Chapter 7: Innate Rare Talent

  Liu Xiu hadn't had time to be curious, and Gong Sun Zan, who was walking ahead with his head down, suddenly took a step back and walked shoulder to shoulder with Liu Xiu. He turned his head to look at him and suddenly said, "What did you just say?"

  "What's going on?" Liu Xiu was baffled.

  "It was when I and that military officer were competing in martial arts, what did you shout?"

  Liu Xiu thought for a moment and smiled, "I think he's trying to trip you up, reminding you to watch your step. I didn't expect you to react so slowly, and you actually didn't dodge."

  "Am I slow in reacting?" Gong Sun's face suddenly turned somewhat strange, and his voice also rose.

  "Yes, he opened your fist and then took a step forward, wasn't it to hook your foot? He's not very fast either, I reminded you again, who knew you didn't dodge." Liu Xiu shrugged his shoulders, seeing Gong Sun Zan's face was not too good, hurriedly comforted: "I reckon you were fighting with the slaves from the Mao family first and didn't have enough strength left, otherwise you definitely wouldn't have lost."

  Gongsun Zan stretched his mouth, somewhat depressed and licked his lips, staring at Liu Xiu for a while, saying nothing, and walked forward with a huff. Liu Xiu looked at him puzzled, then looked at Liu Bei: "This guy can't stand losing."

  "This......" Liu Bei's face also looked a bit strange: "Big brother, do you really think they are all very slow?"

  "Of course." Liu Xiu said without thinking, but after the words came out of his mouth, he felt that something was not quite right and carefully asked: "Do you think they are not slow?"

  "It's not just slow, it's too fast." Liu Bei said with a mix of anger and amusement: "They're all tangled up, I can't even see their moves clearly, yet you say they're too slow? How could he not be angry? In my opinion, he's probably more miserable now than when he was defeated by that Wu general."

  Liu Xiu stood there in stunned silence for half a day without moving.

  A bee was flying back and forth among the peach blossoms, gradually flying in front of Liu Xiu's eyes, interrupting his thoughts. He waved his hand somewhat impatiently, not expecting to hit the bee with one slap. The bee fell to the ground, struggling, and the buzzing sound stopped. Liu Xiu looked down at the bee on the ground, suddenly moved in his heart, and raised his eyes again to look at another bee not far away.

  In just a moment, he discovered the anomaly. He seemed to be able to see clearly the wings of the dancing bees, although not very clearly, but obviously not just a shadow either. In his eyes, the rapidly flapping bee wings were like slow-motion footage, vaguely visible outlines of the wings.

  Is it that my eyes are different from others? Or is it that my neural reactions are much faster than ordinary people? Liu Xiu suddenly had some understanding in his heart, no wonder when he watched Gong Sun and others competing earlier, every move was clear and distinct, at the time he thought they were heroes showing mercy to each other, but it turned out it wasn't like that, it's just that my eyes are different from others.

  Liu Xiu had never practiced martial arts, but he had watched kung fu and action movies. He understood the principle of "nothing is impenetrable, only speed can't be broken". Even with the simplest moves, if his speed was much faster than his opponent's, he would basically be unbeatable. And if he added a bit of overwhelming strength to that, wouldn't he already be among the ranks of the masters?

  No wonder I was a bit hot-blooded just now, it turns out that there is a basis for it. Liu Xiu secretly felt pleased with himself.

  "Big brother, what are you looking at?" Liu Bei tiptoed and followed Liu Xiu's line of sight to look forward. After a moment, he suddenly burst out laughing: "It turns out that big brother is admiring a beauty."

  "Beauty?" Liu Xiu composed himself and only then noticed that the direction of his gaze was a small pavilion in the distance. In the pavilion, the young man from the Ma family who had been scared to death on horseback earlier was standing in front of two young women, speaking respectfully. One of the women, wearing a yellow blouse, sat sideways with her back against the railing, slightly lowering her head, looking outside, either admiring flowers or lost in thought. Her demeanor was elegant and refined, her body presenting a curve of beauty that seemed to be moving while being still.

