Chapter 4: Once a teacher, always a father Du Mu stepped forward, patted Lao Liu on the shoulder, looked at the faces of these children, and suddenly said loudly: "Good! You are all very ambitious!" The children around him immediately stopped talking and looked at him. Du Mu also looked at them and smiled, "I know you can help a lot." Many children immediately showed relieved expressions. "But..." Du Mu changed the subject, "These are just small favors." Seeing the children's nervous expressions, Du Mu did not keep them in suspense and immediately said, "But the geography, mathematics, physics, and chemistry courses I asked you to learn will really be of great help in the future." "Only after you learn these, you will become irreplaceable and be able to become my true helpers." “So, don’t waste your energy on unimportant things.” The children were confused, but most of them nodded firmly and promised: "Yes, I promise to study hard!" "Me too!"
"Me...me too!" ---- Du Mu supported Old Liu, who was crying uncontrollably, and came to the front yard of the martial arts hall. Old Liu gradually calmed down his emotions and said to Du Mu: "Master, I'm sorry to trouble you again." Du Mu shook his head: "What kind of trouble is this? You've worked so hard, why don't you take a rest today?" Old Liu said quickly, "No, no, a few children couldn't control themselves and wet the bed again last night. The quilts I washed the day before yesterday have just been dried. I have to make the beds for them." After saying that, he calmed down and returned to the backyard. Bruce silently looked at the other person's back, keenly aware of something, and moved his lips slightly: "Could it be that he..." Du Mu sighed and nodded: "Yes, Lao Liu's child was also abducted by the Beggars' Sect." Bruce was silent. Du Mu stated straightforwardly, "Not long ago, I destroyed the Beggars' Sect branch in Kowloon Bay and indeed saved a lot of people. I asked everyone in the surrounding area who had lost their children to come look for them. That's when Lao Liu came to me." Bruce wanted to ask why there were still so many people in the backyard. But when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back. There were some things that he had subconsciously figured out, but he was unwilling to tell himself. Du Mu continued, "Those whose parents could be found were taken away by their parents. For the rest, those whose parents could not find their parents, and those whose parents did not want them because they were disabled, I took them in. They are the ones you see." Bruce closed his eyes in pain. He remembered the little girl who had just said that he was a good kid and that she was the one who cooked for the family. With Bruce's observation skills, he could certainly analyze from the other person's emotions that she was one of those who was found by her parents and abandoned for the second time. But what could he say? Bruce had already known from their fragments of words that this was a feudal dynasty similar to ancient China. In this social environment, especially in rural areas, it was difficult for a small peasant family to support one more person.
If the taxes are heavy and the year is bad, even healthy people may starve to death, let alone the disabled. "As for the rest, Lao Liu felt sorry for them and decided to stay and help me take care of them." Bruce took a deep breath and asked, "Did he find his child?" Du Mu shook his head: "He said he had been looking for children for seventeen years. I told him that none of the children were over twelve years old, so he gave up." Seventeen years. For the first time, time felt so heavy. Bruce was almost unable to breathe. Bruce realized that this period of time was not just Lao Liu's sorrow, but also represented a similar darkness that had lasted for at least seventeen years. And the person who put an end to it is the man in front of him. Bruce looked at Du Mu with unprecedented seriousness. He began, "I also came here from a cruel and dark city." "That city... has 3000 million people, but at least half of them live in violence and threats. I want to change it." "Just like you changed this place." Du Mu was silent for a moment: "For a city of 3000 million people, my approach is only of reference value to you." "This county town, together with the surrounding towns and villages, probably has only about 100,000 people. The problem we face is 300 times larger in scale." Bruce said hurriedly, "But at least you did it. You changed the lives of 100,000 people, and I haven't helped even one person so far." “I just want to know how I should start and what I should do specifically.” Feeling the other party's sincere gaze, Du Mu felt a little embarrassed. And not just because Gotham is a mess. It's also because of Bruce Wayne himself. Although the man in front of him is suspected to be the future Batman, there are different versions of Batman. There are more evil Batmans than righteous Batmans. What if I excitedly accept him as my apprentice, and he turns into a laughing bat, a killing machine, a red death devil, etc. in the future, and kills my master to prove his truth, who can bear this... Although I have a cheat code for cultivation, as the saying goes, a darkened person is ten times stronger, and a darkened Batman is a hundred times stronger. Even if I become a supernatural power, if Batman injects me with the Doomsday potion in the future, then killing a top martial arts master will be no more difficult than crushing an egg. Thinking about this, Du Mu suddenly realized that if this was really the case, he should accept Batman as his apprentice. Learning martial arts is not something that can be achieved overnight; it is a long-term project that requires steady effort. Assuming that Bruce's time travel cannot be stopped, the safest option is to find a way to make him come to the martial arts gym every day. Once any signs of evil are discovered, they must be nipped in the bud immediately. So Du Mu pondered for a moment, and said seriously: "I can teach you. Not only can I pass on my experience to you, but I can also teach you martial arts and internal strength, so that you can have more powerful martial arts and help you fulfill your wish." Bruce perked up: "Are you still willing to teach me the true Qi?"
Du Mu nodded, but then changed the subject and said, "A teacher is someone who teaches and explains. If you want to learn true qi, you have to become my disciple and take me as your master. Have you really thought about it?" Bruce nodded seriously immediately. Du Mu said seriously: "There is a saying that a teacher is a father for life. Some people only tell their students to respect their teachers." "But to me, it also means 'If a son is not well-educated, it is the fault of his father.'" He looked at Bruce with a solemn expression: "Once you learn my skills, if you don't use them in the right way in the future, it will be my responsibility. Do you understand?" Du Mu said this seriously, just to give Bruce a shot of prevention. If he really turns evil one day, don't blame your teacher for being ruthless. Bruce looked at Du Mu and said solemnly: "I swear on the name of the Wayne family!" …… "Master, drink tea." Du Mu was not a person who cared much about ostentation. Therefore, the ceremony of becoming a disciple is just a simple offering of tea, followed by three kowtows and nine kowtows to the portrait of the founder of "Four Phase Fist", and that's all. But Bruce still showed great respect for these etiquettes and completed the process carefully. He did not feel any awkwardness due to cultural differences regarding the saying "Once a teacher, always a father". The West has a patristic culture that can understand this special meaning. After a brief ceremony of accepting disciples, the teaching began immediately. Although both of them looked serious, they were not at peace inside. Bruce finally found a guide, and with direction he gained motivation. And Du Mu... was finally able to test out what the effect of the so-called tenfold return of power was. After all, what he had destroyed before was only the Beggars' Sect branch in Kowloon Bay. (End of this chapter)