Chapter 118 A One-Man War
Tai Chi Chuan is generally said to have been created by Zhang Sanfeng, but there are several other theories as well—we can ask Zhang Sanfeng about it when he arrives.
However, Tai Chi Chuan must have evolved over at least several hundred years from its inception to its current state. It's certain that Fang Zhenjiang learned the most authentic style – taught by his wife himself, a family tradition. Tong Yuan is a Tai Chi master; she once used her superior soft-over-hard techniques to render Duan Tianlang, whose strength far surpassed hers, helpless.
Just now, when I shouted, Fang Zhenjiang remembered that he still had a beautiful wife at home and couldn't die together with Wu Song, a bachelor who had been a hermit all his life. So he unconsciously used the kung fu his wife had taught him.
Fang and Wu stood together, their hearts in perfect harmony, yet for a moment they didn't know what to say, only exchanging silly smiles. Lu Zhishen approached Wu Song and asked, "Are you sure?"
Wu Song took Fang Zhenjiang's hand and said, "Come, let me introduce you, this is Brother Lu Zhishen..."
Fang Zhenjiang smiled and said, "I've met him before." As he spoke, he pulled Wu Song in front of me and said, "Let me introduce you. This is Xiao Qiang. He's a good brother. The brothers have already recognized him as the 109th leader of our mountain."
Wu Song, a little embarrassed, squeezed my shoulder and said, "I offended you before, brother."
Before I could say anything, Wu Song suddenly asked Fang Zhenjiang in a daze, "So where are you in the queue?"
Fang Zhenjiang: "...It doesn't matter to me whether I line up or not."
Wu Song exclaimed, "How can that be?" He said to Fang Zhenjiang, "Brother—you're younger than me, so I'll call you brother. How about this, you'll be ranked after me." Wu Song then said to Dong Ping, who was laughing on the side, "Brother Dong, I have a favor to ask. Can my brother skip ahead of you?" According to the Liangshan ranking, Dong Ping was ranked right after Wu Song, and was the 15th of the Heavenly Stars.
Dong Ping scoffed, "Why should I? I was doing just fine at 15. If I leave the martial world and my friends say I've been demoted to 16, they'll think I made some mistake and got demoted."
Wu Song, quick-witted as ever, said, "Then how about this, Zhenjiang? You'll be in line before me, you'll be number 14 and I'll be number 15..."
Dong Ping stamped his foot and said, "Then I'll still be 16!" Everyone burst into laughter.
Fang Zhenjiang laughed and said, "I won't bother with the ranking. Having so many friends and brothers is what really matters; fame and status don't matter."
Lu Junyi said, "How about this, the two of you together will be ranked 14th." This is the first time this has happened on Liangshan. Zhang Shun, Zhang Heng, the three Ruan brothers, Zhu Gui, and Zhu Fu were all brothers who came up the mountain together, and there was no precedent for two or three people being ranked together.
Wu Song laughed and said, "That's good. The two of them together are 14, and when separated, they are both 7."
"Pah!" Thunderbolt Qin Ming spat at him; he was ranked 7th on the mountain—
After the fight, Wu Song and Fang Zhenjiang became inseparable friends, and everyone gathered around to celebrate with them. Suddenly, someone whispered, "Hey, where did Hua Rong go?"
Then everyone remembered that Hua Rong had come up the mountain with them. Looking around, Duan Jingzhu, with his sharp eyes, pointed to a set of mountain steps and said, "Where are the two of them?"
Hua Rong and Hua Rong sat side by side on the stone steps, neither too close nor too far apart, both handsome and elegant. One of them looked up at the sky, while the other scratched the ground with a small stalk of grass, whispering to each other. Because of the distance, it was impossible to hear what they were saying, but one could sense a faint unspoken understanding between them, along with a touch of loneliness—as if they were sitting alone.
Someone in the crowd shouted, "Hua Rong!"
Both Hua Rong turned around at the same time, both twisting their necks to the left, their movements identical, even their expressions were exactly the same. Everyone felt a wave of dizziness, and many subconsciously rubbed their eyes. If one of them hadn't been wearing modern clothes, they probably would have all collapsed.
