Zhang Lingshan

Whoosh!

A cold wind swept past, sending red leaves whirling across the mountainside.

"Winter's coming."

Zhang Lingshan pulled his tattered gray cloth shirt tighter around himself, licked the last trace of grease from the bottom of his bowl, and revealed an unsatisfied expression as he sighed inwardly.

He had been in this world for half a year already.

At the first faint light of dawn, he would rush to Red Leaf Mountain with his father to work as a laborer. Together with a group of men, they would haul stone and timber up the mountain, then carry waste materials back down to pave the roads, over and over again.

By evening, he would hurry home, terrified that if he was even one step too late and darkness fell, he might encounter something unclean and lose his life.

Yet after all that hardship, they earned only sixty copper coins a day. They ate nothing but steamed buns and cabbage, with even a little grease only enough to coat the bottom of the bowl. Their lives were far less comfortable than those of the carpenters and stonemasons building the temple on the mountain.

So after Zhang Lingshan's father painstakingly saved up twenty taels of silver, he planned to ask someone to send Zhang Lingshan to apprentice under an old carpenter and find a way forward in life.

But Zhang Lingshan refused.

Strictly speaking, it was the previous Zhang Lingshan who had refused.

The original owner had been a child with ideals and aspirations. He had not the slightest interest in carpentry; all he wanted was to learn martial arts. Yet he could not defy his father, so he stole the silver and went to the Hong Clan Martial Hall to seek a master.

In the end, just as he reached the martial hall's entrance, his father caught up with him and slapped him viciously. The onlookers all watched the spectacle and laughed.

Humiliated and enraged, the original owner slammed his head into the wall.

That blow had knocked the current Zhang Lingshan into this world.

"Though the original owner's actions were a little extreme, his thinking wasn't wrong."

Having lived in this world for half a year, Zhang Lingshan deeply understood the original owner's thoughts.

He had to train in martial arts. He absolutely had to!

How else could he have a bright future without martial arts?

In a world where human lives were as worthless as grass and demons danced in wild chaos, ordinary people were not truly living. They were merely getting by, muddling through one day at a time.

Only by becoming a powerful martial artist could one experience even a faint taste of what it truly meant to be alive.

Unfortunately, Father Zhang did not understand even such a simple truth. He insisted on making his son learn carpentry and had driven the original owner to his death.

In truth, it was not that Father Zhang did not understand. It was because he understood all too well. Martial arts depended on talent. Without talent, training for a lifetime would only waste time and might even leave one covered in injuries. Better not to train at all.

According to Father Zhang, the Zhang Family's ancestor had once been a dignified Martial Dao Grandmaster. But time had turned seas into mulberry fields, and by the time the bloodline reached their branch, it had grown thin.

He had once dreamed that his child might be blessed with astounding luck and inherit their ancestor's talent for martial arts. Thus, when Zhang Lingshan was eight, he hired someone to examine his bones. The result was disappointing.

And what followed proved that the bone-reading Daoist had been right.

Not only did his son lack any talent for martial arts, he was even shorter than children his age.

Now fifteen years old, he was still under one and a half meters tall. If his build had not been reasonably sturdy, he likely would not even have qualified to carry bricks for Red Leaf Temple.

And with that, he still wanted to learn martial arts?

It had to be said, Father Zhang's reasoning was flawless—if not for the Panel...

"Open the Energy Panel."

Name: Zhang Lingshan

Martial Arts: None

Energy: 0.3

Looking at that lonely 0.3, Zhang Lingshan felt helpless as well.

That 0.3 energy had only been saved up because he had eaten and drunk well while recovering from his smashed head. Relying on the meager food he earned from carrying bricks, let alone 0.3, he feared he could not even save up 0.1.

Over the past half year, Zhang Lingshan had roughly figured out how energy could be accumulated.

To accumulate energy, ordinary food simply would not do. Even eating a hundred white-flour steamed buns would not yield a single point.

Only meat and all kinds of rare medicinal ingredients could provide energy.

And even rich meat soup or fatty pork would not work.

It had to be pure protein.

As for medicinal ingredients, they had to be genuine herbs that could treat illnesses and had real effects. Wild vegetables, radish leaves, tree roots passed off as ginseng, and the like were all useless.

Zhang Lingshan had roughly calculated that, based on the support his father currently gave him, even if he converted all of it into lean meat and ate it, he could at most accumulate two points of energy.

But the most urgent matter was not accumulating energy. It was entering a martial hall to learn martial arts.

