi all the way to the Medical Bureau.

"."

"I'll watch you go inside before I leave."

Hua Changxi looked helplessly at the main gate of the Medical Bureau and said, "Laborers cannot enter through the main gate; I have to go around to the back entrance."

Hua Liulang said, "Then I'll accompany you to the back gate," and without further argument, walked ahead.

Seeing that dusk had already fallen, Hua Changxi, unwilling to waste time arguing, could only quicken her pace to catch up.

However, just as the two turned from the main street into the back alley, Hua Changxi suddenly grabbed Hua Liulang and quickly ducked behind the shade of a roadside tree.

"Ninth Sister, what is wrong?"

"Hush, someone is fighting."

Soon, four figures appeared within their line of sight.

One person was limping and fleeing ahead, while three others chased closely behind.

Looking at the person ahead, Hua Changxi subconsciously rose to her feet and even took a step forward, yet in the next moment she halted and squatted back down behind the tree shade.

Seeing this, Hua Liulang asked in a low voice, "What is it? Do you know that person?"

Hua Changxi watched Yu Gui struggling to run toward the back gate and nodded. "Mm, I know him. That person is a minor steward in the warehouse."

At that moment, Yu Gui was caught by the pursuers behind; one of them kicked him directly, sending him flying three or four meters before he crashed heavily onto the ground.

"Run! You were so good at running; try running again for me!"

"Beat him! Beat him mercilessly!"

Watching Yu Gui curled into a ball under the fists and feet of the three attackers, Hua Liulang could not help but look at his sister, "Since you know him, should we go help him? I feel I can defeat those three."

Hua Changxi shook her head and said with near coldness, "The friendship between him and me is not enough for me to risk everything to save him."

Not to mention that the three beating Yu Gui were martial artists; even if they were merely ordinary people, as long as they did not kill him, saving Yu Gui would inevitably cause her to offend them.

She knew nothing about the origins or backgrounds of those three; the risk was too great.

"This is the back alley of the Medical Bureau; those three would not dare to kill anyone here."

Just as Hua Changxi had expected, after beating Yu Gui for over a quarter of an hour, the three left while cursing.

Yu Gui had already lost consciousness; only the rising and falling of his chest proved he was still alive.

Hua Changxi and Hua Liulang stood up and walked over.

Hua Changxi said, "Sixth Brother, help me lift him up; I will carry him on my back into the Medical Bureau."

She had not intervened earlier for fear of trouble, but now that the attackers had left, carrying Yu Gui back to the warehouse was feasible.

Hua Liulang hurried forward to help, and while supporting Yu Gui, he noticed the clothes on his back were torn, revealing a red palm print on his back.

Upon seeing the red palm print, Hua...

Only martial artists above the fourth rank could cultivate internal force.

Only by using internal force could one leave such a clear palm print on a person's body.

Hua Changxi glanced at the palm print on Yu Gui's back, said nothing, bent down, and hoisted him onto her back. "Sixth Brother, I am going in; you return quickly and do not linger outside."

Only after seeing Hua Changxi carry the person into the Medical Bureau did Hua Liulang turn and head home.