Ye Wudao heard Hu Lianfeng's words and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.
It was already five thirty in the evening. It really was dinnertime.
It was just that back at the detention center, everyone went to the cafeteria to eat together.
He looked at Hu Lianfeng and asked, "Master, it's already this late. Why haven't the guards come to open the door and take us to dinner?"
Hu Lianfeng paused, then smiled. "We don't go to the cafeteria for our meals. The guards bring them to us."
Ye Wudao pursed his lips, thinking, The treatment in Cell No. 1 is this good?
Before long, the clatter of keys sounded outside.
Ye Wudao stared eagerly at the cell door and licked his lips.
He wondered what the food was like in this special Cell No. 1.
At the detention center, breakfast had been two steamed buns, lunch one meat dish and one vegetable dish, and dinner cabbage, radishes, and potatoes.
For someone his age, still growing, those meals without a trace of fat had been severely lacking in nutrition.
Besides, he didn't know if it was because of his training, but he felt ravenous now, as though his stomach had caved into his back.
As the door to Cell No. 1 opened, a guard pushed in a small, three-tiered food cart.
Every tier was covered with plates.
Braised pork knuckle, steamed chicken, braised pork, steamed fish, roasted lamb chops...
At a glance, every dish was meat. There wasn't a single vegetable dish, or even any rice.
"Gentlemen, dinner's here!"
After pushing the cart inside, the guard spoke softly.
Then he glanced at Ye Wudao and said, "Inmate No. 4567, come with me to the cafeteria."
Ye Wudao froze, then stood up.
He'd thought he would eat in Cell No. 1!
He hadn't expected that he would still have to eat in the communal cafeteria.
Just then, Hu Lianfeng stood up and said, "He'll eat here. Go prepare another portion."
The guard gave Ye Wudao a surprised look, then smiled ingratiatingly at Hu Lianfeng. "Elder Hu, that wouldn't be in keeping with the rules, would it? He's just an ordinary person. How can he enjoy the same treatment as you three?"
Hu Lianfeng narrowed his eyes, his white brows drawing together into a knot. "What? My word doesn't count?"
"I've already taken Ye Wudao as my disciple. From now on, you'll provide him with food and drink, too."
"If you don't think that's acceptable, tell your warden to come speak to me."
The guard pursed his lips and glanced at Ye Wudao again. "I'll go ask the warden."
Hu Lianfeng snorted. "Go on, then!"
"I'll give my portion to my disciple for now."
"Listen here. If I don't get dinner tonight, I'll tear this prison apart."
Hearing that, the guard hurried out. He didn't even lock the cell door behind him.
Watching the guard rush away, Hu Lianfeng spat in disdain.
Then he picked up a plate of pork knuckle and came over to Ye Wudao. "Eat, disciple!"
"You've only just started cultivating. You need to replenish yourself with plenty of meat."
"Eating is important on the Martial Path. You mustn't go hungry, or you'll damage your body."
"Whenever you're hungry, just tell me. I'll have the prison bring you something to eat."
Ye Wudao accepted the plate of pork knuckle from Hu Lianfeng. In that instant, his eyes grew hot.
He even wondered if he had been judging a gentleman by the standards of a petty man.
But then another thought occurred to him.
Wasn't Hu Lianfeng making sure he ate well so he could cultivate properly?
Still, it was best to be wary of others. Only when he reached Houtian Lesser Accomplishment would the truth come to light.
If Hu Lianfeng wasn't planning to use him as a furnace, then he would accept him as his master for good!
Holding the plate of pork knuckle, he asked Hu Lianfeng, "This knuckle's so big. It wouldn't be right for me to eat it all by myself, would it?"
"What about the other two seniors? They haven't eaten, either!"
Hu Lianfeng smiled. "Elder Qin no longer eats mortal food. There's enough here for the three of us, anyway."
After saying that, he glanced at the middle-aged man. "Zhang Hankuang, you don't mind my disciple eating this pork knuckle, do you?"
