Chapter 136: Castrating a Pig (Part 1) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

Knock knock knock!

Around 3 AM, the knocking sounded again.

Chu Yao opened the door and saw Lin Feng carrying a basin of hot water, his expression humble and polite, which somewhat eased his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, which had been churning all night. He exhaled a breath of stale air, stepped aside to let Lin Feng in, and said in a low voice, "You don't need to close the door, the things are on the table."

Although they are master and disciple, they are also male and female.

Even when alone in private, one should be mindful of propriety and observe proper etiquette.

Lin Feng said, "Good morning, teacher."

I put down the hot water I was holding and helped wring out the towel.

After washing up, Lin Feng's sleepiness dissipated, and Chu Yao got up to go to the east kitchen to reheat the food he had prepared the night before and bring it back. Lin Feng's memory wasn't exactly photographic, and even though the things Chu Yao had prepared weren't difficult, memorizing them was still a bit challenging. He had to read them aloud several times before he could get a general idea.

However, this is not a problem. As the energy of heaven and earth enters and tempers his body, he will make great progress in all aspects. In addition, Lin Feng has strong comprehension.

Chu Yao was a novice teacher, but he was extremely patient. He broke down the entire introductory text on the power of words into pieces, allowing Lin Feng to understand and absorb it piece by piece.

“Cultivation is like rowing against the current; if you don’t advance, you fall behind. Recitation can stimulate a resonance between yourself and the energy of heaven and earth. Different words, different people, different states of mind, and different understandings can all affect the resonance effect. I don’t know your situation yet, so I can only try them one by one. However, the most important thing is to study and practice diligently, and not to think about those shortcuts or crooked ways.”

Lin Feng accepted the offer seriously, not daring to be negligent.

He lowered his head again, seemingly lost in thought, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Chu Yao, being an experienced man himself, knew what she wanted to ask, and said calmly, "You want to know when you can gather your literary heart?"

Lin Feng nodded: "Yeah, I'm a little curious."

Chu Yao said without hesitation, "I am also very curious."

Excluding Wu Lang (whose gender is uncertain), Chu Yao was naturally curious about the essential differences between Lin Feng and male Wenxin scholars, as well as the differences in their cultivation progress and Wenxin rank.

Chu Yao: "But it depends on talent, effort, and luck."

Lin Feng couldn't suppress his curiosity.

How long did it take the teacher?

Chu Yao said uncertainly, "Six months? Anyway, less than seven months, and Wenxin was successfully condensed in one go..."

Lin Feng secretly noted it down.

She didn't think her talent was better than her teacher's, so she compromised on the timeframe and decided on a one-year period.

Little did they know, Chu Yao was an anomaly.

From sensing the energy of heaven and earth to guiding it into the body, then to expanding the meridians and dantian, and finally to condensing the literary heart, the entire process is paved with smooth sailing.

The other two of the Three Heroes of Chu were also second-rank upper-level literary talents, but it took them two years and one year and ten months respectively to complete this journey. One of them was unlucky and only succeeded after four attempts. Other literary talents mostly took between two and four years.

A six-month crash course is nothing short of an impossible miracle.

Read aloud, copy, and memorize.

In the beginning, there were only these three things, which was boring and tedious.

Young children generally don't have much patience.

Make them kneel upright, keeping their backs straight at all times, concentrating their minds, repeatedly pondering the obscure and difficult-to-understand words, understanding the deeper meaning behind the words, and trying to use the words to resonate with the energy of heaven and earth... Even adults find this difficult to do.

As someone with experience, Chu Yao knew the importance of taking things step by step, so he deliberately lowered his expectations for Lin Feng. As a result, after an hour, he achieved results that exceeded his expectations.

Hmm, a pleasant surprise.

An hour flew by as Lin Feng recited and asked questions in a clear voice, and the sky gradually turned a pale white, indicating that it was already dawn.

Chu Yao left Lin Feng with two hours' worth of classroom homework, then got up to go to the east kitchen to prepare breakfast. Several cooks were already busy at work. On the way, the master and apprentice encountered Qi Shan, whose dark circles under her eyes had deepened, as if she hadn't slept all night. They greeted each other with bows.

