372 Food (1/2)
Chapter 372: Food
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
As a matter of fact, Old Man Mu was well aware of Shangguan Ru's suspicions, so he quickly explained the acupoint technique that he was about to teach, ”Don't get me wrong. The acupoint technique that I will be teaching you is the Finger of Immobilisation. Other than paralyzing the opponent for 2 to 4 hours, there is no other harm to this Kung Fu.”
”I don't know how to recognize acupoints.”
Golden Roc Fort had focused more on killing methods and looked down on other types of manuals. Shangguan Ru could only recognize some of the more important acupoints and did not even know the names for the rest of them.
Old Man Mu eyes gleamed, with a satisfied expression, he said, ”This is the subtlety of the Finger of Immobilisation, you don't need to recognize the acupoints so long as you hit within five inches of the Xuanji acupoint on the opponent's chest. Your strength alone will penetrate the opponent's body, and it will naturally find the right acupoints and keep them immobilized.”
Although Golden Roc Fort did not focus on acupoints, they did have some general knowledge as required. Shangguan Ru knew a little about it, but it was the first time she ever heard of such an acupoint technique called Finger of Immobilisation. ”How is it possible? You just want to trick me into learning Kung Fu that kills people, don't you?”
Old Man Mu stared back, eyes wide as if he had just been insulted. He said, ”How can I be so shameless? Besides, your Kung Fu is much better than me now, if I trick you into killing people and reignite that killing desire within you, won't you come and kill me next? That's like bringing trouble onto myself, losing more than I can gain, isn't it?”
Seeing as the sky was becoming brighter and Shangguan Ru still did not trust him, Old Man Mu had no choice but offered her a solution instead, ”I guess there is only one way for you to believe me. I will teach you the acupoint technique and then you can use it on me. Poke me and see if I stop moving or die.”
This seemed feasible, ”Okay then.” Shangguan Ru said reluctantly.
Old Man Mu shook his head and muttered in a low voice, ”You won't find such a miserable Master Shifu like me, who volunteer to be the test subject, and even has to humbly plead his student to learn from him.”
”Nonsense, you are not my Master Shifu.”
”Right, right, it's all my wishful thinking. Good girl wants to be a Buddha, the reason she is learning from me is also to save people...”
Old Man Mu continued to flatter her before explaining the details of the acupoint technique, what she should look out for, which areas were prone to mistakes, etc. Everything was articulated clearly.
The Finger of Immobilisation sounded easy, but it was much more complicated than the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills. The moment your Qi was channeled wrongly, the effect would be gone and it would, in turn, weaken your defenses and you might fall into the enemies' hands.
hangguan Ru managed to remember the key points just before daybreak. At first, she tried poking her fingers in the air to practice before trying a few times on Old Man Mu's chest, but she kept making mistakes and did not even cause him any pain.
At dawn, as the two of them continued their journey, Old Man Mu wore the luggage over his body and only revealed two feet for walking. He was led by Shangguan Ru as they went deeper into the swamp.
Shangguan Ru practiced the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills and Finger of Immobilisation as she walked, and when she encountered any problems, she would turn to Old Man Mu for advice. The day passed by quickly in a blink of an eye and the sky soon turned dark again.
Right now, the two of them were faced with an important problem: They had run out of dry food.
”If only we had managed to get that wild boar from last night.” Old Man Mu's stomach growled with hunger, and he kept swallowing, ”Look around, if there was one wild boar, there must be another one around.”
There were not many animals in the swamp. A ”second wild boar” did not appear, though there were some birds which flew past them from time to time.
Old Man Mu crawled out from the luggage and looked up at the dark sky, licking his lips. He said, ”Normally, I can shoot a few birds down with just a leaf.”
He turned his head and saw Shangguan Ru with her head lowered, apparently pondering about something, her fingers were eager to try out the moves. Old Man Mu was secretly pleased, he knew that the young girl was fascinated by the amazing Kung Fu. But he was unable to suppress his hunger any longer, so he coughed twice to interrupt her thoughts and said, ”Lady Buddha, it is time to kill something small to save this old fellow. Find something for us to roast and eat, even a mouse is alright.”
However, Shangguan Ru appeared to not have heard what he said, her brows were slightly furrowed and it was obvious that she had some unaddressed doubts in her heart.
Old Man Mu's patience was running out. With such an omniscient Master Shifu like himself around, what else did she need to think about? Wanting to rouse her, he stretched out his arm and tapped on Shangguan Ru's leg.
Shangguan Ru, as if by instinct, jabbed the Xuanji acupoint on Old Man Mu's chest.
Old Man Mu saw clearly that it was the Finger of Immobilisation and that the Kung Fu was still far from perfect; he could have easily avoided it by leaning slightly to one side, but he had no command over his body since his Internal Strength was weak. He was able to foresee everything but unable to do anything about it.
Old Man Mu really froze there like a block of wood. Except for his eyeballs, his whole body was immobilized, his face turning redder by the minute.
”Oh, did I use it on you?” Shangguan Ru was deeply apologetic. ”I'm sorry, but this is what you requested as well.”
Old Man Mu couldn't open his mouth, so he tried his best to squeeze out his voice, ”Yes, I did request for it. Now restore the acupoints for me.”
Old Man Mu had taught her the Kung Fu along with a way to restore the pressed acupoints, but Shangguan Ru had practiced the acupoint technique the whole day, and could only try and learn to restore the acupoints hands on. After more than 10 times of trying, with Old Man Mu's face almost turning purple did she manage to restore his acupoints and relieve him of the immobilization.
Old Man Mu finally regained his mobility. Sitting on the ground, he panted profusely and was unable to utter a word for half a day.
Shangguan Ru looked at her own finger, ”You said the Finger of Immobilisation wouldn't harm people, but you...”
Old Man Mu regained some color on his complexion, so he smiled wryly and said, ”Good girl, I mean, you attacked me when I was caught off guard just now! I wasn't able to channel my Qi in time and my acupoints were blocked, of course, I would suffocate! Wait till I'm ready then you can strike again, it will just be immobilization of the body with no other harm.”
”Then get ready.”
”Right now?”
”I only tried it once, and there are still many things that I don't understand.”