Cultivating for Immorality: I Evolved Martial Arts into the Immortal Path – Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Taking an Apprentice

Chu Liang did not return to his own courtyard.

Amidst the burning gazes of many relatives, he walked straight towards Second Uncle’s courtyard.

“Second Uncle!”

He greeted his dumbfounded Second Uncle with a smile.

“A-Liang, you… did you get all this game?”

Looking at the string of game behind Chu Liang, Second Uncle’s eyes widened.

Pheasants, rabbits, foxes, field mice, and even a muntjac!

What a harvest!

He had thought that Chu Liang would just wander around the outer mountains. Without the help of hunting dogs, getting a pheasant would be considered good.

“A-Liang, did you go into the deep mountains?” Second Uncle suddenly thought of this and asked anxiously.

“Yes.” Chu Liang nodded.

“Sigh, you just recovered, how could you take such a risk!”

“I’m familiar with the mountain paths, it’s not really a risk.”

“What if you ran into that bear?”

Second Uncle was worried. That wild bear was likely still wandering in the mountains in this area.

Many people in the village believed that Chu Liang’s Third Uncle had been dragged away by that bear.

In the entire Qing Shi Village, who could defeat that thing besides Master Hu?

Although Chu Liang was strong, he was also seriously injured by that bear.

“If you had hunting dogs, it would be better. They would bark if they encountered danger, alerting you. But now you have nothing, how can you go alone?” Second Uncle’s tone was a bit heavy, seemingly scolding, but his words were full of concern.

“Don’t worry, Second Uncle, I know what I’m doing.” Chu Liang said with a smile.

“How can I not worry?”

“Second Uncle, let’s go inside and talk.”

Chu Liang patted the wooden pole on his shoulder, indicating that they should go into the courtyard first.

Many of the game tied to this wooden pole were still alive, and he planned to give half to Second Uncle’s family.

“Go inside and talk?”

Second Uncle was stunned for a moment. He naturally understood Chu Liang’s meaning.

But when he looked around, he found that the rest of the Chu family relatives were looking at him with anticipation, the meaning in their eyes was self-evident.

Especially Third Aunt’s family, without a man in the house, their future life would be particularly difficult.

“A-Liang, why don’t we…”

“Second Uncle, let’s go inside first!”

Chu Liang shook his head slightly, his attitude very firm.

He would only share this game with Second Uncle’s family.

As for how Second Uncle’s family would handle it, that was not his business.

“Sigh, alright.”

Second Uncle sighed. He was also very disappointed with these relatives.

The two entered the courtyard one after another.

With a creak, the courtyard door closed.

The gazes of the many Chu family relatives were blocked outside.

“Hmph, Second Brother must be overjoyed, right? His family gets to share so much game!” Fourth Aunt said sourly.

“Yeah, Second Brother didn’t even say a word for us.”

The relatives all had mixed feelings.

Some were envious, some were regretful, and some hoped that Second Uncle would share some with them.

In the courtyard, Chu Liang gave half of the game to Second Uncle’s family. Second Uncle initially didn’t want to take so much, but Chu Liang said that the value of that old mountain ginseng far exceeded the game.

Second Uncle couldn’t refuse, and finally accepted.

His children were still young and needed meat, especially his eldest son, Chu Shan, who had just turned fourteen and was at an age where he needed a lot of food.

“A-Liang, shall we have a drink tonight?”

“Sure!”

Chu Liang agreed with a smile, and then went to his own house to get a jar of medicinal wine.

As night fell, wisps of smoke rose.

Second Aunt quickly butchered a pheasant and stewed a large pot of chicken soup. The rich aroma wafted out of the courtyard with the evening breeze, and most of the village could smell it.

In the village, ordinary families usually had porridge, bran cakes, and the like for dinner.

Smelling the mouth-watering aroma of chicken soup, the villagers found their bran cakes tasteless.

“It smells so good, Second Brother’s family is stewing chicken!”

Fifth Aunt squatted at the door of her house, sniffing the fragrance hard, swallowing constantly.

Her children were drooling even more, all looking at Second Uncle’s courtyard, their stomachs rumbling.

Inside the house, Fifth Uncle said with some regret, “Sigh, we really shouldn’t have fallen out with A-Liang. If we had known he would recover, we should have visited him more when he was injured.”

