Gao Wu: My martial arts training relies solely on hard work

Chapter 10
It was the tenth day of September in the 24th year of Yongjia in the Jin Dynasty.

In the early morning, autumn is getting stronger, and the white dew turns to frost.

Zhao Xuan finished practicing "Man Niu Jin" once, and his luck came to an end.

"You have practiced "Manniu Jin" carefully, and you have become more proficient in "Manniu Jin" and your level has improved."

"Pretty awesome: 2/100."

It has been half a month since Zhao Xuan got "Manniu Jin", and his progress has only increased by two points.

Compared with the basic archery skill that increases by four or five points every day, it can be described as very slow.

In view of the fact that he didn't understand it at all and had no one to guide him, the fact that he could make some progress through blind practice shows the horror of the talent of "hard work leads to reward".

Furthermore, according to the current speed, Zhao Xuan can practice "Manniu Jin" to perfection in at most two years.

By then, he will only be 17 years old and still has a lot to offer.

After experiencing what happened to Master Hu, he knew that the outside might be prosperous, but it might not be safe.

He didn't want to be trampled to death like an ant just because he took one more look in the crowd.

Now that his strength is low, he might as well stay in a low mountain village.

How happy is it to practice martial arts and hunt every day, without restraint, and to eat meat every time?
"dong dong dong~"

Zhao Xuan was preparing to go hunting in the mountains when a heavy drum beat came from the entrance of the village.

This is the signal from the village chief to summon the villagers.

Whenever there is a major event, the village chief will beat the drum to gather the crowd to discuss the major event.

For example, fighting with neighboring villages for water, attacks by thieves, etc.

All villagers in Dishan Village must have one person from each household present. If they fail to show up three times, all villagers will be kicked out together.

Similarly, if the village chief calls everyone together again and again for his own selfish interests or trivial matters.

The respected elders in the village will unite and remove him.

This is the way of survival in ancient villages.

Zhao Xuan, who followed the locals and planned to hang out in the village, immediately put down his bow and arrow, grabbed a stick with a thick wrist, and gathered at the entrance of the village.

You can see menacing villagers holding poles and hoes everywhere on the road.

Troubles come out of poor mountains and bad waters.

Those who are not naughty would have died long ago.

Zhao Xuan came to the entrance of the village and saw a group of strangers from a distance, in twos and threes, holding long spears and steel knives, guarding various intersections.

There was also a group of government officials armed with iron-wrapped rods, who ordered the arriving villagers to drop their carrying poles and hoes and line up in a row.

But if any villagers showed dissatisfaction or procrastinated, the government officials immediately stepped forward and beat them with sticks and kicks.

When evil officials govern the people, it is purely because their attributes are in conflict with each other.

Zhao Xuan, realizing that the situation was not right, couldn't help but slow down.

This battle is even greater than the time three years ago when the grain harvest was poor and grain taxes could not be raised.

He looked through the crowd and saw a table in the open space filled with chicken, duck, fish, meat and wine.

A strong man in rich attire with a golden sword was sitting there, tearing off a chicken leg and eating it.

The village chief, who was nearly forty years old, nodded and stood aside, with faint red palm prints visible on his face.

Hiss, the village chief, who can be said to cover the sky with one hand in the low mountain village, was beaten.

The situation is worse than Zhao Xuan imagined.

He threw away the wooden stick under the scolding of the yamen servant, lowered his eyebrows and mingled with the crowd, just like a group of people.

This is not a battlefield he is familiar with, and he does not have the advantage of the enemy overtly or covertly.

This group of people are all fierce and armed with sharp swords, so they cannot be offended at all.

After a while, the strong man who was full of wine and food wiped his hands and asked, "Is everyone here?"

"I'll count them."

The village chief hurriedly went to take stock and reported back: "All 120 and [-] households in Low Mountain Village have sent people here."

The strong man waved to his men.

Someone immediately took out a few portraits and said loudly: "Half a month ago, a group of people passed through Low Mountain Village. These are their portraits."