Without martial arts, he could only look at accumulated energy, not use it.

But once he paid the apprenticeship fee, he would have no money left to buy meat.

Zhang Lingshan stared at the empty bottom of his bowl, his thoughts drifting far away as a trace of worry appeared on his face.

"Xiao Shan, keep this money safe."

A rough, large hand suddenly reached into Zhang Lingshan's clothes and stuffed a crumpled ball of paper into the little sewn pouch against his chest.

"Dad, this is?"

Zhang Lingshan felt it inside his clothes and could not help but be astonished.

The two of them had earned only a hundred and twenty copper coins today, yet this Silver Note should have been worth ten taels.

How could there be so much?

A faint smile appeared on Father Zhang's weathered face as he said quietly, "The Lei Family took on another job at Golden Light Temple. It lasts half a year, but they need only a few people, all experienced hands who can work. Old Lei recommended several of us, and they even paid three months' wages in advance. But I won't be able to come home for the next half year. Your mother, younger brother, and younger sister will have to rely on you."

"They're giving this much for three months? Does that mean you'll have to stay at Golden Light Temple for the full half year? Could there be some danger? Where is Golden Light Temple?"

Unease filled Zhang Lingshan as questions burst from him like a string of firecrackers.

Ten taels of silver was not so easily earned these days. They were providing food and lodging, and even paying three months' wages in advance. It was too unbelievable, enough to make one fearful.

Father Zhang patted Zhang Lingshan's shoulder and said with satisfaction, "You really have grown up. You know to worry about others now. But don't worry. Old Lei is a good man, someone we can trust, and the Lei Family keeps its word. Their family has great wealth and influence. What difference do ten or twenty taels make to them? If they truly had evil intentions, none of us would have made it down the mountain today."

"That's true."

Zhang Lingshan nodded.

He still felt uneasy, but his father had already made up his mind. Nothing he said would help, and Father Zhang had already agreed to Old Lei's offer and taken the money. Suddenly going back on his word and refusing to go would only risk angering them.

So be it.

Before he had powerful martial strength to back him up, all his vigilance and worry would be useless. If the Lei Family truly wanted to sell them all off as miners, there was nothing he could do.

The urgent matter was to return to the city, learn martial arts, and grow stronger as quickly as possible.

"Dad, I'm leaving, then. Please be careful while you're staying outside. Make sure to remain with everyone else. Don't stick your neck out and play the bold one in everything. Watch out for unclean things causing trouble."

Zhang Lingshan tightly cinched his clothes with his belt and warned him.

"Mm, mm, I know."

Father Zhang nodded heavily, his eyes reddening slightly. His heart was filled with gratification, though also with a touch of sighing.

His child had finally grown up. He knew how to care about others now.

Other than insisting on learning martial arts and wasting money, Xiao Shan was the best child in the world. Ah.

Watching Zhang Lingshan leave together with several children he was close to, Father Zhang finally withdrew his gaze and went to meet up with Old Lei.

At the foot of the mountain.

Zhang Lingshan and the others soon reached the official road and quickened their pace toward Jin City.

If they were late and darkness fell, unclean things were said to roam outside. If they encountered one, they would be finished.

Along with Zhang Lingshan were the Wang Family's son, Wang Datou, and the Li Family's Li Xiaole.

Like Father Zhang, both of their fathers were honest, hardworking men. They had also been kept behind by Old Lei to work at Golden Light Temple, so each of the three boys now carried Silver Notes worth at least ten taels.

They were carrying great treasures on their persons.

Now they only feared running into bandits blocking the road.

Though the odds of encountering bandits on an official road were small, quite a few people had carried bricks alongside them at Red Leaf Temple.

What if someone knew the three of them were carrying a fortune...

"Hehe, why are you three in such a hurry? Your brothers here have been a little short on cash lately. Lend us some money to spend."

With an unpleasant laugh, three young men with mocking expressions suddenly emerged from both sides and directly ahead.

"It's over. It's Li Hu and his two friends."

Wang Datou's face turned deathly pale, his whole body stiffening as his calves trembled.

Li Hu and the other two were notorious for wanting money more than their lives. Quite a few adults had been "borrowed from" by them while carrying stone on Red Leaf Mountain.

The three were ruthless and had no family ties to worry about. Even adults could not afford to provoke them.

The three of them? Wouldn't they be at the others' mercy, to be kneaded and pinched as they pleased?

"D-Don't be afraid. We're also th-three people..."

Li Xiaole claimed not to be afraid, but his trembling voice betrayed him.