Chapter Ninety-Five: The Legacy of Martial Arts

Chen Hao burst into the washroom and exclaimed with open delight, “Wow! This is your bathroom? It’s enormous!”

To be honest, he had never seen such a vast bathing room before. It was not so much a bathroom as a grand public bathhouse of the old style.

Though his own family was wealthy enough, the bathroom in his home was nowhere near this large. The room itself was not small, but it was only a little bigger than the average family bathroom.

And inside it was nothing more than an ordinary bathtub. When Chen Hao was four or five, he could treat it like a little swimming pool and splash about in it, but now that he had grown so much, he could no longer be so carefree.

Besides, his father had never taken him to a public bath. He often said that while soaking in one of those large communal tubs was certainly pleasant, public bathhouses were crowded and full of all sorts of people, and it was hardly hygienic to have so many people sharing the same water.

After all, those bathhouses were businesses. They could not change the water after every single customer the way a family bathtub could. If they did, the business would never survive.

In truth, Chen Hao’s family had more than enough means to build a large private bathing pool of the sort found outside, but his mother, on the grounds that it was entirely unnecessary waste, had firmly shut down the shared wish of Chen Hao and Chen Dingan.

Now, Chen Hao finally had the chance to experience the legendary great bath for himself, and naturally he looked thrilled.

He did not forget to ask Dong Xin, “Are you coming in too?”

“What did you say?” Dong Xin stared at him in disbelief and cried out.

“I asked whether you wanted to soak together with me,” Chen Hao replied quite naturally. “I really like bathing with others. We never get that chance at home.”

“You, you, you!” Dong Xin was so enraged that she could not even speak. She turned on her heel and stormed away, even tossing the towel prepared for Chen Hao onto the floor.

“What’s gotten into her? Why so suddenly upset?” Chen Hao muttered to himself as he picked up the towel from the floor, then began undressing.

He could swear he meant absolutely nothing by it. He had simply grown used to such things at home. When he was young, and even now, he often bathed with Gu Mengyan. The family bathtub was quite large; although they could no longer play at swimming in it as they had when they were children, it was still roomy enough for two people to sit comfortably.

In truth, even three bathing together would not have been a problem. He had once invited Fan Yirou to join him, though his mother had stopped it. He remembered that when he first made that invitation to Fan Yirou, she had reacted much the same way as Dong Xin.

Girls were truly strange... He had meant it out of kindness. His father always said that if one had something good, one should know how to share it with others. He had only wanted to share the feeling of bathing together with her.

Though the two were about to spar, that should not stop them from getting to know each other better, should it? Hadn’t his father and Uncle Dong Jianguo become friends only after fighting each other? And weren’t their relations pretty good now?

Since the older generation were friends, the younger generation ought to get along as well.

Though Chen Hao truly had no other intentions, in Dong Xin’s mind he had already been branded as a lecherous brute, and not just any lecher, but a lecherous boy at that. He had actually asked her to bathe with him? Bah! Bah! Bah, bah, bah!

What some called a genius youth of the martial world was in her eyes nothing more than the youngest pervert in the entire martial arts scene.

Dong Xin grew angrier the more she thought about it, and the very idea that she would have to spar with such a person filled her with a chill of disgust. In a match, there would inevitably be physical contact. Would this little scoundrel seize the chance to take advantage of her? Would he deliberately lose and then cling to her tightly just so he could grope her?

No, she must be careful, and she absolutely could not let him get away with anything. If this fellow showed even the slightest improper behavior during the bout, she would show him no mercy and teach him a harsh lesson.

As she walked, Dong Xin kept brooding, and before long she reached her family’s courtyard. By then, her father and Uncle Chen had already finished their match and were sitting side by side on the steps before the door.

Both looked quite disheveled. As for Uncle Chen, there was no need to say more—he had already looked miserable even before the bout began. Now his clothes were even more rumpled, and both legs of his trousers had vanished entirely.

As for her father, the sleeves of his shirt seemed to have been torn, his hair was in complete disorder, and his whole body was smeared with mud, his face coated in dust.

Yet neither of them seemed injured. It really did look as though two old friends, meeting after a long separation, had simply been fooling around.

With his filthy hand, Uncle Chen reached into his chest, rummaged about for a while, and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. He drew one out, first offering it casually to her father, then took another for himself and placed it between his lips.

Her father frowned at first, apparently displeased by the dirty, crumpled appearance of the thing, but in the end he accepted it anyway and took out a box of matches to light both of them.

