Chapter 34: Crane Body

"Uncle, aren't you my father's only younger brother?"

Listening to his nephew's question, Master Xu's dark old face couldn't help but flush with shame. Then he became angry and pointed at the incense burner in front of him and said, "You evil creature, you're so angry that you squatted at the door and asked people to become sworn brothers. You've ruined the reputation of my Xu family!"

His nephew looked at the incense table behind him, his tone was full of obvious doubt: "What is the... family tradition of the Xu family?"

"you!"

"That's right. You don't even consider whose nephew I am, or whose disciple I am..."

"Oh, forget it, the child is still young and doesn't understand." Zheng Fa stood in front of the nephew of the Xu family who was at least five years older than him, and said to Coach Xu earnestly: "Talk to him nicely, teach him well, don't use violence!"

Coach Xu looked at Zheng Fa with an even more embarrassed expression on his face. He lowered his raised hand awkwardly and whispered, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you..."

Zheng Fa knew that if he didn't say a few words of comfort now, Coach Xu would probably never want to see him again in his life.

He looked into Master Xu's eyes and said, "Master Xu, let alone your kindness in teaching me, I also heard from the young master before that you wanted to take me as your disciple. I have always remembered your kindness in my heart."

Hearing him say this, Coach Xu quickly waved his hands, but his expression became much more natural.

"You are a rough diamond, without me..."

"Without the coach's support, I might not even have the chance to stay with the Seventh Young Master as a servant, how could I be here today!"

After Zheng Fa said this, even though the uncle and nephew of the Xu family knew that he was mostly trying to comfort them, the sincerity in his tone still made the atmosphere less awkward.

"What happened today," Coach Xu sighed, saying, "I lost my composure because of this Spirit Crane Body."

"Spiritual Crane Body?" When Zheng Fa heard that what happened today was caused by the martial arts classics in front of Coach Xu, he couldn't help but look at the books with some curiosity.

"This is what Madam asked me to teach you. It is one of the secrets of the Zhao family. Remember, if you learn it, you must never teach it to anyone else without Madam's permission!" At this point, Coach Xu's gentle face turned solemn.

Zheng Fa nodded, but he was still puzzled: "Is the martial art "Spiritual Crane Body" that serious?"

"It's really that serious!" Coach Xu wanted to say something, but suddenly saw his nephew eavesdropping on the side, and pointed at the door and said, "You get out first!"

"ah?"

"go out!"

Seeing Coach Xu's dark face, although somewhat reluctant, his nephew still walked out the door, looking back every few steps.

Coach Xu stood up and closed the door tightly.

The person outside the door was his little disciple, and also his nephew, but he was still so on guard.

Obviously, he was very cautious about matters related to the "Spiritual Crane Body".

"Do you know why I looked down on other martial arts schools when I was teaching you the Songhe Posture?"

"Because the martial arts of our Zhao family are inherited from the immortal sect. For example, the Songhe Posture, if practiced well, can prolong one's life." Zheng Fa recalled what he had said before.

"The inheritance is real, and the life extension is also real." Coach Xu lowered his voice again: "But the most important reason is that only the martial arts inherited from the immortal sect like our Zhao Mansion can be practiced to enter the Tao through martial arts!"

"To enter Taoism through martial arts?" Zheng Fa couldn't help but look at "Spiritual Crane Body".

"I don't know exactly what "using martial arts to enter Taoism" means, but there has always been a legend in the martial arts world that one can enter the immortal gate by using martial arts to enter Taoism. More importantly, our Zhao family is from the immortal gate, and there is also this saying!" He turned his head and looked at "Spiritual Crane Body": "When Madam taught me this, she told me personally that this is the martial arts of "using martial arts to enter Taoism."

"I was thinking at the time, maybe if I mastered this, I could also enter the Immortal Sect!"

Zheng Fa nodded, understanding the preciousness of the "Spiritual Crane Body" and Coach Xu's caution.

"But... Coach, haven't you practiced before? Why are you still..."

