After eating and drinking her fill, Lin Wan sprawled on the sofa and sighed, "I still have to stay cooped up at home for two months. Even when Xiumin comes over, I have to lie in bed. Occasionally getting out of bed, I still have to pretend and act."
Lu Zheng thought for a moment, "How about I teach you some martial arts?"
"Martial arts?" Lin Wan was taken aback, and then she was immediately invigorated, "It’s not that so-called nonsense stuff, right?"
"Are you still stuck on that? Just say if you want to learn or not!"
Lin Wan nodded repeatedly, then became a bit apprehensive, "Um, can I actually learn it?"
Lu Zheng shrugged, "Probably not."
What do you mean, are you just teasing me?
"Even if you can’t master it, it can still improve your physical fitness in various ways," Lu Zheng explained leisurely, "like agility, strength, reflexes, and so on."
Lu Zheng was unsure if Lin Wan could master the ’Eighteen Mountain-Carrying Techniques,’ but as long as she learned even half, similar situations like the car accident she had before would be less likely to happen again.
"What is it, what is it?"
Lin Wan was dying of curiosity, but since she had said she wouldn’t ask previously, she held herself back. However, now that Lu Zheng had offered to teach, she could probe a bit.
"It’s a pretty difficult inner boxing technique. Don’t be fooled by the small number of moves; the requirements are extremely strict."
Lin Wan nodded repeatedly, "I’ve heard about it, the national martial arts in novels are all !"
Lu Zheng licked his lips. To be honest, he wasn’t familiar with national martial arts. He really didn’t know whether they were the same as the ’Eighteen Mountain-Carrying Techniques.’ Even with the Light of Fortune enhancing his sword technique, it was merely about technique and force application, not training methods.
So using the Light of Fortune to enhance those Tai Chi or Baji Fist techniques would be the same. The posture might look impressive, but the core was still his ’Eighteen Mountain-Carrying Techniques’ and Martial Artist’s Blood Qi.
So Lu Zheng could only give a vague response, "This boxing technique is called ’Eighteen Mountain-Carrying Techniques.’"
"’Eighteen Mountain-Carrying Techniques’?" Lin Wan repeated, "Never heard of it..."
Lu Zheng shook his head, if you had heard of it, that would be a ghost story.
"I’ll teach you the first move first."
"Okay, okay!" Lin Wan immediately set aside her doubts and became excited.
So Lu Zheng went to the center of the living room and performed the entire set of the eighteen techniques.
After watching, Lin Wan looked totally confused. That’s it?
Really couldn’t see where the grandeur was?
Lu Zheng chuckled, "Come here, feel the muscles on my body."
"Oh, oh." Lin Wan got up and approached.
Lu Zheng posed in the first stance of the ’Eighteen Mountain-Carrying Techniques.’
"Start from my calf," Lu Zheng gestured to Lin Wan.
Then, under Lu Zheng’s guidance, Lin Wan felt from his calf to his thigh, then from his spine to his back, and finally from his shoulder to his forearm.
In the end, Lin Wan and Lu Zheng looked at each other face to face, shocked.
"Every muscle vibration is essential. They rise and fall continuously, the force is endless, imitating a mountain on a mountain peak."
Lu Zheng looked at Lin Wan with a half-smile, "Once all your muscle vibrations meet the standard, the first move is considered complete."
Lin Wan was dumbfounded, "That’s so hard!"
"What did you think?"
Lin Wan felt a sense of despair. "I don’t think I can even complete the first move!"
Lu Zheng encouraged her with a smile, "Work hard for a year, and perhaps you can."
"But there are eighteen moves!" Lin Wan slumped back onto the sofa. "Even if I can learn one move in a year, it’d take eighteen years. I’d be forty by the time I mastered them all!"
Now I understand why the national martial arts declined. If an obscure ’Eighteen Mountain-Carrying Techniques’ is this hard, those Tai Chi, Baji Fist, and Eight Trigrams Palm techniques must be nearly impossible!
