Chapter 3: Branch-Breaking Boxing
Chapter 3: Branch-Breaking Boxing
Li Zian stopped practicing his boxing.
He could tell it was Chen Gang’s voice.
“Who is making noise outside?” Lin Shengnan frowned; she hated being disturbed the most.
“Grandma, I will go check,” Li Zian said as he walked toward the courtyard gate.
He was not afraid of trouble, especially now that he possessed the Great Sluggard Cauldron and had inherited Ji Da’s Fangshi esoteric arts. But he was worried about scaring the Old Matriarch.
The courtyard gate opened, and Li Zian immediately saw Chen Gang standing below the steps outside, along with his cronies. Several thugs were glaring at him menacingly.
Li Zian closed the gate behind him and asked, “What do you want?”
Chen Gang pointed at Li Zian, his vicious voice spraying spit as he yelled, “Damn you! You hurt my wife! Give me ten thousand for medical fees, or I will kill you!”
Li Zian stepped down and stood in front of Chen Gang. “I don’t have money, and I won’t give you my life either. Just so you know, there’s a crackdown on crime now. Are you sure you want to cause trouble here?”
“You damn freeloader! How dare you act so arrogant?” Chen Gang cursed. “Who in Crescent Moon Village doesn’t know your wife sells herself outside? Who would believe you have no money?”
This crossed Li Zian’s bottom line, and Chen Gang was flaunting it brazenly.
How could he endure it?
Li Zian’s expression grew cold, and he clenched his fists.
A stream of heat flowed from the Great Sluggard Cauldron, instantly rushing to his fists. The veins on both hands bulged immediately.
Chen Gang grabbed Li Zian by the collar and sneered, “You dare raise your fists? I’ll—”
Before he could finish, Li Zian suddenly punched him in the stomach. Chen Gang’s mouth opened wide, his expression as if he had been rammed by a bull, not punched.
Li Zian suddenly grabbed Chen Gang’s wrist, lifted it upward, and slid his hand back to grip Chen Gang’s palm. Then he forcefully twisted it in the opposite direction.
Crack!
“Ah!” Chen Gang let out a sharp cry. His whole body leaned in the direction of Li Zian’s force, but it did nothing to ease the pain of his broken wrist bone.
Chen Gang’s cronies were completely stunned. They had seen Li Zian run from them earlier that afternoon, but now he had the nerve to attack Chen Gang right in front of them.
“Attack him, damn it!” Chen Gang’s voice sounded like he was crying.
His friends finally snapped out of it and rushed forward together.
Li Zian shoved Chen Gang away and grabbed the hand of the thug who was reaching for his throat. He only grabbed one finger, and in that instant, he twisted it sharply in the opposite direction.
Crack!
The thug’s mouth opened wide, but no sound came out.
Ten fingers connect to the heart; breaking a finger bone must be excruciating!
This was Branch-Breaking Boxing, specialized in breaking bones.
Li Zian was just a beginner, so its power was limited. But with the Great Sluggard Cauldron’s slight enhancement, dealing with a few thugs was no problem.
The thugs charged at Li Zian. Some threw punches, others kicked.
Li Zian did not let go. He swung the thug he was holding in a half-circle. With almost no effort, wherever his hand went, the hundred-plus-pound thug followed, blocking the attacks of his companions.
The thugs crashed into each other, creating chaos.
Li Zian lifted his foot and kicked the thug whose finger he had broken. The thug slid several meters along the ground before stopping.
The others, knocked off balance, were utterly bewildered.
This Li Zian was nothing like the freeloader they knew. It was like he was possessed by a martial arts master!
Chen Gang struggled up from the ground and reached for a knife. But his right wrist was fractured, and even moving it was agonizing. Before he could switch to his left hand, Li Zian rushed forward and punched him in the chest.
“Ugh!” Chen Gang vomited his dinner—rice, vegetables, and beer—all over the ground. He fell and rolled twice before stopping.
The other thugs were scared stiff, not daring to move.
Before the fight, Li Zian had been nervous, but now he was relaxed.
The Great Sluggard Cauldron had given him strength far beyond what he once had. With Branch-Breaking Boxing, he didn’t have to worry about getting hurt by these lowlifes.
“Get him… get him together!” Chen Gang wailed on the ground. Something like chives dribbled from the corner of his mouth—a pitiful sight.
No one moved.
Li Zian took half a step forward with his right foot. His left hand extended in front, fingers slightly spread like an eagle’s claw. His right hand remained behind, clenched into a ready iron fist. He leaned forward slightly, his back straight like a pine tree, his hips lowered just a bit, steady as a mountain.
This was the starting stance of Branch-Breaking Boxing.
Even without a martial arts pose, no one had dared attack. With this stance, they were even more intimidated, and the thugs backed away step by step.
Li Zian felt he might be overdoing it. He relaxed his stance and said calmly, “I’ve practiced martial arts since I was a child, over twenty years. If I don’t show my strength, you’ll take me for a weakling?”
