Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 77: Six doors to good practices

“The techniques of the scholarly disciplines are truly inconceivable.”

Seeing Chen Aiyang demonstrate the “Fishing Toad Jin” by vibrating his entire body and his chest puff up slightly as if sucking in the world, Wang Chao closed his eyes. In his mind, he could imagine a giant bull and a tiny toad that were both sucking in a large amount of air.

Chen Aiyang’s voice was much louder than the Tiger’s Thunder that Wang Chao knew.

When Wang Chao opened his eyes, Chen Aiyang’s entire body had shook with enough force that even his inner organs shook. A loud “Guu, guuguu” sound could be heard as Chen Aiyang’s throat vibrated with sound.

“My Tiger’s Thunder has only reached to my muscles, but yours has already reached your inner organs.” Wang Chao sighed in admiration.

If three men walk together, one of them will be a teacher to the others.

Even if one was lacking, they still had something worth learning from, what about a Taichi master then? Wang Chao knew that after removing the fickle and impatient side to him. So he knew when he was lacking and had naturally wished to ask for guidance.

All of the grandmasters and experts of the past had learned by asking.

It was only through this method that one would be able to reach the peak. No one entered the world stage without an equal.

Chen Aiyang was also a person who had trained his impurities away. When he had heard the heartfelt praise and admiration from Wang Chao, he naturally did not feel arrogant.

His entire body had loosened up and collected the energy and sound. Almost as if all of the frogs within a pond had disappeared, the sound before had completely disappeared.

“The methods to good health from the scholarly families have been past down since the ancient times. The Yellow Emperor’s Internal Canon, Zhuangzi, Laozi, and so forth, they have expounded upon the topics and passed down their teachings for thousands of years with many people adding to it. How is this not a miraculous thing?”

When Chen Aiyang heard Wang Chao refer to the “Fishing Toad Jin” as a method for good health rather than a technique for fighting, he had understood Wang Chao had understood the meaning and difference between the two.

And that was correct! No matter if it was the “Tiger’s Thunder”, or the “Hengha”, the “Fishin Toad Jin”, the “Rash Bull Jin”, the 12 stances of Xingyi, the greater and lesser stances to Taichi, they were all methods to improving the body and health. They were meant to prolong one’s life and not for use in a competition of martial arts.

Hua Tuo had created the “Five Animal Exercises”: the ape, bear, crane, tiger and deer. These five animal forms were the basis on which Xingyi Quan was founded upon.

In the past, Daoist priests were all doctors who concocted pills of immortality. As they observed the living beings of the world generation after generation, they were able to figure out the human body down to the finest details like it was the back of their hands. Countless men were able to develop many different ways to nourish and cultivate the body.

Later on, these methods to good health had coincided with ways to fight people on the battleground. That was how martial arts was formed.

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To fight without this nourishment was to have a root with no water. To have this method of nourishment without being able to fight had simply meant one could not fight in actual combat.

The methods to cultivating a good health symbolized softness where all internal practitioners must learn slowly without impatience. The methods to fighting symbolize hardness, so each strike an expert did was mighty and strong, capable of destroying stone.

No matter the fighting techniques from any country or nationality, they were all the same in practicality. But when it came to cultivation methods for nourishment, only the Chinese had such a thorough and extensive research. After so many years, who else but the Daoist priests tried so hard?

That was why Guoshu stood over all other nationalities in terms of fighting prowess.

The ways to killing were all the same. But nourishment methods varied against each other greatly.

Martial art’s most important feature was to exercise and not to fight. That was why Tang Zichen had been so meticulous when she taught Wang Chao, clearly separating the training method, fighting method, and performance to him so as to avoid any confusion.

Having such an expert to talk to, Wang Chao did not want to miss this chance. Chen Aiyang had not been secretive at all and revealed his secret method. Wang Chao had done the same with his Bagua, Xingyi, and even Taichi by explaining what Tang Zichen spoke to him.

And through this, Wang Chao had spent the entire day and night talking. By the second day, the cruiser had finally arrived at the docks to Hong Kong.

