Tomb raiders: You stole my little Qilin?

Just after 5:30, there was a knock on Wu Wei's door.

"Knock knock knock".

Wu Wei rolled over, pulled the blanket over his head, and pretended not to hear.

"Knock knock knock," three more knocks.

After a few seconds, repeat three more times.

Wu Wei hadn't collapsed yet, but the neighbor, Hei Xiazi, had already broken down.

"What are you doing, you mute! It's not even fully light yet!"

"Knock knock knock".

The knocking continued at a leisurely pace.

Wu Wei resignedly got out of bed and opened the door with his messy hair.

Zhang Qiling stood at the door, her hand still in the gesture of knocking.

Seeing that he opened the door, she withdrew her hand without changing her expression.

"Wash up."

Wu Wei yawned and walked towards the bathroom in a daze.

As I passed by the courtyard, I saw Black Bear leaning against the door frame, wearing a coat and looking utterly dejected.

"Hey Wu Wei, can't you do something about him?"

"I have to manage it too," Wu Wei said, his voice still hoarse from not having woken up properly.

I went into the bathroom, took out the little yellow chick toothbrush I bought yesterday from the vanity, squeezed on some toothpaste, and put it in my mouth.

He had just swiped twice when Zhang Qiling walked in and stood next to him.

Wu Wei saw Zhang Qiling's gaze fall on the toothbrush in his hand in the mirror, and the corners of his mouth lifted up almost imperceptibly.

Wu Wei pulled out a brand new little blue chicken toothbrush from the washstand and shoved it in front of Zhang Qiling.

Zhang Qiling looked down at the blue chick toothbrush and took it without any hesitation.

Two people stood side by side brushing their teeth in front of the sink, and two chicks, one yellow and one blue, were reflected in the mirror.

Black Bear walked in, slippers shuffling along. He immediately noticed that Wu Wei was holding a small green chicken toothbrush and was handing it to him.

He took a half step back and said dryly, "I have it, I have it myself."

Wu Wei didn't retract his hand holding the toothbrush, his mouth full of foam, but he still said seriously, "The young man picked it out. The whole family should be neat and use the same things."

Hei Xiazi turned to look at Zhang Qiling.

Zhang Qiling took the toothbrush out of her mouth, rinsed her mouth expressionlessly, and walked past him without looking at him.

Black Bear stared at the merciless back, gritted his teeth, and took the little green chicken toothbrush.

He held the toothbrush up to his eyes, looked at the adorable little green chick, then at his own angular face in the mirror, his expression full of disgust:

"This is so different from my fierce style."

When Wu Wei finished washing up, changed into his training clothes, and walked into the courtyard, Zhang Qiling was already waiting for him.

On the stone table in the center of the courtyard were two gray bricks, with bits of slag still clinging to their edges.

Wu Wei felt a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

Sure enough, the next second Zhang Qiling hung up the two bricks with a rope and gestured for him to extend his right hand.

"Index finger and middle finger."

Wu Wei looked at the two wobbly bricks, swallowed hard, and still reached out his hand.

Zhang Qiling wrapped the hemp rope around his index and middle fingers twice, tied a knot, and then stepped back.

"Sword finger, hold it still, don't move."

Wu Wei put two fingers together and made a sword-finger gesture.

The weight of the two bricks was entirely suspended on my two fingers, and my knuckles immediately felt a tingling sensation.

It's true that he practiced martial arts since he was a child, but he practiced techniques that required the use of the whole body, and his fingers had never been subjected to such torture.

Just ten minutes in, my fingers started to tremble uncontrollably.

My knuckles felt like they were on fire, sore and painful, and the muscles in my wrist and forearm also started to twitch.

"Hey bro, your finger's going to break," Wu Wei grimaced.

Zhang Qiling remained unmoved, walked over and pinched his arm muscles, "Hold on for another twenty minutes."

Wu Wei turned his head and looked at the black bear wandering in the yard with pleading eyes.

