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Глава 70

Master Jia bought a jar of aged Bai Fen liquor, happily stuffed it into his basket, and headed straight for Jade Pillar Peak.

As he reached the summit, he caught a glimpse of Nizi chasing and playing with the big black cat "Xiao Cui'er" in front of the wooden house, their laughter ringing out. Looking at the innocent child, Master Jia couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. He had lived a lonely life, childless, and had never experienced the joys of family life. "Ancestor," he thought, "I had no choice but to attack you in the rainforest back then… Now I will take good care of your daughter and teach her unparalleled martial arts. Rest in peace in the afterlife…"

“Girl, are you hungry? I’ll make you something to eat right away,” Master Jia said, putting down his basket. “Girl, look what this is.” He took out two sets of flowery clothes and small cloth shoes, and then carefully took out a flowery hair tie and a hair ornament from his bosom.

Little girls naturally love floral clothes and pretty hair ties, and Nizi was no exception. "Wow...it's so pretty, is it for me?" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey, Nizi, why is there red in your teeth? It looks like bloodstains." Master Jia suddenly noticed Nizi's two rows of sharp teeth and asked in surprise.

"No..." Nizi didn't have time to answer, and quickly grabbed the clothes and held them up to her body.

"Oh, maybe it's a lack of vitamin C. This child's life in the countryside is too hard," Master Jia muttered to himself.

The sound of frying oil sizzling came from inside the cabin, and a fragrant aroma wafted through the air. Nizi couldn't help but take a deep breath, and then skipped and jumped back into the cabin with "Xiao Cui'er".

Several dishes were laid out on the wooden table: stir-fried cured pork with green garlic, stir-fried cured pork with celery, and stir-fried cured pork with cabbage. Master Jia smiled and looked at her while wearing an apron.

Nizi picked out two pieces of cured meat and threw them on the ground. After tasting them, "Little Cui'er" jumped into Nizi's arms with a "whoosh," her throat making "gurgling" sounds, her eyes fixed on the plate, her mouth watering.

Master Jia, out of affection for the girl, also picked up two pieces of cured meat and handed them to "Little Cui'er," saying, "Little girl, from today onwards, I will formally teach you 'Innate Qi Gong.'"

As Nizi shoveled rice into her mouth, she asked, "If Nizi learns 'Innate Qi Gong,' can she find her mother?"

Master Jia smiled and nodded.

"How long will it take you to learn, Nizi?" Nizi asked with concern.

Master Jia pondered for a moment and said, "It will take at least ten years, and at most several decades."

"If that girl doesn't study anymore, when will she be able to see her mother again..." The girl put down her bowl and chopsticks, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Don't rush, don't rush," Master Jia said hastily, somewhat flustered, "There is still a shortcut..."

Nizi glared at Master Jia with a pout, looking utterly pitiful.

"I can infuse you with some pure true energy from the Quanzhen School to open up your eight extraordinary meridians with external force. This will make your cultivation much faster," Master Jia sighed and said.

"How long will it take to learn?" Nizi asked eagerly.

"Hmm...that depends on your own comprehension," Master Jia replied.

Nizi left the table and said firmly, "Grandpa Daoist, let's start filling the air now."

Master Jia chuckled, then solemnly said, "Girl, to learn 'Primordial Qi Gong,' you must first join my Quanzhen School. Our school's secret techniques cannot be passed on to outsiders."

“Nizi, join the Quanzhen Sect, join the Quanjia Sect, Nizi will join both,” Nizi said impatiently.

"So, you're willing to become my disciple?" Master Jia's heart pounded. This was the first time in his life that he had accepted a disciple, and he couldn't help but feel excited.

"As long as I can see my mother, I'm willing," Nizi said firmly.

Chapter 103

"Nizi, do you know what Qigong is?" Master Jia asked, taking a sip of Fenjiu liquor from his large bowl.

"I don't know." Nizi shook her head.

"Qigong has existed since ancient times. Practitioners refer to it by various names, such as guiding, breathing exercises, qi cultivation, meditation, Zen practice, alchemy, spirit cultivation, nature cultivation, self-cultivation, tendon and marrow cleansing, and returning to one's original nature. These names vary depending on the sectarian tradition. The Quanzhen School's Qigong emphasizes 'refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, refining spirit into emptiness, refining emptiness into the Dao, lowering the curtain to clarify the mind and guard the ancestral aperture, and merging heaven and earth into the mysterious capital.' Just as the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic says: 'When righteous qi is ever present, evil cannot invade...'"

