Chapter 87

Lu Zheng stood there, lost in thought, while Xiao Bai ran around for a while and noticed that Lu Zheng had disappeared again. Running back, Xiao Bai saw Lu Zheng standing there in a daze. Annoyed, Xiao Bai walked over, bit his clothes, and shook Lu Zheng's hand vigorously, then neighed a few times, as if saying, "Keep running, are you giving up?"

Lu Zheng was increasingly able to understand Xiao Bai's meaning from its eyes and neighs. Looking at Xiao Bai's proud appearance, he couldn't help but say, "You have four legs, I only have two, of course you run faster." Afraid Xiao Bai wouldn't understand, he stretched out his hand, patted his own two legs, and used two fingers to gesture in front of Xiao Bai, then pointed at Xiao Bai's four legs and showed four fingers.

After gesturing twice, Xiao Bai seemed to finally understand what Lu Zheng was saying, but shook its big head. Lu Zheng was stunned—was Xiao Bai so smart that it understood what he was saying and could even shake its head to say he was wrong?

Just as he was puzzled, Xiao Bai suddenly turned around, used its nose to bump Lu Zheng's buttocks, and then ran to the side. Lu Zheng didn't understand Xiao Bai's meaning at first, until Xiao Bai ran back and forth in front of him twice, jumping and neighing several times. Lu Zheng suddenly realized that Xiao Bai was trying to tell him exactly what he had been thinking—Xiao Bai was fast because it used its gluteal muscles.

Xiao Bai was really so smart! Lu Zheng was almost startled when he realized this, thinking, "No wonder it's the king of horses! It's so smart, if it could speak, it would be almost like a human!"

With this realization, Lu Zheng ran over and said, "Xiao Bai, thank you, I understand!" He patted his own buttocks to show that he understood. Xiao Bai then neighed, snorted, and ran off.

Lu Zheng also started running. While running, he tried to activate his gluteal muscles, but for some reason, the muscles in his buttocks could only be moved a little by his thigh muscles, and they were not at all flexible, not moving on their own. This feeling was very frustrating, as he couldn't control his own body, and he even slapped his own buttocks hard a few times!

Lu Zheng tried for a long time, running in circles chasing his own buttocks, and was so exhausted that he broke out in a sweat, but he still didn't succeed, and finally sat down on the ground.

He suddenly thought of something, slapped his forehead, and exclaimed, "Oh, I'm so stupid!" Why? He suddenly realized how silly he was—Xiao Bai was a horse, of course it could do it; he was a human, why did he think he could do what Xiao Bai could do?

Thinking about this, Lu Zheng couldn't help but laugh at himself. He must have been thinking too much about being friends with Xiao Bai and spending too much time with it, seeing horses and thinking like a horse, even forgetting that he was a human, not a horse. Was he really thinking of himself as a horse?

Having thought this through, Lu Zheng found it amusing and gave up on trying to activate his gluteal muscles. He waved to Xiao Bai in the distance, imitated Xiao Bai's neighs, laughed heartily, and then went to continue practicing archery.

Li Yi had told Lu Zheng that after learning the art of archery, he should focus on self-discipline and self-correction. This meant that Lu Zheng should learn to concentrate and be clear-minded in archery, which would help him stay focused and not scattered, and be clear about when to advance or retreat, avoiding confusion.

After realizing that his earlier thoughts were just a fantasy, Lu Zheng put them aside and focused on archery. But as he picked up the bow, stepped into position, and tried to draw the bow, something strange happened!

As soon as Lu Zheng stepped into position and straightened his waist, before his arms even exerted any force, he felt his gluteal muscles suddenly twitch, and his straightened waist suddenly relaxed. A soft, flexible force surged from his waist into his hands, and the bamboo bow was drawn open!

Lu Zheng was stunned. His arms hadn't exerted any force, yet the bow was drawn so easily. Usually, he had to use all his strength to draw it. He recalled that a force had surged from his waist to his hands, and as he thought about drawing the bow, his hands naturally moved forward and backward, and the bow was drawn open!

This force surged from his waist because his waist had suddenly relaxed, and his waist relaxed because... Just as Lu Zheng thought this, his gluteal muscles twitched again, his waist relaxed, and his entire upper body shook, all his muscles relaxed, and he involuntarily drew a deep breath into his abdomen, which seemed to go down to his legs, making him feel incredibly comfortable.

