Jun began to drag Chen Hao through the smaller streets, passing through rows of buildings and slowly leaving the lower sect. They were not far from the sect proper now. But, before they could even glimpse at disciples in robes, a tall man, wearing a thick button-up coat and carrying a black umbrella, stepped out of the shadows. The man tutted as he looked at the two, putting on a wide smile.
“Now, where are you two gentlemen heading in this fine evening? Surely you wouldn’t just ignore the fair madam’s words like that, would you?”
Chen Hao paused at that, and cold shivers ran down Jun’s spine. He growled at the mysterious figure.
“The dog’s smarter than the master it seems. Fine, I shall address it then,” the man said, raising his umbrella and casting the entire street in shadow.
“What you’ve done was, hmm, what’s the word… Unwise. You broke into the woman’s shop and stole her possessions. Now, it doesn’t matter whether what you stole was valuable or not, it’s the principle, you see.”
The boy silently listened to the man’s monologue, immersed in his own thoughts.
“We, the Jin family, take protecting our businesses very seriously," he said, tapping his umbrella. Only now did he recall seeing the strange symbol on the woman's shops. It was the exact same black umbrella.
"Listen carefully. Here’s what’s going to happen,” the man drew closer, looking at Jun and putting a hand on Chen Hao’s shoulder.
“You are going to become her apprentice. She might use some ‘unconventional’ teaching methods, but she will not kill you—that I guarantee. In exchange, you stay here in the undersect and never set foot in either the disciple’s quarters, nor the elder’s daughter’s house,” he said, knowingly winking at them. "You eat, sleep, and breathe the same air as those who have never worn a robe," he said, staring directly at the boy.
"And trust me. The elders can't protect you. Foundation Establishment or Core Formation—it doesn't matter what who comes or who says what. Poison is a very powerful tool in the right hands, and you might just be an accidental casualty in an unfortunate clash," he smiled as if he had just told them a world was full of rainbows and sunshine.
“You resolve the debt by any means and you go back to the happy little sect and play make-believe again. Understood?”
Considering that the man was quite literally towering over them, they had no choice but to nod. Jun had an inkling of what the man meant, but he was still unsure of the deeper meaning.
"Do not disappoint me. I will be very sad if I have to do something I don't want to."
And then, with a twirl of his umbrella, he was suddenly gone. Once again, the streets were filled with silence.
"Listen, boy. Don't worry about all of this. You've got me by your side, and I will help wherever I can. Now, let's head over to the shop and see what that's like," Jun said, dragging along Chen Hao.
By the time the sun hung high above the sky, the two of them arrived before a familiar stone house. The simple “Meat Shop” sign now was a lot more sinister than before. Chen Hao lingered before the door for a minute, his feet rooted to the ground. A few calming breaths later, they stepped inside. Not much had changed besides the arrangement of meat despite Jun seeing her barrel through the stone counter, smashing half the shop to pieces.
“You’re late. I said to arrive by the crack of dawn.”
There she was—the grotesque woman made even uglier by her personality. A cleaver was in her hands, twitching in anticipation.
“You look horrible. How are you going to stand behind the counter while you look like that?” she said, looking at Chen Hao’s pale face and clicking her tongue.
It would have been quite the hilarious statement had they not gotten almost killed by her. Instead, both of them remained silent.
“Speak! You will have more energy and passion in your voice!” she yelled. Jun saw the boy struggling with something. Then, he cleared his throat, adding extra vigour to his next words.
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“Yes! I look forward to working here!” he shouted in response.
“Good. Now, move to the side. You will scare away the customers with your ugly face. During free moments, I will teach you about various animal parts. You have one attempt to memorise them," she sternly said.
The morning proceeded like she said it would. Chen Hao learned how to tell the difference between livers, intestines, breasts, and the like. With the constant threat of the woman looming over him, he flawlessly answered every question, memorising everything she said. As for Jun, he spent the entire day by the boy’s side, learning the same things. The woman scrutinised their every move, and the last thing he needed was to be taught a lesson. And what else was there to do besides listen?
