Julian had arrived early when Rose arrived. She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. It was only forty past four!
There were very few cars in the early hours of the morning. So she had come very quickly on her way, taking much less time than usual.
“Hi, junior, there you are. Good morning!” Julian greeted her with a smile and waved.
“Junior? Why am I junior?!” Rose frowned angrily.
“Because I have been Mr. Evans‘ apprentice earlier than you! So you’ll have to be my junior.” Julian laughed.
Rose was instantly more upset.
A moment later, a sinister smile surfaced on her face, and she said, “Sorry, maybe you’ll have to respectfully call me Mrs. Evans afterward.”
“What!” Julian was directly shocked by these words, unable to utter a single word.
Comparisons were odious, he inwardly complained.
Why am I not a woman with particularly large breasts…
The gate of the courtyard was open and seemed to be prepared for them. They went into the courtyard and waited for Morten to come out. They waited until five o’clock and saw no one.
Rose was annoyed. “Where is he? I thought we were supposed to be here at five in the morning. It’s freezing. But he’s still not out!”
Julian laughed bitterly, not daring to say anything. Rose dared to complain, but he didn’t dare to shout. Morten might kick him out.
It was ten past five when Morten came out of the room yawning in his sportswear.
“Mr. Evans, what do you mean? Yesterday you said you hated people who weren’t punctual and told us to be there at five sharp, not a minute late!”
“Look, it’s ten past five. You’re ten minutes late! What’s going on here?!” Rose questioned Morten with righteous indignation as soon as she saw him.
Yesterday, it was because of Morten, the bad guy, that she had been so distracted and annoyed.
Morten froze, then laughed. “Yeah, I don’t like people to be unpunctual. But I like being late once in a while!”
F*ck! Rose cursed, stunned by his remark.
The corners of Julian’s mouth were also twitching with the desire to curse. They’d gotten here twenty minutes early, waited another ten minutes and froze for half an hour.
“Come on, run up the hill with me!” Morten smiled.
Morten took the lead and ran ahead, with the two following behind.
Rose was also physically fit and kept up a frequency of going to the gym three days a week. So she was in good physical shape and ran the mountain trails with ease. Julian, a special forces officer, was more physically fit than the average person.
After running to the top of the hill, Morten found a suitable field for practicing and said to them, “Today is our first lesson. For this first lesson, we will practice the most basic thing, the horse stance.”
Julian directly made a horse stance at once and said, “Is that so? We used to do it every day in the army, comparing who could do it longer.”
Morten sneered and kicked him in the thigh. Julian fell to the ground with a scream.
“Know how to ride a horse?” Morten said.
“Isn’t that how it works?” Julian said in surprise.
“Rose, come on, what’s it like to ride on a horse?” Morten asked.
Rose pondered for a moment and replied, “The ups and downs and the openness of the view.”
Morten stretched his hands and said, “Right, do you think it has ups and downs and the openness of the view when you do like that?”
Julian was puzzled by Morten’s question and said, “What should I do then?”
“Just look…” Morten opened his feet and squatted straight down.
Then, his spine surged and his body rose and fell slightly, giving a very flexible feeling.
“What you practice is not a form but a kind of essence! You are squatting there like a dead horse without essence. If you always rely on your quadriceps to hold your body taut, you will only feel more and more tired as you do! Riding a horse is pleasant and relaxing. The longer you squat, the more relaxed you are.”
“Try kicking me.”
Julian was immediately excited. He kicked Morten’s calf with all his might!
Bang!
As he kicked over, Morten slightly shook his leg. His body slightly rose and fell and then stood firm.
Julian was shocked.
My kick, which could have broken a wooden stake, actually only made Morten’s body undulate slightly?
“Undulate and crouch like a galloping horse. Open your eyes and keep your spirits high! This chant is the summary of today’s practice and the essence you need to master. Come, stand here. Face east with your vision open and look for this feeling of riding a horse.”
Morten beckoned to the two and had them take up positions at the edge of the cliff and begin to do the horse stance.
Morten stood, explaining the points of the horse stance, and said, “I decided to teach you Beast Fists first, as they are one of the fastest martial arts that could make one powerful. There’s a saying in martial arts circles that you kill others with one–year learning of Beast Fists. One of you has to rely on Beast Fists to train your guts, and the other has to rely on Beast Fists to take revenge. So Beast Fists are also the most suitable for you guys.”
Rose was indignant, complaining inwardly, “Could he please stop mentioning that I am timid?”
They had only been doing the horse stance for about three minutes when they started to feel tired. Sweat was visible on their foreheads and their breathing became heavy. It was not easy at all.
“Relax, always relax. Don’t keep thinking about using your quadriceps for support.” Morten impatiently took a branch and slapped it over Rose and Julian’s nonstandard parts hard.
After another minute, Morten was annoyed, “Rose, look at the way your bottom is posed. Are you lying on the horse when you ride?”
After saying this, he went up and gave Rose a big slap on the bottom.
Rose was shocked and wanted to get angry. But she turned her head and met Morten’s cold, stern gaze. Her whining was instantly suppressed. She felt Morten terrible.
“Stand properly! Don’t keep thinking about exerting force. It gets tiring. You must have a growing sense of ease.”
“Go for that feeling as if your soul is out of your body when you rise and fall to the highest point, and your vision opens up the most.”
“Master that feeling, and then you are considered to be initiated in learning.”
“Do you know which word is the most important in the chant that I just told you?”
Morten turned into a serious instructor.
Julian said cautiously, “Horse? It’s about riding a horse…”
“Nonsense! Silly guy!” Morten scolded without mercy, “Rose, you say!”
Rose’s heart tightened. Morten in this state was too strange, too frightening. He was nothing like the affectionate man he was yesterday. She hesitated for a moment, felt her quadriceps go weak, and immediately rose.
Something quickly got into her mind, and she said, “High!”
Morten was surprised and satisfied. “As a student who studied abroad, you’re smart. That’s right, the most important word in this chant is high!“
