Chapter 49: Boy
Ming Huashang had just arrived in a strange place and did not sleep well at night. She woke up before dawn the next day. She knew that she would have to rely on herself for everything in the future, so she did not dare to delay and quickly got up to wash up. As soon as she was ready, there was a slow and strong knock on the door.
Ming Huashang quietly walked to the door, opened it suddenly, and smiled widely: "Good morning, second brother!"
Ming Huazhang was afraid that Ming Huashang was not used to it, so he came a little earlier today. Unexpectedly, the door opened from the inside as soon as he knocked.
He was dazzled by the bright smiling face in front of him. It was as if the sky suddenly brightened, the clouds cleared and the rain stopped, and even the cold wind in early summer became gentle and affectionate.
Ming Huazhang reacted, surprised at his own absent-mindedness, and said with a smile: "Naughty. Let's go when you are ready."
Ming Huazhang took her to have breakfast first, and then to the training ground. This base does not allow slaves to enter, and it is completely closed. There is a canteen for three meals a day, and if you want to eat at other times, you have to find a way yourself.
They came out early and there were not many people on the road. Ming Huazhang whispered to her about various places. Ming Huashang listened carefully and memorized the routes.
After arriving at the training ground, more and more people came. Ming Huashang looked around and saw a large open space with targets, weapons, wooden figures and other objects in the middle. There was also a nearly vertical cliff to the southwest.
In the dim morning light, Ming Huashang looked at the vague black shadows on the cliff and thought she was seeing things: "Is that a person? Did they get up there like this?"
Climbing with bare hands without rope or protective gear?
"Yes." A voice suddenly came from behind. Ming Huashang was startled and turned around hurriedly. After seeing who was coming, she quickly saluted: "Greetings, General."
Han Jie waved his hand and said, "I'm just here to take a look. Don't be nervous. This cliff is just the most basic test. You will have to climb it in a few days."
Ming Huashang's breath was choked: "Then...what if I fall down?"
Han Jie looked at her with his hands folded and said with a smile: "Then be careful in your next life."
Ming Huazhang said calmly: "Don't be instigated by him. The training is gradual and we won't ask you to climb a cliff right from the start."
Ming Huashang smiled but didn't feel comfortable.
While Han Jie was away, Ming Huashang lowered his voice and asked Ming Huazhang: "Second brother, what exactly is the content of the training?"
"If you ask about the training grounds, we learn everything we can, including riding, archery, boxing, weapons, and concealed weapons. Rock climbing is just the most basic exercise to train our lower body. In the afternoon, we also have literature classes, including astronomy and geography, secret code transmission, secret code decryption, dialect customs, and corpse destruction."
Ming Huachang's face became more and more confused as she listened: "Destroy the corpse... destroy all traces?"
"Yes." Ming Huazhang looked at her calmly. "When carrying out a mission outside, after killing the target, it is very important to remove all traces on the body. Dismemberment and burning are the lowest level methods. It would be best to pretend it is a natural death."
Ming Huashang's expression was completely broken. She asked with a droopy face, "Brother, if I say I want to quit now, is it too late?"
Ming Huazhang was not surprised at all and said calmly, "What do you think?"
"Sister, what are you talking about?" A clear and smiling voice came from behind. Someone held Ming Huashang's shoulders and tilted his head to look at her face. "Why are you so depressed? Who made you unhappy?"
A strong wind came towards Xie Jichuan, who dodged it by leaning to the side, spun around and stood on the other side of Ming Huashang, but he put down his hand that was on her shoulder. Ming Huashang shook her head, but still couldn't be happy: "I'm fine."
Xie Jichuan looked at Ming Huazhang accusingly and said, "It must be your fault."
Ming Huazhang curled his lips coldly and said, "If you can't take care of your hands, I don't mind helping you."
I don't know when the training ground was already full of people, but Ming Huazhang and Xie Jichuan, one as bright as the moon and the other as gentle as the wind, both wearing white training clothes, with narrow sleeves and waists, and long legs, stood together and were very eye-catching. Unconsciously, a separation zone was created around them, and Ming Huachang was forced to follow and enjoy the attention of thousands of people.
