Chapter 13: She Just Wanted Justice

"This cultivation technique is passed down in my family, named 'White Snake Blade'.

The blade has a training method and a combat method; I only have the training method, not the combat method.

Listen carefully to the training method."

Yun E and Song Cheng sat back-to-back, separated only by a door.

A gentle voice drifted out from the crack in the door.

"Use the forms to forge flesh and blood, remove impurities with herbal supplements. The ribs should be like fish gills, the spine like a thrashing dragon."

Yun E recited the core manual while slowly explaining it.

Whenever Song Cheng did not understand, he asked directly.

Yun E, for her part, told him everything she knew without reservation.

Originally, she had only told this technique to her own husband, but since he had died on the battlefield, she was now passing this family technique, which she regarded as a treasure, to a blind man at a pharmacy whom she barely knew, all for the sake of revenge.

It was not that she had chosen this little blind man, but that she had no other choice.

Yet, as the explanation continued, a small, rare bond began to form between her and the little blind man.

The training method of the "White Snake Blade" did not actually include the "blade," but was merely for strengthening the body and using forms to regulate the exertion of flesh and blood, thereby making the body more capable of executing the moves of the White Snake Blade.

The training method had three forms, containing three, four, and six movements respectively; they had no fancy names, just "First Form," "Second Form," and "Third Form."

Usually, only combat methods had names.

Because combat methods were what truly involved "imitating heaven and earth," and thus the name of the move itself carried the purpose of "making you merge into that combat style."

As for the training method, there was no need for that at all.

"Use the forms to forge flesh and blood" serves two purposes: first, to expel impurities from within the body, and second, to "micro-adjust the muscles of the flesh." To give an analogy, your body is originally a pile of parts. The form-forging of flesh and blood helps you polish these parts anew and then reassemble them into a killing machine.

"Remove impurities with herbal supplements" means using certain medicines to nourish the body; Huichun Hall has all of these. This is like applying lubricant to the parts, and letting the parts change from "old, worn-out parts" to "parts of better material."

"The ribs should be like fish gills, the spine like a thrashing dragon" further describes the two cores of practicing the forms: one, the breathing method; two, the attention to the spine.

When breathing, the ribs must expand and contract laterally like fish gills, so as to truly exert and increase the capacity of the lungs.

The spine is divided into the thoracic spine and the lumbar spine.

The thoracic spine is like a dragon and is the source of the form; if you want to practice the moves without error, you must pay attention to the thoracic spine.

The lumbar spine is like the sea and is the source of power; if you want to explode with physical strength, you cannot bypass the lumbar spine.

However, the "White Snake Blade" does not involve the lumbar spine much, but only trains the flexibility of the thoracic spine. In short, the main areas this technique involves are the arms and the thoracic spine; while other parts are mentioned, it is very superficial.

Thus, this technique can make your upper body flexible and your punches unpredictable.

Consequently, when applied to the blade, the blade itself also becomes like a snake—agile and fast, like a snake lurking in tall grass, a flash of thunder, moving as swiftly as the wind.

The two talked and stopped intermittently.

In between, Song Cheng went to the kitchen to get some coarse grain cakes and gave them to Yun E to eat.

Then the two continued their discussion.

By evening, Tong Jia said that Shi Popo had regained consciousness slightly, but she was not in a condition to be moved and needed to remain in the medical hall for observation. Therefore, she laid out a floor mat in the side room for Yun E, letting the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law stay there temporarily.

Upon hearing that Yun E had taught the technique to Song Cheng, Tong Jia happily went to prepare dinner.

After dinner, she grabbed the herbal prescription Yun E had written, intending to get the medicine and decoct it that very night for her husband to use.

In the moonlight, Song Cheng practiced the moves in the backyard, while Yun E sat to one side, watching intently and patiently correcting the errors in his movements.

Song Cheng practiced very earnestly; this was a technique he had obtained with great difficulty, his first pot of gold for establishing himself, and the guarantee for taking Tong Niangzi away from here.

Escape! He must escape! But the little blind man's body was truly too weak; he was already panting after practicing a few forms.

After practicing a while longer, white, salty sweat broke out on his forehead and back.

Gradually, his legs went soft and his arms ached, especially his waist and abdomen, which felt as if they had been pounded by a large hammer, leaving a large area numb.

However, he glanced at his status panel and did not see the words "Not Yet Initiated," so he gritted his teeth, endured the pain, and continued to throw punches, and throw them again.

