Chapter 1 Survival is Hard

This world is tough to survive in…

That was what Hu Ma was quietly thinking as he got up that day. Wanting to learn a skill involved so many irrelevant things.

He was fortunate to have his grandmother’s blood spirit pills to nourish his body and the mutual support of fellow reincarnators. Without those, what would his fate have been?

Perhaps Er Ye was the best example.

He didn't dwell on those chaotic thoughts, knowing only that he needed to learn a skill as soon as possible to save himself.

After mentally weighing everything and sorting out his thoughts, he took out the piece of meat Er Ye had given him and the waist knife that Zhou Datong had left on his bedding. He cut off the very tip of the dried meat.

It was about the size of an infant’s fist. He wrapped it in a clean cloth, tucked it into his chest, put away the rest of the meat, and quietly left the house.

He didn’t know what this piece of meat was, only that it wasn’t a Blood Tai Sui (a rare fungus-like substance).

After all, he was now practically an expert on Blood Tai Sui.

Probably even an old miner like Er Ye hadn't seen as much Blood Tai Sui as he had eaten.

But since Er Ye had specifically instructed him, it must be something special. The meat mountain was bloated and huge and contained more than just the black, white, green, and blood types. There were many strange and rare ones that were hard to find, but often highly prized by experienced masters.

Leaving the house, he found Zhou Datong in the courtyard, chopping grass to feed the horses, and whispered something to him.

Zhou Datong was startled upon hearing this, then his face lit up with joy. "Hu Ma-ge, are you already preparing to strike at them?"

Hu Ma gestured for him to be quiet and smiled, "You thought I would make a move?"

"I didn't expect it, but I couldn't stand being bullied anymore."

Zhou Datong said, "That gang of bastards, after following that young master Xu from the Xu family, have been bullying people. Now, they don't even let people from our Da Yang village patrol at night for the Red Lantern Goddess. They just have us feeding horses, chopping firewood, and preparing washing water for the shopkeeper, treating us like servants."

"I can't beat him, so I'll just endure it if I can."

"But I know your temper, Hu Ma-ge. If you can endure for so long, you must be planning something big!"

"..."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Hu Ma was made uncomfortable by his words. "We're not bad people..."

But Zhou Datong clearly ignored him and went off excitedly.

In the evening, as dusk approached and the sun set, the clerks who had been assigned to patrol that night lit their lanterns and waited in the courtyard. The brocade-clad young master Xu Ji hadn't come out yet, but his two lackeys were sitting triumphantly by the well.

Stretching their legs, they lazily pointed at Li Waizi and several other clerks who were trying to join them on the night patrol, and said with a smile:

"You want to go out on patrol with us? That's not impossible."

"But when you come back, you know?"

"At the town entrance..."

"We brothers will have a drink together tonight, and we can teach you the rules. What do you think?"

"..."

Several eager clerks nodded repeatedly, not daring to say no.

At this moment, Zhou Datong came over with his hands behind his back, swaying slightly, and looked at Li Waizi beside them, saying:

"Li Wa-xiongdi, how much money did your father give you? Enough to buy meat for these guys?"

"..."

Li Waizi, who was originally from Da Yang village but had now become a lackey of the brocade-clad young master Xu Ji, blushed with shame and stammered, "Datong-ge, don't say that. Huzi-ge and the others have really taught me a lot these past few days..."

The two lackeys' expressions changed immediately upon hearing Zhou Datong's question. They glared at him and said, "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, nothing..."

Zhou Datong hurriedly smiled and said, "I was just wondering, can I come along too?"

The two men’s expressions softened when they heard this. They looked at Zhou Datong with a grin. "What's this? You want to buy us wine too?"

"Buy!"

Zhou Datong brazenly reached into his pocket and said, "Take a look at this, what is it?"

It was already dusk, and with his mysterious and triumphant attitude, the two thought he had taken out something good. They reached out to look, but Zhou Datong suddenly opened his palm, revealing that it was empty. Then, he slapped them in the face.

"I'll buy…"

Zhou Datong, having landed a slap, immediately turned and ran. "I'll buy you a slap to eat!"

"You bastard..."

These two clerks had come with the brocade-clad young master. Since Xu Ji had arrived at the manor, his status was transcendent, and he acted bossy. The two of them were even more arrogant.

The new clerks not only tried to curry favor with them, but few dared to argue with them, let alone suddenly get slapped in the face. They were instantly enraged. They jumped down from the millstone and chased after Zhou Datong with their fists.

Zhou Datong ran quickly toward the outside of the manor. Once he was outside, he started shouting, "Help, someone's attacking me..."

"Someone's trying to kill me..."

"..."

The two lackeys were even more enraged. They did want to hit someone, but they hadn't hit him yet.

But thinking about how they would beat this bastard once they caught him, it wasn't that wrong.

But after running a few steps, a person suddenly came around the corner of the wall and stood in front of Zhou Datong. It was Hu Ma.

He reached out to stop them and asked strangely, "What's going on? Why are you hitting people?"

Zhou Datong immediately said, "They wanted me to buy them meat and wine tonight, or they'd beat me up."

