*Thud*

Zack’s body fell to the ground once again, rolling several feet. A large blue bruise had taken the throne on the boy’s right arm since long ago, whereas his left arm fell victim to soreness before he could even check it. As for his legs, even if he wanted to look, his pants discolored under dirt wouldn’t let him. And for any feeling through his knees, he had long since become oblivious to it.

Gritting his teeth, he clawed at the ground. Dirt flew through the air. His mud-stained hair fluttered through the wind as the boy threw himself to the side.

*Thwack!* *Thud!*

However, before he landed, a kick to his shoulder changed his path midair, causing him to crash to the ground down on his shoulder.

A sound of heavy footsteps filled the air as Zhu walked towards where Zack lay. Yet, all the while, no movement occurred. Zhu’s gaze turned hard. Looking at the unmoving visage of the boy and listening to the sound of his footsteps carried over by the wind, his heart turned heavy.

He sighed. “This boy… he really didn’t give up till the end. Damned William, you said he just wanted revenge because of a little bit of hatred. If this much is tiny… you damned… I don’t even know where to begin with to handle this. But little brat, it’s not your fault. It’s just that the era we’re born in is crooked and all we can do is to struggle bitterly to squeeze out our next breaths.”

Finishing his muttering, Zhu heaved a drawn-out sigh, lamenting the state of the world. Reaching up to the kid, Zhu picked him up on his back like a sack of rice, uncaring for the dirt being rubbed onto his attire, before walking towards the little hut in the distance with a dark expression.

* * *

“Guh!” Zack’s eye shot open as he hurriedly pushed against the floor, as if getting up to avoid a fatal danger.

But before he could look around, his vision swam. Thus, amongst his laboured breaths, he raised his arm before wiping up his eye, whilst using his other arm as a support.

However, when his other arm touched the ground, he almost jumped. Curling his fingers into a claw, and relaxing them a moment after, he felt a silky sensation below him, completely different from the stone floor from the night to the day before.

“What the—So it’s some sheets. But when…” The boy thought for a moment before the answer clicked. “I must’ve fainted back then. Tch! How useless. Can’t even complete a single exercise. And I dream of taking revenge? Laughable. Get up, me. You can’t relax. You don’t have the right to relax.

“Uncle and Aunt aren’t here, so you don’t have an excuse, like faking it to not hurt their feelings to act lousy either; not like they should give you any in the first place. So GET THE HECK UP!”

Despite his words, the boy’s face lacked any emotion from start to finish. Paying no heed to his sore limbs begging him to stop, Zack pulled himself up after calming his breath, using the support of the wall opposite to his desk to walk towards the outside.

While walking, he noticed that all but his underwear was missing. Long pieces of cloth were bound to his right and left arms, whereas another piece went over his right shoulder, going further downwards to cover his sides. Going further downwards, two patches of cloth stuck to his knees, making it irritable to walk.

Having reached the door, Zack made use of the wall to take support while bending down. His fingers curled as he secured his grip on one of the patches on his knees.

“Huff…” The boy took a deep breath.

“Nngh! Haah! Hah! Hah!… Nngh! Haaah! Haah!…” Two muffled groans filled the air as Zack pulled out one patch after another from his knees.

Next, the boy took a step out the door. However, as soon as he did so, he sucked in a sharp breath. Taking a moment to stabilise himself, he took another step, sucking another cold breath as he did. Repeating his steps one after the other till he got used to it, he walked towards the well next to the hut.

Taking a brief look at the bucket at the bottom, he pulled on the rope, pulling the bucket up. Almost instantly, a burning sensation filled his palm. Gritting his teeth, he wrapped the rope over his arm.

However, no matter how he held it in, his expression distorted. The pain from the coarse fibres grinding against the blisters in his palms made his hands shudder, almost losing their strength for an instant. Following a creaking noise from his teeth, he dragged his feet back, pulling up the bucket regardless of the sensation through his palms and legs.

Holding the bucket above his head with two arms, he poured the chilly morning water over his body, washing away his drowsiness along with a few parts unknown.

From a long distance away, a pair of eyes tightened. An instant later, a voice neither too high-pitched nor too low pitched drifted to a few feet around the pair of eyes.

“This kid… why is he harming himself like this? Nei—”

“I know.” Another voice cut off the previous. It seemed like a loud whisper, as if the speaker had no vocal chords and used just their tongue to speak, as if like a snake’s if it spoke. “Worse, I used those medicines just a bit ago. He hasn’t even healed properly. If he goes on like this, especially in his growth years, it can harm his growth. Just what did you give him, Zhu?”

“I… I don’t know. That bastard William handed this kid to me. He said he just wanted a little revenge. But I can see that it’s not the full story. And at this point, I don’t think knowing it would make any difference either.” Zhu’s voice replied to the previous one.

“You’re right. It doesn’t matter if we know or not. What matters is if this kid can overcome it. And now that he’s put on some clothes, he’s off to pushups. I can’t watch this. What a waste of herbs.”

The chiding voice of the owner of the concerned pair of eyes rang out, “He’s a hurt kid! You shouldn’t talk like that, Nei—”

“Fine. Fine.” The owner of the shake-like voice dismissed it. “Zhu, what’re you going to do for this training today? How will you deal with him?”

“I’ll ask him to meditate. It’ll be a good time to teach him about how to use Ki. It’ll also help him heal faster. And after he vents enough, maybe he’ll be back to normal, like a kid his age.”

“If you feel you see your shadow, be true to your heart. We’re leaving.” After the word of advice directed at Zhu, the snake-like voice addressed the third person present, declaring the desire to leave while giving the other no room to argue.

Having his two companions leave, Zhu watched the scene for a while before disappearing like a shadow.

When he appeared, it happened to be a few metres away from Zack. With an expressionless face, he said, “For today’s training, we’ll start with some meditation.”

Hearing Zhu’s voice out of nowhere, Zack immediately turned his head to look at Zhu, losing his balance in the process and landing on his chest after missing a pushup. As he hurriedly got to his feet, hesitation flashed through his eyes, before a stone-cold resolve filled his face.

“Teacher, I have a request.”