piratefiction Chapter 69 Bone Shrinking Technique
Chapter 69 Bone Shrinking Technique
Time changes.
The fleas on the drum move from time to time.
Although he was the 107th hero of Liangshan, his ranking was not high, but his lightness skill was unparalleled in the world.
"This is it."
Lu Cheng picked up the script, his eyes gleaming.
"Master!"
Lu Cheng gave a low shout.
Zhou Daikui, still reeling from the threat Wang had just delivered, ran in trembling.
"Chengzi, w-what's wrong? Do we have to run away?"
"run?"
Lu Cheng stood up, his spine ramrod straight, like a spear piercing the sky.
"We won't run away."
"Let's put on a show!"
"Go and tell Deyun Tea House to vacate the venue for me in a few days."
"I'm going to act in a new movie."
Zhou Daikui was taken aback: "What are we performing? Still 'The Chariot Challenge'?"
"No."
Lu Cheng shook his head.
"I want to act in... 'Shi Qian Steals the Armor'."
"There are fleas on the drum, times have changed!"
"Shi Qian Steals the Armor".
This is a martial arts clown play that tests one's skills to an extreme degree; it could even be described as a stunt play.
It tells the story of Shi Qian, a hero of Liangshan, who sneaks into the mansion of Xu Ning, the Golden Spear Master, to steal the Goose Feather Golden Armor in order to break the chain of horses.
The difficulty of this play lies in its "lightness" and "agility".
The actors had to flip and tumble high in the air, on a beam only as wide as a palm, and perform difficult moves such as swallowing fire and hanging upside down, bringing the eerie charm of the "gentleman on the thief" to life.
In the past, those who performed this play were all small-statured clowns.
Lu Cheng is a martial arts actor, over 1.8 meters tall, with a robust build. Is he going to play this role?
This is called "cross-dressing," which is also known in the trade as "a martial arts actor performing a singing act," doubling the difficulty!
The news caused another sensation throughout Beijing.
"Have you heard? Master Lu is going to be performing in a new play!"
"What role are you playing this time? Guan Yu? Or Zhao Yun?"
"No, not at all! I'm playing Shi Qian! I'm playing that petty thief, the Flea on the Drum!"
"My God, Boss Lu is such a big guy, playing Shi Qian? He'd probably collapse the roof beams!"
"You know nothing! That's a master, he handles things with effortless ease! Let's go, let's grab some tickets!"
……
Qianmen Street, the backyard of the Lu residence.
These past few days, a rare item has appeared in the yard.
It was a large cage welded shut with iron bars, with only a gap the size of a palm.
Lu Cheng, dressed in a tight-fitting night suit, stood in front of the cage with a furrowed brow.
He was practicing the "shrinking technique" from the novel "Shi Qian Steals the Armor".
This play emphasizes the idea that "once you're obsessed with money, you're as light as a mouse." For Shi Qian to sneak into the heavily guarded Xu Ning mansion, he would have to be able to crawl through dog holes and walk down chimneys.
Lu Cheng's current kung fu is at the initial stage of internal strength development. His muscles, bones, and skin are as hard as steel plates.
He's tough; he's not afraid of anyone.
But this "softness" has become a stumbling block.
"call……"
Lu Cheng took a deep breath and tried to pull his shoulders inward, attempting to squeeze through the iron ring that was only the size of a child's head.
"Click-clack!"
The bones emitted a teeth-grinding grinding sound.
its stuck.
Those hard, iron-like muscles, now became a burden. The broad latissimus dorsi and hard shoulder blades were stuck firmly on the iron ring, unable to move forward or backward.
"no."
Lu Cheng retreated helplessly, feeling somewhat frustrated.
"Steel cannot last, and softness cannot be maintained. My martial arts are too heavy on killing, too strong and fierce, and not flexible enough."
"If we force it to shrink, we'll definitely dissipate the 'integrated strength' that we've worked so hard to develop."
He felt like a burly man with a sledgehammer trying to embroider.
He had the strength but couldn't use it.