Black Bear received that pitiful look and cleared his throat:

"Hey, mute, don't be so strict on the first day, take it slow."

Zhang Qiling didn't even turn his head: "Good aptitude, can't be wasted."

"Alright." Black Bear shrugged and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

"Let the blind cook; out of sight, out of mind."

As Wu Wei watched Hei Xiazi's departing figure, his last glimmer of hope vanished.

Twenty minutes later, Wu Wei was covered in sweat, and the stray hairs on his forehead were sticking wetly to his skin.

My fingers were so numb that I couldn't feel any pain anymore; I was only holding on by sheer willpower to keep my wrist from drooping.

Zhang Qiling finally came over and untied the hemp rope from his fingers.

Two bricks smashed on the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Wu Wei was shaking his fingers, which were red to purple, when he heard Zhang Qiling speak again.

"Practice the horse stance."

Wu did as instructed.

Find a flat spot, separate your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees slightly, and sink down steadily.

Zhang Qiling walked over and pressed on several muscles in his thighs and calves to check the tightness of the muscles.

After a moment, he stepped back.

"Your movement technique is excellent."

Wu Wei looked up at him, wondering what this sudden praise was going to lead to.

"But you rely too much on your movement skills. Your defense and offense are both insufficient."

Wu Wei was slightly taken aback.

He did indeed use the Nine Palaces Step frequently after drawing it.

When he encountered poisonous corpses and blue-eyed fox corpses in the tomb, he relied almost entirely on movement and dodging to deal with them.

In the eyes of true masters like Zhang Qiling and Hei Xiazi, their own shortcomings were obvious.

He suddenly understood why Wu Erbai was willing to let him follow Zhang Qiling.

"Attack me without moving."

Wu Wei took a deep breath, planted his feet firmly on the ground, and threw a punch at Zhang Qiling.

His punches are fast and powerful, but once his feet are immobilized, his attack radius is significantly reduced.

Zhang Qiling simply turned slightly to the side and dodged his punch.

He threw more than a dozen punches, but not a single one of them touched Zhang Qiling's clothes.

Wu Wei withdrew his hand, his breathing somewhat disordered.

Zhang Qiling didn't offer any comment, but simply changed the command: "Defense."

Over the next hour or so, Zhang Qiling taught Wu Wei a lesson in the most direct way.

He slowed down his attack pace, making each move tricky and precise.

Wu Wei's footing was immobilized, and his reaction space was greatly reduced. In the first ten minutes, he was hit on the shoulder at least seven or eight times with knuckles.

After being hit so many times, he gradually figured out the pattern and began to try to use the strength of his arms and waist to compensate for his inability to move.

"Stop." Zhang Qiling withdrew his hand.

Wu Wei let out a long breath, his forehead covered in sweat.

He was bent over, supporting himself on his knees, panting, his fingers still trembling slightly, but the look in his eyes was completely different from when he first woke up.

For the first time, he truly realized how inadequate he was in the face of a real powerhouse!

"Let's go eat," Zhang Qiling said.

Black Bear had already set out breakfast on the dining table.

Millet porridge, steamed buns, steamed dumplings, and a plate of my own creation: steamed eggs with green peppers.

He sat in a chair with his arms crossed, and when he saw the two of them come in from the yard, he snorted irritably.

"Even when practicing martial arts, you still need to eat, right? The food's almost cold. Are you planning to train him into a mute?"

Zhang Qiling ignored him and pulled out a chair to sit down.

Wu Wei sat down in the chair, his fingers still trembling as he held the chopsticks.

I tried to pick up the bun twice but failed, so I switched to using my left hand to hold the chopsticks.

With a trembling right hand, he gave Hei Xiazi a thumbs-up, his eyes filled with tears of lingering pain, and said with complete agreement, "You're absolutely right, Xia."

Looking at his pitiful appearance, Hei Xiazi sighed and pushed the plate towards him.