Chapter 178: The Great Sage Stance and the Exemplary Celebration of a Criminal Ringleader (1/2)
Chapter 178: The Great Sage Stance and the Exemplary Celebration of a Criminal Ringleader
The grass was verdant green in color and the air had the fresh smell of earth in it. From far away, a field of flowers could be seen with such a color that could only be seen in the spring when nature was filled with life.
“Tan Wendong. Age eighteen as of this current year. He is a new student at the Information Institute and is the boss of the ‘Wendong Group’ in the entire city. The ‘Wendong Group’ was formed by him and several other youths when he was fifteen years old. As things developed, his group now has over a hundred people as the pillar, and even more on the outside. The public security bureau has determined that this group is a criminal gang connected with the underworld, but what their crimes are specifically have yet to be concluded.”
Wang Chao was wearing a light-blue set of clothing from where he stood amongst the grass as he stretched out his limbs. His movements as he moved through the stances had not been fast–in fact, it was comparable in speed to the grandmas and grandpas in the park as they practiced Taichi to exercise. However, within Wang Chao’s movements was a hidden charm that could appeal to those who watched him.
For those with keen eyesight, they would perhaps realize something was amiss if they concentrated their eyes onto Wang Chao. While his movements were slow, hidden beneath his clothes was what appeared to be a myriad of small snakes that meandered about his body where his muscles were in every direction.
These ‘snakes’ were in fact his muscles and tendons. During this moment where he would go through the motions slowly, the palpitations of his body was extremely sudden and would resemble that of a snake that was vivid in its motions.
A body slow in motion and muscles and tendons that were the exact opposite. Having one part slow and the other part fast reflected the mysterious notion of yin and yang during these stances.
Right by Wang Chao’s side was Huo Ling’er. In her hands was a sheaf of paper that she would read off one word at a time for Wang Chao to hear. From time to time, her eyes would glance up to observe Wang Chao’s movements.
It was only when she had finished reading off the papers that Wang Chao’s movements began to slow down. But in her eyes, the muscles and tendons under his skin was still beating rapidly. Vapor and mist was exuding forth from his body as if he was a kettle that was boiling a pot of hot water.
Huo Ling’er herself was only four or five steps away from Wang Chao, but even she had felt that her body was growing warmer. To approach this young master in front of her was the same as approaching a giant boiler.
“Master Wang practices his movements so slowly, but his body converted his sweat into vapor from the intensity! I have still a long ways to go before I can reach a level like his.”
Such a thought had led to Huo Ling’er consider her own training. Whenever she practiced on her own time, each one of her strikes would be done without reservation and with fierce strikes. At her best, her body would only sweat rather than let mist rise up from her body.
Using Jin to turn sweat to steam and vapor was something akin to how an Immortal would swallow the clouds to blow out fog. It was an art where the muscles were manipulated to become hard and impenetrable like steel while also manipulating the heart to a precise level.
“This Tan Wendong was unfortunate to be born within a time of peace. If he was born within the chaotic times of the past, then he would be a formidable person no matter where he was. Master, you can see that he is determined to be affiliated with the underworld. If his crimes aren’t concluded just yet and is still undergoing investigation, then that means there’s someone in the government that’s covering for him. He definitely has someone in with him in the government. His age isn’t too far away from mine, the normal university student at this age should only know when to reach out to the food in front of him and open his mouth when it comes. No matter how I see it, he won’t have a far future in the underworld. As soon as the public safety bureau issue an order, he’s as good as done. If you raise him now though, I’m sure with time he’ll become a strong political weapon though.”
Huo Ling’er had given Wang Chao her own hasty analysis of Tan Wendong as soon as she saw Wang Chao wrapping up his workout. As the golden daughter of a rich and powerful family, she was more than aware of the details of how society worked.
“Master, what made you suddenly want to investigate Tan Wendong?”
Moving to practice his stance, Wang Chao let out a single breath of air that was more like a blast rather than an exhale. Practically every blade of grass two steps in front of him had started to sway as a result of it.