The Chenshi Corporation had many assets in Hong Kong, and while Chen Aiyang and Chen Bin were not the leaders of the Chenshi Corporation, the amount of power they could exercise was still inconceivable to say the least.

Chen Aiyang himself had major sway over real estate.

The Chenshi Corporation was a major family that held major political power in the Singaporean circles. Singapore was originally managed by a single family. Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong had both lead the Singaporean world.

Although the Chen family was not as strong as the Lee family, it was within the top 10 in the Singapore. Of course, both families had fought against each other, and now the ones in charge was Chen Aiyang’s great uncle, Chen Libo.

Chen Libo was already old, but he hadn’t come to a decision on who the next successor should be. But Chen Aiyang and Chen Bin’s parents had both passed away a long time ago. If it were not for Chen Aiyang’s reputation, they would have no position in their own families. But now that Chen Aiyang was so strong, his name was like a golden business card, making him very likely to be the next family leader.

Wang Chao was now at Chen Aiyang’s villa in Hong Kong. For another dozen days, the two had spent the day investigating the mysteries of martial arts. They had also talked about several other things like what Chen Bin would sometimes say in regards to the Chen family.

After another ten days, Chen Aiyang had diagnosed Wang Chao once more only to realize that he was fully healed.

With his injuries gone, Wang Chao could use martial arts once more. The two would often compare notes, but Chen Aiyang’s skill was always a level higher than Wang Chao’s.

But Wang Chao had been able to detect the most exquisite fighting methods of Taichi from him. Whip, pound, and hammer.

Chen Aiyang’s whip, pound and hammer Jin had been excruciatingly merciless and could deliver a shocking force of over a thousand kilograms.

Having discussed with Chen Aiyang everyday, Wang Chao had accumulated even more battle experience that increased his own comprehension by a deep amount.

Martial arts relied on exchange. Without exchange, then even a master who trained by himself for a hundred years in the mountains would not improve. Those that trained bitterly within the caves of a mountain for dozens of years and then having no equal was a thing of myths and did not truly exist.

At the same time, the things that had been passed down from Tang Zichen to Wang Chao had been learnt by Chen Aiyang.

Although Chen Aiyang focused primarily on Jingshan Taichi, he was proficient in Xingyi.Wang Chao’s Xingyi was the real deal, and so Chen Aiyang would benefit from it as well.

As the two compared notes, Wang Chao had shown Chen Aiyang the Tiger’s Thunder for him to learn while Chen Aiyang had shown him the “Fishing Toad Jin” and the “Rash Bull Jin”. But the Assault of Dragon and Snake had been left out.

Wang Chao had already resided in Hong Kong for over 20 days, but he still felt that there was more to learn.

It wasn’t until one day when Chen Aiyang had received an important phone call that forced him to go back home. Thus, the two had stopped their mutual exchange.

“Who would have known that I would stay in your care for 20 days, I am truly indebted to your kindness.” Wang Chao had hastily spoken out to Chen Bin since Chen Aiyang had left for Singapore earlier.

Zhao Xinglong and Yao Xiaoxue had long since boarded a ferry back to S Province while Wang Chao was still being treated for on the ship.

“En, you came to Hong Kong without any papers, so I’ll take you outside by sea.” For some unknown reason, Chen Aiyang’s phone call had made Chen Bin a little depressed.

After being immersed in martial arts for so long, he had grown keen and could see that something was bothering her.

“What’s wrong, did something happen back at home?” Wang Chao asked.

“En, my great uncle has suddenly gone critical.” Chen Bin sighed, “The brothers, sisters, cousins and other relatives have all gathered in large amounts. They are all outstanding people that have fought with each other for power since forever. Now that my great uncle has fallen ill and has even left behind a will that points out a successor, who knows what will happen next?”

“Even an honest official will find difficulty resolving a family problem. There will always be anxiety involved in such a matter, but with your brother’s strength, he will be able to solve the problem.” Wang Chao himself knew that even in the ancient past, a younger brother may kill for even more property. What would that say for the Chenshi Corporation which was so huge and powerful?

