Mecha Era, Punch the Stars

And so, Ah Niu stayed with Third Master.

They didn't sell themselves to the Zhou family, and the Third Master paid for and took care of their parents' funeral arrangements.

Everything that happened was so sudden.

Ah Niu was in a dream until Third Master began an extremely harsh training program on him, at which point he no longer had the energy to think about what was wrong with him.

Every day before dawn, Third Master would drag him out of bed, make him carry sandbags and an anvil, and train his strength in various ways.

After a month, I started following Third Master to slaughter pigs and sheep, butchering and deboning them.

They ate pork bones, pig blood, mutton offal, and all sorts of leftover scraps every day.

Incredibly, no matter how arduous the ordeal, as long as he ate this kind of meat, his physical strength would be restored and his spirit would become very vigorous.

He maintained this for six months, and his body gradually grew stronger and his strength increased.

Before, I had to grit my teeth to lift the table for a quarter of an hour, but now I can do it for half an hour.

After that, I formally learned the training methods for Iron Shirt.

This method emphasizes both breathing and physical training, requiring a special physique, and requires holding the Chen family's heirloom gemstone while training to achieve results.

Without a special constitution, even holding this family heirloom gemstone will have no effect.

Ah Niu also discovered that his aptitude seemed to far exceed Third Master's expectations. After each training session, he could not hide his shock on his face, wondering why Ah Niu was progressing so quickly.

To repay Third Master's kindness, Ah Niu naturally trained hard.

He could tell that although Third Master was surprised, he was mostly happy.

Therefore, he devoted himself to training and improving himself in order to give back more to Third Master.

In the second year, he began to follow Third Master to Zhou's ranch to buy pigs and sheep. There he witnessed the grandeur of Zhou's ranch and its many domestication techniques, met several skilled servants, and made a few friends of his own age.

When he had nothing to do, he would help his neighbors with small favors, such as giving them eggs from Old Yang's family, rice from Old Song's family, and extra tofu from Widow Liu's family as gifts. He lived a fulfilling life, as if the hardships of poverty he had endured in the past ten years or so were just a dream.

In the blink of an eye, several years have passed. Ah Niu has grown from a simple teenager into a fine and robust young man in the surrounding villages.

Although the drought continues and the number of displaced people around the town is increasing, their area remains undisturbed.

Because of Third Master's amazing martial arts skills and strong physique, ordinary refugees would not choose such a fierce person even if they wanted to steal chickens or dogs.

If they were to steal, they would choose families with no able-bodied men or women, only widows or the elderly, weak, sick, or disabled.

But as time went by and the drought continued, the order of the town seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

This day.

Inside the courtyard of Third Master's house.

Ah Niu held two huge stone bricks and repeatedly patted his chest.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
"Hey, Brother Niu! Are you there?"

A clear, crisp voice came from outside the door.

A Niu's heart skipped a beat. It was Liu Xiaohe, the daughter of the widow next door.

He took a deep breath, put down a brick in his left hand, walked to the door, pulled the bolt, and opened the door.

With a creak, a pretty face appeared in front of Ah Niu.

It was Liu Xiaohe!
She was out of breath, as if she had run there.

"what happened?"

"Brother Aniu, Third Master, something's happened to Third Master! You'd better hurry! He's in front of the winery at the west entrance of town! He seems to have run into an enemy and his arm has been slashed!"

Ah Niu felt a sudden pang of panic. (End of Chapter)