Zhu Li becomes Wu Dao's apprentice, and things happen suddenly and strangely.
Not only Pang Honggu was stunned, but even Zhang Guimou was confused.
Around the carriage, the only person with a spirited look on her face was the little girl Zhu Ning'er. Although she didn't know why her elder brother had to kowtow to the fierce big man, she still stared at Wu Diao with a scrutinizing look.
Being stared at by the little girl as if she were a liar, Wu Dao felt a little uncomfortable. Without waiting for Zhu Li to finish paying homage, he shouted, "Alright, alright. Respecting a teacher is more about the heart than the form. As long as the intention is there, it's fine."
Wu Dao might not care, but Zhu Li didn't dare to be careless. He still followed the etiquette, kneeling three times and kowtowed nine times, completing the ceremony of becoming a disciple in a proper manner.
Pang Honggu saw that the situation was irreversible, but she still had some doubts in her heart, so she picked up Zhu Ning'er who was standing next to her and asked gently, "Young lady, your name is Ning'er, right?"
Pang Honggu was indeed a rare beauty. She looked even more heroic in her silver armor. Her sweet voice could almost melt steel. Even Zhu Ning'er, a little girl who was also a woman, let down her guard at her gentle tone.
"Yes, sister." The little girl looked at Pang Honggu with some obsession, and seemed to feel a kind of warmth different from that of her brother, and answered softly.
"My sister is from Xuzhou. I heard that you are also from Xuzhou. Is this true?" Seeing that the little girl was not on guard against her, Hong Gu was completely relieved and began to question her carefully.
"Well, our house was burned down by bad guys, and they stole all our things. Alang, A Niang, and eldest brother had no choice but to run away with Ning'er. On the way, Alang and A Niang went to beat the bad guys again, and they haven't come back to see Ning'er until now. Only eldest brother and Ning'er are still running." Once the little girl let down her guard, she chattered non-stop, and without Pang Honggu continuing to question her, she revealed all her past.
The childish and rambling words tell of the people's plight in the chaos of war, which makes the listeners heartbroken and the hearers feel pity.
However, the little girl's words finally made Pang Honggu confirm one thing, that Wu Diao and the brother and sister were definitely meeting for the first time. However, this also made her more confused. Why would Wu Diao, who had always been "wooden", accept Zhu Li, a complete stranger, as his disciple when they met for the first time
Heaven, Earth, the Emperor and the teacher are close relatives, and the relationship between a master and his apprentice is like that between a father and his son. No matter which party violates the ethics and morality, they will be criticized. Even if Wu Diao had other intentions towards Zhu Li, he should not have accepted him as his apprentice so hastily. It was really puzzling, and it made Pang Honggu even more curious about Wu Diao.
"What are you still standing there for? Go back. Young Master Zhu Li will follow us from now on." After Zhu Li completed the ceremony of becoming a disciple, Wu Diao helped him up. He turned around and saw Zhang Guimou who was still standing beside him, and spoke directly to him.
Zhang Guimou was still immersed in disbelief. He knew that this group of people had a very powerful background, and Wu Dao was particularly unfathomable. Even Zhang Guiba, who had become an official palace guard, tried to please this man in every way. Zhang Guiba was Zhang Guimou's elder brother.
But such a person acts in such a fantastic way that it is hard to guess what they are doing. Zhang Guimou really wants to get close to them and explore the secrets of these people.
But now that they had ordered him to leave, he couldn't stay any longer, so he could only bow and say, "Congratulations to Captain Wu for getting a new disciple. I won't disturb you two from chatting as master and disciple."
After talking politely with Wu Dao, he turned to Zhu Li and said, "Brother Zhu Li, congratulations on finding a famous teacher. I am no longer able to accompany you here. I will come to see you again when I am free."
About Zhang Guimou
Zhu Li was reluctant to leave. To be honest, without Zhang Guimou, he would not have had this opportunity. He was very grateful to Zhang Guimou, but he still bowed to him and said, "Brother Guimou, take care. I will come to thank you when I have time."
"You're welcome. We are brothers. It's too formal to say these things." Zhang Guimou waved his hand and left in a generous and unrestrained manner.
As soon as Zhang Guimou left, Wu Diao turned his head and looked at Pang Honggu, and said with a cupped hand: "Madam Pang, please help take good care of this young lady. I have something to say to her eldest brother alone."
"Oh, you just accepted a disciple, and you're so impatient to become a teacher?" Pang Honggu adjusted the way she held Zhu Ning'er to make her feel more comfortable, and then she muttered to Wu Diao in dissatisfaction.
Wu Dao's expression became serious when he heard this, and he said solemnly, "We may encounter unexpected wars at any time when we go south this time. The more skills you have, the higher your chance of survival. I don't want to see my newly-accepted disciples die on the battlefield before they can even survive a war."
As if she had known that Wu Daohui would say this, Pang Honggu didn't mind and coaxed Zhu Ning'er to walk towards the carriage.
After dinner, night fell. Except for the patrol guards on duty, everyone else had already gone into the temporary tent to rest. There was silence all around, and only the whistling of the biting cold wind could be heard.
Wu Diao took Zhu Li through the camp and came to the edge of Dongting Lake, which was relatively secluded and not far from the main military camp.