She was feeling uncomfortable, but fortunately Ren Yao and Jiang Ling came and rescued Ming Huashang in time. Ren Yao walked along and saw such a large venue and so many weapons, his eyes lit up: "What a great place."
Jiang Ling yawned weakly and muttered, "You are ignorant. What good is this?"
Ren Yao was not polite and slapped Jiang Ling on the back of his head: "If it weren't for me today, you would be late. How dare you complain?"
Jiang Ling became even angry when she talked about this: "How dare you say that! I was sleeping soundly, and you kicked the door open and took away my quilt! Are you still a woman?"
Ming Huashang's eyes rolled around, watching the scene in front of her curiously. Ren Yao also angrily scolded: "Do you think I want to do this? If he hadn't said that if one person is late, the whole group will be punished, would I care about your life or death?"
Ming Huashang turned around quickly, and Xie Jichuan nodded: "I said that. But I didn't teach her to lift the quilt."
They were making too much noise here, and more and more people were looking at them. Ming Huazhang coughed and said, "Wei Yue, you go and call him next time. After all, there is a difference between the two of them, and it's not decent to do this."
Xie Jichuan ruthlessly refused: "I don't have the hobby of lifting a man's blanket. Why don't you go and I'll go wake up my sister."
Ming Huazhang responded by sweeping his long legs and kicking hard. Xie Jichuan jumped back in time to avoid Ming Huazhang's attack. Xie Jichuan was not ready to give up and raised his eyebrows and said, "You are breaking the rules by attacking your fellow disciples during non-combat time."
Ming Huazhang initially just warned him, but Xie Jichuan was so careless that Ming Huazhang unbuttoned his cuffs, revealing his slender and thin arms, and was determined to teach him a lesson even if it meant committing a foul. Ming Huachang saw that something was wrong and quickly hugged Ming Huazhang: "Brother, calm down, the general is coming soon!"
The remaining two men still had their hands in their sleeves. Jiang Ling said in a sinister tone, "Oh, is this the case of lighting a beacon fire to tease the nobles and getting angry for a beautiful woman?"
"If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense." Ren Yao said, "However, if you want to fight, you can use weapons. If you can't kill anyone, what's the point?"
Ming Huashang was furious. She hugged Ming Huazhang's waist and turned around and shouted, "Shut up!"
Su Yuji and Su Xingzhi also came. Su Yuji looked at the five people fighting not far away and frowned, "What are they doing?"
Su Xingzhi also didn't understand. He looked ahead. The sun was rising, and the bright sunlight fell on the five boys and girls. The three men had different temperaments, but they were all tall and long-legged, full of youthful vigor and heroic spirit; the two girls were one heroic and the other sweet, with their hair tied up high, revealing their slender necks and pure cheeks, just like the morning sun shining from behind, so beautiful that it made people sigh.
Su Xingzhi couldn't understand, didn't they know where this place was, why could they be so bright and cheerful? It was as if they were not in a secret base for training secret guards, but in Qujiang and Luoshui, where the spring breeze was in full swing and the young people of Wuling were flying freely.
Ming Huashang didn't know that others were looking at them with strange eyes at this moment. Before their group could develop into an internal fight, Han Jie appeared. Ming Huashang breathed a sigh of relief and said hurriedly: "General Han is here, stop messing around, stand still!"
Ming Huazhang was helpless. She had just arrived yesterday, and she dared to scold him today. However, the matter had its priorities. In front of Han Jie, he couldn't be too disrespectful, so he could only temporarily suppress the thought of punishing Xie Jichuan.
Finally, the noise calmed down. Everyone raised their heads and looked at Han Jie above. Han Jie did not give a lecture or show off his power like a general in an ordinary army camp, but smiled and said, "Everyone is here, that's good. I thought there would be troublemakers today, what a pity. No matter what your status was before joining Xuanxiaowei, once you enter, you must abide by the rules of Xuanxiaowei. Fortunately, the rules of Xuanxiaowei are very simple. Many tasks can only be successful, not failed. No matter what means are used, it is the same in Xuanxiaowei. The only thing that matters is the result, and the winner is supreme."
