Chapter 43: More Than Meets the Eye

Li Yanqing used to live in a dilapidated thatched cottage and had no real attachment to his home. However, during the recent house reconstruction, he discovered that his family's land plot was actually quite spacious. There was not only a front yard but also a back yard; previously, it had been overgrown with weeds and lacked a boundary wall, leading him to mistake it for barren wasteland.

Now that the back yard had been leveled and enclosed by a wall, it turned out to be even larger than the front yard. There was a jujube tree standing in the yard, though unfortunately, this year was a poor harvest cycle, and it bore only a sparse hundred or so small jujubes. According to his father, in years with good harvests, the tree would be laden with golden little jujubes, and every autumn he would climb up the tree to eat his fill.

The clan patriarch had indeed been extremely generous with the construction of their new house this time, building them a full four rooms. In addition to the main hall and the left and right wing rooms, there was even a bedroom at the back. All of them were brand-new blue-brick tiled houses, and the ground was paved solidly with large blue bricks, completely eliminating the dampness of the past.

Li Daqi had also purchased quite a bit of furniture; the tables and chairs had all been replaced with new ones, and the old earthen kang had been dismantled. He had bought beds for both himself and his son, along with brand-new quilts and hemp mattresses. The only piece of furniture retained was the large camphor-wood chest with its paint completely peeled off. That had been brought by Li Yanqing's mother as her dowry, and it was also Li Daqi's emotional anchor for remembering his deceased wife.

As dusk fell and the day's commotion subsided, Li Yanqing's mind also settled down. He needed to begin writing the second installment of The Legend of the Great Sage Exorcising Demons.

Li Yanqing lived in the right wing room, which was the largest room aside from the guest hall and slightly bigger even than the bedroom where Li Daqi stayed. The little donkey would temporarily lodge in the left wing room tonight, and tomorrow Li Daqi would have someone build a livestock shed in the back yard.

Dahei wanted to go out and play early in the morning and refused to sleep indoors, so Uncle Hu made a kennel for it in the yard, and it would sleep directly in the yard at night to guard the house.

Under the bright glow of an oil lamp, Li Yanqing was writing furiously. The storyline had long since taken shape in his mind, allowing him to write effortlessly in one continuous breath. Just then, his father's voice came from outside the door, "Qing'er, Daddy has something to tell you."

"I'm fine, Daddy, come on in!"

Li Daqi walked into the room holding the manuscript of The Great Sage Exorcising Demons: The Red Boy written by Li Yanqing. Since this was a book written by his son, he naturally wanted to read it thoroughly.

Sitting down opposite Li Yanqing, he smiled and said, "Daddy just read your book. It's really well-written and quite engaging. Even if I wanted to write it, I couldn't come up with something like this."

"You just can't come up with the story itself, I suppose!"

Li Yanqing put down his brush and smiled. "How about I think of the plot and Daddy does the writing? We father and son can team up and make a nice profit."

Li Daqi shook his head. "If I were the one writing it, it wouldn't have this flavor at all; it would definitely be bone-dry. Besides, tomorrow I have to make a trip to the county town to meet with Prefectural Academician Yao and other colleagues. The compilation of the township annals officially starts tomorrow, and at the same time, we need to revise the clan genealogy, so things will be extremely busy. I won't have much time at home, and I'm afraid it will be hard to look after you in the future."

Li Yanqing smiled. "I can take care of myself, Daddy, so you don't need to worry."

In truth, Li Daqi was not all that worried. He used to travel frequently to the county town to copy books, sometimes staying for several days at a time, and his son had always been left in the care of neighbors. Hadn't he gotten along just fine back then?

Li Daqi continued, "Daddy has been thinking about it and decided to leave the family donkey for you so it will be convenient for you to go back and forth to school. You can board the donkey at the mule and horse agency, and Daddy will go buy another donkey."

"Daddy, I really don't need it. Neither Li Er nor Li Sanshu rides a donkey; if I rode one, I wouldn't be able to walk together with them. Daddy should just ride it there! You don't need to buy another one."

Seeing that his son refused to accept, Li Daqi had no choice but to drop the matter. As he stood up to leave, Li Yanqing remembered something and said, "Wait a moment, Daddy, there is one more thing."

"What else is there?"

Li Yanqing retrieved a large pouch of money from the head of his bed. This was the twenty strings of cash awarded to him by the township. He said to his father, "I asked my master: if I only attend the elementary school for two years to learn how to read and write, four strings of cash will be more than enough. I want to use these twenty strings of cash in your name to sponsor five children in the village to go to school for two years."

