Author: sooler (stor52soooler)
Published on 2015/09/16 at: sis001.com
First Post: Yes

2
After three days and nights, the wolf boy had awakened. Suddenly terrified, he found himself tightly bound by chains in the side room. The wolf boy, unaware of the ways of the world, immediately began to howl. His mournful cries echoed throughout the private school.

Fortunately, even though it was late at night, no students remained in the school. Only the old Taoist priest Du Yu and the nameless young Taoist were present.

The young Taoist peered out of the side room and headed towards the west wing.

To his surprise, the old Taoist priest Du Yu was right outside the door.

"Master,..."

"Nameless, I couldn't put my mind at ease, so I came out for a walk."

"Master, I know you pity the child. But without chains, who knows where this savage will escape to?"

"I understand."

"Besides, this child is naturally wild. If he escapes to a house, I wonder if he might bite someone."

"But how can I bear to hear his pitiful cries?"

"This is only a temporary measure. Once the savage is familiar with his surroundings, we can remove the chains. Master, you don't need to worry too much. The immediate problem is how to bring this savage back to be a normal person."

At this moment, neither of them could sleep, so they left the room and sat down in the courtyard.

"Master, I have a plan."

"Speak quickly!"

"We'll place a bronze mirror in the west wing so the child can rediscover herself. We'll also tie her up in a position where she can't harm anyone, and have the students recite poems and Confucian classics in front of her every day. In less than a year, this child will be able to return to being a normal person. Master, do you think this plan is feasible?"

"Only this way."

"Good, I'll prepare tomorrow."

"Be careful."

"I know, Master."

Early the next morning, the old Taoist priest Du Yu came to the west wing to clean the room. Upon seeing the old Taoist, the wolf child immediately let out a low growl, as if warning the old Taoist not to approach, then suddenly let out a soft, short bark, like a puppy wagging its tail for mercy. Occasionally, it would lightly rub the chains with its calloused hands.

Old Daoist Du Yu felt a pang of bitterness in his heart, yet he couldn't let go. He silently cleaned the room, brought in clean water and meat pies, and placed them before the wolf child. Then he began moving tables and chairs, preparing for the students' upcoming lessons and readings.

Confucius said: "Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from afar? Is it not the mark of a gentleman to remain unperturbed when others do not understand him?"

Zigong said: "What do you think of being poor without being obsequious, and rich without being arrogant?" Confucius said: "That's acceptable. But it's not as good as being poor and happy, and rich and courteous." Zigong said: "The Book of Poetry says, 'Like cutting and polishing, like carving and grinding,' is that what it means?" Confucius said: "Ci, now I can discuss the Book of Poetry with you. You understand the past and can foresee the future."

Early in the morning, the students arrived on time; most were sixteen or seventeen years old. Because it had been arranged beforehand with the nameless Taoist priest, no one found it strange. On the contrary, they recited the Analects even louder than before. Although there were only six or seven of them, their reading voices even drowned out the howls of the wolf children. After class, the children ate their meal as usual. "Teacher, teacher!" After their meal, the children surrounded the old Taoist priest. "Who is inside? Why does it howl like a wolf?" "Teacher, teacher, I want to know about the background of the child inside?"

"Teacher, were you raised by a wolf mother?"

"Teacher, I..."

The old Daoist Du Yu was surrounded by a group of students and had nowhere to go, so he sat down in the courtyard. The other students followed suit,
but they sat on the ground.

"You are all good, you are all good. You are learning from the sage Confucius. The former kings had supreme virtues and essential principles. Do you know what it means to be filial?" Old Daoist Du Yu asked his students with a kind face.

“I know, I know. Confucius said: Filial piety is the root of virtue, and the source of all teachings.”

“No, no! In Chapter Thirteen, ‘Extensive Virtue,’ Confucius said: The teaching of filial piety by a gentleman is not something that can be seen daily at home. Teaching filial piety is to respect all fathers in the world. Teaching brotherly love is to respect all elder brothers in the world. Teaching loyalty is to respect all rulers in the world. The teacher teaches us the ultimate expression of filial piety: loving one's parents is lesser filial piety, regarding others as one's own relatives is moderate filial piety, and respecting all relatives in the world is greater filial piety.”