This was very different from the military discipline in everyone's mind. Han Jie didn't care how much shock the young people below him caused. He smiled and said, "Okay, let's start training. I don't like those empty things. Let's start with actual combat. A master will come to teach you how to fight. Now, run ten laps around the training ground to warm up."
Ming Huashang heard his breathing stagnate slightly: "Ten laps?"
She scanned the endless training ground in a daze, her head buzzing.
However, no one explained, as someone in the team had already taken the lead and ran away. Except for Ming Huashang and a few others, everyone else entered as a single person, and was used to fighting alone, so they certainly didn't care about the lives of others.
In the blink of an eye, the training ground was in chaos, with everyone scrambling for advantageous positions without any formation at all.
Ming Huazhang looked at Ming Huashang, and the meaning in his eyes was self-evident. Ming Huashang gritted her teeth, thinking that it was only ten laps, she had hands and feet, she didn't believe she couldn't do it. Ming Huashang said to Ming Huazhang: "Second brother, you don't have to worry about me, you go first. I'm sure I can't keep up with you, so why not take your time at the back."
Ming Huazhang also knew this. He didn't expect Ming Huachang to finish the race. He gave him face by making it through one lap. Ming Huazhang said, "Do what you can. Han Jie won't do anything to you while I'm here."
Ming Huashang nodded, her smile full of vigor, but when Ming Huazhang turned around, her face fell.
Ming Huashang turned around and exchanged glances with Jiang Ling beside her. Jiang Ling asked tentatively, "How about we go together?"
"Okay." Ming Huashang agreed happily, "Run slowly, whoever is faster is a dog!"
Ren Yao had been practicing martial arts since she was a child, so this level was nothing to her. After she finished running a lap, she passed Ming Huashang and Jiang Ling and heard them cheering each other up: "It's actually very easy, there are only nine and a half laps left, it's not worth mentioning!"
With commendable courage, Ren Yao mercilessly passed by them, leaving behind a sentence "You guys are the last one" and then flew away.
More and more people passed them, and Ming Huashang's strength was rapidly depleted. All she could see was the monotonous yellow earth and her increasingly heavy breathing. She felt that Jiang Ling seemed to be one step ahead, so she finally showed her dagger and dragged Jiang Ling, saying, "You are not allowed to leave first!"
She would drag Jiang Ling to be the last one even if she died!
Jiang Ling also bared his teeth and said, "Let me go, I can at least be the second to last!"
Han Jie stood on a high place and saw thousands of ships competing with each other on the parade ground. Among the crowd, two leaky boats stood out.
Ming Huashang and Jiang Ling were pulling each other. They were slow to begin with, and they were trying to put each other behind them. Han Jie was speechless for a long time, and after a while he said to the person next to him: "What do you think?"
Ming Huazhang stood beside Han Jie without knowing when, and said calmly: "What do you think of the person you picked?"
Han Jie chuckled with a fake smile, and if you listened carefully, you could hear the sound of teeth grinding: "They really are a pair of sleeping dragons and phoenixes."
Ming Huazhang did not continue the topic and said, "She has been spoiled since she was a child, and many people here either have a basic martial arts foundation or have been spies before. It is not fair to train her with them."
Han Jie smiled after hearing this and said teasingly, "I've heard for a long time that General Ming is upright and honest, and abides by the virtues of a gentleman. I never thought that he would be partial to others."
Ming Huazhang ignored his joke and said, "Two laps is enough for her given her physical condition. Don't push her too hard. Ask her to stop when she's almost there and take her to rest."
Han Jie raised his eyebrows, but did not say whether to agree or not. Instead, he said, "Okay, as long as she stops and gives up, I will send someone to help her out."
Ming Huazhang was not happy with Han Jie's perfunctory promise, but Ming Huachang was very flexible and would not let him suffer, so he did not force it too much and turned around and said, "It's a deal."
