Breaking the Fast

"Dezi, lend me some money, will you? One tael of silver will do." Thinking that Qian Wende had eaten quite a bit of his food lately, and believing the two of them had the best relationship in the dormitory, Jiao Kun turned to him.

"Borrow money? Brother Jiao, you're asking me for money?" Qian Wende made an exaggerated expression. "I don't even have enough for my own cultivation. I've stopped taking Black Essence Powder these past two days and started studying Martial Skills instead. I've been cleaned out for ages—I was just thinking of borrowing some from you!"

Jiao Kun believed Qian Wende did not have much money on him, but he did not believe the man could not scrape together even one tael of silver. Especially since Zhuang Jin and the others had returned from washing up and witnessed him asking for a loan only to be refused, making him feel utterly humiliated. Angrily, he said, "Fine, don't lend it to me. Why feed me all that crap? I'll just consider all the things I gave you these past few days as having been fed to a dog!"

"No, Brother Jiao, I really don't have any!" Qian Wende wore a wronged expression.

Jiao Kun turned away and said nothing more to Qian Wende. His gaze shifted to Zhuang Jin, Bi Kai, and Xiong Lei, who had just returned from washing up. Feeling that he was not particularly close to any of them, he hesitated before finally looking at Xiang Qichen. "Boss, can you lend me some money? I'll pay you back when I receive my Monthly Stipend on the first of next month."

As the dormitory boss, Xiang Qichen could not very well refuse. "Kun, how much do you need?"

"Two mace will do. Enough to buy two Black Fiend Palm Medicine Packs for practicing the Martial Skill these next couple of days." Seeing that there might be hope with Xiang Qichen, Jiao Kun hurriedly said.

"Fine." Xiang Qichen took out two mace of silver and handed them over. "Kun, weren't you doing pretty well for money? Why do you suddenly need to borrow some?"

Xiong Lei chimed in from the side, "Yeah. We got one tael as our Monthly Stipend, and didn't your family send you money too? We only went together to buy two doses of Black Essence Powder. I didn't see you buy anything else, aside from watching a show and getting some food. How are you broke already?"

Hearing their questions, Jiao Kun immediately reddened and stammered for a while before finally blurting it out—he had broken the fast today!

It turned out that after watching a play and listening to songs that afternoon, Jiao Kun had encountered a woman from a Half-Veiled Gate soliciting customers on the road. In a muddle, he had let her pull him inside. Well, Jiao Kun had not exactly refused all that firmly either. In short, he had slept with her.

Afterward, since it had been his first time, Jiao Kun had panicked. In a daze, he had pulled out every last coin on him and handed it over. Those women from the pleasure quarter would gladly take whatever a man dared to offer. Though after entering the sage state, Jiao Kun had quickly come to his senses and tried to get some of it back, how could meat that had entered someone's mouth be spat out again? Naturally, the woman refused.

Later, their argument had drawn over the men guarding the place. Feeling deeply embarrassed, Jiao Kun had even forgotten that he was a Martial Artist. He had pulled up his pants and fled with his tail between his legs.

"What? You gave her all two-plus taels of silver?!"

Upon hearing this, Qian Wende looked as though he himself had paid that much, his face filled with heartache and fury at iron for refusing to become steel. "Brother Jiao, are you stupid? When has a Half-Veiled Gate ever charged that much? Two-plus taels of silver would have been enough to pick out a fine one at a brothel. Sigh, if you'd invited me along, I wouldn't have let you suffer such a huge loss no matter what!"

Hearing Qian Wende's shameless words, Jiao Kun remembered how the man had refused to lend him money earlier. He merely shot him a glance and ignored him.

Seeing that the atmosphere had grown somewhat awkward, Xiong Lei stepped in to smooth things over and changed the subject. "Kun, so, uh... what did it feel like?"

He really was terribly curious. Though he had studied how male and female dogs did that sort of thing, he had never tried it himself. Besides, people and dogs were different. Now he wanted to hear about Jiao Kun's advanced experience.

