"1, 2, 379, 80..."
"Deducting the costs of flour, lard, meat, and firewood..."
In the evening, the young lady counted on her fingers, occasionally jotting down notes on paper.
There was no doubt that Tang Wen and his sister were literate.
The camp had a free school where children under 15 could attend for three to four hours every afternoon, free of charge for three years.
But few children attended.
In the eyes of the adults in the camp, six or seven-year-olds could help look after their younger siblings, and by the time they were a couple of years older, they could go to the fields to weed and work.
What use was learning to read?
"I've calculated it!"
Under the dim light of the oil lamp, Tang Tang's eyes sparkled.
Tang Wen couldn't tell if it was just his imagination, but he always thought her eyes had a golden gleam.
"Is it 100 coins?"
"Ha! 210 Meat Buns, and only 100 coins?" Tang Tang stood up, crossed her arms, and looked down at her brother.
"Then 200?"
"Hmph! 210 Meat Buns, and only 200 coins?" The young lady struck a pose as if to say, "You know nothing of power."
There were few people in the camp who ran small businesses.
Those who made a living purely by setting up stalls were unheard of.
In terms of the business environment.
It was like China in the 1980s; as long as you had goods and dared to set up a stall, you could make money selling anything!
Tang Tang lifted her chin and declared, "330 coins! A full 330 coins!"
Tang Wen clapped along, "Congratulations on earning over ten thousand coins a month, sister. But this is just the beginning, while everyone finds it novel. In a few days, maybe..."
"Ah! I won't listen, I won't listen, I won't listen!" Tang Tang glared at her brother and covered her ears.
"Then, since we're using Sister Bing's house and her name, shouldn't you share the profits with her?"
Tang Tang put her hands down, "Of course. I think Sister Bing's place is so big, we could definitely pay her rent and move in."
"Huh?" Tang Wen was surprised; houses in the inner city weren't cheap, and his sister had agreed so readily.
As Tang Wen had predicted, after a few days, the novelty wore off, and the Meat Bun business declined somewhat.
But they could still earn over 100 copper coins a day. Over a month, that amounted to several taels of silver, which was a very decent livelihood.
Seven days passed in a flash amidst their training.
In the evening, the Quartermaster sent someone to inform Tang Wen that he was to go early the next morning to study the Visualization Diagram.
The next day, Tang Wen tucked a piece of parchment under his arm, carried a clothes-drying pole that could stand on the ground, and lugged a large bucket of water as he reported to the Quartermaster.
"What's all this?"
"Personal preferences, can't I bring them?"
The Quartermaster shook his head in confusion, "It's not that, as long as you don't damage the Visualization Diagram, you can bring anything in. But if you dirty the room, you'll have to clean it yourself."
Tang Wen nodded repeatedly.
The Quartermaster advised, "Contemplating the Visualization Diagram is very taxing on the mind. Don't be impatient, don't push yourself. If you feel dizzy, your vision blurs, or your temples start to throb, take a break immediately, have a nap. Wait until your mind is refreshed before you continue visualizing."
Tang Wen silently took note and cupped his hands in thanks to the man.
He arrived at a heavily guarded courtyard gate.
Tang Wen presented his identity token, and the guard carefully checked it before leading him alone into the courtyard, to the only door in the yard.
"The Visualization Diagram is inside," the guard said, then added, looking at the things Tang Wen was carrying, "You are not allowed to damage the Visualization Diagram."
Tang Wen nodded in agreement and pushed the door open to enter.
Sunlight streamed in, illuminating the red murals carved on the wall directly ahead.
The guard closed the door and left.
The room was lit by several bright kerosene lamps, with a black wooden dummy of human height standing in the center, a stool for resting, and nothing else.
Tang Wen didn't rush to look at the Visualization Diagram.
He first set up the clothes rack on the ground and hung the kraft paper on it.
Then, he placed the wooden bucket filled with water on the stool.
