Arriving at Chu Qi's room with flowers, since I hadn't announced my visit and it was already late at night, Chu Qi's room had its lights off. After knocking, Sha Biya, the vigilant guard on duty, opened the door with her red eyes. Chu Qi, awakened from her dream, was very surprised to see Wu Qian. The sisters held hands and chatted for a long time before Chu Qi remembered to ask me where I had been for the past two days.
I omitted the stories of the underworld and simply recounted the events at Mount Zhongnan. Chu Qi said, "It seems this battle is unavoidable." She pointed to the bedside table, and Sha Biya, the guard, opened the drawer and handed me a notebook, like one a student would buy from a small convenience store downstairs, labeled "Chinese Painting."
"What for? Am I supposed to write my will?" I joked.
"No, I've been idle for the past couple of days and, considering your current physical condition, I've devised a set of fist techniques for you to practice," Chu Qi explained.
My goodness, to be a master, even when sick, she's still thinking about my martial arts training.
I opened the small notebook. Chu Qi's sketching skills were quite good. She had drawn a portrait of me that was remarkably lifelike, with a small inscription next to it: "Wu Chengfeng's Exclusive Fist Style."
Was she afraid someone would steal the techniques?
Opening the first page, I saw two small figures sparring. There were a total of six sets of drawings, twelve small figures, corresponding to six continuous movements. These should be the "stances," six "stances," collectively forming one "move." Moves and stances, that's how they came about.
I tried to run through these six stances in my mind. In a word, they were incredibly insidious! Each stance was a life-risking killing move, perfectly in line with the martial arts principles Chu Qi usually taught me.
Flipping to the second page, it was similar. Unlike the first move, this one emphasized defense and counterattack.
The third page focused on the lower body, emphasizing the use of legs and, after bending down and lowering the center of gravity, attacking the opponent's knees. Bai Qingcheng used this kind of tactic against those four blue-energy great demons in the second group, except her attacks didn't require contact; similar to qi gong, she could shatter the demons.
The fourth page, the fourth move, was a self-sacrificing technique, emphasizing how to counterattack when subdued by the opponent. It involved sacrificing the safety of limbs or joints that were restrained by the enemy, such as breaking an arm for survival, breaking a leg for survival, or even breaking the neck for survival, seeking an opportunity to counterattack and kill. Inflicting eight hundred points of damage on oneself to kill ten thousand enemies seemed like a worthwhile trade.
The fifth page was clearly designed for me: Close-Range Qi Bullet Attack Technique. It introduced several "driving moves," similar to "locking techniques," the kind of moves He Jinyin used to lock the senior disciple. In close combat, there usually wasn't an opportunity to condense qi bullets, but as long as the enemy was locked, pointing a finger at them would provide enough time to condense a qi bullet and achieve a close-range attack, which was also a way to defeat stronger opponents with weaker means.
The sixth page was blank, with just a few lines of small text from Chu Qi. Before I could finish reading, Chu Qi suddenly snatched it back, tore off the page with a swish, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into her quilt, pursing her lips and saying, "That was just me scribbling!"
"Scribbling what?" I asked, frowning, only catching sight of "Chengfeng, I want to..."
"I said it was just scribbling, oh, don't ask," Chu Qi's face flushed. She was fiddling with the page in the quilt, likely having already crushed it into powder.
"Haha, I saw it, but I won't say," Daji chimed in with a mischievous smile.
Chu Qi glared at Daji and pouted, "You're not allowed to tell!"
"Don't worry, I won't say, won't say," Daji covered her mouth, turned away, and lit a cigarette.
Chu Qi handed me the rest of the notebook again, "Practice well."
"Thank you, little master."
"I hope you surpass me soon," Chu Qi said with a smile.
"I will," I replied confidently. In terms of fist and foot combat, perhaps not, but in terms of all-around combat effectiveness, I was confident. It wasn't that I was inherently superior, but rather that I had better opportunities and a stronger foundation, which had little to do with my own effort.
After accompanying Chu Qi for a while longer, the nurse came to do her rounds and said it was too late and the patient should rest. We then took our leave.
When asked where Wu Qian was going, whether to find a hotel or return to Shen Xingyue's place, Wu Qian said, "Can I come and see your place? I heard many beautiful women have come to join you."
I glanced at Daji, who indicated it was fine.
Indeed, there was no need to worry. Bai Qingcheng, Shen Xingyue, and Chu Qi – three layers of assurance – had all proven that Wu Qian was not an outsider. It was acceptable for her to visit my base.