"Grandpa Taoist Priest, I don't understand," Nizi sighed and said truthfully.

Master Jia downed the liquor in his bowl in one gulp and said, "Alright, to be honest, I also can't stand those fancy, mystical techniques. Zhang Sanfeng of Wudang in the early Ming Dynasty said it well: if you simplify all the qigong methods in the world, they can actually be summed up in one sentence..."

"Which sentence?" Nizi was delighted. Even if a sentence is difficult to pronounce, it can be understood after reviewing it a few times.

“Listen, ‘Following the natural order leads to ordinariness, going against it leads to immortality, it’s just a matter of reversing it in the middle,’” Master Jia said.

“Shun Zefan…you’re turning it upside down?” Nizi still didn’t understand.

“Let me put it this way,” Master Jia thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain it clearly, and finally said, “Girl, daytime is yang, and nighttime is yin. ‘Yin and yang give birth to each other, and yin and yang are each other’s root.’ That is to say, daytime is followed by nighttime, and nighttime is followed by daytime again. Without daytime, there is no nighttime, and without nighttime, there is no daytime. Do you understand?”

Nizi replied, "Without yang, there is no yin, and without yin, there is no yang, right?"

"Ha, Nizi is so clever." Master Jia was very pleased and poured another bowl of wine.

"What if 'mortal' is yang and 'immortal' is yin?" Master Jia asked, smiling at Nizi.

Nizi thought for a moment, then answered by drawing a circle with her hand: "Going forward turns into Yang, and going backward turns into Yin."

"My God, he's a prodigy!" Master Jia exclaimed with unbridled joy.

"Then what about 'the middle is reversed'?" Nizi asked.

Master Jia said, "There's a lot to it about this 'middle,' it's neither left nor right, neither up nor down, neither empty nor real, neither existent nor nonexistent..."

"So it's hard to say, it's uncertain, maybe it's there or maybe not?" Nizi asked.

“That’s right, that’s the meaning. What is ‘inverted’? It means that with me, there is heaven and earth; without me, there is no heaven and earth. It’s the meaning of yin and yang, and the order and reversal of things…” Master Jia explained further.

"Qigong is actually about turning clockwise and counterclockwise, the back and forth of yin and yang, seemingly there and not there..." Nizi realized.

“Yes, yes, as the saying goes, Yin cannot produce, Yang cannot grow. There is Yang within Yin and Yin within Yang. This is the true unity of Yin and Yang,” Master Jia gulped down a large bowl of wine, looked up at the sky outside, and said, “It’s almost noon, and the Yang energy is at its peak. I will first infuse you with Yang energy. Come with your master.” With that, he took Ni Zi’s hand and led her to the outside of the wooden house.

At the summit of Tianzhu Peak, there is a protruding boulder with a bottomless abyss below, shrouded in mist and clouds year-round.

"This is where the energies of heaven and earth meet, an excellent place for practicing martial arts. Whenever the rain clears, a rainbow will rise from here. Nizi, remember, there are specific times for practicing. At noon, the yang energy is at its peak, so you should try to absorb as much yang energy as possible from heaven and earth. At midnight, the yin energy is at its peak, so you should absorb the yin energy of the moon at that time, which will be twice as effective," Master Jia explained.

"Such a nice place, don't other people know about it?" Nizi asked.

"Of course, it can't be hidden from cultivators. I only managed to occupy this treasure land after I drove away the old nun from Emei. Hehe." Master Jia said with a smug smile.

The spring sunshine shines directly on Tianzhu Peak, enveloping the peak in a golden hue.

Under Master Jia's guidance, Nizi naturally sat cross-legged on the boulder, but she dared not look down into the abyss beside her, feeling a little dizzy.

"Nizi, first of all, your posture for meditation and breath regulation must be correct. Your left leg is outside, and your right leg is inside. Place your hands on your thighs, pinching the base of your ring fingers. Keep your mouth slightly open, with your tongue not touching your upper and lower teeth. Pay attention to natural breathing. Keep your eyes slightly open and focus on a point in front of you, as if you can't see it, as if it's there and not there. When you inhale, feel a ball of air rise slightly in your lower abdomen, but it shouldn't go above your solar plexus. When you exhale, feel the air descend. You should adjust your breathing to a light, soft, and almost imperceptible state. Do you understand?"

Nizi is very smart and learns quickly, so Master Jia nodded in satisfaction.

