C1 (1/2)

Outside the window, the white moonlight shone on the rooftop, bleak and still.

Long Feiyu sighed and walked out of the house, bringing back a bundle of dry firewood that he had collected during the day. He placed a few sticks of dried wood on the stove, then picked up a handful of golden pine needle hair that was placed in front of the stove and lit up the dried wood under the pot.

A puff of green smoke rose into the air, causing the dark and shabby house to let out a warm ray of light. Accompanying this light, Long Feiyu picked up a book that he placed on the stove, and focused all of his attention on reading, forgetting about the passage of time.

The firelight that was being emitted from the furnace shone on Long Feiyu's miserable and slightly aged face. No one believed that the current him was only a sixteen year old youth.

When he heard the pot sizzling sounds, Long Feiyu put down the book in his hands and opened the lid. The steam dispersed, revealing the food within the wok.

A bowl of leftovers, a few boiled sweet potatoes with skin, plus half a pot of water, cooked in the pot. What these people in the city did not even look at was Long Feiyu's dinner.

Long Feiyu picked up a coarse porcelain large bowl with a few holes in it, filled a bowl of rice with sweet potatoes in it, and then went to the big pickled vegetable jar in front of his house and took out a few pickled golden pickled radishes, placing them in the bowl.

Following the crunching sounds of the radishes, Long Feiyu ate a total of three bowls of rice before putting down the bowls in satisfaction. This look was even more satisfied than the expression of someone who had eaten a whole table full of magical Mountain Fish Wings.

Hearing a few calls from outside the house, Long Feiyu hurriedly poured some water into the wok, and added some rotten cabbage leaves and roots he had picked up during the day. When all the water in the pot had boiled, he added a few scoops of slops and carried the pot to the pigsty, where he poured it into the trough.

”Little Black, eat slowly. Don't burn it.”

The moonlight was like water, bringing with it an ice-cold, clear radiance as it scattered on the ground. Under the shine of the moonlight, Long Feiyu finished washing the pots and bowls, then took off his clothes.

When the cold stream touched the wound on his shoulder, Long Feiyu could not help but take a deep breath. There were many red marks on his shoulder that had been tightened by a rope. When the slightly salty sweat was washed over his wound, it was accompanied by an intense pain.

After the sweat on his body was washed away by the icy cold stream, Long Feiyu lightly wiped his body with water again and again, and felt a wave of comfort and coldness. The cold, cool water made the pain in his back no longer obvious.

After that, Long Feiyu sat down by the creek and started to cultivate.

”What a pity, I have martial arts but I can't casually show it.” Long Feiyu could not help but silently sigh and say.

Under the guidance of his parents, Long Feiyu started to learn martial arts, medicine and other profound martial arts since young. However, his parents warned him not to show off so that he wouldn't cause unnecessary trouble. Although Long Feiyu did not understand it at that time, he still insisted on following his parents' demands and did not dare to go against it. When he was imparting the skills to Long Feiyu, his parents made him swear to follow this rule and not to violate it.

Seeing that the moon had already risen to the highest point in the sky, Long Feiyu packed his clothes and headed home. Tomorrow, at six o'clock in the morning, he would go to the kiln in the town, ten miles from home, and carry the bricks.

Every morning, he would report to the contractor to collect his own staff and begin his daily life of carrying bricks on his back. Each bag of bricks weighed about 60 pounds. Carrying this bag of bricks on his back allowed him to walk for a distance of 100 meters. Every bag of bricks could be carried on his back for a fee of 5 cents. At noon, the manager of the kiln factory took a meal. When the other people finished eating and were resting, Long Feiyu still had to take out the broken vat of food that he had collected and rush back home to feed the pigs.

Every summer, he would come here to work and earn a semester's worth of tuition. At first, the foreman didn't want him because he thought he was too weak. Under Long Feiyu's begging, the foreman looked at him pitifully, and let him work there for half a month.

Every time he worked, Long Feiyu would not let the foreman down, every time he worked, he would put his life on the line. The other adults could carry four hundred a day and make twenty dollars a day. And he, a sixteen year old brat, could do the same as the adults, sometimes even surpass them.

When others praised him for being capable, Long Feiyu would always smile bitterly and shake his head, not replying. He knew that all of this had been earned with his life, and was not worth boasting about.

Every time he went to sleep at night, Long Feiyu would feel a splitting pain in his bones, a feeling that made it difficult for him to sleep at night. It wasn't until he got used to this feeling that he was able to sleep peacefully in his bed.

With overwork and malnutrition, the sixteen year old Long Feiyu would occasionally faint during the process of carrying a brick. Every time he fell on the ground, he would seem like he was dead, and wouldn't feel a thing. If not for the fact that he was practicing martial arts, he probably would not have lasted more than a few days. When Long Feiyu woke up, he would pretend as if nothing had happened and dusted off the dust on his body. He would then continue carrying the bricks on his back and move his exhausted body step by step.

When Long Feiyu was seven years old, his parents both passed away in a car accident, leaving him alone to live in this world. His family was outsiders, so he didn't know many people in this town, not to mention someone who would adopt him.

”In this world, the only person I can rely on is myself!”

The young Long Feiyu understood this logic when he was seven years old. In these nine years, he had endured everything he could and had had enough of all the hardships he could bear. However, he still managed to survive.

Putting away his clothes and shoes, Long Feiyu dried his wet hair and headed home.