strokinit Chapter 70 I'm after your 'cheapskate' body.
Chapter 70 I'm after your 'cheapskate' body.
"Hey!"
After Old Suotou turned into a ball of flesh, he twisted his body like a boneless snake and slowly "flowed" into the small wooden box, which was only two feet square.
First the feet, then the body, and finally the head.
That box was too small; even a normal person, or even a child, would have a hard time squeezing into it.
But he went in.
"Click".
The lid was closed and locked.
The entire room fell silent.
After a long while, a muffled knocking sound came from inside the box.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
"good!!!"
The onlookers finally came to their senses and cheered wildly, throwing coins onto the straw mat like raindrops.
Lu Cheng did not throw any money.
He stared silently at the box, his mind in turmoil.
"This is the art of bone shrinking."
"This isn't some kind of magic trick; it's the real deal—the Yi Jin Jing (a traditional Chinese medicine technique)!"
"This old man's breathing technique... is quite interesting."
Lu Cheng noticed that the moment Old Suotou "shrank" his body, his breathing was extremely short and intense, as if he was instantly emptying the air from his lungs and causing his chest cavity to collapse.
This is the exact opposite of his "fishing for toads" technique.
The "fishing toad force" is about swallowing air, expanding, and exploding.
This bone-shrinking technique involves exhaling, gathering, and achieving the ultimate "emptiness."
One yin and one yang.
If one could master this skill and combine it with one's own "Toad-Catching Strength"...
Lu Cheng's heart began to pound.
Then his body will truly reach the state of "combining strength and gentleness, and being able to change size at will"!
About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea has passed.
The box was opened.
Old Suo was drenched in sweat, as if he had just been pulled out of the water, his face was pale, and he was panting heavily as he climbed out of the box.
"Crack! Crack!"
Every time he moved, his body made a crisp sound, the sound of his joints returning to their normal position.
When he stood up straight again, his whole body was trembling violently.
Sudden.
"Cough cough cough!!"
Old Suo coughed violently, and dark red blood seeped from between his fingers as he covered his mouth.
This damages the lung meridian.
The lungs have been damaged long ago due to the constant forced compression of the chest cavity.
"Sigh, they're really risking their lives for money."
The onlookers, seeing that there was no more excitement to be had, dispersed, leaving behind only a pitiful pile of copper coins on the ground.
Old Suo squatted on the ground, not picking up the money, but clutching his chest in pain. The suffocating pain twisted his wrinkled face into a grimace.
Just then.
A long, clean hand, warm to the touch, was placed on his back.
"Coo-quack-quack"
A low croak of a frog rang in his ears.
Immediately afterwards, a thick, warm, and vibrant current of energy flowed along that hand and continuously into his riddled lungs.
"call……"
The feeling was like being given a bowl of hot ginger soup in the dead of winter.
Old Suotou felt the suffocating feeling in his chest, as if it were being constricted by an iron clamp, instantly dissipate by more than half.
He took a deep breath.
This breath, so clear and refreshing!
"Who?!"
Old Suo was, after all, a seasoned江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and outlaws), and was extremely vigilant.
He suddenly shrank his shoulders, and in that instant, his shoulders slipped away like an eel, and he reached back to grab Lu Cheng's pulse.
That's the foundation of "Dislocating Tendons and Bones Hand"!
"Grandpa, don't do anything, I'm here to deliver medicine."
Lu Cheng's wrist twitched slightly.
Without any apparent effort, a gentle "sticky" force disentangled Old Suo's hand and even supported his swaying body.
Old Suo was terrified.
A true expert's skill is immediately apparent.
The moment they met, he knew he had encountered a master.
Moreover, he was a grandmaster whose internal strength was unfathomable, capable of crushing someone with a single finger!
He raised his head, his cloudy yet shrewd old eyes scrutinizing Lu Cheng warily.
Before them stood a young man, dressed in a moon-white robe, with an extraordinary air about him, especially his eyes, which were so bright that one dared not look directly at them.
"Sir... what's this?"
