Zhang the Cripple's Trial

The sky had barely brightened when a clamor erupted outside the temple.

Li Xuan jolted awake almost instantly, but he remained curled up in the pile of straw, his eyes only half-open.

The temple door creaked open, and the wind and snow poured in.

A man in his forties walked in, his left leg slightly lame, causing him to limp with each step.

He wore an old leather jacket, and a scar ran from his brow bone to the corner of his mouth, his sharp eyes sweeping over everyone in the temple.

All the refugees who met his gaze lowered their heads.

It was Zhang the Cripple!!!

He didn't speak, first walking to the bonfire to warm his hands.

The firelight illuminated his face, the scar looking like a centipede crawling across it.

The temple was so quiet you could hear snowflakes landing.

After a dozen breaths, Zhang the Cripple finally spoke, his voice as hoarse as a broken bellows:

"Black Stone City, Iron Fist martial arts school, is recruiting laborers in three days."

"I have ten spots here."

He paused, letting the words sink into the refugees' minds.

Some began to breathe heavily, some clenched their fists, but no one dared to make a sound.

"Three conditions," Zhang the Cripple held up three fingers, pressing them down one by one:

"One, lift a fifty-jin stone lock and press it overhead ten times."

"Two, retrieve a token from the dead tree three miles away and return within half an incense stick's burn."

"Three, withstand three of my punches without falling."

He lowered his hand, his gaze sweeping over the crowd again. "Those who pass, I'll recommend. But—" he didn't finish, but the implication was clear.

Li Xuan's heart pounded.

A chance! A chance he absolutely had to seize!

But his current condition...

Even more importantly—withstand three of Zhang the Cripple's punches?!

He looked at Zhang the Cripple.

The man's temples bulged slightly, his stance like a stake driven into the ground. His breathing was long and even, completely different from those burly men who relied solely on brute force.

"Those who've decided within an hour, come report your names to me," Zhang the Cripple sat down, a stone brought over by his subordinate serving as a stool.

The refugees exchanged glances.

A few of the relatively strong men hesitated before stepping forward, eight in total.

Li Xuan took a deep breath and also stood up.

Zhang the Cripple's gaze swept over him, paused for a moment, then moved on.

"Make a note of him," he said to the burly man beside him.

The burly man made a mark on a tattered notebook.

"Three days from now, same place. For now... disperse."

The crowd broke up.

Today, Li Xuan was assigned to the southern gully to gather firewood. It was the most dangerous task, but if the firewood was of good quality, he might be able to exchange it for an extra half bowl of gruel.

He was accompanied by three others, all young men.

No one spoke on the way, each keeping their heads down and hurrying along.

The southern gully was about two miles away, a shaded mountain ravine with dense trees and deeper snow.

Li Xuan chopped dead branches while calculating.

Three days. He needed to recover his body as much as possible within these three days.

Status panel now:

[Li Xuan]

[Strength: 0.6]

[Agility: 0.55]

[Stamina: 0.73]

[Spirit: 1.4]

[Cultivation Method: None]

[Potential: 0]

The fever hadn't completely subsided, his head still felt heavy, and his leg injury sent waves of pain with every step.

First, I need to get rid of this fever and treat my wounds before I can even think about getting stronger.

He observed the tracks in the snow. Animal footprints, droppings, gnawed marks...

"Look over there!" a man traveling with him suddenly whispered.

Li Xuan followed his gaze. On the snowy slope about twenty paces away, a white figure flashed past.

A Snow Fox.

It wasn't large, but it was incredibly agile, and its fur could fetch a decent price.

More importantly, it was alive.

"Should we chase it?" another man asked.

"Chase my ass, Snow Foxes are fast and don't have much meat," the first man spat. "Let's hurry up and chop wood. We need to get back before dark."

The three of them continued their work.

But Li Xuan remembered the direction.

Around noon, the three men sat under a tree eating their dry rations.