They each took a deep drag, then exhaled heavily, looking utterly content.

“How long has it been since the two of us last messed around like this?” Dong Jianguo asked as if in passing.

Chen Dingan thought for a moment and shook his head. “I don’t remember. Who keeps track of such things? Anyway, ever since you were injured, we’ve never sparred again.

To be honest, even though your skills aren’t all that impressive, life does feel rather dull without an opponent like you.”

“Hmph!” Dong Jianguo snorted in evident dissatisfaction. “And just whose skills aren’t all that impressive? I simply can’t prove myself right now, so you can boast all you like.”

“Heh! Don’t take it too seriously. I think that girl of yours is pretty good. She’s more than capable of carrying on the Dong family’s legacy. It’s just a pity...” Chen Dingan said, shaking his head as he smoked.

Dong Jianguo frowned. “What do you mean? What’s such a pity?”

“Heh heh...” Chen Dingan chuckled. “Don’t play dumb with me. Surely you can see what the biggest problem with that girl is.”

“Then tell me.”

Without hesitation, Chen Dingan said, “Dong girl may have considerable talent for martial arts, but she has one major flaw, and it will trouble her future development. Your Dong family’s martial arts are actually based on Hung Fist, a style of fierce, forceful combat.

If it were you learning it, or me, or even Chen Hao, there would be no real problem. But the one inheriting your mantle happens to be little Dong Xin.

Given her build and the way she generates power, this sort of forceful style is actually not well suited to her. Perhaps in the short term, her talent will allow her to do quite well with the Dong family’s martial arts. But I worry that when she grows older and reaches a certain level, she may find it very hard to make further progress. Worse still, it could even have an adverse effect on her body.”

Faced with Chen Dingan’s words, Dong Jianguo rarely chose not to argue back. He simply remained silent. Only when his cigarette had burned down to the filter did he flick it cleanly into the ashtray on the stone table in the courtyard.

“You are not wrong at all. I realized this problem long ago, but what can I do?” Dong Jianguo sighed, his tone full of helplessness and unwillingness. “I am the only heir of the Dong family. You know my situation; I can no longer have any more children. My only child is Dong Xin.

The other disciples at home simply are not skilled enough. Even if I were willing to teach them everything I know, they could never reach any real height. And this is not the past. There may still be many people with martial talent, but how many would be willing to study under me?

I once had great ambitions and lofty ideals. I wanted to carry the Dong family’s martial arts to glory and recreate the brilliance of our ancestors.

But fate was unkind, and I met with misfortune. Still, Heaven did not abandon me entirely. How does the saying go? When Heaven closes a door, it opens a window.

Fortunately, I have a daughter of exceptional talent. Perhaps because of the limits of her natural constitution, she may never achieve great things in our family’s inherited martial arts. But at the very least, I can teach her everything I know.

If I am lucky enough, then when she is my age, she can bear a son with talents like her own, and I can let that boy fulfill my dreams and ambitions instead.”

“You really are broad-minded,” Chen Dingan said lightly. “But what if that girl can’t learn everything you teach her? Or what if none of her descendants has talent like hers?

I’m not saying this to be gloomy, or to laugh at you. I’m genuinely thinking of your situation. That girl is advancing rapidly now because she is still young, and the Dong family martial arts she is learning are relatively superficial, so they are easy for her to absorb. But as she grows older and the martial knowledge she encounters becomes deeper and more profound, I worry there will be many things she simply cannot learn or practice.

You have to understand: if a martial artist cannot even master a particular art themselves, how can they possibly teach it to others? Have you really not considered any other method?”

Chen Dingan spoke with sincere earnestness, as though he truly worried for Dong Jianguo.

Dong Jianguo shook his head with a bitter smile. “What other method could there be?”

Suddenly, Dong Jianguo froze. He fixed Chen Dingan with a wary look. “You bastard, talking so convincingly and acting all compassionate—what are you scheming?”

“How could that be?” Chen Dingan waved a hand. “I’m truly feeling sorry for your Dong family. Though the future is not yet decided, no one can know what may happen. But I genuinely do not want to see such excellent martial arts vanish from the world. If we are to preserve and carry them forward, then I believe we ought to work together.”

“Work together...” Dong Jianguo muttered, turning his gaze toward the bathroom. “You bastard, surely you’re not thinking of...”

Chen Dingan smiled. “What do you think of teaching the Dong family martial arts to Chen Hao?”