Zheng Fa didn't finish his words. He couldn't say, "Why are you still licking me so deliberately... uh, to please me?" Coach Xu seemed to understand what he meant, and his face was a little embarrassed, but after a while he laughed at himself: "I thought I had let it go."

"Hmm?" Zheng Fa vaguely guessed what he meant.

"Zheng Fa, do you know how long I have been in the Zhao family?"

“I don’t know.”

"Like you, I am also a child of the Zhao family. I grew up in the Zhao family, and now it has been fifty-five years. But I am luckier than you. I have been in the Zhao Mansion since I was a child. I was appreciated and started practicing martial arts at the age of ten."

Coach Xu looks like a middle-aged man, but he is actually over 50 years old. It is obvious that he is very successful in martial arts.

A trace of reminiscence flashed across his face, and he continued, "I have good aptitude. I stood out from the guards in ten years and was promoted to a coach. In twenty years, I have become a first-class master in the martial arts world. I think the world is so big that I can go anywhere!"

Zheng Fa didn't say anything. He was waiting for Coach Xu to say the next word.

"At that time, my wife saw that I had great talent and gave me this book 'Spiritual Crane Body'." Instructor Xu pinched the edge of the desk with his fingers, very hard, and the blue veins on his fingers bulged. "At that time, my ambition was higher than the sky. I heard that if I mastered this martial art, I could enter the immortal gate. Naturally, I was ecstatic. I made up my mind to practice this Spirit Crane Body, transcend the mundane world, and become an immortal in one step!"

Having said that, his fingers slowly relaxed and a bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

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"You probably guessed what happened next. I didn't succeed in practicing."

Zheng Fa nodded, but Coach Xu's next words still surprised him a little.

"Do you know how long I have wasted practicing the Spirit Crane Body?"

"Twenty years!"

Instructor Xu's voice was filled with bitterness: "For twenty years! I studied "Spiritual Crane Body" every day. I kept these books with me when I ate and slept. I was like a madman, but I gained nothing."

Zheng Fa didn't expect that "Spiritual Crane Body" would be so difficult to practice according to Coach Xu.

Coach Xu looked nothing like the rough and sturdy man Zheng Fa had known before. His expression was full of vicissitudes. "When I woke up, I realized that time is like a thief. I have wasted twenty years."

"Without a wife or children, and without any achievements, my ambitions were gone. Only then did I finally decide to put down "Spiritual Crane Body" and return the book to my wife."

Inside the room, neither of them spoke, and the only thing that echoed was Coach Xu's unspeakable regret.

After a long while, it was still Master Xu who shook his head and broke the silence with a complicated smile on his face: "I heard that Madam wants to teach you the Spirit Crane Body. I thought that you have better talent than me, and maybe you can master this martial art."

Zheng Fa knew clearly in his heart that according to what Coach Xu said, he might not be more talented than Coach Xu.

"I just had a selfish thought, and wanted to establish a good relationship with you first. If you say you have mastered it in the future, I will ask you for advice. There is still hope that I can master this "Spiritual Crane Body". Saying that I have let it go is just wishful thinking." As he said this, he also bowed to Zheng Fa: "I didn't expect that I would make a fool of myself in front of you."

Zheng Fa did not think that Master Xu had too many delusional thoughts. It would be hard for anyone who had wasted half his life on "Spiritual Crane Body" not to have mental demons.

"Okay, take this Spirit Crane Body back. Madam asked me to teach you, but to be honest, I can't teach you anything. The little I have learned might even lead you astray."

Zheng picked up a few books and just stood up when he heard Coach Xu say, "Zheng Fa, I have another request..."

"Um?"

“This Spirit Crane Body is difficult to practice, and I don’t know how many years it will take you to master it. But if you succeed in practicing it, even if I die, you must tell me at my grave.” Coach Xu turned around and didn’t look at Zheng Fa, but said in a heavy tone: “Let me know that this saying of entering the Dao through martial arts is not false, and my half-life... is not a joke!”

"Forget it. If you can't master it in a few years, don't practice it." Zheng Fa nodded. When he turned to leave, he heard Coach Xu's low voice again: "Don't learn from me."

(End of this chapter)