Next, he assumed a horse stance, Guarding the One, and entered stillness through the earth fire stance.
Once the restlessness in his heart had completely dissipated and he was fully calm,
he opened his eyes, stepped forward, and focused on the largest mural in the center of the wall.
It was the core Visualization Diagram of the Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist.
Buzz!
Tang Wen's vision blurred as light and shadow swirled, and the Visualization Diagram on the wall seemed to come alive.
The earth was parched, with cracks so deep they seemed bottomless.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted!
Danger!
Tang Wen hastily retreated, his back slamming into the stone wall with a thud. Startled, he realized he was still in the stone room.
"What a powerful technique!"
After a few minutes of stillness to calm his mind, he approached again.
Flames surged forth, coalescing into a fireball that shot diagonally, crashing into a towering mountain. The flames soared into the sky, causing a massive explosion!
Tang Wen felt dizzy, unable to steady his mind, and withdrew from the scene once more.
The Visualization Diagram was indeed miraculous. Though it was a carved mural, it could display a dynamic scene like a film.
But how to use it?
He entered stillness again to adjust his mindset and focused on observing.
The scene repeated: the fireball collided with the mountain, erupting into a blaze of light.
After several repetitions, Tang Wen suddenly thought: people in this world rarely had the chance to witness explosions. Could the purpose of the Visualization Diagram be to show Martial Practitioners what it means for flames to strike a mountain, what an explosion is?
In other words, was this recurring scene of the fireball striking the mountain what he needed to visualize?
He immediately assumed a horse stance, breathed into stillness, and began visualizing the scene in his mind.
The fireball shot out from the ground, slammed into the mountain, and the flames engulfed the mountain, causing it to shake and collapse.
"Whoosh!"
Visualization successful, stillness failed.
The scene to visualize was too long.
Unable to enter stillness, he couldn't connect the scenes continuously.
Tang Wen tried repeatedly.
Since his mental attributes were significantly higher than average, he didn't experience dizziness or blurred vision like others.
After failing countless times, he took out his pocket watch.
He realized that four hours had already passed out of the twelve-hour meditation period.
Time was tight; he needed a new strategy.
Tang Wen sat on the ground, deep in thought.
Suddenly, he thought of a key term—comic strips.
This reminded him of how, when he was studying, he would secretly draw stick figures in the bottom right corner of his books.
Each page depicted a different action, like punching or kicking. After drawing a dozen pages, flipping through them quickly made the stick figures appear to move.
This childhood memory gave Tang Wen inspiration: since the visualization scene was too long, he could visualize one scene, or one frame, at a time.
For example: the fireball shooting out.
It could be broken down into: a red glow in the ground's cracks;
the flames surging to the surface;
revealing the fireball;
the fireball flying diagonally into the sky.
Each scene was deconstructed like this.
Once he mastered them, he could string them together and play them in his mind.
Two hours passed, and Tang Wen successfully visualized the "comic strip" in his mind, reaching the moment just before the fireball was about to collide with the mountain peak.
But as soon as he stood up, he immediately felt a heaviness in his head, and his temples throbbed.
He quickly stopped the visualization, went to sit by the corner, wrapped himself in his coat, and fell asleep.
When he woke up, he immediately checked his pocket watch. Fortunately, he had only slept for an hour and a half.
He got up and went to the water bucket, splashing cold water on his face.
The water was icy, sending a shiver through him, and he instantly felt more alert.
He continued the visualization: the fireball colliding with the mountain.
Once, twice... Visualization successful!
Boom!
Tang Wen's ears seemed to hear a deafening roar.
Then, a warm, energetic current flowed out from the top of his head.
Instinctively, he threw a punch.
Bang!
Crash!
The wooden bucket shattered into pieces, and the water inside spilled all over the floor.
Tang Wen was stunned. Just now, his fist had clearly been a short distance away from the bucket.
How had he managed to smash it?
It was at this moment that the panel suddenly flickered.
(End of Chapter)