Li Daqi was astonished and asked in bafflement, "How did you ever think of sponsoring children's education?"

"Because after the New Year, the prefectural yamen will send officials to inspect Daddy's situation."

Without hiding anything, Li Yanqing told his father about meeting Prefectural Magistrate Li and asking him to help expunge the unfavorable record.

Li Daqi was completely dumbfounded. Seeing his father's abnormal expression, Li Yanqing reached out and waved his hand in front of him, "Daddy, are you alright?"

Li Daqi's mouth twitched, and his eyes instantly moistened. Unable to suppress his emotions any longer, his legs went weak, and he slumped forward onto the table, sobbing aloud.

Li Yanqing stopped speaking and simply watched quietly as his father vented the grievances pent up in his heart.

After a long while, Li Daqi slowly straightened up and self-consciously wiped away his tears. "Daddy is just so happy. Qing'er, how did you pull this off? I mean, how on earth did you come to know the Prefectural Magistrate?"

"It was a coincidence. We met while out admiring the snow scenery. He was traveling incognito at the time, and no one knew he was a high-ranking prefectural magistrate."

Li Yanqing had originally wanted to suggest that once the unfavorable record was cleared, they could move away to another place to prepare for the imperial examinations, but fearing that his father would then lecture him endlessly about the exams, he decided to temporarily hold off on mentioning it.

Only then did Li Daqi understand the profound thought behind his son's desire to sponsor the village children's education—it was all to build a solid reputation for himself within a short period.

He ticked off numbers on his fingers for quite a while before saying to his son, "There are thirteen children in the village of proper age for schooling. Li Er, his brother, and you are already in school, leaving ten others. Since you've already sponsored five, I might as well put up another twenty strings of cash to sponsor the remaining five children as well. That way, nobody in the village will praise one household while feeling disgruntled with another."

"That is completely fine! Just take twenty taels of silver from my ghostwriting fees; don't touch Daddy's hard-earned money."

Li Daqi shook his head. "Keep the money you earn; you might have an urgent use for it later on. This is Daddy's affair, so let me handle it."

Li Yanqing did not argue further, understanding his father's intentions. Li Daqi stood up, patted his son's head, and smiled affectionately. "Get to sleep early and don't stay up too late. You still have to get up early for school tomorrow!"

"I'll just write a few more lines and then go to bed."

Li Daqi nodded, closed the door, and went out. Walking into the yard, he gazed up at the twinkling stars in the sky while a whirlwind of thoughts and surging emotions churned in his mind. He let out a long puff of white vapor. How had he ever merited such favor from the heavens? His son had unexpectedly transformed from a fool into a gifted prodigy.

...

At the fourth watch the following morning, Li Daqi left a note, led the donkey away, and departed. With this trip, it would take at least four or five days before he could return.

Not long afterward, Li Yanqing also got up. Unlike Yue Fei, whose character was defined by immediate action, Li Yanqing was accustomed to thinking thrice before acting. However, once he made a decision, he would pursue it without hesitation. He had resolved to cultivate at least some martial arts skills; although he had no desire to enlist in the military, should barbarian Jin soldiers ever invade, he wanted to be able to draw a blade and protect himself.

Li Yanqing glanced at the note on the table. His father wrote that he had already entrusted the matter of the village children's schooling to the village head, telling him not to worry. For meals, he could join the household of Aunt Hu, and his father had left two strings of cash inside the chest so he could buy some food in town if he got hungry.

Li Yanqing went out to the yard to wash his face and then headed to the back yard. When it came to practicing martial arts, he was still completely clueless and had no idea where to begin. Yet, Li Yanqing was certain he must have practiced martial arts in the past; otherwise, he could not have dispatched that mastiff with such clean efficiency, nor could he have thrown stones with absolute precision. Even with innate talent, one needed guidance.

After pondering for a moment, Li Yanqing decided to start by practicing horse stances. At the very least, once his horse stance improved, riding the donkey would pose no problem at all.

Just as Li Yanqing sank into a horse stance, he heard low shouts coming from a distance. Startled, he looked in the direction of the sound and realized it was coming from the woods just outside the back yard.

Li Yanqing's house was situated in the southwest corner of the village, right next to a vast forest spanning thousands of mu, on the other side of which lay the famous Yongji Canal.

He peered over the boundary wall for a moment, but pitch-black darkness obscured everything. Deciding to take action, he picked up a firewood chopper, tucked it into his waistband, lightly vaulted over the wall, and stepped into the woods.

