A Brief Respite (PK, Please Keep Reading!!!)

A Brief Respite (PK, Please Keep Reading!!!)

"Come in!"

Outside the door.

A somewhat aged voice rang out.

Jiang Ning slowly pushed open the back courtyard gate.

Just as he had yesterday, he saw Wang Jin, a man around fifty, lying peacefully in a wicker chair and basking in the sun, looking like an ordinary old farmer.

Other than Li Qing not being at Wang Jin's side, everything looked the same as yesterday.

"Master!" Jiang Ning gave a slight salute.

"What brings you to me at this hour?" Wang Jin asked.

Jiang Ning said respectfully, "I want to stay at the martial academy long-term and find some work to do! I don't need wages!"

"Find work? Why?" Wang Jin was somewhat curious.

Jiang Ning pondered for a moment before speaking. "Someone outside the martial academy wants to deal with me."

"I see!" Wang Jin nodded, then continued, "In that case, stay here! After training every day, go chop firewood in the back courtyard. Can you accept that?"

"Yes!!" Jiang Ning nodded, delight rising in his heart.

"No wages, but food and lodging will be provided. Can you accept that?" Wang Jin asked again.

"Yes!!" Jiang Ning nodded once more, then cupped his hands. "Thank you for your great kindness, Master!!!"

Wang Jin narrowed his eyes, deepening the wrinkles on his face. Then he waved a hand. "Off you go!"

He added another reminder. "Train well. As long as you master the Five Animals Fist, if anyone wants to deal with you, just beat them to death! The true core of the Five Animals Fist lies in cultivating all five animals together. Once you reach a certain level, your strength will not be weak!"

"Yes, this disciple understands!" Jiang Ning bowed.

After leaving the back courtyard.

A smile appeared on Jiang Ning's face, and the heart he had been holding in suspense finally settled.

As long as he could stay at the martial academy, his safety would be secure for the time being.

Even in all of Luoshui County, Blue-Wave Martial Academy was one of the safest places.

[Five Animals Fist experience +2]

After practicing the fist routine once and using up the stamina he had recovered at noon, Jiang Ning immediately took out that wild ginseng.

Time was pressing now, so naturally he would not be stingy with the wild ginseng.

With every step his fist technique advanced and every additional wisp of vital blood condensed, his strength would increase by another measure.

Another tenth of the wild ginseng went down his throat.

Jiang Ning felt waves of warmth flow through his body. Supported by the medicine's potency, his heart beat with greater force and vigor, and his energy gradually became abundant.

He began practicing his fist routine right there in the front courtyard.

[Five Animals Fist experience +1]

[Five Animals Fist experience +1]

[This practice of Five Animals Fist increased Five Animals Fist experience by a total of 10 points.]

Jiang Ning spent the entire afternoon practicing his fist routine.

In the middle of it, he went out once to bid farewell to his elder brother, Jiang Li, and tell him that the academy master had agreed to let him stay at the martial academy long-term.

After returning, Jiang Ning continued practicing.

He did not stop until the sun set and the martial academy's medicinal broth had finished brewing.

[Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Beginner 26/100)

A quarter of the way there.

Looking at the changes on the panel, Jiang Ning was quite excited.

Having reached this stage in the Five Animals Fist, the total amount of vital blood power in his body had reached more than twenty wisps. When those twenty-odd wisps of vital blood power gathered in his right arm, Jiang Ning could feel that the force he could unleash had grown even stronger.

He arrived at the back kitchen courtyard.

Jiang Ning picked up a bowl of medicinal broth.

Gulp—

Gulp—

After several large gulps, the bowl of medicinal broth had entirely entered his stomach.

Once the broth entered his belly, his body rapidly absorbed it. Warmth began spreading through his entire body, and the fatigue in every limb and bone steadily receded.

Just as he closed his eyes to feel the changes in his body, a booming voice rang out.

"Who's Jiang Ning?"

Jiang Ning opened his eyes and looked over. It was the auntie in charge of the martial academy's back kitchen.

She wore an apron, and her stout build was as thick as a water barrel. Her entire body was covered in dense, solid muscle. At a glance, she weighed at least two hundred pounds, and such a physique naturally carried an air of oppression.

