"Ah..."
Casio woke up with his hands clinging to his head. His skull was throbbing in pain, his face numb and swollen. It wasn't just his head that hurt, his entire body was in considerable agony as well.
He dropped his hands, wrapped in bandages and gritted his teeth to raise his head.
This was a bare white room, the walls devoid of decorations, exceedingly simplistic in design. A yellow-brown bedside table stood to his right, two wildflowers, one red, one yellow, were plugged in a vase.
On his left was a half-opened window; the embroidered curtain was pulled to one side. A golden rectangle of sunlight bathed the bed.
Casio sniffed the air, a fragrant aroma filled his nostrils.
When he looked towards the window, restless waves of green pine stretched outside, leaves tender green under the sunshine.
He shook his head, his bewildering gaze slowly regained clarity.
"Did I kill someone?"
Casio recalled how during the rainy night, his uncontrollable rage swept over his mind, his fists persistently battering into Finn's head.
There was a very real possibility that he might have killed him!
"Ah. I am close to death myself, and still worrying if I have killed someone. How pretentious." Casio internally scolded himself, fully aware that in the real world, he was on the brink of death.
He took a deep breath to suppress the pain in his body.
Casio glanced at the pendant sign in his field of vision. It has turned a faint gold, a stark contrast to its initial state.
Did it mean he had fulfilled Li Wei's obsession?
Casio made a mental guess.
Turning his gaze, a long, thermometer-like scale on his right enlarged instantly in front of his eyes. It had four primary markings, each containing twenty-nine smaller ones.
Now, one of the smaller markings had disappeared.
"Does this represent a day that has passed? Then there are a total of 120 smaller markings here, doesn't that represent 120 days?"
Casio mumbled to himself, his eyes progressively sparkling.
Casio knew from Li Wei's memories that the Wind Elephant Gate was a martial arts school that focused on developing the human physical limit. If practiced skillfully, martial art techniques could even compare to small firearms.
One hundred and twenty days, a total of four months. Maybe he would not reach that level, but he could learn some skills for quick bursts and evasions. Combining this with the physical qualities that could be brought back to reality... perhaps the problem could be solved.
As he was deep in thought, the door was suddenly opened.
A pretty young girl dressed in a grey-white training suit walked in from outside. Hugged tightly by her training suit, the shape of her well-developed youthful figure was clearly discernable. She had white, soft skin, high nose, her black hair tied into a ponytail resting on her shoulders.
Upon locking eyes with Casio, the girl couldn't help but her eyes turn red. She sobbed as she walked over.
"Little Wei, I'm sorry...."
Looking at the submissive demeanor of Li Chu, Casio understood that the sight of him wrapped in bandages caused guilt in her.
"Why are you apologizing to me? It should be those three bastards who should apologize to you. Speaking of which, how are they now?"
Casio steered the discussion away and casually asked a question.
"That person named Finn, his face is swollen from the beating. He screamed in pain all day. He was still screaming just a while ago." As Li Chu spoke, she sneaked a glance at her brother. Pride was oddly mixed in her gaze?
She originally enjoyed some schadenfreude but then realized Li Wei was also severely injured. Li Chu's mood once again fell low.
It was herself who called for help too late.
"Didn't kill him? It seems this body is too weak.."
Casio lifted his slender hands. A large reason for Li Wei's cowardly nature was his weak stature. In a one-on-one fight, he couldn't even beat some of the physically mature girls.
The guy Finn, who was beaten up last night, was about half head taller than Li Wei and much more robust. The reason he got ground and pounded was firstly, he was caught off guard in the beginning, and secondly, Casio was ruthless, acting like a maniac, which scared him!
When fighting people, one has to fight with momentum. Especially when one is outnumbered or weaker. Catch one of the leaders and hammer him intensely. If someone beats me, I'll beat you! Anyone would be afraid.
Next, Li Chu sat on the chair next to the patient bed. As she talked to Casio, she peeled fruit. There was some sentiment in her heart. In the past, she was the one taking care of her innocent younger brother, Li Wei. Now, her brother could go all out to protect his sister.
Comfort, gratitude, warmth, a mix of every feeling was present.
From Li Chu's descriptions and some of Li Wei's memories, Casio gained a general understanding of this era.
The real world was a time approximately around World War II in his previous life. Things such as airplanes, artillery, and tanks were mastered. But it seemed that missiles and nuclear bombs had not yet appeared.
The people's living standard was akin to the mid-twentieth century.
The era Casio was experiencing through the Ivory pendant was seventy years prior to this, about 1880. Early stage of the second Industrial Revolution, a period where cold and hot weapons co-existed.
Martial Arts was still a feasible occupation, assassination, combat, melee. In close quarters combat, even the sharpest shooter would falter.
Of course, that had something to do with the backwardness of weaponry in this era.
In the real world, Casio had seen very few martial arts halls. Most of them were promoting physical fitness.
In face of hot weapons, Martial arts inevitably declined.
And Wind Elephant Gate was a school that preserved this martial art tradition. They set their headquarters in suburban Oak City and had several martial arts halls in the Urban Area.
They held Youth Training Camps in suburban Oak City, selecting talents from the whole of North Flow Country. Li Wei and Li Chu were such apprentices.
"Knock Knock Knock..." A series of knocks resounded from outside.
A female instructor dressed in beige training suit walked in. She had a pair of eye-catching long legs. Her figure was explosively full and attractive. Her facial features weren't bad either, but a scar on her left cheek marred her overall beauty.
A rectangular brass nameplate hung on her chest.
On it was written: Lixia.
"Li Chu, you should go outside for a bit."
The voice of Instructor Lixia was a bit hoarse, but not unpleasant.
Li Chu glanced at her brother, then at the instructor, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "All right, I'll wait outside the door."
With a soft click, the door was gently closed.
Instructor Lixia approached Casio step by step, her gaze scanning him from top to bottom as if assessing his injuries. She nodded.
"It's not a severe injury. Applying some special medicinal liquor should do the trick in few days. Also, you're going to be a model case. For one week, double the training volume, you can raise your objections now."
Lixia folded her arms across her chest.
There was a faint scent of fragrance permeating the bedside.
Casio was startled for a moment, but soon understood what Instructor Lixia meant. There was rule in the Youth Training Camp. When a fight happened, regardless of the circumstances both sides would receive a special treatment for seven days, ordinarily reflected as a doubling of training load.