Chapter 33: Chapter 33

“Junior Brother, watch closely!”

“This form, ‘Cloud Grasp Sky Sever,’ is built on counterstriking — answering after the strike, overcoming the strong from below!”

Xu Chuan thrust both arms upward, every joint in his body crackling like popping beans:

“If your enemy comes diving down from above, or attacks your upper three gates hard, you slam his wrist joint with an Intercepting Hand and break his charge!”

“Then, both claws ride the rebound — like a dark eagle reversing its course and surging back into the heavens — and lock onto his throat or the crown of his skull, dragging him down from midair and smashing him to pieces! That’s the ‘Cloud Grasp’!”

Shen Xiuhan listened carefully, then nodded thoughtfully.

His foot stamped down. He assumed his stance, qi-blood quietly stirring within him.

“SWISH!”

He sank slightly. Five fingers curled into hooks, and a sharp claw-wind erupted skyward — tearing out a piercing burst of split air!

His movements were not as seasoned as Xu Chuan’s, but the domineering essence of Cloud Grasp Sky Sever was already coming through.

Xu Chuan watched and clapped repeatedly, awe in his eyes:

“Junior Brother Shen… your talent for combat techniques truly is exactly what Master said — a rare prodigy!”

“Half a day of drilling, and you’ve already grasped the Heavenly Dark Eagle Force this well? Your senior brother is positively shamed!”

“Second Senior Brother flatters me too much.”

Shen Xiuhan drew his form to a close and bowed deeply, cupping his fists:

“It’s only because you taught so well, Senior Brother.”

Over the course of half a day, Xu Chuan had broken down the Heavenly Dark Eagle Force’s force-generation principles and combat variations, explaining each one in painstaking detail.

He had even used his own Peak of Bone Tempering body as a shield, letting Shen Xiuhan personally feel the recoil and shifts of every technique.

He’d held nothing back, not so much as a single secret tucked away.

So Shen Xiuhan’s thanks came from the heart.

“Ha ha ha! We’re brothers — no need for such formal talk!”

Xu Chuan laughed loudly and clapped Shen Xiuhan hard on the shoulder:

“Eldest Senior Sister went to the prefectural city a few days back. Once she’s done with her business and returns, she’ll see this brilliantly talented junior brother in the inner court — she’ll be over the moon, no doubt!”

Eldest Senior Sister…

A heroic, tall figure flashed through Shen Xiuhan’s mind.

That must be the woman in martial attire who had led him to the rear courtyard when he first entered the hall.

But this so-called “business in the prefectural city”… was almost certainly a cover.

Shen Xiuhan pursed his lips, his mind clear as a mirror.

Mei Shuangfeng was an alchemist, and she had received the silver-backed fish from him.

By now, that Eldest Senior Sister was most likely sealed in some hidden chamber, attempting a breakthrough!

…

The setting sun drew near.

Shen Xiuhan finished his training, rinsed off in the bathhouse, and bid Xu Chuan farewell.

As evening approached, he pushed open his own wicker gate.

After greeting Madam Zheng, he gathered some of the dried provisions he’d taken from the golden-tailed rat’s hoard, cut a jin of smoked pork belly in the kitchen, and headed toward Uncle Chen’s house.

“You want to go into the Dali Mountains?”

Uncle Chen was in the middle of dinner. He set down his bowl and chopsticks in surprise:

“Dalang, didn’t I hear from the neighbors that you were getting ready to take to the lake?”

“Taking to the lake” was the local fisherman’s term in Changyun County.

It meant going out onto Yunshui Lake to fish for a living.

Madam Zheng hadn’t taken on piecework at the weaving workshop for many days running.

When the aunties and married women of the neighborhood came over to chat and gossip, they’d seen her weaving fish baskets and nets.

So word had spread on its own that the Shen family’s eldest son was preparing to take to the lake.

“Take to the lake — yes, of course I will…”

Shen Xiuhan pulled out two strings of cash and pushed them across the kang table, then pointed at the dried goods he’d brought, lying smoothly:

“But a couple of days back, I picked up some mountain provisions from the outskirts of the Dali Mountains and sold them at East Market. Paid off what we owed the Bai family and what we owed you. So we’ve got a bit of breathing room now.”

A look of understanding crossed Uncle Chen’s face.

The Shen family clearing its debts had set the neighborhood whispering for days. Some said they’d sold the little sister, others that they’d taken out a loan-shark debt…

Turned out it was a windfall from the mountains and waters.

“So you figure you’ll head into the Dali Mountains and try your luck again?”

