Qinghe cleared the soldiers with acute injuries for light training. Wei posted a schedule on the yard gate. His first sessions covered shield lines, retreat signals and keeping a group together when a stronger fighter pressed through.
Yan added a separate class on timing a decisive strike and reading the moment an opponent expected hesitation. The two schedules overlapped on one afternoon, and the students asked which style was better.
“The one that keeps the person beside you alive,” Wei said.
Yan folded his arms. “That sounds like advice from a man with no interesting forbidden manuals.”
Wei laughed. “Show them timing without asking anyone to copy the danger.”
Yan agreed to demonstrate at low force, then let the students practice footwork with him. The method was not a lesson in power; it was a way to see where attention moved when a fighter expected someone to hesitate.
Mao Lin and Huo laid out a practice lane with marked distances. Wei moved the students through a retreat line. Yan watched for openings. When one student turned too early, Yan pointed to the space she had left.
“An opponent would go there,” he said. “You don’t have to hit anyone to learn what the gap means.”
