Chapter 726: Kung Fu and Magic Arts
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhong Liuchuan didn’t immediately say anything. He was deciding whether he should stay or leave. After a while, he said, “I’ll stay here.”
In fact, there was not much difference whether he stayed or left since his former colleagues had found him in the village. They would probably be able to find him if he moved to a different place. Sooner or later they would find him if they really wanted to.
He couldn’t live like a gypsy, who tended to stay in one place for only a short period of time. Even if he could, his sister couldn’t. It would be too harsh for her to travel constantly with him, like a rootless duckweed. At least they had support in the village, solid support. w.a.n.g Yao would help him fight against his old enemies. w.a.n.g Yao was a first-cla.s.s doctor, as well as a first-cla.s.s kung fu master.
“Good. I’m glad you’ll stay,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
While he was talking with Zhong Liuchuan, w.a.n.g Mingbao was smoking in the yard. Squeak! Squeak! Two swallows were circulating above his head. He didn’t notice the swallows settle on the clinic’s roof.
“Dr. w.a.n.g, do you have superpowers or just Kung Fu skills?” Zhong Liuchuan asked. He had been curious for quite some time.
“Is there a difference?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“Of course. One can gain Kung Fu skills through learning and practicing,” Zhong Liuchuan said. “However, one can only be born with superpowers. It is not possible to gain them through learning and practicing.”
“Since both of you mentioned superpowers, do you really believe in their existence?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“Yes, Dr. w.a.n.g. I witnessed it once,” Zhong Liuchuan said.
“Really?!” Now it was w.a.n.g Yao’s turn to be surprised. “What kind of superpower? Like those in the movies?”
“Nothing like that,” Zhong Liuchuan said. “I met someone once who had incredible endurance toward fire. He could survive a fire without getting burned. However, he could still be hurt by weapons. He could also get sick and had to eat to survive.”
“He couldn’t be a firefighter,” w.a.n.g Yao said with a smile.
Although he looked calm, he was actually in shock. Certain things truly existed in the world, but most people would never come across them.
“I don’t have super powers,” w.a.n.g Yao said. “I just have kung fu skills.”
“So, one could potentially have the same level of Kung Fu skills you have by practicing?” Zhong Liuchuan asked.
He had come across many kung fu masters who could either kill a person with a single movement or fight against 10 or even 100 people at the same time. He thought one could achieve such a kung fu skill level by practicing. However, w.a.n.g Yao’s skills were beyond his imagination. It was like magical arts to him.
Let alone w.a.n.g Yao’s other skills, he made a person lose the ability to fight and killed the person without even a touch. That was absolutely unbelievable.
“I suppose so,” w.a.n.g Yao said after thinking for a moment.
He had gained such skills by practicing the Natural Cla.s.sics. He did breathing exercise before practicing Chinese boxing. In plain language, the level of one’s internal power decided how good a kung fu master one could be.
“Can you teach me?” Zhong Liuchuan asked.
“You want me to teach you kung fu?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“Yes, is that OK?” Zhong Liuchuan asked.
“That’s fine. I can try,” w.a.n.g Yao said after thinking for a moment.
“Really?” Zhong Liuchuan asked with surprise.
“Of course,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
He certainly couldn’t teach Zhong Liuchuan everything in the Natural Cla.s.sics. It was the rule set by the system. However, there was a grey area. w.a.n.g Yao could at least teach him some pithy formulas, like what he taught Su Xiaoxue.
“You are my teacher from now on,” Zhong Liuchuan said.
“Please don’t call me teacher,” w.a.n.g Yao said. “I can teach you, but I hate to be called teacher.”
“But… You are my teacher,” Zhong Liuchuan said.
“Never mind. Just do what I said,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
Zhong Liuchuan chatted with w.a.n.g Yao for a few more minutes before leaving.
“Hey, you’ve got another student?” w.a.n.g Mingbao asked. He hadn’t deliberately listened to the conversation between w.a.n.g Yao and Zhong Liuchuan, but he still heard it.
w.a.n.g Yao didn’t speak. He just shook his head and smiled.
“So, how good are you with kung fu?” w.a.n.g Mingbao curiously asked.
“It’s hard to describe,” w.a.n.g Yao said. He had no idea how to explain his level of kung fu skills to w.a.n.g Mingbao since there was no standard.
“Shall we take a walk outside?” w.a.n.g Mingbao suggested.
“OK,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
The two of them went to the yard. A gust of wind whirled around them. It was created by w.a.n.g Yao as he waved his hand. The bamboo trees, gra.s.s, and leaves were all made a shush sound.
