Chapter 001: The Female Ghost
One day.
Bai Songren looked at Yang Hua who was practicing and said, "Yang Hua, stop first." Only then did Bai Songren's voice slowly come from inside the small house.
Yang Hua stopped and looked at this disheveled old man.
"Your combat skills are gradually improving, but you still haven't reached the true path. What you lack is actual combat experience. You need to know that when fighting with others, anything can happen."
Yang Hua nodded.
"Alright, from today on, you'll continue practicing in the morning. In the afternoon, I'll teach you some other things."
Yang Hua was taken aback and thought to himself, "Could it be that he has some other kind of skill?"
"What shall we do this afternoon?" he couldn't help asking.
"Just listen to Bai Songren's words: 'You'll know when it's afternoon, now just train for me.'"
Yang Hua choked on a bone and returned in a huff, continuing his training.
By afternoon, Yang Hua indeed did not train again. Bai Songren just let him sit on the ground, with two people sitting face to face.
"Now I'll teach you something else... A person can't just rely on using their fists to solve problems, that's what a fool would do, understand?"
Yang Hua nodded.
"And let me tell you, although your fighting skills are now basically proficient, but you have to know that the outside world is not as simple as you think. If you really encounter a life-or-death situation, who will only use their fists to solve problems? You'll always be using your brain, do you understand?"
Yang Hua thought what Bai Songren said was quite right.
"So, the combat skills I taught you were just to enhance your physical limits. Now, what I'm going to teach you are some techniques."
"I was going to teach you how to play with knives and firearms, but now is not the time, and this godforsaken place doesn't have anything anyway, so I won't be able to teach you."
Only heard Ba Songren say.
Yang Hua thought for a moment, yeah, he's good at fighting now, but he really doesn't know how to use knives or guns. In the outside world, who doesn't use those things and only uses their fists?
"But it's okay, with your current abilities, as long as no one shoots you dead, even if ten or eight guys chop at you with knives, I reckon you won't die." Bai Songren said with a hearty laugh.
Yang Hua seemed a bit skeptical, after all this guy only knew how to train every day and had never been in a real battle, he was actually not very clear about his own strength. In his heart at the moment, he still thought that his level was similar to Qing Long's...
"If you have the chance, after leaving this place, go find those two people and learn from them how to play with knives and guns."
Yang Hua was taken aback.
"Who are they?"
"Backhand Knife King, Wei Old Ghost, Gun Madman, Chen Bin!"
Yang Hua really hadn't heard of those two names before and simply shook his head.
Bai Songren burst out laughing and said, "These people are all old devils. You not recognizing them is to be expected. However, I haven't left in so many years, I don't know if these old devils were killed by the Avenging Family or not."
Bai Songren said with a tinge of sadness on his face that he had been locked up for so many years.
"But if you hadn't died, and could continue to follow them and hone your knife skills, as well as learn how to play with guns, I believe that soon, the country would have another excellent assassin, haha."
Yang Hua thought to himself, "I would never be an assassin." He felt that he had risked his life to learn and practice martial arts only to protect his loved ones from being bullied.
"Are those two people formidable?" Yang Hua couldn't help but ask.
Bai Songren turned his head and said, "You...if I say you're stupid, sometimes you're really not clever. If I say you're smart, you little guy is sometimes even smarter than a fox. Don't you think about it? The characters I'm talking about can't be those kinds of lowly roles, right? You don't go outside to ask around about the backgrounds of those two people, they are famous figures in the national Dao."
Yang Hua's face suddenly felt a little hot after Bai Songren said so.
"Alright, I'll tell you about them. Let's start with the Reverse Blade, Wei Lao Gui. He used to be in the Northern Sea, a lone wanderer, and everyone in the area knew him. His close-range combat skills were unparalleled, and his knife techniques were flawless. If he uses the Reverse Blade, no one can get within three steps of him."
"How formidable!" Yang Hua couldn't help but exclaim when he heard Bai Songren say that.
Bai Songren burst out laughing: "He's a good guy, but there's another freak called Chen Bin, who's notorious for being a gun nut. This guy is absolutely not to be trifled with. He used to serve in the army and participated in wars, has a weird personality, but loves guns like his life depends on it. 54, 64, 92 semi-automatic pistols... can often be found on him, and this guy also likes collecting guns, mini-sub-machine gun, Browning, even a Barrett M82A1 heavy sniper rifle..."
Yang Hua almost fainted, according to Bai Songren's words, that guy was simply a monster!
Bai Song laughed and said: "If you can find these people and learn more about this aspect, then you'll be unbeatable."
Yang Hua also burst out laughing, thinking to himself that he was already unlucky enough, how could he have such good luck.
"Wait a minute," said Bai Songren, his face suddenly changing color. "What I just said isn't the key to solving this problem! What is the most crucial and effective way to win?"
Yang Hua said frankly that he didn't understand and could only shake his head.
"Human feelings! Schemes! Do you understand these?"
Yang Hua suddenly realized that even if he was extremely capable, he couldn't surpass other people's sinister plots.
"So remember, what you're learning now is just to give you some self-defense skills, but the real learning is for you to figure it out yourself, to go out into society and learn through trial and error. Those things are impossible for anyone to teach you by hand."
Yang Hua nodded.
"If I have the chance to go out, I'll introduce you to a book. That book, I've been reading it since I learned how to read." As soon as Bai Songren said this, Yang Hua was stunned.
It's rare for someone like him to read books, and it adds a few points of humor.
Bai Songren said with a smile, "I guess you think I'm not the kind of person who learns from books, haha, but it doesn't matter. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to achieve great things."
"What book?" Yang Hua couldn't help but ask, back in school he also liked to browse encyclopedias and really wanted to hear what kind of book Bai Songren would mention.
"Mr. Li Zongwu's 'The Thick Black Theory'." Bai Songren said slowly.
Yang Hua had certainly heard of being called one of the ten great geniuses who influenced ancient China, but Yan Neng hadn't.
"This book can teach you how to scheme, how to be ruthless, and how to dominate the world. If you can learn even one percent of what's in this book, it will be extremely useful." said Bai Songren.
Yang Hua certainly understands the profoundness of "The 36 Stratagems", even in school, old professors often studied that famous book... now hearing Bai Songren say this, really makes me want to take a look.
"Now, I've told you everything I needed to say. The path ahead is yours to choose, understand? But there's one thing I hope for: use the skills I taught you on a righteous path. If someday I find out you've become... I'll personally take care of you." As Bai Songren spoke, his eyes gleamed with intensity, and even Renshou wouldn't doubt that he had the capability to do so.
Yang Hua nodded solemnly.
"One more thing, I hope you can take good care of Little Butterfly and her mother." Bai Songren said in a low, mournful tone.
"Well, if I can get out, I will definitely help you take care of them." Yang Hua said resolutely.
"That's good. Now you can continue practicing, I'm sleepy......" Bai Songren said, and slowly closed his eyes.
Yang Hua gazed at the old man, and a sense of desolation suddenly rose in his heart...
