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Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Chen Family Members
Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Chen Family Members
In the village, the sky was gradually darkening, and plumes of cooking smoke were rising.
The occasional bark of a dog would shatter the quiet, only to quickly return to silence.
Shen Qing noticed that at this time, both Chen Tai and Chen An showed no signs of returning, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat uneasy.
Even the stance training he had already mastered on normal days, he was unable to cultivate at this moment.
"Both of them are experienced, having roamed the mountains since they were young, and even if my third brother is naturally playful, he shouldn't be out after dark."
Suddenly, Shen Qing had an ominous guess.
He glanced at the darkening sky, knowing that going up the mountain at this time was no different from courting death; he then put on an animal skin jacket, slammed the door behind him, and knocked on his neighbors' doors.
The one who opened the door was a member of the Chen family of the same generation, called Chen Lao Wu because he was the fifth in line: "What is it, Chen A Da?"
Shen Qing asked directly, "Old fifth, did you see my two younger brothers when you went up the mountain today?"
Chen Lao Wu, taken aback by the question, immediately answered, "No, I went up the mountain with a few others from the central room, and we didn't see anyone else. What happened? Have your younger cousins not returned yet?"
Shen Qing shook his head and said, "They have not returned."
"Wait here for a moment, I will call out the men from the Chen family central room, and we will ask from house to house."
With more than thirty households in Hongshan Village, and ten of them belonging to the Chen family, they were quite influential in the village.
In such a remote and impoverished place, blood relations became a crucial bond.
When one family had a problem, the whole family would lend a hand.
Families like the Tian family, who were sparse in numbers, were often at a disadvantage in places like Hongshan Village.
Saying this, Chen Lao Wu also put on a tattered jacket and followed Shen Qing out, calling all the men of the Chen family to action.
In an instant, the quiet Hongshan Village became chaotic and noisy.
"Open up, open up."
"Old Tian, are you at home? We need to talk to you."
"..."
The Chen family members inquired from door to door; even those who had already gone to bed were called up.
Facing the formidable arrival of the Chen family, the villagers dared not oppose them.
Inside a crude adobe house,
Shen Fang was concentrating on cultivating the Nine Skills.
As he continued to practice, his progress in mastering this cultivation technique visibly ticked upward before his eyes.
With each breath Shen Fang took, it was as if he were absorbing the essence of heaven and earth, integrating it into his own Qi-Blood, causing his skin to gradually emit a faint red glow as if brimming with vitality.
[Skill: Nine Skills (Entry Level)]
[Progress: 18/100 points]
[Status: Non-improvable]
[Note: A Refining Qi-Blood Technique that, with continuous practice, can improve progress, achieving the Great Perfection of Qi and Blood, strength comparable to an ox.]
"Based on this rate of cultivation, it will only take me one day to break through to the next realm in this martial art."
After practicing for a while, Shen Fang's waist and knees became numb and weak, and his legs ached like they were being pricked with needles.
He collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.
It might have been an illusion, but after only a short period of practice, he felt as if the food he had just eaten had already been half digested.
His body was warm and steaming; he didn't feel the cold at all, making Shen Fang feel quite extraordinary.
Shen Fang looked at the blue booklet in front of him but felt somewhat regretful.
Apart from the diagrams, there were also some text annotations.
He guessed that they might be related to the essentials of reaching certain realms, but unfortunately, he couldn't read and didn't fully understand their meanings.
Having experienced the wonder of martial arts, Shen Qing felt he needed to make some time to learn to recognize characters and read.
His life was improving day by day, and he could now afford to ask Zhang Shu Chi, the village bookworm, to teach him some words.
Just as Shen Qing made up his mind, he suddenly heard an uproar and noisy commotion outside his house.
For some reason, he immediately became alert and hastily asked Shen Fang to hide the items they had brought down from the mountain today under the bed.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
"Is Shen Qing home?"
"I'm here, I'm here. A little gentle, please, don't break my door."
Shen Qing opened the door, and it was Chen Lao Wu.
Before Shen Qing could even speak, Chen Lao Wu had already asked, "Did you see the Chen Family Brothers in the mountain today?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Qing's heart skipped a beat.
Fortunately, he was a very calm person, and his face showed no unusual expression as he calmly said, "No, I haven't seen them. The villagers think my hunting skills are too immature, and no one wants to take me with them; I always go up the mountain to hunt alone."
Chen Lao Wu sized up Shen Qing a couple of times, saw nothing out of the ordinary, and then instructed, "Chen Tai and the others haven't come back until now. If you go up the mountain later, keep an eye out."
"I understand," Shen Qing bowed his head and said modestly, "If I see them, I will immediately inform you."
"Alright."
Chen Lao Wu didn't think too much about it and moved on to knock on the neighbors' doors.
Shen Qing watched Chen Lao Wu's departing figure and heaved a sigh of relief, then gently shut the door with a creak.
That night, the Chen family members were restless until midnight.
All the villagers living in the village were angry, but dared not speak out.
The next day, having been restless for half the night, the Chen family members collectively went up the mountain to search for Chen Yuan and Chen Tai's whereabouts.
Only then did the villagers realize that the brothers had gone hunting in the mountains and hadn't returned all night, their whereabouts unknown.
Most people in Hongshan Village lived off the mountain and knew that under such circumstances, it was most likely that they had perished in the mountain wilderness.
The dangers in the great mountains were abundant, with countless wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards.
An accident could easily happen.
It was just unexpected that Chen Tai and Chen An, who had been so imposing just the day before, disappeared in the blink of an eye.
When Tian Chuan's parents learned of this news, they stood at the doorway claiming divine justice and cried tears of joy, stirring up emotions.
Since the Chen family members had all gone deep into Shicheng Mountain, it was disorderly with too many people.
Many hunters chose not to go into the mountain and instead spent the day resting at home.
Shen Qing did the same.
He dedicated all his energy at home to practicing the Nine Skills martial art.
As for the bodies of Chen Tai and Chen An, Shen Qing was not worried the Chen family members would find them.
Shicheng Mountain was too big, and it was snowing.
Shen Qing had run about haphazardly that day, and now without a marker, he doubted he could find the spot himself, let alone them.
Even if they were found, they would likely have been eaten clean by wild beasts by then.
Shen Qing locked himself in his room and repeatedly practiced the first four stance trainings: Hunyuan Stance, Mao Dun Stance, Tuo Ying Zhuang, and Floating Cloud Stance.
As he continued practicing, he felt a warm current as thin as a strand of hair start to circulate within his body.
And this warm current grew thicker as Shen Qing's stance training lasted longer and longer.
Compared to the beginning of his practice yesterday, he found that the sense of fatigue and soreness was much less today.
"After all, this is a legitimate Health Cultivation Martial Art, used for refining Qi-Blood. As long as one can endure and gain entry to its secrets, the practice will become easier and easier," he mused.
Shen Qing knew that among the various martial arts halls in the county town, this martial art probably wasn't considered good, but that didn't prevent him from having high hopes for it to be the key that opened the door to the world of martial arts.