"Come in!"
Outside.
An elder's voice transmitted through the air.
Jiang Ning also slowly pushed open the gate to the backyard.
Just as the day before, he saw the roughly fifty-year-old Wang Jin comfortably lying in a rattan chair, basking in the sun, looking just like an ordinary, elderly farmer.
Except Wang Jin's side lacked Sister Li Qing from the day before, everything else seemed the same.
"Master!" Jiang Ning bowed slightly in respect.
"You've come to see me at this hour, is there anything you need?" Wang Jin spoke up.
Jiang Ning replied with proper reverence, "I would like to reside at the Martial Arts Hall permanently and seek a job! I do not require wages!"
"A job? Why?" Wang Jin asked with some curiosity.
After contemplation for one breath, Jiang Ning answered, "There are people outside the Martial Arts Hall who want to harm me."
"I see!" Wang Jin nodded his head and continued to speak, "In that case, you may stay! After your daily training, would you be willing to chop wood in the backyard?"
"I am!" Jiang Ning nodded, a surge of joy filling his heart.
"You won't receive wages, but you will be provided food and lodging, is that acceptable?" Wang Jin asked further.
"I am!" Jiang Ning nodded once more and with hands clasped, said, "Thank you so much for your great kindness, Master!!!"
Wang Jin's eyes narrowed slightly, revealing wrinkles, and the skin on his face became furrowed too; he then waved his hand, "Then, go on down!"
He followed up with another piece of advice, "Train hard in martial arts. As long as you master the Five Animals Fist well, if anyone tries to harm you, simply fight them off with it! The true core of Five Animals Cultivation is the coordinated practice of all five animals. Once you reach a certain level of refinement, your strength will no doubt be formidable!"
"Yes, disciple understands!" Jiang Ning bowed deeply.
...
Exiting the backyard.
A faint smile graced Jiang Ning's face, and the anxiety in his heart subsided.
Being able to live at the Martial Arts Hall meant his personal safety was temporarily worry-free.
Canglang Martial Arts Hall, even in the whole of Luoshui County, was one of the safest places.
[Five Animals Fist Experience Value +2]
After practicing the boxing technique, expending the energy recovered at noon, Jiang Ning directly took out that piece of Wild Ginseng.
With time pressing, he naturally did not stint on consuming the Wild Ginseng.
With every advancement in his boxing skills, and with every bit of Qi-Blood he condensed, his strength increased a fraction more.
Another tenth of the total volume of Wild Ginseng was consumed.
Jiang Ning then felt a surge of warmth course through his body, and with the support of the Medicinal Power, his heart's beat felt more powerful and vigorous, with his energy gradually returning in full force.
He also began to practice boxing directly in the front yard.
[Five Animals Fist Experience Value +1]
...
[Five Animals Fist Experience Value +1]
...
[After this session of Five Animals Fist training, the cumulative gain in Experience Value is 10 points.]
Jiang Ning spent the entire afternoon practicing the boxing technique.
In the middle, he also took a break to bid farewell to his elder brother, Jiang Li, and informed him that the Martial Arts Hall director had agreed to his prolonged stay.
Upon his return, Jiang Ning continued his boxing training.
Only when the sun set and the prepared medicinal soup at the Martial Arts Hall was ready did he finally stop.
[Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Beginner 26/100)
A quarter of the way there.
Looking at the change on the panel, Jiang Ning was quite excited.
With his Five Animals Fist reaching this stage, the overall strength of his Qi Blood Power also increased to about twenty strands. With twenty strands of Qi Blood Power converging in his right arm, Jiang Ning could feel the force he could exert becoming stronger.
...
Arriving at the yard behind the kitchen.
Jiang Ning picked up a bowl of medicinal soup.
Gulp—
Gulp—
After a few big gulps, the bowl of medicinal soup was completely downed.
As the soup entered his stomach and was quickly absorbed, his body began emanating warmth, and the fatigue in his limbs and bones gradually receded.
As he closed his eyes to feel the changes in his body, a resounding voice rang out.
"Who is Jiang Ning?"
Jiang Ning opened his eyes to see that it was the robust cook in charge of the kitchen at the Martial Arts Hall.
