Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

In the underground secret room of Feiyun Manor, the young woman in her thirties begged Qiao Rui to take the baby away, and said she would tell him a secret in return.

Qiao Rui stretched out a finger and gently touched the baby's face. The touch was warm and tender. He should have taken Xue Yun to see the cute child more often. Maybe she would have agreed to have a baby earlier, and there would not be a quarrel, let alone getting separated. Qiao Rui sighed, tucked the baby's blanket, and then looked up and asked, "What secret?"

"The five brothers of my husband's family were originally just ordinary fishermen, and they knew some farming skills. In their early years, they had a conflict with a passing merchant ship. Relying on their bloodiness and bravery, they killed people and seized the ship, and thus embarked on this path. But young man, do you know why the martial arts of the five brothers improved by leaps and bounds after that? In just a dozen years, they all became top third-rate, and Dalang even became second-rate, and was feared by everyone in Sanshui River!" said the woman.

"Profound martial arts secrets? A panacea to improve martial arts skills?" Qiao Rui asked.

"No one knows what specific opportunity they had to kill people and seize the ship, and the five brothers kept their mouths shut. But after their martial arts skills improved by leaps and bounds, and they taught internal skills to a group of loyal and talented subordinates, everyone speculated that the five brothers might have accidentally obtained a powerful internal skills secret book that day." The woman stroked her hair and expressed her guess.

"Where is the secret book now?" Qiao Rui also became interested at this time. This trip home not only made him know that his grandfather was safe and sound, but also he completed a mission of the Sky Guard. Although the money he earned was a little less than expected, he might be able to obtain a profound internal skill now. It was really a ray of hope. Although his Shaolin internal skill was authentic, the level was too low after all. The internal strength he cultivated every day was not much. If he could get a secret book of internal skill that suited him at this time, it would be a pleasant surprise.

"It should be in the study in the main house!" said the woman.

"Should?" Qiao Rui frowned slightly, "You don't know if it exists, let alone where it is?"

"I know, I know. It was in the study room. That bitch Guo Min even lost her life for it... Please take my child with you. I will tell you everything I know!" Perhaps because she saw that Qiao Rui was not very vicious and was quite interested in the secret book, one of the young women hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd with a little boy, knelt on the ground and said to Qiao Rui.

When the others saw this, they also started clamoring, saying one after another that they knew clues to the secret book and only begged Qiao Rui to take their children away. Some even wanted to give their six or seven-year-old daughters to Qiao Rui as concubines. It was truly speechless.

Qiao Rui's face darkened and he sneered, "I am somewhat interested in the secrets of the five Zhu brothers, but I am not looking forward to it too much. I think they cannot surpass my own martial arts, otherwise I would be the one dying today instead of the five brothers! As for you, you will be exiled as slaves and servants, and the government will make your own judgment. I have already broken the rules by agreeing to take one away, but you are still greedy. Do you really think the law is a joke?"

“I dare not…I dare not!”

Seeing Qiao Rui getting angry, the women finally quieted down and just covered their mouths with their hands and sobbed softly.

“Young man, please calm down. They just love their son dearly and have no intention of making things difficult for you!” The woman who had entrusted the baby to Qiao Rui bowed to Qiao Rui and turned to the other women and said, “Sisters, please don’t make things difficult for you. You are lucky to be able to take Xiaobao away. How can you ask for too much and cause trouble for you? Although I am the mistress of the first house, I did not let you take my child away because I was afraid that everyone would feel resentful because of my unfair treatment. As for choosing Xiaobao from the third family, it is because Xiaobao is the youngest and still ignorant. Let him carry the blood of the Zhu family and live a clean life…”

When the women heard the young woman say this, they all felt ashamed, but when they thought of the misery they would experience in the future, they began to sob softly.

After pacifying these people, the woman turned to Qiao Rui and said, "We all guessed that the secret book was hidden in the study for two reasons. First, the Zhu brothers are all rough men who are not proficient in writing and do not like to pretend to be cultured. However, they built this study. The five brothers like to stay in it when they have nothing to do. No one knows what they do in it. Second, they do not allow others to approach the study. Even if the maid goes in to clean, one of the five brothers must be present. Two years ago, a concubine of the fourth brother took advantage of her doting and sneaked in out of curiosity. After the incident, she was beaten to death by the fourth brother himself..."

"Based on the above two points, we speculate that the study must be hiding a big secret. The gold, silver, money, property and deeds in the manor are all kept in the cellar, so the secret book is very likely hidden in the study. I hope the young man can see it clearly!"

Qiao Rui nodded and said, "I'll go to the study and take a look!" After a pause, he continued, "This... Xiaobao, I will give him to a kind and honest family to raise, but I won't let him have the last name Zhu, and I won't let him know his life experience."

"We just hope he can live well. We don't dare to ask for anything else. Thank you for your kindness. I wish you a bright future!!!"

The woman bowed deeply to Qiao Rui and cried.

Qiao Rui stopped talking, turned around and walked up the stairs. Without closing the cellar exit, he went straight out of Feiyun Villa, picked a tall tree, and tied Xiaobao firmly to the intersection of lush branches. Seeing that he was still sleeping soundly, he flew down the tree and returned to Feiyun Villa.

Walking into the study, there were two rows of bookshelves against the wall, filled with classics, history, and miscellaneous books. All of them were new books with no signs of being flipped. Qiao Rui had checked them when he first started looking for the secret room mechanism, but now that he came in, he had to check them again carefully.

The bookshelf was fine, and the books were new and had never been flipped. There were two paintings on the wall, and the places where the paintings were hung were not worn at all. The color of the wall behind the paintings was obviously different from the wall without paintings on the side, which obviously meant that they had not been moved since they were hung up. If there were any secrets hidden in the paintings, I think they would have to be taken down frequently and spread out on the desk to appreciate them carefully, but it seems that this is not the case.

In the middle of the study was a desk with five chairs around it. It was probably because the five brothers often sat around like this. It was inappropriate and certainly not the way scholars behaved.

On the desk there are the four treasures of the study - pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, as well as pen holder, pen holder, pen washer, paperweight and other items.

Qiao Rui picked up an inkstone and examined it carefully. It was a copper inkstone with some flowers and plants engraved on it. The surface of the copper inkstone was bright yellow and exuded a metallic luster. It looked relatively new and might have been used less. There was an ink streak next to the inkstone, which was dark in color and nothing special.

There were a few sheets of white paper in the middle of the desk, held down by a pair of stone-carved exotic animal paperweights. On both sides were a brightly colored lotus-shaped porcelain brush washer, a crystal-clear mountain-shaped hollow pine and cypress jade pen holder, and a glossy, wood-carved round pen holder with a few new brushes randomly inserted in it.

Overall, there doesn't seem to be anything strange. Although the materials and shapes of these utensils are good, the combination is messy and disorganized, which is in line with the style of these rough guys who want to show off. So where is the secret book hidden?