Chapter 28: Taizu Long Fist

In the afternoon, Chen Jie was there sorting medicinal herbs.

It was no easy task. The herbs selected by Physician Bai were all types that were particularly easy to confuse.

Some were dried.

Others were fresh.

Furthermore, there was a requirement to group the fresh and dried herbs of the same category together.

The workload was immense.

Fresh Astragalus and dried Astragalus slices were completely different things.

Moreover, he had to sort through slices of Saposhnikovia, Codonopsis, Isatis root, North Adenophora, Platycodon, Peucedanum, Astragalus, and Licorice.

For someone without a foundation in herbal medicine, these few items alone would be enough to make one's head spin.

Fortunately, although Chen Jie was considered unlearned, the knowledge he had picked up through osmosis during his childhood, along with the herbal knowledge his grandfather had forced him to learn, came into play at this moment.

Though it was difficult, after two hours of busy work, Chen Jie had finally finished the sorting.

Beside him, Wu Hong had also been training for two hours. Chen Jie stood up to stretch his aching limbs and looked at Wu Hong, asking, "Brother Wu, what kind of technique are you practicing?"

Seeing that Chen Jie had finished sorting, Wu Hong smiled and said, "You're quite fast. I thought you'd be at it until dark."

Chen Jie replied, "I have... a bit of a foundation."

Wu Hong said, "I'm tempering my strength. Are you interested in this?"

Chen Jie said, "Yes. I lack exercise in my daily life. Sometimes when I go up the mountain and encounter a wild beast or something, it can be quite dangerous."

Hearing this, Wu Hong thought of his own grandfather and said, "True. Our back mountain connects to the Great Black Mountain, which is part of the Daba Mountains. There are some quite formidable beasts in there. As a physician, you'll inevitably have to enter the mountains to gather herbs, so it's necessary to learn some skills for self-defense."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Indeed. Brother Wu, could you teach me?"

Wu Hong didn't speak, so Chen Jie immediately added, "Of course, Brother Wu, if it involves any sect secrets or anything like that, then please don't teach me."

Wu Hong replied, "There's no such thing. Come here first; let me feel your bone structure."

Chen Jie was overjoyed. Wu Hong approached, felt Chen Jie's bones, and said, "Hmm, I just checked your bones. You have some talent, but not much. You have an average physique."

"It might not be easy to achieve great success in martial arts, but learning some self-defense won't be a problem."

As Wu Hong spoke, he continued, "Come, practice a set of fist techniques with me first. The rest is just tempering your strength, which can be done slowly."

Wu Hong said, "Come, follow my movements."

Without wasting words, Wu Hong took a stance and prepared to teach Chen Jie.

Chen Jie was stunned; he hadn't expected martial arts to be taught so easily.

In truth, this was partly a reaction to Chen Jie having saved Physician Bai, and partly because Chen Jie and Wu Hong got along well.

Furthermore, what Wu Hong was teaching wasn't any profound martial art, but rather the "Taizu Long Fist," which any martial arts practitioner could learn.

Although this technique wasn't precious—one could buy it at a city bookstore for about five taels of silver—having Wu Hong teach it personally was a different matter entirely.

Taizu Long Fist was legendarily created by Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, and was also known as the "Mother of a Hundred Fists."

This didn't mean the technique was profound; rather, it was because it was so simple, mostly used for building a foundation for martial artists, that it earned such a name.

Years ago, Wu Hong had used this very set of techniques to build his foundation.

The entire set consisted of thirty-two forms. After following along for two rounds, Chen Jie felt a heat rising through his body, as if strength was being awakened within his muscles.

Wu Hong asked, "Did you memorize it?"

Chen Jie replied, "I did."

Wu Hong said, "Good. Practice this fist technique whenever you have time. Once you're finished, move the millstones to train your strength. Although this technique isn't profound, it has good effects on the first two stages of a martial artist: skin tempering and muscle training."

"If you practice regularly and study it with intent, you will have great gains."

As Wu Hong spoke, Chen Jie immediately expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, Brother Wu. I have learned."

Wu Hong said, "As for the combat application, there are no fixed moves; it depends on your personal ability to adapt to an enemy. As for the rest, it relies on your own training."

Hearing this, Chen Jie immediately cupped his fists and said, "I understand."

Wu Hong said, "Mm. Practice more when you have time. If you don't understand something, ask me."

"Alright."

Chen Jie responded immediately. At that moment, the door to the room pushed open. Physician Bai had seen Chen Jie learning boxing from Wu Hong, but he hadn't come out to stop them.

In this era, things were chaotic. Even if one wanted to be a good doctor, one needed some ability to defend oneself. It didn't have to be something extraordinary, but at the very least, one should be able to protect oneself.

In this age, learning martial arts was certainly not a mistake.

Just as in later generations, no matter what you did, reading a bit of books was certainly never a mistake.

Physician Bai walked out. Wu Hong immediately moved a chair for him. Once Physician Bai sat down, he instructed Chen Jie to bring over the herbs he had sorted.

He inspected them very seriously, checking for a full fifteen minutes.

Suddenly, Physician Bai's expression turned cold. He glanced at Chen Jie and pointed to a tiny piece of herb among the pile.

"Look closely. What is this?"

Hearing this, Chen Jie immediately picked up the herb slice and looked at it. The slice was somewhat blurred; it looked like Saposhnikovia, but also like Peucedanum.

For a moment, he truly found it difficult to distinguish. At that point, Physician Bai said, "The first lesson of medicine is identification. And the methods of identification are none other than the four methods: observing, smelling, touching, and tasting."

"Observe its form, which is hard to distinguish; smell its scent; taste its flavor."

Chen Jie understood instantly. He smelled it; the scents were different. He tasted it; the bitterness of each was distinct.

"It's Saposhnikovia!"

When Chen Jie finally concluded, Physician Bai said with a stern face, "Saposhnikovia is warm in nature, while Peucedanum is cold. Using warm medicine for a cold condition, or cold medicine for a warm deficiency, will kill people!"

"Master, I was wrong."

Chen Jie immediately admitted his mistake. Physician Bai then spoke, "Jiu Si, what I am teaching you today is not herb identification, but a principle. Anyone in this world can be careless, anyone can make mistakes, but a physician cannot. Because the price of every mistake you make could very well be a human life!"

"Yes, Master, I understand."

Chen Jie humbly admitted his fault and simultaneously committed this point to memory.

Only then did Physician Bai say with a stiff face, "Go, take paper and a brush. Copy the sections related to these herbs from the Medical Classic twenty times. You must take it to heart."

"Yes, I'll go right now."

Chen Jie was completely convinced and took the brush to go copy the book.

Watching from the side, Wu Hong was amused, looking exactly like a best friend watching someone get scolded at school.

Physician Bai glanced at Wu Hong and said, "I didn't say anything to you, did I? Go, you go copy books too."

"Ah, Grandfather, I'm not studying medicine. Copying the Medical Classic is useless for me."

"If the Medical Classic is useless, then go copy the acupoint diagrams. Twenty times. Not a single one less."

"Ah, Grandfather, I..."

Wu Hong looked bitter, but Physician Bai maintained a stern face and said, "So you want me to stop managing you?"

"Fine, fine, don't be angry. I'll copy. I'll go copy now."

With a long face, Wu Hong dragged a small stool over to Chen Jie's side. "Move over a bit."

Chen Jie shifted his small stool, and Wu Hong sat down with a miserable expression, leaning over the table to copy meridian diagrams, feeling utterly wronged.

(End of Chapter)