[Forwarded] Short Story 'The Divine Foot Hero'

Time: 2013-02-28 21:28 Source: Story Network Author: Story King\During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, a martial arts expert emerged in Yangxia County, Henan, named Zhao San, known as the 'Divine Leg Hero,' who was quite famous throughout the Central Plains.\Before Zhao San became famous, he was just a strong and sturdy rural man with great physical strength. Although he was born in the countryside, he was unwilling to do farm work or learn any other trades. His father said, 'If you don't dig for food in the soil, will you survive on nothing when you grow up? Looks like you won't even get a wife in this lifetime!' The villagers also despised him for being lazy and avoiding proper work. Zhao San couldn't stand the mockery and ridicule, and in a fit of anger, ran away from home to the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song, insisting on becoming a martial monk. He was received by the monk Yunyi, who, seeing his broad back and sturdy frame along with a bit of talent, took him in as a disciple. But Yunyi repeatedly explained to Zhao San: during martial training, he could not leave at will; after three years, he could decide for himself.\Zhao San trained under monk Yunyi and was initially quite diligent, not daring to slack off. But over time, he gradually grew bored and found the life of a martial monk truly lonely and dull. Besides hard practicing martial arts every day, he also had to meditate, chant scriptures, sweep the ground, fetch water, grow vegetables, and tend the fire. After enduring three years, Zhao San felt he had learned his martial skills well enough. He could not renounce worldly desires and had no intention of converting to Buddhism, so he requested his master's permission to descend the mountain and return home. Monk Yunyi did not force him to stay and let him go. Before leaving, Yunyi gave Zhao San a piece of advice: 'Do not forget the fundamentals of being human, and carry forward the martial virtues of Shaolin.'\Zhao San returned to his hometown, Yangxia, with all his martial skills, but his master's advice was thrown to the wind.\One day, a martial arts performer came to Yangxia County. Outside the West Gate, he set up a stage and started performing to earn money. He raised a tall flag on the stage, which could be seen from a mile away, with two large phrases written on it: 'Kick the banks of the Yellow River, punch the two capitals of North and South.'\The boast of this performer was indeed grand, suggesting he had real skills. However, the hot-blooded Zhao San was very unwilling to accept this. He thought to himself, 'You claim you are invincible, but I, Zhao, will crush your pride right here.' He had this thought, yet he did not actually know the full extent of the performer's skills. He was eager to win but also afraid that losing would bring embarrassment to himself and his fellow villagers.\Zhao San observed the performer's acts for three consecutive days, figured out some of his techniques and flaws, and planned his own strategy.Later, he finally came up with a method. \ That day, Zhao San walked straight toward the place where the martial artist was performing and loudly shouted that he wanted to fight the martial artist. The martial artist, having not met a decent opponent for several days, was inevitably a bit smug. Seeing Zhao San step up to challenge today, he accepted the fight without hesitation. \ After three rounds and five exchanges, the martial artist felt that Zhao San was no ordinary person, so he took extra care and displayed the most refined techniques of his life. Zhao San also thought to himself: this time he had met a worthy opponent and must not slack off or make the slightest mistake. He was young and full of vigor, pressing relentlessly, but he could not find a single flaw in the martial artist's moves. \ The two exchanged punches and kicks, bodies leaping up and down, making the spectators dizzy and dumbfounded, barely able to breathe. When had anyone in Yangxia County ever seen such a spectacular scene of martial arts? This time, Zhao San gave the villagers a feast for their eyes. \ Zhao San and the martial artist fought skillfully, neither giving an inch, movements like smoke and mist, difficult to resolve. They were locked in for a long time, with neither gaining the upper hand. At this moment, Zhao San calculated: now it was time to use the “ultimate move” he had planned, waiting any longer might reveal a flaw. Then he flew a kick toward the martial artist, who, unaware of the trick, hastily caught it. Little did he know, Zhao San's kick was a decoy, intended for the martial artist to catch his foot with both hands. Zhao San quickly withdrew his foot, thus pulling it out of the boot, leaving the martial artist holding only an empty boot. The martial artist was stunned – what was going on, how did the opponent remove his boot? \ In that brief moment of the martial artist's distraction, Zhao San unexpectedly launched another flying kick at him. This kick hit the martial artist squarely in the chest, knocking him away over ten feet. The martial artist fell on his back, convulsing a few times, blood gushing from his mouth. The spectators rushed over and saw, to their shock, that the martial artist had been killed by Zhao San's single kick. \ The crowd was amazed by Zhao San's miraculous kick. Immediately, someone enthusiastically lifted and tossed him in the air, and everyone cheered: “Great skill!” “Miraculous leg!” “Miraculous leg!” \ In fact, the spectators did not know that Zhao San had used a trick during the match. His so-called ultimate move was exceptional because of the socks and boots he wore. Before the fight, Zhao San had made a pair of socks out of silk, and the lining of his boots was also made of silk.When the boxer grabbed his feet with both hands, he pulled his feet back, and since both the silk stockings and boots were very smooth, his feet easily slipped free. The boxer was thus fooled and distracted, which led to his defeat. Otherwise, with the boxer's martial arts skills, he would never have failed to hold even one of Zhao San's feet.