# Records of the Submerged Dragon in Hibernation

Pa! With a sharp rap of the gavel, dear listeners, let us tell you a strange tale of the Weiyuan Escort Agency in the capital. A new apprentice named Zhao joined the agency. Having trained in external-style hard boxing for several years, he fancied himself unrivaled in martial arts. On his very first day, after performing three sets of boxing forms in the courtyard, he was already itching to escort a huge shipment of a hundred thousand taels of silver. He looked down on everyone, thinking that the chief escort, Old Li, was nothing but a doddering old gatekeeper.

Old Li assigned him to deliver several crates of medicinal herbs to a neighboring county. Disdaining the task as unimpressive, Zhao insisted on carrying two eighty-jin great broadswords and riding a tall white horse, making a show of himself like a general going off to war. When they arrived at the Yuelai Inn, he croaked at the top of his lungs about the prowess of his saber techniques, so much so that the fellow escorts in his cart rolled their eyes in exasperation.

In the middle of the night, several masked thieves sneaked into the courtyard. With a loud roar, Zhao drew his blade and struck—only for the eighty-jin great sword to wedge fast into a wooden pillar with a *crack*, impossible to pull out. Not only did he fail to catch any thieves, but the torch he dropped burned half of the precious medicinal herbs, nearly setting the entire inn ablaze. Old Li trembled with rage, his beard quivering: "Who told you to bring that great sword?"

Back at the agency, he was punished to chop firewood in the kitchen. He swung the axe so fast it whistled, sending wood chips flying all over the plump cook's face. Then he was sent to feed the horses in the stable, only to be kicked in the thigh by a chestnut horse. He collapsed by the manger, and as the autumn wind blew, a chill settled deep in his heart.

The mute old man who swept the floors handed him a hot towel. This old man was actually a retired veteran escort. He spoke slowly: "Lad, a tiger that has just left the mountains must first learn to walk like a cat; a dragon whose scales have not fully grown must first learn to dive. You haven't even mastered the rules and the secret routes yet—what's the rush to show off? Settle your heart deep in your belly. True skill lies beyond the mere practice of forms."

From then on, he put aside his arrogance and quietly chopped wood and fed the horses. In his spare time, he learned to read the sky and tell wind directions from the cart drivers, and memorized the terrain along the routes and the details of every inn from the veteran escorts. Five years later, when a band of fierce bandits waylaid the escort in Black Wind Valley, he relied on his intimate knowledge of the terrain to direct the escorts in forming a battle formation, safeguarding the hundred thousand taels of silver. Naturally, he succeeded Old Li as the new chief escort.