[You have comprehended a new thod of practicing the Breathing Technique, Qigong Experience 20]
[Qigong Level 1 (154/250)]
As the sweat evaporated from his body, Fang Cheng finished his practice and stood up, stretching his limbs.
He glanced at the clock.
1:36.
This session of fully-devoted Qigong practice lasted for over an hour and a half, setting a new record.
Self-assessnt wise, other than feeling a bit uncoordinated and heavy, all the other strange sensations had nearly disappeared.
A thought occurred to Fang Cheng, and he imdiately checked his Dantian.
He noticed that the True Qi stored within hadn’t significantly decreased.
It seed that the body’s rapid return to normalcy was mainly due to the Skills themselves being at work.
The Breathing Technique can actually be divided into the firm and the gentle, the yin and the yang, each flowing like water and wind, with their own marvelous effects.
For chronic ailnts caused by internal factors, using this gentler thod to regulate the body functions turned out to be more effective.
He reflected quietly for a mont.
Fang Cheng then walked back to the bedroom in the buff, preparing to put on clothes.
However.
Given his now bulked up, more imposing physique, his usual size of clothes clearly wouldn’t fit.
Fang Cheng picked and chose, trying on clothes repeatedly, only to find that not a single piece was wearable.
Even a pair of jeans had its seams burst apart when he forcefully tried to pull them on.
Fortunately, the fabric of his underwear had more elasticity, so it was still sowhat wearable.
Feeling the tight innerwear accentuating his muscles, Fang Cheng’s face showed a helpless expression.
In the morning, Ma Donghe had called to talk about selling antiques.
He said he found a wealthy buyer and had arranged a eting to authenticate the goods.
But obviously, in his current state, Fang Cheng couldn’t leave the house to handle business.
It would have to wait for another day.
Fang Cheng thus called Ma Donghe back, making up an excuse to cancel the eting.
Then he spent his ti aimlessly sitting in the living room, watching TV series to pass the ti.
Staying at ho like this wasn’t a solution.
But with his mother busy working at the hospital, he couldn’t possibly bother her with his problems.
After so thought, an image of a certain lady suddenly surfaced in Fang Cheng’s mind.
He then picked up his phone, trying to dial a number.
Doo... Doo... Doo...
After several intermittent rings, the call finally got through.
A soft female voice laced with surprise ca through the receiver.
"Hello, Brother Cheng, is there sothing you need?"
Hearing this familiar voice, Fang Cheng’s slightly anxious mood instantly stabilized, and he imdiately said:
"Xiu i, here’s the thing..."
.........
The winter dusk with the setting sun being pushed behind the heavy clouds by the cold wind.
As the chill deepened along with the nightfall, the streets beca even more bustling and lively.
The sounds of car horns and electric bike bells rang chaotically, drifting through the window from below.
Fang Cheng, wearing thermal underwear, stood in the living room, leisurely practicing a 24-form Tai Chi Boxing routine.
Wild Horse Splitting, White Crane Showing Wings, Left Cradling Sparrow Tail, Right Cradling Sparrow Tail...
Lifting hands and sweeping palms, raising knees and stepping forward—every move flowed seamlessly, like clouds traversing the sky.
Although his fra was on the larger side, his deanor was still effortlessly graceful.
Thump, thump.
Just then, a faint knock at the door suddenly sounded.
Hearing the noise, Fang Cheng’s eyes flickered, and he checked his panel information.
[Tai Chi Boxing Experience 10]
He nodded in satisfaction, then ceased practicing and quickly walked toward the entrance.
Creak—
As the door opened, a rosy-cheeked cute face ca into view.
Zhou Xiui, wearing a white down jacket with a blue cloth headband and a knitted scarf wrapped around her neck, was fully bundled up, breathing out puffs of white air—clearly indicating a low temperature outside.
Seeing Fang Cheng co out in his thermal underwear, she first paused, her eyes widening as though identifying sothing.
Then her cheeks turned even rosier, and she hurriedly passed over two bags of clothing she was holding.
"Here are so clothes and pants I bought; I don’t know if they’ll fit or not."
"And this is a windbreaker that my father’s company gave out; he has several, and nobody wears them at ho."
"If the new clothes don’t fit, you can wear this one, it’s quite loose—my father is actually around the sa height as you..."
Zhou Xiui babbled on, her voice growing softer and her gaze started to wander.
It seed Fang Cheng’s muscular hunk appearance was a bit overwhelming for her psyche.
But Fang Cheng had no choice, he could only earnestly offer his continuous thanks.
