Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

Chapter 218 Head Instructor, Guest Instructor
The four agreed to leave after midnight, otherwise, if they walked too fast, the city gates of Tianjin would not be open when they arrived.

Wang Ziping took another moment to meditate, while Chen Zhan took a moment to return and give Ye Ningzhen a brief explanation.

I originally planned to leave Beijing tomorrow, but a trip to Tianjin will take a day or two.

When the time came, the four of them went out of Yongding Gate and headed straight for Tianjin.

Last time, Chen Zhan traveled a thousand miles to kill someone, all alone. Now, the four of them are together, so their speed has slowed down a bit. Ma Yingtu's kung fu is slightly inferior, and Wang Ziping's injuries have not yet healed.

Chen Zhan was also injured, but thanks to his self-healing talent, he still felt a slight burning and itching sensation in his chest, which did not affect his ability to fight.

The journey of over two hundred miles took the four of them two hours, and they arrived just in time.

The sky is dimly bright.

After half a year, Chen Zhan returned to Tianjin and came to the lawless Nanshi once again.

There weren't many people around in the early morning, and the vendors had just set up their stalls.

Tianjin was originally Han Muxia's home turf, but the three of them followed Chen Zhan, winding their way through the South Market, and soon arrived at a mutton soup restaurant.

It was the shop that the little fox brought him to for the first time.

The wooden sign reads: "Braised meat, mutton soup".

Ever since leaving Tianjin, Chen Zhan had been craving two things, one of which was this mutton soup and baked flatbread.

The other was "snake soup" made by Ding Lianshan himself.

The four sat down at the door. The shopkeeper had just started lighting the fire. The three didn't ask anything, knowing that Chen Zhan had started his career in Tianjin, so they trusted him to some extent.

"Sir, what would you like to eat?"

"Bring two bowls of mutton soup and twenty baked buns."

The boss was taken aback. Four people, two bowls of mutton soup?

"Two bowls each, twenty per person," Chen Zhan said with a smile.

"Okay, please wait a moment."

The owner of the mutton soup shop was also knowledgeable. He knew that Chen Zhan and his three companions were not ordinary people, and that eating these things was not a big deal.

The four of them enjoyed a delicious meal, and it was almost time to eat.

Then they headed towards Nankai University.

The new campus of Nankai University is located in "Nankaiwa" in the southwest of Tianjin. It was not part of the foreign concession. The area was originally a wetland formed by the confluence of the city moat and the Qiangzi River.

Eight years ago, in 1922, Principal Zhang Boling selected this site to build a new school. It took two years to fill in the low-lying area and build roads, and the first batch of buildings were finally completed in 1923.

Han Muxia greeted them, and the four of them entered.

This was Chen Zhan's first time entering a university a century ago. He had to admit that compared to the filth and chaos of the no-man's-land in Tianjin, the university was like an ivory tower.

Several people entered through the east gate.

The buildings, Siyuan Hall (teaching building), Xiushan Hall (administration building), and Muzhai Library (library), are arranged in a "品" shape from east to west, enclosing a spacious central square.

The weather was perfect at the moment, at the cusp of spring and summer, and many students were reciting their lessons in the square, their voices ringing out.

The students weren't surprised by Chen Zhan and his group; they glanced at them and then ignored them. Some students recognized Han Muxia and would come up to greet him.

Some people call him 'Teacher Han', while others call him 'Instructor Han'.

Han Muxia responded to each question one by one. Every time she was in the pure land of the school, there was less danger and intrigue, and Han Muxia would relax a lot.

Chen Zhan and the other two were also very happy. Most of the people cultivated by universities nowadays can become pillars of the country, not just bookworms who only know how to study. Moreover, Nankai University attaches great importance to practical experience.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have specially added a martial arts course, hired Han Muxia as a martial arts instructor, and now they even want to invite Chen Zhan, the leader of the martial arts world.

After crossing the square and entering the Xiushan Hall administration building, we met Mr. Zhang Boling, the world-renowned educator.