He turned his back to Zhu Li, looked at the lake surface covered with a thin layer of ice, and said without any emotion: "Have you ever practiced martial arts?"
Zhu Li was shocked when he heard this. He didn't understand why Wu Dao asked this, but he didn't dare to hide it, and quickly replied: "Yes, Master, my martial arts were taught by A Lang, and they are just some basic self-defense skills."
"Oh, practice it for me and show you." Wu Diao ordered, like a strict teacher.
Zhu Li did not refute, and followed his memory to start performing a set of boxing techniques. Although his body was still the same body, his soul was no longer the same soul. Although Zhu Li practiced hard, his punches and kicks were inevitably a little awkward.
It took Zhu Li nearly ten minutes to practice a set of ordinary boxing and kicking skills.
"It seems that you have been spoiled by your parents. It is so difficult for you to perform such a simple set of boxing. If you are not lazy, how could you be so clumsy? Alas, if you don't work hard when learning martial arts, you will never achieve anything." Wu Diao was very dissatisfied and advised meaningfully. However, after seeing Zhu Li's boxing, the tense string in his heart relaxed.
Zhu Li's boxing has a certain effect of strengthening the body, but it is obviously not powerful enough to be used in battle, and it is not a profound martial art. From this point, Wu Diao can see that this new disciple should not have undergone secret methods, herbs, etc. to strengthen the body, and his foundation is still innocent. In this way, there will be no conflict when Wu Diao teaches him.
"Since I have accepted you as my apprentice, I will teach you seriously. If I find out that you are slacking off, I will never be polite. You should be mentally prepared for this." Wu Diao looked at Zhu Li, who bowed his head and remained silent, and spoke again.
"Yes, Master." Zhu Li responded respectfully. He was not a lazy person. The reason why his boxing skills were clumsy was not because he was lazy. As for the specific reason, he would definitely not tell it.
However, his attitude made Wu Dao very satisfied. After admonishing him, he continued, "I have three sets of skills that I am best at. One is swordsmanship, one is spearmanship, and the other is archery. I will teach you all of these.
You, the prerequisite is that you have to be able to eat it."
"Master, please rest assured. I will never let you down," Zhu Li responded seriously.
"Okay, I need to feel out your abilities first. You should run along Dongting Lake for a while at your fastest speed and don't leave any energy for anything. As for when to stop, you are not allowed to stop until you hear my instructions." After giving some warnings, Wu Diao began to feel out his abilities.
Although Zhu Li didn't understand what teaching martial arts had to do with running, he was not stupid enough to refute it. Without saying a word, he immediately followed Wu Diao's instructions and ran wildly along the lake.
Running at full speed, Zhu Li felt like he was about to fly, but no matter how fast he sped up, he could not help but realize one fact, that is, this cheap master was always able to follow him with his hands behind his back and a normal expression. This made Zhu Li secretly surprised. It seemed that he had made the right choice of master. At least this skill of his was not something that ordinary people could do.
An hour passed, and Zhu Li felt as if a raging fire was burning in his chest, so violently that it was about to explode. However, Wu Diao beside him did not call for a stop. He did not dare to hold back any strength, and had to continue running at full speed.
Another half an hour passed, and Zhu Li felt as if his feet were filled with lead and became extremely heavy. Hot sweat rose from his body like mist, almost soaking his clothes.
But Wu Diao still didn't say anything to ask him to stop, so Zhu Li had to continue, but his speed had slowed down a lot.
Two hours passed. Zhu Li felt dizzy and almost fell down. Wu Diao still didn't ask him to stop. There was no way. His remaining consciousness told him to persist, persist, and persist again.
After running for an unknown amount of time, Zhu Li fell heavily to the ground with a bang. His mind was confused and all the strength in his body was drained. This was not a big deal. The most important thing was that his whole body was sore and twitching, and he was almost suffocated. He felt like he was going to die soon.
Zhu Li had already fallen down, and Wu Diao, who was accompanying him, stopped and looked at Zhu Li's expression. He did not look worried, but seemed to be somewhat satisfied.
Wu Diao was indeed very satisfied. He did not expect that this young man who gave him a special feeling could actually keep running for so long. This was not a marathon, but a sprint-like run from the beginning until the last bit of strength in the body was exhausted.
Zhu Li persisted for two and a half hours. He couldn't say that there was no one with such physique before or after him, but at least there were few who could match him. Of course he was satisfied to see such a result, and this level was even beyond his expectations.
In a daze, Zhu Li felt someone carrying him and walking back the way he came. At this time, his head was dizzy and he felt nauseous and vomiting. He almost vomited out the half bowl of vegetable porridge he had just drunk in the evening.
An unknown amount of time had passed before Zhu Li regained consciousness and found herself surrounded by a very warm liquid. It felt as if she was bathing in the March sunshine. Her whole body felt numb and very comfortable.
Slowly opening his eyes, Zhu Li found himself in a large tent. The tent was very simply decorated, and there was nothing else except a huge wooden barrel under him.
He was lying naked in a wooden barrel filled with water. There was a faint medicinal aroma in the air, which was very refreshing. The body aches and the feeling of almost suffocating when he was unconscious last night had long disappeared without a trace. He felt that he had never been so energetic since he came into this world.