Chapter 6: Observing Qi and Supplementing What is Lacking

  The next morning, after breakfast, I was still worried about Jin Gang Pao, so I called his squad to ask about him. As a result, I was informed that he had asked for leave early in the morning and gone out. Only then did I feel at ease, thinking that since he was in the mood to ask for leave and go out to have fun, there shouldn't be any major issues.

  Since it was a weekend, there were only a few people left in the whole squad. I suddenly remembered the ancient book that I had stuffed into my backpack yesterday, so I took it out of my backpack.

  As expected, it was indeed a book. I carefully blew away the dust on its surface and found that although the paper had aged, the characters were still clear and distinguishable. The three dark red binding lines as thick as chopsticks had not rotted either. On the cover from top to bottom were four large seal script characters: "The Extraordinary Chess Manual"!

  What the heck is this? I know about the Book of Changes, but it's not this "Yi Jing". I flipped through a few pages and they were all chess strategies. It turns out that this is a book on Go strategies. Although I didn't expect to find some kind of powerful martial arts manual like the "Nine Yin Manual", I'm still somewhat disappointed. The key thing is, I have zero interest in playing Go.

  "Trash." I tossed this tattered book in my hand onto the desk and lay down on the bed, lighting a cigarette.

  I don't know if it's a blessing in disguise or I've watched too many spy movies, but suddenly I thought that maybe this book is hiding some secrets that can only be seen with special methods. Thinking of this, I sat up and took the chess manual to examine it carefully, but no matter how I looked at it, there was nothing special about it. If anything, it's just that this book has been placed for many years, yet the words are still very clear, without any signs of mice or insects biting into it.

  Anyway, I wasn't interested in playing chess either, so I decided to give it a destructive analysis. Thinking of this, I took out a small knife from the drawer and cut down the pages one by one. At that time, I was still young and didn't understand cultural relics, let alone the importance and research value of cultural heritage. A precious item from who-knows-which dynasty was dissected by me in no time.

  After cutting, I went to the washing area and fetched some clear water. I grabbed a few sheets and soaked them in the water, holding my breath and staring with wide eyes, but there was no reaction, not even a slight one.

  Water doesn't work, change vinegar. I hastily ran to the cooking class and grabbed half a bottle of white vinegar and ran back upstairs, still no good.

  Vinegar doesn't work, change oil, I ran back to the cooking class carrying an oil bucket and ran back, still no good.

  There were only a few pages of chess records to begin with, and after I messed around like this for so long, there were only a few left. I was getting anxious and flustered. Water didn't work, so I used fire. I took out my lighter without thinking much, and directly lit the remaining pages on fire. In my heart, I was silently praying...

  In the end, my prayers were of no use, and the remaining few pages were burned into ashes, burning so neatly, and setting off so elegantly, the last hope was also shattered.

  I listlessly returned the empty oil drum and vinegar jar to the kitchen, then secretly carried a basin to the toilet and poured the oil in it down the drain.

  Threw down the basin, listlessly returned to the dormitory, looking at a good book now only one edge of the book is left, I regret it a bit, if taken out to sell to people who like playing chess, estimated can sell for a lot of money, can buy a lot of cigarettes.

  As I was holding that book with the missing pages, I suddenly discovered a strange phenomenon - the binding thread of this ancient book seemed to be a bit too thick.

  The paper used in this ancient book is slightly smaller than today's 32K paper size, bound with thin hemp rope on the right side. The chess manual I got was not thick to begin with, and it didn't seem necessary to use such a coarse binding thread. Moreover, hemp ropes are usually white or gray, so why did this one use red?

  At this point, I pulled out the drawer and took out the needle threader, took out the coarse needle we used to sew the quilt, and carefully picked out the binding line as thick as chopsticks from the edge of the book.

  Due to the long-term fixation, the binding line was curved like an earthworm when it was first taken out. I picked up one end and observed it closely, finding that this dark red binding line had spiral patterns similar to tree rings. Was it a vine from some kind of plant?

  Take another close look, no, it's not a rattan stick. Because there are fine hairs on top, it should be the product of some animal skin being rolled and pressed.

  I closed my eyes, using my most sensitive left ring finger to slowly feel, and finally found the subtle layered boundary. I opened my eyes wide, switched to a smaller needle, and carefully peeled it open along that line.

  Finally, I saw the dense black fly-head characters appearing on the dark red skin. Suppressing the excitement in my heart, I breathed as steadily as possible and slowly uncovered it with the tip of a needle, taking two hours to finally uncover everything, and I let out a long sigh.

  A piece of skin as thick as a chopstick had rolled up into over ten rolls, and when fully spread out, it was almost half the size of a newspaper. I picked it up excitedly and nervously, and on the right side, from top to bottom, two small seals caught my eye: "Supplement!"

  What's going on? At first glance, I was really confused. Logically speaking, something hidden so secretly is usually quite important to the person storing it; otherwise, there would be no need to go through such trouble.

  After reading a few more sentences, he finally figured out the doorway. It turned out that what was recorded here was a supplement and correction to another book on feng shui. Unlike those eight trigrams palmistry books sold on the market today, the things recorded on this page (later I found out it was actually made of rat skin, but for now let's just call it paper) were not so profound or pretentious, getting straight to the point from the beginning, without any outline or chapters, and speaking very casually.

  "The first few sentences are as follows: 'Master's secret teaching: At the beginning of observing the five elements, it is advisable to choose the time of Mao or You to face the sun. After three days, look at the fingertips again, and you can see the qi. I was puzzled, chose Wu time to face the sun, closed my eyes and observed my fingers, and immediately saw the qi. Why abandon what is near and seek what is far away?'"

  "My master once told me that when I first started learning Wu Xing Guan Qi, it's best to choose the time when the sun rises in the morning and sets in the afternoon, and look at my fingertips three days later. I can see the qi. But I find it strange that at noon, closing my eyes and looking at my fingertips, I can immediately see the qi. Why bother going far?"

  Damn it, close your eyes and look at your fingers, what can you see? I couldn't help but scold in my heart.

  Scolding is scolding, not believing is not believing. Curiosity always can't be restrained. Now it's past 11 o'clock, should be noon. I looked at the sun and then looked at my hand, didn't see any so-called "qi" coming out. I put my hand against the sun again, closed my eyes, still didn't see anything.

  I suddenly had an idea, is it that when I close my eyes, the air can come out, but when I open them, the air can't come out? So, I put my hand in front of the sun, closed my eyes, and secretly opened a small slit...

  I saw it, I really saw it. At the tip of my five fingers, there were five faint flesh-colored auras, about 5-6 cm long, slightly thicker than my fingers. When I moved my fingers, the five auras also moved... I'm sharing this with everyone for two reasons: first, to express my excitement at the time; second, to hope that everyone can experience it personally - after all, practice is the only standard to test the truth. Actually, I dare to share the above method with everyone because it's just a minor trick, nothing more than fun, no real use. Just as I was amazed by seeing what's called "qi", an old classmate downstairs yelled at me in a loud voice, "Xiao Yu, dinner is ready!"

  "My stomach doesn't feel well, I'm not eating anymore, you guys eat. The oil has been wasted by me, even my butt knows that Sichuan chef can't make anything delicious."