Chapter Ten: Teaching Me Martial Arts

Seeing that her son was still unrepentant, Su Yuan increased the force in her hand, hitting Du Nanze with the stick, making him howl in pain.

"Mom, how can you be so unreasonable? You just start hitting me like that!"

Du Nanze was hiding everywhere, thinking about the old man in his dream who had a stick and would ask him every few minutes if he knew he was wrong. He stubbornly refused to admit his mistake and was beaten a lot. Now that he had woken up, he was being beaten by his own mother.

"I'm unreasonable? I hate myself for spoiling you too much, turning you into this wretched person!" Su Yuan, tired from hitting you, sat down, panting. "Do you know you almost died?"

"What do you mean, 'dead'?"

"You got drunk and dragged a courtesan to someone's grave to cause trouble. After you sobered up, instead of recognizing your mistake, you uttered vile words and spread the news far and wide, making sure everyone in the academy knew about it. The grave owner is unhappy and is now bothering you!"

"What?"

Du Nanze's expression changed. He clicked his tongue, recalling what he had done that night, and the drowsy state he had been in these past few days, constantly dreaming of an old man with a pale face and angry eyes, asking him if he knew he was wrong.

He felt a chill run down his spine, and then said to his mother, "Mother, I know I was wrong, what should I do?"

Su Yuan sighed. Seeing that her son had finally realized his mistake and was afraid, she took him to the grave from that night.

They lit candles, set out offerings, burned a lot of paper money, and forced Du Nanze to kowtow several times, sincerely admitting his mistakes before going home.

That night, the tomb owner did not appear in Du Nanze's dream again, proving that he had forgiven him.

Su Yuan stopped sending her son to the academy, gave him some money, and told him to go out and work.

Du Nanze was indeed terrified after this ordeal and dared not act recklessly again.

Jingwu and Shaoche first went to the orphanage and donated half of their fortune-telling earnings for the day. Then, they went to the market and spent fifty coins to buy cinnabar talisman paper. Shaoche also bought some groceries before heading home.

I got home early today; it wasn't completely dark yet.

Jingwu put down his things and went to the backyard. Just as he was about to meditate to convert the merits of the day, he saw his two younger cousins ​​about to climb a tree. He wondered what they were doing and walked over curiously.

What are you doing?

Hearing the sound from the tree, Shao Chengyang turned around and saw that it was his cousin. He smiled and said, "Sister, there's a bird's nest up there. Let's go up and see if there are any bird eggs."

Jingwu glanced at the nest in the tree and laughed: "There probably aren't any in the middle of winter."

Shao Chengyang and Shao Chengmin exchanged a glance and decided to climb the tree to take a look first.

Jingwu didn't stop them. She sat down on a nearby rock and watched them climb the tree. She was also curious about whether there were any eggs.

A moment later, the two brothers suddenly let out a cry of surprise.

Jingwu looked up and saw Shao Chengyang pick up a bird egg the size of a little finger and excitedly say, "Sister, there really is an egg!"

She stood up in surprise; there really were eggs in the dead of winter.

Just as he was about to say something, he saw Shao Chengyang get too excited, lose his footing, and fall from the tree.

He instinctively covered the bird egg with both hands, closed his eyes tightly, and prayed that landing on his bottom would lessen the pain.

When Jingwu saw this scene, his heart tightened. He immediately stood up, chanted the Flying Incantation, touched the ground with his toes, flew forward, grabbed his collar, and safely placed him on the ground.

Shao Chengyang closed his eyes tightly, bracing himself for the pain of landing, but to his surprise, the pain he had imagined did not occur. Instead, his feet landed first, and he opened his eyes in delight.

"It's okay."

The moment he uttered those words, he was met with Jing Wu's cold face.

He scratched his head, quickly handed her the bird egg he had been carefully protecting, and smiled ingratiatingly, "Sis, here, have some. Please don't tell Mom and Dad..."

Jingwu looked at the ingratiating smile on the innocent face in front of him, took a deep breath, and asked, "Where's the amulet I gave you?"

Shao Chengyang didn't know why she asked that, so he took it out from his chest and said, "It's here."

Jingwu looked at the talisman carefully wrapped in cloth and then said with relief, "Keep the talisman safe and be careful next time."

With the amulet, even if he encounters danger, it can save his life.

Shao Chengyang knew the matter was over, and his smile became even brighter: "I understand, thank you, sister."

Jingwu turned his head to look at Shao Chengmin beside him. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Shao Chengmin looking at him with bright eyes.

"Sister Awu, I've put the talisman close to my body."

Jingwu nodded, and then he spoke again.

"Sister, can you teach me martial arts? I want to learn the move you just used, and I want to learn more so that I can protect my family in the future."

Jingwu wasn't surprised, after all, he could tell from his appearance that he was a general from their first meeting.

However, I am not good at martial arts. The moves I have learned are all combined with magic techniques. Even if I teach him, he may not be able to learn them.

She thought about it carefully and realized that the basics should be the same for everyone, so she decided to teach him the basic moves first. She could find a suitable teacher later.

Thinking this through, Jingwu smiled and said, "Okay, wait for me here at dawn tomorrow."

“Okay!” Shao Chengmin looked at her with bright eyes and readily agreed.

A moment later, the aunt poked her head out and called the three of them back for dinner.

After dinner, Jingwu sat cross-legged on the bed and sensed that the merit within his body was being transformed into cultivation.

With the increase in merit over the past few days, I have reached the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment stage. If I help five or six more people, my cultivation may be able to break through and enter the Golden Core stage.

Seeing that the spiritual energy was abundant tonight, she sat down by the window to absorb it.

The next day at dawn, Jingwu finished his meditation, washed up, went downstairs, and went to the backyard to find Shao Chengmin.

The sky was still a bit overcast when she came downstairs and saw the Shao brothers, Shao Chengyang and Shao Chengmin, standing in the courtyard waiting for her.

She blinked and looked at the two of them.

"Sister, I want to learn too, can you teach me?" Shao Chengyang said immediately before she could speak.

Jingwu had no objection; learning more might come in handy in the future.

So, he led the two brothers to run around the yard several times to warm up, and then he led them to do horse stance.

It wasn't until 3:45 AM, when the sun rose, that the three of them entered their home, covered in sweat.

My aunt had already prepared breakfast. When she got up, she saw the three of them exercising in the backyard.

She didn't object to physical exercise; on the contrary, she was very supportive, so she didn't bother her.

Jingwu was sitting at the dining table. After finishing breakfast, he was about to return to the attic to continue absorbing spiritual energy when he saw his aunt wink at his uncle.

Shao Che immediately took out a set of light blue linen cotton clothes, handed them to her, and smiled apologetically.

"Awu, this is a cotton-padded coat that your aunt made for you. The fabric isn't very good, but please don't mind it."