Wiping water stains from her apron, she repeatedly swept her gaze through the crowd.

"That's me!!" Jiang Ning quickly replied.

"So you're the kid!" The burly auntie looked Jiang Ning over several times, then clicked her tongue. "You're quite handsome, but there isn't much flesh on you. Can you handle heavy work?"

"I can!" Jiang Ning said confidently.

"Fine, then come with me!!"

The two left and headed toward the small courtyard next door, while low murmurs rose behind them.

"Does anyone know who he is? Why is Auntie Sun looking for him?"

"Who knows? Junior Brother, why don't you ask Auntie Sun?"

Hearing those three words, the man's neck shrank slightly, and he waved his hands again and again. "Forget it!"

Upon entering the neighboring courtyard, Jiang Ning immediately saw rows of pork legs drying in the open space. Having been baked under the sun all day, the dripping grease beneath them had soaked the ground.

Those pork legs had clearly been smoked and fire-roasted as well. Even from several meters away, he could smell wave after wave of meat fragrance.

Extravagant, truly extravagant!!

Jiang Ning's throat moved as he secretly swallowed, inwardly criticizing the martial academy's wasteful behavior.

In his previous life, cured and air-dried meat was nothing special, merely food that ordinary households stored away.

But in this world, where salt and iron were controlled, salt was a relatively precious daily necessity. Ordinary families could not bear to waste even a single grain of it.

There was no need to mention meat. For common households, it was difficult to taste even a few bites of meat over the course of an entire year.

For martial artists, salt and meat were even more indispensable.

To him, the martial academy's way of preparing food was simply a reckless waste of heaven's gifts.

"Heh, little fellow, you're drooling from looking at it, aren't you?" Seeing Jiang Ning's fixed stare, Auntie Sun laughed, the fleshy folds on her face trembling.

Jiang Ning smiled awkwardly and nodded slightly.

"Want some?" Auntie Sun smiled.

"Yes!" Jiang Ning answered honestly.

At those words, Auntie Sun's expression went blank for a moment. When she came back to herself, she shook her head slightly. "You're quite straightforward, little fellow."

Jiang Ning immediately revealed a bright, sunny smile.

"Such a resemblance!!"

Looking at Jiang Ning's smile, Auntie Sun's expression became absent again.

Steadying herself, she said to Jiang Ning, "Little fellow, come with me!"

"All right, Sis!!"

"Who are you calling Sis!" A faint flush inexplicably crossed Auntie Sun's face. "I'm already past thirty, nearly forty. My surname is Sun. Just call me Auntie Sun from now on!"

"That won't do!" Jiang Ning shook his head. "Calling you Auntie isn't appropriate. How could Sister Sun be that old? How about I call you Big Sister from now on instead!"

"Do as you like!" Auntie Sun said with an indifferent expression, though an unnatural smile appeared between her brows.

Auntie Sun led Jiang Ning to a lean-to in one corner of the courtyard.

She pointed at the mountain-like pile of wood beneath it.

"By Academy Master Wang's orders, all the firewood-chopping work will be yours from now on! Your little body can handle it, right?"

"No problem!" Jiang Ning nodded repeatedly as he looked at the piled wood ahead.

"Since there's no problem, get to work! I need to prepare dinner!!" Auntie Sun said.

"All right, Big Sister!" Jiang Ning said.

Arriving before the chopping block, Jiang Ning picked up a thick, round log more than forty centimeters long.

"That's heavy!" He looked at the thick log in his hands with mild surprise.

It's so heavy—the wood quality of this log isn't ordinary!! he thought, slightly astonished.

Then he placed the thick log on the chopping block.

After looking around, he found only a woodcutting knife around fifty centimeters long, with a thick spine.

Looks like there isn't an axe!

Jiang Ning silently said to himself. He picked up the woodcutting knife and weighed it in his hand, immediately judging that it weighed over five jin.

A real test of strength!

At that moment, Jiang Ning understood why Big Sister Sun had just asked whether he could manage.

The thick, heavy logs combined with this five-jin woodcutting knife undoubtedly made for demanding physical labor.

The next chapter will be tomorrow night at 8. Today's PK trial recommendation has me even more nervous than my first book. This book got its trial recommendation too early, so I'm at a disadvantage.

(End of Chapter)