Chapter 227
Chapter 227
I glanced at him and said in exasperation,
“Don’t you claim to be fearless? You’re always saying you want to come catch ghosts with me. One person dies in the dormitory and you’re scared?”
Wang Dachun shook his head.
“Boss, I’m not scared. It just hit me hard and made me feel sad. He was one of our schoolmates, after all.”
Oh?
I stared at Wang Dachun in surprise. His expression did not seem feigned.
I had never expected the once-arrogant rich brat and schoolyard brawler to develop such compassion.
More and more students soon gathered around us.
But only a few minutes remained before morning self-study began…
Just then,
someone suddenly cried out softly.
“Look! They’re coming out. They’re coming out!”
I turned my gaze toward the exit of the boys’ dormitory too.
Two people emerged one behind the other, carrying a stretcher. A person lay on it beneath a white sheet. That had to be the deceased.
My gaze grew grave as I stared fixedly at the sheet-covered body.
Unfortunately, I had not yet learned an advanced talisman like the X-Ray Vision Talisman, so I could not see through the burial sheet.
A middle-aged policeman followed the stretcher outside. To my surprise, it was Officer Li, whom I had dealt with during the hanging deaths caused by the Killer Demon Tree two years ago.
The principal walked beside him, and the two seemed to be speaking rapidly in lowered voices…
At that distance, an ordinary person certainly could not have heard them.
But both internal martial arts training and certain techniques within the magical arts could greatly enhance a person’s hearing. By concentrating with my full attention, I could naturally hear them.
The principal said, “Then I’ll have to trouble you, Officer Li. Please keep me informed if you learn anything, including the autopsy report–the cause of death in particular. After all, the school must also give the student’s parents an explanation.”
Officer Li said, “Of course. Please have the school immediately compile all information on the deceased, Wang Xinren, along with details of his recent circumstances. Pay particular attention to whether he had any conflicts with anyone lately.”
The principal said, “All right, Officer Li. I’ll have someone prepare it immediately!”
Officer Li said, “Let’s leave it at that for now. I’ll take the deceased’s body back for an autopsy. You should have these children who gathered to watch disperse as well.”
At that moment, the warning bell for morning self-study happened to ring.
Under the school administrators’ sharp rebukes, the students quickly scattered and ran toward the classroom buildings…
Back in the classroom,
Yao Nan, who was already seated, looked at us in confusion.
Perhaps because a death had occurred, there was surprisingly no teacher supervising morning self-study. We were left to read English aloud on our own.
Yao Nan asked,
“Deskmate, where did you all go? I noticed that lots of people in our class were gone, and it sounded noisy up by the upper field. What was everyone doing?”
I sighed softly.
“A student died in the boys’ dormitory.”
What?!
Yao Nan was instantly shocked and covered her mouth.
I patted her shoulder helplessly.
“You’ve even seen Gu insects. Are you still afraid of dead people?”
Wang Dachun braced both hands on the desk, leaned closer, and asked me quietly,
“Boss, that officer and the principal were talking just now. What did they say? I know you must have heard them.”
Smack!
I slapped him on the head.
“You sure ask a lot of questions.”
Wang Dachun had good reason to be certain I could hear them.
Over the past year, with Master’s permission, I had taught Wang Dachun, Yao Nan, and Zeng Jin some of the basics needed to begin internal martial arts.
Although I had not yet taught them the true essentials, such as Sealing the Pores or spinal extension, I had already taught them the techniques and secrets of horse-stance training.
Some people might find that strange.
The horse stance?
Wasn’t that something anyone with feet could do? Why would it need to be taught? What techniques or secrets could there be?
That was not actually the case!
Horse-stance training had two core principles–bringing the horse stance to life and suspending the crown in space. Without the techniques behind those two principles, no amount of horse-stance training would do any good.
Instead, you might injure the muscles in your legs or give yourself a strained lower back from standing that way.
Bringing a living horse into the stance meant that while holding the horse stance, the feet and legs did not remain completely still. They needed to alternate between tension and relaxation.
First, all ten toes curled forcefully and gripped the ground, instantly tightening the calf muscles. The force traveled through the muscles into the thighs, waist, and abdomen, and the entire body rose upright at once.
Then the toes relaxed. Through the muscles of the calves, thighs, waist, and abdomen, the entire body naturally relaxed and sank with them.
Tighten and relax, rise and release–repeating this made the whole body and its muscles move in subtle undulations invisible to the naked eye, just like someone riding a horse.
When a horse galloped, its rider rose and fell upon its back.
The heart of horse-stance training was therefore bringing the horse stance to life–imitating the state of a person on horseback!
Only this could truly strengthen the body and develop real skill.
However!
When riding a horse at high speed while constantly rising and falling, a person could easily become dizzy, nauseated, and sick to the stomach. At such a time, the rider needed to gaze into the distance, taking in the open mountains and rivers ahead as a cool wind blew past. That would ease the discomfort.
Thus, horse-stance training called for suspending the crown in space. The phrase sounded mysterious and literary, but in plain language, you had to do your best to imagine yourself standing on high ground, gazing across the magnificent natural world with an open and heroic spirit.
Only then could you avoid dizziness, nausea, and vomiting while holding the horse stance.
If you could accomplish those two things and keep training for two months, your physical fitness, reflexes, and endurance would all improve greatly.
Even without learning any specific martial arts moves, you would become far more formidable than someone practicing ordinary combat or fighting techniques.
That was the subtle brilliance of internal martial arts!
It was precisely because of secrets like these that martial arts, originally a low-ranking branch among the eclectic arts of antiquity, had suddenly risen to prominence two hundred years ago. By the late Qing and early Republican period, they were even being called Chinese martial arts!
Of course, even knowing those two principles did not make horse-stance training easy in practice…
After all, using the tension and relaxation of the toes to control the muscles required constant adjustments. You needed a master who truly understood the method to stand beside you, continually correct your posture, and adjust how you exerted force.
As for the visualization involved in suspending the crown in space, that belonged even more purely to the mental and psychological realm.
No one could help you with it!
Even my Master could not do it for me. I had to rely entirely on myself.
As martial artists used to say, “It all depends on your comprehension.”
Half a year earlier, I had begun teaching those three the secrets of the horse stance.
To my utter surprise, the one with the greatest comprehension was actually Yao Nan!
Wang Dachun came next, and Zeng Jin last.
Who would have thought that Yao Nan, the delicate school beauty who looked refined and frail, was now almost as strong as Wang Dachun…
But back to the matter at hand.
Since Wang Dachun had asked what I heard in the conversation between the principal and Officer Li, I told them without holding anything back.
“Wang Xinren? I never thought he would be the one who died. Sigh… that’s really tragic. What a shame.”
Wang Dachun shook his head.
I felt sorry for him too.
Wang Xinren was in the same year as us and served as vice class monitor in the class next door.
His family was very poor, and he was considered a student in financial hardship, so the school had waived his tuition and miscellaneous fees.
Wang Xinren had worked hard and earned good grades. He usually placed around the top fifteen in our entire year on exams.
Given the situation at Lianghe District Middle School, his admission to Fubei Secondary School, the county’s top high school, was practically guaranteed!
His family probably hoped he would go on to attend a top university, bring honor to the family, and improve their financial circumstances.
No one had expected him to die in the dormitory with only a year left before the high school entrance examination.
The four of us fell silent for a while.
Wang Dachun pinched his chin and frowned.
“Boss, Officer Li said there were suspicious points. What do you think they are?”
I rolled my eyes.
“How would I know? But… when they carried the body out, I don’t think I smelled any blood. In other words, at the very least, he didn’t die from bleeding caused by an external injury.”