Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 186 The Thousandth
In the corner of the yard, the silly Zhou Fugui had stopped looking at the ants at some point, and was instead doing a few simple movements mechanically, his eyes still dull, and it was obvious that he didn't even know why he was doing this or what the point was.

He repeated the same movements over and over again, tirelessly and without feeling bored, as if he were a mindless machine.

Chen Xuan recognized the movements Zhou Fugui was performing at a glance. They were clearly the postures in the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercises. This was too familiar to him. He had practiced it for many years and could recognize it even with his eyes closed, so he asked Xiao Miao about it.

Looking at his younger brother, Xiao Miao said with a loving expression, "Brother Chen, what are you talking about him? That's it. He's just a fool. He doesn't even know what he's doing. I hope you won't laugh at him."

Although she called her brother a fool, she didn't harbor any ill will towards him. It was obvious that she loved him deeply.

Chen Xuan shook his head and continued to examine him. "I'm not talking about how he usually is, but where did he learn these moves he's doing now?"

"Ah?" Xiao Miao was startled, and glanced at Chen Xuan nervously, then lowered her head and said anxiously, "Brother Chen, I... I was at your place a few days ago, and I saw you practicing some moves at the back of the house every morning. Aunt Rong across the river said they looked good, so I memorized some of them. Seeing you practice every day, rain or shine, I would occasionally practice a few moves after I came back. My younger brother saw it, and he followed suit, and that's how it all started."

At this point, Xiao Miao became more and more uneasy and said, "Brother Chen, I didn't mean to do it, and I didn't remember much. I won't dare to do it again, and I won't let my brother do it. Please don't blame me, okay? I will forget it completely. If my brother dares to do it again, I will beat him up."

Chen Xuan turned around and comforted him: "Don't be like this, Xiao Miao, I don't blame you, it's no big deal, don't worry, I'm just curious"

After Xiao Miao was relieved to be sure that he wasn't angry, Chen Xuan continued, "So, you watched me practice a few times a few days ago, memorized some moves, and then came back to imitate me, so your brother followed suit and memorized them, right?"

"Yes," Xiao Miao nodded, and then continued, "I don't remember much either. Fugui is stupid, very dumb, and he didn't remember many moves. Brother Chen, you saw it too, he only did four or five moves back and forth at this moment."

Chen Xuan immediately understood and looked at Zhou Fugui again.

He knew in his heart that Zhou Fugui was stupid... well, he had a defect in his brain. Because of this, his mind was blank, and then he would instinctively imitate some things. He didn't know what the meaning was, but he just did it anyway.

From another perspective, people with brain defects are simple and maybe not smart, but they are extremely focused when doing certain things instinctively. They have more perseverance than anyone else and don't have so many worries. They are focused and don't feel bored even if they keep repeating something.

After figuring this out, Chen Xuan turned around and looked at Xiao Miao and said with a smile, "It's better to practice than... being muddleheaded and stupid all day long."

"Brother Chen, you really don't blame me?" Xiao Miao asked worriedly.

Shaking his head, Chen Xuan didn't argue with her about this, but said: "Actually, you can also practice it. It's good for your body. Although practicing for a lifetime will only be good for you, but if you persist, you can also have a good body, at least you will get sick less often."

This is the truth. The original intention of creating the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercise was to help weak scholars strengthen their bodies. The movements are simple and do not put much burden on the body. Even poor people can practice it, as long as they do not practice for a long time in a way that exhausts themselves, and they do not need to eat a lot to maintain the consumption of practice.

Chen Xuan was not belittling others. He was just an exception. He was different from others because he practiced the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercise. Over the years, he had intentionally or unintentionally inquired and found that except for himself, anyone who practiced the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercise would get the same effect. He didn't know if there were other exceptions. Anyway, from what he personally understood, in the entire Jing Kingdom, the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercise had been created for decades, but no one else had practiced internal energy like him.

