Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

His senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, and mind had all grown sharper. The improvement wasn’t drastic, but over the years, it would be enough to create a chasm between him and an ordinary person.

’Incredible! This feels absolutely incredible...’

If his circumstances had permitted, Chen Cheng really wanted to just throw back his head and roar.

Then.

Mother and son sat hunched on small stools by the brazier and began their supper.

His mother stared at the few slices of beef in her bowl, which Chen Cheng had just given her. They were a glossy, soy-sauce brown, beautifully marbled with fat and lean. After a long moment, she carefully picked up the smallest piece with her chopsticks.

She placed it in her mouth and chewed slowly.

A rich, savory aroma and the long-absent sensation of fat instantly dissolved on her tongue.

As if by reflex, the hand holding her bowl began to tremble uncontrollably, and her breathing quickened.

She quickly stopped chewing and closed her eyes, taking a moment to compose herself before she could slowly acclimate to the overwhelmingly wonderful flavor.

”Xiaocheng...”

She took a sip of brown rice porridge to wash down the meat before speaking in a low voice.

”You... find some time to visit your third uncle. Tell him the wonderful news that you’ve become a Martial Artist... and while you’re at it, help his family get exempted from the peace coins.”

She paused, lowering her voice even more.

”Your third uncle’s family... they’re having a hard time, too. The two of them wake up before dawn and work past dusk, heading into the mountains. The firewood and wild vegetables they manage to gather are barely enough to survive on...”

”And their son, Xiaofan... he’s no saint either. I heard he’s mixed up in some kind of ’sect’ and is never home... Your third uncle has mentioned it to me several times...”

She looked up at her son.

”You’ve finally made something of yourself. Once you’ve repaid the gift for your training at the Martial Arts Hall... if you have anything to spare, you should help your third uncle’s family more...”

”I will.”

Chen Cheng nodded.

Ever since his father passed away, his third uncle, Chen An, was the only person who had shown him and his mother any warmth.

Chen Cheng would not forget that debt.

”I’ll just head over after dinner. If I go during the day, Uncle might not be home.”

”...That’s a good idea.”

His mother thought for a moment before adding.

”Your third uncle was always saying he wanted to find a matchmaker for you. Since you’re going over today, you can mention it to him. He can start looking out for someone suitable...”

”Mom.”

Chen Cheng cut her off before she could finish, his tone tinged with exasperation.

”I don’t have the time to think about that right now... I know you’re anxious, but can’t it at least wait until I’ve repaid the gift to the Martial Arts Hall?”

”Sigh...”

His mother couldn’t help but sigh and began to mutter under her breath.

”These last few days, the matchmakers have nearly worn down our neighbor’s doorstep... It looks like Hu Niu is getting married, and I’m sure Xiaolong will be taking a wife soon, too... And you’re a year older than them...”

”Hu Niu’s marriage... is it settled?”

Chen Cheng asked casually, his expression unreadable.

”Almost...”

His mother said, ”I heard Aunt Zhang and the others gossiping while doing laundry today. They said some small shop owner from Anping Village is willing to offer a bride price of twenty taels of silver to take Hu Niu as his new wife... At his age, he could practically be her grandfather.”

”There’s also the young master of some textile shop in the Lunan District. He’s about the right age, and the bride price is generous... but he has some ’hidden ailment.’ That big-mouthed Aunt Zhang... insisted he’s not... well, not a real man...”

”...What does Hu Niu say about it?” Chen Cheng asked.

His mother sighed softly. ”Her parents make the decision, the matchmaker handles the gifts. What can a girl do but nod her head? For a girl who grew up in Kuhuai Village... that’s just her fate.”

Chen Cheng froze for a moment and said nothing more.

’He knew perfectly well that everyone had their own destiny, their own shackles.’

’If he hadn’t awakened, hadn’t received the Vertical Eye Mark...’

’...wouldn’t he be just like the dust and chaff drifting through Kuhuai Village? He would have to roll wherever the wind blew. Whether he gathered or scattered, lived or died—none of it would have been his choice.’

...

「Kuhe Village.」

The air carried a smell that was hard to place—was it rotting vegetable leaves, or sludge dredged up from the gutters, mixed with the faint, acrid stench of livestock?

The narrow alleyways were like freshly pulled fish guts—twisted, chaotic, wet, and slimy.

