Holy body, start with the Five Animal Exercises

3: Iron Arm FistThe Old Doctor looked at Qin Jiang, then at the sky outside, which was already growing dim.

“Oh~ it’s going to be night again. This is the downside of practicing the Five Animals Play to the third layer. At night, if you don’t deliberately control it, your body’s consumption will automatically decrease, leading to some sluggishness.”

After speaking, he turned his head to Qin Jiang, “There’s actually not much to pay attention to when going to Dahei Mountain.

Usually, when a Essence Spirit appears, mist will also appear. You just need to find a locust tree, sit under it, and wait for the mist to dissipate.”

After thinking for a moment, he added, “Essence Spirits generally don’t actively harm people, except for Fox spirits. If you see one, rub garlic juice on your face. They don’t like to eat garlic, so it might give you a chance to escape.”

Qin Jiang’s expression was a little strange upon hearing this. Garlic juice… So, how exactly do you know all this, old man?

“Alright, if there’s nothing else, go back and rest. After achieving the first layer of the Five Animals Play, your energy will be more vigorous, so you must exercise restraint, even if it’s just with your hands,” the Old Doctor warned.

Qin Jiang’s face stiffened, “I understand.”

Dahei Mountain, under an old locust tree.

Three figures stood before a tombstone, firelight illuminating the dense black forest within a ten-meter radius.

Leading them was a Young Master in brocade robes, holding a landscape folding fan.

Behind him were two figures, one tall and thin, the other short and stout, both dressed very simply, even somewhat sloppily.

The short, stout man was peeling an apple with a dagger, while the tall, thin man held a torch, unmoving.

The Young Master in brocade robes listened to the ‘cha cha’ sound of peeling and couldn’t help but turn his head, his face full of anger, “Eat, eat, eat! All you know is eating! You can’t eat it without peeling it, can you?!”

The short, stout man was startled. He raised his eyelids to look at the Young Master in brocade robes, paused for a few seconds, his gaze shifting back and forth between the apple in his hand and the Young Master.

He raised his hand and offered the apple to the Young Master in brocade robes, “Delicious.”

Sigh—!

The Young Master in brocade robes looked at the apple, which still had black fingerprints on it, and pursed his lips, his forehead lines creasing, “Eat! I told you to eat!”

He slapped the apple away, then pointed a finger at the short, stout man’s head, “Didn’t I tell you to finish them off?! Where is he?! You tell me, where is he?!”

The short, stout man glanced at the apple that had been slapped away, then at the now empty grave mound, “Clearly, he ran away.”

Hearing this, the Young Master in brocade robes bent slightly, put his hands on his hips, and tucked his fan into his belt, unable to stop pacing back and forth.

“I don’t f*cking know he ran away?! I’m asking you why he ran away! Didn’t you finish him off?! Didn’t I tell you to finish him off! Finish him off, dammit!”

This mission was directly assigned from above, and he had to ensure not a single piece of information leaked!

Although it was just some unlucky fellow from who knows where, he still had to ensure he was silenced!

The short, stout man scratched his head with the dagger, “Didn’t I finish him off?”

He looked at the tall, thin man beside him. The tall, thin man felt his gaze and tilted his head to look at him, “You did, I saw it.”

As he spoke, he even mimed the action of stabbing someone with a knife.

“Right? I told you I’m a professional, how could I not finish him off?” The short, stout man looked at the Young Master in brocade robes.

The Young Master in brocade robes impatiently pointed at the grave mound, “Alright, alright, I don’t care how you do it, find him for me, then kill him! Kill everyone he’s come into contact with! Understand?”

The short, stout man raised his head slightly, “Understood!”

The Young Master in brocade robes suppressed his anger, placing both hands on the short, stout man’s shoulders, “This time, don’t finish him off. Just cut off his head and bring it to me, okay?”

“No problem, whatever you say. Don’t worry, there’ll definitely be no problem this time!” the short, stout man promised.

The Young Master in brocade robes forced a smile, “Good, I await your good news.”

After speaking, he was about to turn and leave when the short, stout man suddenly slapped himself on the forehead, startling him.

Before he could say anything, the short, stout man spoke, “I know! That kid’s heart must be on the right side! I knew it, how could I make a mistake?!”

As he spoke, he gestured with both hands on his right chest.

The tall, thin man beside him also nodded in agreement, “Hmm, a rare species.”