“A-Liang is also very stingy. We are all relatives, why make such a big deal?” Fifth Aunt couldn’t help but complain.

“Maybe we should try to mend things.”

“We can only go to Second Brother, Second Brother is soft-hearted…”

Fifth Uncle had mixed feelings.

◈◈◈

In another courtyard, Fourth Uncle’s family was also discussing.

At this time, Second Uncle’s house was very lively. The children were all eating with greasy mouths, their faces full of satisfaction.

Chu Liang was in a good mood, smiling, and clinked glasses with Second Uncle, feeling more relaxed than ever before.

After a few rounds of drinks, Second Uncle suddenly pulled his eldest son, Chu Shan, to his side. His expression became complicated. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but he hesitated for a long time.

Seeing this, Chu Liang immediately said, “Second Uncle, just say what’s on your mind.”

“Alright, A-Liang…”

Second Uncle paused, then continued, “A-Shan is an honest child, simple-minded. If he doesn’t have any opportunities in the future, he will just be a farmer like me for the rest of his life.”

“Second Uncle wants A-Shan to learn hunting from me?” Chu Liang asked.

Going into the mountains to hunt was risky, but as long as one’s luck wasn’t too bad, life would definitely be better than that of an ordinary farmer.

Second Uncle had this idea.

He had several children, and he couldn’t let them all be farmers for their entire lives. One of them had to take a risk.

He said, “If you don’t have time, A-Liang, then…”

“I have time, of course I do!”

Chu Liang agreed with a smile.

Hearing this, Second Uncle was overjoyed. He immediately pulled Chu Shan and said to him, “A-Shan, quickly kneel down and acknowledge your Big Brother as your master!”

“Master!”

Chu Shan quickly knelt down, thud, and prostrated himself on the ground.

Then, he respectfully offered a cup of tea, formally going through the ceremony.

“Good!”

Chu Liang smiled and accepted this disciple.

With this relationship, the two families became much closer.

In this era, the master-disciple relationship was very close, many masters and disciples were even like father and son.

The old hunter who taught Chu Liang hunting skills treated Chu Liang like an adopted son.

Chu Liang also took care of the old hunter in his old age and saw him through his final days.

Time passed, and the moon hung high in the sky.

It was late at night.

Chu Liang finished eating and drinking and said goodbye to Second Uncle’s family.

That night, he did not continue practicing martial arts, but slept soundly.

Combining work and rest, relaxation and intensity, this was a principle that every martial artist knew.

After a long period of training, one needed to rest for a few days, otherwise it was easy to overtrain and ruin one’s body.

The next day, Chu Liang woke up feeling refreshed and stretched lazily.

“Comfortable!”

Chu Liang ate a simple breakfast and then went out.

He went to Second Uncle’s house, called Chu Shan, and took him towards the end of the village.

“Big Brother, are we going hunting today?” Chu Shan asked curiously.

“No, first we’ll go find Wang the carpenter and have him make you a set of tools.”

At the end of the village lived a carpenter named Wang Lin. He was skilled in carpentry and had been doing this for most of his life.

On the way, Chu Liang threw his treasure bow to Chu Shan.

“Try it, let me see how far you can pull it.”

“Okay.”

Chu Shan held the treasure bow, gritted his teeth, and used all his strength.

His whole body was tense, his face was flushed, and his hands were trembling, but he could only pull it back a little bit.

Seeing this, Chu Liang had a basic assessment of Chu Shan’s strength.

This scene happened to be seen by Second Uncle and Second Aunt.

“What is A-Liang’s bow made of? Why is it so hard to pull? Our A-Shan’s strength is not small.” Second Aunt whispered.

“I don’t know, but it’s definitely a treasure.”

Second Uncle knew very well how valuable that bow was. Many young hunters in the village were very envious, especially Zhao Hu and his gang.

At this time, Fourth Uncle suddenly appeared in Second Uncle’s sight.

He had a flattering smile on his face and trotted to Second Uncle’s side, asking in a low voice, “Second Brother, did your A-Shan take A-Liang as his master?”

“What about it?”

“Second Brother, you see… my A-Qiang is also getting older. Can you let A-Liang take my A-Qiang along as well?”