Martial Arts Livestreaming
Chapter 140 - 126 Unwilling to Grow Old in This Jianghu

Chapter 140: Chapter 126 Unwilling to Grow Old in This Jianghu

"Master Gao, I apologize, but we don’t have enough of the herbs you need."

In Lincang City, inside a Traditional Chinese Medicine shop, the owner, responsible for dispensing the herbs, informed an elderly man.

The elderly man was dressed in a gray Horse jacket, his temples speckled with white, his face wrinkled; however, he stood with a rigid back and his eyes were sharp. His hands had knuckles that were noticeably larger than those of an average person, with a conspicuous scar on the back of his right hand.

This man was none other than the father of Gao Jianping, Gao Zheng.

Gao Zheng furrowed his brows at the owner, "You’re out of stock?"

The owner nodded, "Yes, there’s only a little left, not enough for the amount you need."

Gao Zheng asked, "When will you get more stock? I’ll come back then."

The owner’s face showed difficulty as he looked at Gao Zheng and whispered, "Master Gao, we’ve been dealing with each other for so many years, and I won’t hide it from you. The herbs you need are very rare. My supplier doesn’t carry them; I would need to find someone to specifically source them, which delays time and increases costs. Unfortunately, you are the only one that uses these herbs here, so..."

Gao Zheng looked at the owner, "Are you saying you won’t be stocking these herbs anymore?"

The owner bowed apologetically to Gao Zheng, "I’m sorry, Master Gao, my business hasn’t been good these past few years. Why don’t you try another store?"

After a moment of silence, Gao Zheng finally bowed to the owner, "Alright, thank you for your time."

Saying this, he turned and left the pharmacy.

The owner watched his departing figure and sighed.

"Boss, why does he keep practicing Eagle Claw Skill? It doesn’t even earn money," a clerk helping with the medicine asked.

The owner glanced at the clerk, "Not everyone does things for money."

The clerk pouted but did not dare to contradict the owner, though inwardly he scoffed: Doing things without intention for money, isn’t that foolish?

...

Afterward, Gao Zheng visited several more pharmacies but still failed to find the herbs he needed, which worried him greatly.

Eagle Claw Fist required strengthening finger power, as well as muscles and bones, and although it lacked the Internal Fist’s Bone and Muscle Strengthening Body Training Method, it had specific methods for fortifying the hands’ muscles and bones, key among them being soaking in specially concocted herbal solutions.

However, among the family-inherited prescriptions Gao Zheng possessed, some herbs were very rare and now unattainable.

He thought it over and decided to return to the first pharmacy to try and negotiate further with the owner, even if it meant paying more just to get the herbs.

"I won’t use the medicine myself anymore; I’ll save it all for my son," Gao Zheng thought to himself.

He ran a clinic in the county town, and while his income wasn’t high, the money spent on these herbs consumed almost one third of his household expenses. If he had to pay more for the herbs, that would further increase his expenditures, so to save money, Gao Zheng could only reduce the amount he used.

At 7 pm, Gao Zheng left the pharmacy with a deal settled at nearly double the original price. Not skilled in bargaining, he reluctantly agreed to the purchase.

Without the herbs, one couldn’t develop the necessary power in Eagle Claw Fist, so he had to buy them.

Gao Zheng glanced at the time; he had been significantly delayed today and could only catch the last bus back to the county town. He found a noodle shop near the bus station to settle his dinner.

"Boss, not three but two servings of fried sauce noodles."

"Okay."

Gao Zheng sat waiting for his meal across from a mother and son; the son was about eleven or twelve years old.

"Mom, I want to learn Martial Arts!" the boy suddenly exclaimed.

The woman frowned, "Martial Arts? Focus on your studies!"

"But, look at this person, he’s really amazing!" The boy handed his phone to his mom.

The woman took the phone.

"Li Lei! Prepare to die!!"

A loud voice blasted through.

"What’s that?" The woman was startled and turned off the video, frowning.

The boy giggled, then said, "His name is Wu Li. He was punched by someone but ended up breaking the other person’s wrist instead, and he could make others fall just by standing still!"

The woman frowned, "What nonsense is this, all scammers, don’t believe it!"

But the boy immediately retorted, "Wu Li isn’t a scammer, our PE teacher said he has real Kung Fu skills, he’s truly powerful!"

"Mom, I also want to become powerful like him, he has opened a Martial Arts Hall, and I want to go there to learn Martial Arts!" the boy said with anticipation.

The woman patted the boy’s head, "Learn Martial Arts? Just focus on your studies to be successful."

"Yes, young man, focusing on your studies is the way to success," a man from the next table chimed in with a friendly smile.

"We also had a great Martial Artist here before who subdued criminals and was commended by the police, even appeared in the newspapers. But now? I heard he just runs a small clinic in a small county town, giving massages and physiotherapy."

Hearing this, the woman took the opportunity to lecture her son, "See what uncle said? Even with good Martial Arts skills, it’s useless. You need to study well."

"Okay," the boy lowered his head, visibly disheartened, and said nothing more.

"Sir, your noodles are ready."

The owner brought over the fried sauce noodles to Gao Zheng who silently began eating.

Five minutes later, Gao Zheng finished his meal and left the restaurant after paying.

He hadn’t gone far when suddenly he heard shouts from behind.

"Catch the thief! Catch the thief!"