"Not bad, not bad," the old Taoist smiled. "You're teachable. Listen carefully, the child inside was rescued by your master deep in the mountains. The child's life has been tragic. She lost her parents and wandered the wilderness, later rescued by a she-wolf, but the she-wolf left her after a few years. Now the child is all alone, orphaned, and her only support is you! You must not bully her!" "We understand," the children replied. Day after day, several months passed without them realizing it. The little wolf child slowly became familiar with her surroundings, no longer howling and screaming as before. Instead, she gradually learned to behave like a normal person. In just a few months, she had learned to be active during the day and no longer sleep at night. The old Taoist, who cleaned the area daily as usual, gradually felt that the wolf child was becoming closer to him, no longer as wary as before when seeing strangers. Now, when the old Taoist priest comes to feed her early in the morning, the wolf child will gently stroke his sleeve with her hand to express her gratitude. And with the help of the young boy who comes to read to her every day, the little wolf child has even begun to babble. Several months later, the nameless Taoist priest felt that the wolf child had finally shown some humanity, so he removed her chains. After the chains were removed, the wolf child seemed very curious about everything, crawling around like a puppy. Seeing this, the old Taoist priest began to teach the wolf child to walk and eat, and bathed her body at night. Half a year passed before the nameless Taoist priest learned that the little wolf child was actually a girl. Several years later, the wolf child, who had initially been babbling, had become like a normal person. Every day, she studied the classics with the old Taoist priest and learned needlework, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting from her neighbor down the mountain.

A few years later, the little girl had blossomed into a beautiful young woman, a true beauty.

"Father, this year is my fifteenth birthday. Do you still remember?"

"Of course I remember." Haha, my good daughter."

After the wolf child regained his human nature, out of gratitude for the old Taoist priest Du Yu saving his life, he recognized Du Yu as his godfather and the nameless Taoist priest as his uncle. The wolf child was also named "Shi Xue'er" by Du Yu, and the three of them lived happily together. In the blink of an eye, it was the little girl's fifteenth birthday.

“Father, I am grateful for your life-saving grace back then. I have no way to repay you, and my filial duty is to stay by your side for the rest of my life. But…”

“But what?”

“I have followed you for many years, only learning your sage path. The path is important, of course. But one must strengthen one's foundation and cultivate one's vitality. Father, don't you say that having only knowledge is like talking on paper?”

“What does my daughter want?”

“Father teaches those young Taoist disciples the path and martial arts every day. But you refuse to teach me martial arts. Why is that?”

“I see. I thought my daughter had something else on her mind. Practicing martial arts is not suitable for a girl.”

“No!” Xue'er cried out coquettishly, feigning anger, stomping her feet alternately, looking extremely cute.

The nameless Taoist thought to himself, "This is bad, this is bad! This little wolf child is becoming more and more charming. This is a major taboo in cultivation." Actually, the nameless Taoist was only inwardly praising Xue'er's growing beauty.

"Master, this disciple has a suggestion." He then approached the old Taoist Du Yu and whispered in his ear. After speaking, he suggested to Xue'er, "Today is my niece Xue'er's fifteenth birthday, and I haven't prepared any gift. However, I do have a set of chess pieces made of ice crystal rock that I collected when I was a child. I wonder if Xue'er would be interested?"

"Yes, yes!"Xue'er turned around, stuck out his tongue at Old Daoist Du Yu, and walked towards the Nameless Daoist. Old Daoist Du Yu felt wronged. "Xue'er, how many years have you been practicing chess?" "Uncle, I can't call it practicing; I just play randomly. It's been three years now." "Hmm, not bad, not bad. Wait a moment in my room, I'll get it right away." The Nameless Daoist bowed respectfully to Old Daoist Du Yu and went to his room. Xue'er was overjoyed and took the Nameless Daoist's arm as they left. "Nameless, thank you for coming to my rescue!" It turned out that Old Daoist Du Yu had been reluctant to teach Xue'er martial arts because Xue'er's wild nature was untamed. Although ten years had passed and he recited the virtues of sages every day, deep down, Xue'er still retained the wild, wolfish nature of his youth.
Perhaps she was afraid that if she learned martial arts, she would become arrogant and conceited, always comparing herself to others. Xu arranged for a wealthy merchant's wife and children at the foot of the mountain to teach Xue'er needlework, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, hoping to tame her wild nature.

The two went to the east wing.

"Xue'er, be good, sit still. Uncle will find it for you." He then half-squatted down and found a wooden box about four or five feet in size under the bed. It was a Go board. He took out a rag, dampened it, and wiped away the dust. Opening the box, there were two smaller wooden boxes inside. They contained transparent black and white Go stones, like crystals, very beautiful.

After cleaning them all, he placed them on a table.