Jiao Kun did not pull a face at Xiong Lei. He smacked his lips as though savoring the memory. "Well... it's hard to explain. It just felt good... Let me tell you, a woman's body feels like tofu when you touch it—soft and warm... It just happened a little too fast. After one shudder, there wasn't much feeling left."

"Fast? How fast?" The one who said this was unexpectedly Lin Hong.

Zhuang Jin watched the commotion from the side. At those words, he glanced at Lin Hong. Since Lin Hong had asked that, he probably had some experience. Zhuang Jin also recalled how Lin Hong had immediately recognized the pastries from You Ran House in Jiao Kun's hand a few days ago, as well as the man's spending habits these days. He secretly guessed that Lin Hong was probably the wealthiest among the eight dormitory residents.

"How fast?" Jiao Kun gestured with both hands. One hand formed a circle with thumb and forefinger, while the other hand's forefinger stuck into it. He said with unconscious, matter-of-fact certainty, "Isn't it just like this, then one shudder..."

"Haha, no wonder that old woman fleeced you so badly. Brother Jiao, it's not that I want to say it, but you need to practice properly. Otherwise, your future sister-in-law won't be able to enjoy herself." Qian Wende chuckled lewdly.

The others in the dormitory also burst out laughing, and for a moment the air was brimming with merriment.

Having broken the fast, lost his money, and found happiness, as well as borrowed two mace of silver from Xiang Qichen, Jiao Kun behaved himself much better over the next four or five days. He no longer gave himself a day off every day or two.

Besides Zhuang Jin, Xiang Qichen, and Lin Hong, who were still temporarily focusing every day on improving their Cultivation Realms, Xiong Lei, Bi Kai, and Wu Hao were not particularly flush with money and planned to take the Martial Skill route next month. These past few days, they had already stopped devoting their entire days to their Cultivation Realms and begun spending half their time studying the Black Fiend Palm.

As for Jiao Kun and Qian Wende, neither even had enough money for a dose of Black Essence Powder. These past few days, they had spent their entire days attempting to cultivate Martial Skills.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the month: November 30th.

That afternoon, inside a Quiet Room at the Training Ground, Zhuang Jin finished condensing the Inner Breath he had refined through Quiet Cultivation and opened his eyes. If it could be quantified, I've probably completed about one-third of the accumulation needed for the One Meridian Realm itself.

These days, including extra practice, he had cultivated for more than five hours each day. Although he was rapidly consuming Black Essence Powder, his progress was gratifying as well.

At this rate, I won't need to wait until the end of next month. Sometime in the latter half of the month, with several days to spare, I should be able to complete the One Meridian Realm's accumulation and break straight into the Second Meridian without any bottleneck!

Zhuang Jin silently calculated, a faint joy rising in his heart. He left the Quiet Room, intending to take some Black Essence Powder and continue refining it.

Outside, however, Xiang Qichen, Xiong Lei, and Lin Hong were already waiting for him. "Jinzi, you came out at just the right time. Don't practice anymore today. How about we go eat together later?"

Zhuang Jin glanced at the sun. "There's still some time before the meal. The cafeteria isn't open yet, is it?"

"Not the cafeteria. It's the last day of the month, and the eight of us in the dormitory haven't had a meal together yet. So Second, Fourth, and I discussed it—we're all going out to eat today, at a restaurant. What do you say, Fifth Boss?" Xiang Qichen said.

"I'm fine with it." In truth, Zhuang Jin did not want to go through the trouble and expense. It would be better to eat early at the cafeteria and gain more time to cultivate. But he also felt it would not be good to stand out too much. Then, on second thought, his finances had become a little more comfortable lately, and he had indeed kept himself taut and trained hard for an entire month. One had to know when to tighten and when to loosen; relaxing a little today would be fine.

But then something suddenly occurred to him, and he secretly shook his head. They might not get to eat this meal after all.