Chapter 178: Demonic Martial Arts
The entire militia contingent had gathered in the small valley.
It was still the dead of night!
Everyone was annoyed at being roused by Padi Tu, especially Cheng Xu. He had once been a legitimate ninth-rank military inspector for the imperial court, holding a respectable position. Though he'd been working to shed some of his old habits recently, some of those ingrained temperaments still lingered.
As they walked, he grumbled at Padi Tu: “You little rascal, waking this... *cough*... this instructor in the dead of night. If I don't see an immortal practicing martial arts in a bit, I swear I’ll hang you from a tree and have everyone practice their punches on you.”
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu, still half-asleep, mumbled, “Don’t mess with us, Master Rabbit. If you’re pulling our leg, we hit pretty hard.”
Padi Tu lifted his sword. “I swear on my ancestral treasure sword that everything I said is true! There truly is an immortal practicing martial arts on the mountain cliff! Hurry up, everyone, don't dawdle! I'm practically dying of impatience!”
“Alright, alright!” The militia continued to shuffle along, still groggy, each person listless, like specters drifting through the night.
“We’re here! We’ve arrived!” Padi Tu pointed towards the massive cliff face ahead. “It was right here, just now, doing the forms! A huge figure, as big as the entire cliff, practicing up there!” The others squinted, but saw nothing. It was just a dark, shadowy mountain face, wasn’t it?
“Hey, Master Rabbit!”
Cheng Xu was the first to explode in anger, his veins pulsing. “Hang that rabbit from the tree, now!”
The others chorused, “At your command!”
Several men immediately moved, tying Padi Tu to a barren tree.
Cheng Xu clenched his fists, knuckles cracking. “Now, which direction shall I start pummeling you from?”
Padi Tu was so aggrieved he wanted to cry. “Everyone, believe me! There really was an immortal practicing martial arts here just now! I... I didn’t try to secretly learn it alone, I ran back desperately to call you all... I truly...”
Li Daoxuan, observing the scene, felt things had progressed far enough.
He had deliberately paused the action, allowing them to misunderstand Padi Tu for a moment. Only then, when the truth was revealed, would they truly appreciate Padi Tu's loyalty and integrity.
Perfect.
He reached into the box and tapped his phone screen.
He had previously mounted his phone on the cliff face, shielding the screen with a thin cloth and dimming its brightness. This made the image blurry and dark, creating the illusion that the scene was directly projected onto the mountain itself.
With a tap of his finger, the video began to play.
Just as Cheng Xu was about to deal with Padi Tu, he suddenly felt a light gleam behind him. He spun around, and there, on the opposite cliff face, a gigantic human silhouette had appeared...
The image was somewhat blurry, the figure's face indistinct, but they watched as it suddenly shifted from a perfectly upright stance and launched into a series of punches. Its movements were ferocious and sharp, a blur of motion that left them spellbound.
Cheng Xu gasped, “Ah!”
The entire militia exclaimed, “Wow!”
Padi Tu was ecstatic. “See! See! The immortal is practicing martial arts again! I didn't lie to you, did I? I didn't lie!”
The silhouette leaped and ducked, spinning into a continuous chain of strikes. Every single move was utterly lethal, brimming with murderous intent.
Cheng Xu’s jaw nearly dropped. “What savage martial arts! Every single move is designed to kill!”
Modern military combat techniques were indeed designed to be utterly lethal, emphasizing “efficiency” above all else. The goal was to eliminate an enemy in the shortest possible time, devoid of any performative elements.
The militia members might not have fully grasped it, but Cheng Xu gasped with every single move. He thought to himself: If I were to face this person, even a momentary lapse in focus would mean a broken neck. That’s utterly brutal!
During a brief pause in the silhouette's movements, Cheng Xu turned and flicked Padi Tu's forehead with a resounding *thwack*.
Padi Tu cried, “Ow! Why’d you hit me?!”
Cheng Xu snorted, “This isn’t an immortal practicing martial arts at all. This is a demon practicing martial arts!”
That pronouncement startled everyone. “A demon?!”
Cheng Xu explained, “Only a ferocious demon could possibly produce such vicious forms.”
The crowd murmured, “Oh? Then... can we learn it?”
Cheng Xu let out a loud laugh, then instantly wiped the smile from his face, his expression turning stern. “Nonsense! Of course we’ll learn it! This is too good an opportunity to miss. When you’re fighting for your life on the battlefield, you have to transform yourself into a demon. If you go out there trying to be a bleeding-heart, like San Shier, saying ‘don’t kill this one, don’t kill that one,’ what kind of war would you fight then?!”
The men looked embarrassed. “Instructor He, isn’t it a bit wrong to badmouth San Shier behind his back? San Shier is a really good man.”
Cheng Xu grunted, “He is indeed a good man, but he’s not fit for the battlefield. You, however, will be marching into battle against bandits. Remember, you absolutely must not follow his example.”
Padi Tu announced, “It’s starting again! The immortal is doing the second set of forms!”
Cheng Xu waved a hand. “Everyone, snap to attention! Watch closely! Don’t miss a single move or stance! We need to master Guanzhong Hong Fist, and we certainly need to master these demonic, lethal forms!”
The men responded in unison, “At your command!”
Over a hundred men sat in rows, staring intently at the cliff face, occasionally mimicking a punch or kick.
Only Padi Tu remained tied to the tree, and he quickly shouted, “Hey, hey, hey! You forgot to untie me! Untie me, quick!”
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu came over and loosened Padi Tu’s bonds, after which everyone earnestly resumed learning the forms together.
Among the large group, Cheng Xu learned the fastest, his foundation being the strongest, after all.
After watching for half an hour, he had already roughly grasped several of the moves.
Li Daoxuan put his phone away. That was enough. He couldn't let them spend the entire night out here. One hour of instruction for today, he decided, and they could continue tomorrow.
When the “demon” finished its forms, the opposite cliff face dimmed to darkness.
The militia members were reluctant to leave, still foolishly staring at the cliff. After waiting for quite some time, and seeing no sign of the cliff lighting up again, Cheng Xu finally sighed. “What a shame. We only learned a few moves today. I wonder if this demon will practice martial arts here again tomorrow.”
Padi Tu declared, “This rabbit will come back and guard this spot again tomorrow night! Maybe there’ll be more to learn!”
Cheng Xu retorted, “Isn’t that obvious? Everyone will come back to stand guard tomorrow night. If the demon comes to teach forms again, we’ll learn. If not... *sigh*... we’ll just perfect the few core moves we learned today and treat them as our ultimate, hidden techniques.”
The men responded in unison, “At your command!”
Cheng Xu led the militia back, and everyone returned to their respective quarters.
But Padi Tu was in no mood to sleep. His brain was still buzzing with excitement; how could he possibly rest? Besides, he didn’t live inside the main fortress; he stayed in the Short-term Workers Village, where his movements were much freer.
He went by himself to an open clearing outside the village, struck the opening stance of the “demonic martial arts,” and began to practice with shouts of “Hey! Ha! Hey! Ha!”
Even though he had only learned a few moves, he practiced with incredible zeal.
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