Hua Rong, the one on the right wearing a sash with an arrow-shaped sleeve, smiled slightly at everyone and said, "Is Brother Wu Song's matter over? We don't need to compete anymore. I believe I am him, and we are one person."
Several people shouted almost simultaneously, "What did you say?"
There were still faint tear stains at the corners of You Huarong's eyes. He wiped his eyes and forced a smile, saying, "It's nothing. We just talked about things after Liangshan."
Seeing that people still had doubts, Hua Rong on the left said, "Since Wu Song and the others have already competed, let's have a friendly spar too."
Those who loved a good spectacle cheered, and several of them were actually time travelers from the 54th century. They had witnessed Hua Rong and Pang Wanchun's archery duel firsthand, which was already incredibly exciting and thrilling. Now that two Hua Rongs were going to fight, they wondered what a feast for the eyes it would be like.
Hua Rong asked Hua Rong, "How should we spar?"
Hua Rong said to Hua Rong, "Just like on the battlefield, you know what to do."
Hua Rong and Hua Rong... well, to distinguish between the two Hua Rong, let's follow the example of Jin 1 and divide Hua Rong into Hua 1 and Hua 2. The original Liangshan version of Hua Rong is Hua 1, and the youth version of Ran Dongye Literature is Hua 2.
Flower 1 asked Flower 2, "Is this okay?"
Hua 2 said gently, "You know whether it's feasible or not. Don't forget we are one person."
Hua 1 smiled knowingly: "That's right."
Hua 2 said to me, "Brother Qiang, we need one more person later. After we split up and get ready, could you give us the signal to start?"
I asked, puzzled, "How do you want to compete?"
Hua 2 didn't say much, picked up his bow and walked towards the edge of the grove. Hua 1 then had someone take his bow and set off in the other direction without saying a word.
My fellow heroes and I looked at each other in astonishment, none of us knowing what they were up to. Suddenly, the two Hua Rongs, about fifty meters apart, stopped and turned around at the same time, both eyes fixed on my hand, waiting for my signal.
I cautiously asked the person next to me, "What exactly are these two up to? Should I let them start?"
Zhang Qing said with a focused mind, "It looks like they're going to shoot each other, but these two are buddies, they shouldn't be risking their lives."
At this point, those who had been waiting to see the commotion realized that something was wrong and started talking all at once, saying, "Let's call them all back and ask them what's going on."
I raised my hand to signal the two to come back. Little did I know this would cause trouble. As soon as I raised my hand, Flower One and Flower Two simultaneously pulled out a volley of arrows from behind their backs and aimed them at each other. It was obvious without even looking that there were 27 arrows in that volley; the technique alone was beyond the capabilities of most people. The crowd erupted in chaos, shouting, "Oh dear, they're really risking their lives! Make them stop!"
I frantically shouted, raising one hand, "Then you two go! I can't move!" Both Hua Rongs stared intently at my hand. At that moment, everyone knew that if I released it, a hail of arrows would rain down, turning both of them into pincushions. None of us could understand why, having recognized each other as brothers, they would turn on each other. This was different from the last time they fought Pang Wanchun. Last time, for the sake of honor, at least neither Hua Rong nor Pang Wanchun wanted the other to die by their arrows. But this time, it was dangerous. Once the bow was drawn, it wasn't a simple life-or-death struggle; it was mutual destruction!
People panicked and shouted for Erhua (the two Hua Rongs will be referred to as Erhua from now on, a name dedicated to the idiot Erhua who lives downstairs from my house) to stop. Several people also ran towards the two of them separately.
August 16th, Liangshan, no wind...
Two flowers stand in confrontation, 54 arrows are ready to be fired, and no one knows the consequences of this battle...
In this extremely urgent moment, a little flying insect, humming a happy song, foolishly crawled into my nostril (Xiao Hua wrote this in her composition and was praised by her teacher back then). I groaned with my nose crooked and eyes squinted, then let out a thunderous sneeze. Then I rubbed my nose with my hand—at the same time, I heard a "whoosh" as it slid through my eardrum. I knew something was wrong!
And then guess what I heard next? Well, those familiar with my style can probably guess right, next I heard "whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh (22 whooshes omitted here) —", ah, that sound.
Next, I really wanted to write about how I subconsciously closed my eyes and then opened them to see something, but you know, there are many times when people don't have time to close their eyes...