"Master, please rest."
Shunzi brought over the tea, and looking at his master's shoulders, red from being rubbed raw by the iron rings, he said with heartache:
"This play, 'Shi Qian Steals the Armor,' is originally a martial arts clown play. Those martial arts clowns all practice martial arts from childhood and even soak their bones in vinegar to soften them before they can perform. It is indeed difficult for someone like you, with your grand martial arts style, to perform this."
"Making things difficult for people?"
Lu Cheng took the tea, took a sip, and his eyes grew even sharper.
"There is no insurmountable mountain in this world."
"If you can't train it, then your method is wrong."
"Let's go, Shunzi."
Lu Cheng put down his teacup and changed into an inconspicuous gray cloth robe.
"Take the money, let's go to the overpass."
"Where to?" Shunzi was taken aback.
"Tianqiao is a place where hidden talents abound, a gathering place for all sorts of people. I refuse to believe that in this vast city of Beiping, we can't find a master who understands 'bone shrinking'!"
……
overpass.
This is the noisiest and most authentic place in old Beijing.
The shouts of acrobats, storytellers, tonic vendors, and shadow puppeteers rose and fell, mingling with the smells of sweat, dust, and various snacks.
Lu Cheng led Shunzi through the crowd.
He activated his "eagle eyes," focusing not on the spectacle but on the "ins and outs."
"That guy wielding the big knife is no good; his back is stiff."
"That guy who took the blame was alright, but he was just using brute force."
He walked along, shaking his head the whole way.
The two continued until they reached a secluded corner at the northernmost end of the overpass.
A crowd had gathered, but no one cheered. Instead, they let out low gasps filled with fear and curiosity.
A strong smell of cheap, low-quality medicinal liquor wafted out from between the crowd.
"Let's go take a look."
Lu Cheng's heart stirred, and he parted the crowd to go inside.
In the center of the field, there was a tattered straw mat.
On the mat was a small wooden box, only two feet square, with a rusty iron lock on it.
An old man, as thin as a monkey, was squatting next to the box.
The old man looked to be over sixty, with gray hair piled haphazardly on his head. He wore a tattered blue jacket covered in patches, and his trousers were rolled up, revealing two thin, bony calves covered in dark veins.
He held a broken gong in his hand and struck it once.
His voice was hoarse, carrying a sense of world-weariness and a touch of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry).
"At home, you rely on your parents; when you're out in the world, you rely on your friends."
"Old man Suo Qi has no other skills, except for this body of 'cheap bones'."
"Today I'm going to perform for you gentlemen a play called 'The Child Worships Guanyin,' which is what we call 'getting trapped in a jar' in our slang."
"Those with money, please support me financially; those without money, please support me with your presence. If I, an old man, accidentally die in this box, please, gentlemen, have mercy and provide me with a thin coffin."
After saying that, Old Suo picked up a bowl of yellow wine next to him, took a sip, and then "pfft" spat it all over himself.
Then, he did something that made Lu Cheng's pupils shrink sharply.
The old man took a deep breath and then slapped his head hard.
"Snap! Snap!"
A chilling explosion emanated from his thin body.
It was like... the entire skeleton of my body disintegrated in that instant!
His shoulders collapsed instantly, and his chest, which had been relatively normal, deflated like a punctured balloon.
Next, the hip bone, the thigh...
He shrunk by a whole size right in front of everyone!
It turned into a soft, oddly shaped "ball of flesh".
"This...this is like dislocating all the joints?!"
Shunzi was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she covered her mouth, almost vomiting.
Lu Cheng's eyes lit up, golden light swirling in them.
Under the watchful eye of [Sharp Eyes], he saw through the trick.
The old man didn't actually break the bones, but rather used an extremely strange breathing technique and muscle control to actively "dislocate" the major joints, shoulder joints, hip joints, and even the joints of the ribs throughout his body!
dislocation!
Full body dislocation!
It takes immense perseverance and grueling hard work to master this kind of skill that makes one treat oneself like a human being.