How could an average person endure that? Unless they have an extraordinary talent, they can’t possibly master it!"
Um, even though Lin Wan misunderstood, judging from the descriptions of those traditional martial arts, they indeed aren’t easy to learn. They probably have unique similarities with the martial arts techniques of the Great Jing Dynasty.
"Actually, not that long. The first step from nothing to something is always the hardest. Think about it, once you master the first move, you’ll have the experience of controlling all your muscles. Even if there are changes later, wouldn’t it get progressively faster?"
Lin Wan thought about it, and it made sense!
"I’ll practice! Anyway, there’s nothing to do in these two months, so let’s see what I can make of it!"
Lu Zheng nodded, "You’re teachable."
Then he pulled Lin Wan up and helped her pose in the first stance.
"Here, and here, exert force. These two points are where the first move simulates bearing a mountain."
"Half-step bow, 60-40 weight distribution, force starts from the heel."
"Shake the waist and straighten the back, sink the shoulders and drop the elbows!"
Lin’s mother came out after cleaning up in the kitchen, and seeing Lu Zheng teaching Lin Wan martial arts, she didn’t interrupt and went to her bedroom to rest.
Under Lu Zheng’s guidance, Lin Wan posed in a stance for two hours, then merely knew the force points of each location.
As for muscle vibration, she just learned the coordination of the two calves.
However, this was already enough to make Lin Wan delighted, "Maybe it won’t even take a year?"
Lu Zheng pursed his lips, "I don’t have time to accompany you from start to finish..."
Lin Wan glanced at the guest bedroom, pulled Lu Zheng, and headed to the master bedroom.
Lu Zheng got nervous, "This isn’t good, your mom will find out..."
"Keep it down, my mom usually sleeps for two hours in the afternoon."
"The thing is, the noise usually isn’t from me..."
In the afternoon, Lu Zheng stayed for dinner before bidding farewell.
The next day, with nothing to do, Lu Zheng replenished a batch of goods to his candy shop and then leisurely went out the door, heading to Renxin Hall.
It was shortly past 7 a.m., and the medical hall was already crowded with patients. Elder Liu and Liu Qingyan were busily checking pulses and treating patients, with two staff members dispensing and decocting medicine, bustling about.
So Lu Zheng quickly entered, reaching out to support a patient who almost fell.
"Lu Lang." Liu Qingyan looked up and saw Lu Zheng.
"You focus on your work, I’ll help out."
"Alright!" Liu Qingyan smiled, her expression warm like spring flowers blooming, captivating the patients in the medical hall.
At noon, the elderly at home brought meals over, but Lu Zheng let the hall’s staff eat more while he took Liu Qingyan out to a restaurant.
In the afternoon, just past noon, Hu Zhou arrived at the medical hall after lunch and started all kinds of help in the medical hall.
He stayed busy until late afternoon. As it was already late autumn, the sky darkened early, and there were no more patients visiting the medical hall.
Hu Zhou tidied up his tasks, waved at Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan, and said, "Young Master Lu! Miss Liu! I’m heading home!"
"Hold on!" Lu Zheng reached out and called Hu Zhou.
"Young Master Lu, is there something else?" Hu Zhou paused to ask.
Lu Zheng asked, "When you go home tonight, do you have anything else to do?"
Hu Zhou shook his head, "Not much, just chatting with my mom before going to sleep."
Lu Zheng nodded, "From now on, after helping out at the medical hall, come to my place for dinner. I’ll teach you the ’Eighteen Mountain-Carrying Techniques.’"
Teaching one person is teaching, and teaching two is the same.
Moreover, Hu Zhou is filial to his mother, honest in nature, and helps out at the medical hall without compensation every day. Teaching Hu Zhou martial arts is both doing a favor and providing protection for the medical hall, accomplishing two goals at once.