Anyone could see that this little blind man could not hold on, yet he insisted on holding on.

The look in Yun E's eyes as she watched him softened, as if she were recalling some memories, or as if the image of her husband practicing punches in the past had overlapped with this little blind man at that moment.

Song Cheng could see Yun E's favorability rising, slowly changing from 80 to 85.

Finally, Song Cheng felt as if his whole body no longer belonged to him, and he stumbled, falling face-first into the yellow mud.

Yun E's favorability suddenly changed to 87.

On her face, which had become somewhat gloomy due to pain, there was actually a hint of a smile.

She closed her eyes tightly, tilted her head back, and two lines of tears could no longer be held back, streaming down her cheeks and streaking her face. In the hall, Tong Jia had already finished decocting the medicine; she hurriedly poured it into a bowl, and just as she brought it out, she saw Song Cheng lying on the ground. She quickly set the bowl down and came to help him up, calling out, "Brother Cheng, Brother Cheng."

She helped Song Cheng up, brushed the dust off him, and took a hot towel to wipe the mud from his face, complaining, "Don't be without strength tomorrow!"

The young couple spoke back and forth.

Yun E buried her face in her knees and wept silently.

It seemed that not long ago, she and her husband were just like this.

Yes, not long ago.

As if it were yesterday.

As if he had not passed away.

As if he were still here.

She wiped away her tears, said, "Let's stop here for today," and returned to the room to look after Shi Popo.

She had always been a filial and kind daughter-in-law, never treating her mother-in-law poorly; had it not been for this, Shi Popo would not have been persuaded by Tong Jia yesterday during the Daytime to trust Yun E.

The next day.

Song Cheng took the medicine and continued to grit his teeth and practice hard.

But Shi Popo grew increasingly weak; the old woman could not withstand much emotional fluctuation, and after several such intense bouts of anger, there were already signs that she was failing.

Fortunately, by the evening of this day, Shi Popo seemed to have recovered, becoming a bit more talkative and able to eat some porridge.

Only then did Yun E sleep soundly.

Song Cheng and the Young Mistress of the house also returned to the main room to sleep.

"That's not how you practice a cultivation technique, take it slow," the Young Mistress said in pillow talk, then comforted him, "You have the experience of those Ordinary Disciples from the gangs, so you will definitely be able to master it, don't be anxious."

Song Cheng gave a bitter smile.

For the past two days, his body had been extremely exhausted, and he had no way to let his Soul leave his body.

The Young Mistress stretched out her soft hands and extended two small feet, gently kneading them.

"Ow, go easy."

"Ow!!"

The little blind boy cried out.

The Young Mistress laughed, "Heh heh," and said, "Is this little demon impressive?"

After saying that, she added, "Just endure it, this is for your own good."

Because of practicing martial arts, things between the husband and wife at night had changed.

After a long while, the sounds gradually quieted.

The two embraced and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Tong Jia got out of bed to cook breakfast, while Song Cheng practiced his punches in the courtyard.

He could feel that he was perhaps only a short while away from being "Not Yet Initiated," and the points he could Add Points had already accumulated to 20.

Suddenly, Yun E's uncontrolled scream came from the side room.

Tong Jia was stunned and hurriedly ran over.

The surrounding neighbors also heard the commotion here, and many people ran over one after another.

When everyone looked, Shi Popo was already breathless!!! The air seemed to have frozen.

Immediately after, other villagers hurriedly went to find the Village Chief.

The news of Shi Popo's death spread far and wide. Some women shouted angrily, "Drown her in a pig cage, drown her in a pig cage!" Yun E was disheveled and distraught.

Tong Jia also panicked; she only then realized that yesterday, Shi Popo had merely experienced a final burst of energy before death.

In the courtyard, the blind youth seemed to be in a different world from the noisy crowd; he tilted his head and swept a glance at the crowded plain white lines, and at Yun E, who was bound and imprisoned by those lines.

The blood-colored firefly landing on Yun E's shoulder had become increasingly glaring, horrifying, and terrifying. Song Cheng did not stop his movements.

He had to quickly get "Bai She Jin" onto the panel so that he could Add Points.

Only by becoming stronger could he change things.

Since words were already powerless, then he would use this blade to make a change.

Recalling the soft wailing heard yesterday and Yun E's tireless, earnest guidance, the youth only felt a quiet fire ignite deep within his blood.

(End of chapter)