"You, you are...?"
The boy stared in astonishment at the skeleton he had never cared for.
"Ababa, ababa."
The skeleton merely moved its upper and lower jaws, then held out the potato in its hand again.
The boy glanced at the potato and hurriedly accepted it with both hands, wolfing it down. With a soul that had lived for more than thirty years inside him, tears gradually welled up in his eyes.
It was that crucial potato that had carried him through his darkest days.
As spring arrived, his illness gradually got better as well.
Though the things the system had made him learn could not turn him into some awesome figure, he had treated those minor skills as little crafts for making a living.
The winters that followed still did not offer lavish feasts of fish and meat, but at least when he gnawed on potatoes, he could add one or two sweet potatoes.
Spring went, autumn came, year after year.
Master and servant lived by relying on each other like that.
The boy of old had become a young man. Many of the city's old residents had moved away, while the new arrivals were not as cold and indifferent as the former ones. From time to time, they came by the Martial Arts Hall, bringing a few local vegetables.
One day.
Aunt Li from the east of the city came to the door carrying a rolling pin, cursing at the top of her lungs.
"Whoever's inside, get the hell out here!"
"If you don't come out, I'll tear down this lousy Martial Arts Hall of yours!"
The curses outside the door filled the young man with fury.
"You old hag, what are you yelling for?"
The young man came out with his hands on his hips.
"Do you