"Really?" Xiao Miao's eyes lit up. She didn't care about the calming and health-preserving exercises. She only listened to the fact that practicing them could help her get sick less often. A family like hers was afraid of getting sick, and even a slight headache or fever would be a huge burden.

Nodding seriously, Chen Xuan asked, "Isn't it true that I lied to you? By the way, how many of the moves I practiced did you remember?"

"Not much. I just watched Brother Chen practice a few times occasionally. I don't even remember one tenth of it, and it's all scattered," Xiao Miao thought for a while and answered seriously.

The movements of the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercises are not complicated, but Xiao Miao only takes a look at them occasionally and can remember about one-tenth of them after a few times. His memory is already very good.

She just didn't have an education, but she wasn't stupid. She was even smarter than most of her peers, otherwise she wouldn't have taken the initiative to seize the opportunity to find a job.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Xuan said, "I see. Actually, those movements you memorized are useless. You still have to coordinate with your breathing rhythm. How about I teach you?"

This was really a sudden idea of ​​Chen Xuan's. Xiaomiao's family was poor and pitiful. If he could have a good body, it would be a good deed.

Moreover, there is no such thing as the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercise that cannot be passed on to outsiders. Everyone can practice it without causing any extra burden. It is the most suitable for families like Xiaomiao's.

"Brother Chen, are you willing to teach me?" Xiao Miao suddenly felt it was unbelievable. At first, she thought Chen Xuan would blame her for stealing her knowledge.

Chen Xuan smiled and said, "You still don't believe me? Not only can you learn it, your brother can learn it too. I can even teach it to your grandfather and anyone else you think you approve of."

Before Xiao Miao could kneel down to express her gratitude after hearing this, Chen Xuan grabbed her and said, "But let me make this clear first. I don't have much time today, so I can only try my best to teach you. It's up to you how much you can remember. If you can't remember, you can ask me later when you have time. If I'm not here, you can also ask Uncle Zhao and the others. They will know too. I'll let them know then."

"Yeah, okay, I will definitely study hard," Xiao Miao nodded vigorously, almost swearing. Since there was nothing to do for the time being, Chen Xuan simply stood up and said, "Come on, let's go to the side and teach you now. Don't delay Master Fang and the others from working, and don't feel pressured. It's very simple, just follow what I say. Then your brother can learn from the side too, provided that he is willing to learn on his own. Forcing him will only backfire."

"it is good……"

Then Chen Xuan began to teach seriously. The Qi-calming and health-preserving exercises were simple and not difficult. He taught seriously and Xiao Miao also learned seriously. Even the five-year-old Zhou Fugui followed suit. Anyway, he himself didn't know what he was doing and was just learning mechanically instinctively.

While Chen Xuan was teaching, some children of all sizes, like mud monkeys, came to watch, laughing and pointing, and some also followed suit. Chen Xuan didn't pay any attention to them. If they wanted to learn, they could learn, and how much they could remember was up to them. If someone could learn, and practiced persistently in the future, and had a good body, it would be considered an invisible good deed.

Chen Xuan is not conceited about his attainments in the art of tranquility and health preservation. He estimates that he is unrivaled. It is not an exaggeration to say that he has surpassed those who originally created this art of health preservation.

But when he taught, he still used normal calming and health-preserving exercises, without any personal opinions. After all, what suits him may not be suitable for others, and universality is the key.

What surprised Chen Xuan a little during the process was that Xiao Miao had a really good memory and learned very quickly. Perhaps it was because she had seen him practice it several times and had an impression of it. Anyway, after more than half an hour, she had learned a set of calming and health-preserving exercises. There were only some small details that needed to be remembered repeatedly, and her movements were not standard, which required him to adjust later.

Then there was Zhou Fugui, who was only five years old and mentally retarded. He learned very slowly by following gestures, but because he was simple and had a blank slate, the movements he learned were the most standard, and even his breathing rhythm was exactly the same, which really surprised Chen Xuan.

But that's normal. He just memorized it mechanically and instinctively. It couldn't be considered rote memorization. It was like it was engraved into his bones unconsciously.

