Returning to the 82 Mountain Village: An Encounter with the Journey to the West Film Crew at the Beg

The next morning, Zhou Fangyuan was fast asleep when he suddenly felt someone patting his face.

"Wake up, Fang Yuan, get up."

He groggily opened his eyes and saw a huge face almost pressed against him, which startled Zhou Fangyuan.

It was just getting light outside the window, but it was still dark inside. Xiao Chen and Xiao Liu were still fast asleep, one snoring and the other grinding his teeth, and neither of them was woken up.

Lin Zhiqian squatted by the bed, a mischievous smile on his face.

"Brother Lin?" Zhou Fangyuan rubbed his eyes. "So early..."

"What do you mean 'early'? The sun's already high in the sky!" Lin Zhiqian grabbed him and pulled him up. "Hurry up and get dressed, come with me."

Zhou Fangyuan stumbled from the pull, his mind still not fully clear: "Where are we going?"

Lin Zhiqian grinned: "Let's have a competition, hurry up and stop dawdling."

Zhou Fangyuan sat up, paused for a few seconds, put on his clothes, and went out the door.

Lin Zhiqian stood in the courtyard, wearing a loose old military uniform and a pair of worn-out liberation shoes. He was stretching his wrists and ankles. When he saw him come out, he grinned.

"Let's go find an open space."

The courtyard was quiet, with only a few early risers washing up. Lin Zhiqian walked ahead with long strides, and Zhou Fangyuan jogged to keep up.

The two crossed the courtyard, bypassed the canteen, and found an open space behind the guesthouse.

The ground was compacted yellow earth, and several bundles of firewood were piled up next to it.

Lin Zhiqian stopped, turned around and looked at him, his eyes filled with excitement.

"How many years have you studied?"

Three years.

Lin Zhiqian's eyes lit up even more: "Three years is enough! Come on, give it a try!"

He took off his coat, threw it on the pile of firewood, and began to stretch his muscles, twisting his neck a couple of times, rotating his shoulders a few times, and loosening up his wrists and ankles.

Zhou Fangyuan also took off his coat, stood opposite him, and flexed his wrists.

He knew in his heart that his body was only 20 years old and he had only been practicing martial arts for three years. He couldn't compare to someone like Lin Zhiqian who had trained since childhood.

But in terms of experience in competitions, his extra life was not wasted. In his previous life, he was in a theatrical troupe, and fighting with his fellow apprentices was commonplace. Sometimes, when the fighting got heated, he couldn't stop.

Lin Zhiqian got into position and beckoned to him: "Come on, don't hold back."

Zhou Fangyuan didn't stand on ceremony and made the first move.

He took a step forward and threw a punch, but it was a feint.

As Lin Zhiqian dodged to the side, his other punch arrived. This time, his muscles were tense as he threw the punch, making it a real blow.

Lin Zhiqian reacted quickly, raising his arm to block the punch, and then swiftly swept his foot down.

Zhou Fangyuan jumped up to dodge, and by the time he landed, he had already created some distance and stood firmly. Chong Linzhiqian smiled.

Lin Chih-chien laughed and said, "Okay, you have something."

This time, he didn't test the waters and pounced straight at them.

The two became entangled, but Lin Zhiqian was faster, unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks, giving the other no chance to catch his breath.

Zhou Fangyuan blocked a few blows, but still took a punch to the chest. This time it was harder than before, making his chest feel tight.

But instead of retreating, he took a step forward and threw a punch at Lin Zhiqian's ribs.

Lin Zhiqian dodged quickly; his fist grazed past his clothes and missed.

"Wow!" Lin Zhiqian took a step back, his excitement intensifying. "Getting excited, huh!"

Zhou Fangyuan, panting, laughed and replied loudly, "Didn't you also not keep one?"

"Okay, then don't keep any of them!"

The two started fighting again.

This time it was a real fight, not the kind that's deadly, but the kind of exhilarating contest between men.

The punches and kicks were delivered with force, and they really hurt when they landed, but no one got angry. Instead, they got more and more excited as they fought.

Lin Zhiqian swept his leg over, and Zhou Fangyuan was too slow to dodge. His calf was hit hard and burned with pain.

He gritted his teeth and endured it, taking advantage of the moment when Lin Zhiqian hadn't retracted his kick, he punched him on the shoulder, causing Lin Zhiqian to stagger to the side.

"Great!" Lin Zhiqian shouted, his face beaming with satisfaction.

"Again!"

The two fought from one end of the open space to the other, and then fought back.

Zhou Fangyuan was hit several times; his arms, legs, and chest ached, but he felt increasingly relieved.

In his previous life, he had fought countless times with his fellow apprentices in the opera troupe. They would fight until they were lying on the ground, panting, looking at each other and laughing. He hadn't felt that way in a long time.

Lin Zhiqian got more and more into the fight, and his punches and kicks became faster and faster.

Zhou Fangyuan's stamina gradually gave out. He was a beat too slow when dodging and was punched on the shoulder by Lin Zhiqian. He fell backward and crashed into the pile of firewood.

The firewood collapsed with a crash, and he lay inside, panting heavily, his whole body aching, but the echoes were filled with laughter.

Lin Zhiqian stood there, panting heavily, looking at him, and suddenly burst into laughter.

"happy!"

He shouted, and his voice echoed across the open space.

Zhou Fangyuan lay in the pile of firewood and started laughing too, laughing until his chest ached, but he couldn't stop.

Lin Zhiqian walked over and extended his hand.

"stand up."

Zhou Fangyuan grasped his hand and was pulled up by him.

The two of them stood there, panting heavily, looked at each other, and then laughed.

Lin Zhiqian patted him on the shoulder, this time with considerable force, making his shoulder feel heavy.

"To have trained like this for three years, that's impressive!" Lin Zhiqian said, his eyes still brimming with the excitement from earlier.

"It's been years since I've had such a satisfying fight! The guys in my group are either too weak, they fall over at the slightest touch."

Either you're too reserved, afraid of hurting me, or it's just not fun to fight! You're something else, you're really hitting me!

Zhou Fangyuan wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and laughed, "Weren't you really hitting me too?"

Lin Zhiqian laughed heartily and patted him on the shoulder again: "Come on, let's go eat! We still have work to do after we eat!"

He took his coat from the woodpile, shook it out, put it on, took a couple of steps, and suddenly turned back: "At this time tomorrow morning?"

Zhou Fangyuan was taken aback: "Again?"

"What, scared?"

Zhou Fangyuan laughed: "Who's afraid of who?"

Lin Zhiqian grinned and strode towards the cafeteria.

Zhou Fangyuan followed behind, his whole body aching—his arms, legs, and shoulders ached, and he probably had a bruise on his chest.

He tried to move his arm, and a wave of soreness shot from his shoulder to his fingertips, making him gasp.

Strangely, the more it hurt, the more pleasurable it felt, as if something was oozing out from between the bones.

He looked down at his hands; his fingers were still trembling slightly. He had hit them too hard, and his muscles hadn't recovered yet.

He clenched his fist, then relaxed it and clenched it again. His palms were sweaty and covered in dirt from when he fell.

The pain and the dishevelment actually made him feel at ease. How many times in a lifetime can one fight like this without caring about anything else?

He suddenly remembered a saying, one he'd heard somewhere: "In a lifetime, there are only a few truly enjoyable moments."

Let's count it as one time today.

He looked up at Lin Zhiqian's long stride in front of him and suddenly smiled.