A month passed in a flash, and it was March, and the flowers were blooming.
Zhao Lin has been practicing martial arts at Liuhemen for more than two months.
Through iron sand polishing and drug stimulation, Zhao Lin completed two molts in one and a half months.
The first molt is relatively easy, but the second molt becomes more difficult because the skin is tougher and more tolerant.
Yuan Cheng told him that he had to shed his skin five times before he could truly reach the first level of strength.
There are two dilemmas in practicing martial arts: First, you have to endure pain that is unbearable for ordinary people. Many people who start practicing martial arts give up because they can't bear the pain.
Second, you must have a strong enough body. The stronger the body, the faster the skin transformation process.
Zhao Lin shed his skin twice in just over a month. He attributed this to the spirit animal map. With his previous small physique, he probably wouldn't have been able to persist.
The martial arts practice is going smoothly, but Zhao Lin is worried about another thing - money.
Spring plowing is approaching, and it's time to pay the poll tax.
The head tax is also called Dingkou tax. Adult men pay 120 Wen, and minors and elderly people pay half of it. Zhao Lin is considered an adult when he reaches sixteen years old, so the Zhao family has to pay a total of 360 Wen.
In fact, the money is not much, but in the future, you will have to buy seeds, rent farm tools, etc., which is another expense.
Although my brother made a little money selling bamboo tools, it was definitely not enough to cope with spring plowing.
Zhao Lin will have to pay the fees for the second quarter of martial arts training next month. The money on hand is not enough. If he pays the head tax and rents farm tools, the difference will be more than half a star.
In fact, according to his original intention, he did not want to farm anymore. Not to mention the suffering and fatigue, he also had to depend on the weather for food. If there was another disaster year like last year, he would lose all his money.
It would be best to sell the land, but Zhao Lin knew that he couldn't instigate his family to do this. It was land cultivated by his ancestors for generations.
Although he could not understand it, he fully understood the love of farmers for the land in this era.
He even thought about going back to the dock to work as a Lifu and make money while practicing martial arts, but Lifu earned too little, which was not enough to support his martial arts training...
"The essence of boxing lies in momentum. Don't use too many moves. When the energy reaches its end, use the breathing and breathing skills I taught you. The diaphragm will rise and fall, and the energy will be revived..."
In the front yard of Liuhemen, Zhao Lin was sparring with an apprentice named Sun Xiaofan.
Zhu Huaishan's six disciples each led two or three apprentices. Zhao Lin and Sun Xiaofan were both led by Yuan Cheng.
Sun Xiaofan has been practicing Liuhe Quan for more than half a year and has already mastered it, especially his extremely fast movements.
Zhao Lin fought with him and was often dizzy by his dazzling movements.
After more than 20 rounds of sparring, Zhao Lin was punched in the shoulder. He immediately stopped, cupped his fists and said, "Senior Brother Sun has superb boxing skills, and I am willing to lose."
Sun Xiaofan bared his teeth and said with a smile: "Junior Brother Zhao's long fist is too fast. A few days ago, I could beat you within ten moves, but now it's almost thirty moves."
"Also, you are so strong that I'm afraid of getting punched."
Yuan Cheng laughed and said: "If it's a martial arts competition, Xiaofan will win this round, but if it's a life-and-death fight, Zhao Lin may be the one who survives in the end, because your punches can't kill anyone!"
After commenting on Sun Xiaofan's performance, Yuan Cheng said to Zhao Lin: "Don't always think about defeating people with one punch, haste makes waste, always remember the punching intention of our Liuhe Quan, hands, eyes, body, method, footwork, Hearts work together in harmony.”
"yes."
Zhao Lin nodded to show that he was taught, and stood aside to watch the other apprentices practice, trying to figure it out.
…
In front of a cave in Laoyu Ridge, dozens of men with knives and guns and fierce eyes stood solemnly.
Three strong men were dragging corpses out of the cave. After a while, all seven corpses were dragged out. It was the bandit Huzi who was killed by Zhao Lin, Zhou Paotou and others two months ago.
"Are they Diao Liu and the others?"