The one-eyed middle-aged man shrugged. "It's not every day that you, Old Ghost Hu, ask me so politely. It's just a pork knuckle. Let him eat it!"
"I, Zhang Hankuang, am not a stingy man. A youngster who's just stepped onto the Martial Path needs to build up his strength. Would I really begrudge him some food?"
Then he changed tack and said quietly, "But I'm warning you: if you're taking him to the Rift tonight, you'd better keep him safe."
"If anything happens, don't come asking me for help!"
Hu Lianfeng pursed his lips. "You don't need to worry about that. I can protect my own disciple."
Then he turned to Ye Wudao. "Hurry up and eat. Get some good rest afterward!"
Ye Wudao nodded, picked up the pork knuckle, and devoured it.
His stomach felt like a bottomless pit that could swallow anything.
He had eaten halfway through the pork knuckle when the guard who had just left came back in, pushing a single-tier food cart.
Once again, it was piled high with meat dishes. Not a single vegetable was in sight.
After parking the cart, the guard cautiously walked over to Hu Lianfeng and said softly, "Elder Hu, the warden asked me to ask you something."
"Since Ye Wudao is enjoying the treatment of Cell No. 1, does that mean he'll also have to go to the Rift and kill monsters?"
Hu Lianfeng raised an eyebrow and snorted. "Don't worry. I'll take him there."
"Make sure your warden understands: since Ye Wudao is going to the Rift, he'll be subject to the Rift's reward and punishment system. If he can kill monsters, his sentence will definitely be reduced."
The guard nodded quickly. "You can rest assured. We'll follow the rules."
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going!"
With that, he turned and headed out of the cell, as if afraid to spend another second inside.
Hearing their conversation, Ye Wudao stopped eating. After the guard left, he looked at Hu Lianfeng curiously and asked, "Master, what is the Rift? And what are monsters? You can reduce your sentence by killing monsters?"
Hu Lianfeng took a steamed chicken from the newly arrived cart and said softly, "You'll find out when you go tonight. It's not something I can explain clearly in a few words."
"Wait a bit. I'll teach you a set of boxing techniques. You'll need some way to protect yourself when you get there."
"Eat first, then hurry up and rest. After an hour, I'll teach you the techniques."
Ye Wudao pursed his lips. From the conversation between Hu Lianfeng and the guard, he'd heard quite a few things that didn't sit right with him.
In particular, what Hu Lianfeng and Zhang Hankuang had said earlier had made him uneasy.
The "Rift" they spoke of seemed to be an extremely dangerous place.
It was dangerous enough that even Hu Lianfeng, a Houtian Great Accomplishment martial expert, might not be able to protect him.
But there was something else that caught his attention.
The guard had said that killing monsters could shorten his sentence.
He just didn't know what kind of monsters the guard meant.
He'd played a few games and seen monsters in some fantasy games.
He wondered whether the monsters the guard mentioned were the kind he had in mind.
He chewed on the pork knuckle as he thought.
He felt both eager and nervous.
After finishing the pork knuckle, he rubbed his stomach and looked at Hu Lianfeng. "Master, can I have a little more?"
Hu Lianfeng burst into hearty laughter. "Ha ha! Go ahead!"
"The food they brought is enough for one person, but Elder Qin hardly eats any of it. We usually can't finish it all."
"If you can eat more, then eat more. Once you enter the Body Tempering Realm, you'll often feel hungry. Sometimes you'll have to tough it out by burning the fat and muscle stored in your body."
"When you're just starting to practice martial arts, eating a little extra can't hurt."
Ye Wudao nodded, went over to the cart, picked up a bowl of braised pork, and wolfed it down in big chunks.
He couldn't help it. He was just too hungry.
That whole pork knuckle had gone down, and he still didn't feel the slightest bit full.
At last, he understood why people said the poor studied while the rich practiced martial arts.
If an ordinary family tried to practice martial arts, they probably couldn't even afford to put food on the table every day.
Before you continue