Chapter 12: Enduring

Chapter 12: Enduring

The next day, before the sky had even brightened, everyone rose from their beds.

After a night's rest, Meng Yuan's body still had some bruises, but he had recovered significantly, although his essence flame had diminished slightly.

"When I was freezing and starving, my essence flame kept nourishing me. Now it seems that it can slowly heal my injuries."

"But what if it's a life-threatening injury? What then?"

Meng Yuan reflected on the events of the previous night.

The chaotic fight last night was a blind brawl, with no semblance of order or strategy.

Meng Yuan and Tie Niu, with their sheer strength, held their own against multiple opponents, but once the lights went out, it became impossible to tell who was fighting whom.

Especially Tie Niu, who, in his fervor, swung his fists wildly, not only injuring the enemies but also landing two harsh blows on Meng Yuan's back.

The most significant injury on Meng Yuan's body was inflicted by Tie Niu!

Moreover, having just arrived and causing a ruckus in the dormitory, Meng Yuan had already prepared for the worst.

Before dawn, as they washed up, Meng Yuan seized the opportunity to remind Tie Niu.

"Tie Niu, remember this: if Nie Shi comes to ask, just tell the truth. I was the instigator last night, and Nie Shi will understand. If they decide to expel me, don't say anything reckless; you must stay here." Meng Yuan instructed.

"But what about me if you leave?" Tie Niu asked, bewildered, "My father told me to follow you, and I'll do whatever you do."

"Listen to me," Meng Yuan said.

"If you leave, there's no point in me staying alone. Let's go back to the village and shovel manure together," Tie Niu suggested, not thinking too far ahead.

Meng Yuan patted Tie Niu's shoulder, knowing that persuasion was futile, and said no more.

After their morning routine, it was time for morning practice.

The atmosphere was slightly different today, as both male and female trainees kept glancing at Meng Yuan and Tie Niu, each with distinct expressions.

After the morning practice, everyone headed to the cafeteria for breakfast, which consisted of hot porridge, pickled vegetables, and steamed buns.

Just as they finished eating, Wu Changsheng came over and joined them.

He didn't need to say much; the words poured out of him.

The person who had received the harshest beating last night was Liu He, the son of Liu Zongguan. Liu He no longer looked tearful but instead glared at Meng Yuan, his lips curled in a sneer, and said, "Just you wait! Once I report this to Nie Shi, I'll have you expelled today!"

Meng Yuan stood up, and Liu He, startled, trembled, almost losing his balance.

After the morning training session, which lasted about an hour, Nie Yanni finally arrived.

Seeing the youths with bruised and swollen faces, each bearing injuries, he laughed and asked, "Were you fighting over a courtesan last night? Who won and who lost?"

Liu He stepped forward, his lips swollen with a large cut, and his eyes barely open due to the swelling, and said plaintively, "Nie Shi, last night, the new guy Meng Yuan and Zhao Tie Niu beat me up because..."

"Shut your damn mouth about reasons!" Nie Yanni interrupted Liu He, walked up to him, and slapped Liu He's head, "You're here to learn martial arts! If you lose a fight, you go back and practice harder. And you dare come to me with complaints? I don't care if you're right or wrong! At your age, and you still don't understand? Do I have to lift my shirt and let you suckle at my breast? Or should I send you back into your mother's womb, you useless good-for-nothing!"

Liu He hadn't expected Nie Yanni to completely disregard his complaint and instead ridicule him, and he couldn't hold back his tears, crying again.

"You cry like a nightingale!" Nie Yanni laughed, "If this little guy becomes a rabbit-teeth seller, he'd definitely be the top-ranked!"

All the youths and girls were stunned.

Meng Yuan was dumbfounded, but before he could say anything about Nie Yanni's martial arts skills, he knew that with just this talent for insults, he would never be able to surpass Nie Yanni in his lifetime.

Nie Yanni, with his hands behind his back, strolled up to Meng Yuan and asked, "I hear you're quite the fighter?"

He had spoken with Meng Yuan and Tie Niu the previous day and knew that Tie Niu was a simple-minded person, so the fight must have been instigated by Meng Yuan.

"It's all my fault, please punish me, Nie Shi!" Meng Yuan didn't respond to his question but directly expressed his willingness to accept punishment.

"Nie Shi..." Wu Changsheng was about to speak up for Meng Yuan but was glared down by Nie Yanni.

"You two, go and stand in the Horse Stance on the Plum Blossom Posts for a day. If you fall, get back up and stand again!" Nie Yanni declared the punishment.

The Plum Blossom Posts were used for training body coordination and balance, and they were divided into high and low posts. Additionally, to prevent injuries during training, fine sand was laid beneath the posts.

This was hardly a punishment. Standing in the Horse Stance for a day might be challenging for beginners, but Meng Yuan and Tie Niu were robust youths, and at worst, they would just fall a few times.

Meng Yuan quickly took Tie Niu to accept the punishment, and the two went to stand on the Plum Blossom Posts.

By the end of the day, the two had fallen from the posts dozens of times, and their legs had become numb. However, after the evening training session ended, they washed up and returned to the men's dormitory, but no one dared to provoke them anymore.