\ No one knew all this except Zhao San himself. However, this time, his ‘divine skill' was evident for everyone to see. In this way, his fame spread rapidly. Gradually, Zhao San's name was replaced by the nickname ‘Divine Leg.'\ With such great fame, the ‘Divine Leg' seemed a bit haughty. He did not say it aloud, but secretly he enjoyed people calling him by this nickname, and his speech and behavior completely resembled those of a great hero.\ People fear fame. The reputation of the Divine Leg Hero attracted many enthusiastic young martial artists, who all came to his door to become disciples and learn his skills. Zhao San was just about to open a martial arts school to promote and expand Shaolin martial arts, so he gladly accepted over sixty disciples.\ The disciples' admiration and flattery made him even more intoxicated and lost his sense of direction. However, in the jianghu, in the martial arts world, ‘there are always higher mountains beyond the mountains, and stronger masters beyond the tall towers,' and Zhao San lacked this self-awareness. If he hadn't met a few masters who gave him a taste of reality, he would have kept believing that he was the best in the world!\ One day, Zhao San rode his horse to Caozhou in Shandong. On the way, he saw a twelve- or thirteen-year-old child slowly pushing a young married woman on a wheelbarrow. As Zhao San's horse approached, the child continued to push the wheelbarrow without looking up. Seeing this, Zhao San became somewhat annoyed. Just as he was about to lose his temper, the young woman spoke: ‘The Divine Leg Hero is coming, why aren't you moving aside to let him pass?' Upon hearing this, the child immediately lifted both the woman and the wheelbarrow and moved five or six zhang to the roadside before gently putting them down, his face remaining calm and without showing any exhaustion. This action astonished Zhao San. He realized that he had encountered a martial arts expert and dared not say anything further, urging his horse forward at full speed.\ After dark, Zhao San arrived at an inn in a market town to stay for the night. The innkeeper rushed out to greet him, which startled Zhao San even more. It turned out that the innkeeper was the same young woman he had met on the road during the day. Zhao San could not have imagined that they had actually managed to get ahead of his galloping horse. The innkeeper smiled at him, and Zhao San, embarrassed, gave a sheepish smile; both understood the unspoken truth.\ At night, he stayed alone in a guest room. After dinner, he locked the door, changed into his night clothes, and went to sleep.The next morning when he woke up, the dagger he had been resting his head on was gone. He felt his body and found that the two silver ingots he had brought along had also disappeared, leaving only some copper coins at his waist. Looking at the door, it was still bolted, showing no sign that anyone had come in. In his heart, he thought, 'This is strange!' However, he didn't dare to make a fuss or confront the innkeeper. A renowned martial hero, almost completely robbed—wouldn't it be shameful to tell anyone? He could only quietly suffer the loss.\After breakfast, Zhao San prepared to leave and took out money to pay. Unwilling to admit defeat and wanting to show off a bit, he casually pressed the copper coins on the table. For each coin, he pressed it with his hand, and eventually, all the money he owed sank into the table. The young innkeeper's wife glanced over, said nothing, and walked over with a smile, lightly clapping the table with her palm. The coins bounced up, then she gathered them together to count. After counting, she casually tossed the money onto a jujube wood stool, saying, 'Guest, not more, not less, just right.'\Zhao San looked and felt his face turn red immediately. It turned out that the coins had each stood vertically, embedded in the stool, with only a little edge showing. Zhao San didn't dare stay any longer and quickly rode away.\This trip to Shandong made Zhao San realize that there were always people better than himself. However, he didn't tell anyone about his experience.\Back in his hometown, Zhao San's ears were still filled with the sounds of cheers and praise. Every day, he trained his disciples in martial arts at an empty field at the village entrance, regardless of weather or season. Many people came to watch, especially during the off-farming seasons, with almost hundreds gathering daily to cheer for Zhao San and his disciples' impressive performances. The disciples were pure-hearted and could only feel admiration for their master. Over time, Zhao San became conceited, arrogant, and dismissive, unable to tolerate even a single word of criticism. But the crowd of onlookers was a mix of all classes and trades, and in such a diverse and talkative crowd, it was inevitable that someone would say something unpleasant. Finally, one day, Zhao San heard words he didn't want to hear.\It was a bright and sunny day, and as usual, Zhao San was teaching his disciples at the empty village field. That day, the crowd seemed nearly double the usual size, densely surrounding the area with no gaps. Seeing so many people cheering for him, Zhao San tried to show off his skills. With a smile, he walked around the field bowing to everyone, then performed a complete set of Shaolin Eight Trigram Palm.The onlookers were full of praise, clapping and cheering, with applause continuing without end. Among the crowd was an elderly man of about seventy, accompanied by a boy of around ten, who also clapped a few times along with everyone else. The little boy glanced at the old man, covered his mouth with his hand, and quietly said, "This person's martial skills are somewhat accomplished, but they have a few flaws." The old man quickly glared at him to stop him: "You're just a child, you don't understand the rules, don't speak nonsense, watch properly!" The boy stuck out his tongue, made a face, and then said no more. However, the people standing nearby had heard what he said, and were greatly surprised, whispering among themselves. Word spread quickly, and soon everyone around the venue knew that a little boy had said the famous martial hero had flaws in his skills.