Gao Zheng turned to see a man in black holding a bag and running rapidly towards him.

Pedestrians along the way hurriedly moved aside, none daring to stop him.

Without a second thought, Gao Zheng positioned himself in the runner’s path.

The man attempting the robbery saw that an old man was blocking his path ahead. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he bellowed, "Get out of the way!"

He charged straight ahead, but suddenly felt his foot tripped, followed swiftly by his right arm being seized.

It was Gao Zheng who had sidestepped the assailant’s charge, then stretched out his right foot to trip him and simultaneously grabbed the man’s arm.

The robber fell to the ground, and Gao Zheng quickly subdued him by pinning the man’s right arm and pressing his knee into the man’s back.

"Let me go!" the man yelled loudly, struggling desperately, but he was completely immobilized.

"Ah!"

With more force from Gao Zheng, the man immediately let out a scream.

By then, the surrounding crowd had gathered; some took out their phones to call the police, while others started taking photos and recording videos.

Seeing that the criminal was subdued by Gao Zheng, several onlookers volunteered to help hold the man down.

"Good job!"

"Amazing!"

"Master, what great skill!"

People around exclaimed in admiration as Gao Zheng stood up, his expression unchanging, and picked up the bag the criminal had snatched.

At that moment, a woman, panting with a child, ran over — it was the mother and son from the noodle shop earlier.

"Here’s your bag." Gao Zheng handed the bag over to her.

"Thank you, thank you!" The woman gratefully accepted the bag.

She glanced at Gao Zheng’s attire and, after a moment’s thought, opened the bag and took out two hundred yuan notes to offer to Gao Zheng, "Master, thanks to you I got my bag back. This is a little token of my gratitude..."

Gao Zheng pushed the money back firmly, saying, "Not necessary!"

"Quick, thank the grandfather."

When she saw Gao Zheng refusing the money, the woman prompted her son to express their gratitude.

"Thank you, Grandfather!" the little boy said loudly.

A small smile appeared on Gao Zheng’s stern face. He nodded and told the woman, "I have been practicing Kung Fu since I was young. Without Kung Fu, I wouldn’t have been able to retrieve your bag today."

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving behind a bewildered woman and a boy whose eyes were shining brightly.

...

Around 10 p.m., Gao Zheng returned to the clinic in Xiong County.

"Dad, why are you back so late today?"

Only Gao Jianping was in the clinic; Wu Li and the filming crew had left and would not return until early the next morning.

"Couldn’t get the medicine; had to visit several more places," Gao Zheng casually replied, then shared with his son the news about the rising prices of the medicinal herbs.

"From now on, only you use the medicinal water. I’m old now, I won’t need it."

Gao Jianping frowned, "Dad, how much do we spend on this medicine every year? I think..."

"What do you think?"

Before Gao Jianping could finish, Gao Zheng interrupted him sternly, "This is something passed down through generations in our Gao Family. Do you want it to end with you?"

Gao Jianping shook his head: "No, I don’t want it to end with me. I want to expand its glory, but just guarding a clinic here, we can’t really make Eagle Claw Kung Fu flourish."

Gao Zheng looked at his son, "What now, you have some crooked idea again?"

Gao Jianping let his father sit down and squatted next to him, "Dad, do you remember the Wu Li I told you about before?"

At the mention of Wu Li’s name, Gao Zheng frowned and nodded.

"He brought the TV crew to our house today just to visit us!"

"Is it that show you were talking about?"

"Seeking Martial Arts! Wu Li’s second episode is about our Eagle Claw Fist!" Gao Jianping said excitedly.

Gao Zheng nodded, "Hmm."

"Dad, I sparred with Wu Li today; he is indeed very capable, just as you said; he has reached the ’Returning to Innate’ realm of Internal Fist."

Gao Jianping recounted the details of his sparring with Wu Li today, with much admiration and respect for Wu Li evident in his voice.

After listening, Gao Zheng snorted coldly, extended his right hand, and suddenly, veins on his hand bulged, writhing like pythons around his hand, his fingers curved like hooks. Under the dim light, his nails seemed to sparkle with a cold light.

"When you can reach this realm, you’ll be no less than the ’Returning to Innate’ level of Internal Fist," Gao Zheng stated flatly.

Gao Jianping was silent. If Eagle Claw Fist were perfected to a high level, just like Wu Li’s Golden Bell Shield, it could control the flow of qi and blood to the hands and make the fingertips exert formidable Finger Strength. If he had reached the same level as Gao Zheng, grappling Wu Li’s right arm today wouldn’t have been so easily countered by Wu Li’s Golden Bell Shield.

"Dad, today Wu Li invited me to be a coach at his Martial Arts Hall," Gao Jianping said cautiously, observing his father’s expression.

"Oh? To teach as coach for Eagle Claw Fist?" Gao Zheng asked with a frown.

Gao Jianping nodded, "He said he wants to collaborate with Traditional Martial Artists from various schools to refine our techniques to be suitable for ring fighting."

"Silence!"

Hearing this, Gao Zheng’s color changed dramatically: "How many times have I told you, the heritage handed down by our ancestors is meant for defeating enemies and defending our country, not for performing on stage for people’s amusement!"

"Dad!" Gao Jianping tried to argue.

But Gao Zheng didn’t give him the chance and stood up abruptly, "Kneel down!"

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