Chapter 62: Experiencing The Same Rain
After Chen Chuan went into the dormitory, he wondered whether he should give Cheng Zitong a call and decided that he should. He went to the public phone and called his mentor. “I’m back, Mr. Cheng.”
Cheng Zitong’s voice came through the phone receiver. “How was it? Did everything go smoothly?”
“Very. Senior Brother Ren taught me many things,” Chen Chuan answered.
“Xiaotian is really experienced. His name may be wild, but he’s very meticulous and does things by the book. If you go on missions with him, you won’t be taken advantage of, at the very least. Oh, by the way, you should be paid for successful missions. I’ll tell Xiaotian about it.”
“But I didn’t do anything this time, Mr. Cheng,” Chen Chuan said.
“Don’t say that, and don’t feel guilty about getting paid. Having someone helping him, even just giving the impression that there’s backup, and having no one helping him is very different for missions like the one Xiaotian took. Even if you were just sitting there, you had your use. The most crucial thing about this is trust, understand?
“If you have someone you can entrust your back to during critical moments, you’ll feel confident whatever you do. No matter how strong you are, if others see that you’re alone, they’ll start getting funny ideas. Idiots love doing that sort of thing.”
“I’ll do as you say, then.” Chen Chuan went along with the flow.
“That’s more like it. I’m going to assign a mission for you every day off you get. Try to complete them. You might not be going with Xiaotian to all of them. I might send you on a solo mission, too. The main idea is to help you get some experience and money out of this.
“Considering your body, you’ll definitely use more medicine than other people, so you need to earn some money.”
Chen Chuan agreed to it. Even with Cheng Zitong getting the medicine for him at cost price, it was still a huge blow to his wallet due to how much he needed. He should earn some money in case of emergencies.
After the call, Chen Chuan took the elevator upstairs and went to Area Two. Dorm Two’s door was slightly open, and he could see the things the tenant had just moved into the living room. Funnily enough, Chen Chuan had seen all of them before. He smiled and knocked on the door.
When the person saw him, he cried out in delight. “Chen Chuan!”
Chen Chuan smiled and greeted him, “It’s been a while, Wei Dong.”
“Has it really?” Wei Dong was a little confused and scratched his head. “Huh, it really has.”
“Well, not really. It’s been a month since we last saw each other. Did you move all the old man’s stuff here?” Chen Chuan asked.
“I’m not used to the equipment in the university. The old stuff at home just feels right. I moved the big things over already, while the smaller ones will be here in a few days. Then, I’ll be done with moving.
“By the way, Chen Chuan, how did you manage to find me? I could not find you anywhere.”
Chen Chuan turned his body to the side and pointed at Dorm Four. “I live right there.”
Wei Dong looked out and gasped in realization. “You live diagonally across from me? It’s no wonder I’ve never met you.”
Wei Dong, don’t just look ahead when you walk. You need to pay attention to your surroundings, you know? Chen Chuan thought.
Wei Dong went back into his dorm room. “Don’t just stand at the door. Come on in.”
Chen Chuan went in and saw a crate of soda in a corner of the room. It seemed like every single teenager loved Sand Pearl Soda.
He looked around and asked, “If you need to move so many things here, why didn’t you ask our dormmates to help?”
“I don’t like them,” Wei Dong said with a shake of his head.
Chen Chuan understood what he meant. While he had been busy training over the past two months, he did eat with Feng Xiaoqi and Luo Kaiyuan occasionally, and he learned that their dormmates from the other areas often went out together with the upperclassmen from the Mutual Aid Group. It was highly likely that they had joined the group.
Even though members of the group were not non-members’ enemies, the group did not do charity work, so while the members could enjoy the benefits, the group would ask them to do things in return, hence, they no longer had autonomy. That was why staying away from the members was a logical choice to take if they had no business with them.
Wei Dong swiftly put everything in place and ran back excitedly. He raised a fist and said, “How about another spar, Chen Chuan? I’ve been training really hard lately, so I should have caught up to you by now.”
“Sure,” Chen Chuan agreed to it with a smile.
“This way!” Wei Dong waved Chen Chuan over excitedly and ran off.
Chen Chuan followed him.
Two minutes later, Wei Dong stared at the ceiling while lying on the floor with his limbs spread. His face was bruised black and blue.
“You’ve improved,” Chen Chuan commented while smiling and rolling his wrists.