As he withdrew his arms, he first ignored the matter with Tan Wendong so that he could repeat his words to Huo Ling’er. “Xingyiquan has twelve stances and the Five Element Boxing. The forms for them are very simple and could be learned in a single day even. In the past, I had only taught you the Chopping Jin of the tiger stance and the Eagle Claw of the eagle stance. We ignored the rest of the stances so that we could focus on these specific ones. And now you have reached a point of purity with them; a point where you are able to strike so that the sound follows the fist. At the same time, this sound has reached a stage where it is in unison with the muscles and bones. You are however not quite there yet where the sounds of thunder can be heard coming from your actions. That much requires just a step longer. I watched how you reacted against those gangsters yesterday. It was an exquisite display and very pragmatic. Even I did not have a talent like that when I was your age, so I can now feel confident in you learning the other stances now.”
Huo Ling’er was actually familiar with all twelve stances, but it was only the tiger and eagle stance that she was trained perfectly in. For the other stances, she was merely at an introductory stage.
“You’ve already learned the figures of the tiger and eagle stance, all that is left for you is to learn the meaning behind them. Xingyiquan is an art where one must see the stance before one can understand the meaning behind it. When you fight with another, be careful not to stick to the rigid routines you were taught. You must follow the instinct of your own fist and fight as you will. Whether it is with the ferocity of a tiger or with the hunting instinct of an eagle high in the sky, anything will do. “Be lost in pleasure.” Remember those four words. You will need to reflect and refine upon this.”
“Be lost in pleasure? That has a dirty meaning behind it.” Huo Ling’er grumbled. “But master, your killing moves, “Assault of Dragon and Snake”, “Flying Horse Treading on Swallow”, and “Cutting Tail of the Crocodile”, those are all forms as well. When you fight to kill, do you not use those as a routine?”
“Fighting styles in a fight were always explosive and violent in nature, but that is not always a good thing. And yet, it matches with this secret and brings out its best side.” Wang Chao brushed at his robes, “Come here, I’ll explain to you the secret to what it means to ‘lose yourself in pleasure’ and then teach you a killing move. The meaning behind this is that in a match, you must not constantly think about trying to kill your opponent. When you cross hands with one another, there will be a moment of clarity. An epiphany. A single moment where you understand what must be done, and from there, your imagination will lead you to the correct path to take. As soon as the heart forget about killing, a killing move will drop into your mind in that one moment before you commit to it.”
And so after he spoke, Wang Chao began to teach Huo Ling’er the combo killing move, “Flying Eagle Striking Ape”.
After he had taught Huo Ling’er the tiger and eagle stances, she was perfect when it came to the natures of both animals. But she was still lacking in the nimbleness and quick-witted nature one should have, so Wang Chao had decided to teach her the monkey stance for now.
The Flying Eagle Striking Ape was a killing move that transitioned from the eagle to the monkey.
In essence, the flying eagle represented the vigorous approach of an eagle in its dive before transforming into the monkey that would leap from branch to branch on a tree before attacking.
“From every strike of a form, it can be practiced through stance training. After learning the tiger and eagle stances, you became able in bringing the Hidden Jin to your arms and strengthened the muscles in the tiger’s den of your hand and the fingers along with it. The moves of the monkey stance emphasizes the face, neck and eyes. When you have learned what it means by the face, you will learn the cleverness behind the monkey stance. For now, you will take to the great sage stance. This stance will look ugly and funny to you, so practice it when no one is around or perhaps late at night.”
To demonstrate the stance, Wang Chao linked both of his knees and feet together and squatted down only slightly. His body was still pointed tall up towards the skies while his hands formed a slight cup as if shielding his eyes from the sun at his knees.
Whilst he stood in this stance, his head and neck didn’t move at all, but his eyes would swivel from the left to the right side. Even his ears would match with the movements of his eyes and shake.
This position was very similar to the Great Sage monkey from the historical classic Journey to the West as he overlooked the road ahead of him with a monster-like appearance.