The sky had grown completely dark by the time Chen An and his wife from the Bai Family shuffled back to their lopsided, dilapidated shack, one after the other, dragging legs that felt as if they were filled with lead.

With winter fast approaching, wild vegetables and fruits in the mountains were becoming ever harder to find.

All they carried was a sparse bundle of dry firewood, which they tossed into a corner before collapsing, their bodies aching and weak.

”Husband...”

His wife from the Bai Family glanced at the empty rice urn. A loud growl from her stomach cut her off.

She collected herself before speaking again, her voice dry and laced with palpable exhaustion and resentment.

”Another day wasted. We couldn’t even find a scrap of the bitter greens that no one else bothers to pick...”

”...Let’s boil some water first, just to warm ourselves up.”

Chen An paused for a moment himself before silently arranging the firewood. In the dim light, his thin, blackened fingers were almost indistinguishable from the kindling.

”What good is just drinking water? If we go to bed hungry, we won’t even have the strength to go up the mountain tomorrow...”

The woman from the Bai Family’s face was a mask of misery, her voice catching in a sob.

”If I’d known... that little bit of grain we had a few days ago... we shouldn’t have... shouldn’t have given it to your sister-in-law...”

”That’s enough.”

Chen An cut her off. His voice was quiet, but every word was clear.

”I swore an oath that no matter how hard things got, I would do my best to look after my sister-in-law and Xiaocheng... My second brother gave his life for them... I, Chen An, am the one who owes them this...”

His wife opened her mouth to speak, but looking at her husband’s increasingly stooped and withered frame, her eyes welled up, and tears began to fall.

She was a soft-hearted person by nature. In the past, whenever Chen An sent them food, she had always tacitly agreed.

If her own family hadn’t reached the point where they couldn’t even afford to put food in the pot, why would she ever blame her husband for this?

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

The husband and wife were facing each other in silence, each trying to figure out how they would scrape a living out of the mountains the next day, when a soft knock came from their broken wooden door.

”Third Uncle, are you home?”

”Xiaocheng?”

Recognizing the voice, Chen An quickly got up and opened the door.

But his wife tensed as if pricked by a needle, instinctively assuming Chen Cheng had come to borrow money or food.

A litany of complaints about their own poverty and hardship immediately sprang to her mind. She was confident she could stop him in his tracks.

”Xiaocheng, what brings you here today?”

Chen An had just begun to speak when, before Chen Cheng could reply, his wife stepped forward, words tumbling out of her mouth in a rush.

”Oh, it’s Xiaocheng! Coming over so late... you haven’t run into trouble, have you? I mean... our families are close, and we should certainly help where we can, but...”

She took a deep breath, her voice growing lower but more hurried.

”Your aunt isn’t afraid of you laughing... but those men from the Black Wolf Gang just came by yesterday and scraped us clean for the peace coins... Your uncle and I don’t even have bran to eat anymore...”

”Aunt, you’ve misunderstood.”

Chen Cheng cut her off, immediately pressing what he was carrying into Chen An’s hands.

”What’s this?”

It was pitch black in the alley, so Chen An couldn’t see clearly, but he felt a sudden weight in his hands.

Chen Cheng said in a low voice, ”It’s a bag of brown rice, with some fresh little fish and shrimp. My mother just bought them today and sent me to bring some over.”

”...This!?”

Chen An and his wife froze instantly, as if they hadn’t understood what he’d said.

’That widow and orphan, who were on the verge of starvation themselves not long ago, were actually bringing *them* food!?’

’And it wasn’t animal-feed bran, either—it was brown rice, and even fish!’

’This was just...’

Chen An stood there, stunned speechless. The hands holding the bag were clearly trembling.

His wife’s lips worked for a long moment before she finally managed to force a smile.

”Xiaocheng... we... we couldn’t possibly... You’re struggling, too...”

”Aunt, please don’t be a stranger... In the half-year since my father passed, during the hardest times, if it weren’t for you and Uncle helping us out now and then, my mother and I might not have made it...”

”I won’t forget that debt!”

Chen Cheng spoke with great solemnity. After a pause, a gentle smile returned to his face.

”There’s one more thing, Uncle, Aunt. I have successfully refined One Pillar of Blood Qi.”

”What?”

His wife blinked, her face a mask of confusion.

”What’s Blood Qi?”