A middle-aged man in the crowd with eagle eyes, hooked nose, thin lips, and curly beard spoke up.
There is a half-length scar on the face of the bearded man. If people outside the mountain see it, they will definitely recognize that this man is the notorious bandit Zhuan Shanbao in the Paektu Mountain area.
Pictures of the mountain leopard can be seen everywhere in the counties and towns surrounding Baekdu Mountain.
"The boss is Diao Liu and the others. It seems they have been dead for some time."
After examining the body, a strong man stood up and said, "It's just because of the cold weather that the body hasn't rotted yet."
There was a buzz among the bandits.
"Damn it, how much hatred is this? He cut me so hard that I can hardly recognize him!"
"Hidden in such a hidden cave, no wonder we haven't found it after searching for so long!"
Zhuanshan Leopard's face was gloomy. He walked to the corpse and examined it carefully. He muttered: "Diao Liu was intentional and swallowed a musk pill before he died."
"Originally we could find him soon, but heavy snow blocked the entrance to the cave, so the smell of musk couldn't come out, and the scent-smelling mink couldn't find him here. Until now, the snow has melted."
After Zhuanshan Leopard finished speaking, he whistled, and a silver-gray ferret emerged from Diao Liu's clothes and quickly climbed up his legs and onto his shoulders.
The scent-scented ferret is a type of northern ferret with an extremely sensitive sense of smell and a fondness for eating scented foods.
The bandits raised this mink and fed it musk since childhood. They could follow it wherever there was the smell of musk within a hundred miles.
Therefore, bandits often use it to track contacts.
The third shopkeeper with a sinister face and a mountain ax in his hand said harshly: "Damn it, who dares to kill my brother? If I catch them, I will chop them up!"
The second shopkeeper stepped forward and looked at it for a while, then shook his head and said, "With the body so ruined, it may not be easy to find the murderer."
Zhuanshan Bao said nothing and looked at the person next to him, "What did Tuo Tianliang say?"
Tuo Tianliang is a military advisor among the bandits.
However, the military advisor in the bandits looks different from the military advisor dressed as a Confucian scholar in the play. Not only is he fat and ugly, he also looks ugly.
Tuo Tianliang smiled and said: "The perpetrator was very smart. Not only did he destroy the body into a state of disgrace, he also hid it in such a secretive manner."
"But the passing wind leaves a sound and the passing geese leave traces. It is impossible to eliminate all traces. Evidence will still be left behind."
The third shopkeeper couldn't help but said: "What evidence? Tell me quickly."
Tuo Tianliang pointed at the corpse and said: "The destruction of the corpse is evidence. If someone from outside Baektu Mountain committed the crime, they could have just walked away after committing the crime. Why bother to destroy the corpse and hide it in a hidden cave?" "
The third shopkeeper heard this and said, "Are you saying that the murderer is from Qinghe County?"
Tuo Tianliang said: "It's very possible. It won't go more than a hundred miles at most, otherwise there is no need to waste so much effort."
Zhuanshan Leopard nodded and agreed: "It makes sense, is there anything else?"
"have!"
Tuo Tianliang took off the scabbard from his waist and turned over the body. "The murderer probably went into the mountains to hunt."
"Look: Guba, Hu Mazi, and Diao Liu all have arrow wounds on their bodies."
"The government does not prohibit swords and guns, but ordinary people cannot carry bows and arrows. Only hunters in the mountains can hold bows."
The third shopkeeper frowned and said, "Going into the mountains to hunt? Then why are you quarreling with Diao Liu? We have always been in conflict with them."
Tuo Tianliang shook his head and said: "It's hard to say. Maybe they have fallen in love with the same prey, or maybe they have had a past and were recognized."
"I specifically told him to wear a scarf when he went out. He said no one would enter the mountain for three to nine days."
The second shopkeeper held his chin and thought for a while, then asked: "It's possible, but are ordinary hunters capable of killing our people?"
"Diao Liu is at the second level of strength realm, not a fool. The brothers with him are also good players. Could it be possible that he encountered a large group of hunters who were hunting around?"