Xue'er was delighted to see the beautiful Go stones. She even held one in one hand and stroked it with the other. "Is it pretty? Do you like it?" "It's so pretty, Uncle. I still can't bear to take it. A gentleman doesn't take what others cherish." "Not at all, as long as Xue'er likes it. Take it, Uncle hasn't played chess in a long time. I wonder if my chess skills have become rusty." "Uncle, Xue'er would like to learn from you." "Alright, come on." "With that, he set up the chessboard, and the two took turns moving first. "Uncle, I'll try this move this time." After saying that, Xue'er took out a black piece from the box and lightly tapped it on the center position. "The nameless Taoist was instantly ashamed. The nameless Taoist was originally the descendant of a wealthy merchant from Yangzhou in the Wu Kingdom. He had loved chess since childhood. He had memorized all kinds of chess games, big and small, in ancient and modern books. He could already dominate the chess world of Yangzhou from a young age and was known as a child prodigy. Later, due to the chaos of war, she wandered to Shaolin Temple. Moved by Du Yu's past experiences, she became Du Yu's disciple and followed the old Taoist to Mount Hua to establish a private school to educate children. The first move, Tengen (center point), is not uncommon in historical chess, but it is the most difficult to execute. Generally, one must first attack the four corners, then invade the center from the outside. However, the center of the board cannot be enclosed; it only influences the direction of the game. Therefore, the first move, Tengen, must be based on this principle, proceeding steadily and without wasting a single move. Ancient and modern chess records state that if the opponent's first move is Tengen, its function must be rendered useless, and the game can be altered from the star point. However, it must be said that the first move, Tengen, does indeed have the power to overwhelm the opponent. It is truly frightening that a fifteen-year-old girl possesses such fierceness, and her first move, Tengen, fully demonstrates the child's extraordinary confidence and determination. This made Wuming even more impressed, thinking to himself, "This child's aura is overwhelming; to defeat her, I need to know when to advance and retreat." A moment later, Xue'er, relying on the center point, placed a tiger's mouth between two stars, then used seven killing moves—"sharp," "rush," "connect," "squeeze," "dismantle," "force," and "seal"—to establish a dominance on the chessboard. Although both sides initially seized key points and arranged the situation, Wuming was caught off guard by Xue'er's single move to occupy the center point, and was immediately plunged into a close-quarters battle. Xue'er thought to himself that if the attack below was neutralized, he would use the center point to open up the upper path, leveraging the opponent's strength to break through and leave them with nowhere to hide. Wuming pondered each move, one move at a time, each thought growing longer and longer. By the time he had played over sixty moves, the sun had already set. At this point, Wuming, holding white stones, was heavily surrounded by Xueer's black stones at the upper star point, just one stone away from capturing them all. Xueer, however, intensified his encirclement, attacking from all sides, believing the white stones at the upper star point had no chance of survival. He then tightened his encirclement and launched another attack. Furthermore, the lower left corner was secured; once Wuming's stones arrived, the victory would be decided. From the initial setup to the middlegame, Xueer's moves were consistently deadly, never ceasing to defend even half a stone. He attacked from every angle, leaving Wuming with no way to retaliate, only able to defend. By attacking where Wuming was not defending, he himself no longer needed to defend; Xueer's strategy was self-evident. Although Wuming managed to connect his white stones at a crucial moment, he was repeatedly forced into the tiger's mouth, forced to abandon territory and attack the center from another corner. However, Xueer had already laid a trap at the four stars, determined to completely eliminate the white stones.

Wuming felt a pang of bitterness. "No wonder Master has been so reluctant to teach my little niece martial arts, instead focusing on teaching her music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and the ways of the sages. At such a young age, she already exudes a murderous aura; when she masters martial arts, she'll likely have harmed countless people. The white pieces above are dead; I might as well make use of them." Thinking this, he placed a piece in the empty space, instantly capturing all the white pieces.
This was tantamount to suicide.

Little did Wuming know that this seemingly suicidal move, after capturing a large group of his white pieces, opened up a new and much easier situation. Although the black pieces held a significant advantage, the white pieces now had room to maneuver, no longer as restrained and pressured as before, forced to defend desperately. This new situation was beyond his comprehension; he was stunned and pondered for a long time.

A full quarter of an hour passed. Xue'er gripped the black pieces tightly, but couldn't find a way to play. Because every move before had been offensive,
the pieces, though connected, were weak in defense. Now, Wuming's move, a desperate attempt to turn the tide, had broken through Xue'er's momentum and launched a counterattack. Xue'er was completely focused, her eyes fixed on the chessboard, but she couldn't come up with a single way to counter it.

After another long while, Xue'er finally spoke, "Uncle, I concede."