“My brother is the family’s sign for business. Us siblings lost our parents early and had difficulty remaining even in our own family and were nearly pushed out. Chen Bin spoke within a luxurious car that headed for the docks. As she drove, she continued to speak with Wang Chao while remembering memories from the past.

“When we were younger, my older brother would always protect me. The entire family had looked down on us two and had wanted to drive us away. They had even taken all our money, and so for the sake of me being able to go to school, big brother had joined the underground fighting world. Sometimes, he would come home with a bloody nose and swollen face, many times, he had his arm broken. There was once a time where he had his liver nearly torn apart.

Wang Chao thought, “So that’s why Chen Aiyang has such a history. When it comes to this, I was very fortunate in my circumstances. Each expert never has an ordinary life. But for those who did not polish their impurities away, how could they reach perfection in their fists?”

Chen Bin had remembered some painful memories of her childhood with her brother, causing some tears to leak from her eyes.

“It was fortunate that when my brother fought, he knew of a traditional chinese medicine store whose owner knew Taichi. Everyday he would treat my brother’s wounds and teach him Taichi, helping us survive. Afterwards, my brother had made a name for himself even within the family, and I myself had finished my studies with results better than most. After four or five years, we were able to win some support in the family. Ai! If the wrong successor leads the family, then we will be bullied once more. I don’t wish to go back to such days, even remembering it is painful!” Chen Bin spoke up.

“The family has always pressured itself to the point of death even without remorse. They treat outsiders better than their own family.”

“Then why are you not going back to help your brother?”

“Brother and I have private property here in Hong Kong. I have to protect it so that if something happens, we can return here. Ah, your own company here in the mainland doesn’t seem to be doing that badly either if it was able to afford 100 million RMB.”

Chen Bin had changed the topic.

“It’s doing fine, the business is still quite decent.” Wang Chao had naturally hidden the fact that he had joined an organization which had allowed him to take out a loan for a 100 million.”

“You have some power, but compared to Zhao Jun, it’s still quite far away. His memory will be quite strong after losing 300 million. He will definitely not let you go for this, so you should watch out for yourself.”

“I know.” Wang Chao noded.”

“Do you have a connection with the mainland government?” Chen Bin suddenly asked.

Wang Chao’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, “Are the eyes and ears of the Chenshi Corporation that strong? Impossible!”

“En…there’s a little….when doesn’t the government get involved with business? They have their eyes in every aspect of the field.” Wang Chao spoke ambiguously.

“So you do, that’s good.” Chen Bin looked as if she hadn’t taken notice of Wang Chao’s words and continued to drive the car. “You need to have some sort of connection or join them. That way, Zhao Jun will have second thoughts going against you. Although our Chenshi Corporation is a gang of the underworld, even we have government ties.”

“I’ve another identity as a sinecure member of the Singaporean police force and my brother is an instructor for the military.

“Eh?” Wang Chao was surprised, “You two are high ranking officials?”

Chen Bin laughed, “This isn’t too rare. Ever since the past, there has been six doors to good practices. No matter if it is regarding business or martial arts, having a connection with an official is a good thing. A tiny connection influences the field, a decent connection influences the city, a major connection influences the court.”

“Six doors to good practices….” Wang Chao repeated those words.

The car had already arrived at the pier, “In the future if there is anything my brother and I need, can we count on you for your assistance?” Chen Bin spoke before dropping him off.

“Of course, if it is within my capabilities, I will do my best.” Wang Chao replied solemnly. A favor was not something that could not be returned.

As Wang Chao left Hong Kong, he had been able to ride an airplane from Shenzhen, Guangdong to the S Province. During that time, within the military district, Cao Yi and the lesser general Chang Zhouliang had been reading the report on the fight between Wang Chao and Zhang Wei.

“It’s time to implement the second plan!” Zhouliang spoke to Cao Yi.