Chu Yao: "Yuan Liang looks haggard, didn't you sleep well?"

Qi Shan retorted irritably, "How are you going to sleep?"

There are many reasons why one can't sleep, such as Shen Xiaolangjun's "terrifying words" last night, or Lin Feng's half-baked resonance—you should know that the energy of heaven and earth also has "emotions," and it appreciates the power of words; its "emotions" rise and fall with the power of words.

Lin Feng had just begun learning, and his movements caused the surrounding天地气 (heaven and earth energy) within a radius of two or three zhang (approximately 6-9 meters) to fluctuate wildly as if possessed. Scholars and literati are particularly sensitive to the天地气. To put it simply, it's like forcing a connoisseur's ears to listen to a novice who's just picked up a pipa and can't even distinguish between frets and key frets, rambling on and on. If Qi Shan could sleep through this, he'd be incredibly carefree.

Chu Yao calmly replied, "It will be fine in three to five months."

Qi Shan had no choice but to accommodate Lin Feng. There was no reason why Lin Feng wouldn't cooperate. Everyone goes through this. You just get used to it.

"snort."

Qi Shan's response was simply to roll her eyes twice.

The two exchanged glances.

Qi Shan: So what if you have students?

Chu Yao: That's amazing.

Upon entering the east kitchen, Chu Yao noticed that every pot was filled with boiling water. Since firewood was limited in the bandit stronghold, he casually asked why so much water was being boiled. The cook, who was using a bellows, stood up upon hearing this and stammered that it was Shen Tang's order.

Goro?

"Did Goro say what he wanted to say?"

The cook replied, "Give the piglets a bath."

Chu Yao: "...???"

Just as bewildered as Chu Yao was Gong Shuwu.

Just as he was about to begin a new day of training, Shen Tang intercepted him halfway, his brows furrowed with a hint of excitement that Shen Tang couldn't understand.

Gong Shuwu: "Wu Lang?"

Zhai Le was also drawn in by curiosity.

"Brother Shen, are you joining too?"

Shen Tang shook her head and said, "No, no, no, I've done the math, and now is the perfect time to castrate the pigs! The temperature is just right, and the pigs were starved twice last night. As the saying goes, 'a short pain is worse than a long one,' so the sooner the surgery is done, the sooner they'll recover."

Gong Shuwu: "..."

Belatedly, he remembered Shen Tang's invitation to castrate pigs together. He had a thousand words he wanted to say in refusal, but the words of refusal rolled around on his tongue several times before he finally swallowed them back down. A gentleman's word is as good as his bond, and he had already agreed.

He said, "Okay, let's go!"

Zhai Le stared wide-eyed in surprise.

That's really castrating a pig!

He was at least a ninth-rank, fifth-class doctor!

What about prestige?

Although he couldn't understand why pigs had to be castrated before eating them, he remembered what Brother Shen had said about the countless delicious flavors of pork, and decisively followed. Shen Tang circled the pigpen, then, with lightning speed, grabbed a piglet by the hind leg.

The piglet was startled awake and squealed twice.

Shen Tang shook her head, threateningly saying, "Shut up, be quiet!"

Zhai Le secretly glanced at the piglet's lower abdomen. Hmm, it was a male piglet. Although it was young, it was quite heavy.

Gong Shuwu's face was ashen.

I prepared myself mentally several times.

He asked with difficulty, "What should I do?"

Gong Shuwu thought he was the one to remove the egg, but Shen Tang knocked the piglet down, signaling the two of them to hold down its hind legs and neck respectively. He positioned the piglet in a way that made it seem like it was at their mercy, lifted the hem of his clothes, knelt down on one knee, and raised his hand to Gong Shuwu: "Knife."

Gong Shuwu: "...???"

I was so surprised that I couldn't even remember when I handed the knife to him.

Shen Tang: "This knife isn't that big. It's longer than a pig's. A knife the size of your palm will do. Do you have one?"

Gong Shuwu: "...Yes."

When Chu Yao and his companion rushed over, they saw three people huddled together in the distance. Before they even got close, the agonizing screams, like those of a pig being slaughtered, drifted into their ears on the wind.

|ω)

I watched more than a dozen videos of pig castration on Bilibili.

(End of this chapter)