Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

Time slowly passed...

Lin Zheyu continued to practice the Barbaric Ox Fist for two to three hours each day along with consuming large amounts of meat. After his Origin Force increased, he found that his body had a solid foundation. As long as he had enough nutrients, he would recover and grow stronger at an astonishing rate.

In just three days, all five doses of medicinal decoction were gone, his depleted blood qi fully replenished. His body toughened, muscles taut and brimming with power.

During that time, he stayed on edge, wary of Jia Yanyong’s arrival. He kept chili powder on him at all times and set traps throughout his home. Yet days slipped by, and still, his opponent never appeared.

***

The Overflowing Fragrance Teahouse.

”Brother, I’m back,” Jia Yanyong called out toward the inner hall of the teahouse before sitting down on a chair. Unlike last time, he had a strong stench of blood, and a fresh cut on his neck was wrapped in gauze.

”Is your injury alright?” Jia Yanming stepped out from the inner hall and immediately noticed the wound on his younger brother’s neck, frowning as he asked.

”It’s nothing. It’s just a small wound that’ll be fine in a few days,” replied Jia Yanyong nonchalantly.

”Be more careful when you fight next time. Stop always rushing in first. Your life is your own, but the money belongs to someone else. Why fight so hard for it?” said Jia Yanming.

”Brother, you don’t understand. Those guys are like family to me. I can’t just stand by and watch them get hacked to death,” said Jia Yanyong, shaking his head. In the underworld, loyalty came first. One had to always be willing to take a blade for a brother!

”Foolish! They’re just fair-weather friends. There are no real brothers in gangs. I’m your only real brother!” said Jia Yanming, rebuking him. As a businessman, he had seen all kinds of darkness and scoffed at the so-called brotherhood Jia Yanyong spoke of.

”Brother, you don’t have to worry about my business. Didn’t you ask me to teach that... what’s his name again? Oh, right! Lin Zheyu! I’m free now. Give me two days to recover, and I’ll beat him up for you the day after tomorrow. Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on him,” Jia Yanyong said as he chuckled.

***

The Jade Pill Teahouse.

Lin Zheyu finally agreed to tell Liang Song a story about a martial artist.

”It was a troubled time. Wars raged across the land. A dynasty called Song stood amid a circle of wolves...”

This was Master Jin’s Legend of the Condor Heroes[1], a tale of grand chivalry and of heroes who fought for the people and the nation. Through his time observing Liang Song, Lin Zheyu discovered that despite his rough and unruly appearance, the man had a righteous heart. He admired Yan Chixia’s free-spirited righteousness, who traveled the world to slay yaos and demons, and also appreciated Zuo Qianhu’s uprightness and moral integrity.

Telling this story was far more troublesome than Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, whose dynastic setting was vague and lacked presence. Legend of the Condor Heroes was different; the historical setting was crucial. Lin Zheyu revised and adapted the story, doing a basic historical reskin to make it more flexible.

”The mighty Qiantang River flowed endlessly, day and night, past Niu Family Village near Lin’an, and rolled eastward into the sea. Along the riverside stood dozens of...”

”......”

”And so, after being rescued by a mysterious man calling himself Yan Lie, Bao Xiruo tried to commit suicide out of grief, but was gently persuaded otherwise by Yan Lie. Coaxed by Yan Lie’s fine clothes and tempting food, she muddle-headedly followed his arrangements and left Lin’an with him.”

Lin Zheyu stood atop the storyteller’s platform, speaking with ease and confidence. The story was long, but as he continued, its layers began to unfold.

At first, the patrons were quite displeased as this wasn’t the usual tales of scholars and romantic flings. ”This wouldn’t do!” they thought to themselves. They had come precisely for those scholar-meets-beauty stories! Yet as they listened on, they gradually became engrossed.

”Outrageous! How could Bao Xiruo go with that man? Truly... truly shameless, unfaithful, and utterly...” Someone slammed the table in anger and cursed aloud. It was a scholar, his face flushed red as he listened.