“Just so.”

Seeing Shen Xiuhan nod, Uncle Chen sighed and spoke in earnest:

“Dalang, going into the Dali Mountains is far more dangerous than fishing on Yunshui Lake. You need to think this through carefully.”

“Uncle, you’re worrying too much.”

Shen Xiuhan waved a hand. “I just want to gather some dried goods to sell. I’m not planning to hunt.”

“Even that is plenty dangerous.”

Uncle Chen shook his head, his expression growing serious:

“There may be water monsters in the lake, but most stay in the deep waters. The Dali Mountains are different — even the outer reaches see treasure beasts roaming.”

“Treasure beasts?”

“That’s right! Treasure beasts!”

Uncle Chen explained:

“Same kind as the treasure fish — both are spirit creatures that draw on the essence of heaven and earth. Their bodies are full of surging qi-blood, which is enormously useful to those inner-city martial masters tempering their sinews and bones!”

“But treasure beasts are different from treasure fish in one way. Most treasure fish, even with strange features, are only stronger and slipperier than ordinary river creatures. We can still catch them with nets.”

“But treasure beasts…”

Uncle Chen’s voice dropped lower as he spoke:

“The sharpness of their claws and fangs, the size of their bodies, the savagery of their nature — far beyond anything a treasure fish can match!”

“Years ago, I went into the mountains with five other old hunters from Liang Village and Ding Village. Then… we ran into a black wolf.”

“The beast was as long as two or three water vats. So fast you couldn’t even see its shadow. Blades and arrows striking its body left no mark at all…”

“Six old hunters who’d spent half their lives crawling through those mountains — and in the end, only I made it out alive!”

“Even our hunting dogs — fierce enough to tear into bears and wild boars — none of them escaped.”

“After that, I took to the lake to fish for my living, and I’ve been at it ever since…”

Uncle Chen rambled on, every word warning him not to risk his life in the mountains.

Better to settle down and become a proper fisherman — at least that way he could keep the family safe.

Shen Xiuhan nodded along, but his gaze drifted past the window, looking off toward the Dali Mountains.

The pale golden light points flickered faintly. Not in the outer reaches that Uncle Chen described, but in…

The outer-outer reaches!

Very close to the village.

The Intelligence didn’t lie. That Azure Spike Fowl was undoubtedly a treasure beast.

But it wasn’t nesting deep in the Dali Mountains and brooding its eggs there. Instead, it had set up home near where humans lived…

What did that mean?

It meant its strength wasn’t enough to hold a place inside the Dali Mountains!

“Dalang, I haven’t heard of any hunter daring to go in there in years. At most… when an inner-city martial master goes in, he hires a few old hunters as guides…”

“I understand, Uncle.” Shen Xiuhan gathered his thoughts and said gravely: “I won’t gamble with my life.”

“That’s right.”

Uncle Chen breathed easier.

Then Shen Xiuhan changed the subject and asked after Chen An, whom he hadn’t seen in a long while.

At the mention of Chen An, Uncle Chen’s weathered, deeply lined old face lit up with irrepressible pride and warmth.

“Chen An went off with his senior brother to Changshui County a few days back, and then on to Nanxiang Commandery. Saw a great deal of the world.”

“He handled the job well — earned a reward, and the hall said they’d find him a regular post. Could be a tael or two a month!”

“Add that to what I bring in from the lake and what his mother earns from sewing and washing…”

“The family’s planning to find a broker in the next few days, rent a cheap side room in the inner city, and move out of Xiaojing Bay!”

Shen Xiuhan put on a look of surprise at just the right moment, his voice carrying genuine envy:

“Then congratulations, Uncle! The inner city has high walls for protection and constables patrolling the streets — far safer than out here!”

Uncle Chen was beaming, but he waved a hand with feigned helplessness:

“Ah, what can you do — we were forced into it. The way the world is now, when respectable families talk marriage, they look at the man’s background and where he lives.”

“If you don’t have so much as a tile over your head in the inner city, who’s going to marry their pure, unspoiled daughter into this slum to suffer? Ah… morals decline by the day, the old ways are lost…”

Listening to Uncle Chen’s boastful lament, Shen Xiuhan stifled a wry smile, murmured a few words of agreement, then rose to take his leave.

Standing outside his own wicker fence, looking at the run-down yard and the drafty thatched hut…

Shen Xiuhan thought to himself:

‘Once I’ve handled the matters at hand, it’s time to find a safe place in the inner city for Mother and Momo.’