Chapter 25: The Tiger's Maw Staff and a Single Adhesive Move

“This little rascal, she’s eaten the fish for nothing.”
Watching Yaya run off, Du Ruo finally let out a laugh. Then, picking the green pepper that had just fallen, he noticed it had grown quite large—just right for his mother to stir-fry with cured pork.
He placed the pepper on a stool and resumed his martial practice. He practiced Xingyi Quan, but the style differed completely from the way he used to perform the Five Elements Fist. The natural fluidity of before was gone, replaced by a variety of forms.
One moment he adopted the Three-Body Eagle Claw stance; the next, he shifted into Tiger Form. Imagining an enemy before him, Du Ruo used an array of techniques to confront this phantom opponent, his moves becoming unpredictable and erratic.
Only after he finished his daily training and allocated his earned skill points did he begin to wind down.
In truth, his body could now withstand much longer periods of practice—no longer limited to three hours each in the morning and evening. However, Du Ruo didn’t devote all his time to martial arts. He preferred a balance of work and rest, believing that life should include more than just training—there ought to be time for oneself as well.
After Yaya ran off to complain, she didn’t return—no doubt her grandmother had caught her for a bath and sent her to bed. Du Ruo didn’t concern himself with it, and after helping himself to some of his mother’s prepared food in the living room, he went upstairs to wash up.
Tonight, Du Ruo didn’t go to sleep right away. He had absorbed so much knowledge today that his mind was still buzzing with excitement.
He took out a sheet of A4 paper and, pencil in hand, began sketching from memory the design for the weapon Panlong Silk that lingered in his mind.
“Hmph, everyone else gets a ready-made item, but I just get an idea. Why is this so difficult? My drawing skills are pretty good, yet I can only manage a passable likeness.”
Bent over his desk for more than an hour, he finally produced a rough schematic of Panlong Silk. The drawing was rather abstract—perhaps not even eighty percent accurate. In truth, it bore little resemblance to the intricate device in his imagination.
The ring of Panlong Silk, ideally supposed to resemble a bracelet, ended up as an oval in his drawing. The coiled dragon depicted on it was drawn separately, but the dragon looked more like a lizard.
Perhaps the only part that matched the concept was the thread itself. Du Ruo drew a single curved line and, beside it, wrote detailed notes on the material and desired effects of the thread. The notes were thorough, and aside from his poor handwriting, there was little to criticize.
Gazing at the sketch, Du Ruo saw that he’d drawn little and written much. Truthfully, even he couldn’t stand to look at it. Several times he considered tearing it up, but realizing he couldn’t draw it any better, and that destroying it would mean he’d have to craft it himself from scratch, he finally folded the paper carefully and climbed into bed.
“Tomorrow I’ll look online to see if anyone can make Panlong Silk. I should also ask Xiaoling if there’s a spare room. I’ll need to go up the mountain for some hands-on practice—staying at home just isn’t convenient.”
With these plans turning over in his mind, Du Ruo slowly drifted into sleep.
The next morning, as usual, he completed his routine practice and then took Yaya with him to the riverbank.

“Uncle, why aren’t you bringing a fishing rod?”
Yaya walked ahead, curiosity in her voice. She had already forgotten tattling on him the night before. Seeing Du Ruo heading for the river, she instinctively assumed he was taking her fishing again.
“We’re not fishing today.”
Du Ruo walked slowly along the riverbank, eyes lowered as he searched among the stones, answering Yaya’s questions as he went.
“Why not?”
Yaya clutched Maomao by the neck to keep the dog from plunging into the water to play.
“Because your uncle isn’t happy. Someone went and tattled to grandma yesterday.”
This trip, Du Ruo’s main goal was to find some suitable stones to use as practice tools.
Teasing Yaya, he continued his search for the right stones. He truly had no time for fishing today—there was simply too much to do, and he couldn’t sit quietly by the river.
He’d already told his father to ride to town and buy a sea fish. Sea fish have fewer bones, which would help prevent Yaya from choking on fishbones.
“Hmph…”
Yaya wrinkled her nose, unwilling to speak to Du Ruo, looking first at the riverbank, then at Maomao, as if considering whether Maomao could catch a fish for her.
“Ahem, uncle is looking for two kinds of stones: one shaped like a cylinder, about as thick as a beer bottle; the other round or oval, about the size of a soccer ball. If we find them today, there’ll be fish for lunch. If not… no fish.”
Du Ruo, as if oblivious to Yaya’s expression, kept searching, muttering just loud enough for her to hear.
“Really? Uncle, how about this one?”
Yaya’s eyes lit up, sweeping the area like little radars. Whenever she spotted a likely candidate, she’d run over, pick it up, and call out to Du Ruo. She didn’t really know how big a soccer ball was.
“This one won’t do, it’s too small.”

Du Ruo glanced over and rejected it.
“Oh. Uncle, is this one okay? Maomao, don’t run off—help uncle look for stones…”
“No, it needs to be cylindrical…”
“Uncle, what about this?”
“No…”
...
There were indeed all kinds of stones along the riverbank, worn smooth by the water. Du Ruo and Yaya searched for nearly an hour before finally finding suitable ones.
One looked a bit like a spindle—tapered at both ends and thick in the middle—perfect for practicing the Tiger’s Mouth Rod technique from the Natural School.
The other was larger, not quite the round shape of a soccer ball but more like a cone—wide at the base, narrower at the top, and very smooth. This one was ideal for another Natural School method called the Single Grip Stone.
Both the Tiger’s Mouth Rod and Single Grip Stone were new training methods unlocked with yesterday’s upgrade to his Natural School skills.
The Tiger’s Mouth Rod, as the name suggests, involves holding the spindle-shaped stone with arms outstretched, gripping it with both hands, and rotating it alternately. This exercise specifically trains finger grip strength and wrist power.
Of course, the Tiger’s Mouth Rod is more for grip strength. To train wrist and arm strength, you can use a rolling pin with a rope tied to the middle, suspending a bottle of water from it. Rolling up the rope by twisting the pin, even professionals struggle to last five minutes—the effect is remarkable.
The Single Grip Stone involves placing a conical or spherical stone on the ground and trying to grab its smooth surface, which, being slick and tapering with no purchase, is an excellent way to train finger strength and grip.
Du Ruo trained with these tools in preparation for using hidden weapons.
He used Natural School methods to strengthen his fingers and wrists, which would then be put to use in concealed weapon techniques. This was not unusual—the founder of the Natural School, Du Xinwu, was a master of hidden weapons, famed for his “Locust Stone” technique, hitting the mark every time without fail.