“Stop!” w.a.n.g Yao lifted his hand, and the wind stopped.
“What the…That is not kung fu. That is magical arts,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said in shock. He knew w.a.n.g Yao was a kung fu master, but he had no idea that his skills had reached such a high level. “Can you teach me?”
“Are you serious?” w.a.n.g Yao asked with a smile.
“Of course. I think I’m quite gifted,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said.
“You are a gifted businessman, so you are too busy with business,” w.a.n.g Yao said. “You also drink and smoke a lot. You won’t settle your mind on something like kung fu. More importantly, you don’t have any foundation to practice it. If you want to start from scratch, you won’t be able to achieve a high enough level to make worth your time. So, I think you should just forget about it.”
He didn’t think w.a.n.g Mingbao was a suitable candidate to practice kung fu. w.a.n.g Mingbao was different from Su Xiaoxue, who had a calming nature and almost died due to a horrible disease. She had seen through a lot of things in the world, and she was very gifted.
w.a.n.g Mingbao was also different from Zhong Liuchuan, who started to practice kung fu at a very young age. Zhong Liuchuan had good fundamental skills to learn kung fu, and he could put up with a quiet lifestyle and working hard. Zhong Liuchuan had decided to settle down in the village, so he would have adequate time to practice kung fu. w.a.n.g Yao didn’t want to teach anyone who would potentially quit.
“Hmm, are there any ways to learn kung fu faster?” w.a.n.g Mingbao asked.
“You wanna learn kung fu faster?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“Yeah, like someone filling all the kung fu skills into your head and body, or a certain G.o.d entering your dreams to teach your kung fu,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said.
“Are you serious?” w.a.n.g Yao asked. “You must have watched too many fantasy movies.”
“But, how could you become so good at Kung Fu?” w.a.n.g Mingbao asked.
“Me? Because G.o.d loves me,” w.a.n.g Yao said. “In addition, I’ve practiced day and night on Nanshan Hill and happened to come across a fantastic opportunity to enhance my skills on the Great Wall and Temple of Heaven. I was lucky.”
This was the first time he mentioned something like this to someone. He didn’t think w.a.n.g Mingbao would even have the patience to read the scriptures he had read.
“Wow, it sounds amazing,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said.
“Of course,” w.a.n.g Yao replied.
“So, I’m probably not a good candidate to learn kung fu,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said as he took out his cigarette box.
“I think you should quit smoking,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“I’ll try.” w.a.n.g Mingbao accepted w.a.n.g Yao’s advice and put the cigarette box away.
“How is your wife doing?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“She is resting at home. She’s pregnant,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said.
“Wow! Congratulations! I didn’t expect that would happen so soon,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“Thank you,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said.
…
A few prior, in Tongdu, which was thousands of miles away from the w.a.n.g Family Village, several Taoists were standing around a bed in a wooden house on Dragon Tiger Mountain. A man was lying on the bed. He was wearing a Taoism gown. A charm was placed on his chest. His face had turned green and black, which looked scary. He was unconscious.
“The evil soul who hurt him is very strong,” an old Taoist said.
“Teacher, what will happen to him?” a younger Taoist asked.
“I can barely keep him alive,” the old Taoist said “I’m not sure if he will return to consciousness or not.”
“What about the other two?” the younger Taoist asked.
“They are still outside in the living room,” the old Taoist said.
At the moment, Miao Sanding and Liu Sifang were waiting in the living room.
“I thought people here specialized in killing evil souls,” Liu Sifang said. “How come things have become like this?”
“No one can guarantee everything one does will be successful,” said Miao Sanding, who still felt guilty about what had happened. “Even the professional ghost hunters could fail, just like us. We failed to see the danger of that ancient tomb, and many people died because of it. I am the person who should take the blame.”
“Stop blaming yourself. It has nothing to do with you,” Liu Sifang said.
“If I hadn’t dug up the ancient tomb, those people wouldn’t be dead and there wouldn’t have been so much trouble,” Miao Sanding said. “Things are getting worse. Even the Taoists here were affected. This one is badly injured. I’m not sure what is happening to the other one who is still around the tomb. I think he’s probably hurt too.”
“You can’t be sure about it,” Liu Sifang said.
“You didn’t cause this,” someone in the house said.
Several Taoists entered the living room. Their leader was an old man in his 60s. He had very sharp eyes, like the sharp blade hiding in the scabbard.
“Master,” Miao Sanding said.
“Stop calling me master,” the old man said as he shook his hand. “Only a handful of people deserve to be called master since Ming Dynasty. They’ve all pa.s.sed away. I know your teacher, so you two can call me uncle.”