Chapter 112: Release the Silver Wolf
Chapter 112: Chapter 112: Release the Silver Wolf
After a few days of experimentation, Tang Wen had settled on two daily training methods.
The first was to practice the Eight Vajra Techniques to enter the state of Selflessness.
Then, he would practice his Fist Technique, pushing his spirit to its absolute limit until his Spiritual Power was depleted and he passed out.
The second training method was to practice his Fist Technique first, then finish with the Golden Bell Shield.
The latter method was more painful, but his Golden Bell Shield Skill Experience increased faster. At the same time, after collapsing in agony a few times, his Spiritual Power would also rise slightly.
He trained day and night, and several days passed in a blur.
The water in the secret chamber was gone, and he had finished the dried meat.
Tang Wen’s legs were trembling as he staggered into the courtyard.
’Hmm? Has someone been here?’
He stood still and focused his senses. Perceiving no warning and no danger, he finally walked into the main hall.
On a table inside was a piece of jewelry—a Jade Pearl strung on a red silk thread, fashioned into a bracelet.
’Sister Bing was here?’
He picked up the letter. As he expected, Zhou Bing had come out of seclusion to relax and had missed him.
She hadn’t disturbed him. The letter contained only a few lines like "I’m fine, don’t worry," and mentioned the approximate time she would next emerge from seclusion—several months from now.
Tang Wen read the letter twice, put it away with the red bracelet, and left the small courtyard. He walked along the uneven Stone Slab path toward the dining hall.
"Holy shit! Maybe I should just bring your meals to you from now on!"
Qian Dong watched speechlessly as Tang Wen entered, leaning on the wall for support.
"Alright," Tang Wen agreed. He sat down and drank two bowls of congee before picking up his chopsticks and reaching for the other food.
"Try this."
It was a yellow, cake-like object made of coarse grains.
Tang Wen frowned as he took it. "Is this a soybean-pulp cake?"
"Oh, you’ve had this before? Where? Let me guess—Five Families City, right?"
Tang Wen broke off a piece and tasted it. He had seen this stuff in his previous life back in his hometown.
It was the dregs left over after pressing oil from soybeans.
"It’s a new food we got from Five Families City. Guess who sold it to us?" Qian Dong said with a mischievous look.
Tang Wen ignored him and didn’t eat any more of the soybean pulp. In his memory, this stuff was animal feed.
However, it was very dense and filling, and it contained some nutrients. In a disastrous year like this, it was actually a decent food source.
Seeing Tang Wen didn’t answer, Qian Dong didn’t mind. "They say it was the Zheng Family—that Miss Zheng the Elder made the decision to sell to us! Of course, we threw in a cart of Chain Armor. But being willing to sell grain is a favor, no matter how you slice it! She even said she only sold it because you helped her out last time."
Qian Dong waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Anyone in the camp with their ear to the ground knew that Miss Zheng the Elder and Commander Tang Wen seemed to have some kind of secret, ambiguous relationship.
"It was just a transaction."
Recalling Miss Zheng the Elder’s elegance, Tang Wen felt a slight stir in his heart, but his face remained calm.
"The caravan people say that Miss Zheng is incredibly beautiful. The number one beauty of Five Families City. You’re telling me you weren’t tempted at all?"
"I already have the number one beauty of Flame Camp!"
Tang Wen shot him a look, and Qian Dong froze.
While the latter chattered on, Tang Wen happily devoured three basins of meat dishes, filling his growling stomach.
Training, training, training.
He was like a relentless training machine.
Tang Wen trained ceaselessly, day and night. The cast-iron walls of the underground secret chamber were covered with the marks of his strikes.
The dense, uneven dents made the walls look as if they had been violently bombarded by Siege Hammers and Defensive Bed Crossbows.
"Hmm?"
Tang Wen rubbed his eyes, waking from a deep slumber with a heavy feeling in his head.
This was the aftereffect of frequently pushing his Spiritual Power to its limits in short, high-intensity bursts.