Li Xuan chewed slowly, his eyes never leaving the snowy slope.

He saw footprints.

Fresh ones, leading from the slope into a deeper mountain gully.

"I'm going to check over there," he said, standing up. "Looks like there's a dead tree."

The others didn't care what he was planning to do, only casually saying, "Hurry back."

Li Xuan, dragging his injured leg, followed the footprints deeper into the woods.

The further he went, the denser the trees became, and his heart beat faster.

This wasn't a good idea. Going alone and encountering a wild beast would be certain death.

But he didn't want to miss this chance. He didn't want to remain a refugee forever.

After rounding a large boulder, he saw it.

The Snow Fox was about thirty paces away, gnawing on the bark of a small tree.

It was entirely white, with only a tiny black spot on the tip of its nose, its ears pricked up alertly.

Li Xuan held his breath and slowly crouched down.

He had no ranged weapons, so he could only approach slowly.

He moved inch by inch, using the trees for cover.

Twenty paces... fifteen paces... ten paces.

Suddenly, the Snow Fox lifted its head, its black eyes staring directly in his direction.

Li Xuan froze instantly.

One second... two seconds...

The Snow Fox lowered its head and continued gnawing on the bark.

Li Xuan continued to approach.

Eight paces... six paces... four paces... it was now within pouncing distance.

He took a deep breath and lunged forward!

The Snow Fox jumped up in surprise, turning to flee.

But Li Xuan was faster... or rather, he had predicted its escape route.

He didn't lunge at the Snow Fox's current position, but at the path it was likely to take.

He crashed onto the Snow Fox, his hands clamping down tightly on its neck.

The Snow Fox struggled wildly, its sharp teeth drawing bloody streaks across his arm.

Li Xuan gritted his teeth, pinning its body with his knee, and applied force with his hands--

A faint cracking sound, the Snow Fox twitched a few times, and then went still.

Li Xuan collapsed onto the snow, gasping for air.

His arm burned like fire, crisscrossed with three or four cuts, blood seeping out.

The high fever made his vision blur in waves; the burst of effort earlier had nearly exhausted his remaining strength.

His leg injury throbbed with sharper, stabbing pains due to the strenuous movement.

But he couldn't afford to worry about any of that. His first action was to check his status panel.

[Potential: 0.05].

More than the rock mouse.

As expected, stronger creatures provided more potential.

Survival is always a creature's first choice; everything else ranks behind it.

He didn't hesitate to put all his points into Stamina.

[Stamina: 0.78].

A warm, gentle current surged from his heart and quickly flowed to every limb and organ.

The groggy, cotton-stuffed dizziness in his head was rapidly fading.

Although he still felt a bit weak, his mind was much clearer. The pain from the wound on his arm remained, but the bleeding seemed to have stopped.

A moment later

He quickly processed the Snow Fox carcass and hid it in his clothes.

Returning to the woodcutting spot, the other two had already bundled their firewood.

"Why did it take so long? Did you fall?" one of the men saw the wound on his arm.

"Yeah, I slipped."

"Be careful."

Back at the ruined temple, they handed in the firewood. The quality was good, and the Burly Man counting it glanced at him more than once: "The firewood's good today."

Li Xuan lowered his head and said nothing.

Zhang the Cripple happened to be coming out of the temple, his gaze sweeping over the refugees lining up to hand in firewood.

His eyes lingered on Li Xuan for a moment, then he walked over to the Burly Man counting and whispered something.

The Burly Man nodded, and after Li Xuan handed in his firewood, he said, "Starting tomorrow, you'll go to the eastern woods."

That was where Zhang the Cripple personally led people to work. The labor was harder, but they occasionally got a bit of meat broth.

The refugees nearby all looked over with complex expressions.

Li Xuan's heart tightened, but his face remained impassive: "Yes."

He didn't know if this meant Zhang the Cripple favored him, or something else entirely.