She was wearing an apron, her figure solid and comparable to a water barrel, her body covered in thick, muscular flesh, and at first glance, she appeared to weigh at least two hundred pounds, her stature naturally imposing a sense of oppression.
She wiped the water stains on her apron, her eyes sweeping repeatedly through the crowd.
"I am!" Jiang Ning hurriedly spoke up.
"So it's you, kid!" The sturdy cook gave Jiang Ning several looks up and down and clicked her tongue, "You've got a pretty face, but hardly any meat on your bones. Can you handle heavy work?"
"I can!" Jiang Ning said confidently.
"Alright then, follow me!"
As the two left, they headed toward the small courtyard next door, with whispers from the crowd trailing behind them.
"Do any of you know him? What does Aunt Sun want with him?"
"Who knows, junior brother, why don't you go ask Aunt Sun?"
Hearing those three words, the person's neck shrank slightly, and he quickly waved his hands, "Forget it!"
...
Coming to the adjacent courtyard, Jiang Ning immediately saw rows of pig legs drying on the open ground, the grease dripping down from them due to being sunbaked all day, soaking the ground.
Moreover, these pig legs had clearly been smoked, and even from several meters away, the fragrance of the meat could be smelled.
"What extravagance, such extravagance!"
Jiang Ning swallowed quietly, silently criticizing the Martial Arts Hall's wasteful practices in his heart.
Preserved and dried meat were commonplace in his previous life, merely a regular means of food storage.
But in this world, where salt and iron were regulated, salt was a precious commodity, and ordinary households could hardly afford to waste a single grain.
Not to mention meat, which ordinary families rarely got to enjoy throughout the year.
For martial artists, salt and meat were essential for their diet.
The way the Martial Arts Hall handled ingredients seemed to Jiang Ning like a sheer waste.
"Hey, little guy, drooling over there, aren't you?" Seeing Jiang Ning's fixed gaze, the robust Aunt Sun chuckled, her cheek flesh trembling.
Jiang Ning gave a sheepish smile and nodded slightly.
"Do you want to eat?" Aunt Sun smiled.
"I do!" Jiang Ning spoke sincerely.
Hearing this, Aunt Sun seemed momentarily stunned, then shaking her head after coming back to her senses, "You're quite straightforward, aren't you?"
Jiang Ning immediately flashed a sunny smile.
"Just like him!"
Looking at Jiang Ning's smile, Aunt Sun seemed lost in thought once again.
Pulling herself together, she said to Jiang Ning, "Little guy, come with me!"
"Okay, Sister!"
"What sister!" Aunt Sun's cheeks flushed mysteriously, "I'm well past thirty, nearly forty. My last name is Sun, just call me Aunt Sun from now on!"
"That doesn't seem right," Jiang Ning shook his head, "Calling you 'Aunt' isn't suitable; Ms. Sun doesn't look that old. How about I just call you Sister Sun?"
"Suit yourself!" Aunt Sun said indifferently, but her eyebrows betrayed an unnatural smile.
...
Aunt Sun led Jiang Ning to a cool shed in the corner of the yard.
She pointed at the heap of wood piled up like a mountain under the shed.
"As Director Wang ordered, the task of chopping wood from now on falls to you! No problems with that, right?" she said, gauging Jiang Ning's slender frame.
"No problem!" Jiang Ning kept nodding, eyeing the stack of wood in front of him.
"Since there's no problem, go on and work! I need to go prepare dinner," Aunt Sun instructed.
"Alright, Sister Sun!" Jiang Ning responded.
Approaching the chopping block, Jiang Ning picked up a forty-centimeter-thick log.
"It's heavy!" He looked at the robust log in his hand, somewhat surprised.
"Such a weight, this log isn't ordinary at all!" He felt a little astonished internally.
He then placed the robust log on top of the chopping block.
Looking around, he found only a firewood knife about fifty centimeters long with a thick spine.
"It looks like there are no axes!"
Jiang Ning muttered to himself, hefting the firewood knife, its weight obvious to be above five pounds.
"It's a labor-intensive job!"
At this moment, Jiang Ning understood why Sister Sun had asked if he could handle the task.
The robust and heavy logs, combined with the five-pound firewood knife, undoubtedly made for a daunting physical job.