Old Suo took a half step back and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, a common practice in the martial arts world.
"I'm just a street performer. If the performance I just gave you an eyesore, I'll be leaving now."
"It's not in the way."
Lu Cheng shook his head and pointed to the copper coins on the ground.
"Shunzi, give the money to the old man to keep."
Shunzi quickly squatted down, picked up the copper coins with deft hands and feet, and took out a ten-dollar silver note from his pocket, stuffing it into Old Suo's money bag.
"this……"
Old Suo was stunned, staring at the silver note, his Adam's apple bobbing.
Ten silver dollars.
That's enough for him to buy several jars of the finest medicinal wine, enough to keep his sickly body afloat for several months.
"One should not accept rewards without merit."
Old Su gritted his teeth, clutched the money bag tightly, but didn't put it in his pocket. Instead, he looked at Lu Cheng.
"Sir, let's not beat around the bush."
"With your skills and demeanor, you're not here to watch a monkey show."
"What do you want from me?"
"I'm after your 'cheapskate' nature."
Lu Cheng smiled, a frank and open smile.
He spoke bluntly, even bluntly. But in the underworld, this kind of directness is reassuring.
"I've got my eye on your contortionist skills."
"I want to learn."
Old Suo's face changed when he heard this.
He chuckled self-deprecatingly and tossed the money bag onto the ground.
"Sir, you're joking."
"With your physique, you've mastered the grand style; you're a 'dragon among men.'"
"My bone-shrinking skill is the 'beggar's art' among the 'lowest nine classes'."
"That's a despicable technique used to survive, where people train themselves to become neither human nor ghost, grinding away every bone in their bones."
"You want to study this? That's lowering your status, and also... courting death."
Old Suo pointed to his hunched chest.
"Look at my lungs, they're ruined by practicing this stuff. I won't live past the winter solstice this year."
"If you want to learn, I won't take the money; you can even take my life. But I won't teach this harmful stuff."
This old man, though down on his luck, still retained a shred of the conscience of a江湖人 (jianghu person, a person of the martial arts world).
He doesn't just not want to teach, he's afraid to teach.
This bone-shrinking technique, if mastered, is a miraculous skill; if mismastered, it results in paralysis.
Lu Cheng looked at Old Suo, his admiration growing even stronger.
"What if... I could cure your lungs?"
Lu Cheng spoke calmly.
Old Suo's body trembled, and he suddenly looked up, staring intently at Lu Cheng.
"Treat...treat the lungs?"
"How can I treat this? This is an internal injury, a problem that has accumulated over decades, and there's no cure!"
"Medicine cannot cure the disease, but internal strength can."
Lu Cheng took a step forward, lowered his voice, and said in a tone that only the two of them could hear:
"How did that move feel?"
Old Suo recalled the warm air he had just felt, and a glint of longing flashed in his eyes.
That was the hope of life!
"I have a method for training the internal organs called [Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound]."
Lu Cheng threw out the bait.
"Plus, I have my own unique method of nourishing internal energy."
"I wouldn't dare say I can make you young again, but I can certainly help your old lungs breathe properly again and live an extra ten or eight years, it won't be difficult."
"this……"
Old Suo's hands were trembling.
Ten or eight years!
For someone waiting to die, what a temptation that is!
"You...you're really willing to teach me that kind of internal martial arts secret technique?"
Old Suo couldn't believe it.
You should know that in the martial arts world, this kind of internal skill that cultivates the internal organs is a treasure passed down only to men and not to women, and only to those within the family. It is more valuable than mountains of gold and silver.
Trade this for his crippling bone-shrinking technique?
This is like exchanging a golden rice bowl for a broken clay pot!
"Sir, you're not making fun of this old man, are you?"
"My word, Lu Cheng's, is as good as my bond."
Lu Cheng announced his name.
"Lu Cheng?!"
Old Suo's eyes widened in shock, and he gasped in disbelief.
"You're the one... Master Lu who killed the charioteer with his spear at Guanghe Tower and crippled the Fengtian Army?!"