Zhang Boling was in his fifties, not much older than Han Muxia, but he looked much older.

Zhang Boling did not know Wang Ziping and Ma Yingtu, but he knew the Central Martial Arts Academy, since he was considered a member of the Nationalist government, a figure who was both official and unofficial.

Years later, he also officially entered politics and served as the vice speaker of the National Political Council.

So he was very hospitable to them, showing them around the campus and chatting about everything under the sun, from martial arts to folklore, without mentioning politics at all.

Zhang Boling was not very enthusiastic about politics. If Nankai University had not been bombed to the ground by the Japanese army, he might never have entered politics in his life.

The campus retains natural waterways, creating a garden landscape reminiscent of "winding ponds and fragrant lotuses." Weeping willows are planted along the banks of the Qiangzi River, and new branches and buds have already sprouted.

Zhang Boling got down to business.

“Mr. Chen, we’ve been chatting for a while. You’re a man of strong character, so I won’t hide anything from you. In my opinion, the combination of physical education and academic education is the right path. Scholars shouldn’t be weak and helpless, and martial arts instructors shouldn’t be illiterate.”

"We're not saying we'll emulate the Baoding Military Academy and train generals who are both literate and skilled in martial arts, but at least we can improve their physical fitness and increase their self-defense capabilities. When the Eight-Nation Alliance invades the city again, they won't even have the strength to run away."

Everyone agreed with Zhang Boling's words; he was indeed more knowledgeable than most scholars.

Moreover, this is already the case in many places. Nankai University has opened courses in traditional Chinese martial arts, as have several other prestigious schools in Beijing, especially in Nanjing. Even the Central Martial Arts Academy has cultural courses.

"Mr. Zhang is absolutely right. If civil and military affairs are separated, the civil officials will be weak but remain in the upper class their whole lives, while the military officials will be illiterate and just peasants. In that case, it will still be the same old feudal imperial system, and all the revolutions of the past few years will have been for nothing."

Wang Ziping and the others nodded in agreement.

They came from the old society and witnessed a series of cultural and ideological movements in modern times; they could not possibly support the imperial system. Back then, among these martial arts practitioners, only those who had mastered the skills could serve as servants; apprentices were simply not treated as human beings.

“We have already established a martial arts course at Nankai University, but we are still lacking a chief instructor. I wonder what Mr. Chen thinks?” Zhang Boling said immediately, seeing that Chen Zhan’s ideas were the same as his own.

Chen Zhan, whether in terms of martial arts skills or social status, was able to command respect.

Moreover, he was confident that, given the environment of Nankai University, Chen Zhan would find it difficult to refuse.

Chen Zhan was not surprised. Everyone had guessed Zhang Boling's purpose. Otherwise, why would he invite him to visit the campus?
However, he shook his head: "Mr. Zhang's hospitality is too kind of me to refuse, but I will be heading south soon."

Zhang Boling was also somewhat disappointed. In fact, there were many masters in Tianjin, but most of them were old or seriously ill.

Zhang Zhankui and Li Shuwen were the same.

Some time ago, we wanted to ask Huo Diange, Li Shuwen's eldest disciple, to take charge, which would have been enough. However, Huo Diange returned from the Northeast and was seriously injured, and has been recuperating ever since.

But Zhang Boling couldn't say anything after Chen Zhan said that, and didn't even ask why he went south.

How could Chen Zhan possibly change his mind just because of his position as head instructor?

Needless to say, Wang Ziping and Ma Yingtu both held positions in the military and were also employed at the Central Martial Arts Academy.

"Well then, if you have the chance to return to Tianjin in the future, you can visit Nankai University more often."

Chen Zhan hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "If Mr. Zhang doesn't mind, I can't stay permanently, but I'd like to be a guest lecturer and come once a month. What do you think?"

Zhang Boling replied with a smile almost without hesitation, "Guest lecturer? No problem. Ten silver dollars a month for Mr. Chen, how about that?"