Chen Gang and the thugs looked baffled. They had all grown up in the same village—how come they never knew Li Zian practiced martial arts?
Li Zian suddenly raised his voice, snarling, “Get out of here, all of you! Or I’ll break your legs!”
He didn’t usually show off, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t. Sometimes, it was necessary. For these thugs, beating them up and then scaring them would work best.
These thugs usually only picked on easy targets. They had never faced a real martial artist, so they all turned and ran.
Chen Gang also scrambled up and staggered away.
Li Zian stood in the open space in front of the door, replaying the fight in his mind. Sometimes, if he felt a move was wrong, he would practice it again.
Practicing alone was one thing; actual combat was another. Learning from experience was crucial.
When the thugs were out of sight, Li Zian turned and went back inside.
Lin Shengnan stood at the door of the main hall, watching Li Zian. She asked, “Who was making noise outside just now?”
Li Zian said, “Just some beggars. I sent them away.”
Lin Shengnan lost interest and waved her hand. “Zian, come over and offer incense to our ancestors. Bow a few times.”
Li Zian walked over.
In the main hall, there was a shrine with the ancestral tablets of the Yu Family. One ancestor, Yu Qingshan, was a high-ranking official from the Qing dynasty two hundred years ago. He had served as the Provincial Governor of Ze Province. This old house was left by that ancestor and was over two hundred years old. It had a front courtyard and a backyard, with careful attention to materials and layout.
The old house was originally looked after by a relative of the Yu Family, until four years ago when Yu Meilin and her grandmother returned, and the relative left. After Li Zian married into the Yu Family, he moved into this old house and took over the relative’s duties.
Li Zian lit a stick of incense, then knelt on the prayer mat and kowtowed three times.
Lin Shengnan said, “Go on, go. I’ll stay here for a while.”
“The night is cold, Grandma. Go to bed early,” Li Zian reminded her, then left the main hall.
Lin Shengnan’s voice chanting scriptures could be heard from the main hall. She was reciting the Diamond Sutra.
Back in his room, Li Zian thought about what had happened to him. The Great Sluggard Cauldron appeared in his mind without warning.
It was like his secondary brain, specialized in Fangshi skills.
Ji Da had passed down three peerless skills to him. He had already tried the Absorption Art and the Great Slumber Qi Refining Art. Only the Drawing Divination Art remained untested.
“What would happen if I cast a divination for myself?” Li Zian felt excited at the thought.
He found a piece of paper and a pen, then closed his eyes and scribbled randomly.
Without any prompt, after about a minute, his hand naturally stopped.
The paper was full of lines drawn by the pen, looking like a bird’s nest.
What kind of divination symbol was this messy drawing, and how should it be interpreted?
Li Zian had no clue.
Suddenly, the Fangshi Secondary Brain—the Great Sluggard Cauldron—shone brightly. The bird’s nest on the paper remained a bird’s nest, but in his mind’s image, there was hidden a peach blossom pattern.
The feeling of being possessed by Ji Da returned.
He had never known how to interpret divination symbols, but now the interpretation appeared in his mind: A dragon in shallow water is teased by shrimp; a tiger on the plains is bullied by dogs. Even a dried fish will one day turn over; after hardship comes sweetness, peach blossoms bloom.
So it was solved just like that?
Li Zian was both surprised and confused. Earlier, he had just scribbled randomly, not intending to draw a flower at all. Yet, he had drawn a peach blossom on the paper. Still, the interpretation was easy to understand: the first two lines described his current situation, and the last two said his luck was about to change—and it was peach blossom luck at that.
Ring ring!
His mobile phone suddenly rang.
Li Zian took out his phone and glanced at it. The screen showed the contact name “Housekeeper.”
It was Yu Meilin calling.
His heart stirred. I just cast a divination for myself, saying I would have peach blossom luck, and now Yu Meilin calls. But she’s my wife—surely she isn’t that peach blossom, right?
He swiped to answer.
A calm voice came from the phone: “I will be back for Grandma’s birthday.”
Li Zian had many things he wanted to say, but hearing that emotionless voice, the words stuck in his throat. He only managed to say, “Oh.”
“You recently…” Yu Meilin’s voice trailed off.
Li Zian waited for her to finish.
“Never mind, I’m hanging up,” Yu Meilin said.
It was always like this.
For four years, Yu Meilin called him once a year, never more than three sentences.
This year, it was only two and a half.
Li Zian smiled wryly. “Forget it. I’d better study Ji Da’s peerless skills. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the mountains to gather herbs. Besides making medicinal plasters, I can also try those mysterious secret recipes for nourishment.”
He kept thinking about it until he fell asleep.
Breathe in—breathe out—
Natural air entered his lungs and circulated through his body with the blood.
The Great Sluggard Cauldron released threads of heat, nourishing his entire being.
The Great Slumber Qi Refining Art: sleeping was cultivation.