Chapter 5. The Red Chamber
Unlike the just-lost Tianjin City, the capital in July is still full of flowers and bustling traffic.
Although some well-informed and knowledgeable people began to collect money and silver privately and wanted to go south to escape the war, under the deliberate exaggeration and guidance of the royal family, even with the news of the fall of Tianjin as the refugees entered the capital, there was still a strange scene of a prosperous carnival everywhere. Among them, the most attractive or most attractive scenery is the leader of the nine brothels in the capital, the Red Building.
Of course, those high-ranking officials and nobles who linger in the flowers all day long do not know that in this golden and red three-story flower building, in addition to nearly a hundred charming and beautiful fireworks women, there are also a few inconspicuous little people who are hidden. However, these little people who rarely appear in the building on weekdays organize and control the red lights and lanterns that are spread all over Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong.
It was thanks to the girls who were lanterns and the news that Lin Heier and other Yihequan leaders were able to avoid martyrdom in Tianjin. It was also thanks to the powerful hiddenness and protection of the Lanterns that the leaders in Yihequan in the capital did not all fall into the hands of the Eight-Nation Alliance.
Among the people who fled, Yang Meng's identity was undoubtedly the lowest.
Although the girls who had experienced the escape together took good care of him in private, they were just the apprentice of the master of martial arts rather than himself. In addition, Huang Lian's mother was deliberately indifferent to Yang Meng, so on the second day after arriving at the Red Building in the capital, there was another fifteen-year-old "small teapot" in the building.
Unlike other "big teapots" who are good at observing their faces, Yang Meng's "little teapot" is mostly used to please a certain guest occasionally under the eyes of girls, and sometimes he doesn't even know how to take the initiative to reward money. In this romantic and social scene where personal communication and activeness, he will of course appear particularly dull and honest, and even say he is stupid...
"Silly Er, let me turn ten somersaults on this table. I'm telling you that you have hidden flowers in the leaves..."
"Silly, today I want to see a trick...hahaha... This silly kid is so damn talented..."
The time he lived in the Red Mansion was the most boring but happy day in Yang Meng's two lives. Of course, at the age of fifteen, this happiness and boredom obviously had nothing to do with the girls in the building. On the contrary, they came from the aunts and sisters, tents and even teapots who were hiding in the Red Mansion to make a living.
Since ancient times, brothels have been a gold-selling cave with dragons and snakes, and at the same time, they are also places where people in the martial arts world gather to negotiate and take leisure to shoot artillery. Among them, there are even more people in the martial arts world who are tired of fighting and killing. They may hide in this intoxicating flower bush in order to avoid enemies or to bury their names.
As the saying goes, the small one is hidden in the wild, and the big one is hidden in the city. Those old guys who are used to the smell of the rivers and lakes are more willing to take some filial piety in this place where you don’t have to worry about food and drink, and enjoy your youth safely.
Yang Meng was a little surprised at first, but gradually realized that this was also a world of martial arts.
Due to his current eyesight, he didn't know which big teapot, account room or even madam was probably a master of martial arts several years ago, and he didn't know which old prostitute was the heir to XXX's boxing arts.
The thousands of years of Confucian doctrine of the mean and Taoist inaction have made many masters in the world prefer to live in obscurity and witness the passing of various years.
In this way, Yang Meng could only choose to integrate into the Red Mansion calmly, and walk in this narrow river and lake as a fool all day long, tentatively tempting his somewhat weak footsteps and quietly step into this strange and unique circle.
Sha Er likes martial arts, which is a well-known "secret" in the Red Chamber. For such a foolish child with a reputation outside, once he has his weaknesses, he will of course let those old guys who are hiding deeply on weekdays to relieve themselves, and even in many cases, he will take the initiative to test this simple-minded "child".
What Yang Meng has to do every day is to try hard to control his expression. Sometimes he even feels that his acting skills have surpassed those of the professionals of Beijing Film Academy in later generations and have reached the so-called "Oscar Award". It is only when he was born at the wrong time that he turned his unparalleled expression emperor into a poor realistic drama actor who performs on the street for 50 cents a piece.
The reason why he chose to hide himself like this is because Yang Meng discovered that in this sunset empire full of war and oppression, human lives are really low. Even if you avoid foreign guns on the battlefield, you may still be completely evaporated by the world because you accidentally offend some masters or Eight Banners' children, or even be killed by the silence.
Although the otakus's heart is a bit vulgar and YY, the otakus is even more afraid of being unable to resist and death.
Instead of forcing one's childish and stupid look, forcing one to participate in the troubled times of this great era, or being a halo dream of the protagonist who is a warlord who is good at the revolution, it is better to hide in the Red Mansions so honestly and learn some of the most practical means of the world to save your life.
With this clear and profound understanding, Yang Meng wanders among those old guys who cannot be offended all day long. Whether it is running errands or serving tea and pouring toilets, as long as someone speaks and teaches a "unique skill" of freehand or even martial arts, then the foolish second will definitely do it for you with no clues and no news.
If anyone is very fun to teach, then Sha Er is basically his all-weather humanoid server.