Ming Huazhang thought Ming Huashang would stop soon, however, until everyone had finished running and only Ming Huashang and Jiang Ling were left moving slowly on the field, she still did not stop.
Ming Huazhang kept staring at the small white figure. No matter how ruthless he said, he couldn't really ignore Ming Huachang. I think Ming Huachang knew this. As long as she stopped, Han Jie's people would appear in time and find an excuse for her to be exempted from the remaining laps. She knew it clearly, so why didn't she give up?
Xie Jichuan crossed his arms and looked at Ming Huashang who was struggling to move, and said, "She is much stronger than I thought. If it were an ordinary woman, she would have been unable to bear it by now."
Running is not only a physical torture, but also a mental one. No one finds running enjoyable. It is a long tug-of-war between willpower and nature. It takes a lot of determination to persevere, but to give up, you just need to obey your own wishes.
Moreover, she still insisted in front of so many people, knowing that she was inferior to others. Jiang Ling was a young man after all, and he had been a playboy for so many years, so he was very thick-skinned. But Ming Huashang was different. Before today, she was a spoiled young lady in a mansion, and now she had to be looked at and ridiculed by so many people. If she were an ordinary young lady, she would have cried by now.
Ren Yao also frowned and said, "They didn't manage their energy well. It's only the fifth lap now, and judging from her appearance, she has already used up all her energy. This won't work. She won't be able to hold on any longer."
Someone snorted coldly and said, "Isn't it said that in Xuanxiaowei, the winner is supreme? Our time is so precious, why should we wait for those two bastards?"
Ren Yao was furious when he heard this: "What did you say?"
The other party did not hold back, but mocked: "Am I wrong? Look at how slow they are, they have only run less than half the distance in such a long time, I am afraid that even turtles are better than them. What's the matter? Is it possible that waste is valuable and we can't scold it? Do we have to trouble so many of us to wait for them?"
Ren Yao was very angry, but his martial arts master said, "The time is up. Stand in pairs. I will teach you boxing. Listen carefully. I will only explain it once."
Ren Yao was furious. If she couldn't control her martial arts master, could she control these people? She strode to the person who had just said the cold words and said coldly, "They are slow, but they didn't give up. Aren't you very powerful? Fight with me and I'll see if you can hold out as long as they can."
The martial arts master turned a blind eye to the fight below, took the starting stance, and said: "This is the boxing style created by King Wei. King Wei was a strong and powerful man with excellent martial arts. He made great contributions to the destruction of the Sui Dynasty and the establishment of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the boxing style he created was fortunately named after the country and spread among the army. The first move of King Wei's Tang boxing is the cat's nest."
Ren Yao clenched his fist and punched the man on the bridge of his nose. The man opposite did not expect a woman to be so strong. He covered his nose in anger and complained: "Master, she is not using the boxing you taught her at all."
Ren Yao sneered: "If you can't beat me, then you can't beat me. Do I need to pick the moves you know to beat you?"
The master in front of him turned a deaf ear to him, retracted his legs and changed hands, and made a dog posture: "Second posture, dog flash."
Ming Huachang could no longer see what was happening in the center of the training ground. She saw flashes of white light, her breathing became heavy as if she had been drinking lead, and her mouth tasted of blood.
At first, she pulled Jiang Ling, but later, they started pulling each other, not letting the other stop.
Jiang Ling's condition was slightly better than Ming Huashang's, but he was also panting and pleading: "Ming Huashang, I can't run anymore, I'll stop first. Anyway, my father is the Marquis of Jiang'an, they dare not go too far with me."
"No." Ming Huashang didn't even have the strength to speak, but she still tightly grasped Jiang Ling's clothes and panted, "Do you plan to say that you are the son of Marquis Jiang An every time you introduce yourself in the future? This is the seventh round. Hold on a little longer. If others can do it, there is no reason why we can't."
Xie Jichuan learned the six arts of a gentleman since childhood, and he knew boxing and kicking, but this was the first time he systematically learned boxing. Prince Wei was a natural warrior, and was known as the strongest Xuanba in his time. The boxing he created also emphasized strength, ferocity, practicality, and strong lethality. Later, Emperor Taizong further improved and developed this boxing and promoted it to the entire army, which led to the invincible Tiance Iron Cavalry.