The gluteal muscles, which he had struggled to activate for so long, had actually moved! Was it an illusion? But they had clearly moved twice! Could it be that he was wrong, and humans could also activate their gluteal muscles like horses?

Thinking too much was futile, so Lu Zheng tried to activate his gluteal muscles again, but when he did, only the muscles in his thighs twitched, and his gluteal muscles didn't respond at all. He couldn't replicate the feeling of his gluteal muscles twitching.

Why didn't it work again? This was really strange! Lu Zheng closed his eyes and carefully recalled every move he had made, trying to figure out what had caused it.

Lu Zheng remembered that after Xiao Bai reminded him, he had been jumping and running around, but couldn't activate his gluteal muscles. Then, when he realized that humans couldn't do what horses could, he gave up and came back to practice archery. It was when he stepped into position and was about to draw the bow...

Lu Zheng thought about it and repeated each action he had made, but still couldn't activate his gluteal muscles. Recalling the entire process, he realized he hadn't done anything special. This left him completely puzzled.

Even at lunchtime, Lu Zheng was still thinking about this problem, not even noticing when the food on his plate fell to the table. Li Yi noticed and gave him a disapproving look, but Lu Zheng was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice.

Xin saw her teacher's face change and quickly whispered, "Little brother, don't daydream, be careful of the戒方 (disciplinary rod)!"

But Lu Zheng didn't hear her and remained in a daze. Li Yi then turned his gaze away and continued eating calmly. Suddenly, the戒方 appeared, drew a graceful arc in the air, and struck Lu Zheng's waist hard. Lu Zheng yelped in pain and jumped up.

Li Yi then said coolly, "Do what is appropriate for the time. The etiquette of dining forbids inattention. Whatever you need to think about can wait until after the meal..."

As he spoke, Li Yi noticed that Lu Zheng was still in a daze, just standing there. He was about to scold him when Lu Zheng's face suddenly lit up with joy, and he exclaimed, "I got it, that's it!" He couldn't contain his excitement, waved his hands, and said to Xin, "Xin, I got it, I got it, are you happy for me?... Hey, Xin, what's wrong?"

Lu Zheng was so excited that he didn't notice Xin's frozen expression, which was filled with sympathy, and she showed no excitement. Feeling puzzled, he saw Xin point to her side with a small finger. Turning around, he saw his teacher holding a bowl and chopsticks, staring at him with a stern face!

Lu Zheng realized it was mealtime and, seeing his teacher's frightening expression, immediately recalled all the dining etiquette rules: no loud talking, no standing up, no thinking...

Before he could think about how many rules he had broken, the戒方 appeared and struck his buttocks hard, making him grimace in pain.

After the戒方 finished, Li Yi added, "Grimacing and having an improper appearance, another strike!"

The戒方 struck Lu Zheng's buttocks three more times.

This time, Lu Zheng didn't dare to grimace, bit his lip, and endured the strikes, then sat back down and apologized to everyone for disturbing their meal.

Li Yi then asked, "Why were you making such a commotion?"

Lu Zheng honestly replied, "I was thinking about archery and lost control."

Li Yi didn't even look up and said, "Since you like archery so much, you won't eat today. Go to the training ground and shoot three hundred arrows as your meal!"

Xin sighed softly, thinking, "Little brother is really silly, he always does this a few times a month, but he looks so pitiful. I'll have to sneak him some food again."

To everyone's surprise, Lu Zheng was overjoyed and said excitedly, "Really? I'll go right away." He immediately stood up, bowed to his teacher and Mr. Yue, and ran to the training ground.

Mr. Yue, who had been silent, was puzzled and asked Xin, "Did I misunderstand? Was your teacher punishing him? Why does he look so happy? Ha, this silly boy!"

Xin silently shook her head and thought, "It seems there's no saving little brother. I need to be prepared!"

Lu Zheng ran all the way to the training ground, picked up the bow and arrow, and easily drew the bow, shooting an arrow. He didn't care if it hit the target, but looked at the bow in his hand with excitement and said, "It's really like that, it's really like that!"

This time, Lu Zheng clearly felt that he hadn't used his arms to draw the bow, but a force from his waist had surged into his hands, and with a slight thought, the bow was drawn open.