This is a lot of money. A few years ago, when Mr. Lu Xun was teaching at Peking University, he only earned about twenty silver dollars a month.

Chen Zhan agreed without hesitation.

He wasn't there for the money at all. A few years later, during that incident, Nankai University was bombed by Japanese planes and almost razed to the ground, with countless people killed or injured.

If given the opportunity, Chen Zhan is willing to do his best to protect some students.

This is something everyone would do; it's not particularly noble.

Zhang Boling was very busy. After making arrangements with Chen Zhan, he was called away, leaving the rest of the group to continue their stroll.

Soon.

Wang Ziping and Ma Yingtu also left; they both had old friends in Tianjin and went to visit them.

Chen Zhan and Han Muxia left Nankai School, then passed through Nanshi and exited Tianjin.

We walked west for about 15 minutes to reach Yangliuqing Town.

It had rained for the past two days, making the roads muddy, but it didn't affect their walking. Some of the old men they encountered on the road knew Han Muxia and greeted her.

Soon the two ventured deeper into the town and turned onto an inconspicuous courtyard wall.

There weren't many people left, and only a few houses were scattered around. A muffled groan came from inside the courtyard.

"Xue Dian is probably here too. You crippled him, and some of your junior brothers are in a frenzy. Are you sure you want to go in?" Han Muxia asked.

"I've come to see my master. He's nothing special. Don't worry, none of your junior brothers are bad people. I won't hurt anyone."

Chen Zhan arrived at Zhang Zhankui's territory.

In his youth, Zhang Zhankui was a highly skilled martial artist who traversed both Beijing and Tianjin. He served successively as the director of the Tianjin First National Martial Arts Academy and the head of the presidential guard for Feng Guozhang.

In his youth, he studied under Liu Qilan, a renowned master of Xingyi Quan. He enjoyed making friends and later went to Beijing to study under Dong Haichuan, but unfortunately, Dong Haichuan passed away. Cheng Tinghua became sworn brothers with Zhang Zhankui and Li Cunyi, and they taught him Bagua Zhang.

Zhang-style Baguazhang incorporates elements of Xingyiquan. He also uses eight trigrams to imitate eight kinds of birds and beasts, creating a new Baguazhang routine.

However, he was getting old, and he had suffered a hidden injury when he was young that he had never recovered from. A few years ago, he closed his mountain gate and went into seclusion in Tianjin.

Nevertheless, he held a very high position in Tianjin.

Because Zhang Zhankui had thousands of disciples, there must have been some who had paid homage to Zhang but had never learned boxing from him or had been accepted as disciples by Zhang's top disciples.

Therefore, the quality and skill of his lineage varied greatly; some were great talents, while others were mediocre.

However, Han Muxia is the recognized senior brother.

Since Chen Zhan said that, Han Muxia didn't need to object anymore. Now, there was nowhere in the entire land of China that Chen Zhan couldn't go.

Although Zhang Zhankui had retired, he had many disciples who often practiced martial arts, sparred, and played around in the courtyard.

A few days ago, Xue Dian was deposed, and Wang Xiangzhai sent him back, making things even more lively at Zhang Zhankui's place.

Han Muxia pushed open the door and entered. The courtyard of the bungalow was very large, with seven or eight people in it. Some were dismantling a siege, while others were practicing with stone locks.

Some people practiced walking on large water vats using the Bagua Step technique. The vats were coated with tung oil, making them slippery. Wu Jinchen could only walk a few steps barefoot before falling into the vat with a "plop."

This caused several of his senior brothers to burst into laughter.

He was the youngest, only fifteen years old, and was Zhang Zhankui's last disciple before he closed his doors to the world.

Wu Jinchen jumped out of the water vat, just in time to see Han Muxia push open the door and walk in. He slapped the floor a few times, leaving a water stain, and said as he approached:

"Senior Brother, you're back! How's Chen Zhan? Is he tough to deal with? Why don't we all gather together, gang up on him, and teach him a lesson!"

Her little face was wet, but full of excitement.

(End of this chapter)