"Xiu i, you’ve really helped out a lot. I’ll treat you to a al another day."
Zhou Xiu i was recently doing an internship at a pastry shop in Jiangdong District.
When Fang Cheng had contacted her over the phone previously, he didn’t explain much, just entrusted her to buy a set of clothes.
Zhou Xiu i didn’t ask any further questions; after getting off work early, she ran to the mall to purchase the clothes and then hurried ho.
At this mont, her long eyelashes drooped down.
Seeing Fang Cheng take the clothing bag, she seed to hesitate for a mont, then said:
"Brother Cheng, there’s sothing else I want to give you."
As she spoke, she fished a sachet-like object from her pocket and carefully handed it over.
Fang Cheng fixed his gaze on it.
The sachet was crafted from red fabric, delicate and elegant in appearance.
The front was transparent, revealing a small piece of yellow talisman paper with the words "peace" written on it in seal script.
Amidst Fang Cheng’s puzzled look, Zhou Xiu i explained:
"This peace charm was sought from Gufeng Temple by my grandmother; it’s very efficacious. You should always wear it and never take it off..."
Seeing Zhou Xiu i nagging like a mother, Fang Cheng couldn’t help feeling sowhat astonished:
"Why on earth would you give a peace charm out of the blue?"
Zhou Xiu i stood in the dimly lit corridor, looking around nervously for a mont.
Then, biting her lip, she said softly:
"Brother Cheng, haven’t you heard from anyone? A ghost haunts our building now..."
Fang Cheng’s gaze sharpened as he listened to her detailed account and finally understood what had happened.
Turns out, during the ti Fang Cheng went on a ditation trip to Yong’an Island, a tragedy occurred in a family living on the 8th floor.
The man, He Yao, known to be a down-to-earth worker, suddenly went mad, as if he had seen a ghost, talking to himself all day, uttering nonsense.
His wife then called a Taoist priest to exorcise evil spirits, but He Yao grabbed a kitchen knife and severely wounded both his wife and the priest.
Later, when the police arrived, he seed to have seen sothing terrifying and jumped directly out of the 8th-floor window, choosing to end his life by suicide.
Moreover, the most bizarre part was that when people went down to search that night, the body disappeared.
Counting the days, tonight is the seventh day since the death, the night when the spirit returns.
Neighbors all say that He Yao encountered evil forces, was bewitched by a ghost, and taken away to be possessed.
Therefore, after his death, he would beco even fiercer and lose all humanity.
After hearing this, Fang Cheng gave a wry smile:
"Even if there really are ghosts, they have nothing to do with us."
Zhou Xiu i was still a bit terrified and murmured:
"It doesn’t hurt to be a little cautious."
Fang Cheng nodded slightly and took the peace charm.
After all, it was a kind gesture from soone.
He then said:
"Xiu i, co in and sit for a while. I’ll go get so money for you."
Turning around with the clothing bag, he prepared to go to the bedroom to get his wallet.
But he heard Zhou Xiu i call out: "No need, I’ve got sothing else to do, I’ll be off now."
Imdiately after, her footsteps sounded brisk, and in an instant, she was gone without a trace.
When Fang Cheng stepped back out to call after her,
Zhou Xiu i had already returned ho and with a "clang," closed the door.
Seeing this, Fang Cheng shook his head helplessly.
Oh well, it could be considered a gift from Zhou Xiu i to him.
He’d return the favor with a New Year’s gift to make it up to her when the ti ca.
Clang.
He also closed his own door and turned on the light.
Fang Cheng then opened the clothing bag and took out the newly bought clothes.
A jacket and a pair of jeans.
He tried them on, and the size was correct.
Fang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief; finally free from the embarrassnt of being inadequately dressed.
To be honest, he liked to train his body without clothes not because he had an exhibitionist streak,
but purely out of necessity to beco stronger.
Dressed, he looked in the mirror to adjust his appearance, feeling like he had once again beco neat and tidy.
Next, he wolfed down his tenth takeaway al of the day.
After enjoying dinner, he did a bit of cleaning and washing up.
By this ti, it was already completely dark outside.
Fang Cheng walked to the balcony and prepared to close the window.
A casual glance downward revealed a faint glow of fire and drifting smoke.
In the dark, a few middle-aged won were squatting by the roadside, arranging offerings and burning joss paper.
Their mouths were softly murmuring, apparently chanting mantras or incantations.
Fang Cheng’s gaze grew sharp as he was reminded once again of what Zhou Xiu i had ntioned.
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