Wuming also breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't expected playing chess with his niece to be so exhausting. His Taoist robe was soaked with sweat, as if he had been practicing internal martial arts for half a day, and he was panting heavily. Looking at my niece Xue'er, whose face still held such innocence, I couldn't help but think, "Truly, the younger generation is to be feared. With such potential, if she were to one day bring peace to the country and drive out foreign invaders, she would be an invaluable asset." "This little girl, Xue'er, will surely achieve great things in the future.""Come on." He then set up the chessboard, and the two players took turns moving first. "Uncle, I'll try this move this time." With that, Xue'er took a black piece from the box and lightly tapped it on the center position. The nameless Taoist was instantly ashamed. Wuming was originally the descendant of a wealthy merchant from Yangzhou in the Wu Kingdom, and had loved chess since childhood. He had memorized countless chess games, large and small, from ancient and modern books, and from a young age, he could already rival the chess masters of Yangzhou, earning him the reputation of a child prodigy. Later, due to the chaos of war, he wandered to Shaolin Temple, where he was moved by the past experiences of Du Yu and became Du Yu's disciple, following the old Taoist Du Yu to Mount Hua to establish a private school and educate children. The first move, the center position, is not a rare move in historical chess games, but it is the most difficult to deploy. Generally speaking, one must first attack the four corners, and then invade the center from the outside. However, the center of the chessboard cannot be enclosed; it only influences the direction of the game. Therefore, the first move, the center point, must be based on this, proceeding steadily and without wasting a single move. Ancient and modern chess records state that if the opponent's first move is the center point, its function must be rendered useless, and the board can be manipulated from the star points. However, it must be said beforehand that the first move, the center point, does indeed have the power to crush the opponent. This fifteen-year-old girl possesses such a formidable aura, which is truly frightening. Moreover, her first move, the center point, fully demonstrates the child's extraordinary confidence and determination. This made Wuming even more impressed, thinking to himself, "This child's aura is overwhelming; to defeat her, one must know when to advance and retreat appropriately." A moment later, Xue'er, relying on the center point, placed a tiger's mouth between the two star points, and then used the seven killing moves of "point," "rush," "connect," "squeeze," "dismantle," "force," and "block" to establish a dominant position on the board. Although both sides initially seized key points and arranged the board. However, because Xue'er occupied the center point with a single move, Wuming, caught off guard, was constantly attacked from the very beginning of the opening, instantly turning into a close-quarters battle. Xue'er's only thought was that if the attack below was neutralized, he would use the momentum of the center point to open up the upper path, leveraging the opponent's strength to break through and leave them with nowhere to hide. Wuming pondered each move, one move at a time, each thought growing longer and longer. By the time he had played over sixty moves, the sun had set. At this point, Wuming, holding white stones, was heavily surrounded by Xue'er's black stones at the upper star point, only one move away from capturing them completely. Xue'er, however, intensified his encirclement, attacking from all sides, believing the white stones at the upper point had no way out. He then intensified his encirclement and launched another attack. Moreover, the lower left tiger's mouth was already secured; once Wuming's stone arrived, the victory would be decided. From the initial setup to the middlegame, Xue'er's moves were consistently deadly, never ceasing to defend even a small piece. He attacked where the opponent was unprepared, leaving Wuming with no way to retaliate and only able to defend. By attacking where the opponent was not defending, he himself no longer needed to defend; Xue'er's strategy was self-evident. Although Wuming managed to connect with the white pieces at a crucial moment, he was repeatedly forced into a corner, forced to sacrifice territory to attack the center from another angle. However, Xue'er had already laid a trap at the four stars, determined to completely eliminate the white pieces. Wuming thought bitterly, "No wonder Master has been reluctant to teach my niece martial arts, instead focusing on teaching her music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and the sage's way. At such a young age, she already exudes a murderous aura; when she masters martial arts, she will likely injure countless people. The white pieces above are dead; I might as well make use of them." With this thought, he placed a piece in the empty space, instantly capturing all the white pieces. This would be tantamount to suicide, akin to drawing a sword and cutting one's own throat. However, Wuming's seemingly suicidal move, by removing a large portion of his white stones, suddenly opened up a new and clear situation. Although Black held a significant advantage, White now had room to maneuver after the capture, no longer feeling constrained and forced to defend against Black's constant pressure. This new situation was beyond Xue'er's comprehension; he was stunned and pondered for a long time. Half an hour passed, and Xue'er gripped his black stones, unable to find a way to play. Because every move he had made before had been offensive, while the stones could be connected, the defense was weak. Now, Wuming's move, a desperate act of reversal, had broken through Xue'er's momentum and launched a counterattack. Xue'er was completely focused, his eyes fixed on the board, but he couldn't come up with a single solution.

After a long while, Xue'er finally spoke, "Uncle, I admit defeat."

Wuming also breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't expected playing chess with his niece to be so exhausting. His Taoist robe was soaked with sweat, as if he had been practicing internal martial arts for half a day, and he was panting heavily. Looking at his niece Xue'er, whose face was still innocent and pure, he couldn't help but think, "Truly, the younger generation is formidable. If such potential were to one day bring peace to the country and drive out foreign tribes, it would be a rare talent."

"This little girl, Xue'er, will surely achieve great things in the future."