Zhao San heard the murmurs and immediately stopped, standing in the middle of the venue to loudly scold the old man: "Where are you from? How dare you mock me!" The old man hurriedly stepped forward to apologize and explain, saying he had said nothing, and the boy's remarks were simply childishly careless, asking the hero not to take offense and not to make a fuss over a child. Zhao San remained unconvinced and angrily said, "As an elder, you did not properly discipline your child; how can you allow him to speak nonsense and blurt out lies?"

At this moment, the boy next to the old man, seeing that Zhao San was still fiercely lingering, could no longer hold back and spoke up:

"Your moves do have flaws, yet you refuse to admit it. You are teaching martial arts incorrectly and misleading your disciples! My grandpa and I just happened to say a few honest words, and you are this fierce—what exactly do you want?"

While the old man kept signaling him to stop, the boy ignored him and rapidly spoke all his thoughts. Undoubtedly, this was adding fuel to the fire, but it also left Zhao San speechless, forcing him to shout:

"What do you mean? Hmph! You little brat, still so green, but you have quite the mouth. Do you dare to fight me?"

The child replied promptly: "Why wouldn't I dare? Let's fight! But this place is too small; I might not be able to fully perform my skills."

Zhao San had originally thought that challenging the child would scare him, but only now was he genuinely shocked. As it was getting late, there was no time to contest, so both sides agreed to duel the next day at the West Gate training ground.

The next day, when Zhao San arrived at the West Gate training ground with his disciples, the old man and the boy had already been standing there waiting for some time.The first words when they met, the old man smiled and said: "We want to get on the road home early. There are still many things waiting to be done at home, so we have been waiting here for quite some time. Now that you are here, let's start the contest! Do you want to compete in strength, or fists and kicks, or sticks and clubs? Or swords, spears, and bows? Anyway, you can choose whatever you want to compete with, and we, grandfather and grandson, will have the honor of experiencing it!"

Zhao San looked at the old man—white-haired yet youthful in face, thin in body, weighing less than a hundred jin; the child was also thin and short, with a face full of innocence, and he said bluntly, "Let's start with a strength contest first!"

In the training ground, there was a red stone roller, weighing over four hundred jin. Each end of the stone roller had a navel, used for installing it into a frame for milling. Zhao San walked over, clasped the navels with both hands, lifted it, held the stone roller against his chest, walked more than ten steps, and then put it on the ground. The onlookers saw that the divine-legged hero did not even pant at all and could not help but express their admiration.

The old man let the child try as well. The stone roller was large, the child was small, arms short, unable to reach the navels. So he lifted the roller upright, then tried to carry it while walking, but it blocked his legs and he could not take a step, so he had to put it down. However, where the child's hands gripped the stone roller, his fingers sank more than half an inch into it.