”Don’t make a fuss. Quiet down and let Mister Lin continue the story,” someone else said.

Hearing the chatter below, Lin Zheyu smiled faintly and clapped the table smartly. He said, ”To know what happens next, tune in for the next installment.”

”......”

”What? It ends here?”

”No way, keep going! What happens next?”

”You can’t just stop halfway! Mister Lin, please go on!”

Seeing the crowd getting worked up, Lin Zheyu quickly slipped away. No kidding, this wasn’t like writing novels in his past life. If you had cut off a chapter in a novel, at most, you would have just gotten cursed as a cliffhanger dog. But if you had cut a live storytelling short, the riled-up crowd might have just hauled you back up to finish it. It was something Lin Zheyu had already experienced firsthand.

”That opening was well told. Very exciting,” Liang Song commented.

Lin Zheyu smiled and replied, ”Glad you enjoyed it.”

After chatting with Liang Song for a bit and asking some questions about martial cultivation, he took his leave. Once outside, he walked over two hundred meters along Baiwei Street, then turned into a restaurant. He had arranged to meet someone here. Lin Zheyu scanned the place and took a seat at one of the tables.

”Gentlemen, have you made your decision?” asked Lin Zheyu as he looked at the three aging scholars before him.

They wore long robes of faded blue, their faces weathered and lined with age, beards untrimmed. Their robes were worn pale from washing, with small tears here and there. It was clear they were living in straitened circumstances. These were the storytellers Lin Zheyu had found over the past few days. They were men with no real connections and were barely scraping by in Songyi City.

”Can you guarantee the story will be as exciting as the one you told at the Jade Pill Teahouse?” asked the man on the left.

”The style’s different, so it’s hard to say which will be better, but it’s definitely fresher and more exciting than the stale old stories you’ve been telling!” replied Lin Zheyu.

There was fierce competition in storytelling; many scholars who had failed the imperial exams or couldn’t make a living had turned to it as a last resort. If the stories were outdated, the delivery was weak, and the emotion was unconvincing, such storytellers couldn’t draw in a crowd, no matter what.

The three storytellers Lin Zheyu had found had decent skills and passable emotional delivery, but their stories were outdated and lacked originality. This world was severely lacking in good stories. Or rather, good stories did exist, but due to the slow spread of written information, they only circulated within small, localized regions.

In Songyi City, the popular tales had been heard so many times that people were numb to them. That was why Lin Zheyu was able to rise to popularity so quickly.

”Could we take a look at the content first before making a decision?” another man asked.

”Of course,” replied Lin Zheyu.

Lin Zheyu pulled several densely written sheets of paper from his robe and handed each of them a copy. Each of the papers contained the same content.

”You can review it first. If you use my script for storytelling, each episode is priced at 80 wen. We’ll sign a contract if you agree,” said Lin Zheyu.

This was the money-making method he had come up with earlier—to collaborate with storytellers. But stories in this era had no concept of copyright. Once told and heard, they could easily be taken and claimed by someone else. Because of this, it was difficult for Lin Zheyu to sell his stories at a high price.

A storyteller of average skill earned about 70 wen a day, and with tips, could make around 100 wen. Basing his price on this, Lin Zheyu set his episodes at 80 wen. After all, a great story often earned more in rewards than in wages.

”...This happened near Brick Pagoda Alley, south of the West Four Archways. Two brothers lived there, both surnamed Ta. The older was Ta Da, the younger Ta Er. The younger one worked at the Commandant’s Office, and the elder was a cook...”

This was a classic story from his past life, The Nine-Headed Mystery. The three men began reading the pages, their eyes lighting up more and more as they read.

1. Legend of the Condor Heroes (射雕英雄传) is a classic wuxia novel by Jin Yong, set in the Song dynasty. It follows Guo Jing and Huang Rong through martial arts rivalries, love, loyalty, and the rise of heroes amid war. Hugely influential, it is often considered the cornerstone of modern martial arts fiction. ☜