Next, Master Jia taught Nizi the Quanzhen School's "Shouxuan" exercise. The left hand remained in a pinched position, with four fingers clenched into a fist. The right thumb was inserted into the web between the thumb and index finger of the left fist, and the right hand held the left fist. The index fingers of both hands should be parallel; this is called "Embracing the River Chart." The mouth was closed, teeth together, tongue touching the upper palate, eyes slightly closed, revealing only a sliver of light. The mind focused on the "ancestral aperture," which is the area between the eyes and the root of the nose, in a state of near-absence, as if guarding but not truly guarding, with a still, calm mind.

"When the mind is empty, it is still; when thoughts do not arise, it is tranquility." Master Jia murmured, then stretched out one palm and placed it on the Baihui acupoint on the top of Ni Zi's head. With his other hand, he removed one of her left shoes and placed it on the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of her foot. He activated the Quanzhen School's innate Qi Gong, slowly injecting pure Yang Qi into the Baihui acupoint and guiding it from the Yongquan acupoint, causing the Qi to flow slowly along the eight extraordinary meridians.

Ni Zi meditated silently, feeling subtle changes in her body. At first, she felt a slight soreness, numbness, and swelling throughout her body, followed by a feeling of blockage, pain, itching, heaviness, and other discomforts in her meridians... Master Jia then slightly increased the intensity, and Ni Zi experienced alternating hot and cold sensations within her body, causing her to tremble and shiver. Immediately afterward, a warm current broke through the blockage, and she suddenly felt light and airy, as if she were floating in the air...

After a long while, Master Jia slowly withdrew his hand from Ni Zi's Baihui acupoint, and then suddenly shouted, "Remove Yin Talisman!" Immediately, his hand on the Yongquan acupoint was abruptly pulled away, and Ni Zi's soles suddenly felt hot, as the turbid qi in her eight extraordinary meridians gushed out, and her soles felt a cool sensation, extremely pleasant.

Under the sunlight, Master Jia's face was flushed, he was panting heavily, and his chest was heaving. Just now, he had used his own true energy to help Nizi open up her eight extraordinary meridians, which had cost him a lot of yang energy. Fortunately, it was noon and the yang energy of heaven and earth was at its peak, which helped him a lot.

“Nizi, tonight at midnight, I will help you absorb the Yin energy of the moon. This ‘Innate Qi Gong’ will then be slightly successful. As long as you diligently practice during the two hours of midnight and noon every day, your progress will be rapid.” Master Jia breathed a long sigh of relief and said.

"Thank you, Master." Nizi turned over and knelt down on both knees in front of Master Jia, kowtowing as she spoke.

In that instant, Jia Shiming felt a surge of heat in his chest, and his eyes welled up with tears…

The security office of the South Gate Market in Yuxiang Town is a joint defense agency of the Yongji County Public Security Bureau. A security captain surnamed Yu received the clothing store owner. After listening to his account, he asked, "Liu Er, you are very vigilant, that's good. This person is highly suspicious. Are you sure this old man is cultivating on Wulao Peak?"

"He admitted it himself, so I even gave him a discount," the shop owner said confidently.

"Okay, you go back first. We'll report to the county bureau immediately. If we really catch the human traffickers, we'll waive your security fee for a year," Captain Yu said encouragingly, patting the shop owner on the shoulder.

After the shop owner left, Captain Yu immediately called the county public security bureau. The county bureau took the matter very seriously and promised to send police officers to Yuxiang Town immediately to investigate the situation and, if necessary, work with the community security joint defense team to search for and arrest the traffickers and rescue the abducted girl.

After noon, Chief Chu of the County Public Security Bureau's Public Security Division arrived in Yuxiang Town with several police officers. Their jeep stopped in front of the Public Security Office.

"Go and bring the shop owner here to make a statement." Section Chief Chu was a decisive person; he pushed open the door and instructed Captain Yu.

Before long, the shop owner, Lao Liu, was hurriedly led into the office.

"Are you the owner of the clothing store in this market?" Section Chief Chu asked.

"Yes, my surname is Liu, and I'm the second oldest in my family. People here call me Liu Er (Second Liu)," the shopkeeper replied respectfully.

"Liu Er, please describe the events in more detail, and tell me about the old man's physical characteristics," Section Chief Chu said sternly to him.

So, Liu Er, seeing the old man carrying a basket to buy girls' clothes, and how strong his class struggle consciousness and how high his vigilance were, noticed the old man's suspicious behavior by observing his words and expressions. He promptly reported this to the public security office and then described the old man's appearance and clothing in detail.