"Brother Chen, Master Fang, please stop for a moment and come over to have dinner," Uncle Zhou said as he came out.

Chen Xuan knew clearly that when he was teaching Xiao Miao and the others, Uncle Zhou had deliberately delayed cooking. He probably knew that this was a rare opportunity for his grandchildren, and it was human nature to protect his children, so Chen Xuan pretended not to know.

"Let's stop here today, Xiaomiao, you have learned most of it. The main thing from now on is practice. If you really can't remember or forget something, come and ask me when you have time. Remember, you only need to practice a few times every morning. More than that will be useless," Chen Xuan stopped and instructed.

It took Chen Xuan several days to learn the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercises. However, Xiao Miao learned it in no time with one-on-one teaching. Apart from the simplicity of the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercises themselves, Chen Xuan could only say that he was just an ordinary person in terms of "learning", and Xiao Miao was smarter than him.

"Yes, I will definitely keep Brother Chen's instructions in mind," Xiao Miao promised.

Chen Xuan smiled and said, "Let's go and have dinner. You've almost mastered it. Teach your brother later. Be patient, he's a slow learner. If you have the chance, let your grandfather practice with you too. It's good for your health."

In the future, if he has not left Mo City, and the Miao siblings have grown up and their family conditions are better than they are now, Chen Xuan plans to teach them the Zhongzheng Fist he learned in school. It is a real martial art that can cultivate internal strength, although it is very simple.

However, the real practice requires the body to keep up, which means eating more nutritious food, otherwise it will only harm yourself. It is not suitable for the time being. A family like Xiao Miao's can't afford it. We'll see when the time comes...

The meal was made by Uncle Zhou, a pot of coarse grain vegetable porridge with plenty of grains, very thick, and even some of the offal that Chen Xuan brought added in, which made it a bit oily, plus a bowl of pickles and a pile of cold wild vegetables.

As for the taste, even Chen Xuan couldn't say it was good against his conscience, but he ate a big bowl of it. He knew in his heart that Xiaomiao's family would probably only be willing to eat like this during festivals, and would only dare to be so extravagant when entertaining guests.

After the meal, even though Xiaomiao's family tried their best to keep Chen Xuan, he had to leave, saying only that he would come back when he had time.

It was not until he was out of their sight that a smile from the heart appeared on Chen Xuan's face.

Chen Xuan had witnessed the coffin-closing ceremony of Master Fang and his team before, and he felt a sense of enlightenment.

"Some time ago, Xiao Gao and I were struggling with how to write the word 'longevity'. We worked so hard for so many days and came up with 998 different characters. That was limited by what we had learned and what we knew. We ended up combining them into the 999th character, which was the limit of what we could do at the time. At that time, I always felt that something was missing and had almost given up. I never thought that today I would be able to complete the last one. I have found the 1,000th character, and my heart is fulfilled. I have finally achieved enlightenment."

With a flash of thought, Chen Xuan looked back in the direction of Xiaomiao's house and secretly said thank you, even though the other party didn't know that he had helped him invisibly.

Chen Xuan felt fulfilled after finding the thousandth "Longevity" character at Xiaomiao's house. However, he taught them the meditation and health-preserving exercises not out of gratitude, but purely out of his sincere hope that they would get better.

In fact, what Chen Xuan cared about was not the word "longevity". It could be any word, or even anything. None of these were important. What was important was that he got what he wanted in the process. It was a summary of himself, a tempering, and a spiritual breakthrough.

"The life span of the end of life is also life span, or it can be said to be the life span of the end of life. Everything in the world has its end. Nothing is eternal. After infinite time, heaven and earth will have their end. This is the thousandth life span I am looking for. It is a rule and a law that cannot be truly written on paper."

Chen Xuan felt relaxed as his thoughts became clearer, and his cultivation level improved even faster. Perhaps he would reach the Grandmaster level sooner than he expected...

(End of this chapter)