[Essence: 9.77→9.79]
’It only increased by 0.02 after five times. At first, it would go up a little every time I passed out. Later, it took passing out two or three times for a small increase. Now, after two or three months, I have to train until I pass out five times just to get this tiny bit of growth.’
Tang Wen sighed. ’This is so hard!’
’Martial Arts Training is just too damn hard!’
He lay sprawled on the wooden bed, his body forming a star shape. His mind went blank, and his thoughts began to wander:
’It would be best if Sister Bing becomes Queen Level as soon as she comes out of seclusion. Then I could just lie around at home, enjoying being served by Xiaoliu and Cui Lian.’
’At that point, there’s no way I’d keep working so hard!’
’The only way to live is to be a kept man!’
’Sister Bing is so magnanimous. If Miss Zheng the Elder doesn’t mind either, I could be kept by two women!’
’Hmm, but that’s not very secure.’
’After all, a triangle is the most stable shape!’
’If only I could find another great beauty with both looks and Talent.’
’I’ll take one for the team and let three women support me.’
’I’ve got a big appetite, after all. I didn’t practice the Earth Fire Mixed Element Stance for nothing!’
After his wild fantasies, he looked at his Experience Panel: [Earth Fire Mixed Element Stance, Master (2907/3000)].
For the past few months, although his main focus had been on his Fist Technique, he hadn’t neglected his Earth Fire Mixed Element Stance. It had been accumulating bit by bit and was now close to breaking through its current Level.
’Slow progress is better than no progress!’
With a powerful kip-up, the sounds of training soon echoed through the secret chamber once more.
In the secret chamber, where day and night were indistinguishable, time flew by.
The seventh month arrived with scorching heat.
The ground, long deprived of rain, was cracked and seemed to steam.
Not a single cicada could be heard inside or outside Flame Camp.
It wasn’t just cicadas.
Crickets, katydids, and grasshoppers were all gone.
Even centipedes, snakes, and rats were rarely seen.
All of these were sources of high-quality protein, a rare source of meat.
The trees near Flame Camp had been stripped bare, revealing their smooth trunks.
The leaves and the more tender branches had long been picked clean.
The leaves of Black Death Grass, wild vegetables... everything edible had been scavenged.
「Outside the city.」
The lake’s water level had dropped by several meters, but the Maize fields on its shores were a sea of gold.
The Guards on duty here would occasionally take a deep breath.
In reality, there was barely any scent to smell; they just loved the feeling of a bountiful harvest.
The camp had meticulously cultivated this patch of farmland.
Not only had they dispatched the most experienced farmers from the Outer City, but they had also used all the fertilizer from the breeding pens here.
The fields were newly reclaimed, yet the harvest was comparable to that of well-established, fertile land.
Refugees and Scavengers had involuntarily gathered by the thriving Maize fields.
No matter how they were driven away, they wouldn’t budge.
The imposing physiques of the Guards and the glint of their spear tips were the only things temporarily keeping them from drawing closer.
The craving for the Maize, for food, in their eyes bordered on madness.
"You’ve seen the situation. So many people gathered here... they’re like a huge pile of dry tinder. All it takes is a single spark—WHOOSH!—and it’ll erupt into a towering inferno!"
The man in charge of the Outer City, Commander Zhang, lowered his Thousand-Mile Telescope and sighed.
Tang Wen had been temporarily pulled from the Royal Palace precisely to suppress any potential riots.
The latter asked calmly, "What if they really try to seize the grain?"
"Then we kill them!" Commander Zhang paused. "You put on your Armor and stay out of sight. I’ll give the order to kill."
"Then from now on, we’ll have to be on guard against them at all times."
"We dug wells for them and let them scavenge the forests and swamps, but they’re still not satisfied! They still want to steal our grain. What’s the use in keeping them around?"
"Mercy has no place in commanding soldiers!"
Commander Zhang’s tone was ice-cold.
Tang Wen thought for a moment and said, "What if we try letting Silver Wolf handle it?"
"Hmm?" Commander Zhang’s eyes lit up, and his brow smoothed over. "That’s an idea."