It was Li Yanqing's first time entering this forest, yet he believed the former Li Yanqing must have frequented it. Familiar with the path through several thickets, he walked directly to an open clearing deep within the woods. There, Li Yanqing froze in momentary astonishment: in the clearing, Uncle Hu was practicing with a spear. A heavy spear twirled up and down, surrounded by flashes of silver light like a forest of pear blossoms in full bloom, with several other weapons resting nearby.

Li Yanqing's eyes widened. This was unmistakably a display of formidable martial arts prowess. Little did he expect that Liwen Village harbored such a skilled martial artist.

At that moment, Hu Sheng retracted his spear. In an instant, the fierce momentum ceased like a sudden rainstorm, and the oppressive murderous aura in the air vanished.

"Is that you, Qing'er?" Hu Sheng asked with a smile, his back turned to him.

"How did Uncle Hu know it was me?" Li Yanqing emerged from behind a tree.

"I've long since grown familiar with the sound of your footsteps."

A flash of insight struck Li Yanqing. The rudimentary techniques he knew must have been taught to him by Uncle Hu. Eager to confirm this, he walked up with a grin and asked, "I've been a bit muddled these past two months and can't remember things clearly. Did I learn martial arts from Uncle Hu in the past?"

Hu Sheng tilted his head, studied him for a long moment, and shook his head in puzzlement. "If I hadn't watched you grow up since you were little, I'd certainly think you weren't the original Qing'er anymore. You've forgotten things that happened just two months ago?"

Li Yanqing scratched his head. "Some things came back after I fell into the well, such as all the books Daddy taught me to read, but other things really won't come back. It's as if a few plugs were pulled out of my brain and replaced with entirely different ones."

"That's quite a vivid metaphor!"

Hu Sheng laughed. "Actually, your current state is for the best. It's fine if you can't remember those past misdeeds."

Li Yanqing struck a shadow-boxing pose. "So, I really did study martial arts with Uncle Hu before!"

"I never taught you any formal martial arts. You simply used to watch from the side while I practiced every day, occasionally copying the movements. The only thing I actually taught you was how to throw stones, and you truly possess a unique talent—within a single afternoon, you were better at it than people who had practiced for over a decade. It's just that afterward, I never dared to teach you anything more."

"Why?"

Hesitating for a moment, Hu Sheng finally sighed and said, "Two months ago, I was practicing strength training in the yard, lifting a bucket of water from the well with a single arm. You saw it, and the very next day, you fell into the well. Even though I was the one who pulled you out, I really didn't dare mention it to your father."

"Uncle, please teach me some martial arts!" Li Yanqing pleaded.

Hu Sheng shook his head. "In this world, if one can make a living through scholarship, no one is willing to practice martial arts. I was forced by circumstances onto the path of martial arts myself. Qing'er, listen to your uncle: study hard, pass the imperial examinations as a jinshi in the future, and all of us martial men will have to answer to you."

"Uncle, I'm not just acting on a whim. You saw it with your own eyes—if I hadn't known a trick or two taught by you, I would have been mauled to death by that vicious hound. I'm learning martial arts purely for self-protection."

"But being attacked by a dog is a rare occurrence after all. Once you pass the provincial examination, ten Liu Hongchengs wouldn't dare lay a finger on a single hair of yours. What are you afraid of?"

After a brief silence, Li Yanqing said in a low voice, "When we were returning from the county town, Khitan soldiers shot our wagon's draft horse dead with a single arrow. Uncle, I don't want to become just another horse at the mercy of the Khitans' slaughter."

Hu Sheng was left speechless for a moment. His reluctance to teach Li Yanqing martial arts stemmed from the certainty that Li Daqi would never consent to his son learning from him. Yet, Li Yanqing had a point: Hebei West Circuit bordered the Liao state, and once Liao troops raided the borderlands, these powerless, bookish scholars would be unable even to save themselves, let alone protect their families.

After pondering for quite a while, Hu Sheng slowly replied, "Every art has its specialization, and your primary duty remains studying. In your spare time, however, you may practice basic conditioning with me to strengthen your body."

Though slightly disappointed that it amounted to nothing more than physical conditioning, Li Yanqing realized that since Uncle Hu had agreed, he could find ways to wear him down later. Eagerly, he said, "I have time right now! What should Uncle teach me first?"

Hu Sheng burst into laughter. "If Liao troops invade, the first priority is to run. So today we are going to practice running. Let's go!"

With that, Hu Sheng turned and dashed deep into the woods. Stunned for a moment—having expected swordplay or staff techniques—Li Yanqing had no choice but to follow Uncle Hu and sprint toward the Yongji Canal to the west.