They closed up the shop early, heading over to the familiar warehouse. There, the real test was about to begin. Standing before a counter was easy—butchering was harder. She handed Chen Hao a steel cleaver before leading an old, frankly stupid-looking pig over to him.
“The first step in butchery. A killing blow. A single chop to its neck,” she pointed towards a point on the pig’s neck, looking up at Chen Hao, “right here.”
He had seen it done in the village with old chickens and cows, but never had he personally killed anything, even if it was a pig. And even when going hunting with his friends in the forest, it was always someone else who finished off the prey. When it was clear that Chen Hao was lost in his thoughts and not moving, she started grabbing the cauldron again. The “stew” from yesterday was half eaten, but it could always use a few more ingredients.
Then, with determination, he hacked down.
Squee! Grunt-grunt!
“Is your inner qi just for decoration? Channel it through your meridians and into your weapon!”
Squish! Sploosh!
“Pay attention! You channel qi through here, here, and here,” she said, jabbing him hard where his meridian points were. “Then, it goes into the cleaver.”
Oink Oink! Blegh!
He finished off the pig. And then, she drove him to learn a technique in seconds, getting angry when he didn’t. After the old pig, an even dumber-looking chicken clucked its way over, looking as ready as ever to be butchered and eaten.
“The technique is all wrong! Your killing intent is not enough. When you swing down your cleaver, the first step is to have murder on your mind. You want to kill it! You're never going to make it as a butcher if you keep doing this!" she yelled, missing the irony in her words.
"Now, we need to cut up the carcass. Today, I will show you. Tomorrow, you will do it yourself. It will be an additional month of work for every piece you ruin.”
The woman was extremely skilled at her work. First, the cleaver, then, the smaller knives. Her tools created a performance of blood and flesh that was strangely mesmerising, if not equally disgusting. Each cut was perfect. She was done with the first corpse in no time flat, and as her right hand picked up the various pieces, a soft glow came from her ring finger. The meat disappeared inside a crude, black ring.
For the next two hours, she taught Chen Hao where to cut, how large each part should be, and how to properly take care of the meat. When they were done, she kicked both of them out of the warehouse.
When Jun looked up, the sun had already set. Moments like these made one realise how long a day truly was. Inside the warehouse, minutes felt like hours.
Having gotten practically no sleep yesterday, Chen Hao sleep-walked the streets until Jun shook him awake, his stomach growling in protest. They hadn’t eaten anything in two days, and while it was still manageable, it would only get harder without a warm meal.
“Yeah. I’m pretty hungry as well, but where do we go? Where do we even sleep?” the boy said, tenderly feeling his stomach. For some reason, Jun didn’t think they were going to get handouts.
Still, Chen Hao regained enough energy to try something. They went up to friendlier-looking people, asking about food and shelter. Most gave them the cold shoulder, but from those willing to speak a sentence or two, they managed to get a picture of what was going on.
‘Why is renting a place and getting food so damn expensive?’
The conclusion they came to was that they had to rent a house or else they would get robbed in the streets at some point. That was what happened to those who didn’t adapt fast enough. Most people living here couldn’t afford rent, but they still split it between four or five other people just to avoid sleeping outside.
As for food and drink—cultivators could replace those with inner qi for some time. While Grain Pills were uncommon, food and drink containing rich spiritual force was practically everywhere. A good jar of spiritual wine could easily replace a bottle of pills and give you enough energy to sustain yourself.
Now, that was all fine and dandy, but, as expected, everything here cost spirit stones. The two of them combined actually owned a negative amount, considering the so-called debt. They were beyond poor.
“Do you think they’ll buy one of my kidneys?” Jun asked, lying on the ground in the same alley as yesterday.
“I don’t know what we are going to do. How can we earn anything when, by the time we’re done in the warehouse, it’s already nighttime?” Chen Hao sighed, leaning against the stone building.
“Alright, new plan. I'm already infected with three different kinds of lice from sleeping in the streets, and God forbid a fourth type show up. We need to get food and shelter as soon as possible!"