  "As expected, she's a beauty." Liu Xiu praised. In order to frame that brick house, he had studied the Tang Bohu Shini Tu for ten years and was familiar with various postures of women. At this moment, the woman's demeanor was like a beautiful painting, unfortunately, there was no brush in his hand, otherwise it would have been a delightful Shini Tu.

  "Is it really beautiful?" Liu Bei turned his head to glance at Liu Xiu, narrowing his eyes and straining his vision, but could only see a distant figure, and couldn't help but feel some doubt about Liu Xiu's words. Just as Liu Xiu was about to explain, he suddenly had a change of heart and swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue, pulling Liu Bei along as they walked forward while seemingly casually saying: "Xuande, wasn't I really fierce when I used to fight?"

  Liu Bei laughed and said: "Of course you're formidable, your strength is great, your hands are ruthless, often taking on several at once. Even those who have served in the army are afraid of you."

  Liu Xiu responded, he had heard Tang say that this year he was not yet twenty years old and had not reached the age of registration for military service. His father, Liu Yuanqi, had some influence in the village, so those people did not dare to let him serve ahead of time - although such things were common - so he had not participated in the autumn and winter drills. In fact, since Emperor Guangwu came to power, the county's martial arts examinations had been abolished, but Gaoyang County was close to the border, and the Huns often came to plunder, so most of the people on the border still had to participate in military training during the slack season. The content of the military training was mainly based on the five weapons, with few fist and foot techniques, and belonged to physical training along with wrestling, stone throwing, and long-range shooting. Military training was usually guided by county officials, mostly old soldiers who had been to battle, teaching practical skills that could be used to kill enemies on the battlefield, far from the moves used in village fights.

  Of course, this is the way for ordinary people to learn martial arts. Families with a slightly better background usually let their children learn martial arts very early on, either by teaching them themselves or by hiring teachers from outside. The Xi Mao family was like this - they were of military officer descent and had expertise in archery and horseback riding that didn't need to be mentioned. Their children were mostly not unfamiliar with these skills, and the private soldiers and guards who protected their estate were also not ordinary people, let alone high-ranking military officers like Wu Jun. In comparison, it was much more convenient for them to learn martial arts.

  Nowadays, although the Han Dynasty selects officials through Confucian classics, with frequent wars and unrest on the borders, and Gaoping County being close to the Hu people, brave warriors are much more practical than great Confucians. Although Gaoping County has produced a great Confucian like Lu Zhi, there are not many people who come to study under him this time, but in the end, most of them have the intention of relying on his reputation, and those who really want to understand the classics and literature can be counted on one hand.

  But Liu Xiu didn't think so, he wasn't thinking of getting famous by becoming an apprentice to Lu Zhi and then striving to be a small official in the county or prefecture. He wanted to leave Zhuo County, this war-torn place, and that required tightly grasping the opportunity with Lu Zhi. Now that he knew his body was not only strong but also had extraordinary eyesight, he had even more confidence on the martial side, what remained was how to make up for his nearly blank scholarship.

  Although he is not a complete illiterate, and the characters of the Han Dynasty are not unfamiliar to him, the content of Confucian classics is a real blind spot for him. His classical Chinese level is limited to calligraphy, painting, and seal cutting, let alone the Six Classics, which are completely unknown to him. Even the Analects of Confucius and Mencius are superficially understood, with only a few sentences memorized.

  It seems like I have to go back to the starting point and relearn everything just like after graduating from university.

  Liu Xuzheng was thinking, and had already walked with Liu Bei into a courtyard. In the courtyard, there were several new students like them who were moving their luggage into the designated dormitory under the arrangement of a tall young man. Liu Bei went forward to ask, and soon came back. Liu Xuzheng had already unloaded his luggage from the ox cart. Liu Bei first drove the ox cart to the side courtyard to stable it, then pulled Liu Xuzheng into a room on the east side.