Two bundles were placed together, untouched by anyone, and no one was willing to get too close.

Liu He's expression was gloomy, and he had somehow obtained medicine and applied it to his face.

According to the rules, male and female students were strictly forbidden from leaving the training ground, and they were not allowed to communicate with people outside.

When Liu He saw Meng Yuan and Tie Niu, he pretended to hum a few times, but in the end, he was afraid of the pain and didn't dare to say a word.

Meng Yuan didn't pay him any attention and went to sleep on his own.

From then on, Meng Yuan followed Nie Shi's training arrangement every day, enduring physical exertion and eating heartily.

But Nie Yinian, who used to come twice a day, only came once a day after a fight, and he didn't teach any techniques. He just let the young people endure physical exertion, essentially treating them like herding sheep.

As the New Year's Eve approached, the students realized they would be spending the New Year in the training ground. Nie Yinian not only didn't teach real skills but also stopped coming altogether.

Seeing the lack of supervision, the students inevitably started having thoughts.

At first, they only slacked off in their training, but later, they even slept in and skipped morning practice entirely.

Especially Liu He, either because he was used to the good life or because he resented Nie Yinian, took the lead in gathering several people, and they only got up when the sun was already high in the sky. During training, he was inattentive and often chatted with female students. Whenever the north wind blew stronger, he would return to the male dormitory to sleep.

But they weren't stupid; they even set up spies to prevent Nie Yinian from suddenly coming to inspect, but Nie Yinian never showed up again.

Out of twenty-seven students, nearly half were slacking off.

Meng Yuan coldly observed them but never had the thought of slacking off himself. He woke up before dawn every day to practice, never compromising.

Tie Niu was a simple-minded person. With his single-mindedness and Zhao Datou's instructions, he followed Meng Yuan in his practice every day.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed, and it was New Year's Eve. Snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

The Empress Dowager was kind and sent New Year's gifts through her servants, with each student receiving a roasted chicken and two pounds of pork.

However, Nie Yinian still didn't appear, and the students were not allowed to leave.

Outside the training ground, firecrackers exploded, and the sound of flute and zither music could still be heard.

It was a day for family reunions, but the students could only practice in the snow, and some of them even cried.

Meng Yuan didn't care at all; he ate and drank as usual.

On the first day of the New Year, before dawn, Meng Yuan got up and called Tie Niu to go out together.

The north wind howled, and the snow covered the ground, adding to the solitude.

Meng Yuan and Tie Niu fetched water from the well, washed their faces and brushed their teeth, then started clearing the snow before beginning their morning practice.

They started with a set of punches to warm up, then lifted the stone lock to exercise their arm strength, followed by horse stance punching.

Usually, even if someone slacked off, there would still be about a dozen people practicing in the morning, but after Meng Yuan and Tie Niu practiced for a while, no one else came.

"Brother, today is the New Year. Every family is taking a good rest. They're not coming, so why should we practice? They're saying behind our backs that we're fools," Tie Niu asked, with steam rising from his head, looking simple-minded.

"Nie Shi said that if you practice for one day and stop for one day, you'll lose ten days of progress. It means that in martial arts, you need to be persistent and practice every day to make continuous progress. If you stop practicing for a day, you'll lose the previous accumulation of results, and it will take more time to return to the original level," Meng Yuan explained while punching.

"I was born a homeless person, and your father was a tenant farmer. To put it bluntly, we're all peasants. Learning martial arts is the only chance to change our fate, so we must grasp it firmly," Meng Yuan said while punching.

"But no one is watching, and Nie Shi hasn't come for several days. They say that Nie Shi doesn't care about us anymore," Tie Niu said, not understanding.

"We're practicing for ourselves, not for Nie Shi. Don't worry about what others think; we'll do our own thing," Meng Yuan said.

In fact, Meng Yuan had his own opinions. From the Empress Dowager's previous actions, it was clear that she was capable and efficient.

Given this, how could she tolerate Nie Shi's negligence in managing the students like herding sheep? The Empress Dowager was training this group of young people, and she had strictly forbidden them from leaving the training ground and going home for the New Year. Clearly, she hadn't forgotten about this group, as she had sent meat on New Year's Eve.

In Meng Yuan's opinion, the Empress Dowager was probably selecting a group of hardworking, obedient, and patient individuals.

Because learning martial arts was the most challenging, it couldn't be achieved overnight, and it required patience, perseverance, and determination. It was not something that allowed for shortcuts or cheating.

All the students were around fifteen years old, and they had started learning martial arts a bit late. They weren't exceptionally talented, so they needed to be disciplined and obedient to achieve something.

Therefore, Meng Yuan felt that the Empress Dowager or Nie Shi was testing the students' endurance, using this to select those worthy of cultivation.

Of course, Meng Yuan didn't dare to assume that his thoughts were correct.

But no matter what, having food and drink every day and being able to endure physical exertion were all beneficial and harmless to himself.

If Nie Shi still didn't teach real skills after the Lantern Festival, Meng Yuan planned to leave. At that time, whether he went to seek Xun Mei or thought of another way, he had to find a way out.

After all, Jiang Tang, that little girl, was still waiting at the livestock farm.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end