The full set of Tang Fist is not something that ordinary people can learn, and Xie Jichuan also cherishes this opportunity. Unfortunately, the person he was practicing with was absent-minded. Xie Jichuan punched the handsome face opposite him. Ming Huazhang instinctively avoided it when he heard the wind, leaned over and grabbed his wrist, frowning and said, "What are you doing?"
Xie Jichuan laughed and said, "I was distracted during the fight. What do you think I did? Don't look at it. It's just ten laps. It won't kill you."
In the last lap, Ming Huachang's speed was slower than walking, but she refused to relax and insisted on running. She and Jiang Ling could no longer tell who was supporting whom. After an unknown amount of time, she stepped onto the starting position in a white light, and she immediately collapsed to the ground like a puppet that had fallen apart.
Jiang Ling was paralyzed beside her. After a long while, he finally had the strength to say, "I have never suffered such a thing in my life."
The sun had risen high in the sky without anyone noticing. Ming Huachang felt pain in her eyes from being stung. She raised her hands to cover her eyes and said weakly, "Do you think I've been hurt?"
"Why do you have to finish it?"
She lay there for a long time, waiting for the bloody taste in her mouth to dissipate a little before she said, "My brother is a gentleman and a noble man. I don't want to embarrass him."
Jiang Ling lay there for a while, then burst into laughter. Ming Huashang kicked him with all her might, and scolded him, "Have you run yourself crazy? What are you laughing at?"
"It's great." Jiang Ling said, "I thought I was stupid enough, but I didn't expect there was someone as stupid as you. No wonder we were assigned to the Xuanwu Group. We really became turtles this time."
Ming Huachang and Jiang Ling finally finished running. At this time, the martial arts master had already taught a set of boxing techniques, and the students had practiced for a long time. Their speed was not much faster than that of the turtle. However, no one laughed at them this time. Only Ming Huachang left the crowd without saying a word and walked towards the two people on the other side of the training ground.
Ren Yao threw the man to the ground with another shoulder throw. He looked down at him and said, "It's a pity that I don't have a gun today, so I'll spare your life. If you dare to talk nonsense again in the future, I'll beat you up every time I see you."
Ming Huashang covered her eyes and fell down suddenly after a lot of exercise. She soon fell asleep. She vaguely felt that the sunlight on her face was gone. She opened her eyes with difficulty and saw Ming Huazhang standing in front of her, holding out his hand to block the sunlight for her.
Ming Huashang blinked, dazed: "Brother..."
Ming Huazhang sighed softly, bent down, and hugged her up: "You can't stop after running. Stand up, walk slowly, and go back to rest."
Ming Huashang hummed, held Ming Huazhang's shoulders, and let him pick her up. She had previously lifted her legs almost mechanically, and only felt numbness, but now she realized that her legs were sore and she couldn't even stand up straight.
Ming Huazhang's hands were steady and strong. He allowed her to put most of her weight on him and helped her walk slowly and steadily away.
The sun was shining brightly, the world was quiet, and many people behind them were watching them silently, but no one spoke.
When Ming Huazhang came over, Jiang Ling reached out his hand, but Ming Huazhang didn't even look at him and walked right past him. Jiang Ling thought that Ming Huashang was his biological sister after all, so it was reasonable for Ming Huazhang to take care of his sister first. He watched Ming Huazhang pick up Ming Huashang like a treasure and hold her up. Jiang Ling reached out his hand again, but Ming Huazhang still didn't look at him.
Jiang Ling: “…”
At this moment, there was a thumping sound of footsteps on the ground, and the stones around his ears seemed to bounce. Before Jiang Ling could look up, he was kicked hard in the leg.
Jiang Ling screamed like a pig being slaughtered: "You tomboy, you are crazy!"
"Get up!" Ren Yao pointed at him with a dark face and said angrily, "I just had a fight with someone for you. If you dare to embarrass me again, I will kill you!"
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