PCJ – Chapter 244 Transformation

Although Zhang Wenrong and the others had practiced some basic martial arts under a teacher, they had only practiced sporadically and hadn’t truly endured the hardships of training. They had barely stood for a while before starting to complain.

Zhang Jiaohua was also standing in the Plum Blossom Poles, but he was not ignoring Zhang Wenrong and the others.

Zhang Wenrong and his companions were all the type to be lazy and avoid hard work. Although they wanted to learn Zhang Jiaohua’s skills, they were unwilling to endure hardships. Zhang Jiagen’s feet began to ache after standing for a while, and he secretly glanced at Zhang Jiaohua, who was standing firmly in a horse stance. Zhang Jiagen immediately stood up, shook his hands and feet, and was about to jump down from the Plum Blossom Poles.

“Woof, woof woof!” A mountain dog was guarding below, eyeing Zhang Jiagen with hostility.

“Oh no,” Zhang Jiagen quickly retracted his foot.

The poles were 1.5 meters high, so even if the mountain dog stood up, it couldn’t reach him. Zhang Jiagen felt more at ease, shook his hands and feet, and rested on several of the poles. It was much easier than standing in a horse stance.

Zhang Wenrong and Zhang Hanggou exchanged a glance and followed Zhang Jiagen’s example, lying on the wooden poles. Zhang Jiagen even occasionally provoked the mountain dog. Angered, the mountain dog barked loudly and jumped, but Zhang Jiagen and the others easily avoided it.

“Smack!” Zhang Jiagen was suddenly struck hard by a slender bamboo stick.

“Ouch!” Zhang Jiagen cried out in pain and looked back at Zhang Jiaohua, who was still standing unmoving on the poles. Zhang Jiagen had intentionally stood further from Zhang Jiaohua, so it was impossible for Zhang Jiaohua to reach him with a bamboo stick.

“Smack!”

“Ouch! Who is hitting me?” Zhang Jiagen looked back and saw a bamboo stick oddly suspended in the air, seemingly held by someone, ready to strike at any moment.

“Ghost!” Zhang Jiagen was terrified and tried to jump down from the poles, but the mountain dogs below, holding a grudge, quickly surrounded him. If he dared to jump down, he would surely face a few large, bloody mouths.

Meanwhile, Zhang Wenrong and Zhang Hanggou, also trying to avoid work, were not faring much better. Each had a bamboo stick pursuing them. They wisely stayed on the poles, avoiding the dogs below, and ran around trying to evade the sticks. However, the sticks flew faster than they ran, and they were frequently struck.

“How’s it going? Have you had enough fun?” Zhang Jiaohua appeared in front of the three, who were being chased by the bamboo sticks.

The sticks stopped attacking, and Zhang Jiagen and the others also stopped. Under Zhang Jiaohua’s stern gaze, they dared not speak.

“I didn’t force you to practice martial arts with me, did I? It was you who agreed to it, right?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

Zhang Jiagen and the others felt very wronged: Would you have let us go if we didn’t agree?

But they dared not say this and replied honestly, “No, no.”

Zhang Jiagen added, “We did it willingly.”

“That’s right. Since you agreed willingly, why are you slacking off after only three minutes?” Zhang Jiaohua was angry.

“Jiaohua, it’s not that we’re lazy. It’s just that there, there… ghosts. They were hitting us with sticks just now,” Zhang Jiagen complained, looking around anxiously.

“Stop looking. They are not ghosts; you are the lazy ones! Listen up, you can only stop when I tell you to. If I don’t tell you to stop, you keep going, or you’ll be punished,” Zhang Jiaohua said, his gaze sweeping over the three much taller than him.

Zhang Jiaohua then fetched a stack of earthenware bowls filled with water and placed them on the heads and thighs of Zhang Wenrong and the others. If any water spilled, a bamboo stick would hit them. After setting everything up, Zhang Jiaohua resumed his own standing practice. Each stance—horse stance, bow stance, empty stance, high empty stance, resting stance, and leaping stance—was held for at least fifteen minutes. By the time he finished, it was already bright.

Zhang Wenrong and the others managed to hold out this time, though they endured a lot of hits. Zhang Jiagen, in particular, was hit the most. By the end, the bowls on his body were empty, but he managed to persevere.

After Zhang Jiaohua finished his practice, he glanced at the three and went to prepare breakfast. The mountain leopard dog had brought two fat wild chickens that morning. Zhang Wenrong and the others were tasked with cleaning the chickens, resulting in a hearty breakfast. Zhang Wenrong and the others ate ravenously. Zhang Jiaohua assigned them some tasks and then left for school with his backpack.

“Actually, Jiaohua isn’t that bad. Even though we have to work for him for free, the food is pretty good. Yesterday it was wild boar meat, and today it’s wild chicken. We have plenty to eat and enough meat. It’s much better than my family’s meals,” Zhang Jiagen said, using a bamboo stick to clean his teeth.

Zhang Wenrong kicked Zhang Jiagen, “Useless!”

“So what should we do? Should we escape while Jiaohua isn’t paying attention?” Zhang Jiagen asked.

“We have to be able to escape first. Besides, even if we escape, what can we do? We don’t have anything else to do right now, so we might as well stay and practice with Jiaohua for a while longer. Let’s go. Time to cut pig grass,” Zhang Wenrong said, picking up a sickle, grabbing a bamboo basket, and putting on a bamboo hat, leading the way out.