As for those customers who play Sao Er, most of them are famous playboys in the capital. They don’t know that Sao Er’s juggling is all taught by the old guys living in seclusion in the building. They only know that whenever they tease Sao Er and teaches a few fists and kicks learned from the bodyguards of the hospital, some girls in the building will look particularly gentle and charming when they look at them, and they will use all their strength in the bed like crazy bees and wild horses.
Of course, the happiest thing in the Red Chamber is those relatively shy people in the world. This silly child is so fooled to the extreme. He can even learn the hidden weapons and other methods that are ridiculed in the world for half a day. When he is happy, the girls will naturally be happy. When the girls are happy, they will be happier and they will be happier. Everyone is happy, and naturally they will always be in love. If they are less than two taels, they can do it!
It is worth mentioning that most of the girls who are willing to give some extra love for Sha Er are lanterns who escaped from Tianjin with Yang Meng.
As the saying goes, true love is revealed in times of adversity. No matter how stupid the child looks, he never makes people disgusted. Especially when the girls throw away their armor and run away in a panic in Tianjin, it was the silly child who pulled them back and woke them up one by one. Although those words sounded a little harsh, many of these women insisted on crawling to the capital.
Now in the eyes of the sisters in the Red Chamber, a fool who is more manly than a man at this critical moment is as loving as his younger brother.
Just like Lin Heier, who is deeply favored by Yang Meng, even though he does not want to have a deep contact with Yang Meng, he will still instruct those old people hiding in the Red Chamber to teach them to be foolish.
With the words from Senior Sister Lin, the old guys who were hiding under the red lights would certainly not be too stingy. Among them, Lao Xue, the miscellaneous matter manager, was the most attentive.
According to Lao Xue himself, he is also the true disciple of Cheng Tinghua, a second-generation master of Gossip Sect. It was just because he was slick and frivolous, poorly learned skills, and when he was walking in the world, he offended several prominent figures. He was secretly designed and lost to several not-so-in-class figures in the world, losing face to the Bagua Sect, causing the anger and pursuit of the masters in the secret door. He gave up the idea of hanging out in the world, and quietly hid in the Red Mansion to end his life here.
Of course, even a second-rate figure like Lao Xue in the world, in front of Yang Meng, who has little martial arts foundation, would make him look up to him like a mountain.
Especially when Lao Xue knew who Yang Meng’s master was, he asked him to call him a senior brother, and at the same time he was more careful and intentional instructing the introductory skills of standing in the Bagua and exerting his palms.
"Xingyi is like a gun, guns are killing the dead, and Bagua is like a knife, and the knife is like a knife. Although you have been taken to the school by Master Li, the introductory skills of Xingyi are too fierce and fierce. On the contrary, Bagua Zhang is most suitable for pulling muscles and bones. The two gates of Xingyi Bagua have always been the same energy and branches, and they practice together with fists and palms. You first enter into a state of meditation with the three-body style, and then practice the steps of changing palms and bending legs and wading the mud. At that time, three or five ordinary men will not be able to get close to you..."
What surprised Yang Meng was that this seemingly weak and stretched single palm change required each palm to be heavy at the tip of the palm, and every time he exerted force like a knife, it was quite aggressive in the four methods of wiping, pushing, poking, and chopping. At the same time, the footwork of bent legs and wading mud also had extremely high requirements for the lower plate. Every time he practiced for only more than ten minutes, he felt his pores relaxed and sweaty. Even though his recovery ability is now super strong, he was so tired that he could not die of death after practicing for two hours a day.
In contrast, Lao Xue's mood was much more relaxed. Although he was hiding in the secret door of the Red Mansion, he was worried about the fact that he had lost face for the Bagua Sect. Now that he met such a stupid child who was willing to endure great hardships, how could he not do his best to practice?
After finally seeing Yang Meng adapting to the intensity of the training after more than ten days, Lao Xue quickly excitedly added to him the daily chores of wiping stairs and handrails, and asked him to walk with one step and one palm when wiping the dust. He had to continue training his standing posture after cleaning and sanitation every day.
As a result, even Yang Meng's perverted recovery ability gradually became unbearable. It was said that the initial effort of reducing to two hours would be extremely burdened to the body. In addition, this special cleaning work and method would have cost him his life.
"This introductory skill of Baguazhang is suitable for pulling muscles and bones, so it is so perverted. I wonder what level will the more terrifying Xingyiquan reach?"
Whenever Yang Meng thinks of this, he always feels something is wrong. This vulgar otaku from later generations has never doubted that what he has practiced now has long exceeded Lao Xue's expectations and ideas.
Crack and Crack and Crack...
Slowly...
In the early morning, even the noisy Red Mansions are gradually silent. In this lonely night, there is always a thin figure sliding lightly by the stairs or on the handrail. Looking at the cat-like steps, occasionally it seems that the attraction of gravity is ignored. Although the palms holding the rag always wipe, rub, poke, and slide everywhere, but as the palms are constantly rotated, Lao Xue gradually felt the smell of silk like cotton.
"Your single hand-changing practice has been done. I will start to teach you how to practice double hand-changing practice tomorrow."
Chapter completed!