True qi surged into her meridians, circulated through her entire body, and gathered in her dantian, over and over again.
Luo Wanqing forced herself to maintain her will, following Liu Xiniang’s guidance to gather and compress this foreign true qi into her dantian.
Pain eroded her concept of time. She felt time stretch infinitely – a word, a sentence, a quarter-hour all became so long.
Several times she felt she couldn’t go on, but then a warm current would surge up from her abdomen, forcing her to continue.
That must be the pill’s effect.
That pill and Liu Xiniang were among the few strokes of good fortune she’d had since entering prison.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when she finally heard Liu Xiniang say, “Alright, rest for a while.”
The moment those words came out, she could no longer hold on. She closed her eyes and fell into darkness.
This time she didn’t dream. She slept deeply for a long time. When she opened her eyes, she saw morning light falling through the skylight onto the black water surface floating with debris.
“You’re awake?”
Liu Xiniang’s voice came. She looked across to see Liu Xiniang leaning against the wall, looking out the skylight. Noticing her gaze, Liu Xiniang turned and smiled: “It’s good weather.”
“How long?”
Luo Wanqing spoke hoarsely. Liu Xiniang explained: “Two days.”
Luo Wanqing closed her eyes to recover, feeling her arms numb and aching from hanging on the iron chains.
Liu Xiniang waded through the water to her, taking her hands down from the chains. Without the chains’ restraint, Luo Wanqing’s legs went soft. Liu Xiniang caught her, asking: “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
Luo Wanqing used Liu Xiniang’s strength to support herself up. Liu Xiniang helped her while explaining her current condition: “Your body has no martial arts foundation – too weak. Last night, your meridians probably reached their limit and could rupture at any time. Without that Nine Fragrance Calming Spirit Pill, you’d be dead. So, although I’ve given you internal energy, don’t rush to use it. Wait until your body recovers.”
“How do I know when it’s recovered?”
Luo Wanqing knew Liu Xiniang wouldn’t just tell her the situation for no reason. Seeing her stand steady, Liu Xiniang assessed her condition: “In the three months before the examination, you need to do two things. First, build up your physical foundation. Even without internal energy, relying on your body’s muscular ability alone, you should be much stronger than ordinary people.”
“What else?”
“Second, you need to meditate every night to repair your meridians, then expand and strengthen them. Your meridians are the channels for internal energy – the wider the channels, the more power you can release in an instant. I’ll teach you the specific practice methods over the next few days. Your sentence came down yesterday – exile in ten days.”
Hearing this, Luo Wanqing was stunned. Liu Xiniang glanced at her and continued: “Our time is tight, so I got some money and bribed the jailers. We’ll stay in this water dungeon until you leave. Over these ten days, I’ll teach you everything about my past, details, and everything I know. After we switch identities, you’ll enter death row – that’s your best training ground. The fastest way to learn martial arts is real combat, fighting with death as the stakes. After entering death row, regardless of winning or losing, fight as many battles as you can. Start by learning to take beatings – only when you’re used to being beaten will you not lose control from bodily pain instinct.”
“Alright.”
Luo Wanqing nodded without hesitation.
Seeing how obedient she was, Liu Xiniang couldn’t help but smile: “You’ll take many beatings. Are you afraid?”
Luo Wanqing shook her head. She looked up seriously: “I’m not afraid.”
Seeing her expression, Liu Xiniang couldn’t help but pinch her face and sigh: “This face is so tender – what a pity.”
Luo Wanqing was startled. Liu Xiniang suddenly struck, sweeping her leg, and said happily: “For this first fight, I’ll accompany you!”
As her words fell, Luo Wanqing crashed into the water. Liu Xiniang’s hand immediately followed, grabbing her hair and pressing her firmly underwater.
Luo Wanqing instinctively struggled, then heard Liu Xiniang shout: “Grab my wrists with both hands, use your body weight to quickly pull down to the bottom.”
Hearing this, Luo Wanqing immediately complied. Though she was light, her movement was quick. Liu Xiniang’s wrist bent to its limit angle, and she immediately let go. Luo Wanqing quickly surfaced, and Liu Xiniang slapped her again!
In the water dungeon, Liu Xiniang beat her one-sidedly while teaching her everything she needed to learn and remember during the beating.
“The Supervision Department is divided into two parts – headquarters in the Eastern Capital and branches everywhere. Together, they number nearly thirty thousand people, all elite. Each local department is divided into three levels: the department head, the Four Chiefs, and the remaining ordinary Supervision Department people. Everyone in the Supervision Department is uniformly called Supervision Department Envoys. Unless there are special circumstances, just mentioning this title will make anyone give you some respect.”
“The strongest people in the Supervision Department are all in the Eastern Capital. At headquarters in the Eastern Capital, Chief Xie Heng – no one has seen him fight, but everyone guesses that since he’s from a great family, he probably has no martial arts. Under him are the four chiefs Zhuque, Baili, Qingya, and Xuanshan. Except for Baili, each is a top expert.”
“Baili isn’t a master?” Luo Wanqing was curious.
Liu Xiniang nodded: “In terms of martial prowess, she’s not first-rate, but not too bad either. They say she’s the Supervision Department’s strongest spy. No one has seen her appearance, and there’s no information in this world she can’t discover.”
Saying this, Liu Xiniang slapped Luo Wanqing’s head and pressed her back underwater: “Listen carefully, don’t interrupt me.”
Liu Xiniang taught while beating. When she got tired of beating, she taught Luo Wanqing horse stance, meditation, breathing exercises, and other fundamentals.
In a daze, ten days passed. Luo Wanqing felt her head was stuffed with countless things.
She repeatedly chewed over this content while Liu Xiniang seemed particularly relaxed.
The night before leaving, Liu Xiniang asked the jailers for some wine. Seeing Liu Xiniang approach with the wine, Luo Wanqing couldn’t help but widen her eyes curiously: “How can you get anything?”
“Building connections is also an ability,” Liu Xiniang said, handing the wine to Luo Wanqing, raising an eyebrow: “Can you drink?”
“Not really.” Luo Wanqing answered honestly: “My family doesn’t let me drink.”
“That’s a pity,” Liu Xiniang sighed helplessly. “I should have taught you to drink, but I don’t have time. After you get out, find an opportunity to build up your alcohol tolerance, to avoid problems at special moments.”
“Alright.”
Hearing this, Luo Wanqing understood that parting was imminent – she and Liu Xiniang didn’t have much time left.
She wanted to say many things to Liu Xiniang, but didn’t know how to begin.
She wanted to say thank you, but it felt too light in weight – better not to say it.
After a long while, she finally said: “You haven’t told me about your past.”
“Wasn’t I about to?” Liu Xiniang smiled: “You’re going to impersonate me for a long time – how could I hide this from you?”