In fact, Ji Zhao had considered finding some way to hint to Han Shou that Liu Wei's heart was on the right side. That way, if things went as in the original storyline, Han Shou might be able to kill Liu Wei with a single stab... But on reflection, he decisively gave up the idea.
First, he had no way to make Han Shou believe him, and no way to explain where the information came from.
Second, by the time Liu Wei entered the city, the city had already fallen. Even if he were stabbed to death, why would the Black Cavalry bandits already inside the walls care?
Third, judging by how much health Liu Wei had lost back then, Ji Zhao had reason to suspect that Han Shou's little dagger could not have killed him even with a stab straight to the heart...
However he looked at it, keeping to the original storyline was a foolish choice. But for now, Ji Zhao was in no position to give any more warning than that.
【"Let's hope he can turn the tables on him."】
Ji Zhao pulled his thoughts back and stopped in front of a martial arts hall.
He still wanted to practice some martial techniques. However confident he was in his own fighting skills, in this world martial techniques were the meta — and what Ji Zhao gained from training martial techniques and what he gained from cultivation methods were not even on the same level!
The hall was called the Wu'an Hall — across the lands of Yan you could find at least two hundred martial halls by that name. This one, though, had a somewhat better claim to it than most, because its owner, Lu Yushi, was Anchun's former Martial Warden.
At the moment, the sounds of militia training came from inside the hall — with the war against the Ning at the front, Qingzhou's regular troops had nearly all been called away, and many of those now defending the city were the common folk left behind in Anchun County. These people lacked military training, so they had been sent to Lu Yushi, who ran the hall, to be drilled a little. But the intensity was low, to keep them from being too spent to fight if the Black Cavalry bandits launched a surprise attack. On the whole, it served more as a comfort to the mind than anything else. Still, at a time like this, the comfort that authority gave was in fact what mattered most. After all, the other side was only a pack of have-nothing roving bandits.
Ji Zhao pushed the door open and walked in. His movements were small, and the people in the hall were training with their backs to him and making a good deal of noise as they did, so for a moment no one noticed Ji Zhao come in, except Lu Yushi and his senior disciple, who were facing him.
Lu Yushi had met Ji Zhao only a handful of times, and his memory was not as good as Han Shou's, so he did not recognize him at first. His senior disciple beside him, however, saw the bandages wrapped around Ji Zhao's head, remembered something, and quietly reminded his master.
"It's the Ji family's boy..." Lu Yushi was a little puzzled. "Haoying, go and hear what he's here for. Perhaps Martial Warden Ji has some business with me."
The senior disciple, Zhang Haoying, acknowledged him, skirted around the young men sweating like rain, and came up to Ji Zhao. His manner was polite enough. "Young Brother Ji, has Martial Warden Ji sent you with a message?"
"No." Ji Zhao smiled. "I've come to learn your fist arts."
Zhang Haoying froze on the spot. He had seen for himself that day how Ji Zhao fought the enemy, which was why he recognized him now. As for Ji Zhao's showing, all he could say was that his courage was commendable; barring surprises, he might have worn down a little of his opponent's weapon durability... and that was all. Learning fist arts — five years ago, maybe. As things stood, he had better not come making trouble. What if he thought he'd mastered something and insisted on going to the front, then ran into danger against the enemy and distracted Ji Bei, and something bad came of it — that really would be...
With that thought, Zhang Haoying counseled him earnestly. "Young Brother Ji, the fist isn't learned in a single day. You're injured right now — best to rest and recover properly first."
Ji Zhao shook his head. "Brother Zhang, it isn't the fist they're learning that I want to learn... I've practiced internal arts."
Zhang Haoying was stunned for a moment. If Ji Zhao was bringing up his internal arts at a time like this, he must want to learn a martial technique that could only be used with inner breath. "You don't mean you want to learn the Storm Strike?"
The Storm Strike was the Wu'an Hall's one and only martial technique.
Ji Zhao said, "Exactly."
Zhang Haoying's face grew serious. "Young Brother Ji, a martial hall's rules aren't like a sect's — there aren't so many restrictions, and plenty of people think a martial hall is a place where you can learn martial arts once you've paid, coming when you like and leaving when you like. But an art is never passed on lightly; your sister must have taught you that. To pass on a martial technique, the hall master must first fully assess a disciple's character, Constitution and Comprehension, and only once everything is confirmed may it be taught. And you're not even a disciple of our hall..."
As though he had entirely failed to grasp the gravity in Zhang Haoying's words, Ji Zhao smiled and took a money pouch from inside his robes. "I brought money."
"That's not the point..." Zhang Haoying was at a loss. "Forget it. I'll go talk to my master."
He turned and went to Lu Yushi, whispered a few words in his ear, and told him how things stood.
"So that's how it is..." Lu Yushi stroked his beard. "That third boy of the Ji family went to defend the walls of his own accord that day — he has heart, but his skill is just too poor. I expect he got nowhere pestering his eldest sister and has now set his sights on this old man. But in his condition, how could it be a matter of one martial technique... The boy's parentage is complicated; I fear he's grown up with a temper both self-abasing and stubbornly proud. If we refuse him this, I fear there'll be no end of trouble, and with the enemy at our flank, we mustn't let Martial Warden Ji be distracted by such a small matter. Here's what we'll do, Haoying. Take him to the side courtyard, run through the Storm Strike a few times, and pass it on to him."
"Huh?" Zhang Haoying was startled. "Really pass it on?"
Lu Yushi smiled helplessly. "If he wants to learn it, then pass it on to him. But there's no need to explain the difficult and tricky points clearly for him. Just run through it a few times and tell him the route the inner breath takes. Don't teach him anything false, though, or it'll ruin our hall's reputation. If he has questions, say it can only be felt, not put into words — find some such excuse to fob him off, and let him work it out and ponder it for himself. Done that way, even if he takes it to Martial Warden Ji, Martial Warden Ji will understand."
Zhang Haoying slowly caught on. "But what if he really does learn it?"
Lu Yushi glared at him, but couldn't be bothered to answer such a stupid question, and Zhang Haoying came to his senses too. The Storm Strike was not a particularly profound martial technique, but its demands on the practitioner's bodily coordination were not low either. He himself was only half-baked at it to begin with, and now he was to teach someone else — and not merely teach, but hold things back while he did it. If Ji Zhao could learn it like that, it really would be like seeing a ghost.
With that thought, Zhang Haoying hurried straight to Ji Zhao's side. "Young Brother Ji, my master has agreed. Come with me."
Hearing this, Ji Zhao was a little surprised. Since the other side had suddenly agreed, all the arguments he had prepared came to nothing.
【"Is this out of consideration for Ji Bei?"】
Ji Zhao could not quite figure it out, but at a juncture like this, and inside the city at that, he was not afraid the man had some scheme in mind. He followed Zhang Haoying to the side courtyard at once, and considerately refrained from asking why Lu Yushi was willing to pass the Storm Strike on to him.
Zhang Haoying was a clumsy talker too — otherwise he would hardly have had to fall back on 'I'll go talk to my master' in a situation like that. He had not even come up with an excuse yet, so when he saw that Ji Zhao did not ask, he was secretly delighted, and he gave Ji Zhao no chance to open his mouth, jumping straight into the matter at hand.