"Anyone among you who has seen them and told which direction they went will be rewarded with a hundred coins."

"Whoever can help us find them will be rewarded with ten taels of silver." Under the heavy reward, there must be a brave man.

The villagers who were originally as frightened as quails by the big battle became excited when they heard this, and they all came forward to watch.

Zhao Xuan deliberately took half a step slowly and then pushed forward.

Sure enough, the one who rushed in front and almost caused chaos was beaten back by the Yamen guards.

"Come one by one, no crowding allowed."

Zhao Xuan has a sharp ear and eyesight, and he recognized the portraits of Master Hu and others from a distance.

But he pretended to look at it for a long time, and at the urging of the yamen servant, like other villagers, he replied that he had never seen her before and reluctantly left.

Obviously, the Fourth Young Master Hu disappeared. In an era of limited information, the Hu family realized that something was wrong and came to find someone.

Among them was a young man wearing gray clothes, who should be a servant of the Hu family.

The yamen were probably helpers found by the Hu family through connections.

The strong man in rich attire is the person in charge.

According to Chen Ergou, the village chief should have met members of the Hu family.

As soon as Zhao Xuang thought of this, he heard the village chief approach and say, "Aren't these the ones who came here some time ago and said they wanted to go up the mountain to hunt tigers?"

Everyone's eyes immediately fell on him.

As soon as the village chief finished speaking, there was a hint of regret on his face.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to be in big trouble.

The strong man laughed ferociously, grabbed the village chief's collar, and almost lifted him up: "You old boy, if you didn't tell me earlier, you would have made me have to go to Baali to gather everyone."

"Say, where did they go?"

The village chief, who was almost out of breath, decisively sold Chen Ergou: "There is a man named Chen Ergou in the village who is familiar with mountain roads. He took them to the mountain and never saw them come back."

The strong man left the village chief behind and faced the crowd: "Where are the two dogs?"

The crowd automatically separated to make room for Chen Ergou's parents.

When a group faces a danger that could destroy the entire group, and betraying an individual can exchange for the safety of the group, the result is self-evident.

Without waiting for the strong man to signal, two men in gray carried the two of them to the strong man.

"You are a second dog?"

The strong man looked at Chen Ergou's father.

Father Chen shook his head quickly: "I am Ergou's father. Ergou disappeared half a month ago."

After speaking, he looked at the village chief fiercely: "It turns out that the disappearance of the two dogs is related to you. No wonder I asked you to help launch the whole village to find someone, but you tried to shirk it in every possible way."

"You beast, Ergou has called your uncle for more than ten years, how can you bear to harm him?"

The village chief argued: "Those people seem to be either rich or noble. I still thought that Ergou would follow them to eat well and drink spicy food. How could I know that they are not good people?"

Before he finished speaking, he received a heavy slap on the face from the strong man.

He glared at the village chief fiercely: "What is not a good person? Those are all members of my Hu family, and my nephew is also among them."

"If you can't find anyone, you're dead."

The village chief was stunned. With all this fanfare, even the government officials were dispatched. Wasn't he tracking down the bandits?

Looking at the strong man's pale face, he suddenly realized that he was in danger.

He stepped forward and grabbed Father Chen's collar, and said fiercely: "Tell me quickly, where did Ergou take them? Tell him to bring them back quickly, otherwise they will die, do you know?"

Father Chen roared angrily: "How do I know where they went?"

Of course the village chief knew that Father Chen didn't know, but he had to say so.

He just hopes to put all the blame on Chen Ergou and his family, so that he can be safe.

What about brothers of the same race?

In exchange for the safety of my home, all of them would be fine.

The strong man sneered, breaking his illusion: "No one can run away."

"Arrest their entire families and interrogate them properly."

"Captain Zhang, please report this matter to Capt. Yu and ask him to arrange for tracking experts to come to this village to help track down the whereabouts of the missing people of the Hu family."

"You untouchables, stay at home and wait for summons from today on. Anyone who dares to sneak away will have their legs broken at the least, and beaten to death at the worst."

(End of this chapter)