Wei Dong jumped to his feet and squatted on the floor. “Did I?!”
“Yes,” Chen Chuan said with certainty.
He was being honest. Wei Dong’s technique had improved a lot. He had only trained alone in the past, while now that he was in the university, he had sparring partners and improved quickly.
He had also become much better at taking hits. At first, Chen Chuan had been thinking about holding back, but when he saw that Wei Dong could take it, he stopped.
“Who’s your mentor?” he asked.
“Mr. Guan of the Sanshou Department,” Wei Dong answered.
Chen Chuan dug through his memories, and the image of the lecturer came to his mind. This mentor was great at hardening-type refined forces. In their day and age, no matter how tough a person was due to body hardening training, they were still helpless before a gun without proper defensive measures, so few people chose this path.
But that was so only in normal situations. It would be difficult to say whether things would remain the same if a body hardening expert had mutated tissue as well.
“Mr. Guan said that I can begin practicing a breathing technique in two days. Let’s spar again after that!” Wei Dong clashed his fists together.
“Sure,” Chen Chuan agreed readily.
After a brief conversation, Chen Chuan told Wei Dong that he had some business to take care of and returned to his dorm room.
The moment he went in, he noticed that it had begun raining at some point in time.
He went to the floor-to-ceiling window and listened to the rain hitting the window as he looked at the Spring-Autumn Lake. Countless ripples spread out on its surface as the raindrops hit the water.
***
At the same time, the second-class students were at the lecture area behind the administrative office building. Despite the downpour, they continued training on the large cinder field.
A lecturer stood in the rain too and yelled at the students, “You’ve been in the university for a little over a month. It’s time for you to get ready to practice a breathing technique! The university has already prepared your medicine for you. Don’t be scared of getting sick or hurt! Train until you feel like dying!”
One of the students raised his hand and asked loudly, “Sir, I’ve begun practicing a breathing technique last month. Can I skip this step?”
The lecturer went over to him, observed him a little, and knocked him down on the cinder-filled ground with a kick. “Did I allow you to speak?! I’m the one who decides whether you need to train! Just keep training! You’re not allowed to stop until I tell you, understand?!”
The student quickly climbed to his feet and shouted along with the other students, “Yes, Sir!”
The wind brought the rain to the east of the administrative office building, but the trees on North Peak swayed as well.
***
Xiao Ran, one of the recommended students, was training in an indoor training room in a villa on the mountainside. He was sparring with a built teenager with two hired instructors standing next to them to correct his movements.
Just then, a female retainer brought over a middle-aged man in a martial arts uniform. “Young Master Qiu, I’ve brought Mr. Li over.”
Xiao Ran went over and shook Mr. Li’s hand. He asked eagerly, “Mr. Li, can I begin practicing a breathing technique now?”
Mr. Li had him perform a few moves and pressed down on a few parts of his body. He nodded and said, “Young Master Qiu, your body is in good condition. After training for such a long time and taking medicine with practically no negative effects on the body, you’re ready. You can begin practicing a breathing technique.”
“I’ll need your help for this, Mr. Li,” Xiao Ran said. He was really polite toward the man.
Martial artists usually had to master a breathing technique on their own, but if there was a demand for help, then someone was definitely going to provide that help as a service. The powerful families always found a group of talented people to help their descendants master a breathing technique.
But these people needed to be born with a special talent, because it was simply too hard to acquire it. They could get crippled from the slightest mistake. Hence, right then, only Mr. Li was skilled in providing this service in Yangzhi City, and he needed to rest for a long time after helping someone acquire a breathing technique.
In order to hire Mr. Li, Xiao Ran’s family had cashed in quite a few favors.
“Please lie down, Young Master Qiu,” Mr. Li instructed.
Xiao Ran lay down on a reclining chair and asked, “Do I need to take any medication?”
“No. Your body is precious, so I’ll apply medicine on my hands and send the effects into your body through a massage. I’ll then make your breathing synchronize with mine. If you find it boring, you can take a nap. It’ll soon be over,” Mr. Li said with a smile.
***
The storm continued.
Chen Chuan watched the rain for a while before turning away.
He went into the training room and resumed training with Principal Sanshou and the stances of the All-Encompassing Force.
A little over a month had passed from his three months. Chen Chuan had to dial up the intensity of his training and master the All-Encompassing Force as soon as possible so that he could keep his mutated tissue in check before his deadline was up.