"Nine hundred ninety-nine!"
"One thousand!"
Qin Xu saw that Da Tou still had energy left and said, "Do ten more repetitions of the Chop Sword."
Qin Yi first did two, made some micro-adjustments, and then diligently completed the ten repetitions of the Chop Sword.
Watching Da Tou's movements, precise and steady, Qin Xu nodded in satisfaction.
After a day's interval, and after completing a thousand sword thrusts in between, practicing the Chop Sword again showed no loss of skill—as if he had continued directly from yesterday's thousand repetitions.
Once learned, it would not be forgotten.
Indeed.
Qin Xu once again praised Da Tou's intelligence and talent.
Such aptitude was perfectly suited for the path of Primordial Martial Arts.
After massages, drinking restorative soup, and rejuvenation exercises, Qin Yi finally put down his sword, wore his shoes, and respectfully bid the Young Master farewell, happily returning home.
As he stepped through the gate, he saw Wang Gensheng alone assembling a bamboo house, and he raised his hand with a cheerful smile, greeting him loudly.
"Da Tou, you're back!" Wang Gensheng looked up, saw Qin Yi, and responded with a bright smile, waving energetically.
Zhuan Zi, seeing Qin Yi return, dropped his mud in surprise and ran to greet him, asking eagerly, "Da Tou, you're back! Anything interesting happen today?"
Qin Yi shook his head helplessly: "Second brother, I was studying. How could there be interesting events every day?"
"Nothing at all?" Zhuan Zi said disappointedly. Suddenly recalling something, he asked again: "Da Tou, are you tricking me like yesterday? There must be something, tell me, tell me!"
Qin Yi frowned, looking at the excited Zhuan Zi. He didn't understand why listening to a story made him this worked up.
"This time, truly nothing happened."
But Zhuan Zi refused to believe it, stubbornly insisting that Da Tou was hiding something.
Grabbing Qin Yi's shoulders with both hands, shaking him violently, Zhuan Zi shouted in anger: "There is something, there must be! Da Tou, how can you be like this? Just a small thing—what can't you tell me? You're terrible!"
Being shaken violently, Qin Yi instinctively lowered his body and then gently pushed, freeing himself. Using the thrust motion of the sword, he pushed Zhuan Zi half a meter away.
"Second brother, calm down."
Zhuan Zi stared in shock. The Da Tou at his chest had such strength, and had just broken free from him. He hesitated for a moment, but anger soon took over, and he grit his teeth: "Alright, Da Tou, you dare push your brother? Let me teach you a lesson today…"
Before he could finish, Qin Yong arrived and intervened.
Qin Yong quickly stepped to Zhuan Zi, grabbed him at the waist, and with his left hand delivered a sharp smack to his backside.
"Acting up? Deserve a beating!"
"Bullying your younger brother? Deserve a beating!"
"Da Tou didn't speak, yet you try to pry about the Young Master? Deserve a beating!"
With every sentence, Qin Yong struck Zhuan Zi hard. This was no fake slap to appease Zhen Niang—this was serious.
Three strikes later, Zhuan Zi howled in pain: "Father! I won't do it again! Don't hit me, don't hit me!"
Hearing the commotion, Zhen Niang rushed from the kitchen. Seeing the severity, she quickly stepped in: "Husband, what's the matter? Why hit the child?"
Qin Yong retorted: "Look at Zhuan Zi recently! If I don't discipline him, he won't even know who he is!"
Zhen Niang, seeing the child crying incessantly, urged gently: "Then hit, but hit lightly!"
"Lightly? Then he won't remember! Didn't I say before, don't pry about the Young Master? Yet he forced Da Tou! Totally reckless!" Qin Yong's voice trembled with emotion, eyes glistening. "If he were in the Hou Mansion, he wouldn't last three days!"
After realizing his outburst, Qin Yong saw the frightened looks of Zhuan Zi, Da Tou, and Wang Gensheng, coughed, and said: "Da Tou, take Gensheng out to play for a while. Be back before dark."
Estimating that some things couldn't be heard by them, Qin Yi obediently nodded: "Yes, Father."
He held Wang Gensheng's hand and left the yard.
After their departure, Qin Yong put down Zhuan Zi and glanced at Shuan Zi, who shrank in the corner, scowling: "Don't think I'm just scaring you. If you continue undisciplined, ignorant of respect, once in the training camp, you break the rules. The instructor would punish you severely, and you wouldn't even know why you were punished."
He then recounted some harsh, unspoken truths from his time in the training camp, enough to instill fear in the two children.
Finally satisfied that they were scared, Qin Yong warned: "Zhuan Zi, never repeat what Da Tou tells you to others, understand?"
Terrified, Zhuan Zi shrank and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, Father. I won't say anymore."
"Good. Go play, it'll be time for dinner soon."
Although Zhen Niang knew that Qin Yong had spent six years in the Hou Mansion training camp from the age of eight or nine, he never spoke of the unpleasant experiences. This was the first time she heard it. Even as an adult, hearing it gave her chills.
Once the children were gone, leaving only the two of them, Zhen Niang, eyes red, tightly held Qin Yong's hands: "Husband, you've suffered."
Qin Yong grasped her hands in return: "That's all in the past."
He sighed and continued thoughtfully: "Zhen Niang, don't be deceived by the apparent prestige of Qin Family Village, backed by the Hou Mansion, enjoying privileges.
"Don't be fooled by the fact that we can all receive martial arts instruction from the Hou Mansion while others can't even get a chance.
"But with gains come losses. Enjoying these privileges also comes with heavy responsibilities.
"Those who become martial artists in the training camp… you don't know what they've endured. Most end badly—dead or crippled. Very few achieve a peaceful ending.
"Zhen Niang, I had the chance to become a martial artist too, but I was afraid. So I gave the chance to my younger brother.
"I'm a selfish coward."
It was the first time Zhen Niang saw Qin Yong like this. Her heart ached, and she stepped forward, embracing him tightly, patting his back gently, whispering: "Husband, you're the best."
Qin Yong held her silently, nodding, saying nothing.
The red sunlight stretched their shadows long and far, as if endless.
(End of Chapter)