The Young Master in brocade robes closed his eyes slightly, pressing his right hand over half his face.

So, I must have been crazy back then to pick these two idiots out of so many people.

He shouldn’t have believed that nonsense about being the sole heir for eight generations!

“Hurry up and investigate for me! This batch of goods is no small matter! There can be no mistakes! If there’s a problem, you’ll all die! You’ll all die!!”

North of Black Mountain City, Qin Jiang walked through several streets, following the route from his memory.

After a while, he passed a small alley. He looked into the alleyway and saw only a small courtyard, about forty meters from the alley entrance.

The courtyard gate was open, a torch stuck in the doorframe, illuminating the dim path.

A burly man stood by the gate, arms crossed over his chest, his bulging muscles straining against his black cloth clothes.

His expression was cold and stern, exuding an aloofness that warned strangers to keep away.

Between the courtyard gate and the street entrance, several hooligans in gray cloth clothes leaned against the alley walls, chatting idly.

“Heard about it? Another batch of refugees came from the north. How about we go check it out tonight?”

“What? Have you contacted the big shot in the Inner City?”

“Nah, if you get the goods, there are plenty of people who want them! Just don’t know if there’ll be any good ones. I still prefer the feisty type; these commoners are too boring.”

“Feisty, you say? Aren’t you afraid of being crippled by them!”

“Hey! You don’t treat me like a person, do you? Can I really be crippled by a woman?”

“Ah, right, right. How about this, let’s go check when it gets darker.”

“Sure, no problem. If they get chosen, that’s their good fortune, and we’re also saving a life, aren’t we?”

Qin Jiang looked slightly up into the courtyard. Since it was already dark, he could only vaguely see figures standing in the yard, seemingly hitting something.

He tightened his collar, clutched the copper coins exchanged for herbs in his palm, and hurried away.

This was his purpose in gathering herbs to exchange for silver.

In Black Mountain City, there were actually many people like him who practiced the Five Animals Play or a few scattered Martial arts forms.

In these chaotic times, almost everyone, given the chance, would learn some means of self-preservation.

But people like them couldn’t really be considered true Martial Artists.

Throughout Black Mountain City, especially in the outer district, there weren’t many true Martial Artists, and those who taught Martial arts for money, like the owner of that small courtyard, were even rarer.

Iron Arm Fist, the name sounded very ordinary, and in reality, it was quite ordinary, not considered a profound Martial arts at all.

But this was one of only two places in the northern part of the city that taught Martial arts for money.

As for the other, it taught Soft Thread Palm, which wasn’t quite suitable for him.

The registration fee for learning Martial arts was twenty taels of silver, which is twenty thousand copper coins. It was quite expensive; ordinary families in Black Mountain City couldn’t save that much in one or two years.

After all, not everyone could identify herbs like him, and had the courage to go to Dahei Mountain.

Leaving the Iron Arm Fist courtyard, he walked for a while longer until he reached a dilapidated small road. This area was already close to the edge of the city’s north, considered a slum.

Both sides of the road were lined with low earthen houses, their courtyard walls simple fences stuck into the ground. You didn’t even need to look up to see inside the courtyards.

He walked to an earthen courtyard at the end of the small road, pushed open the wooden door, and entered. On one side, chives were growing, and on the other, captured pigeons were kept.

There was no need to worry about theft, as the main door wasn’t locked anyway; people just pushed the door open and took what they wanted.

He walked to the house door, took out his key to unlock it, pushed the door open, and a musty smell assailed him. The damp air made him feel as if he was coated in glue.

He went to the bed, pulled out a wooden box from under it, and opened it. Inside were many miscellaneous items, and in a corner, about a hundred copper coins were placed.

This was to mislead any potential thieves.

He put down his medicine basket, took off his sickle, and used the blade to pry open a gap on the edge of the box. He took out the copper coins from hisPregnant and inserted them one by one. About a hundred or so coins filled the gap.

This box gap could hold about two thousand coins, or two taels of silver.

This was also to mislead thieves.

He stood up and looked around, sealed the only window, closed the door, and lit the candle, which was only a small stub left, in the room.

He crawled under the bed and inserted the sickle blade into the dirt for about two inches.

He pried hard, lifting a stone slab. Beneath the slab was a foot-long and foot-wide pit, with a few scattered pieces of broken silver and a pile of many copper coins, at least four to five thousand of them.