Zhu Zi and Liang Zi were both ashamed and angry when they heard Zhou Datong say that. They shouted, "Get out of the way."

"This guy started it first. Everyone saw it."

"..."

They had previously guessed that Hu Ma was the leader of the clerks from Da Yang village. In addition, Hu Ma was usually silent and didn't talk much, so they didn't dare to bully him too much. But now, having suffered from Zhou Datong's trickery, they couldn't tolerate it. They shouted at Hu Ma to get out of the way and prepared to attack.

"How dare he attack you?"

Hu Ma didn't get out of the way. He smiled and said, "Isn't this a misunderstanding?"

"This big slap mark on my face, and you call it a misunderstanding?"

That Zhu Zi was annoyed. He suddenly turned around and grabbed Li Waizi, who was following behind them, and said, "You tell me, is it?"

Li Waizi was also full of embarrassment, never expecting such a scene to unfold.

Seeing the gazes of the two men, as well as Hu Ma's eyes, all turned to him, he was extremely nervous.

He slowly lowered his head and, after a long while, whispered, "Datong-ge did start it first."

As soon as he said this, the two men wanted to push forward again, and Hu Ma's face darkened.

Zhou Datong was even more furious. He jumped behind Hu Ma and shouted at Li Waer, "Take back that 'ge' (elder brother) honorific. From now on, call me Zhou Datong. I don't have a brother like you. There's no such person as you in our Da Yang village anymore..."

"Good for you, still acting tough?"

These words further enraged the clerks Huzi and Dalong.

They were somewhat wary of Hu Ma, but not particularly afraid. Now that they felt they were in the right, they were no longer polite.

One came up and pushed Hu Ma, while the other directly threw a punch.

Hu Ma didn't know their origins, but since they had come with Xu Ji, they were probably part of his faction. He had secretly observed them during their practice sessions and knew that their foundations were not shallow.

Zhou Datong had listened to him and caused trouble, so he naturally couldn't let him suffer.

So, he stepped forward and used the Ban Lan Chui (Parry and Block Hammer) that Er Ye had taught him, blocking the two men in front of him.

He felt the heavy force of their punches, and a surge of energy pressing towards him. He stepped sideways, retreated slightly, and then suddenly pushed outwards.

The moves taught by Er Ye weren't as flashy as those taught by Manager Wu, but they were very useful.

This Ban Lan Chui could ward off evil spirits and block fists and kicks. If the opponent's strength was greater than his, he could deflect the force backward, using three parts of his strength to defend against seven parts of the opponent's strength. If the opponent's strength was weaker than his, then it would be a combination of neutralizing and attacking, shaking him back.

The lackey called Huzi hadn't even reacted when Hu Ma sent him flying, and he slammed into the other man.

The two fell to the ground, rolling around like gourds. They were dizzy and disoriented from Hu Ma's force, and couldn't get up for a long time.

The clerks who were watching the commotion were stunned for a moment.

First, they didn't expect Hu Ma to be so strong, knocking the two clerks over with a single move.

Second, everyone knew in their hearts that these two lackeys were nothing, but they were with the brocade-clad young master Xu Ji.

Among the newcomers in the entire manor, who wasn't afraid of Xu Ji? Was Hu Ma going to break with them?

"Rumble..."

Amidst the chaos, there were many running sounds. Other clerks, seeing the situation, gathered around to watch the excitement.

"Hu Ma, Datong, is there going to be a fight?"

A few scattered shouts rang out. It was Zhou Liang, Zhao Zhu, and others from Da Yang village. Hearing the commotion and seeing Hu Ma and Zhou Datong surrounded in the middle, they immediately sensed something was wrong. Zhou Liang grabbed a stick, Zhao Zhu picked up a dung fork, and they hurried over to help.

However, when they arrived, they saw that Hu Ma and Zhou Datong were fine, while the other two were lying on the ground, not yet able to get up, and they were stunned again.

"Disobeying the rules, gathering to fight, do you all want to be kicked out?"

Amidst the confusion, a voice squeezed out from between someone's teeth. Xu Ji, with a cold face, rushed over.

At the sight of him, the young men were all shocked and lowered their heads, indicating that it had nothing to do with them.

Even Zhou Liang and Zhao Zhu subconsciously hid the sticks and dung forks behind them.

This young master Xu Ji hadn't been here long, but he was already the absolute authority in the manor. Although he had the same status as everyone else, no one dared to look him in the eye.

"That extortion for wine and meat failed, and now you want to hit people..."

But at this moment, a voice rang out. Hu Ma pushed through the crowd and slowly stepped forward, confronting him sharply, "Is that what you call following the rules?"

Xu Ji couldn't help but pause slightly when he saw it was Hu Ma.

His face immediately darkened, and his sanpaku eyes (eyes with white visible above or below the iris) stared fixedly at Hu Ma. The surrounding temperature seemed to drop a bit.

Hu Ma just looked at him quietly, not backing down.

Not far behind him, Xiao Hongtang quietly stuck her head with two small braids out from behind the wall, staring wide-eyed at the wooden sword on his waist.

*Hiss*