"Is it a local accent?" Section Chief Chu interjected.

"No, he speaks very standard Mandarin," Liu Er replied.

"If you see this person again, will you recognize him?" Section Chief Chu squinted at Liu Er.

"Yes, I guarantee it. I, Liu Er, have a sharp eye," Liu Er said casually.

"Alright, you'll come with us to Five Old Peaks. How about it? Any difficulties?" Section Chief Chu stood up and asked.

"No problem. Cooperating with the public security organs to eliminate violence and maintain social order is the glorious responsibility of the people," Liu Er said loudly, patting his chest.

Section Chief Chu smiled and gathered everyone together, saying, "We will search and investigate each of these five peaks—East Jinping Peak, West Jinping Peak, Taiyiping Peak, Qipanshan Peak, and Yuzhu Peak—one by one. We must find that old man."

So, with the jeep in front and two hand tractors carrying the joint defense team members behind, they headed straight for Wulaofeng in a grand procession.

Chapter 104 of the main text

That night, the moon was bright and the stars were few. As midnight approached, Master Jia woke up the sleeping Ni Zi and led her to the boulder atop Jade Pillar Peak. The abyss below was shrouded in mist and fog. The big black cat "Xiao Cui'er" rubbed her sleepy eyes and reluctantly followed behind.

"The moonlight is the yin energy of heaven and earth. Strange animals in the mountains and forests often come out at this time to breathe in and absorb yin energy from the moon. It can be seen that this is an excellent time for cultivators," Master Jia explained patiently.

Nizi nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Come on, let's begin now..." Master Jia ordered Nizi to remove her cloth shoes, then grabbed her two ankles, lifted her up, and flipped her over so that she was upside down with her head down and her hands on the ground, with her Yongquan acupoints on her feet facing the moon.

Master Jia held the girl's inner thighs tightly, three inches above her ankles. This spot is the "Sanyinjiao" acupoint, where the three Yin meridians of the Foot Taiyin Spleen Meridian, Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian, and Foot Jueyin Liver Meridian meet. It is also known as the "Taiyin acupoint".

Under the bright moonlight, the Yin energy was at its peak. Master Jia slowly raised a stream of pure Yin energy from his Dantian, channeling it little by little into Ni Zi's Sanyinjiao acupoints through the Laogong acupoints in the palms of his hands...

Laogong acupoint is the Ying-Fire point of the Pericardium Meridian of Hand-Jueyin, connecting the Du Meridian (the sea of Yang meridians) and the Ren Meridian (the sea of Yin meridians). In the Qigong community, this acupoint is called "Qikou". Qigong masters release "external Qi" from this point when treating patients.

Ni Zi stood upside down, feeling a chill slowly seep into her ankles. She heard Master Jia chanting, "Reversal brings immortality, the middle is upside down..."

She then focused her mind and concentrated, visualizing the cool sensation circulating counterclockwise within her body, seemingly there yet not there, almost imperceptible...

"Hahaha, you old bastard! Stop now?" Suddenly, a series of cold laughs rang out in the night sky.

Master Jia was suddenly startled...

At crucial moments in the practice of breathing exercises, it is extremely important to avoid being startled. If one fails to control their energy properly, they may suffer a qi deviation or even become possessed. This is similar to the situation during intercourse between a man and a woman. When a man is in the midst of his ejaculation and excitement, he may be suddenly startled, causing his semen to flow backward and resulting in "reverse qi deviation." In mild cases, this can lead to impotence in the future; in severe cases, it can cause hemiplegia or even mental instability. This is a serious taboo.

Master Jia was concentrating on channeling pure Yin energy from his Guanyuan and Qihai points to Ni Zi's Sanyinjiao points when he was suddenly struck by a loud shout. His internal energy reversed, his limbs went numb, and he was unable to move for a moment...

Under the moonlight, three people suddenly appeared on the summit of Jade Pillar Peak. The one in the lead was a middle-aged woman dressed in a dark gray men's Zhongshan suit. She was slightly plump, with a sallow complexion, and wore gold-rimmed glasses. Behind her were two people, one tall and one short, both extremely thin, around fifty years old, dressed in black.

"You old bastard, why are you so quiet? Have you forgotten about me, the old nun of Emei?" the middle-aged woman said coldly, her voice sharp and thin as a needle, as if it could pierce the bone marrow.