Chinese martial arts: From being shot and killed by the armed police during a mountain search to bec

The room fell silent.

The main hall, which had just been filled with clinking glasses and lively conversation, suddenly felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over its head.

"What? Someone's come to challenge us?" Chen Hongwen was the first to jump up, reeking of alcohol, his eyes wide and bulging. "We've only been open for half a day! They certainly know how to pick their timing!"

Chen Gongzhe pressed down on his shoulder and said in a deep voice, "What kind of talk is this, shouting and yelling? Once this sign is up today, more and more people will come knocking. The sooner they come, the sooner we can deal with them."

As he spoke, he looked at Chen Hongwu.

Chen Hongwu placed the wine cup on the table, the bottom of the cup touching the tabletop, and stood up.

"Let's go out and meet them."

After saying that, he walked towards the door.

Chen Gongzhe, Hu Baoyi, Lu Songgao, Tian Zhaolin and others followed together, while Li Yi quietly moved to Chen Hongwu's right side.

Chen Shi tiptoed to the back, her little face tense.

Sure enough, a person was sitting at the foot of the stone steps in front of the door.

That was an old Taoist priest.

He was sitting cross-legged in the street with his back to the gate, his gray-blue Taoist robe stained with oil and patched upon patched.

A bronze gourd lay askew beside his leg, half-rolled on the ground, wine still dripping from its spout.

His hair was gray, tied in a messy bun, with a withered yellow hairpin inserted at an angle. He wore a pair of tattered straw sandals, with a hemp rope wrapped around his left ankle three times.

His sitting posture perfectly resembles that of a wandering almsgiving Taoist priest without temples or monasteries.

But Chen Hongwu only glanced at it before stopping.

The old Taoist priest had his back to the crowd. His posture appeared loose, but in reality, his cervical spine to coccyx formed a dark line, like an old turtle lying in a well, not falling in an inch.

His left hand rested lazily on his knee, his fingers slightly bent, his palm half-covered, and his thumb slightly tucked in.

This is the "palm-over-the-sky" form, seemingly casual, but it secretly contains the starting point of the "listening" technique.

Without the person turning around, he could hear all the changes within ten steps behind him.

Chen Gongzhe stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Master, the Central Martial Arts Academy is opening today, and the hall is full of guests. If you are seeking alms, please come in and have a bowl of vegetarian food. If you have other requests, please feel free to speak."

The old Taoist priest then slowly turned his head.

His yellow, cloudy eyes swept over Chen Gongzhe's face before sliding down to Chen Hongwu. He grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "What are you begging for alms for? This old man doesn't eat vegetarian food. What I want is the discipline of those two words 'Central' in your name."

He looked up at the new plaque above the door, pointed at it, and said in a hoarse voice, "Who among you dared to hang these five characters?"

"Me," Chen Hongwu said.

The old Taoist priest glanced at him sideways, then suddenly exclaimed, "Little brat, you're Chen Hongwu?"

"Exactly."

"Great! I traveled all the way from Hubei to Shanghai, and as soon as I entered the street, I heard people say that the Central Martial Arts Academy was opening today. I asked them what the academy taught, and they said that the master's name was Chen Hongwu, and that he would teach everyone in the world how to fight the world's boxing."

Xuanzhenzi stood up, took a step forward, and his voice suddenly turned cold: "What a strong autumn wind! Central Martial Arts Academy, which 'central' do you think you are? The central of Beiping, or the central of Guangzhou?"

With each step, the blue bricks beneath the stone steps cracked with a "crack," revealing spiderweb-like patterns.

Dust filled the streets, rising without wind, rolling up three times close to the ground, before slowly settling down.

Lu Songgao's expression changed slightly, and he exclaimed in a low voice, "This old Taoist has such profound stance training!"

Several martial arts instructors who were about to step forward to help were so shocked by the impact that they stopped abruptly at the doorway.

Chen Hongwu walked down the stone steps, and the two were five steps apart.

"What does the Taoist priest think means by 'central government'?" Chen Hongwu asked.

Xuanzhenzi snorted coldly: "This old Taoist only knows that Wudang has three mountains and nine gates, each inheriting a lineage. Shaolin has two sects, North and South, with incense burning for hundreds of years."

"You're just a young man, hanging such a huge signboard; aren't you afraid of diminishing your blessings and ruining your luck?"

"Fist skills are earned through fighting, not by waiting," Chen Hongwu said. "Since I dare to raise this flag, I will not rely on ancestral bestowals or await the gifts of others."

"Oh?" Xuanzhenzi flicked his sleeve, causing the hairpin to tilt half an inch. "Such spirit reminds me of when Grandmaster Zhang Sanfeng challenged Shaolin Temple alone, leaving those monks speechless, yet no one mentioned 'Central Government'."

"Our ancestors were brilliant, and later generations may not be inferior," Chen Hongwu said.

Xuanzhenzi let out another cold laugh, but then his anger subsided, and he repeatedly said, "Good, good, good!"

The three "good" sounds, each louder than the last, were like three resounding chimes, causing the dust accumulated on the lintel to fall in a flurry.

"Since you have such ambition, today this old Taoist priest will test you."

After saying that, he turned around, walked to the center of the street, held his cane in both hands, and stuck it into the ground.

"laugh!"

The bluestone ground was like soft mud; the bamboo cane sank three inches into it and stood firmly.

Xuanzhenzi took off his outer robe, casually flicked it, and the robe spun out like an iron plate, sticking to the wall several feet away with a "smack".

Where the robe fell, a layer of plaster crumbled off the wall.

"Xuanzhenzi of the Wudang Longmen Sect." He clasped his hands in a fist salute, left hand over right, palms turned over, fingers slightly spread, "Please."