The green woods, the tinkling spring, the small thatched hut, and the solid mound on which grew an unknown bunch of weeds and a number of purple and white flowersâ¦
âThis must be a dream!â When they returned to the Cirrus Valley in Mount Windward, Zixiu stood in front of their house and watched the familiar scenery with his eyes widened in disbelief. However, although he was excited, he didnât tremble as he had when his father had climbed up the cliff hundred meters high effortlessly with him on his back! He had never expected that there was a shortcut to the Cirrus Valley, and what shocked him even more was that his father was a great rock climber!
âOMG! Dad, you sure are awesome!â Zixiu cried out when he lifted his right hand unconsciously and put it on his fatherâs shoulder. Unfortunately, the moment he touched his father, the latter had just pushed the door open, which made Zixiu lose his balance all of sudden and throw himself onto the door. At this point, a word suddenly popped into his mind. âSpider-Man!â he blurted out.
âItâs been vacant for months. Of course there are spiders!â Liu Wuyi didnât hear clearly what his son said, and now, he was staring at the cobwebs all over the house with his brows knitted, wondering where to start cleaning the room.
âThe sun hasnât set yet. Go take the quilts out and dry them!â Liu Wuyi said.
Zixiu was in no mood to dry the quilts. He had just found that his father was even more brilliant than the sunshine and more dazzling than gold! âDad is incredibly charming! How come such a talented person spent so many years in the mountains? What a waste! How blind I was not to have noticed that I had such a powerful dad!â Zixiu couldnât help but blame himself. âDad, youâre amazing! Youâre even more awesome than Spider-Manâ¦â
âSpider-Man?â Liu Wuyi took it for granted that Zixiu was talking nonsense again. However, when he turned around, he saw his son looking at him with admiration, so he got straight to the point. âYou wanna learn?â
A few seconds later, the slow-witted Zixiu nodded with his eyes shining brightly, like an excited puppy.
âGood!â Liu Wuyi was gratified, thinking that his son had learned a lesson from what he suffered recently and he was willing to study on his own initiative. Now he finally found an opportunity to lecture his lazy and ambitious son!
âHow good are the basic skills I taught you two years ago?â
âThe basic skills?â Zixiu was left muddleheaded. His father had indeed taught him some skills two years ago, but they didnât seem to have anything to do with Qing Kung that made people leap onto roofs and vault over walls easily!
âQing Kung is by no means easy, so without a solid foundation, donât expect to learn it overnight! When I was young, Iâ¦â
As his father and master, Liu Wuyi thought he must bring Zixiu under strict control, so he lectured him harshly. It wasnât until near sunset that he decided to end his sermon. âFrom today onwards, you have to practice the basic skills hard! If you want to leave the valley, youâll have to be strong enough!â
âOh!â Having had enough of Liu Wuyiâs nagging, Zixiu nodded listlessly.
âCan you be a little more serious?â
âYes!â