Shen Qing felt a sudden clarity inside his mind, as if he had just had an epiphany, right after he decided to make a breakthrough.
In the dim and damp room, the characters that had seemed incredibly unfamiliar became amiable and familiar.
Only after seriously studying them twice, their forms and meanings clearly manifested in his mind.
When Shen Qing lowered his head to look again, his fingers gently slid across the pages, and he felt an unprecedented smoothness.
[Skill: To recognize characters and read (skillfully)]
[Progress: 1/200 points]
[Status: Cannot be improved]
Zhang Shuyuan did not notice Shen Qing's unusual behavior, but seeing the value in teaching him, patiently taught Shen Qing once more.
"Now you have learned sixteen characters, plus the sixteen characters from yesterday, making a total of thirty-two characters. Close the book and recite them from memory, then write them down for me to see," Zhang Shuyuan said arrogantly, stroking his already shiny goatee like a true old-school tutor.
Shen Qing nodded and said, "Okay, teacher."
Following the instruction, he closed the book, closed his eyes, and recited loudly, "The heavens are black, the earth is yellow. The universe is vast. The sun and moon wax and wane, stars align. The cold leaves, the heat returns; autumn harvests, winter stores. Leap years add extra days, and musical harmony adjusts the order of nature."
Seeing Shen Qing recite fluently without any hesitation, Zhang Shuyuan asked, "Do you know what it means?"
Shen Qing thought for a while and said, "Teacher taught yesterday, these words mean the sky is dark blue, and the earth is..."
As Shen Qing eloquently continued, Zhang Shuyuan felt this poor family's son seemed somewhat different.
When he first learned this "Thousand Character Classic," he memorized the meanings rigidly, only gradually digesting them later, which was far from the fluency Shen Qing displayed.
Zhang Shuyuan took out a withered tree branch, placing it in front of Shen Qing, and said, "Write these thirty-two characters."
Shen Qing nodded in agreement, picked up the branch, and started writing on the ground.
In just a moment, the thirty-two characters were all written down without missing a single one.
If yesterday's writing was like a tortoise crawling, today it was like a proper tortoise indeed.
Ugly, but regular.
Zhang Shuyuan subconsciously glanced at Shen Qing again.
In just one day, this unremarkable young man had stepped from the threshold outside reading into the realm with one foot.
Such understanding, he had never seen in all his years.
However, Zhang Shuyuan was not excited or treated Shen Qing differently because of this.
In this world, talents were as common as carps crossing the river, but without background or connections, how many could truly stand out?
This little show of talent only stirred a brief surprise, and nothing more.
Zhang Shuyuan saw Shen Qing finish writing and said indifferently, "Not bad, you need to practice more whenever you have time."
Shen Qing nodded and said, "Thank you for your guidance, teacher."
After Zhang Shuyuan's examination, Shen Qing practiced a bit more before concluding his character recognition study for the day.
Leaving the room, Shen Qing did not linger but hurried home to see the martial arts book again.
There were still many characters he couldn't recognize, but compared to before, he understood more.
There was indeed a record of general martial arts knowledge within.
He needed to work harder to progress.
Shen Qing became filled with motivation.
...
Outside Hongshan Village, an old horse pulled a cart slowly into the village.
As the mountain driver of Hongshan Village, Chen Youguang sat on the cart, his face beaming with vigor.
"Uncle, you're back!" By the roadside, Chen Dajiang's wrinkled face bunched up, greeting with a mournful expression.
"Yes, I'm back," the village chief responded, nodding to Aunt Zhang who was ahead, "Aunt Zhang, how is your health?"
"Still fine, still fine!" Aunt Zhang's expression became somewhat unnatural when she looked at Chen Youguang, appearing about to speak but stopping.
Chen Youguang found it strange.
He had only been out for a few days, but the village atmosphere seemed to have turned gloomy.
He found it curious, as though someone had lost a son.
Children gathered around, curiously watching the cart, and Chen Youguang waved them away.
Putting away his smile, Chen Youguang hurriedly returned home with the cart.
Upon opening the door, he felt an unusual coldness at home, "Eldest, Second, Third, come out, your father is back."
After calling for a long time, only Chen Yuan came out.
His stubbly face looked somewhat haggard, "Dad!"
"Where are your two brothers?" Chen Youguang took a wine pouch off the cart, raised his head, and drank.
"They... they were killed by Tian Family members..."
"Pfft..." The mouthful of wine that Chen Youguang had just drunk sprayed out with a loud puff, "What did you say, Second and Third are dead? What exactly happened, tell me quickly."
"It happened like this…" Chen Yuan recounted everything that had happened over the past two days.
After hearing it, Chen Youguang's face looked unfavorable, his heart sinking straight to the bottom.
"Dad, what should we do? Shouldn't we make the Tian Family..." Chen Yuan made a throat-slashing gesture.
"No, killing them is useless apart from venting our anger," Chen Youguang interrupted.
Pacing, he looked up and said, "How is your martial arts training now?"
"Just got qi sensing, give me a few more months, and I can reach Great Perfection of Qi and Blood."
"Good, then there's a chance," Chen Youguang said, "I went to Shen Shou Sect besides seeing the Song and Dong Family in town. It's been arranged; come spring, if you reach Great Perfection of Qi and Blood, I'll gather sixty taels silver, and you'll be directly admitted into their inner sect."
Shen Shou Sect!
Chen Yuan's eyes immediately lit up.
This martial arts sect was famous in the town, comparable to those martial arts halls.
More importantly, this sect had government connections, besides training martial arts, it also brought additional income.
However, joining this martial arts sect required a lot of money, deterring many.
Unexpectedly, his father managed to establish such a connection.
"The dead are worthless, but the living can be worth a lot in the broker's hands. You just need that silver, let the Tian Family provide it. If they refuse, force them to agree!"
"And what about my two brothers' grudge..."
Chen Youguang lifted his eyelids and said, "I'm still young, make more money, and I'll marry two more concubines and have you two more brothers."
Chen Yuan: "..."
"Alright, stop it with these affairs. In a few days, when the snow stops, our family needs to begin purchasing hunting goods for the market."
Chen Yuan said, "Dad, why are we doing the purchasing? Didn't the Song and Dong Families always send someone?"
"Heavy snow on the road, their buyer fell in the mountains and died, from now on, our family does the purchasing. We'll set the purchase prices too. In this Hongshan Village, if anyone doesn't sell hunting goods to us, we let them walk to the market themselves, no rides to town selling for them."
The journey to the town from here was not a short section, walking there, and back in a day was impossible.
If unsold, they'd need another overnight stay.
Chen Yuan knew, his dad intended to make Hongshan Village his personal preserve, his private hunting ground.